October 2008

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

Halloween is almost upon us and it's time for my FAVORITE holiday of the year! Ghouls and goblins, spooks and screams, thinks that go BOO in the dark night! I love it all. In fact, I'm such a Halloween buff that I've never forgone a costume in all of my 34 years, amassing me quite an impressive collection of costumes, wigs, and accessories. That will come in handy this year as we are finding inventive ways to recycle the old one's. For me, this is going to take the form of something I can do with fun and inventive makeup, a wig, cape...and my imagination.

One of the simplest things a Halloween reveler can do is just really do up the face. I'm a HUGE fan of Urban Decays bright colors for really jazzing up the eyes and I'm a pro at liquid eyeliner (been wearing it since I was 13). That leaves us with the last staple of the costume arsenal...fake eyelashes. Haven't we all tried them and failed miserably? Yeah...me too. Imagine how sexy my tear stained face looked on All Hallows Eve when I've got one lash dangling from the outer corner of my eye and the other causing my cat's eye makeup to melt and run down my face and into my martini. That mixed with the unfortunate choice of trying to pull off an ill fitting vinyl corset and go-go boots and you've got one sad, sad little kitty. Ah...memories! Better choice, stick to mascara. Lots of it.

L'Oreal Bare Naturale Luminous Lengthening Mascara in Blackest Black is on the floor and has my full attention to see if we can accomplish our beauty best without the pain of falsies. Now of course I don't expect it to actually achieve the same look but I am hoping for sexy lashes with out the hassle and with a mascara that is fiber/paraben free. L'Oreal boasts that the product is infused with shine infusing minerals and conditioning vitamins, is recommended for contact wearers and is clump free. I'm a huge fan of their Voluminous Mascara (I always come back to it no matter what else I try) so I'm hoping they'll keep the same philosophy and just make the formula a little more natural.

I loved the brush. It's full and encourages separation while still distributing the liquid all along the lash. The formula also dries fast enough that if you hold the wand close to the base of your eyelash, press it backwards, and hold for a few seconds you achieve a little curl without having to crimp your eyelashes. I'll curl my lashes anyway for the extra Halloweeny look but don't always have to. The first time or two the liquid seemed a little thin but I find that's true with most new mascaras. They need a few days once opened to absorb some air and give them a little more oomph. I was hoping this was the case and it did help to a mild extent but not as much as I wanted. I find this mascara really separates, lengthens, is clump free, and I applaud them for using more natural and paraben free ingredients but it doesn't give me the volume I need to make my weenie lashes POP. I definitely need two coats for noticeable lashes...a good combing and follow up with a third to get them Fright Night ready. Not bad for an attempt with a 'Naturale' mascara but I won't be stopping any shows. For a fresh face clean look with long sleek lashes...its good to go!

Oh ladies. Maybe decades from now our future grandchildren will see the day when we get volume, separation, lengthening, clump, flake, and paraben free, all natural performance from ONE mascara. We can tell them about the good old days and how they've got it SO much easier. If they don't believe me I'll break out the 'melting sad kitty' story and we'll see what really scares them...puny lashes or Grandma in a corset! GLAM ON megsmakeup ghouls

Any ladies out there that are fans of this mascara or found another natural one?

Kate here, your Sephora insider ! I am not one of those people that puts their Christmas tree up in September but I feel that I must share these with you all before it's too late! And I am kind of excited for Thanksgiving, etc. this year. Halloween has never been my favorite, anyhow.

One of my favorite holiday traditions is to look at all the ridiculously fabulous and luxurious gift options available to everyone (with high disposable income) in the Neiman Marcus home catalog. But this year, if the markets haven't hit you too hard, Sephora has an answer! In conjunction with their 10th Anniversary celebration, many of your favorite brands have decked out and customized (read: bedazzled) a Professional traincase (retail = $90) and then STUFFED them full of product. Their selling them in an auction setting on Charityfolks.com All proceeds go to Girls for a Change, an organization that educates and empowers girls and women whose mission, like Sephora's is to make the world a more beauty-full place.

These traincases are beyond Fabulous. Bare Escentials' is covered in ruby-red blinged-out glitter and filled with custom eyeshadow shades and product worth $1574. Makeup Forever is whimsical and lovely and filled with $350 worth of product. Just go check them out, and bid away. It's for a good cause!

Sharond here, and here to help Gigi while she is attending to her illness. This is supposed to be about Drug Store Deals, but I found a deal that can't be beat, not at a drug store, but at a farmer’s market. There I met two women who started their own health and beauty product line based on their personal needs. Ronda was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer a few years back and after serving in Iraq, had several injuries to overcome. There's no cure for cancer, not even when a person goes into remission, there's always the fear it may return someday. Sara and Ronda researched many different ways to avoid another round of Chemotherapy. We all know that type of treatment not only wears on your body and organs, it also wears on ones mental and emotional state of mind. With nothing left to lose, we went to an all natural way of living. A story of their struggle from start of the idea to the finish product is on their website.

I bought several different soaps that did not contain SLS, irritants, toxins, carcinogens and were hypoallergenic. I also emailed several questions to them about other products and ingredients. The questions were answered quickly and thoroughly.

With a combined background in herbal lore and tribal heritage, and a passion for nature, they created a line of all natural, therapeutic bath and body blends. Their answer was two companies called Joining of Herbs and Witches Bath. I decided to try the olive oil lemongrass bar soap with herbs as my first test product. While taking a shower, I was surrounded by a wonderful lemongrass scent. I felt like I was in the middle of a field with lemon groves surrounded by wildflowers. The dried herbs in the soap provided a wonderful gentle exfoliant. The soap is moisturized by a secret ingredient called by its Native American name of Se'na Oi'na which makes your skin silky and moisturized, not greasy. This will be wonderful for the upcoming winter season when one's skin turns dry.

I found all the products I tried to be wonderful and with their reasonable price, mostly in the $5-$10 range, a wonderful deal. I especially liked that you could order bar soap with herbs to exfoliate your skin or without for those with sensitive skin. The products come in plain containers with a label that is easy to read. It is what is inside that will capture you. Think of the wonderful Christmas presents these will make.

The website is easy to navigate and you transfer easily between one site and the other without realizing it. The site explains the uses of their many herbs and oils, mentioning they are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any illness or disease. If you have a certain oil or combination of oils that you prefer, they accept special orders for any of their products. The site tells you how to contact them directly for information. So everyone, give Joining of Herbs a try and mention you read about them on Meg's Makeup.. Their web site offers purchase discounts on orders of $35.00 or more.

BUY THEM HERE!

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!

I don't ever want anyone to say I'm not a devoted Green Chi reviewer...because I subjected myself to every woman's worst beauty nightmare this weekend all in the name of an honest review. Yes ladies...I waxed my own legs!!!! (insert wince and groaning sound here because I know you're thinking it!).

Let me begin with the fact that I have very coarse and stubborn leg hair. I've inherited the kind of leg hair that would allow my ancestors to trap small game by ensnaring them with their barbed follicles high in the hills of the Appalachians. As a result of this genetic anomaly I've been forced for years to shave...A LOT. I can shave in the morning and be porcupine prickly by that evening. If I let it go a few days (or in the case of my post college 7 year relationship breakup...a few weeks) then I bypass porcupine and head straight to Sasquatch. This makes for a compelling argument in favor of ditching the razor, biting the bullet, and waxing my legs at home.

And wax I did...or in this case I Moom'd. The Moom Organic Natural Hair Removal Kit comes complete with large reusable strips for your legs, smaller strips for face, armpits, and bikini line, applicator sticks, and a jar of all natural and organic sugar, chamomile, lemon, water and tea tree oil as the main protagonist in our little hair removal adventure. This isn't a true wax...it's a combination of sugar and ingredients that just slightly mimics the consistency of honey. And it worked without the constant reheating needed for wax products and the fear of burn and hardened wax. Read the easy to use directions but adhere to my few additional simple suggestions to help you through the rough times...and there will be moments that will test you. I guarantee it!

#1 Prep it up - First off...take two Advil prior to Moom'ing and drink with a large glass of water. This will help with some of the pain and also keep any swelling down that may occur (use your personal discretion if you should not be using Ibuprofen) and the water will help hydrate your skin. Take a warm (not hot) bath to open up your pores, soften the hair, and aid in removal. While in the tub use a gentle exfoliator to remove dead cells from clogged pores leaving you with a fresh surface for removal. When heating the jar put it in the microwave for 10 seconds ONLY. Take it out and stir and put back in for another 5 seconds. NO MORE or you will burn yourself.

#2 Suck it up - You can get through this because I did and my hair is not easy to remove. The first one was a bit of a shock, but it got easier as I went on. You can use the same strip several times, just switch to a new one when the clean side starts to feel saturated. Sometimes when you pull the strip back you'll miss a few here and there. Resist the urge to re-apply and simply put the strip you just used back on the section with the stray hairs, rub vigorously and pull. You won't waste product and it will get them the second time. I also recommend using the facial strips for areas like your knees and around the ankles. These areas are hard to get to and the small strips are perfect.

#3 Follow it up - I'm here to tell you that you will NOT get every hair the first time around. Hair grows in stages and though to the naked eye it looks like I'm freshly shaven, when I rub my leg I can feel fine hairs that are barely detectable but still there. You may have to follow up in a few spots. Keep in mind that the first time is supposed to be the worst as hair will come in softer and the bulb of the hair will get easier to remove, weakening with each use. I'm banking on this because right now mine were harder to remove than Cloris Leachman from DWTS (God love ya Cloris). I also have to admit that I have a bruise the size of a quarter on the one section of my calf that hurt so bad I saw stars. Most of them really were not that bad...but one or two reminded me that I truly am ripping the hair out by the root. Saturday afternoon fun everyone!!!

This is not for that faint of heart but I'm telling you if you can stick it out it will be worth it. I'm looking forward to weeks of hair free legs and no razor burn stubble. It's far easier to use than most wax kits I've tried and won't grab your skin like epilators have been known to do. I even took a little pleasure in getting passed the pain and taking it like a WOMAN! That's empowering. Enough so that my daughter helped with the hard to reach backs of my legs and my husband, son and two dogs sat nearby watching with strange fascination at the lengths a woman will go to for soft legs and an HONEST review!

Share your hair removal stories with us and GLAM ON megsmakeup gals!

\nMoom Organic Buy It Here!