100% Pure Organic Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream Review

Not all eye creams are created equal.  100% Pure have outdone themselves when it comes to this product.  They have truly hit it out of the park with their Organic Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream.

November 2014 Favourites

This month has been a battle with my dry skin, and I’m still not quite winning, but I think I’m getting closer.  I have a few products under the body care category this month just to help show the extremes that my skin is requiring of me right now.

Body: I shower in cold water to help preserve my skin’s moisture barrier and then exfoliate every three days or so with 100% Pure’s sugar scrub (review) in the marvelous scent of White Peach.  The oils in this product are helping with my skin too.  Then, after patting my skin with a towel, I apply a thin layer of a body oil.  I’ve been alternating between Chagrin Valley’s body oil in the scent Tranquil Spirit – which I adore!- (review) and Weleda’s body oils (review) in an array of scents (I got the sample pack a while ago, so I’m working through those and using up my full-sized bottle of the rose scent).  I’ll immediately follow that with some shea butter from the African Fair Trade Society and let that all sink in before getting dressed.  It makes me a big greasy mess, but it will hold off the itching and dry skin for at least 10 hours.  Then my skin needs more help again, but what can ya do?  On the especially dry spots I also layer on SBT Seabuckthorn’s Eczema and Dermatitis Salve.  Repurchase? I haven’t found a body oil that has reached HG status, or even come close, so I’ll keep looking on that front.  As for the shea butter and the scrub ? Yes, I already am on my second/third tub of each.

Skin Care: The skin on my face is also feeling the drier weather, so using just my regular moisturizer isn’t enough.  Juice Beauty’s CC Cream (review) not only offers me SPF but gives tons of moisture that lasts all day long.  Now if something could just be done about that smell… Repurchase? Absolutely.  The strange scent isn’t enough of a deterrent for such a high performing product.

Makeup: 100% Pure’s Super Fruits Healthy Skin Foundation (review) pairs perfectly with Juice Beauty’s CC cream because this foundation is a bit on the dry side, and really offsets the moisture of the CC cream.  Both stay put all day long when applied one after the other, and keep my skin balanced and gives me adequate coverage. Repurchase? Probably.  I might try a few other liquid foundations first, just in case I can find something better before I settle.

Hair Care: In an effort to keep the fashion colours of pink, purple, and teal in my hair for as long as possible between hair appointments I am getting used to the idea of only washing my hair every five days or so.  Don’t worry, this diva doesn’t like the idea of greasy hair either, so I’ve been working with dry shampoo recipes.  I can now wear my hair down for three full days before wanting to pull it into a braid or up in a pony tail.  I could probably even push it for 6 days at this point.  Anyway, another part of this journey is to find products with a low pH to help keep the dye on my hair.  John Masters Organics Honey and Hibiscus Hair Reconstructor (review) not only has a low pH (2.5) but gives my hair a rich drink of moisture that lasts for several days.  Exactly what my high maintenance hair is craving right now! Repurchase? I have repurchased this product as a hair mask so many times I’ve lost count.

Do any of those products strike your fancy?  Do you have any body oils to recommend to me?

 

October 2014 Favourites

There’s just something about the autumn colours that stands out for me, and makes me want to be outside.  Plus, autumn is a great time for scarves!  Here’s what I’ve been liking a lot this month:

Makeup – My Strawberry Lips Red Apple Lipstick arrived just in time for fall.  It is a beautiful burnt ombre and berry shade that works so well with the season.  Plus, it is ultra hydrating which works well with the cooler temperature and drier air.  Repurchase? Probably, yes, when this tube eventually runs out!

Skin Care – Exfoliation is the name of the game as my skin adjusts to the drier air, so I have been reaching for Andalou Naturals Lemon Sugar Exfoliating Scrub (review) every three or four days or so.  You really can’t get much better in the ingredients department, and for the price this product really can’t be beat! <b>Repurchase?</b> Absolutely, I already have.

Hair Care – I have been learning a lot about hair care this month and last month as I am strugging to keep a new kind of hair dye in my hair.  A product that is supposed to last 6 – 8 weeks before it starts to fade has been rinsing out completely after three washes.  I have been mean to my hair, attempting a few times to get this dye to stick and by changing things up in my hair care routine – ah the vanity of having fashion colours in my hair!  Since I have been so mean to my hair lately, hair masks are a must!  I have been doing oil treatments of olive oil and or coconut oil as well as apple cider vinegar rinses in an attempt to rebalance the pH levels in my hair.  Hopefully after all these new steps the dye will finally take.  Fingers crossed, everyone!

<b>Body</b> – Nothing is saving my skin right now from drying out like Chagrin Valley’s Body and Massage candles (review).  They have a rich blend of butters and oils which seem to help maintain a decent balance of moisture in my skin which lasts almost the whole day. The only downside is that they have to be warmed before use, but I just plop the little tin on my candle warmer before jumping in the shower and it’s ready to go when I’m done.  Repurchase? I already have.

Juice Beauty CC Cream Review

On my updated skin care routine post I mentioned that although I was reasonably happy with my current sunscreen that I was in the market for a different one that would feel less heavy/tacky on my skin.  I received the suggestion to try Juice Beauty’s CC Cream and since I have liked their other products in the past I figured it’d be worth the try – I wasn’t disappointed.

September 2014 Favourites

I cannot believe that it is the end of September already!  Fall is finally in full swing where I live – the pre-autumn snow has melted, and now we’re back into some warmer weather with beautiful red, yellow and purple fall leaves.  It is truly a beautiful season – too bad the colours don’t last very long.

Here’s what I have been using a lot of this September:

Eminence Organics Carrot Vitamin Mask Review

Eminence Organics is one of my favourite luxury green beauty companies.  All of their products smell so fresh, and are filled with pure, raw, natural and organic ingredients that do wonderful things for your skin.  The company has great sustainability practices, too!

My Skin Care Routine – Updated

I haven’t done a post like this in a while, and when I look back at my other one things have changed a lot!  There’s only one product that I’ve found that I’ve liked enough to keep consistent over the past year and a bit, but otherwise things have changed up a lot!

Boo Bamboo Facial Cleansing Towels and Body Wash Review

Again, always looking for travel options, I was lucky enough to win a full sized package of Boo Bamboo’s Facial Cleansing Towels to try out as well as their Exfoliating Body Wash. One was a hit, the other a miss.

Rocky Mountain Soap Company Juicy Orange Complexion Bar

This is it! My search for a solid cleanser is over!

I like to travel, but I don’t want to continue to haul pounds and pounds of products everywhere that have water as their main ingredient. I can get water where-ever I go, thank you very much. But I wanted a cleansing bar that didn’t strip my skin, but cleaned it well enough that I wouldn’t have to worry about clogging pores or washing several times to remove all my makeup.

Boo Bamboo Anti-Aging Line Firming Face Cream Review

I was sad when the day cream I had been using was no longer available to me online (unless I wanted to order it from the UK at extraordinary shipping rates) so I was doing tons of research into other creams when I was lucky enough to win a full size container of Boo Bamboo’s Anti-Aging Line Firming Face Cream. I don’t know what surprised me more: the texture being exactly like my spa brand of face cream that I loved, or the scent being very similar to the exact same spa cream. What makes it even better is that it is available at a fraction of the price! Paying $20 for twice as much product as I was paying $80 for seems like a screaming deal!