Face

Gigi here! I must admit that I am just becoming a devotee of natural and organic beauty products, our focus for today, for one particular reason.  Actually, I "went green" long before it was in vogue and it did not have a happy ending.  This true story is on my profile here, remains etched in my mind's all-time moments of humiliation,  and bears repeating for those of you who most likely haven't read it.

My auburn hair is probably one of my best features.  Some years ago, I went to a stylist.  As he trimmed my locks and admired the color variations of my virgin strands, he suggested that I strip it entirely and then dye it to make it even more glossy, more eye-catching.  I plead temporary insanity as I followed his advice.  Horrors.  Horrors beyond horrors!  I didn't dream of what would happen, but wound up sobbing a new river into existence.  My hair was white--not blonde.  My husband tried to be sincerely sympathetic but guffawed instead.  I went to my sister's for empathy, needing to cry on her shoulder.  Her young sons laughed themselves silly, rolling around on the carpeting, squealing in their high-pitched voices, "Mommy!  Daddy!  Aunt Gigi looks just like Billy Idol!"  The problem was they were absolutely precise with their description.  All I needed was a spiked dog collar, brass knuckles, black leather everything, and a slew of heavy chains to be his groupie.  This couldn't be happening to me . . . someone wake me when this is over.
So another brilliant scheme came to mind--I would travel to my local beauty store and purchase a few bottles of hair dye to mimic the multi-tonal hues of my natural hair.  I bought several different shades and was assured that I could undo the damage by the saleswoman (also supposed to be a beauty advisor).  What I was not told is that these colors have base undertones and I chose some with yellow and others with blue.  Recall the Zip Lock commercial?  Yellow and blue make green!  Goodbye Billy, hello leprechaun Gigi!  My hair rivaled the emerald hills of Ireland.

Sunboy1 here! Hello gorgeous ladies of Megs Makeupland! First off I have to say sorry for being M.I.A. for so long. I was having a Morton Salt crisis (when it rains it pours….) I had to sort through that but I’m back! Revived, better and ready to take on anything life has got for me!

 A while back a brown box came to my door and it was from Meg. I was super excited! I opened it up and there was a sleek black tube with a killer logo on it. I was intrigued and excited to see what was inside! Well I have to admit when three pots of powder, a make up brush and some serum were dumped out I was a little perplexed. Maybe Meg meant to send this bronzer and primer powder to one of the lovely ladies? I quickly read the label on the tube and it said TRAVEL KIT FOR MEN!

Sweetassgal here battling the results of skin put into utter chaos by a lack of routine, change in locale and just a little bit more than normal stress in this gal's life.  I went to Hawaii and spent a week chasing kids and sweating my sweet ass off in the the unbearable September humidity.  The resulting oil slick that accumulated on my face broke me out BIG time and left me with plenty of pimples to test out on a new face wash.  But it was all worth it because I got to spend 7 full days getting to know my adorable nephews and learning that Jennifer is a Wonder Mom!  This girl could change a poopie diaper with one hand, suck boogie's with that little rubber thing with the other, dance and sing like a crazy woman to entertain the boys and probably STILL find 101 uses for diaper wipes!  Is it just me or do they work on EVERYTHING!

So now that I'm back in the comfort of dry Valley weather sans wee one's I'm looking forward to cocktails in the hot tub, being able to cuss at free will again and of course, indulging in some selfish "me" time which translates in Mommie terms to "exactly 5 minutes to actually groom yourself".  Seriously ladies with babies...hats off to you for all you do each and every day.  Motherhood is such a wonderful thing but I really do see the sacrifices you make raising the little one's.  So for you Jen...and all mothers out there...I've been settling down each night with a nice glass of wine and a new tube of Collective Wellbeing's Purifying Cinnamon/Clay Cleanser to combat my island breakout.

Kate2004rock here! My first makeup was a Tinkerbell set with a translucent powder a gawdy-pink lipstick and some rose-oil perfume.  I got it with some dress up clothes sometime around the age of four.  A few years later I got a new makeup palette with all kinds of "fun" colors of eyeshadow (teal, orange, hot pink) and those little lipsticks that stack like legos.  My mom just HATED when I wore the stuff out of the house...to school, on airpline trips, wherever.  She told me I "wasn't" old enough.  At age 9, I began buying Wet 'n' Wild nail polishes (which, at the time, were only 99 cents) at the grocery store when my mother was back in dairy checking dates on gallons of milk.  I wore green and blue (school colors!) on alternating fingers for about tree years!  Eventually she even bought me some powder (for covering breakouts) and a lip pencil at a friend's Mary Kay party that I got roped into attending.  The older girls at school always had their free-gift clinique bags out at lunch or between classes to reapply.  And I so just wanted to be like them.

Sharond here! Lately I have been reading that a lot of our dear Megheads have been asking what to do about facial skin problems, whether it is acne, black heads, rosacea and more.  Earlier this year I wrote about toner from a relatively unknown company called Joining of Herbs.  You can read the couples story on their website.  Since that article was posted several of you have tried their toner have been telling glowing stories of the improvement of their skin.  Stylemama, Sweetass Gal, Gigi, Kellie and Tantejoan have all advised everyone to give them a try.  Gigi pointed out that it also works just as good on men, making this even more versatile. I thought I would run this article again so all our new members can learn about this gem.