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Update Your Summertime Bath Routine With Fresh New Products

Summer is the time for herby, fresh scents and tropical fragrances like my favorite, coconut. I love trying new bath products in the summertime — it really seems to set the mood for a relaxing season. Try a new product and scent this summer; there are some great suggestions below.

Buddha Nose Bohdi Sugar Scrub ($28.00 USD) — contains organic and wild crafted essential oils of cedarwood, frankincense, ho wood and juniper berry for a sultry scrub. It also boasts organic sugar, certified organic potassium cocoate, organic tapioca starch, vegetable glycerin, and citric acid powder to give natural exfoliation. To use, scoop desired amount into hand and moisten with warm water until foamy and scrub face and body, as the sugar melts and washes away. I love that this is good for the face in body. It is great in the shower as a quick scrub all over to start the day. And exfoliating is so important when self tanning! Visit www.buddhanose.com for information on this product and to purchase it.

Korres Basil Lemon Shower Gel ($19.95 for Jumbo Size 13.53 fl. oz) — This has a fresh, green citrus scent and is very invigorating. The website touts these benefits of the shower gel:

• Basil Lemon showergel is enriched with Active Aloe® that stimulates collagen and elastin to reduce the visible signs of aging.
• Wheat Proteins form a protective shield to help maintain skin’s ideal moisture level.
• Potent Vitamins C, E & Zinc enhance the natural immune system of the skin.
• New pump packaging is convenient and easy to use.

This scent is also available in a Jumbo Body Butter ($29.95 7.95 fl. oz.) and a Body Scrub ($17.00 5.07 fl. oz.) This lovely shower gel is also 89.2% natural and all packaging components are recyclable. Check out www.korresusa.com for these products and so much more!

The Body Shop Coconut Milk Body Lotion ($16.00 USD) — This is a fun, light spray lotion that has a natural coconut scent that is made with Community Trade organic pure cold-pressed virgin coconut oil. I love that it is so light and milky and sinks into the skin instantly. No greasy lotion here! Try it with the Coconut Shower Cream ($13.00 USD) and various other coconut-scented products by The Body Shop. Visit www.thebodyshop-usa.com for more info and to purchase.

Quick and Simple Summer Grooming for Men

I know how it is ladies. In the summer months, your man just wants to go out and play, hygiene be screwed! So, get him out the door quick with an all in one shampoo, conditioner and body wash and a new deodorant that actually smells good! This way, you will both be happy.

Pert Plus for Men 3-in-1 ($3.99 USD) is total shower simplicity for men, especially in the active summer months. This cool combo of shampoo, conditioner and body wash creates a rich, foamy lather that will speed him quickly through his shower. My husband’s eyes lit up when I explained it to him. So easy. Visit www.pertplus.com to learn more and you can purchase at your favorite drugstore.

Sure For Men ($2.99 USD) — New Sure for Men claims to be heavy on protection and light on scent. What I like is that when I sniffed Crisp Breeze, I didn’t turn away in disgust from the old man smell. It’s a refreshing and light musk. So good when he plays sports, mows the lawn, chases the Great Dane puppy around the yard…

The website gave these benefits:

The maximum level of active ingredients without a prescription

Longer-lasting microencapsulated subtle fragrances that release over time

Backed by 30-years of trusted protection – Raise your hand if you’re Sure!

Plus these are the fun descriptions of the three scents:

A manly musk with the power to protect, Sure Crisp Breeze is your ultimate weapon against odor and wetness. Apply once a day for a refreshing feeling that will keep you confident while holding underarm adversaries at bay.

Mountain Frost combines the scent of cedar with the tropical intrigue of vetiver. Together, they create a masculine musk that’s bold without being overbearing. Goodbye sweat and odor. Hello clean and confident.

Get all the animal magnetism of outdoor sports, sans the sweat and odor. Just pick up a stick, pop the top and introduce your underarms to that clean, open-air aroma. Strong enough to keep you fresh. Light enough to keep her interested.

Visit www.suredeodorant.com for more info and they are for sale at drugstores near you. Enjoy your clean, good-smelling guy!

Hot Summer Makeup From Cool Natural Brands!

Like looking pretty but love using natural products? You can have both, you know. There are some great cosmetic companies that create lovely natural and organic makeup. You can get a soft summer look with the following products:

Josie Maran Argon Eye Shadow ($20.00 USD) — This is a beautiful shadow that is currently available in 27 vibrant shades. The website states, “each long-wearing shadow can be applied dry, or wet for more intensity. The innovative formula contains natural, non-toxic ingredients – no fragrances or parabens. What’s more, the beauty extends to the packaging: each shade comes housed in Josie’s state-of-the-art biodegradable compact.” I have a shimmery medium pink called Pinkalicious. When I wear it dry, it gives a shimmery wash of color; applying it wet gives more intensity and it seems to last longer. Visit www.josiemaran.com to purchase and learn more about this shadow and other fantastic products.

Korres Pure Nude Color Collection ($25.00 USD) This kit’s value is $42.00 so this is a real deal. The collection includes:

Shimmering Eyeshadow in Golden 24S

Pro-Vitamin B5 and Rice Bran Mascara in Brown

Cherry Oil Lipgloss in Nude 33

This is a beautiful collection of good for you products. The shadow is super sparkly and is great for a pretty bronzy look. The good for you mascara is not only smart but pretty and makes lashes so full. And the lip gloss — well this shade is perfect! A little shimmery and about two shades above my natural lip color. So pretty! Visit www.korresusa.com to learn more and purchase!

Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Sun Glow Powder Bronzer ($12.99 USD) — In two natural shades Spring ( with pinker tones) and Summer (darker, golden tones) one of these bronzers will work for you! Each palette has a trio shades to help you customize your look and they contain skin-illuminating, micronized pigments to create a radiant glow. This line by makeup artist Carmindy also contains great lip glosses and other pretty products. Visit www.sallyhansennaturalbeauty.com to learn more and you can purchase these at CVS and Rite Aid.

So don’t feel guilty about splurging on these products, they are good for you and the environment! Enjoy!

Perfect for Summer: Smashbox Naked Beauty Collection

When I heard that Smashbox was introducing a Naked Beauty collection for the summer, I was intrigued. It sounded sexy of course, and simple — which is just the look I go for during the hot summer months.

The Naked Beauty Mini Lip Gloss Kit — ($20.00 USD) — is the perfect light touch on the lips. My anti-aging lip secret? No dark colors, especially in the warmer months. Light colored lip glosses are perfect for a youthful look as long as you keep them a your lip color or just a shade or two darker. Too light looks too young (frosty pink 80’s gloss anyone?) while too dark ages.

This kit contains soft nudes, corals and pinks and leave as soft shine to the lips. And they are all new shades! Includes: Bare, Buff, Naked, Nude, Exposed, Natural, Sunkissed & Pure.

Naked Beauty Photo Finish Lid Primer ($20.00 USD) — Probably my favorite product of the bunch. I have slowly been becoming more comfortable using primers and am really enjoying this beautiful eye lid primer. It is the same formula as Smashbox’s best-selling lid perfector, but in a new shimmering nude shade. I sometimes wear it alone and it gives a soft, nude sheen to the lid. I also wear it under shadows to help them stay on longer.

The Smashbox website states, “this revolutionary formula contains Phytomoist™, a plant-based hyaluronic acid for ultimate moisturization plus skin perfecting amino acids. Soft focus pearls help diminish the appearance of fine lines and discoloration on the lids, while the patented delivery system ensures effective results.”

Naked Beauty High Lights/Creamy Cheek Color ($26.00 USD) This duo of sheer, creamy cheek color and soft highlighter instantly gives cheeks a sexy flush and your complexion a radiant glow. The pink is a warm tone that I think would look great on everyone. It is very summery. The highlighter is very subtle and pretty. Try both on lips and eyes as well — I love doing sexy monochromatic looks in the summertime!

Visit www.smashbox.com to learn more and to purchase this fabulous products!

Father’s Day Grooming Gift Guide

Looking for grooming ideas for your dad or your man this Father’s Day? I have some good ones here that will make the men in your life look and smell their best!

Liz Earle New Men’s Travel Kit ($66.50 USD) – This five piece kit is perfect for travel and trips to the gym to keep him clean and smooth. It arrives in a hanging wash bag, which is perfect for the shower! These products are fantastic, they clean the face and body and theirs a great moisturizer for after shaving. The kit contains:

Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser 0.5 fl. oz
After-Shaving Moisturiser 1.6 fl. oz
Face & Body Wash 3.3 fl. oz
Face Scrub 1 fl. oz
1 pure muslin cloth
Hanging wash bag (bag dimensions: 16cm x 23cm x 7cm)

You can purchase this kit and others at www.us.lizearle.com

Guys love trying new razors — getting the closest shave possible is key. The new Gillette Fusion ProGlide ($10.99 — $12.99) shaving system is a significant advancement in shaving performance and comfort. It contains: Low Cutting Force Blades with thinner, finer blades and advanced low-resistance coating, enabling the blades to cut effortlessly through hair with less tug and pull; a Blade Stabilizer to maintain optimal blade spacing for comfort, while allowing the blades to adjust to the contours of a man’s face; a streamlined Snowplow Comfort Guard which channels excess shave, prep to help maintain optimal blade contact, stretching the skin for a close, comfortable shave; an Enhanced Lubrastrip™ larger than before, infused with mineral oil and lubricating polymers, enabling the razor to move smoothly over skin even on repeat strokes and An improved Precision Trimmer, including an enhanced blade, a comb guard to better align long hairs and new rinse-through slots.

Gillette Fusion ProGlide is available in both Power and Manual. Learn more at www.gillette.com

Jack Black All Over Wash for Face, Hair, and Body with Wheat Protein and Panthenol ($14.00 for 6 oz, $8.50 for 3 oz). This is one of many great Jack Black products for face, body and hair, including great travel kits. This is the ultimate guy product–one product that does the job of three. Mild cleansers are pH balanced and gentle enough for face, hair and body. They work to get the rid of dirt and sweat without stripping skin and hair of essential moisture that keeps them looking healthy. Provides loads of thick, rich lather while special botanicals give a fresh scent without being too fragranced or heavy. This wash is paraben-free, sulfate-free, vegan and contains certified organic ingredients. It contains:

Panthenol to condition and moisturize skin.

Wheat Protein to strengthen hair.

Certified Organic Olive Fruit Extract acts as an antioxidant

Certified Organic Sea Kelp Extract normalizes the skin’s moisture content.

Visit www.getjackblack.com to learn more and to purchase.

Looking for a New Fragrance? Try Botanical Essence No. 1 by Liz Earle

Ever tried a natural fragrance before? I haven’t. But I have tried Liz Earle botanical skincare and it is wonderful. So I was excited to try their Botanical Essence No. 1 ($78.00 USD for 50ml/1.6fl.oz), which is made up of over 98% directly derived from natural ingredients including high-altitude lavender from France, damask rose from Turkey, Italian bergamot and spicy patchouli from Indonesia.

The creator of the fragrance, Jean Charles Niel, took 3 years to finish it. He states, “This creative process gave me the time and the opportunity to craft a fragrance working with the highest quality ingredients. Using the Instant Boost Skin Tonic as a starting point, I looked into the glamour of the brand and Liz’s image to create a vibrant sparkling floral with a beautiful rose at its heart translating into warmth and sensuality for the dry down.”

The notes are:

Top notes: bergamot, mandarin, orange bigarad, lemon, and Cardamom

Middle notes: rose absolute, lavender, geranium, coriander and nutmeg

Base notes: cedarwood, vetiver, tonka bean and patchouli

What I think: This fragrance is so complex, it took a few days for me to decide what I was smelling! The fruity notes battle with the spicy notes for dominance, but the spices win out. It is very deep and sexy, and if that is the type of fragrance you love, this is for you. It is a little strong for me, but I love the natural ingredients involved.

Learn more about this fragrance at www.us.lizearle.com. Enjoy!

New Summer Fragrances from Antica Farmacista

I like to change my home scents every season. In the Summer, the heat makes me long for light scents that are beachy, tropical and or fruity. Antica Farmacista, a luxury brand of home and personal fragrances have delivered two new Summer collections; Ala Moana and Lemon, Verbena & Cedar. Their notes are:

Ala Moana — Night-blooming jasmine, plumeria, tuberose and gardenia and notes of citrus.

Lemon, Verbena & Cedar — lemon, orange, lemongrass, Italian Verbena, white florals, and cedarwood.

The line is available in:

Home Ambiance Fragrance250 ml$62
Home Ambiance Fragrance500 ml$92
Room and Linen Spray100 ml$28
Perfume (Ala Moana only)50 ml$62
Body Lotion (Ala Moana only)10 oz$25
Bath & Shower Wash
(Ala Moana only)10 oz$23
Hand Wash (Ala Moana only)10 oz$23

I have tried the Ala Moana Hand Wash, and it reminds me of my honeymoon in Hawaii many years ago. The scent of the flowers takes me away every time I wash my hands! Very nice!

Antica Farmacista Summer 2010 products will be available at www.anticafarmacista.com, Nordstrom, www.nordstrom.com, Bergdorf Goodman, Henri Bendel and Takashimaya

RapidLash™ Declares Wink Week!

Readers: Check out this link and following news release from RapidLash — http://bit.ly/bMnWb5

Mashpee, MA (June 7, 2010) – RapidLash™, the revolutionary paraben-free product that helps promote lush lashes and beautiful brows is encouraging women of all ages to be confident, friendly and flirtatious by participating in the first ever Wink Week! The wink is a commanding eye expression and RapidLash™, the leading eye enhancement serum that has changed the face of the beauty industry, gives women the freedom to exude their confidence in the power of a RapidLash™ Wink!

Throughout the week of June 7, 2010 – June 11, 2010 RapidLash™ encourages women to celebrate their love for lashes by logging onto the RapidLash Facebook Page and sending a RapidLash™ Wink to friends, family and fellow flirts! The application will be accessible on the page for the duration of Wink Week. RapidLash™ will also be celebrating Wink Week on our Facebook Page and on Twitter by sharing special content, quizzes and polls and asking our community to share photos of their best winks and their tips on feeling confident, flirty and beautiful. To continue with its ongoing commitment to various charitable causes, RapidLash™ will drop a wink towards cancer research by donating $1 for every wink up to 5,000 shared in honor of Wink Week.

“A focal point of RapidLash’s mission is finding unique and exciting ways to make our customers feel great about themselves.” Says Robert Trow, CEO of ROCASUBA, “The first ever Wink Week is just another way to engage our passionate and devoted fans, encouraging them to bat their beautiful, lush lashes, and simultaneously help a very worthy cause.”

In addition to sharing winks on Facebook, RapidLash™ will be partnering with Match.com by sponsoring the Wink functionality, where users of the popular online dating community send a Wink to flirt with someone in whom they are interested. It’s just RapidLash’s way of celebrating the power of a great wink! The sponsorship will run from May 29 to June 13.

RapidLash™ is an eyelash and eyebrow renewal serum that help promotes healthy, natural lashes and brows in just 30 days and is available in mass market retailers nationwide. Created with an innovative, high-performance formula, RapidLash is an easy-to-use serum that allows consumers to achieve a noticeable difference and improve the overall condition of the lashes and brows. This makes the product great for both women and men. With a price point of $49.95, as compared to other pricier formulations on the market, consumers on all income levels can enjoy fuller, thicker and longer lashes.

Condition Your Hair with New Products From Pureology HydrateSystem

In my opinion, Pureology Serious Colour Care is one of the best lines of color hair care around. The Hydrate Collection is perfect for thirsty hair. But it is very conditioning, which could weigh fine hair down.

Enter two new additions to the Hydrate System: Hydrate LightCondition ($27.00 USD) and Hydrate HydraWhip ($45.00 USD). The new creamy conditioner and soft soufflé provide lightweight moisture for finer hair types and people who are sensitive to menthol.

The claim is:

“Many moisturizing products tend to be heavy on fine hair, making it limp and appear thinner and greasy. To address this need, Hydrate LightCondition and Hydrate HydraWhip provide moisture that will not weigh down hair, but provides nourishment to soften and protect using organic botanicals of peppermint, rosemary, sage, and green tea to provide condition and shine for light, naturally radiant and healthy hair. The exclusive AntiFadeComplex® neutralizes free radicals to maximize colour retention.

The new Hydrate LightCondition contains Hydrating Micro-Emulsion Technology formulas to deliver moisture from within, improving hair condition. Natural jojoba and shea butters, with strengthening multi-weight proteins of soy, oat and wheat moisturize and restore suppleness without weighing down fine hair. Hydrate HydraWhip contains an emollient-rich soufflé with avocado, jojoba and shea butters to restore moisture and softness to fine colour-treated hair from root to tip.”

What I think: Both products are creamy, but light. I liked both of them, but the HydraWhip is perfect for my dry hair. It is a nice treatment to use a couple of times a week, while the LightCondition is perfect for every day. Both left my hair soft and not at all weighed down.

The complete Hydrate system includes the following products:
–          NEW Hydrate LightCondition
–          NEW Hydrate HydraWhip
–          HydrateShampoo®
–          HydrateCondition®
–          Hydrate HydraCure®
–          Hydrate ShineMax®

For more information visit Pureology.com and are available for purchase at fine salons

Purity Design Pure Shampoo and Conditioner

Looking for a great summer shampoo? One I have been using and liking is the Purity Design Pure Shampoo & Conditioner from IT&LY Hairfashion, a company that originated in Milan, Italy.

The Pure Shampoo and Conditioner have a couple of great things going for them. They are enriched with the innovative “Desert Blend” containing Agave, Joshua Tree and Challa Cactus. Pure Shampoo is perfect for normal and claims to deeply cleanse, moisturize, and help keep hair frizz free. Pure Conditioner claims to nourish and restore the hair. Plus both products contain UV ray protection, which makes them perfect for summer use.

Pure Shampoo Suggested Retail: $11 Size: 10.14 oz
Pure Conditioner Suggested Retail: $13 Size: 10.14 oz

What I think: I love the gentle scents of the shampoo and conditioner; they smell really good! The shampoo foams well and really cleans my hair. The conditioner is nice, but I have very dry hair so after cleaning it so well, I need something richer. Still — excellent hair care for every day!

For additional information visit www.italyhairfashion.com