It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Josie Maran’s line. It’s hard to find a natural line that works (sad but true), but Josie’s line continues to deliver.  I recently had another birthday, sigh, the best part of my birthday (no, not getting older) is the Sephora or Ulta gift cards that I usually get. I am impossible to shop for and I rarely will splurge on myself, but I love using the gift cards on beauty products that I am coveting. I am a fan of Josie’s Argan oil and have been using it on my growing belly since Argan has a high concentration of vitamin E (see my pregnancy survival kit), which supposedly is the only thing that makes a remote difference in stretch market prevention. Yes, I know that if you mom had stretch marks you will be more pre-disposed, yada yada, but I am not going to go down so easily and have been using the oil diligently since my 2nd trimester, that is until I was introduced to the Argan Infinity Intensive Cream Oil.  There’s not a whole lot I love more in a beauty product than a work horse. The Intensive cream oil (which is really a balm in a tube) does everything but make you dinner. You can use it as a nighttime moisturizer in place of your night cream, you can use it in place of your eye cream, for your lips, taming your brows, for flyaways,  use before you apply cheek stain for smoother application (I use before I use my powder mineral foundation, it gives a really nice finish) and so much more!  I am sure there are other products such as the Elizabeth Arden 8-hour cream that are similar, but in my current (very pregnant) state I want as natural a product (that works) as I can get (you can actually read and understand all the ingredients listed on the packaging). A little of this product goes a long way, a pea size amount is enough for my lips, under my eyes and my belly.  I anticipate this product lasting me until the end of my pregnancy.

I am going to admit that if I had the energy I would make my own balm, I usually do, but I don’t have any extra energy to spare right now with growing a human and all and my iron so low, I am quite zombie-esque so Josie’s offering is an excellent find for me. Some other balms I love that will last you forever (definitely a splurge), are from Infiore, they are rich, silky and smell amazing.  You can see their balms here.

Let me know if you have tried this product or if you know of an alternative that works and that may be better budget wise.  You know I love discussing beauty products with you!

P.S. For those that have asked–8 months now and no stretch marks! I still have a little more time to go and I am growing larger daily, so hopefully I can continue this lucky streak!

I usually don’t write about beauty on Monday’s but I felt this deserved to be shouted from the mountain tops a.s.a.p. My friend Mary used to be a make-up artist many years ago and always has the best tips, always.  I even begged her to do a series of ‘before & after’s’ here so we can see her in action, but alas she declined. This latest tip was too good not to swipe from her arsenal of goodies. Let me segue, I recently was photographed by a majorly talented and lovely photographer, more on that soon.  I wanted Mary to do my make-up because she excels at that flawlessly natural look I love, but again she declined because I am super picky and she knew how important this shoot was to me and that I wanted to look like myself (but a heck of a lot better).  Read More

I like to think of myself as having a little substance, perhaps even some smarts (although my common sense is to be reckoned with), but when it comes to cosmetics I can talk shop all day long. I become a 16 year girl twirling the proverbial phone cord around my index finger (remember land lines?) and all the substance that I thought I was made of is reduced to an obsession with what are the best products around and why. I know there are a lot of you that feel the same way as I do, it’s like our inner teenager comes out takes over and all you can concentrate on is the perfect ‘X’ (insert your fave products here).

My lovely friend Jane, the one with the incredibly refined eye and the most exquisite taste around gets just as giddy as I do. We recently had a beauty obsessed email chain going from here (on the far West Coast) across the Atlantic and when she mentioned Lipstick Queen and wrote, “The BEST lipsticks ever”, I begged her to let me share her thoughts here with you. If you aren’t running out and adding these to your beauty booty, nothing will inspire you to do so!

‘Stoked’, Jane wrote, “Almost feels like a balm, but gives an amazing wash of sheer coral-ly color.” ‘Stoked’ is from the Endless Summer collection.  I have a wee obsession with balms, in all their incarnations-tube, tinted, squeeze, (not so much the pots but I could be persuaded). I digress, this product sounds right up my alley, I want to try the ‘Hang Ten’ which is a sheer nude, I adore a nude lip!

“Saint Sunny Rouge, a touch more pigment than ‘Stoked‘, more ‘lipsticky’ but still sheer and easy to wear’.

“Chinatown in Chase for natural/easy red and Catalina for the most natural pinky nude. These are so underrated. The texture is perfecto + they are no-brainers to apply”.  For those (like myself) that were not ‘in the know’ on such things this Chinatown chubby is supposedly a gloss-on-the-go. It’s the idea of a gloss, without the goop, brilliant!

I am sufficiently sold and planning on making a little trip to Barney’s before my California trip next week. I may look (and walk) like a tortoise; imagine the large awkward shell in front and legs that just attach to toes sans ankles and you have a pretty accurate image of me. Me thinketh that a hit of Lipstick Queen on my pucker might be a good diversionary tactic from the odd bod, no? Thank you sweet Jane, your insights are always so very thorough and I know you would not lead us astray!

Now that I am feeling a bit better and I’m going out in public more, I figured it was high time to re-evaluate my summer make-up regime. I will give you the skinny on the ‘full face’ soon, but the Korres cheek butter is such an outstanding product that I felt it needed its own tribute–stat.  I love the Tarte cheek stains, hands down the most beautiful and long lasting cream/stain type blushes out there and I own one in almost every color, my only problem is they do not pair well with my mineral makeup or BB creams, they look great with tinted moisturizer and my new fave foundation (which I haven’t been wearing since summer is more low maintenance).  I was reading about Josie Maran’s new coconut watercolor cheek gelee and that they worked well with everything so I went to pick one up, but they were sold out of nearly every color and the colors available were not going to work. I went over to the Korres display which is another natural cosmetic line I love (I wore their wild rose mineral foundation when I eloped) and I found their new cheek butters. Honestly, all the colors are sheer (but long lasting) and would be flattering on most skin complexions, but I really liked the nude-y pink of the Philia Rose. It gives a pretty flush to the cheeks that I am always after and stays put. It doesn’t cause any sort of clumping or smearing when I put it over my mineral make-up (which I will share my new secret soon).  I am very happy with it! I am glad I chose Philia rose as I found that it is also the perfect nude color for lips and when I put it on my lips it lasts forever! That never happens, unless I wear a long lasting formula but those usually cause drying and are near impossible to remove. I need/want effortless beauty, anything too taxing and I am out. On a side note, I apply with this brush and use this lip liner (blended very well). You don’t need to use a brush, if that seems like an extra step that you don’t have time for, skip it and use your fingertips, I just like to make sure I don’t look like I am wearing make-up so it’s important to me to use brushes to get that really finished, barely there look.

If you have any beauty secrets + tips that you care to share send me an email! I am always looking for new lines to test out (especially natural ones) and of course there is my ongoing mascara obsession…

P.S. This is an excellent video tutorial on using lip liner to create a fuller (but natural) lip. It’s great for those that have been committing the beauty sin of creating a noticeable lip line on their lips–gasp!

P.P.S. I hope I didn’t inundate you with links, but I know I would have an inbox full of link requests if I didn’t so better safe than sorry!

photo by: tristan b.

I spent many years at camp getting horrible sunburns, we all did as the camp was on the beach and we would spend hours in the California sun without any protection.  It was a time when baby oil and foil were used to achieve a golden glow, which never happened of course we were all lobster red and groaning in pain at the end of each day.  We know better now to stay protected, but did you know your sunscreen only lasts up to two hours after application?  That’s right 2 hours!  What are you supposed to do if you aren’t frolicking on a beach where it’s easy to slather sunscreen on? What if you are at work and you have your ‘face’ on for the day and want to go outside for lunch to enjoy the summer sunshine? Are you supposed to re-apply sunscreen over your make-up? Take all you make-up off and re-apply sunscreen and put it all back on? What if you are like me and can’t stand the feel of sunscreen on your skin, no matter what brand you’ve tried? Perhaps I can introduce you to powdered sunscreen?  It’s not for everyone and it has mixed reviews, but I find it super convenient, easy to use and easy to travel with (even if that travel is as glamorous as running errands around town). Bonus, almost all formulas are all natural! I like the Peter Thomas Roth brand, it also now comes in spf 45 (which I use). At the time I bought it, it was the only powdered sunscreen that was easily accessible on the market.  Now you have more options to choose from such as Bare Minerals Natural Sunscreen (it has a tint), a very water resistant formula from Color Science, Jane Iredale Powder me dry Sunscreen , a budget friendly option from Mineral Fusion and there are kids options too.

Have you tried powdered sunscreen?  What are your thoughts?  Did you know that you had to re-apply sunblock so often? Are you as shocked as I was to discover that?