All Natural Skincare SALE!

If you're a lover of all things natural, or are looking for some alternatives in fun and flirty fragrances to chemical-laden store-bought goodies, head on over to ETSY to participate in an awesome, never been done before, BUY TWO GET ONE FREE SALE!

You can find MadeYouLook Natural Skincare at http://www.madeyoulookcosmetics.etsy.com/

For every 2 items you purchase, you may pick one (of an equal or lesser value) FOR FREE! Just include a note in the check-out process indicating which item you want for free. Do not "buy" the free item.

MadeYouLook Natural Skincare

Treat yourself, or start stocking up for Christmas (yes, I said it... CHRISTMAS)!!!

The importance of Water

I've said this before and I'll say it again... WATER is SUCH an important part of your beauty ritual. It's practically free (from your tap) and it's an indispensible part of your beauty routine.

What if I told you that water, when you drink it, will in:

60 seconds - hit your blood stream
3 minutes - get to your brain
10 minutes - reach your other organs
30 minutes - spread through your entire body.

Drink 6-8 cups of water EVERY DAY for the next 4 days, and report back...how does your skin look after 4 days of filling your body with fresh and clean water?

REVIEW: The Body Shop's new deodorants DeoDry

The other day I walked into The Body Shop to kill some time, so I started to pick up their product, one-by-one and reading their ingredients. Some of it was bad; Sodium Laureth Sulfate is the chief lathering agent in most of their cleansers, body washes, and shampoos (and SLS has been linked to Whale infertility), Dimethicone in their "anti-aging" skincare products (Dimethicone is an optical softener, blurring fine lines and making it look like the anti-aging skincare has an immediate effect...when, in fact, it does not), etc.

And then I happened upon their deodorants.

I stopped using Anti-Perspirant the year I got pregnant with my little one. It's been about 4 years now. I don't care what *they* say, but to me there's a link between anti-perspirant use and breast cancer.

Over the years I've used "The Rock", which is a crystal that prevents you from smelling... you wipe it on wet skin after you come out of the shower. It has anti-bacterial properties that prevent growth of the bacteria that can cause body odour. I've also used the lovely deodorants from LaVanila - they are amazing, but at $22 a bottle it's really really pricey.

And then I found this one from The Body Shop! They're liquids that roll-on (they also have stick versions), but the ingredient list on this one was SO NATURAL!!!! There's loads of essential oils, Organic Aloe Vera, Organic Alcohol, and an ingredient called Perlite which is a natural "stone" that's ground super fine and absorbs moisture.

I've been using this one for about a week now and I gotta say, it's AMAZING! I didn't smell AT ALL! I didn't feel a ton of moisture (I'm not a big sweat-er anyway, unless I'm excercising), and the essential oils had a wicked "cooling" sensation upon application!

And at only $8 per package, it's an amazing value considering how natural it is! Also, they sell REFILLS at $6, and you're minimizing what goes into the recycling.

If you've been thinking about giving up anti-perspirant and making the switch to a deodorant that lets you sweat but doesn't make you feel like a caveman...then this is it! I highly recommend it!

WIN IT!!! Leave a comment here before Friday October 1st at midnight (EST) and I will randomly pick a winner to receive their choice of DeoDry deodorant from The Body Shop!!!

REVIEW: Maybelline the Colossal Volum' Express Mascara

I'd like to start off by saying the advertising for this mascara is just RIDICULOUS. Why do they use models who look like they're wearing 20 layers of false eyelashes, loads of black eyeliner, and have been photoshopped to the moon and back?

The public perception of what we, as women, are supposed to look like is so scewed that I'm scared for today's young girls. I don't know ANYONE who's eyelashes look like the models in ANY mascara ad, ever.

**okay, public service announcement over**

I love this mascara! I bought it because it was on sale for half price. Everyone who knows me, knows I'm a mascara junkie and I'm willing to pretty much try anything to make my eyelashes look bigger (RapidLash, anyone?).

Even at full price ($10) it's a steal. This mascara is AWESOME! It's got a very big brush, almost as big as Dior's Diorshow. The bristles are classic wire bristles, and because there are sooo many of them, no eyelash goes unpolished. The formula is shiny, not thick and goopy, and applies beautifully! I had super huge big black eyelashes with only one coat!

Oddly enough, the mascara smells really pretty! I didn't keep the packaging to see where "fragrance" lands in the ingredients list...but it was a pretty interesting surprise!

Here is a picture of me wearing Maybelline the Colossal Volum' Express in Glam Black only on one eye...

Nevermind that I look cross-eyed...or that my eyebrows need grooming... the mascara is pretty awesome, isn't it? Have you ever tried this mascara? What do you think of it? If not, what's your favorite mascara?

Are you in need of pretty jewelry to go with your fab eyelashes? Check out Goddess Jewelry

Smashbox Targed Pore and Line Primer

OMG! I'm in love!

Smashbox, the geniuses who make the world's best foundation primer finally came out with a primer specifically for fine lines. Oh yeah, and large pores, but my concern here is more the fine lines!

I have these teeny tiny fine lines around my eyes and when I wear concealer, they slowly creep into the lines making me look 10 years older. I hate that.

I've tried so many different eye creams and primers, even ones that aren't meant for the eye area, in an effort to stop this concealer-creepage. The closest thing I've had that worked was the Roc epulse, but that felt SO drying around my eye area, that I've abandoned using that product.

This stuff actually works! Pores and fine lines instantly disappear. The best part is that it goes OVER TOP of your moisturizer, so you're not drying out your skin by sealing it in with silicones without moisture underneath.

But even then, this primer is loaded with moisture-rich ingredients like Shea Butter, Murumuru butter, Avocado Oil, Vitamin E, and Glycerin.

As soon as you apply it, fine lines disappear. Of course, this is an optical illusion due to the high concentrations of Dimethicone. When you wash the primer off, your fine lines will still be there. But the best part is... YOUR CONCEALER WILL STAY PUT!!! All day long. No joke!

Some other users have reported sensitivity (mild heat/tingling) when applying it to the eye area. The instructions actually say you can use it on Crow's feet, but I've rubbed it directly below my eye (inside the orbital bone) with ZERO sensitivity...

I haven't used this around my mouth yet, but I bet it would prevent my red lipstick from bleeding! Next time I do red lips, I'll try it and report back.

In the meantime, GOOD LUCK finding this stuff...it's pretty much sold out everywhere! But it's worth calling your local Smashbox retailer to put your name on a waiting list.

This stuff is GOLD!!!

Also, check out my natural skincare goodies at: www.MadeYouLookCosmetics.etsy.com

My Obsession: NeoStrata Toner

This toner is my obsession. I use it once a day to remove any left-over dirt/debris/oil/dead skin cells.

This is part of NeoStrata's "Acne" line-up, but I gotta tell you that anyone can use it. It's very low in alcohol content, somewhere around the 10% mark (unlike other cheap drugstore toners that can be as much as 90% alcohol!) so it's gentle even on dryer and more dehydrated skin types.

Its crowning glory isn't the low alcohol content, it's the 8% Glycolic Acid! So when I say it removes dead skin cells I really mean it!

The beauty of Glycolic Acid is that it makes all your other skincare work better! Your serums and moisturizers absorb better because they aren't fighting to get through layers of dead skin cells. Your skin glows instantly because it's brighter, more even toned, and smoother.

Also, pimples and zits don't just happen because you're oily. Oil alone doesn't cause pimples... but Oil holding onto dead skin cells are what clog pores and cause breakouts. So eliminate the dead skin cells, and therefore the breakouts, by using this toner!

Also, glycolic acid is a wonderful anti-aging product because as it thins your upper layers of skin, it thickens the deeper layers of skin because new cells are being pushed out faster - therefore flattening wrinkles, fine lines and...ACNE SCARS!

I recommend using it at night-time. It does thin your skin a bit, so any redness or irritation that may come along with it will be gone in a couple hours (at most). You can use it every day... I have been using this product as a replacement to the more expensive Peel Solution for a few weeks now and I LOVE IT! I'm totally hooked!

At $26 for a bottle of it (and you only use a slightly damp cotton pad) it's an amazing and effective all-around treatment for all skin types...

REVIEW: Roc Sublime Energy e-pulse eye

Since our bodies are huge masses of atoms, of energy, we are constantly creating energy. We are quite literally balls of electrical charges running all over the mass that is our body.

The people over at Johnson & Johnson (who own Roc) claim they have a cream that fuses together zinc and copper in E-PULSE, which "works by energizing ion-mineral conductors of zinc and copper that activate the skin’s natural process" and "When combined with the specially formulated Boosting Complex found in the crèmes, it increases the rapid flow of mineral ions to dramatically rejuvenate the look of skin."

When Roc first launched this product, I was beside myself! I was told that over the course of their research they discovered that wounds heal faster when this zinc/copper fusion was applied to it - because it allowed the electrical impulses in our skin to travel through the wound. Of course, this is not a claim that Roc makes, but apparently this is what led to the discovery of this zinc and copper fusion as an anti-aging product. This is a two-step product, comprised of a serum and a cream "activator"

I was really excited to get my hands on this product.

The first thing I noticed was that there was no zinc and copper fusion. If you look at the ingredients, zinc powder and copper powder are listed seperately.

The second thing I noticed was that that the E-PULSE concentrate (Step 1) has only 9 ingredients, and that Dimethicone (and its variants) comprise THREE of the first six ingredients. I would guess that it's 50% dimethicone, and if you felt its texture you would probably agree.

I was really disappointed. No wonder over 70% of women saw "instant" results! The Dimethicone is an optical softener, a "blurrer", a translucent line-filler!

Regardless... I thought I'd try it.

Two steps... first you put the E-PULSE concentrate on, and then you apply the "activator" over top. The concentrate is a strange grey colour... and the activator is loaded with sparkly light diffusers!

My eyes immediately looked firmer. My concealer also went on beautifully and didn't crease at all! However, my eye area felt dry. By the end of the day I couldn't wait to get my make-up off to load up on a rich eye-cream!

The next day I tried it again, but this time I put an eye cream underneath it. Bad idea - it caused the cream to "rice" and pile off my eye area. It was hideous! I had to wash my face and reapply my creams (without the E-PULSE).

Lesson learned. The E-PULSE is fantastic for if you need an INSTANT bit of line-filling and if you're okay with letting your eye area feel unmoisturized. But I wouldn't recommend it for every day use! Dry skin ages faster, and if your moisturizer isn't absorbing properly through the layer of dimethicone you're first putting on, then you're setting yourself up for fast aging!

I would recommend this for situations where you need a lift NOW, and then you turn into a pumpkin at midnight.

This stuff isn't cheap. It's over $60 for the eye treatment...and it's not a true anti-ager!

Roc's other eye creams (the retinol based ones) are AMAZING and are the true stuff of anti-aging-science. But I don't recommend the E-PULSE (which, btw, has SIX different parabens in it)

REVIEW: La Roche Posay Redermic [+] Eye cream

When first reading about this cream, and the rest of the Redermic [+] line, one feels compelled to try it out! It sounds like a great moisturizer! It sounds like a lovely and mild anti-aging product!

According to the good folks over at La Roche Posay (Canada's #1 recommended brand by dermatologists) "one of the key ingredients is a nearly pure derivative of madecassoside, which is one of the molecules in Centella asiatica, a healing plant from Madagascar. Madecassoside is purified at over 95% concentration and is combined with pure Vitamin C dosed at 5%. Vitamin C is a well known anti-aging active ingredient." Along with "Neurosensine: Combats micro-inflammatory stress, a true aging accelerator" and Hyaluronic Acid, which we know is a wonderful hydrator, plumper, and encourages Collagen to stick around longer in the skin.

It SOUNDS like a great product! But there's a problem....

It balls off when you apply it. Like putting on too much primer. I tried putting on less. I tried putting on more. I tried NOT rubbing it in... but it still balls upon application.

Some days I'd get lucky and it wouldn't ball up around my eyes... I wanted to do a little touchdown dance! But then I'd put concealer on, and the concealer would ball up. Sigh...

I did a little research. "Ahhhh! There it is - DIMETHICONE!" (again!!!!). It's the second ingredient from the top! And then TWO more forms of it show up in the ingredient list.

Wait. What's Dimethicone? And why is it so bad for me?

Well, technically speaking - it's safety IS up in the air. Environment Canada recently requested more studies to be done on it, as it is suspected to be bioaccumulative/persistent and a possible environmental toxin.

But even if it is found to be safe, the problem with Dimethicone is that it creates an OPTICAL ILLUSION! Dimethicone is well known by those in the cosmetics industry to be a "soft focus" creator. It's similar to taking a photograph with a camera that's out of focus; wrinkles disappear. The people who create these anti-aging formulas know this and add Dimethicone as one of the main ingredients. Dimethicone comes in a variety of molecular sizes that are transparent to look natural, but they bend and refract light in such a way that they "instantly fill wrinkles".

Dimethicone is the SECOND ingredient in Redermic [+] eye cream! ALWAYS read your ingredient lists... If Dimethicone is one of the top 7 or 8 ingredients then stay far far away! You could be spending your money much more wisely on products with active ingredients that actually improve your skin's tone/texture/etc and aren't just instant wrinkle fillers. (note: there is another brand out there that starts with an "O" and ends with a "lay" that has 2 anti-aging lines... 100% of the time, Dimethicone is one of the top 7 ingredients in every single cream/lotion/serum)

My advice? Don't waste your money on La Roche Posay's Redermic[+]. I didn't notice any difference using this eye cream, it was a bother to apply, and it was terrible under make-up!

Biotherm Aquasource Skin Perfection

Now I don't know if it's because I'm just coming off a 7-day all-natural skincare regiment...but this stuff felt like silicone on my skin. They claim it's a "granita-like texture"...I thought it felt like primer!

The texture upon applying it on a freshly washed face felt "ricey". You know that feeling you get when you put too much primer on? That dimethiconey feel? The synthetic silicone texture. Yah...that's the one.

It's fragranced. I'm not one for fragrance, but I gotta say this is a lovely light scent and I wouldn't mind it, except...

The good folks at Biotherm say it's for all skin types, and I'm slightly on the dehydrated side and I needed to put a second coat of this on because my skin felt too taut after the first application. The second application was not enough, so I put a rich night cream on over top. This is DEFINITELY NOT for all skin types - definitely the more "normal to combination-oily" crowd. My BF loves this cream and he's on the oilier side. Definitely not rich enough for me.

Apparently Aquasource Skin Perfection is supposed to drop the temperature of your skin by 2 degrees upon application. I felt no such cooling sensation.

It's $48 CDN, so while it's not expensive, it's certainly not cheap. I would save the extra $4 and stick with one of the two original Aquasource moisturizers.

Have any of you tried it yet? What did you think?

7 days! I made it, and....

...I miss it! To a degree.

My skin just glowed during the whole thing. The few tiny break-outs were done within the day each time, which makes me think it was just my skin purging the toxins it couldn't purge when I was putting more chemicals on it.

To be honest, I'm still washing my face with the soap I bought from the Farmers Market (www.EssenceDew.com), and I'm still using my facial toner (www.MadeYouLookCosmetics.etsy.com) and I even still masked with GwendolynForever's Honey & Glycerin Mask/Cleanser (www.GwendolynForever.etsy.com). I've switched up my moisturizers, going back to the stuff I was using before and even trying the newest addition to Biotherm's line-up (Aquasource Skin Perfection, which I'll review tomorrow).

Oddly enough I had a pimple today. It's still there. DAMMIT! LOL. I wonder if the oils finally caught up with me, or if my skin desperately wants the natural routine back? Hmmm...

Anyways, like I said yesterday - this was a pretty great experience for my skin. It was kinda tough at times because it's not very make-up-friendly, but it's definitely something that everyone can do for an occasional skin-detox!

I'm thinking about doing The Master Cleanse again soon... so maybe I'll line up my next facial detox to go along with my Master Cleanse! I'll keep y'all posted.