And the winner of the Plein Air Life Giveaway is …

Danyell!

Congratulations, Danyell.

I’m off to email you!

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If you could bring back any beauty product from the past

what would it be?

Beauty products come and go, and sooner or later, your favorite is probably going to disappear.

If you could bring back any beauty product from the past, what would it be?

Mine would probably be a copper Jane eyeshadow.

I think the name is copper penny, but I’m not really sure.

Leave a comment on this post, and earn an extra entry into the Plein Air Life Giveaway - just leave a comment on that post saying that you commented here.

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Plein Air Life Sugar and Coffee Scrub Review & Giveaway

I’ve been using either the Plein Air Life Fresh Kona Coffee ($20 for 8 oz) or the Lavender Rosemary($20 for 9 oz) Sugar Scrubs about once a week for a couple of weeks.

I’ve really enjoyed using both sugar scrubs, although it is a bit weird to see the brown coffee grounds or the lavender flowers in the tub when I’m using the scrub.

Both scrubs have a little excess oil in the jar, but it’s not enough to be messy. It is nice to be able to add more oil to the scrub so I don’t have such a dry scrub.

The scrubs do leave the tub floor slippery, as most scrubs do, and there is a warning on the Fresh Kona Coffee Scrub that the coffee can stain, so make sure you rinse your tub and the scrub container well after you are finished with it.

Both scrubs left my skin nicely moisturized, and I really loved the strong scent of coffee when I was using the coffee scrub.

I was a little hesitant to try the Lavender Rosemary Sugar Scrub, because I am not the biggest fan of lavender or rosemary, but I really shouldn’t have worried. The fragrance was nice, without being overwhelming.

In fact the only problem I had with Lavender Rosemary Sugar Scrub, is that the herbal scent of the scrub kept me thinking that it should have been a salt scrub.

Giveaway

Plein Air Life has generously offered to giveaway one 8 oz Fresh Kona Coffee Scrub, and one 8 oz Lavender Rosemary Sugar Scrub.

To enter the giveaway please visit Plein Air Life and leave a comment with at least one item that you’d like to try. For an extra entry tell us how often you use sugar scrubs. I’ll admit that I don’t use them nearly as much as I’d like too!

This contest will end at midnight on February 28. Plein Air Life will be responsible for mailing the scrubs to the winner. US entries only, please.

Disclosure: Samples from the company or the representing PR agency were provided for this review and for this giveaway. The opinions presented in this review are my own.

Posted in Beauty, Reviews | 4 Comments »

Sweet Beauty Tangerine Truffle Lip Confection Review

Sweet Beauty really made it’s mark on me when I reviewed Sweet Beauty’s Crave Lip Balm almost 4 years ago - I still remembered the name of the product when I was offered the opportunity to review it recently.

Things have changed a lot for me since then, but I still love the feel of the balm.

Although the Crave wasn’t as slippery as the balms I was using at the time, the Tangerine Truffle balm ($5.50) is definitely more slick than the balm I was using when I started testing it (Alba un-petroleum), and I like the slickness.

The balm seems to last for a decent amount of time, and sometimes I can smell the tangerine for 15-20 minutes after I put it on, but sometimes I can’t.

I haven’t had any problems with dryness, or flaky lips since I’ve been using this balm.

I hope it doesn’t take me 4 years to try this balm again.

Disclosure: Samples from the company or the representing PR agency were provided for this review and for this giveaway. The opinions presented in this review are my own.

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Babushka’s Beauty Secrets Old World Tips For A Glamorous New You Review

I was really excited when I got the opportunity to review Babushka’s Beauty Secrets Old World Tips For A Glamorous New You.

I love trying homemade beauty products, and the fact that the book was written by an esthetician, Raisa Ruder, made this book even more interesting to me. After all, you expect an esthetician to know what works for skin, and what might be damaging. I loved the stories about Raisa’s Babushka, which means Grandmother in the Ukraine, who had her own kitchen beauty business mixing up skin products tailored for the women seeking her services.

Raisa has compiled some of her Babushka’s original recipes, tweaked some of them to make them better and easier for her clients to use, and added some of her own recipes to make a book full of easy to use home made beauty recipes.

Babushka’s Beauty Secrets provides a list of must have tools and an ingredient list for the well stocked kitchen. Although there are some ingredients in the recipes that I don’t have in my house right now, almost all of the ingredients are available in my local supermarket, and should be easty for me to find.

Most of the recipes are actually recipes I’d try - although some of them are a little scary. The Tea Time Bath Recipe calls for 1/2 cup dried flower petals, and says “get them from old flowers in the house.” I don’t know about you, but I try not to keep dried flowers in my house.

After a bad experience trying to get mayonnaise out of my hair, I’m a little skeptical about the I’ll take mayo and mustard recipe, which combines … mayo and mustard and cayenne pepper. I did try to get my husband to try that one, but he wouldn’t. He doesn’t need to grow his hair out though, so it’s probably a good thing he didn’t try it.

I really enjoyed reading the stories, and the information about what certain recipes were supposed to to do.

I also love that the beauty recipes are relatively easy, and combine eassy to find ingredients, with ingredients that are already in most househoulds.

There’s nothing like getting ready for a nice pampering evening, and realizing you have to run to the store to get the ingredients.

If you like Babushkas and making your own beauty recipes, I definitely recommend that you check out this book.

Disclosure: Samples from the company or the representing PR agency were provided for this review and for this giveaway. The opinions presented in this review are my own.

Posted in Beauty, Reviews | 1 Comment »

5 year blog anniversary

5 years ago tonight I decided to start a blog because I couldn’t afford all of the expensive products that I saw being reviewed everywhere I visited online.

A lot has changed since then, and I don’t think that I could have ever imagined where I’d be now when I started the blog.

I’ve met so many wonderful people, and got to try so many fabulous new products as a result of this blog.

Thank you so much for coming along for the ride.

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Unopened Beauty Products

I’ve had 2 new gifts sitting unopened on my makeup counter for over three weeks.

One’s a new lipgloss that I’ve been scared to try because DH doesn’t like kissing me when I wear lipgloss, and I don’t like leaving lipgloss on the baby.

The second is a new cream eyeshadow, that I just haven’t tried because the colors (black and gray) are a little much for daytime, but mainly because it’s so much easier to grab a powdered shadow and just swipe it on.

I haven’t even been using my favorite loose shadows because it seems like I don’t have enough time.

I still get my makeup on most of the time when I leave the house, but I try to do it as quickly as possible.

Has your makeup routine changed lately?

How has it changed?

If you’re a parent, did it change after you had kids?

Did it ever get back to your prebaby normal routine?

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