Wash your hands more often to avoid diseases!

Since the concern about swine flu epidemic in the world is growing I could not overlook this issue. I have been reading a lot of information about it on the Internet and all sources have a consensus that one of the best ways to prevent swine flu is by washing your hands thoroughly and often. A couple of sources also suggest using hand sanitizing aids.

While using, for instance, anti-bacterial soap and anti-bacterial hand cream may seem like a good idea to some people at this point in time, please, do not go to extremes and be aware of certain health risks associated with these products.

While these products may kill even 99.9% of bacteria (swine flu is a virus) as some manufactures claim, the ones that survive may turn into SUPER BUGS that are resistant to treatment by antibiotics. Therefore, we are breeding these new strong bugs ourselves without even suspecting it and they are much more dangerous than the ones that are weak and are killed by antibacterial products.

I strongly suggest reading the following article for further information on this topic: http://www.colorado.edu/PWR/occasions/articles/soap.html

A regular good old soap will kill both cold and flu viruses! Here is my favorite among liquid soaps – Pivoine Liquid Hand Soap by Yves Rocher:

It has a wonderfully charming tender smell that in my mind is associated with spring and youth. And it has also a sweet price tag at the moment of $5.50 since it’s on SALE!
I generally love French beauty companies and Yves Rocher in particular because it is known around the world for its expertise in botanical beauty care and their products are priced within reach.
How to save even more: Yves Rocher offers the following promotion:
1. Shipment is FREE on orders $30+
2. You can choose a FREE gift with every order ( I really like that you can choose a gift yourself rather than them sending you something you actually do not need)
3. There are a couple of discount coupons you can use:
a. 15THANKS – 15% OFF any order OR
b. F4317 - $10 OFF purchase $30+

Russian Beauty Secrets

Due to my profession and my love for new experiences I have been travelling a lot around the world. If I put together all countries where I lived, studied, worked and just had vacation they will add up to 30 (and still counting). What I have learned from my roaming around the Globe is that every country and every nation has its own peculiar traditions and views about many issues from cooking to beauty. Some of them really perform miracles but they are not well-known in other parts of the world.

I would like to share with you all these beauty tips and secrets that I uncovered. The most valuable ones are those that go back ages and ages in history and are tested by generations of people . Since a lot of them date back to B.C. era they are based on natural products and often enough you can find these products in your kitchen and garden.

I will start my Beauty Expedition Around the World from my native country – Russia. In Russia we consider milk products to hold secrets to all your beauty needs, especially face and hair. Russian milk products are more natural than in the U.S. and Western Europe and we use a lot of sour milk products for beauty purposes. Our milk becomes sour after about 3 days (as it SHOULD in natural circumstances if it is not specially treated at the milk factory). Certain products made from sour milk have loads of benefits for your hair and skin.

Sour cream and cottage cheese: Russian women use these products to create home-made face masks that hydrate skin, make it firm and relieve the irritation of sensitive skin.

Here is an easy face mask recipe: 2 tea spoons of cottage cheese + 1 egg yolk. Mix well till smooth. Apply to the face and leave for 15 minutes.

Sour milk or as we call it in Russian “prostokvasha”(only use milk that came directly from the farm) and plain kefir (it looks and feels like plain liquid yogurt): our ancestors used these products to wash their hair. Milk products not only nourish the hair, but give it strength, shine, silkiness and also may prevent dandruff.

Modern beauty industry uses the power of milk in some of its products. My favorite products incorporating milk proteins and lipids are H2O Plus Milk line. They have excellent products for body, hands and hair. They are, probably, as close as it gets to natural milk in the modern world. Another Plus is that they are affordable (all products are under $20):



How to save even more: I like shopping at Skinstore.com.

They have several fantastic promotions going on right now:
1. Save 20% on your purchase: code MDAY20 (expires May 4, 2009)
2. Save 10% EVERY DAY: code SSM18447 (NO expiration)
3. FREE shipment on orders $49+ (NO expiration)
4. They send you FREE product samples with every shipment

Great Lip Gloss - glossy, not sticky!

I was wondering today what more nonsense Cosmopolitan.com can suggest and surely it is full of it! In my “favorite” Celebs Favorite Beauty Products section Angela Kinsey recommends Lancome Juicy Tubes lip gloss. If you like the feeling of your lips covered in a sick sugary syrup than that’s the product for you, otherwise stay away, it is awful!!! It is very sticky, EXTREMELY STICKY, and feels totally unpleasant on your lips.

I do like a lot of Lancome products but this one is terrible!! I bought it several years ago and I was disgusted, I honestly hoped they’d change the formulation sooner or later. Recently I received this product as a gift and it is still as bad as it was before… In addition it costs 25 USD – the price for which you can buy 2 much better products!

Honestly, ANY product would be better than this one but I personally have 2 favorites:

1. Mary Kay Signature NouriShine Lip Gloss. It feels very pleasant, it wears beautifully and it can be used on top of a lipstick or by itself. I own several shades but I use these 2 most often because they go with any make up (if not one then the other). One has sparkles and the other doesn’t so I use either of them depending on my mood and/or occasion:




2. Revlon Super Lustrous Lip gloss. What has all the benefits of MK lip gloss but also has SPF 15, which is rare in lip glosses and very important especially with the summer quickly approaching. Here is the color I like:


Both products are affordable (half price of Juice Tubes) and are of a very good quality.

How to save even more: when you shop on Amazon.com you usually get a better price then on any other website (unless there is a special sale or you have a discount coupon). Typically you save at least 10%. In addition you get FREE shipping if you order 25 USD or more worth of qualifying products. This is very important: you can buy the same lip gloss from several Amazon.com vendors and Amazon ITSELF. When you choose Amazon as vendor this is when you get free shipping.

Makeup tutorials

I hope you noticed that I added a video bar to my blog to show you some of the makeup tutorials by Lauren Luke and probably you are wondering WHO is Lauren and WHY I decided to showcase her videos.

Is she a makeup professional? – No, not at all. But she does not need to be one because she has a unique GIFT, a sense of Beauty, a talent for applying makeup. People globally recognize her natural talent – as of early 2009 her YouTube tutorials have been viewed more than 31 MILLION times during the past 3 years she’s been posting them! Though being an amateur, she is, possibly the most viewed makeup artist in the world.

But this is not WHY I like her. I adore her because she is genuine, open and passionate about what she likes, she has an amazing entrepreneurial spirit. She not only teaches us how to apply makeup but how to pursue our dreams and how not to be afraid of challenges. She was a single mom in a small British town with a “dead-end” job she hated when she decided to follow her calling – she quit the job and started to produce these amazing makeup tutorials from her bedroom. That was the beginning of her story and it is a story in the making, enfolding in front of our eyes, “in real time”: just in February this year she got a job with the Guardian newspaper to run their beauty column and end of April her own make up line will be launched. And she is only 27 years old!

Lauren is indeed an example for all of us. If you are interested in her story or if you just need an inspiration you can read more about Lauren Luke in U.K. Guardian newspaper: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/30/lauren-luke-youtube-makeup

I am a follower of her tutorials and I will be brining you the best ones in this blog.

Best Mother's Day Gifts!

Mother’s Day has become one of my favorite holidays after I became a mom myself 1,5 years ago. I believe this is the day to give all your love and gratefulness to those ones who selflessly give you everything they have. It’s time to give back. Since becoming a mom I know that I spend less and less time and money on myself, so if you mother is like myself (and I am 99.9% sure she is) at least 1 day a year you should spend your resources on her. Every mom deserves to get a special treatment this day, to be pampered.

To help you out here is my choice of top Mother’s Day gifts for all budgets:

1. As I wrote on my blog earlier that the condition of your hair is not just a sign of beauty but a sign of your health. Healthy hair is very important and it is every woman’s pride. Kerastase products, which I described earlier (http://beautymanual.blogspot.com/2009/04/kerastase-hair-care-products.html) are great for all hair types but instead of just buying a regular shampoo and conditioner, maybe you should buy a special hair treatment for your mom. I am pretty certain she will not spend money on it herself and I am absolutely positive she will benefit from it immensely. Choose one depending on your mom’s hair type and/or issues (fine hair/fragile or damaged hair/ oily scalp, etc.) – choices are endless and they are specifically tailored to one’s needs:


How to save even more: Fragrance.net, where you can find these hair products, is having an great Mother's Day promotion now, see my previous post (http://beautymanual.blogspot.com/2009/04/beauty-stimulus-bill.html) You can also still use "cable" coupon for 15% OFF (I just checked) and it offers FREE shipping if you order $70+.

2. Woman’ eyes always give out her age and also suffer from tiredness, lack of sleep, environmental factors, etc. While moisturizes and line fillers are good for their purpose special eye treatments/masks will give you mom so much needed pampering. Here is a great example of a pampering set you can get, which will re-charge and re-energize her skin in minutes (it really does an amazing job):


How to save even more: this and other amazing sets on blissworld.com are now 10% on top of that the site offers 3 excellet promotions specifically in honor of Mother's Day:

Save $15 on gifts for mom at Bliss when you buy 1 body butter + 1 scrub + 1 shower gel (any scent!). Use code SAVE15. Offer ends 5.11.09.

Receive a free full sized blood orange+white pepper body butter ($35.00 value) with your order of $75 or more at BlissWorld.com! Offer ends 4.30.09.

Free gift for your big day: Free bliss eye mask sample ($14 value) + free shipping over $75. Enter code BIGDAY in shopping bag

3. Our hands also give out age and while they receive the harshest treatment from cold weather, water and chemicals (constant cleaning after babies, husbands and pets) they don’t receive as much care as face does, for instance. Your mom will be extremely grateful if you give her Mary Kay Satin Hands set. It includes Extra Emollient Cream, Scrub and Regular Hand Cream. Each of the products can be used separately but they do the best job ever if used together in 3 steps:

a. Generously apply Extra Emollient Cream and massage your hands
b. Wash the excess of the Extra Emollient Cream with Scrub, which will also scrub away dead cells (I use it as a cleaner instead of hand soap too)
c. Finish by applying the Hand Cream to moisturize and protect.

Just after 1 procedure you will notice a significant difference!


4. Many women have a secret dream of escaping to a spa for a day, but most of them don’t even get one free hour for themselves, let alone extra cash to spend on elaborate treatments. What is the solution? Bring a spa home to your mom! There are a lot of spa sets out there but I prefer Bliss brand produced by an actual spa, Bliss Spa in New York. These guys really know spa products because it’s their business. Bliss sets always get excellent reviews and below are some great ones on sale now:



How to save even more: these and other amazing sets are on sale now at blissworld.com - 10% OFF. And on top of that the site offers several special promotions in honor of Mother's Day:

Save $15 on gifts for mom at Bliss when you buy 1 body butter + 1 scrub + 1 shower gel (any scent!). Use code SAVE15. Offer ends 5.11.09.

Receive a free full sized blood orange+white pepper body butter ($35.00 value) with your order of $75 or more at BlissWorld.com! Offer ends 4.30.09.

Free gift for your big day: Free bliss eye mask sample ($14 value) + free shipping over $75. Enter code BIGDAY in shopping bag

5. Finally, if your mom is into fragrances – buy her an exquisite perfume. I often hear women (my mom including) talking about “good, old days” when they were young and a certain perfume they used that symbolized that special period in their lives. More often than not this perfume cannot be found in department stores anymore. However, there is a high chance you can find it on Fragrance.net I know I was searching for my mom’s favorite for years. Whenever I went to France I would go to the best and biggest beauty stores only to confirm time after time that this scent was not for sale anymore. And voila – a month ago I found it on Fragrance.net! You cannot really rely on fragrance reviews because tastes differ dramatically but one type of comment you can find consistently throughout the site: “I’ve search for ABC perfume forever and found it here. THANK YOU for doing such a great job!”



How to save even more: Fragrance.net offers a special Mother's Day promotion, see my previous post (http://beautymanual.blogspot.com/2009/04/beauty-stimulus-bill.html); you can use "cable" coupon for 15% off and shipping is always free if you order $70+

Plus you get discounts and free shipping on orders equal or more 70 USD!

Beauty Stimulus Bill

I just received an e-mail from Fragrance.net which I couldn't help sharing with you. The subject is "Our Own Stimulus Bill". They offer tiered discounts till April 21, 2009 as follows:

- $20 OFF orders $150+ - use code TF594 at check out
- $10 OFF orders $60 + - use code TSX94 at checkout
- $5 OFF orders $40+ - use code F594F at checkout

This is ideal timing because many of us will be thinking about buying Mother's Day gifts! It is important to mention that this website not only offers fragrances, they have a huge selection of skincare, haircare and make up products from the leading beauty companies around the world.

This link will take you directly to Fragrance.net:

Kerastase hair care products

Let’s talk about your hair today. Now that the winter is over in the Northern hemisphere and we took our hats off we want our hair to look gorgeous. It is important to understand that wonderful hair is not just an indicator of beauty it is an indicator of your health.

My top pick in hair care products is Kerastase brand. Year after year Kerastase products win “Best in Beauty Buys” award from InStyle magazine, including 2009. They have products for all types of hair and all types of problems your hair might encounter. People who created these products really worked hard to create shampoos, conditioners and treatments specifically for your needs. They don’t just have products for “Dry Hair”, for instance, they have products for “Dry, rebellions hair”, “Normal to slightly dry hair”, “Dry, sensitized hair” and “Very dry hair”.

My love affair with Kerastase began long time ago when a friend of mine used to work for L’Oreal (Kerastase is one of L’Oreal’s superior brands). He gave me a Kerastase shampoo and conditioner as a gift and I am extremely grateful to him for that. But for that occasion I wouldn’t have never discovered the best products for my hair, ever: you cannot easily find Kerstase in your local store, depending on the country/city where you live you can either purchase it in hair saloons or on-line. When I lived in UK I found Kerastase in beauty parlors, in the U.S. I never saw it in places where I do my haircuts (may be it’s just Illinois issue). So I decided to skip the trouble and use the good old Internet.

Over the time I used various Kerastase products (I don’t just rely on commentaries in beauty magazines): for sun exposed hair, for colored hair and for normal weak thin hair. ALL of them did an excellent job. I cannot recommend which specific product you should use, it all depends on your hair type/issues, but I am sure everyone will be able to find a perfect match for oneself in Kerastase’s extensive line of products.

How to save on this brand: buy on Fragrance.net (image links in this post will take you directly to Kerastase on Fragrance.net). Current coupon code: "cable" - 15% OFF any purchase. If this expires, register on the website itself and they will send you 10% OFF coupon via e-mail. In addition, if you buy 70 USD+ wirth of products the shipment is FREE.

Life saver for dry skin

Today I continue to review celebrities’ advice regarding beauty products published on Cosmopolitan.com Victoria Beckham and some other ladies recommend Elizabeth Arden 8-Hour Cream Skin-Protectant" as a do-all cream in for anywhere that’s superdry: lips, elbows, knees, hands... I LOVE do-all creams because they save time and money (you need just 1 product instead of several). And this one is good, but not the cheapest -24 USD for 1.7 OZ tube.

There is an excellent alternative which became a lifesaver for me –

Mary Kay Extra Emollient Night Cream – 11 USD for 2.1 OZ tube.

It has EXACTLY THE SAME use – extremely dry skin on your face, hands, knees, elbows, etc. It contains petrolatum, beeswax and mineral oil and I even used it on my son’s super dry legs since he was 8 months old! Regardless of the fact that it is called “night” cream I use it during the day to protect my hands since I spend a lot of time with my hands in water cleaning the mess my son creates.

You have to give your skin 5-10 minutes to absorb it entirely and after that you hands feel like satin! It feels better than any spa treatment.

How to save even more: 1. the tube lasts forever: you do not need more than a small pee-size amount of the cream to treat both of your hands (if you use more it will be too much) AND 2. Buy it on Amazon.com! :

Makeup tips

I am always looking for good tips about using beauty products. Collette Kavanagh, who owns a beauty salon in a small Irish town of Ferbane came up with these great make up tips:

1. Always choose a foundation that matches's your skin tone and type. A good way to check is to put some foundation on the back of your hand and view it in a well lit area. Using a damp sponge blend the foundation evenly all over your face, down to the start of your neckline.

2. Cover blemishes with a concealer that matches your foundation. Apply with the damp sponge.

3. Apply a translucent powder all over your face, pressing in with a powder puff, or cotton wool. Finally dust off the excess with a powder brush. This will set the foundation in place and prevent shine.

4. Starting on the cheekbone and working towards the outer edge of the nose, sweep on the blusher. A good tip when applying blusher is to smile in to the mirror, that way you can find the correct outline of the cheekbone. Use Blusher sparingly, you can always top-up if necessary.

5. Choose eye-shadow colours that will match both your eye colour and will also compliment what you will be wearing. In general most companies provide a trio of eye shadow compacts. The lightest colour should be dusted all over the eye, the next colour applied to the eyelid ,and the darkest shade just at the outer edge of the upper eye-lid and swept along the eye socket. If you use this technique you cant go far wrong.

6. Apply eyeliner; the general rule of thumb here is brown for the daytime and black for the night, regardless of eye colour. Apply the liner to both the upper and lower lash line. Start at the outer edge of the lash line on the lid and line ¼ of the way in. The same applies to the lower lash line. Don't go all the way in as it will look too unnatural.

7. Next the mascara. Here the same colour rule applies. Brown for day and black for night. Apply the mascara working down the lashes moving the wand in circular movements. This ensures better coverage. You can now use an eyelash brush to comb the eyelash; this will remove any excess mascara.

8. Eyebrows. This is a very common problem; people put on their eye shadow and totally forget about their eyebrows. The eyebrows frame the face and a well-shaped eyebrow will always result in a better overall make-up. So start by brushing down the hair on the eyebrow, then draw in a feathered line on the eyebrow line. Finally, brush the eyebrow hair in to place.

9. Lips: outline your lips with a neutral lip liner or one that matches's the colour of your lipstick. If you lips are too small you can draw just outside of the natural lip line. The same applies if your lips are too large - you can draw just inside the natural lip line. Now you are ready to fill in your lip colour - this can be done by applying the lipstick with a lip brush. Blot the lips with a tissue and then apply a last coat.

So simple and effecient! Have a Beauty-full day!

About me

I guess it’s a good time to introduce myself, the blog owner – Northern Belle (as opposed to “Southern Belle”, just to prove that the girls from the North are as glamorous as the ones from the South) and share with you why I decided to create this blog:

1. I LOVE to see women walking down the street radiating a divine glow, an ethereal light because they feel confident in how they look and they feel beautiful.

2. I am a marketing expert by profession and I know how products are being marketed to customers, including pricing, advertising, and promotion. I HATE when companies try to trick you, my readers, into buying stuff that might not be right for you. I am ashamed of some of my “colleagues” and with this blog I am trying to undo some of the “damage” they create every day.

3. I started my career in a cosmetics industry and I know quite a bit about different beauty products manufactures and retailers.

4. I LOVE trying new stuff out, which includes “playing” with various beauty products, you can say it’s a kind of a hobby. I used to share my findings with friends and family but then I thought this information could benefit a wider audience.

5. I HATE to pay retail price for products I buy (and not just cosmetics) so I’ve done a lot of market research and now I know a lot of websites where I can get web discounts coupons and share them with you.

6. I LOVE writing. I wrote and published 1 book but, unfortunately, I don’t have time for another major “masterpiece”. Writing short articles for a blog is the best outlet for my creativity.
7. I do NOT currently work for any cosmetics company and I am NOT paid to promote any specific products. I am not a skincare specialist or an aesthetician. The views expressed in this blog are my personal views and opinions.

Aqua Fusion

If you read Cosmpolitan.com you probably noticed one of the long standing features under the Style and Beauty section which is called Celeb's Favorite Products. If you have not read it yet - DON'T EVEN BOTHER! In short, 100 celebrities got together to brainwash you about "fantastic" must-have beauty products. Only a couple of them give a decent advice, others either advertise the company they have a contract with or talk about "miracle" products that cost several hundred dollars (which very few of us can afford).

So I decided to make it my mission to de-mistify the "Celeb's Favorites" and give you alternatives that won't break you budget while doing an excellent job.

Today my target is Creme de La Mer. It is recomended by several celebrities but at a retail price of 230 USD/2 oz jar it feels to me more like a small dismond than a face cream. If you are looking for an outstanding moisturizing cream my absolute favoutite is Lancome Aqua Fusion Continuously Infusing Moisture Cream-Gel ( Normal/ Combination Skin; Cream - for Dry Skin) : It does exactly what it says in the title: infuses you skin with moisture and locks it there. Whenever I am on the go I always take it with me and if I have space just for 1 jar - this is it, because it can double as my eye cream (it releaves the tightness around the eyes in an instant!) It is oil free and does not clog pores

What do I especially love about it? - The fact that it costs just 39 USD/1.7 OZ jar! (Fragrance.net gives the best price at the moment, click the image above to get direstly to Lancome section of the site). It is sometimes placed in the "night cream" section, but it it sooooo light and refreshing that it can be used both in the morning and before bedtime.

How to save even more: buy more than 70 USD worth of products to get FREE shiping on Fragrance.net and use current promotion code "AAANY" to get 15% OFF your entire order (of any product(s) on Fragrance.net.)

If you found this article quite some time after it was published and the coupon is not valid any more - look through more recent posts to get a new coupon code.