A to Z: D is for Dermorganic

This shampoo changed my life. And I'm not really exaggerating.

Look at that long list of goodness!

This is an all natural shampoo that trumps all of the other fancy shampoos I've tried. And my favorite part? It's dirt cheap online.

Dermorganic was recommended to me by an online friend, and I have to say that I am so happy that I gave it a shot. 

The formula is a little creamy, but the exciting thing is that even though it's SLS free, it still foams up! Not as heavily as you might expect, but the more water you add, the better it gets. Also good news: A little goes a long way. I've had this liter size bottle for a little over 8 months.

After using this shampoo, my hair has gotten less brittle, I don't have to wash it as often, and my hair is constantly shiny, silk, and beautiful. The argan oil really helps keep hair moisturized, but because it's argan oil, it doesn't make your hair greasy or slimy. Similar to the macadmia oil I reviewed a few weeks ago. 

One thing to note: This stuff doesn't necessarily smell wonderful. It's kind of an all natural, astringent-ish kind of smell. Luckily, it isn't strong at all and the smell fades the instant you step out of the shower. That way you won't have the weird "smell cocktail" if you use other products in your hair. 

This shampoo really does change the game as far as all natural shampoos go, and I wish more people knew about it. It's one of the things I'm most glad to have introduced into my routine. It's repairing years of mistreatment for my hair. It making my hair absolutely a delight to work with. And I can feel good knowing that this stuff is good my body chemistry AND good for the environment.

Knowing that you don't have to compromise is a very good thing indeed.

Thanks for reading!

A to Z: C is for Cleanser

Facial cleanser that is!

For this post, I'm going to review my current face wash, which is Biore's Combination Skin Balancing Cleanser.

I'm usually not one to be swayed by names, but when I was in desperate need of a face wash because I was out, I had no choice. I ran to the CVS by my work and picked up this bottle of Biore because I recognized the name, it said it was for combination skin, and it was relatively cheap. I have owned a few Biore things in the past, and they worked pretty decently, so I went for it.

This product is...alright. I have mixed feelings about it. 

I figured, with the nice price tag and the talk of moisture and balancing, it would be great for my dry, winter skin. 

And really, it's ok. It's not some miracle product. It's not perfect by a long shot. After using this product, my skin still feels a little tight and dry, like with most cleansers. And it doesn't seem to "balance" my skin as well as I was hoping. 

I wish that, since it's such a well known brand, it worked a little better. I still have serious dry spots on my cheeks and an oily T-zone. It just helps keep my face clean without making the problem worse.

For now, I rely on my moisturizer (which you'll see in a couple of days) to keep my skin healthy. I hope that soon I'll be able to find a cleanser I can absolutely adore. And when I find it, trust me, you guys will be the first to hear about it. 

Thanks for reading!

A to Z: B is for Blemishes

This post is inspired by my good friend's post for the letter A. Check out her blog, BookishGeek.

Growing up, we're told that our acne and blemishes will go away once we get older. It's a teenager thing. A puberty thing. It'll go away with time.

But here I am, 23 years old, and I am currently dealing with two large pimples on my face. They're taking up way more realty than they should, considering they shouldn't be existing, right?

But here's the truth not many people will tell you: Adult acne isn't some weird freak thing. It's completely normal. Heck, if you go to Birchbox's video, you'll see their gorgeous editor talking about her own blemishes. And you know she has a skincare lineup that could put everyone else's the shame.

So here are some facts about blemishes, because I'm a nerd for knowledge.

Blemishes are more common when you're a teenager, that much is true. It's all about hormones and stress and your skin trying to find its right balance.

That being said, every little thing can cause a pimple. And honestly? Age doesn't matter. Stress, diet, exercise, water intake. All of that contributes to how your skin deals with intruders like dirt and oil. Your own natural body chemistry matters, too. My husband is 24, but his skin is very oily naturally. That means he's going to have more acne than someone like me, with combination skin. It's just a fact of life. It's something you need to figure out for yourself.

Another fact? There is a huge industry revolving around that reduction of blemishes. There are tons of of products out there that swear to make your skin pimple free in two weeks, to make you prettier, happier, more popular. And honestly? It's all a lie. An expensive marketing lie.

I spent tons of money on the proactiv regimen for a couple of months. And honestly? My acne got so much worse. My skin got so dry it started bleeding, but I thought that's what I had to push through to get better skin.

I was wrong. What works for me is creamier products that don't dry out my combination skin. Cream cleansers, not acid cleansers, work best for my particular skincare woes.

But as I said, that might not work for you.

The final fact is that despite everything the beauty industry tells you about zits, and how many products we are told to buy to help us look better, zits are going to happen. There are ways to prevent them, like having a healthy, whole foods diet, drinking lots of water, and exercising regularly. But they're an inevitable part of life. You can find a product that you adore that helps prevent them or stop them before they get too bad. But they're still going to exist.

And one tiny bit of advice from me? Don't. Pick. I know everyone says that. And I know it's hard. Heck, one of the zits on my face right now is a giant scab because I've picked it into oblivion. But you know what? If I hadn't picked at it the first time, it would be gone by now. Instead, I have a painful splotch on my face that is way more noticeable than the zit was.

My trick to help prevent picking (although it doesn't always work) is to give it 24 hours. Tell yourself that if the pimple is still bothering you in 24 hours, you can pick at it. Pop it. Whatever. Most of the time, I forget about the zit in the first place.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a better plan of attack for my A to Z challenge.

A little late to the game: A to Z challenge!

This is for the A to Z challenge. I didn't make the original sign up because I'm a little slow on the uptake, a little nervous to try new things, but on of my friends encouraged me, so here we go!

A is for Avocados! 

Wait, what? Isn't this a beauty blog? 

Why, indeed it is. And now...I'm going to share with you the ultimate DIY hair and face masque that has saved me time and time again. 

It's really simple, actually. I discovered it when I was going through my fridge and needed to clear out some stuff. I remembered the beauty benefits of each of the ingredients and thought that they might work well together. And lo and behold, they did!

Mash one avocado with two to three tablespoons honey, a teaspoon of lemon juice, and two egg yolks. 

Mix together until a thick paste is formed. 

Work the mixture into your roots and scalps, then comb through the rest of your hair. If you have really bad split ends, work a little into the tips of your hair to give them a quick boost of nourishment. 

You can also use this as a purifying face mask. Simply smear all over your face, like any good mask, let sit for several minutes, and then rinse with warm water. 

It's as simple as that! 

You see, avocados (in addition to being delicious) are wonderful for your hair and skin. The fatty acids help to soften your skin and bring nourishment to the driest areas. 

Honey is a skin balancer. It is especially useful with combination skin and oily skin, as it can help to even out all of the weird areas you may have. This is important for me, because I have the absolute worst combination skin. Dry and flaky on my cheeks, oily and acne prone on my T zone. 

Lemon juice is an acid. Pretty straight forward. It works as a slight stripping agent to wash away dead skin cells and increase cell turnover rate. That's important for a fresh-faced look. 

And egg yolks, like the avocados, are nourishing and fatty, without being oily. The omegas also help to increase cell turnover rate. 

So there you have it. A little late, but better late than never! 

Review: Burt's Bee Sensitive Cleansing Towelettes

Let's put this simply: I'm lazy.

Well, I prefer to say low maintenance. But the truth is, I don't want to have to wash my face morning and night. It's a pain to pull my hair back, lean over the sink, get water everywhere, never rinse it off completely. So for a long time, I didn't wash my face but once a day, if I showered. Makeup on at night? Didn't matter. I would rather go to sleep with makeup on my face than have to take the time to wash my face before I went to bed.

And then I discovered the magic of face wipes.

Glorious, wonderful invention of wo/man.

I've been bouncing around between brands for a while now. The problem is that a lot of the wipes leave my skin feeling dry and tight, which is awful. Even with moisturizer, I feel like there's a residue. And let's be honest, I started using wipes because I'm lazy, so I'm not inclined to rinse my face after using a face wipe. It feels pointless to me. Like, why use a wipe when you still have to rinse the residue off of your face?

Luckily, I have finally found a wipe that's nice, clean, and feels good on my skin.

These little guys are really affordable (about the same as a standard pack of any other brand at CVS), and they feel really nice.

The wipes are thick, first and foremost. Not thin and flimsy like many brands (Equate, for one). There's more than enough surface area for me to remove all of my makeup easily with a single wipe. 

The ingredients are all pretty respectable, which is important when a product is soaking into the skin on your face. The smell is pleasant, not too noticeable. And best of all, it doesn't make my skin feel strange. Unlike Biore's Daily Cleansing wipes, there is no tingling sensation. No weird needle-like pain. My skin doesn't feel taut or dried out. 

Now, I would still apply moisturizer after using these, because like any soap product, it does pull away a bit of your skin's natural moisture. But this is, thus far, the least offensive wipes I've discovered.

Plus, I already use Burt's Bees lotions, balms, cremes, and chapsticks. Why not add one more of their products to my regimen?

Thanks for reading!

Review: Lush Charity Pot (Plus a comment on the use of SLS)

This product was provided to me by my best friend because she forgot for a moment that she doesn't like foodie smells. I'm certainly not complaining.

Lush's Charity Pot is an all over hand and body lotion made with lots of goodies. There's almond oil, cocoa butter, and a long list of other things that are known for having great skin benefits. This product combines all of that with a smell that is reminiscent of chocolate dipped flowers. Heavy on the chocolate (cocoa chocolate, not saccharine chocolate), the smell is guaranteed to stick with you for quite a while.

Let me start by saying that I have a love/hate relationship with Lush. And that's putting it mildly. Most of their lotions, deodorants, and massage bars are amazing. The smells are delicious and the ingredients are something I can get behind. The same goes for their message: to fight animal testing and provide good, clean, freshly made beauty products.

What I don't like is that sometimes, their front for sustainable, all natural beauty is just that: a front. 

Many of their products, particularly their shampoos and bath bombs, have ingredients that are really bad for the environment and for the human body. Their shampoos, for instance, all contain sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate. Both of these ingredients are terrible for your skin, and research is beginning to surface that they may be carcinogenic. In addition, SLS is really terrible for the environment, especially when high concentrations go down your drain and into the water and soil. It's pollution on a global scale, and a lot of people don't know about it. 

The problem is that a couple of months ago, I went to Lush to look for an all natural shampoo. Mine had run out and I was looking for something new. Something SLS free. But when I looked at the containers, SLS was sometimes listed as the first ingredient. Not even mass market shampoos are that bad. 

When I brought it up to a salesperson, she stated that they had tried to take out the SLS a couple years ago, but customers had complained because the product didn't suds and they didn't think it was as effect. Never mind the fact that I have several SLS-free products that suds up just fine, but customers are being taught that if it doesn't suds, it's not working. And that's just wrong. 

I really and truly believe that Lush needs to work on this, because as more and more research about SLS floats to the surface of the beauty industry, several companies are hopping on the bandwagon to make their products as good for people and the planet as humanly possible. But Lush continues to simply state that they make "all natural" products. And the fact that their products contain SLS is kind of pushed under the rug a lot of the time by them saying the product contains "fair trade honey" and "organic cocoa butter." 

Lush has some issues. Especially with me. 

Still, their lotions are generally pretty good. There are still some preservatives I'm iffy about, but that's relatively unavoidable when you consider that their products are made on site. 

This lotion is no different. It's smooth, thick, and creamy, without being greasy. After shaving, it makes my dry-as-a-bone legs soft and supple. Really, nothing beats it. 

The smell can be a little overpowering at first, especially if you don't like chocolate and florals, and the smell tends to stick around all day. But I like the way it smells, and I like the way it makes my skin feel. 

So for this wonderful little pot of lotion, Lush wins a point in my book. Now let's see how they react to the rising statements against their use of SLS. 

Thanks for reading!

Miracle Finds Under Five Dollars

You remember when I said that sometimes buying cheap is the best option? Because it lets you test out a product and maybe get lucky?

This is the story of the best $5 I've ever spent on a nail product.

You see, I used to be a huge fan of Seche Vite. Everyone recommended it. It was expensive, but supposedly worth it. And, in fact, it was.

For a time.

But as you may have heard or experienced, after a couple of months, Seche Vite has a habit of getting gummy. And not just a little thick and gloopy. Oh no. It gets thick enough to drag wet polish around and off the nail. If you use a bottle of Seche Vite a month, then fine. This wouldn't be a big deal. But I don't know anyone who paints their nails that often, even for swatching.

In the end, I was severely disappointed by this "miracle" product because, for me, it wasn't worth its money. I paid $8 for it and only made it through half a bottle before it became too gluey to use.

Enter a necessary Walmart run.

While waiting for my prescriptions, I perused the beauty section like I always do. At this point, my nails were naked because I had no top coat. Suddenly, I saw a big, round bottle looking up at me from the bottom shelf. I don't know why it caught my eye, other than its sheer size, but I'm so glad I picked it up.

The price? $4.99. The effect? Awesome.

Now, don't get me wrong, this doesn't dry as fast as Seche Vite. But within five minutes, my nails are dry to the touch. No smudges, no pooling, no gumminess. And look at the size of that bottle! 

I've already had this product for two months and there have been no negatives. And the best part? I don't feel bad adding two or three coats of this because it was so cheap! 

All in all, this is definitely tiding me over until I can afford the Deborah Lippman Gel Lab. And for $5, it's something great to have in your arsenal if you're planning on swatching at all. 

Thanks for reading!

March Birchbox - Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment

This is, honest to goodness, my first time trying hair oils. So take this review with that in mind, since I have absolutely zero basis for comparison. But as I have said, Birchbox is a great means to try new things. To step out of one's comfort zone and perhaps find something wonderful.

And that's exactly what happened!

This little miracle in a bottle is awesome!

First and foremost, a little goes a long (loooooooong) way. I only need a couple of drops for each of the three sections of my hair. And I have a lot of hair.

Second, the smell is fabulous. Clean, subtle, kind of beachy. But really, it smells like vacation. Like relaxation and calm happiness. I know, I know. Talk about abstract. But it really does make me feel happier with my existence.

Now, on the Birchbox website, it mentions that it shortens the dry time of your hair by pushing out excess water. I can't speak much to that, because I literally threw this in my hair, combed it through, and then put my hair into a bun.

What I can say is that when I took my bun down after a long day of work, my hair was gorgeous! Soft, silky, shiny, luxurious. It felt healed and supple for the first time in a long time this winter. I even made sure to leave a few days between this Macadamia product and the masque I reviewed a couple of days ago, just to be sure that I would get an honest opinion of each item on its own.

This stuff has blown me away. Really, it has.

I'm super excited to have found something new that can help with severely damaged hair. Now I have something I can strongly recommend to everyone I know. Because it honestly works!

Happy day! Thanks for reading!

March Birchbox - Macadamia Masque

I have a love/hate relationships with masques. I always have.

I very rarely use them, but that's mainly because every time I have used a hair masque, my hair has come out the other side greasy, smelly, and oddly textured. In fact, I recently purchased a hair masque from Sally's Beauty because I got one for free with the renewal of my membership. And you remember in the beginning, how I said sometimes it's great when you get something cheap or free because it sucks?

This was one of those times. The masque I bought left my hair so oily, that even after two washes later in the day, it still looked like I hadn't showered in a week. And now that dirt cheap product is sitting in my shower, languishing away because I refuse to use it.

So when I saw this Macadamia Oil Deep Repair Masque in my box, I was tentative. But I figured that it deserved a shot. Everything deserves a shot.

And I'm so glad I gave this stuff a chance!

This is made with macadamia and tea tree oil. I'm sure we all know the benefits of tea tree oil, but the macadamia is still a bit of a mystery for me.

Right out of the sample packet, this product is different from every other masque that I've tried. It was thick and felt kind of similar to room temperature coconut oil, but it didn't leave a greasy feeling on my hands. That's always a bonus.

It smelled nice. Clean, natural, nothing too overpowering. And it spread out nicely.

Now, on the Birchbox directions, they recommended rinsing it out with cool water. But I always use my masques when I'm in the shower, mainly so that I don't have to hop in and out over and over again, or lean awkwardly over the tub to rinse out my hair. 

So I did what I do with all conditioners (and you should do, too), and rinsed with lukewarm water. It helps seal your follicles to keep your hair looking cleaner, longer. And it seemed to suffice for this masque just fine. 

After my hair had dried, I noticed that it did seem pretty calm. Normally, winter for my hair is spent entirely up in a ponytail because the dry air makes it frizzy and unmanageable. But this product seemed to limit that. It kept it shiny and relatively free of flyaways all day long. 

But it was the next day where my hair truly shined! I only wash my hair every other day, so when I woke up to see that my hair looked soft, smooth, shiny, and flaw free, I about died. None of my usual lumps and bumps from a long night of restless sleeping. Just straight, calm hair. 

So yeah, I have to say, this product is pretty impressive. If I had more money, I would probably commit to the full size. My recommendation, though: put it in at night, rinse it out, then pull your hair into a loose top knot or sock bun to let it dry. I can guarantee you this will give you the best waves and curls ever. And no heat's needed!

If you try it, let me know how it works out for you!

Thanks for reading. 

March Birchbox - Whish Shave Cream

So, I have a secret. Normally, I use my husband's shaving cream. It's nice, good for sensitive skin, and doesn't smell like flowers had a child with candy and synthetic chemicals.

And since I'm on a roll, here's another secret: I very rarely deal with my bikini line.

Too personal? Sorry, it's relevant.

You see, I got this fancy shave cream in my Birchbox:

I'm not too picky when it comes to shaving creams. I'm really not. As long as it doesn't smell like death rolled up in aspartame and doesn't make my legs itch, I'm ok. And for my tenderest of areas, I just use an electric razor for a not-too-close shave. 

Yeah, I don't wear bathing suits that often. It's not a big deal. 

But for those with sensitive skin, or those who shave their bikini line really often, Whish has come up with the perfect solution. 

This shave cream is thick, moisturizing, and elegant. Yeah, I said elegant. Because it smells like a freshly opened tin of Harney & Son's Blueberry Green tea. (I work at a coffee shop, what can I say?) And, since I had only recently shaved my legs, I had to think of some way to use it. 

The winner? My dreaded bikini line. I figure if it can make that better, it can rule the world. Well, at least rule my shower. 

My verdict? Holy. Cow. 

No nicks. Nice, smooth, close shave. No uncomfortable itchiness for days. Just a good, close, clean shave. 

I'm serious. It doesn't get any better than this. It really doesn't. I'm so impressed, I'm going to be an awesome friend and share the rest of my sample with my best friend. She's been searching for years for something that can allow her to shave and not make her skin break out in itchy, bumpy awfulness immediately after. 

My favorite part? The smell makes me want to eat it. Ok, ok. And that a tiny bit goes a very long way. 

Thanks for reading!