My Beauty Space : Product Reviews, Tips and Experiences

A beautiful smile really does add so much to a person’s face when they are happy.  Actually, I think everyone’s smile is beautiful, simply because it means you have some personality and are a happy person!  But not everyone is so happy with their own smile, as evidenced by a new treatment with the botulism based Botox, which is supposed to help reduce the “gum” factor in smiles for patients who feel too much of their gums shows when they smile, making them self conscious about something they should feel free to share with the world when they’re expressing happiness or joy.

A cosmetic dentists provided the overview fo the treatment on a video I watched, and it’s basically using Botox as a way to help relax the muscles that pull back too much when a person smiles, reducing the amount of “gumminess” in a person’s smile, but still allowing them to freely and openly smile without feeling self conscious about it.  Just when I thought I’d heard of every beauty treatment!

I have to admit I got squeamish while watching the video, because they showed the needle being inserted way up by the corner of the nose (who knew your smile muscles were up that high?), and it didnt’ look like a very pleasant experience.  After all, who does like having needles plunged into their face, even if they don’t go very deep?

The Botox treatment for a better smile runs around $300, and of course that probably depends on the demographics where you’re getting it done.  It’ll be more expensive in say, Beverly Hills than it would be here in the Cleveland Ohio area most likely.  Honestly, I saw a before and after picture of the patient’s smile, and it did make a difference in how high her smile went in the corners of her mouth, but I thought her smile looked much better and more genuine before, but that’s just my opnion and the patient did seem happy with her results, which is of course, all that matter!

Well, this certainly isn’t a story that any woman wants to read, it actually somewhat like a story from a horror novel if you want to know that truth, at least the headline did to me.  The beautician is based out of New York and is a woman, and she is charged with disfiguring two clients with injections into their face that they thought were a combination of collagen and other beauty enhancers, but in fact when tests were done they were closer to pure silicone, which cannot be injected right into the body without side effects.

The injections ended up severely disfiguring both women’s lips to the point that they could barely talk or eat, and they pursued legal action against the woman for using something that clearly was not approved to be injected directly into the skin without serious repercussions as they had.  The women have both had to have several surgeries to try to fix the disfigurement, and have been left with many scars from the procedures, so they definitely have right to sue. 

Of course the beautician’s attorney claims there was no wrong done to the women, and in fact claims that his client did not ever even treat one fo the women.  The truth will come out as this story unfolds in the courtroom, and it should be interesting to see if the outcome is in this woman’s client’s favor or in the favor of her. 

If you’re looking for fuller lips and don’t want to risk the pain and discomfort and cost of cosmetic injections, look at these lip plumper reviews to see how products applied topically can pump your lips up to their individual max by increasing moisture retention and helping to plump out creases, making them fuller and poutier looking. 

I just got a great new color from the Mac line of lip glosses called Plush Glass.  I really like Plush Glass a lot, not only for it’s remarkable ability to stay on the lips forever without getting gummy or gross, but also because it’s color goes on really sheer, and not pasty looking or too glittery at all, although I do wish they had a better selection of more muted colors in this line. 

The new color I got is a bit darker than what I usually go for, called Pop Sugar.  It’s a darker mauve-ish sort of color that will go great with fall colors, and will look good when I eventually dye my hair a bit darker for the winter season.  I noticed that they didn’t have a great selection of colors in their Lip Glass either, or else I may have tried that, but I don’t like the fact that some of their lines have brush applicators and others have the sponge applicator, which I’m partial to. 

It seems like they should offer both options with both products for those of us that are a little pickier about how the applicators are, like me.  Mac also had some great fall colors for the eyes, with their notorious rich hues for those that like to dare to wear the darker, more dramatic colors in the winter time, which allows for those darker, richer tones. 

I just read something interesting and actually scary too, and it has to do with one of my favorite beauty products, shiny lip gloss.  However, I am glad that when I apply any type of shiny lip gloss I already put a balm underneath it, usually one with SPF after reading this startling information. 

Dermatologists and cancer specialists are saying the shiny lip glosses and balms, when worn alone and without SPF in them or with SPF underneath, can increase the risk of skin cancer where applied because the shininess attracts the sun’s damaging ray’s and increases the likelihood of the skin on the lips burning. 

This does make sense though, because if I think to days when I’ve done this, it almost always had resulted in my lips getting burned, which is no fun.  While I didn’t think of the skin cancer aspect, I did hate getting my lips burned because this always resulted in dry, flaky lips and a parched feeling that was hard to get to go away, as well as days of peeling. 

So the moral of the story is to ALWAYS have a lip balm that has a protective SPF factor in it.  I think the waxier  ones that tend to stay on longer are probably the best choice for protecting against sun exposure, so you can buy Chapstick brand with SPF or one of the special brands that actually is made specifically for protecting the lips from sun exposure. 

A very good friend of mine introduced me to the line of Mac lip glosses that are now one of the staples in my makeup collection thanks to their superior color selection as well as their ability to stay on better than any lip gloss I’ve ever used - and I’ve used a lot of them!  The newest line they have in their lip gloss collection is the Plushglass line, and it’s basically the same as their Lustre Glass, except it is slightly flavored and may be a bit thicker of a formula.

It also uses a sponge applicator rather than a brush applicator, which I personally happen to like better than the brush because I feel like it gives me better coverage.  I love the color that I bought too, it’s called Power Supply, and it’s a slightly salmon, peachy color that only imparts a tiny bit of color to the lips without making them feel overly done or sticky and gooey and it makes my lips look naturally more plump and fuller, which I love.

It’s a bit more pricey than the other lip glosses by Mac, I think this one had a $22 price tage, if I remember correctly while most others are in the 18-20 dollar range.  It says that the Plushglass line gives a pearlized finish, but honestly I don’t feel like mine does, which is a good thing in my opnion since I’m not a huge fan of a pearl finish in any of my makeup.  I’m more into the sheer look, and that’s what I feel this gives me. 

You can always test out any of Mac’s products and colors at their counters, which are found at upscale department stores like Nordstrom, and are busy almost every time I visit them, for a good reason.  Mac isn’t limited to lip glosses, they sell makeup brushes and sponges, lip sticks, foundation, a competitor for mineral makeup that I’m told rivals Bare Minerals and all the others out there that are in loose form, and a ton of other makeup and cosmetic items that are made with high quality ingredients and last a long time. 

I have just gotten my second treatment of Juvederm injected lip enhancement from Evo Medispa in Akron Ohio, and I’m nothing less than pleased with the results for the second time.  The cool thing about getting your lips enhanced with Juvederm, or Restylane for that matter, is that they will store it for you for several months, as long as it’s still good, until your next visit, so they can use whatever is left the next time.  This time, since he only used about half of the syringe of Juvederm on my lips the first time to enhance them, he had enough left to do the second enhancement with no charge for the product itself.

This is my third experience with Evo Medispa in Akron Ohio for lip enhancement, and I cannot say enough good things about them.  The staff there is courteous, pleasant and friendly.  The atmospher is relaxing and the asethetics of the office are tranquil.  The costs are reasonable for all of their services, and once you go there, you feel as though you’ll be a customer for life. 

Now onto the experience with the Juvederm lip enhancement, the second time around.  This time I told the Doctor that I would like to try the lip enhancement without the shot of numbing agent that I had the last time, simply because I personally don’t like not being able to talk correctly for the remainder of the day after the injections, so he instead gave me the numbing cream only, which needed to set into the skin on my lips and around them for a half hour to an hour for maximum penetration and pain relief.

I can’t call the experience a pleasant one, but it also wasn’t pleasant when I got the shots to numb the pain either, so I think I’m going to go ahead and not have the numbing shot again next time since my recovery seemed easier without it.  It’s strange, because you do feel discomfort during the actual injection of the Juvederm, but it is only during the time that I felt the discomfort, afterwards it didn’t leave a residual feeling of stinging or burning, just during the initial injection.

My eyes did water quite a bit, and I just kept my fists clenched to help distract from any discomfort.  The outcome was great.  My upper lip was nicely enhanced and very natural looking, and my lower lip was only very slightly plumped, since this creates the most natural look.  I did have a tiny bruise above my upper lip, and also had a few tiny bruises on my upper lip, but they faded fairly quickly and I think that icing them right after the treatment helped greatly. 

I’m happy with them still over a week later, and especially with my top lip, which still has a nice extra added volume to it.  It makes me feel more feminine, and makes wearing lipsticks and fun lip glosses a lot more gratifying.  I have to say, having fuller lips is definitely not overrated!  If you live in the Cleveland or Akron area, Evo Medispa’s phone number is 330-666-4207, I highly recommend them from personal experience, and no I’m not affiliated with them in any way, so this is truly an unbiased consumer opinion

Occasionally I love to support local companies trying to make a name for themselves, whether it has to do with food, makeup or toiletry products.  I happened upon a small line of what looks like a natural cosmetics start up at the local Mustard Seed Market I frequent called Savannah Moon which makes natural body care products (one of my favorites). 

Amongsth the Burt’s Bee’s, Badger brand and other more well knowns in the lip balm aisle I browsed for way too long for such a small product, I found the Savannah Moon  LavenMint lip balm, a mix between lavender and mint lip balm.  Since I’m a fan of lavender because it’s relaxing smell and soothing natural chemical qualities to the skin, I decided to try it.  The packaging was nothing too fancy, but very natural looking, which I liked.

Overall, I like the product.  While it glides on a bit waxy feeling, it doesn’t wear right off like some other lip balms do.  Case in point, the Burt’s Bees pomegranate lip balm which feels great going on but ends up drying the lips and making them “addicted” to more and more balm just to keep them slightly moisturized. 

The LavenMint is nothing extravagent, and I’d still vote for the Burt’s Bees honey flavored balm over it, but it’s definitely not a bad lip balm and contains some excellent natural emollients like sweet almond oil and an essential oil blend of lavendar and mint.  Better than chapstick!  Plus it’s all natural, so you really can’t go wrong there, and I love the soothing scent that wafts up to my nose whenever I put some on. 

I know, what an odd title for a post, but it’s the best I could think of for this sort of odd problem I’ve always had. Seems my lips like to completely shed their outer layer at least once a year, usually mid winter, as they are now.  For years now I’ve experienced the same thing, and they always seem to resist even the heaviest of moisturizers to try to prevent the full on shedding from occurring.

The shedding usually lasts about a week or so, with several layers peeling off at a time.  I can perform some damage control by every morning and night gently exfoliating them while they are wet, but even this seems to only lead to more peeling and shedding.  I’ve found it’s best just to let it happen, exfoliate them twice a day, and try to apply my lip moisturizer and really focus on not licking my lips at all during the duration so as not to add to the problem.

Licking your lips and biting them is a habit that lots of us women have.  Not only that, we frequently will press our lips together, and believe it or not, these actions all lead to further drying and the faster wearing off of our protective lip coating of our choice, namely some sort of lip balm or chapstick.  My favorite lip protectant is still Burt’s Bees Honey flavored, as I find that any balms with mint in them tend to dry me out more, personally. 

Well, it’s been confirmed.  I thought I initially liked the Burt’s Bees pomegranate replenishing lip balm, but I think I was too swayed by the cool bright red color which gave a bit of a pinkish/healthy tint to the lips and the luscious taste of the product. 

I had the pomegranate in addition to my original Burt’s Bees lip balm, as well as my Honey Burt’s Bees in my purse, and I found that it seemed like everytime I used the pomegranate it actually ended up drying my lips out more than before I used it.  I still gave it a good review though, because I liked the way it seemed to not be waxy and just glide right on and taste so good. 

It felt good on my lips at first, but I noticed, unlike the waxier types of lip balms, which I thought I didn’t like, it actually didn’t coat my lips the way it needed to, and didn’t even stay put very long, resulting in drier lips.  I feel like when I use the waxier types of balms, it makes my lips look a bit naturally plumper because it also fills in the lines that tend to make lips look dry and deflated. 

When a friend of mine bought the same lip balm, she asked me if I noticed a dryness, and that’s when I knew I wasn’t just being too picky or anal - it does dry the lips.  I would only recommend the Burts Bee’s original or Honey now, so sorry I gave a it a good review at first!  Sometimes when you initially think you like a product, it’s easy to jump the gun! 

It’s wintertime and, in addition to our skin feeling drier, our lips feel the effect of the cold air and wind by becoming chapped sometimes to the point of cracking.  Many of us apply lip balm frequently during the day to combat this chapping.  I know I am almost addicted to using lip balm in the winter. 
Why are our lips so sensitive to climate change?   The lips are so prone to chapping and drying because the skin is very thin and the oil glands are few for the lips compared to the rest of our body.  Lip plumpers are used to combat this effect, but you want to be careful to use lip balms that are natural ways to plump the lips that use moisturizing agents instead of stinging agents that just irritate the epithelial layer.

One habit that you should avoid is licking the lips.  Licking your lips feels better for the moment but actually dries the lips more.  Lip balm should be applied several times a day or more frequently if needed.  If there’s still no improvement, you can switch to a regular vaseline type of product.  When shopping for a lip balm for winter use, look for one with petrolatum. 
If your lips continue to be chapped and you’re using lip balm already, you could have an allergy causing your chapped lips.   Allergens can be mouthwash, toothpaste, lip balm or liipstick.  If you suspect you have an allergy to any of these products, try not using the product in question for a week or two and see if you note any improvement.
The purpose of a lip balm is to prevent or repair chapped lips. For types of lip balm, you can select one with a petrolatum base, or a type with sunscreen for outdoor activities, or an overnight type with vitamins and aloe vera.
To diminish the amount of chapping and dryness to your lips, make sure you drink lots of water.  Another way to cut down on dryness, not only of the lips but for all of your skin, use a humidifier.
Use of a lipstick can reduce the effects of the cold air, sun and wind.  Be sure to select a moisturizing type of lipstick and apply frequently.  A word of caution about the long lasting lipsticks is they contain a chemical that can actually dry the lips.
Some topical preparations we use for our face can dry the lips such as benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid and Retin A.  If you find that you have stubbornly chapped lips, stop the use of these topical medications and see if it helps.