Natural Ingredients – Page 8 – Forty, Flirty & Fabulous

CrazySticks by Crazylibellule and the Poppies

crazysticks-poule-de-luxe-collection

Forty, Flirty and Fabulous is going international! Well, at least for today. Crazylibellule and the Poppies is a funky fragrance line from France. Their most popular product is their CrazySticks ($18.00 USD), a solid scent in a tube that is completely portable.

These are great since you can keep them in your purse and apply them whenever you need a little boost! Two I really like are:

Blue Orchidée from the Shanghaïjava collection — the notes are Ylang Ylang, Bergamot, Jasmine, Tangerine, Sandalwood, Rose, Orange, Musk and Vanilla.

Vanilla Sucre Glace from the Poule de Luxe collection — the notes are Caramel, Neroli, Vanilla, Jasmine, Musk, Bergamot and Tangerine.

For all of you natural product lovers like myself, Crazylibellule and the Poppies’ products are alcohol free, paraben free and have no artificial coloring.

CrazySticks can be purchased at Sephora. Also visit the website at www.crazylibellule.com to see all that the company has to offer.

Try a New Scent With Nuts Cream Perfume

I love discovering new products that are a little bit different. The Cream Perfume Company is the creator of Nuts, cream perfume that concentrates the fragrance oils in a combination of beeswax and sweet almond oil instead of in alcohol. This is much better for the skin and lasts a long time.

The cream perfumes ($19.95 USD for .35 oz) are very environmentally friendly. They use 100% natural ingredients and some of the perfumes are 100% organic. They also come in a cute little container (that resembles an acorn, hence the name Nuts) made out of residual wood from small mills.

My two favorite scents (so far) are:

Mango Poudre: “Truly seductive scents of mango and cassis balanced with timeless jasmin and candy sugar accord. A tropical favorite with sandalwood, musk and vanilla.” This scent starts out sweet, but when you breath it in you get the depth of the sandalwood and musk. I love this now, but think it will be even nicer when it gets hot this summer.

Ylang Ylang d’amore” “Enjoy exhilarating scents of ylang ylang, mandarin and jasmine in this classic perfume. Trailed by notes of apricot, cedarwood, orange flower, patchouli and musk.” I love this powdery, spicy fragrance. It is very exotic, but soft enough to wear day or night time.

You can purchase these fun, purse-sized fragrances at www.kaponga.com, or look for them at Sephora. Go ahead, try something new!

CoverGirl Simply Ageless Foundation

I love the new influx of anti-aging foundations that have recently been introduced. It’s like an added insurance from those pesky wrinkles that are starting to appear.

CoverGirl has partnered with Olay, by infusing their Simply Ageless Foundation ($15.99 USD), with Olay Regenerist Serum for a double skin treat. This cream foundation comes in 15 shades to choose from, for all skin tones.

The CoverGirl website claims, “This breakthrough formula with Olay Regenerist Serum and SPF 22 stays suspended over fine lines and wrinkles, unlike the leading anti-aging department store foundation that can gather in wrinkles and make skin look older. Clinically shown to provide significant improvement in skin condition in just four weeks.”

This foundation is very creamy and gives great coverage. It is definitely not a sheer foundation. It also drys fairly quickly, giving an flawless matte finish. I also love the SPF 22 because you can never have enough sun protection!

www.covergirl.com is a great place to purchase products or find the location of a retailer near you. It also has a really cool tool called the CG Makeup Mirror where you can upload a photo of yourself and try on CoverGirl products. Have Fun!

Hey All! Enter my 100th Blog Post Giveaways! I will be giving away products from It Cosmetics, Yes to Carrots and EcoTools! To enter, just leave a comment on ANY of my posts between 4/26 – 5/2. I will draw 3 names on Sunday 5/3/09 and notify the winners! To see exactly what I am giving away, check out my post http://tinyurl.com/dgnxda. Good Luck!

Need a Little Luxury? Try La Mer The Body Refiner

: La Mer The Body Refiner

When I first opened my sample of La Mer The Body Refiner (200 ml, $110.00 USD ), I was in my car waiting for my daughter’s bus. I wasn’t sure what it was, so I took it, and rubbed it on my hand. When I looked at my hand, it was sparkling — a lot! So I read the ingredients…diamond dust? How cool is that.

And what an effective body buffer. I rub it on my skin until the particles smooth away and then rinse it off. I have been using this a couple times a week for three weeks. My skin is now so soft!

The Body Refiner incorporates fermented acidic sea muds harvested from a natural marine source. They have low pH levels, and thus work well on sensitive skin. Pure diamond powder and polished sea quartz are the exfoliants and they are infused in a cream base, so it is very gentle on the skin.

This luxury treatment releases in April. Visit the website at www.cremedelamer.com to purchase it or other wonderful skincare products. Enjoy!

Want Flawless Skin? Try Belle De Jour from Kenzo

Belle De Jour (1.7 oz $105.00 USD) is a luxurious cream from Kenzo. “White lotus water is the heart of its secret formula. This natural and potent ingredient has proven relaxing and anti-free radical effects and helps restore skin to its natural balance.” The interesting thing about this cream is that the lotus flower counteracts the stress hormone cortisol’s levels in your skin and relaxes it. This make the skin clearer and smoother.

And it really works. After using it for just a week my skin looked good, and now a few weeks later, my skin is very smooth and glowing. Ladies, I look younger!

My 13 year old daughter has eczema and it gets pretty severe on her face during cold weather. She had red patches under her eyes that were so bad she didn’t want to go to school. So I offered my Belle De Jour, and her face cleared up in a couple of days, and it is now very soft and smooth.

I put the cream on before bed and in the morning after cleansing. It isn’t greasy, but it is creamy so it needs a few minutes to soak in before makeup application. It smells fantastic, too. Two thumbs way up from me.

You can purchase this cream, as well as other fabulous Kenzo skincare and fragrance items at www.kenzousa.com.

Kerastase Hair Products Helps Hair Look Younger

Kerastase is a luxury hair care company that is known to create products to target specific hair needs. I have tried two items from different lines; the Bain Age Recharge from the Resistance Age Recharge Collection, a lipo-replenishing Shampoo for dry, tight scalps and hair losing vitality and the Lotion Densitive GL from the Specifique Thinning Hair Collection, a texturizing and thickening after-shampoo spray.

Bain Age Recharge (250 ml $32.00 USD) – This is a oil-based shampoo that you message into your scalp and hair. The active ingredients include, Vita-Refil Complex, morphofill and glycerol. It leaves my hair soft and shiny and doesn’t strip down the color. It is supposed to bring back the youth to your hair, and my hair does look a lot bouncier and more vital since I have been using it.

Lotion Densitive GL (125 ml $45.00 USD) – I apply this spray to damp hair by starting at my roots and working my way down to the ends. It contains Complexe Gluco Impulsion, which includes vitamin PP, mineral molecules and a cooling agent.The website claims that it, “helps soothe and calm the scalp. Texturizes the fiber. Creates a volume effect.” It does give my hair more body, but my hair gets a little greasy so I only use a few sprays.

These products are a nice treat for my hair! You can check out Kerastase’s other lines such as Nutritive and Reflection at their website www.kerastase-usa.com. The products will give your hair a boost!

Avon liiv botanicals

Avon has been around a very long time and is continuously coming out with fun new products that are accessible to almost everyone.

Recently, Avon has launched a new line of skincare products called liiv botanicals. This line boasts “Plant Essence Technology which captures active plant extracts to deliver rejuvenating benefits directly to the skin.” These products are fragrance-free, preservative-free and dye-free. This makes them ideal for sensitive skin (like mine).

liiv botanicals Vital Day Cream with SPF 20 ($15.00 1.7 fl. oz). The claim is that this, “nourishing formula with natural plant extracts protects skin from harmful UV rays, stress and the environment. After 1 day of use, skin is noticeably fresher and smoother. In just 3 days, skin reveals a healthier clarity and improved texture and tone.”

In the morning and night, I slather this cream all over my face and it absorbs quickly, leaving my skin very soft. I have noticed that since I have been using it, my skin does look more even and has a nice glow to it. Another plus is that since it does absorb so quickly, you can apply makeup just a few minutes after rubbing in the cream. And, I can’t say enough about the importance of SPF in your day cream!

liiv botanicals Vitalizing Eye Cream with SPF 15 ($12.00 5 fl. oz). Claims that in just 2 weeks the appearance of fine lines & wrinkles will diminish, and it will minimize bags and tighten the under eye area. In 4 weeks it claims to reduce under eye circles and firm up skin.

I have been using these products for about 3 weeks now and my under eye area does look smoother. My dark circles are a bit lighter and my bags are gone! This also has an SPF. I don’t know if it is as vital to have SPF with your eye cream, but it is nice.

All in all, I think this is a very nice line for the price. It is affordable for almost all budgets and the natural ingredients are great for the skin. Check out this line and others at www.avon.com or talk to that awesome Avon Lady that you know…

Smooth Shaving Part 1 — Whish All Natural Shaving Products

I have been known to just use soap or shower gel to shave my legs. So it was a really nice change to use the luxurious Whish shaving products. This line uses natural and mostly organic ingredients. Without the harsh chemicals, my skin is even smoother after shaving than usual!

The Whish Pomegranate Shave Crave Pump Shave Cream ($24.00 USD), is a very moisturizing, thick cream. It has a wonderful pomegranate scent that is tart and sweet all at once! The ingredients includes organic shea butter, organic green tea and organic jojoba seed oil, and they leave your skin soft and smooth. Unlike many store brands of shaving cream, the Whish Shave Crave doesn’t dry the skin or leave it sticky. It’s kind of like a shower gel and body butter all in one.

After shaving, I use the Whish Flawless Ingrown Hair Serum ($22.50 USD) on the little red bumps on my legs. I’ve noticed that even after the first use, the bumps were less noticeable. After a couple weeks of use they seem to almost vanish. Their formula includes wheat germ extract to soothe, yeast extract to regenerate and willow bark extract to fight inflammation. It has a very mild scent and feels cool when you apply it.

The Whish products are “made in the USA with Earth friendly packaging and ingredients. Tested on us, not animals™.” These are a nice splurge, especially with warmer weather (hopefully) in the near future. You can purchase this products along with shower gels, body butters and much more at www.whishbody.com. Enjoy!

Tarte ReCreate™ Foundation

I love liquid foundation. I know that mineral powder foundations are all the rage these days, but I for me nothing beats the perfect smoothing foundation that is a perfect match to my skin color. It hides my pores and makes the rest of my makeup look flawless.

Tarte’s ReCreate™ Foundation ($37.00 USD) is a natural anti-aging foundation with Wrinkle Rewind™ Technology. What’s that, you ask? Tarte’s website explains it as, “proprietary re-hydrating complex restores moisture, tone, and elasticity to the skin, effectively reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles”. They also claim the micronized minerals in the formula help brighten the skin and provide an SPF 15.

Other ingredients also include goji berry extract, peat extract, and wheat extract and its paraben, sulfate, and phthalate free. To find out all of the ingredients, visit Tarte’s website at www.tartecosmetics.com.

I think that the price of this foundation is good for the great coverage and glow it gives you. I have noticed that it doesn’t settle in my fine lines and makes my pores (a big problem) less noticeable. I am yet to get a lot of lines (yay sunscreen!), but it seems to make the ones I have less noticeable. All in all, a great liquid foundation!

Sea Results Line Menders from H2O+

The Sea Results Collection from H2O+ claims to, “visibly rewind signs of aging with firming phospholipids and restorative sea nutrients.” The Sea Resulsts Line Mender cream and Sea Results Eye Mender Plus also claim to improve the quality of aging skin in 28 days.

The H2O+ website, http://www.h20plus.com, also touts these statistics concerning the Sea Results Line Mender cream ($54.00 USD), “Over 28 days of continued daily use, 97% of those participating in a consumer panel test reported their skin to be more richly hydrated and 95% noticed smoother, more even skin texture. There was a 22% decrease in wrinkle depth and 19% increase in firmness over that same period of time. In addition to softening dermal creases and refining skin texture, this multi-tasking formula also provides antioxidant protection to help reduce the effects of free radical induced damage. ”

People who participated in a consumer panel test of the Sea Results Eye Mender Plus ($36.00 USD) reported that after a period of 28 days of continued daily use, a 47% decrease in wrinkle depth, a 24% reduction in puffiness and 19% increase in firmness was observed.

I have been using these products for approximately 28 days and I have to say that my skin looks clearer, it is softer and firmer and my eyes look less puffy. My lines on my forehead are a little less noticeable. I think that if I use it a month or two longer, they will be even smoother.

I really do love this cream. It absorbs quickly and can be worn under makeup. That is a big plus for me as I have little time in the morning to get ready for work. The eye cream is thicker, but also absorbs fairly fast. Also, they both smell really great. They have a lighter version of the H2O Spa scent.

My verdict? The price is a bit high, but the quality is excellent. I definitely recommend this line!