Beautifully Crafty

Hello:
After making dinner one night I asked my boyfriend to take the Dremmel to some aluminum cans and smooth out the lip as I had a project in mind. (Beauty related of course).

So now I had my smoothed out cans with no sharp edges (you seriously need to have the edges sanded or you will cut yourself - Seriously, this I know).  I also had some pretty papers and my handy ruler mat and sharp scissors. 

Oh, and my craft glue...

And a little measuring, cutting and gluing later, I had some lovely new organizing containers for my short eyeliners, tall eyeliners and lipliners - yea!  Cost under $1.00 :)

So there you have it - Beautifully crafty I think ;)

Jasmine

Freeman Facial Enzyme Mask...is Fruitastic!

Hello:
Today I wanted to share one of my favorite inexpensive yet wonderfully effective skincare products.  It is only $3.99 for 6 oz (which will last forever) and it's available at Wal-mart or drugstore.com.

Their description claims:
This enzyme mask, with Pineapple extract and AHAs gently exfoliates while lightly moisturizing, leaving your skin soft, supple and younger-looking.

Pineapple extract and AHAs exfoliate

Restores radiant skin

Contains natural ingredients

I use it about once every 10 days to give my face a little extra in the exfoliation process without having to do harsh physical exfoliation.  My face really feels softer and my night time moisturization seems to sink in more.  So for $4 it's a treat for your wallet & face :)

Jasmine

What's in my shower... nothing too exciting

Hello:
Last week I read a post on Hairspray & High Heels (Link here) on what she normally keeps in the shower.  I thought it was a fun idea so I took a few pictures of my "bain".

I hog three of the four built in shelves in the bathtub enclosure.  I used travel a lot for work and I am still working thru my travel sized goodies, which is nice because I find some treasures that way.  Like my Bath & Body Works Aromatherapy "Energy" shower gel in Lemon Zest.  It's so refreshing!  I also have Clean and Clear Deep Action Cream Cleanser, which I only use when I feel terribly greasy - it's too harsh and drying.  I have been using Johnson & Johnson's Head to Toe Wash for years - it's so gentle and doesn't suck the moisture out of my dry skin.  I like Gillette Satin Care shave cream for dry skin because it works really well - but I definitely want to try the EOS one mentioned on the Hairspray and High Heels post.  Since I'm a natural "dirty" blonde I use Jhirmack Distictions Silver ( a purple shampoo) once a week to keep brassiness at bay.

On the other side I have loofah poofs and gloves. I also have Sally Hansen's Spa Foot Pumice Cream which I use weekly to keep my feet smooth, I like it but I don't Love it.  I also have Gillette Satin Care In-Shower Moisturizer which is kind of an odd product but I use it in the winter as I feel it forms a "barrier" and I don't get as dry.  I also like C.Booth's Milk Body Cleanser as it is gentle and great for a cool summer shower.  Then we move to my hair care products L'oreal Color Vive for when my hair feels oily (not very often).  And Redken All-Soft for most every other wash.  Redken Color Extend Condition for the few times I don't deep condition.  Lace-It is an Argan Oil Deep Conditioner I got at Sally's Beauty Supply, and it makes my hair really soft and less frizzy. 

Finally I have Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Conditioner for when I want to leave in a condition over night, it's pretty light weight so I use it when I let my hair air dry.  Diamond Shine body wash has sparkles in it for a little extra "oomph" on a night out.  Arbonne's Hair and Scalp Revitalizer is really great for summer, you use it after conditioning and you massage it in and leave it on for about 5 minutes and your scalp feels tingly, cool and exfoliated.  I have a St.Ives Smoothing Body Polish for when I need deep exfoliation.  Matrix Conditioning Balm is my go to Deep Conditioner, it feels light but repairative.  I also have my wide tooth comb to brush all my conditioners thru.  Finally, Bath and Body Works Spa For Heaven's Sake which is a wonderul oil to cream body wash (which I believe they don't make anymore - BOO :(  So there it is in all it's glory.  What are your favorite body beauty items?

Jasmine

Loreal's new BB Cream...is not so BB.

Hello:
Today I tried Loreal's new Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream.

It comes in four different shades (Fair, Light, Medium and Deep).  I got the Fair, they had a tester of the light and I would say it's about an NW25.  On the bottle they claim it provides four benefits:
Primes to smooth skin texture
Perfects to hide imperfections
Hydrates for all day moisture
Corrects skin for a healthy looking even complexion

Now, if you've read about the other BB Creams I've tried (Clinique, Estee Lauder,Too Faced) you know I think that these "new" American BB Cream are not at all like the ones you can get an Asia and are basically tinted moisturizer with sunscreen - the same is true with this except it doesn't even have sunscreen! As you can see in the picture below, it comes out of the tube white and when you blend it out it feels grainy (odd), but it is very close to my skin tone.

You can barely see it blended in above the white dot of intial product.

It reminds me of Estee Lauder's Invisible Fluid Foundation, it is very light coverage but smooths you out a bit and has no SPF, and I really think I would use this as more of a primer or on a day I want just a touch of make up - which isn't often.  Because when I put on a tinted moisturizer, BB Cream, Foundation etc... I want it to provide actuall coverage.  With this I feel like it doesn't make much of a difference.

Before



After

As you can see (ignore my hair it's 95 and super humid here) the BB Cream makes me a little less shiny but not much else.  It retails for just under $11 and I got it at CVS.  At this point I've given up on American BB creams :( 

What do you think of all theses new BB Creams coming out? Like? Dislike?

Jasmine

Summer Polish Hual

Hello:
I went to Sally's Beauty Supply today to pick some new fun colors for summer.  Their selection is pretty picked over (for the new collections).  But I managed to find a few :)  I also went to Walgreens to see if anything caught my eye.  Here's the what I got and you can see I love me some coral and pink.

Here are the colors and where I got them (from left to right):
Sinful Colors in Island Coral (Walgreens)
Nina Ultra Pro in Tangerine Dream (Sally's)
Revlon Top Speed in Guava (Walgreens)
China Glaze in Rich & Famous (Sally's)
China Glaze in Ahoy! (Sally's)
Essie in e-nuf is e-nuf (Walgreens)
Orly in Oh Cabana Boy (Sally's)

Here are some closer shots-

I also picked up an Orly french manicure kit and I'm kind of kicking myself for not getting the one to paint your nails white and have neon pink tips.

I also picked up a neon orange mini for my toes :)
And at Walgreens I got a polish I had never heard of last week (Pebble Beach in Ruby Step 3).  Ugggg I always use a base and top coat and this stuff went on really grainy and then chipped in a day.  Have any of you tried Pebble Beach?

Hopefully I should have a few pics of my new manicures coming soon.  And I picked up a new eye primer so I need to do some swatches very soon!

Jasmine

Back to Blogging with...May empties!

Hello!
I'm back and I want to share my May empties!

I have a love/hate relationship with finishing products.  If it was really good I am so sad to see it go, but if it was not so good then that means I have been struggling to get rid of it :)  In May, I managed to empty 4!

First I have Vaseline Intensive Rescue Clinical Therapy Body Lotion.  I got this at Walgreens as I recall.  I have crazy dry skin on my legs, and I hoped this would help.  None of the Vaseline brand lotions seem to do anything for me, and this one fell into that same category.  So this is an obvious non-repurchase.

Next up Avon's Anew Clinical Advanced Mircodermabrasion cream which Avon describes as " The first and only, at-home micro-dermabrasion to offer multiple-strength polishing in one revolutionary package. Exclusive dial-up tube delivers 4 progressively stronger levels of our micro-crystal formula. The levels gradually build every 2 weeks, to achieve fast results. Instantly, reveals visibly healthier, more radiant skin. Leaves skin feeling smooth and conditioned."  I really like this and guess what - they no longer sell it :(  Although I prefer not do use physical exfoliants, some times a good scrub feels great.   I have yet to find a comparable replacement, let me know if you have a suggestion!

I also finished my 1oz bottle of Lancome's Genefique which they describe as "Visibly younger skin in just 7 days. Skin looks as if lit from within – breathtaking radiant. Its youthful quality returns: cushiony soft and velvety to the touch."  It works really well, my skin definetly looks brighter and my lotion seemed to sink in better. I've switched to Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair (same idea, but you only have to apply at night but it takes longer to see results)hence me using it after using Genefique.  I would buy this again, and suggest it to anyone from dry to combination skin.

Last but not least, Lancome's Hypnose Doll Lashes which they describe as "A new, unique, cone-shaped brush provides an extremely smooth and clean application, precisely defining even your hard-to-reach corners and lower lashes. Combined with the exclusively developed FiberShine^TM formula, it sculpts, curls and loads each lash for the ultimate shiny lash fringe."  I do like the brush it really gets all your lashes and it seperates really well for a natural but better look.  However I can get the same results from L'oreal Telescopic for about a third of the price so I don't think I'll be purchasing again. 

Hopefully I can keep up the blogging and not get bogged down by work again this month! 

Next up...summer nails!
Jasmine