After sun skin care

The summer is in its prime and it’s getting hotter and sunnier (if it’s possible) everyday. I hope you use some type of sunblock when you go out (if not, please, read my article posted a couple of weeks ago: tp://beautymanual.blogspot.com/2009/06/summer-has-finally-arrived-in-northern.html– for your own benefit!)

But even if I use a sunblock and stay in the sun for a long time I still have a feeling of discomfort because my skin is tight and dry after sun exposure (I bet your is too) I always use a special after sun moisturizer (not my regular body lotion) on such occasion. Another benefit of an after sun moisturizer is that it helps to keep your tan for longer.

There are a lot of different brands available but I personally like Hawaiian Tropic Aloe Vera. It is very inexpensive (less than $10 for 16 OZ bottle) and it does a great job – my skin feels drenched in moisture after using it.

If you forgot sunblock and stayed a long time in the sun, Hawaiian Tropic can help too but with a different product: Hawaiian Tropic I.C.E. Reliefwhich helps to kill the pain of a sunburn. It gives an instantaneous cooling and calming sensation that lasts for a while.

Hawaiian Tropic products were tested by me under Midwestern, Floridian and Caribbean sun on multiple occasions and they never failed to perform.

Aveen Active Naturals Creamy Moisturizing Oil

Now that summer is here I am very picky about moisturizers I use. I really hate that sticky feeling of a greasy product on my skin combined with sweat - don’t you? That’s why I LOVE Aveeno Active Naturals Creamy Moisturizing Oil

First of all, it doesn’t have an oily texture, though it is called “oil”. It feels more like a very lightweight lotion that perfectly moisturizes my skin (and I have a very dry skin, BTW) making it so smooth and silky.

Second of all, Aveeno Active Naturals Creamy Moisturizing Oil contains natural colloidal oatmeal and pure oat oil (known to sooth dry skin) as well as sesame seed oil and sweet almond oil and thus has a very pleasant (not overpowering) sweet almond smell.

On top of all, for a bit more than $7 (12 oz bottle) it’s indeed a beauty steal!

I read many customer reviews about of this product and everybody agrees that it is great but it is difficult to find it stocked in stores (maybe it is so good that it sells out quickly?) If you have a problem finding it – Amazon has it: you can buy one bottle or a pack of threeand save on shipping!

Israel Beauty Secret - Part II

To continue on my previous story about Dead Sea beauty secrets ( http://beautymanual.blogspot.com/2009/05/israel-beauty-secret.html) I want to share with you another great find that I have recently discovered: Cleopatra's Choice website offers a variety of authentic Dead Sea products. The best part is that if you don’t know what product you need or have any sorts of doubts you can try 10 products for FREE!!! They kindly ask you to pay $4.99 for shipping but I think it’s fair enough.

Click on the link in the upper left hand corner of their main page and it will take you to the description of items they offer for FREE:
1. Mineral Lift Serum
2. Moisturizing Day Cream
3. Intensive Anti Wrinkle Cream
4. Night Renewal Cream
5. Purifying Mud Mask
6. Mineral Eye Gel
7. Mineral Hand Cream
8. Mineral Body Lotion
9. Shea Body Butter
10. Deep Pore Mineral Cleanser

I was pleasantly surprised that all these didn’t come in tiny trial-size pouches that you can hardly open, and when you do it’s only enough for 1 use. These come in nice little jars and I used their eye gel, for instance, for nearly a week, day and night; hand and face creams last for about 3 -4 days, and the only one product that is for 1 time use is the body lotion (the body is big and the jar is small – you do the math)

My absolute favorites were Mineral Eye Gel and Mineral Hand Cream. The eye gel was soothing and refreshing and the hand cream made my hands wonderfully soft!

So when you choose the product YOU like you can order it risk-free.

Also their bath salts (authentic 100% natural Dead Sea salts) are FANTASTIC and CUSTOM-MADE: first you choose from 70 different scents (or choose un-scented), then you choose any of 13 colors available and, finally, you choose any size from 5 to 2400 LB! I’ve never seen such a huge selection of salts which come with all the beauty and therapeutic benefits that Dead Sea has to offer. These also come in samples: 2 OZ = 0.99 USD. You can try any combination of scents and colors.

How to save even more:
1. FREE shipping on orders $49+
2. Use discount coupon “beauty10” to get 10% OFF
3. They send 3 FREE samples with every purchase!

Learn to read your beauty products labels

I was reading my “Parents” magazine the other day and found a very interesting and useful insert: Burt’s Bees cosmetic company created a handy card that lists synthetic ingredients that cosmetic companies use in their products. It teaches you to read labels carefully and not to be tricked by a company which claims to have “natural” products but in fact uses synthetic ingredients. These are:

CLEANSERS:
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
Sodium Laureth Sulfate
Sodium Myreth Sulfate
PETROCHEMICALS:
Petrolatum
Mineral Oil
Paraffin
PRESERVATIVES:
Parabens
DMDM Hydantoin
CHEMICAL SUNSCREENS
Oxibenzone
Avobenzone
Octinoxate
MOISTURIZERS:
Propylene Glycol
Butylene Glycol
Polyisobutene

Background info on Burt’s Bees: Burt’s Bees produces affordable natural skin, hair and lips care products. They call themselves an "Earth Friendly, Natural Personal Care Company" and claim not to use synthetic ingredients in their products unless absolutely necessary (i.e. there is no natural substitute available). Their main ingredients are: beeswax, botanical and essential oils, herbs, flowers and minerals.

What I like about this company is that they are very open about the contents of their products: they give real percentages of natural ingredients in each products: for instance, they state that their Replenishing Lip Balm with Pomergranate Oil is 99.6% natural. Any other company would probably market itself as “100% Natural” without scruples and you wouldn’t even notice the difference (0.4% is nothing, really) but as a customer I appreciate the honesty. That’s why I like Burt’s Bees, in addition to the fact that most of their products are under $10!

How to save even more:
If you buy from
you get the following:
1. Free shipping on orders $50+
2. 20% OFF with coupon code 27164
3. You can CHOOSE 3 FREE samples with your order

Beauty Secret from Tahiti

Have you ever been to Tahiti? This small tropical island in the Pacific Ocean (part of French Polynesia) is a true paradise on Earth and being so remote it seems like it’s not even real, like a fairytale… Its isolated location ensured that it has a lot of vegetation unique to that region and one plant specifically lies at the heart of Tahitian beauty secrets – Tiare flower.

Tiare is a symbol of Tahiti and it’s been used by local people since ancient times in their health and beauty rituals. The most famous product used by Tahitians is Monoi – a natural cosmetic oil consisting of coconut oil and Tiare. It is produced by soaking unopened flowers in coconut oil for 15 days during which Tiare releases its unique properties into the oil. While coconut oil is one of the best moisturizes in the world, Tiare helps relax muscles and sooth you (the flower has a very distinct sweet smell that is use as aromatherapy too).

One cosmetic company brings this ancient beauty recipe into the modern day. Yves Rocher created several great body and hair products based on the tradition of Monoi and Tiare flower. My favorite one is Jardins des Iles Polynesian Tiare Flower Shower Gel (it's actually more of a shower oil) It makes my skin very soft and moisturized as if I used baby oil. On top of that the smell of this shower gel is amazing: it makes you feel like you were bathing somewhere in Tahitian flower garden under a waterfall, not in your shower…

The full product line, “Jardins des Iles”, (= eng. Gardens of the Islands) also consists of hair products and body oils, including the Monoi – and all these exotic beauty for under $10 each (except for Tiare Body oil that costs $15)!!!

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. Use coupon 15THANKS to get 15% OFF any order

What you probably didn't know about deodorant

I was reading news on CNN.com the other day when I came across a very interesting article about deodorants. CNN.com is the last place where I would be looking for beauty related articles and that’s why this piece seemed to be even more intriguing. Here are some facts I learnt from that article*:

“1. Be thankful for your foul body odor. According to anthropologist Louis Leakey, it might be responsible for early man's survival. Leakey's theory claims that most predators avoided feasting on humans because our body odor was "too repugnant."

2. Not only did the ancient Egyptians give us pyramids and flush toilets, they also pioneered the field of deodorants. Egyptians were the first to popularize the idea of applying scents to armpits, usually using cinnamon and other spices that wouldn't turn rancid in the heat.

3. The Roman poet Ovid preferred a more proactive solution. In Book III of the Art of Love, he cautions women against carrying goats under their arms.

4. Antiperspirants are classified as drugs by the FDA. Technically, they affect and/or alter your body's natural functions.

5. The first modern brand of antiperspirant, EverDry, hit drugstores in 1903. The original formula was so acidic that it regularly ate through clothing.

6. Of course, modern antiperspirants can also ruin your clothing. Aluminum chloride, the ingredient that blocks glandular openings and prevents sweating, is notorious for turning T-shirts yellow. So, blame your antiperspirant for your pit stains, not your body.

7. One thing modern antiperspirants don't do is cause degenerative diseases. Medical science has found no conclusive evidence that absorbing aluminum chloride through the skin can lead to memory loss or slurred speech.

8. Aoki, a Japanese company known for its menswear, has developed a deodorant suit that supposedly absorbs sweat and neutralizes odors all over the body.

9. But that's nothing! The greatest Japanese innovation in the fight against B.O. is Fuwarinka scented gum. The so-called "functional candy" contains aromatic compounds that cause your skin to release "Fresh Citrus" or "Fruity Rose" aromas for up to 6 hours after chewing.”

If Japanese innovations in this field are too advanced for you and regular deodorants seem to be too harsh here is a good natural aluminum-free solution :
Sold at at just $6(!) it is organic, has a great smell and portable (you can carry this small bottle in virtually any purse) I believe it’s a great alternative to conventional deodorants.

How to save even more:
1. offers FREE shipment on orders $49 and more
2. Use coupon code skmail20 to get 20% OFF

* You can read the full article at http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/personal/05/06/mf.deodorant.fun.facts/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

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+

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.