My Beauty Space

OK, I may have found a cheap shampoo and conditioner that I can use once in a while.  Well, let me add that I have only used this in the hotel I am currently staying at while I’m here in Columbus OH, so I’m not entirely sure my hair feels and looks better strictly because of the shampoo and conditioner by Herbal Essences or if it’s also due to the water I’m using.

Anyways, “Hello Hydration” is made by the Herbal Essences popular Clairol brand, but it’s a little more upscale than the traditional Herbal Essences hair care product, it’s in a blue container, and is specifically targeted to hair that is moisture lacking and needs intensive moisture therapy.  It’s got added emollient ingredients of orchid and coconut milk, and the shampoo is a pearly opaque blue color, while the conditioner is a blue color.

My hair turned out very nicely when I used this along with my Aveda Brilliance Universal styling creme.  It was shiny and bouncy.  Like I said, all due to the shampoo and conditioner, or the water too though?  I guess I’ll see when I go home and try it in my own shower! 

I have used a few Mary Kay products, but most of them I used a while ago, and I haven’t really used their newer products, although I’ve heard they’re pretty up to date of new fashion colors in cosmetics and all the other latest amenities in the world of beauty and skin care. 

I used one of my mom’s lotions when I stayed with her recently.  It was a Mary Kay body lotion and it was very heavy and very perfumy, so it wasn’t up my alley, as right now I’m into lightly scented, if any scent at all, for my body lotions.  The one product I absolutely loved that Mary Kay sold was a kit that you bought which was like a facial for your hands.  I still can remember the products that it came with. 

It came with a gentle cleanser, which you used first, then an exfoliating serum that exfoliated the hands really well (by the way you could use it on the feet too), then you would rub this stuff that looked and felt like vaseline on your hands and keep it on for a few minutes - I didn’t like this part, because I hate having heavy, greasy stuff on my hands. 

Then, the finishing touch was to rinse your hands.  They would feel like velvet, literally, and then you would put the finishing lotion on them.  Mind you, when I bought this kit, I was broke, so spending the almost $70 on this 4 piece kit was quite a stretch for me financially. 

If I recall, I had a friend that I was doing a favor for, and felt kind of obliged to buy some items, but I also did like the product.  I think Mary Kay generally has some pretty good products, I just wish they were sold a different way instead of through the parties, which I’ve never cared for.  I avoid them like the plague!  Those and tupperware parties…

I bought on a whim, a trio set of eyeshadows that are one of those many holiday colors that are put out by various cheaper cosmetic companies, when I was bored, waiting for a prescription refill at a local CVS, and I ended up settling on one of these little cheapie eyeshadow sets by Wet ‘n Wild. 

I felt like I was fourteen again, buying Wet ‘n Wild makeup, but I couldn’t resist one of my favorite colors of eyeshadow, gun metal grey and a deeper grey, paired with a light shimmery white color. 

They were pretty rich looking too, for Wet n Wild, they almost looked like they were deeply pigmented like a more expensive eyeshadow would be, like say L’Oreal’s HIP hyperpigmented colors. 

The one I bought said it was a limited holiday edition, so if you’re into Wet n Wild, or you’re willing to take a chance on lower end makeup, this stuff is pretty cool. 

It wears almost all day long (I noticed a little fading at the end of the day), and it goes on super rich, so rich you have to make sure you don’t swab too much of it on your makeup brush or pad that’s provided (remember, I say always use a brush, pads suck). 

Gotta love a $3 cosmetic bargain that actually works! 

Pardon me, I watched the movie “Borat” two weekends ago, and I’ve picked up some of his terminology, hence the “I LIKE”.  Aveda has some interesting hair products.  I can’t say that they all agree with my hair.  In fact, some Aveda hair care products tend to dry my hair out, while others, like Be Curly, leave it looking great and feeling great. 

I have had Aveda’s Brilliant styling creme in my hair care basket for some time, and I had only used it once so far, thinking I didn’t like it because I mixed it with another styling creme (bad idea) and the results weren’t so great.  Now, a few months after it’s been collecting dust in my hair care product bin, I decided to give it another go, this time, just using the product by itself in my damp, just shampooed hair.

I think I really like this product.  My hair came out very straight, and very smooth looking.  It also lends quite a bit of control to your hair style.  I don’t really like the way it feels going on, because it is an extremely thick creme, that almost feels “gooey” or sticky to me, but the results are pretty good. Didn’t leave my hair dry at all, just poker straight and shiny.  Aveda’s Brilliant gets an “A” so far.

This product has been reviewed as one of the best under-eye circle concealers out there today.  Let’s see why.  I personally do not have a persistent problem with dark undereye circles, unless I’ve been severely sleep deprived and stressed, so I haven’t had the opportunity to try this product out yet, but I’ve read some really good things about it for people who do struggle with darkness under their eyes, or simply was  brighter, more “awake” look to their eyes. 

Benefit is a pretty cool cosmetics company, and I have used other products of theirs, and I’ve always been more than satisfied with their results, so I don’t doubt the reviews on Benefit Eye Bright are anything but true. 

Benefit Eye Bright comes in a short, fairly fat pencil form, and to look at it, it looks like it’s a slightly off-white color of eyeliner.  It is $18, and it lasts forever, because of the pencil form, and because you really have to use very little with  each application, so I’d call that a pretty good bargain for better looking eyes!

Users who’ve reviewed the product say it does an excellent job at masking under eye darkness, and also lasts all day. If you feel you need a touchup, the product can be swiped under the eyes again for a renewed fresh look under the eyes, but most people say it lasts all day without budging or wearing off. 

It goes on very smoothly also, as reviewers have said, and even fair skinned people say that it works very well with their skin tone.  That’s the cool thing, it’s a pinkish off white tint, and it actually will work at camouflaging under eye darkness on any skin tone. 

It’s been called a must-have in your beauty cupboard in reviews as well, and also reviews say that it does not crease like many other concealers that you buy at a drug store would.  If you want more reviews of the Benefit Eye Bright concealing pencil, see the Amazon Beauty Store here at MyBeautySpace.com (right). 

I was browsing a local drug store that sells all the salon brands of hair care products, and found a Redken intense treatment that I like so far.  It’s from a newer Redken line of hair care called “Smooth Down” which is supposed to help smooth down the hair’s cuticle, make it lay flatter, as well as deeply condition and penetrate the hair’s cuticle to make it smoother in appearance. 

The specific treatment I got is called “Butter Treat” and it’s a “smoothing treatment for very dry/unruly hair”.  The butter treat smoothing treatment is a rich, luscious cream that provides an intensive and deep penetrating conditioning.  It’s got some really super hydrating natural ingredients in it too, such as macademia nut oil, and ternifolia seed oil. 

Directions are to apply after shampooing and towel drying the hair.  Then, you leave it on for anywhere from 5-15 minutes to penetrate the hair, depending on how soft and smooth you want your hair and the extent of dryness and damage you are looking to repair.  The product’s indications even say that if your hair is extremely dry or unruly, the product can be kept in the hair as sort of an intensive leave-in conditioner.

Last post we talked about some intriguing, if not alarming discoveries of the many unidentifiable chemical compounds and other potentially harmful ingredients in our health and beauty aids that we use, many times several of them, daily.  We talked about deodorants and shampoos last time. 

Let’s talk a little more about the possibly dangerous chemicals that we may be subjecting ourselves to on a daily basis simply for hygienic and beauty purposes (which granted, we all love, but maybe we can “go greener” with these products, which seems to be the trend nowadays).

Reading the labels of my many beauty products and daily hygiene products, unfortunately I am not a chemist, and therefore do not know which ones contain potentially harmful compounds.  There were no dyes listed in my deodorant, or formaldehyde, so I hope that other than the aluminum the rest of the stuff was safe. 

Speaking of which, the massotherapist that I go see actually told me that Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo actually contains formaldehyde, that yucky stuff that is used to preserve bioorganisms in your biology class that smells awful! 

Can you believe that the FDA does not require them to disclose this information on their labels?  All I know is that after hearing this, whenever I have children, they will be using an all natural baby shampoo!  This is just one scary ingredient in something we actually expose our children to.  What of the others that we undoubtedly have no idea about?

Next on my label checking agenda was the spray body mists that I am fond of using after my bathing.  The first ingredient was alcohol, thank heaven.  There was one that I was familiar with that was relatively harmless, besides drying out the skin. 

This was followed by chemical names so long and complex, it’s hard to differentiate if they are harmful or not.  At the end of the list wer blue, violet and yellow dyes that were added.  Could these be harmful?  It’s possible…..

Hair Color : Now there was a list of warnings about harsh chemicals a mile long on my hair color box.  This is a product that I know of nothing to effectively change hair color other than one that contains these strong chemicals, since it is hard to change hair color, especially to get gray out as you age. 

Upon reading this article and labels on my cosmetic products, I was motivated to look further and see if I could find organic or natural alternatives, at least to the products that I knew could still be effective if they were all natural.  We all want to be attractive and healthy, without the side effects of these potentially toxic ingredients in our every day beauty products. 

Will keep you posted as to what I find in my search online and products found in stores also which offer more natural ways to stay healthy, young and beautiful, without the toxic ingredients.

This is always a topic of some debate, meaning whether or not our cosmetics and health aids are actually hurting us by inhalation or actual skin absorption.  This topic will be a two part discussion, and it’s an actual article.  Enjoy reading.

After reading an article in National Geographic about exposure to chemicals in everyday life, I found myself reading labels on my cosmetics and health and beauty aids that I use on a daily basis.  While the article addressed a variety of compounds present in everything from teflon pans to flame retardant fabrics, it also emphasized colognes, shampoos, and other personal hygiene articles. 

Thus, my inquisitive nature led me to read the various ingredients on my favorite shampoos, deodorants and the like.  Even thought the article madea  point of the omnipresence of chemicals in all things around us, there’s something about products we actually rub onto our skin and scalps that is more unsettling, at least to me. 

So, as my lavel reading started, I picked up the deodorant list of ingredients.  It started with the active ingredient that is found in most antiperspirants and deodorants, aluminum zirconium trichorhydrexum (sp?).  After that there was a list of chemical compounds so foreign to me that I couldn’t differentiate what was harmful and what was not.

More on the subject of cosmetics and health and beauty aids and the chemicals that we may not really be aware of to come……This is exactly why I just bought a natural deodorant. 

The fact that I am rubbing aluminum, a heavy metal, directly into my armpits every day really bugged me, especially since you have a lot of vital lymph nodes in your underarms.  Also, aluminum has been tentatively linked ot alzheimers.

Laser skin resurfacing is not for the faint of heart, or for the impatient for that matter.  Laser skin resurfacing is a fairly serious cosmetic procedure that can be done to your face, which produces very dramatic results - in fact I think better than a face lift, which often leave the face looking pulled and fake. 

If you look at before and after pictures of laser skin resurfacing, you will see what I mean.  It brings back the youthful vibrance of the skin, and literally peels off fine lines and even fairly deep wrinkles.  It’s truly amazing.  But it’s a 2-3 month recovery period, and it costs a fair sum of money to get this procedure done to your face.

The average cost of laser skin resurfacing here in the US runs about $3,000, which doesn’t seem to bad when you compare it to a facelift which costs thousands more and also has a long recovery period. 

What Laser Skin Resurfacing Is, and What It Does to Your Skin

This procedure uses high tech, precision cosmetic lasers to penetrate the skin to whatever depth is deemed necessary by the physician, and it actually refines the skin and takes away a few skin cells at a time, exposing new, fresh skin, but in the process makes your skin red and raw, requiring cover up makeup for several weeks due to inevitable discoloration of the skin.

The lasers are guided by the trained professional at predetermined levels of depth, and remove layer by layer of damaged skin in small pulses.  An antibiotic is usually applied to the skin to prevent infection, since new skin is exposed to the elements and bacteria. 

Local anasthetic is usually used if just areas of the face are being treated, but an injectable anasthetic may be used if the whole face is being treated, as this can cause too much pain to be awake.  As I said, laser resurfacing is an extreme procedure, but the rewards are pretty impressive if you’re willing to deal with a long recovery period.

I was doing a little reading on the latest in lip enhancement, and there are a few new developments in this niche of cosmetic surgery and aesthetic enhancement.  One of the latest developments in lip enhancement is the use of a laser to take lip lines away and restore their youthful look, while also making it easier to keep lipstick on without it bleeding. 

The pictures I looked at of women who had their lips lasered didn’t really have any additional fullness to their lips, they just looked noticeably “rejuvenated”.  Most of the pictures looked like they were probably women in about the 40-50 year old range who were just looking for a lip rejuvenation, and not really something that would give them full and pouty lips, like the younger women go for.

There are also lip implants now that work like breast implants, only on the lips.  A small, soft and pliable implant is inserted through incisions in the lips.  The downside to this procedure is that often the results are less than natural looking, the upside is that they are pretty much permanent unless you have problems or decide to have them removed or replaced.  To see review of lip plumping, visit lip plump reviews.

The injectable scene in lip enhancement has pretty much stayed the same.  Restylene is still a popular injectable filler for the lips, and lasts quite long, while collagen seems to be a less popular option since it dissolves quickly in the body, and it often produces somewhat unpredictable results, many times inflating the lips too much, giving a cartoonish appearance (think Jessica Simpson when she had it done, or Ivana Trump, whose lips are obviously over-inflated).