REVIEW: Yes to Carrots! Shampoo & Conditioner

I finally decided to give YES TO CARROTS Shampoo and Conditioner a try, after it had been staring me down for MONTHS as I walked down the hair care aisle.

What first got me was its lack of SLS, that it was loaded with plant extracts and Dead Sea Mud and that it was missing Dimethicone, a silicone that gives the illusion of shine and health. It also looked like a really good value...what with that huge bottle going for $10 or less.

From the very first shampoo I have been IN LOVE!

The instructions indicate to leave the shampoo on your scalp after lathering. I thought it was weird, but figured, what the heck. So I left the shampoo on for a minute before rinsing it off. For a second I was dumbstruck... had I just shampooed my hair? Or was that conditioner? I was pretty sure it was shampoo....

Yes. My hair was THAT soft. So I placed a tiny bit of conditioner in the ends of my hair and massaged it up. I didnt leave it on...just rinsed it.

My hair was amazingly soft and shiny, right from the very first use!

Those with very fine hair might even skip the conditioner, Im not even joking!!!

If you havent tried this brand of shampoo and conditioner yet, I beg you to give it a try! This stuff is AMAZING, an awesome value for the size, and has far far far fewer chemicals than many of its counterparts in the hair care aisle where you buy your shampoo!

REVIEW: Shiseido The Skincare Instant Eye and Lip makeup remover

Some people don't like oily make-up removers because they worry about causing break-outs, which to a degree I find ludicrous because **NEWSFLASH** you're supposed to wash your face after you use a make-up remover...even if you have one of those non-oily ones.

Ever since I was very young and first dabbled in make-up (and therefore makeup removers), I had a minor obsession with minimizing exposure to oils. After all, thats what all the magazines said...back when I read YM and Cosmo. ha! Fast forward many years, and I love me some oils in my skincare routine.

Anyway, the one thing I discovered when I was very young, and that I've reitterated throughout the years is that non-oily make-up remover always made my lash line feel like it was on fire.

Has anyone else ever had that reaction?

And just in case you don't know me, I'm a dark haired, dark eyed, olive skinned gal who is allergic to pretty much... NOTHING! Having a burning reaction to make-up remover like that was mind boggling. After having experienced the same reaction to a multitude of non oily make up removers, I finally gave up on them.

The make up remover from Shiseido is a "dual-phased" product. This means that the oily mixture sits on top of the watery mixture, so you gotta give it a really good shake before you squirt some onto a cotton pad. Hold the lightly dampened cotton pad over your closed eyelid and hold for 5-10 "steamboats", then give it a gentle outward swipe.

Fold the cotton pad in half (dirty side in), look up to the ceiling, and wipe under your eye. Nobody likes that Britney-Spears-I'm-still-wearing-last-night's-makeup look.

Finish off with using your favorite cleanser, then serums/treatments and moisturizers.

I love its effectiveness and I love its scent! The fragrance is VERY mild, and if you check the ingredient list, it's actually the last ingredient. It didn't feel as intensely oily as the Lancome Bifacil (which is still one of my fave makeup removers), but it was JUST as effective.

The importance of using a good make up remover cannot be undermined. The skin around your eyes is ten times thinner than the skin anywhere else on your face, which is already much thinner than the skin on your body. Rubbing and tugging, and pulling and pushing at the delicate skin around your eyes can...AGE YOU! gah!

Price-wise, it'll run you about $30 and is well worth it, both for those of us who don't use it often, and for those of us who use it every day. A little goes a long way, so one bottle of it will you last a long time and put off your eye-lift for at least a decade.

Just kidding.

Kind of. :o)

Review: SMASHBOX Halo Bronzer

If you havent heard of SMASHBOX's famous HALO line, then you've been living under a rock for quite a while now. They have these amazing mineral foundations that completely disappear on your skin to create the illusion that you REALLY do have perfectly incredible skin... but only if you're one of the 4 shades that it comes in - which unfortunately, 90% of the population won't fit into...

Are you listening SMASHBOX?!?! Its time to bring out another 2...or 8 shades in HALO. (says the girl who falls between Light and Medium).

All that aside... if you haven't tried their HALO Bronzer, you dont know what you're missing. It's perfectly matte, a most natural tanned-tone that suits most skin colours. My favorite part? Its utter lack of SHIMMERY SpArKlEs... My second favorite part is that under the little built-in blade, is a pretty much solid bit of mineral bronzer that you shave fresh for EVERY use! Plus the blade has a built-in anti-bacterial film so you have FRESH and CLEAN make-up everytime you use it.

It looks so natural on because YOU can decide where you will apply shimmer to highlight and define.

My favorite way to apply is to frame your face with it, blending it well into the hair line as you go. Apply a little extra at the temples, right on your cheekbones, and blend under your jaw line for a little extra definition. Make sure you finish with a tiny bit of blush on the apples of your cheeks for a most glowy finish! I recommend Smashbox's CHIFFON blush; a perfect peach tone that EVERYONE can wear!

It's about $45 in Canada, and is the size of THREE bronzers, so it's not only a fabulous product, its INCREDIBLY well-priced!

BLACK FRIDAY SALES ON JEWELRY @ ETSY!

REVIEW: Bourjois Volumizer Mascara

This is the coolest little contraption! At first glance it appears there are TWO brush wands inside this little tube, but upon further investigation, you realize that the same wand is pushed through a thicker hollow wand on the inside.

Check out the pics:

You have the mascara tube with TWO twist off tops. The first option is to screw off just "Step 1", the second option being to screw off "Step 2".

Step 1 gives you black eyelashes, long, full, feathery, natural. Did I say long and thick? but definitely more on the NATURAL side (if you consider big huge fluffy feathery mascara that makes your eyelashesh look like they've multiplied, "natural") :o)

Step 2 gives you big bad black eyelashes. The kind you wear out to a bar. Or a make-up counter, if you're a make-up artist. Or to work, if you loooooove big bad eyelashes.

When you pull the "Step 1" wand out, it goes through the extra tube that's attached to the "Step 2" lid, so the brush gets an extra-thorough "cleaning" of excess product. You get a super clean mascara wand, that deposits JUST the right amount of mascara, and NEVER with clumps.

I'm amazed that no one thought of this before!

"Step 2" gives you big thick eyelashes, but I've discovered a couple of things:

a) You can get crazy thick, but natural-looking eyelashes if you apply TWO coats of "Step 1"

b) You can get crazy thick, but natural-looking eyelashes if you apply "Step 2" first, and then comb it through with "Step 1" next.

c) Even though they guarantee "No Clumps", "Step 2" might still be too much for some people. I still like to wipe the mascara wand on the lip of the tube to remove excess product.

d) This is not for the demure...it only comes in BLACK. No brown available.

For a "prestige product" this mascara has an AMAZING price-point of $20. It competes with Dior's best mascaras ($31-$35), blows Lancome's classics out of the water ($31-$35) and is just a few bucks more than the great mascaras you can get from even L'Oreal ($13-$18).

It's only available exclusively at Shoppers Drug Mart and Murale in Canada, so I HIGHLY recommend you try this stuff!!! You'll love it!

Goddess Jewelry on ETSY

REVIEW: Neostrata Intense Eye Contour All-In-One Serum

I am in love!!!

I used to be scared of Retinol, and products containing Retinol, because nobody ever told me you have to start slowly with it. The first few times I used retinol-based products, I went full-steam ahead and applied it twice a day for 2 or 3 days until my face and eyes were so dry I thought I was going to die. Okay, not die. But you know what I mean....don't you?

The extremely sensitive may never be able to use Retinol, but truthfully, very few of us fall into that category. The extremely sensitive, if feeling adventurous, should probably use a FACIAL retinol product first to determine tolerance before moving onto an EYE AREA retinol product.

To me, that's just common sense... but in case you've misplaced yours, I thought I'd just let ya know. No offense. We're still buds, right?

Seeing that I now knew to start slowly, when I first got my little bottle of NeoStrata Intense Eye Contour All-in-One Serum, I started using it every other night for about 2 weeks. Then for the next week or 10 days I used it day and night, but still only every other day. Now I'm up to twice a day, every day. I still experience a little bit of dryness, but that's probably because I just started using it twice a day every day. At night, I apply straight Shea Butter overtop of the serum, and during the day I apply my Juice Beauty organic eye cream overtop, and sometimes Clinique's All About Eyes because it's so hydrating.

I've heard some people talk about how it's fine by itself, but I definitely recommend using a rich eye cream overtop. After all, having lots of moisture in your skin is the best way to slow down the aging process (oily skinned people age far slower than dry skinned folks).

I have to say, my eye area looks amazing! The dark circles seem to have faded a little bit and the tiny fine lines have disappeared ENTIRELY. No eye cream has ever been able to do this. I've had rich eye creams soften the lines...but no cream has ever ENTIRELY ELIMINATED MY LITTLE WRINKLES.

For someone who has more advanced aging around the eye area, NeoStrata's Intense Eye Contour All-in-One Serum will definitely help, but I don't know if it will remove ALL your lines. Either way, it is DEFINITELY worth a try because of the wonderful active ingredients in it.

The active ingredients in this light serum are 0.05% Retinol and 3% Matrixyl, a powerful pentapeptide that encourages collagen production. It also has an ingredient called "Eye Regener" at 2%, which reduces puffiness and increases firmness and tone. NeoStrata has also added a 7.5% blend of MDI complex, SabiWhite, and Cytobiol Lumin-Eye which all help to reduce dark circles.

I know I absolutely adore this product and have permanently added it to my twice-daily routine. Once this bottle runs out, I will DEFINITELY pick up a second!

A half-ounce air-tight pump is $45 and well worth it!

REVIEW: Lavanila The Healthy Deodorant

I haven't worn anti-perspirant in YEARS. Even though "they" tell you that there's no direct link between anti-perspirants and breast cancer, I still think that "they" have a vested interest to tell us that. Our sweat glands are just far too close to our lymph nodes, to our breasts...and besides, we're MEANT to sweat. It's how our body regulates its internal temperature.

Oh, and a daily shower does WONDERS for preventing body odour. All that being said, that damp feeling when you start to sweat is a little bit unnerving. You can feel it, and then you start to wonder "Can you see it through my clothes?", "Do I smell?", "Will I smell?" and your imagination runs away with you.

Chances are, that you don't smell and you won't smell for at least a few hours. ;o) But I like to have a deodorant with a pretty smell handy in my purse in case I start to worry. One of the all-natural deodorants that I already own (and love) is the one from The Body Shop and this is the other one... LaVanila's The Healthy Deodorant. It comes in a few really lovely scents including Coconut Vanilla, Grapefruit Vanilla, and.... Pure Vanilla; my personal favorite!

It goes on with a creamy feeling, refreshing, and instantly drying. It's loaded with plant extracts and a really lovely all-natural scent. It's a bit pricey at $18USD, but well worth it! It takes quite some time to go through one, and it's free of Parabens, Propylene Glycol, Butylene Glycol, Mineral Oil, Aluminum Salts, Phthalates, Silicones, Petrochemicals, etc.

I've only ever been able to find it at Sephora, but if you know of a different place to find it, please do let me know!

http://www.MadeYouLookCosmetics.etsy.com

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REVIEW: Almay One Coat dial up Mascara

I was running low on mascara...which is unheard of in this household. And I legitimately needed a new tube. Again, very strange as there's usually AT LEAST 2 or 3 tubes of mascara on-the-go.

I figured I might as well try a new mascara.

I remembered seeing the ads (and commercials) for a new mascara from Almay where you can turn the tube to adjust how big you want your lashes to go. I immediately figured that the tighter you wound the tube (to the 1), the tighter the excess wiper piece inside the rim would be wound; therby removing more of the mascara from the brush. If you turn it to 2 or 3, then the excess wiper inside would be opened up a bit more; allowing more of the mascara onto the tube.

It turned out I was right! That's exactly how the mascara works.

That's all I knew about the mascara, but I picked it up to try anyway. I didn't realize that it comes with a plastic-bristled brush. Personally I prefer the traditional metal-bristled mascaras (1 exception: CoverGirl's Lashblast Volume [the one in the orange tube] love that stuff!)

The first time I used it, I set the tube to "1" for my right eye, and "3" for my left eye. You could definitely see the difference! It wasn't pleasant though.

As far as plastic bristled brushes go, it wasn't the best. I definitely spent more time than usual per eye, combing the formula through as it went on a bit thickly. It took a good 2 minutes to get it nicely onto my right eye.

But once I set the tube to "3", it really went on clumpy. It took another 2 minutes to comb the formula through my eyelashes, but the end result wasn't pretty. The eyelashes were thickly coated in a style reminiscent of spider legs coming up out of my eyes. My lashes were fully clumped together. yikes. Very Tammy Faye Baker.

Also, it was difficult to wash off. The formula wasn't waterproof, but it required make up remover to get it off, which is one of my biggest pet peeves! Mascara should wash off easily with lots of splashings of water and your face cleanser...unless it's waterproof.

Despite this all, I used it again the next day. I left it at level "1" and still wasn't impressed with it. My last few forays into less expensive mascaras included Maybelline's le volume express (which was AWESOME), L'Oreal's Extra Volume Collagen (also awesome), and CoverGirl's LashBlast Volume (fantastic!).

I give Almay two-thumbs-up for a fantastic marketing venture and two-thumbs-down for the mascara!

This one, is going back to the store for a refund.

REVIEW: La Roche Posay Toleriane Creams

La Roche Posay is the #1 recommended brand by Dermatologists in Canada. And with good reason! They have a complete line of skincare that addresses every skin concern need for men, women, teenagers and children of all ages. They are famous for their body creams for extremely irritated and sensitive skins. Their products are soothing and loads of parents buy them for their small ones.

Today I'm talking about their TOLERIANE line of moisturizers. Their TOLERIANE line is meant for sensitive skins that are more on the oily side. There is a TOLERIANE FLUIDE, which is the lightest of all their moisturizers. Then there is the TOLERIANE, which is a bit richer. Then there's the TOLERIANE RICHE, which, as the name implies, is...well...rich! Despite the "RICHE" name, the lotion is still OIL-FREE! Actually all three are oil-free!

Feeling the three different textures is something you must do to really appreciate this line of moisturizers. The FLUIDE comes out like a cream, but as soon as you touch it, it feels like water on your skin! The regular TOLERIANE comes out like a light cream, and the RICHE comes out like a thick anti-aging cream. Such a range of textures!

The most amazing thing is that they're all oil-free! Glycerin is the active moisturizer in these 3 moisturizers. These creams are wonderful for increasing the water levels in your skin. Someone with acne is most likely using products like Benzoyl Peroxide or Salicylic Acid which are meant to sop up the oil from your skin, with an unfortunate side-effect being that they also DEHYDRATE the skin.

Dehydrating the skin causes your brain to send more oil (it can't send more water)... so you create this vicious cycle of using harsh products to eliminate the oil, which causes your body to only make more oil! This moisturizer helps to break that cycle because it not only increases your skin's water levels, but because Glycerin is a HUMECTANT, so it continues to pull water out of the air all day long and into your skin.

Everyone, not just those with acne-prone skins can benefit from increasing the water levels in their skin!

The BEST BEST BEST part is the sheer lack of ingredients. The FLUIDE only has 14 ingredients, and the regular TOLERIANE cream only has TEN INGREDIENTS!

For someone with very sensitive skin, someone who's allergic, someone with redness and rosacea, this is a dream-come-true. It is almost impossible to have an allergic reaction to a product that has SO FEW INGREDIENTS! There are no fragrance, no colour, no parabens, no fillers. Every single ingredient in these creams plays an important role in it's moisturizing abilities.

The next time you're in a drug store, pick up any moisturizer from a brand who's commercials you see on TV. Just look at the sheer size of the ingredient list. It's not unusual to see that there are 40-50 ingredients. If you consider yourself sensitive, you might as well save yourself the trouble and go straight for the La Roche Posay TOLERIANE creams.

Even the "cheapy" drugstore brand creams are now selling for $25 and up. La Roche Posay's TOLERIANE CREAMS are $31 for 40mL(1.4oz) and are definitely worth it!

I don't know where you can get La Roche Posay in the United States, but in Canada it's available at every Shoppers Drug Mart. And you should definitely check it out soon!

Goddess Jewelry

REVIEW: Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus

Not too long ago Clinique launched their latest product in the fight against aging: Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle & UV Damage Corrector. It promises, within 12-weeks, to provide an anti-aging and sun-damage-correcting effect 63% equivalent to a laser procedure.

This may seem hard to believe, and with good reason. Laser works by damaging your skin at a very deep level, which causes your skin to go into over-drive to repair this damage. The resulting repair results in skin that looks better than when you actually started. However, to get the most results, you need a series of laser treatments. 1) It ain't cheap. 2) It hurts! 3) It works*. Is it possible that a SERUM can provide 63% of these results at a fraction of the price, with none of the down-time, and with NONE OF THE PAIN?!?

(**ALWAYS ONLY go to a reputable anti-aging spa, that is presided over by a Doctor, and staffed by Nurses and Esthetic nurses using the LATEST in laser equipment. Failure to do so may cause in hyperpigmentation, burns, and scarring. NEVER try to save money where laser is concerned**)

Okay, back to Clinique:

There's a cocktail of good-for-you ingredients such as Vitamin C (powerful all-around-anti-ager), Ergothioneine (mushroom extract - antioxidant), Pomegranate extracts (antioxidant), retinol (vitamin a), sea whip extract (anti-inflammatory), Pinenadiol (encourages micro circulation), hyaluronic acid (intense moisturizer), and a host of peptides (encourage collagen production). It also includes 3 special enzymes that work to correct UV damage, absorb light to minimize damage from happening right now, and to correct DNA damage.

The thing that caught my attention on the ingredients list? The DIMETHICONE at the VERY TOP.

As I've said before and will continue to say, time and time again... I hate Dimethicone. It is an optical blurrer, it creates an optical illusion that your wrinkles have disappeared, and you should stay away from a product when it's one of the top few ingredients.

In this case, I digress. This product is LOADED with good-for-your-skin ingredients, and while the dimethicone provides an instant "wow, I look good" benefit, there are definitely long-term benefits to using this serum.

I've been using it under my moisturizer for about 3 weeks now, just 3 or 4 drops each use, and I gotta say, my skin is looking mighty good. My naso-labial fold is looking a bit softer, which is a big deal for me (it's my first real sign of aging - albeit it means I'm a happy person who loves to smile...)

Oh, and before I forget - YOU CAN USE THIS SERUM AROUND YOUR EYES TOO! This is the original reason I picked this product up; it's loaded with peptides and anti-oxidants, can be used on face, throat, and eyes and can be used day and night!

At $53.50 CDN and $44.50USD, it's a great buy!

BOGO at MadeYouLook Natural Skincare on ETSY