July 2008

Sweetassgal here to bring you the best natural and organic products our Mother Earth has to offer us by the way of Green Chi Tuesdays!

Well lovely ladies...it MUST be Trader Joe's week here at Megs! My amazing mother and brave little sister came down for the weekend to celebrate my sisters 21st birthday! Technically she turned 21 on July 7th but the fact that she is a firefighter and was out saving the State of California for 48 days prevented her from celebrating properly. Sorry folks...no drunken bender here. She wanted three things...Sushi, Sephora, and Skin care.

Sephora was as always...a wonder of product cruising perfection. Sister was really in the mood to do it up and we had a BLAST! I must say...we hit the best of everything and she walked out of there with a goody bag FILLED with all the things I covet. Two Faced bronzer and Teddy Bear Kabuki Brush, Urban Decay Midnight Cowboy shadow, potion and BIG FATTY mascara, Smashbox nude lip gloss, Smokey/Rocker Eye kits, Jonathan Hydrating Balm, Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion and the Boscia Willowbark Spot Treatment. Follow that up with a night of fabulous sushi and skin care treatments with the girls and all in all it was a perfect night!

The next day I conned my mother into staying an extra night by dangling a trip to Trader Joe's in front of her...gladly...it worked! We continued our wonderful weekend going up and down the aisles picking out the tastiest treats and best natural products around. Finally, heading down the natural beauty products aisle I was struck by yesterday's yearning for my sister's Boscia Willowbark Spot Treatment and hoped I'd find something similar. Then it appeared before me...Desert Essence Tea Tree Oil Blemish Touch Stick...just $7 and begging to be taken home. I've learned a lot recently about the wonders of Tea Tree Oil and thought this convenient little stick might be just the natural and vegan thing for spot treatment on the go! It has a strong Tea Tree Oil and Lavender smell (duh) but it dries quickly and dissipates somewhat...at least enough so it doesn't seem overpowering but I'm used to herbal smells so it wasn't that big a deal to me. I wore it overnight and it did help in reducing some inflammation I had and calmed a pending breakout. It's available at your local Trader Joe's or online at Drugstore.com . Here's what they say about it...

Clear Skin - Clear Conscience

blemishes
insect bites
skin irritations

Desert Essence® Blemish Touch Stick is a special formulation of 11 natural essential oils designed to promote clear, healthy-looking skin. It includes Eco-Harvest Tea Tree Oil, an inherent antiseptic which leaves the skin feeling clean and fresh. The essential oils of Blue Chamomile, Lavender, Calendula, Rosemary, Thyme, Birch and Petitgrain help to soothe and nourish the skin. Desert Essence® Blemish Touch Stick leaves the complexion clear and radiant.
No animal ingredients or testing. No artificial detergents, color or synthetic perfumes.
Vegan.

In checking out reviews online I've found some people complain that its too strong or causes redness. Quick fix here is to take a Qtip, wet it, then run it across the ball to dilute the oil...then apply! I'll be giving this a try for a while and post back under the original review to let you know how its going as well as checking in with my sister on her skin progress!

Has anyone else out there tried the Boscia and the Desert Essence to see how the compare? I'm dying to know!!!! GLAM ON megsmakup gals!

Hello there, ladies! Goddess Granny here who was SO excited to get her first "Senior Discount" at the movies last Friday! (I got "carded" and was giggling like a loon at the ticket window).

I am pasty and proud...that is my mantra most days. I have tried spray on's, smear on's,andcome on's to no avail and with little hope of any color-deposit except some polka-dotted pores and sordid looking streaks.I am simply not meant to be tan in any way and have come to accept this fact.

Although I admire the "Goth Glam" look on many, it simply doesn't suit my lifestyle and I'm not sure my grandkids would think Mimi in black lipliner was that cool? Soooooooo.....I havefound a few "cheats" that allow me to look a bit "glowier" (is that a word? LOL!) withoutthe emotional distress and mess throughout the years but am always in search of perfection!

Oh...and let's NOT forget that any exposure to the sun (and that DOES include tanning beds)"ages"us all terribly and should be avoided at all costs,I'm serious here girls.

I have read about "Cat Cosmetics" here on Meg's and although good-intent has been there to order up a passle of products, I simply hadn't gotten to it yet. When I received a cute lil'compact from Cat Cosmetics to try I was delighted: nice small size, good little mirror, and a sassy gold cat on top. Pretty although rather bright coraly-orange-peach cream inside.Would it be too"Halloween-y" on me?

From Cat:"No matter what the weather, look like you've spent a fresh day in the sun with Beach Cheeks. This crème blush works great on bare skin or over foundation and will give you a sun-kissed glow." Can I just say this woman (Catherine Hickland) is sooooo STINKIN' GORGEOUS it isn't even fair?

I apply my "I can't live without this anymore" Boots #7 foundation on (see my profile) and every lil' yuckie is covered and smooth so I'm ready to dip into this lil' pot...very creamy, very nice consistancy...dab a bit on my cheeks and WOW! Almost no blending needed and I look GREAT! Gives a believeable "glow" to my cheeks so I hit up the bridge of my nose and temples...looking a LOT less pasty and nicely glowing at this point! The product totally made my entire face come alive and the looked completely "natural" (not a big fan of that word,HA!) and polished with a heck of a lot more "sun-kissed" color than usual! Lasted most of the day and even my husband noticed that I looked like I just had great sex.

Can't say enough about this very reasonably priced product: portable and chic and I think it would work well on any/all skintones. It looks much brighter in the compact but I've found that the "brighter blushes" DO work better as a rule.The shade is just fabulous on, it DOES make one look younger and fresher, and envokes that perfect Summer day on the beach in Malibu we all wish we were having right now...

This one from Cat is a winner for me, hands down!

BEACH CHEEKS! BUY IT HERE!

AND she offers free shipping over $75.00,always an incentive for me.ALSO,if you you go to the "Homepage",she is also having a 20% off sale right now as well...SCORE!

Any other Cat-Aholics?

Hello there, ladies! Vexy here, your Friday fragrance fiend, bringing you the best in sexy scents and sciatintillng smells!

I do love floral scents. I love citrus scents. But in the summertime, they seem to be everywhere. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm just as likely to be wearing Sarah Horowitz's Perfect Gardenia or Pucci Vivara as the next girl, but sometimes I feel like breaking out from the crowd of citrus and florals in the summertime, but still stay fresh and light-smelling.

Now, I love LUSH. Their bath bombs and bath melts are to die for and some of their soaps smell downright good enough to eat. But I've never really associated them with "perfume". So when I grabbed something from the front counter that looked like lip balm, I nearly jumped out of my skin when the saleslady went "stop!". She then explained to me that it was a solid perfume and NOT a lip balm. Immediately, my scent-sense was tingling. (But, you say, isn't that what we call the sense of smell, Vexy? No. It's different. It's my sixth perfume sense. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.)

So instead, I lifted the little tin to my nose and I fell immediately in love. The little tub contained the freshest, most herbal scent I've ever tried. It smelled like a fresh day in the woods, after the rain. I like woodsy scents, but most of them are too mossy or smoky for my tastes. This one was juuuust right. (I sound like Goldilocks! Where are my bears?) The top notes of thyme and grapefruit are almost citrusy in their brightness but are far more "green" in their fragrance. It quickly mellows to a wonderful, fresh herbal scent that's not too overpowering and not too "medicinal", as some herbal scents can be. The base note (which the LUSH site says is vetivert) almost calls to mind the earth and soil in a pine forest.

Here's what LUSH has to say about Go Green:

"Refreshingly green solid perfume rejuvenates and revitalizes
Go Green is the scent of freshly squeezed grapefruits and intoxicating neroli oil dancing about a base of smoky vetivert, swirling amongst a herb garden of fennel, thyme and cedar wood. Get it in a small, portable, recyclable metal tin to dab on every time you need a quick blast of citrus-herbal greenness to liven up your day."

I love, love, LOVE this scent when I'm feeling a little more earthy and less girly. I got it in the solid form, which also moisturizes thanks to the cocoa butter and jojoba oil in the suspension, but it comes in a spray form which the saleslady told me was good as a deodorant and a room spray as well. I tried the spray, and I liked it, but it seems in the liquid form the grapefruit is far more prominent and it makes the top notes a bit too strong for my tastes. It lasts far longer than the solid, however. The solid lasts a couple of hours, more or less, depending on your skin chemistry.

But! The little tin is so portable, you can reapply it anywhere. The tin is recyclable, so it's really eco-friendly (as all LUSH products are). Another thing I like about it? The smell is subtle and fresh, so it's almost completely foolproof when it comes to "overdoing" it (a problem I have had in the past!). Another bonus- it's a really unisex scent, so feel free to share it with your guy if he wants to try a little something different! Just be careful you don't mix it up with your lip balm- I've done it once, without thinking, and the taste is icky icky icky.

Overall, I'd recommend this to anyone who's looking for a nice summer scent that's not overpowering and that's a nice, exciting break from the summer-time mold of florals and citrus.

What about you ladies? Any Go Green eco-warriors out there?

Lush Go Green! BUY IT HERE

Jeanasinahere Hello Ladies! Have I told you about the time I was floating on a raft in the Dead Sea, my body covered in barnacles bigger than the ones seen on any ship? Well I can’t remember if that really happened to me or not or if it’s just a lovely fantasy but I can relate another story to you concerning my adventures. Today we are going to talk about memories...things that take you back to a gentle time in your life when the smell of lemony girl scout cookies made you feel SO happy inside and out!

I was walking through the downtown mall finding no new shops to explore so I thought “What the heck...I’ll go into the Log Cabin Minnesota Gift shop” where every freakin’ item in the store mentions the fact that it came from Minnesota. At this point in my narrative, I’m sure some of you have already tuned out and are searching frantically for another review on some high end beauty product that the stars on “Gossip Girl” are currently using but there IS MORE to my story than the words “Log Cabin Store.”

So as I browsed through the desirable moose heads displayed prominently throughout the shop and the always lovely fishing lure earrings, I happened upon a shelf with lotions on it! I am always interested in lotions and my number one criteria is..HOW DOES IT SMELL?

Well from a time when red full lips were best achieved by attaching crazed bees to your lips back in 1868, there were products made by J.R. Watkins which unbelievably are still around today and happened to be on a display in this shop. I saw a riveting label on a hand & body lotion that said “Lemon Cream” and of course I had to get my eager snout up and into the bottle immediately without hesitation!

Do you know shop personnel are really not big fans of you taking the caps off of things and then squeezing the contents of the container to see if you can get a good SMELL of the product? Well the store clerk happened to be looking over at me just in time to see me give the bottle a squeeze for smelling purposes, only to have a giant glob of the lotion shoot straight up my nose and into my sinus cavity at that exact moment.

I found a Kleenex and tried to blow the lotion out of my nostril - I’m sure it says on the label “CAUTION: DO NOT INSERT INTO NASAL CAVITIES” - oh well.

Mortified but interested I put the cap back on the lotion bottle and then starting applying my personal ‘test’ quality control applications on my hands, arms, shoulders and after checking to the right and left, I snuck some up on my chest and neck! I just loved the smell! I completely forgot that I was I the middle of “Gone Fishing” headquarters and couldn’t stop smelling my own hands and other body parts...everywhere I had applied the yummy sampling! Don’t put it on your knees though - it really looks like a one woman freak show if you are trying to smell your own knees in a store! They frown on that big time!

I practically ran to the cash register lady with several bottles in my arms and gushed about how great this lotion was! She didn’t really care how happy I was and took my money. When I got back to work my girlfriend said “WOW! You smell amazing! What IS that?” I told her about my 1868 beauty secret. Men apparently love this yummy fragrance too! Be warned you could have a male figure appear suddenly wanting to search your body with his nose trying to discover where this memory stirring scent is coming from on you!

The lotion goes on fast and sinks in and you WILL find yourself smelling your hands as often as possible. It is entirely up to you if you want to bother to explain why you have a new fetish which involves smelling your hands compulsively. That’s a wrap on this one ladies...even if money was no object I’d keep a bottle of this around just to continually bring back memories of warmth and the feeling of how good it once was to eat an entire box of lemon girl count cookies!

Keep your smilers on red alert until we meet again in a couple of weeks! Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Body Beautiful starring Jeanasina!

"This ultra-rich, nourishing lotion contains soothing aloe vera gel, panthenol (vitamin B5) and vitamin E, and moisturizing botanicals Light, non-greasy formula; refreshing lemon fragrance "

The cost is about $7.00 and I love it! Any other fans!

BUY J.R.WATKINS HERE!