Nail of the Day: Warm and Fozzie

Wocka Wocka!, Excuse Moi!, Designer...de Better!, Warm & Fozzie

OPI's Muppettes mini's showcases two of my favorite polishes from the Muppets Holiday 2011 collection - Designer...de Better! and Warm & Fozzie.  My manicure this week is featuring Warm & Fozzie, a seriously pretty polish full of micro glitters in bronze, gold, red, pink and green.  They all combine to create a bronze foil that subtly shifts in color while maintaining a lovely shimmer.  Application wise, Warm & Fozzie is sheer, so it took 3 coats to achieve opacity.  Fortunately, this is a fast drying polish so it was a relatively painless process and I even managed to avoid smudging it.  Almost.

First azalea bloom of the season from my yard

Pure Fiji Body Butter

Pure Fiji Coconut body butter

Pure Fiji is a line of body and hair care products that use traditional South Pacific and Fijian blends to nourish, moisturize, and beautify skin and hair.  Marketed as a way to "bring paradise home!", the blend of Virgin Coconut Oil, Dilo, Sekeci and Macadaemia oils used in their products is a potent natural source of Omega 3′s and 6′s.  This blend is rich in Lauric Acid, an essential fatty acid that is found in breast milk.  The Pure Fiji blend is similar in structure to skin's naturally occurring oils, helping with absorption, and has natural anti-fungal and antibacterial qualities which help skin to boost it's own natural defenses.  The essential fatty acids in the blend also act as a natural antihistamine, helping to sooth itchy, inflamed, or irritated skin.

Coconut Milk & Honey, Pineapple, Coconut, and Mango Pure Fiji body butters

Pure Fiji is made in the capital city of Suva at a state-of-the-art facility where passive solar dryers are used and nut oils are wild-harvested and cold pressed in the villages that supply them, an indication of the eco-system consciousness of the company.  Spa linens and staff uniforms are sun dried, eliminating the need for electricity. Other green practices include recycling the chaff and seed casings from the nuts into the factory gardens – which acts as a nursery for Pure Fiji’s tree planting programs along the coastline.  This garden also supplies fresh flowers for the spa and fresh vegetables for the factory staff.  The Pure Fiji blog goes into more detail on the company's philosophy and practices - it sounds like a lovely place to work!

The body butters are rich and creamy and do a great job at moisturizing and soothing skin. In addition to the exotic nut oil blend, they contain milk proteins, soy, and passionflower.  Out of the 10 available fragrances, I've tried and loved the four pictured above.  I get more compliments when I wear the Coconut or Pineapple than any other body butter I've worn.  These are quite scented and have good staying power, so if scented products aren't your thing, steer clear.  The Milk & Honey fragrance is the mildest and the Mango the strongest, and I had a spa worker who told me she mixes the Coconut with the Mango or Pineapple when she wants to cut their scent a bit, as the Coconut calms them down. 

These lovelies cost from $34.95 to $39.95 depending on the scent, and can be purchased online at Pure Fiji, other online retailers, or at spas that carry them.   

Tarte LipSurgence Natural Lip Tints

LipSurgence in Dazzled, Perky, Enchanted, Glitzy, Swank

Tarte LipSurgence Lip Tints are designed to give lips a wash of color as they condition and moisturize.  Tarte claims that after 28 days of use, these are clinically proven to increase lip moisture content by 6000%.  However, they provide no study details so color me skeptical.  I can say that they are not drying like a lipstick and they do feel good on my lips.  They contain jojoba seed oil for conditioning, peppermint oil which gives them a slight tingle and nice taste, vitamin C to fight free radicals and oxidative stress, and vitamin E as a natural preservative that also acts as an anti-inflammatory and brightens skin.  They also do not contain some of the common "bad” ingredients, such as mineral oil, paraben, or phthalates.  Wear time on these is about average, but considering I’m always sipping on something, that is always hard for me to accurately determine. 

LipSurgence has three different lines – lip tint, lip luster, and lip matte.  Lip mattes are the newest and I haven’t tried those yet, but they are billed as more pigmented, so if the lip tints or lip lusters are too sheer for you the lip mattes might be a good option.  I got most of my LipSurgence’s in a holiday offering that contained five lip tints for $29, which was a great price considering they are individually priced at $24 each (I gave one away, so only 4 are shown).  The small one was part of a Tarte “Try Me” collection. 

The only thing I don’t like about the swivel pencil design are the caps – they crack easily, like when you  put them back on.  You can see in this photo that the cap is cracked, and after I photographed this one and was putting it away the cap separated from the pencil, the pencil went flying and ended up on the floor.  With three dogs, my house has more than its fair share of dog hair, so lip tint on the floor is NOT a good thing.  At $24 a pop, a flimsy and easily cracked cap shouldn’t happen, so I hope Tarte rectifies this in the future.    Other than the cap issue, I’m liking LipSurgence lip tints!       

Swank lip tint

Dazzled lip luster

Exfolikate

Exfolikate by Kate Somerville

As we age, changes take place in the dermis and subcutaneous layers of the skin which effectively slow down the natural exfoliation process in the epidermis. Dead cells pile up, leaving the surface scaly, discolored, and dull.  Exfoliation serves an important function - to help get rid of that dead layer of skin.  Exfolikate by Kate Somerville is a dual action scrubbing and enzymatic exfoliant.

Designed to be used once or twice per week, Exfolikate contains:

• Salicylic Acid to balance hydration
• Scrubbing Microbeads and three powerful P’s - Papaya, Pineapple, and Pumpkin Enzymes - to effectively clean pores.
• Rosewood and Cinnamon Extracts to reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles.
• Aloe Vera, Honey, and Vitamin E to smooth and soften skin. 

After applying to a cleansed but still wet face, you massage for about 30 seconds and then let sit for 2 minutes, although I've left it on for twice that long before.  You can actually feel it tingling, enough so that I wouldn't want to leave it on for too long.  After rinsing, I do see a visible difference in my skin.  It's smoother, softer, and my pores look smaller. 

I originally got some samples of Exfolikate from Sephora and was impressed enough to buy a full sized version, even at its hefty price.  How hefty you ask?  Enough that I thought long and hard about it and waited until Sephora had their Friends and Family 20% off sale to take the plunge.

Cost:
.5 oz tube is $19,
2 oz is $85
5 oz is $175

I bought four of the .5 oz tubes, as that got me the same amount as the 2 oz tube but at $76 vs. $85.   I've used one full tube over a 3 month period, so 2 oz should last me a year.

While the ingredients are chock full of natural sounding ingredients, I'm also seeing parabens (used as a preservative), which is not so good.  According to EWG's Skin Deep Database, parabens mimic estrogen and can act as potential hormone (endocrine) system disruptors.  Most of the parabens listed below have a risk rating of 5, which is moderate.  Some of the essential oils listed could also be irritants to some, so that is something to be aware of.  Versions for both sensitive skin and acne are available as well.

Despite the negatives of it's price and a few questionable ingredients, I'm liking Exfolikate!

Ingredients:Water, Lactic Acid, Polyethylene, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Pectin, Carica Papaya Fruit, Lactobacillus/Pumpkin Fruit Ferment Filtrate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Papain, Bromelain, Tocopheryl Acetate, Retinyl Palmitate, Honey, Acetic Acid, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Geranium Maculatum Oil, Pogostemon Cablin Oil, Aniba Rosaeodora (Rosewood) Wood Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Cinnamomum Cassia Leaf Oil, Salicylic Acid, Dehydroxanthan Gum, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Cinnamal, Potassium Sorbate, Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Citral, Limonene, Linalool, Geraniol, Citronellol, Eugenol, Benzyl Benzoate, Beta-Carotene (CI 75130), Chlorophyllin-Copper Complex (CI 75810).

Nail of the Day: Some Like it Haute

I clearly have a thing for glitter polish.  Each time I do my base coat, which for this look was OPI's Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees from the 2009 Spain collection, I think "how pretty" and then cover it with a glitter polish.  Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees looked to me like a deep charcoal cream, but I've also seen it described as a smoky dark blue shimmer, so there ya go.  Bright lights bring out the blue and the faint shimmer, apparently. Two coats were almost opaque, but I didn't bother with a third as I knew I'd be putting China Glaze's Some Like it Haute on top.

Some Like it Haute

Some Like it Haute is from China Glaze's Eye Candy collection of Marilyn Monroe inspired polishes.  It is tiny silver and black glitter with medium sized holographic glitter and I used two coats.  The finish on this was quite gritty, but two layers of topcoat made it smooth enough.  I also managed to smudge my index finger before it was completely dry, but c'est la vie.  Hardly a manicure goes by where I don't manage to mess it up somehow.

Good bottle shots where hard to come by as Some Like it Haute made my camera want to not focus, but the above gives you a pretty good idea of the multi-color holo glitter lurking inside (click on photo to enlarge).  Since Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and we're in for 6 more weeks of winter, maybe this ice slicked road with broken tail lights look is appropriate.  For those of us that seem to have skipped winter, maybe just think of it as deep space? 

January Roundup

Sky at dusk after stormy day

As we start off a new month, here is a roundup of posts from January:

Eye Shadows

• Maybelline Color Tattoo 24-HR Cream Gel Shadow
• L'Oreal Infallible 24-HR Eye Shadow
• Bare Escentuals Strike It Rich Eye Primer Shadow Collection

Makeup Palettes

• Urban Decay Rollergirl

Facial Skincare

• Eminence Mandarin & Rooibos Antioxidant Masque
• DHC Deep Cleansing Oil 
• Argan Oil:  Worth Climbing a Tree For?

Body Skincare

• Bubble & Bee Organic Body Butter
• LaLicious Coffee Bean Sugar Souffle Scrub
• Bubble & Bee Pit Putty Deodorant Cream

Lip Products

• Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters

Perfume

• Loi Krathong from Black Phoenix Alchemy La

Nail Polish

• Nerdlacquer
• The Odds Are Never in the Favor of Homely Nails

Makeup of the Day Looks

• Apricot
• Hiking Boot

Nail of the Day Looks

• Zoya Kendall with Strobe Light
• Flesh Wound After Dark
• Whirled Peas

Miscellaneous

• January Birchbox:  Clarity

Bubble and Bee Pit Putty Deodorant Cream

A while back, I decided I wanted to switch to a natural deodorant.  I'd heard vague things linking antiperspirants to breast cancer but was generally uneducated on the topic.  My thinking was more along the lines of "if I can find something natural that works, why not?"  So, I purchased one natural deodorant that was available at my drugstore, but was less than impressed.  Further searching on the web led to some good reviews on Bubble & Bee organic deodorants, who were about to launch some new deodorant creams in sample sizes, so out came the debit card. 

First off, it's helpful to understand the difference between an antiperspirant and a deodorant and a bit of biology.  There are two types of sweat glands, the apocrine and eccrine. The apocrine glands are scent glands that are located in the navel, armpits and groin. They produce a sticky but odorless sweat rich in fatty acids that bacteria present on the skin feed upon to produce the familiar body odor smell.  The eccrine sweat glands are found all over the body and produce a watery sweat that helps to regulate body temperature.  

Antiperspirants use aluminum to prevent your body from producing sweat.  Those concerned about the potential health risks of aluminum cite links between aluminum and the development of Alzheimer's, and a more in depth analysis of alum can be found here.  Interestingly enough, antiperspirants are considered over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, because they change the way the body does something - prevent the release of sweat.  As a drug, they are also regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  Deodorants, on the other hand, neutralize body odor by killing or slowing down the growth of the bacteria that metabolize the protein and fatty acids that occur in sweat.  Many products contain both an antiperspirant and a deodorant.  Bubble & Bee organic deodorants do not contain aluminum and are thus not an antiperspirant.

So do Bubble & Bee deodorant creams work?  For the most part, yes.  I've had breakthrough odor at close sniff on a few occasions of wearing them, but not enough to consider the product a failure.  I doubt it was noticeable by anyone but me, as it involved directly smelling my pits at the end of a long day.  TMI, I know, but how else to test this product?  However, the true test will be during the long, hot and humid summers here and I have only had the product since October.  

Scent selection includes Geranium Lime, Jasmint (my favorite), Lemon & Clove, Lemongrass, Spearmint & Tea Tree Oil, and Super Pit Putty.  "Deodorizing Naturally" from Bubble & Bee points out that  we can have different kinds of bacteria on our skin, and different types of essential oils - Tea Tree, Clove, Rosemary, Lemongrass, Geranium, and Lavender - are particularly effective against certain strains.  While the essential oils don't kill the bacteria, they do slow them down, so matching the right essential oil to the particular bacteria on your skin can make a difference.  A sampler pack including all the scents can be purchased for $23.94, individual samples for $3.99, and regular size for $9.85 at the Bubble & Bee online shop.  You can see the difference between the sample and regular size below.  

Have you found a natural deodorant that you like or are you sticking with commercial antiperspirants/deodorants?