Sephora’s Beauty Insider

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smashbox.jpgHave you signed up to be a Sephora Beauty Insider Yet? If not, head on over to Sephora.com and create you account! You’ll get all sorts of goodies - on your birthday you’ll get a free Bliss Naked Body Butter, what could be more fitting for your birthday suit? Sephora will create personalized recommendations on makeup for you based on your eye color and skin tone and you’ll have access to exclusive free samples with every $100 you spend. Right now, here’s my favorite part, you can order a trio set of Smashbox Cosmetic’s Lip Enhancing Gloss complete with three newly formulated colors wrapped up in a sleek silver carrying case. These are not in stores yet and are available exclusively to Sephora’s Beauty Insiders. Grab ‘em while they’re hot and sign up now so you’re always up to date and in on the exclusive offerings from Sephora!

She’s Made Well

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smw-logo.jpgDo you ever find those little companies that you just love? You know the ones I’m talking about, you find them in a little store that you accidentally came across on a weekend trip. They don’t have the high flying glamor of everything you find at Sephora, but there is something refreshing in the pure simpleness of the wonderful products.

She’s Made Well is just such a company. At She’s Made Well Sara-J creates body balms, lip balms, massage bars and all sorts of other goodies that are packed full of natural wholesome goodness. She uses only the finest cocoa butters, shea butters, and essential oils in her products, all of which are organic and fair trade whenever possible.

The Body Balm is like a lip balm for your skin! It smells wonderful, moisturizes and protects your skin all at the same time. I particularly like the Body Balm for any rough spots, like elbows and knees and for your legs after shaving, it leaves them so smooth and soft. Try the Bali Balm, this scent is intoxicating, like heady flowers on a humid summer night. Bali Balm is a mixture of tangerine, patchouli, vetiver and neroli. It has an earthy, spicy scent with a musky tone to it. While I usually strongly dislike patchouli I really like this mixture, perfect for a hot summer night.

If you prefer a more uplifting, fresh fragrance you will love the smell of the Massage Lotion Bar in Shimmy Dawn, a fresh mix of tangerine and lavender - I fell for it immediately. This lotion bar is glittered with Mica on one side and is made of cocoa butter, shea butter, coconut oil and beeswax. It’s also great for freshly shaven legs and wonderful on very dry skin. This bar is in the shape of a soap and would make a really great combination next to you sink, two matching dishes side by side - one for the soap and the other for the lotion bar.

Finally, I must say something about the Fleur D’Orange Lip Balm, it smells like heaven! Feels really nice on your lips, loaded with cocoa butter.

These are homemade products at there simple best. Takes you away to a day in the country where you can relax with nature and breath in the fresh flowers.

(Image Courtesy She’s Made Well)

Sunday Treats

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model_body1.jpgToday treat yourself to a massage, yes a wonderful massage. Go to your local spa or better yet, grab a partner and give each other massages with your own homemade massage oil. This recipe is extraordinarily simple to make, it smells wonderful and is especially nourishing for your skin!

Combine:

Rose Water (50%)
Olive Oil (50%)
add a few drops of glycerin to this mixture

Rose Water stimulates the flow in the minute blood vessels under the skin and helps to rehabilitate capillaries. This means that any skin imperfections you have such as scars, sunburn, aging and varicose veins will benefit and begin to heal. Make sure that you buy high quality organic rose water that is steam distilled.

Olive Oil is deeply moisturizing and high in vitamin A and E making it a wonderful oil for a massage. The glycerin acts as a humectant attracting moisture to your skin.

This particular massage oil recipe is meant to be used immediately and not to be stored, as it will lose it’s scent.

(Image Courtesy Aveda)

4 Tips For Severely Damaged Hair

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If you have severely damaged hair then you know that it can be almost impossible to get your hair looking and feeling wonderful again without just growing it out. I’ve been there and I know how frustrating it can be, but don’t worry - there is hope for tresses in distress! Follow these steps to get back the hair of your dreams:

#1 - Get a Haircut! If your locks are severely damaged cut off as much hair as you can stand to part with. All of those split ends and all of the breakage at the ends of your hair is not just going to go away. Your hair will grow back and why not have it feel wonderful while you grow back the style you love? I’m not suggesting that you shave your head, just that you cut off a couple of inches. I recently cut twelve inches off my very long hair and my hair has not felt so wonderful in a year!

#2 - Use Pantene Restoratives Time Renewal Shampoo and Conditioner for 30 Days I don’t usually recommend drug store quality shampoo and conditioners, however this one works. It really does restore up to two years of damage in 30 days. You have to use the shampoo and conditioner together or it doesn’t work and those two products are the only part of this line that I found to produce results (in fact I really don’t like the rest of the Time Renewal line). After 30 days this shampoo/conditioner combination doesn’t do much else for your hair so after that follow the next step.

#3 - Recondition Your Hair You need more than a conditioner, you need a reconditioner! Find a reconditioner that works for you, you may have to try a few to find out what works for your hair. There are several good choices and the one that works for your hair will depend on the chemistry of your hair, what’s great for your friend might not work on your hair. Fabulous choices are: Dumb Blond by Tigi, Biogenol Reconditioner by Framesi, and K-PAK Deep-Penetrating Reconstructor by Joico (K-Pak can be great for bleached hair).

#4 - Use a Leave-In Conditioner A leave in conditioner will protect your hair from both breakage and heat and it will make your hair extra soft. Try Terax Life Drops, the best leave-in conditioner on the market! This conditioner will leave your hair softer than soft, protect your color from fading and leave your hair smelling like crème brûlée!

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