B. Kamins Laboratories

My current arsenal of skincare by B. Kamins Laboritories

1 of my favorite Masks & Skincare lines

Aaahhh, B. Kamins Laboritories.....I've been eyeing this skincare company for a decade, a skincare line formulated around the power of the Maple intrigued me. However, being 24 back then I didn't really need serious anti-aging skincare products, I was already blessed with good skin and genetics. Fast forward to 34 INTERVENTION TIME! Haha! See I have a problem, I love trying new skincare products even if the current one I'm using is spectacular. Yes, always thinking the grass is greener on the other side ;). However, I am hella glad I made the switch! I have combination skin so I can use either creams or lotions depending on the season.....yay me! Since gorgeous skin is all about early prevention and I still am blessed with the skin of a 20 something, darlings it was time for me to take the splurge! Because of my monthly monster and the little monster that tries to pop up on my face during that time, I opted for the Clear Skin Purifying cleanser and toner and it works!!!!! I love the subtle tingle from the cleanser. After washing I also exfoliate with the Bamboo and Rice Facial Polisher at night. I also of course give myself a mini-facial 3 times a week, essentially simply slapping a mask on my mug. I haven't had the pleasure of trying B. Kamin's yet, however I am head over heels for Ole Henriksen's Firming Mask, which I will also note is another spectacular line. I also do have an affection for the fresh masks made by Lush if you are lucky enough as well to live near one. No more monthly blemish for me :D As for treatment I opted for the Glycolic 10 and alternate with the Renewal Serum to apply under my Day Cream w/SPF 15 or Night Moisturizer. These two gems erase all the naughty sunbathing, and tanning bed days. Drinking, and smoking, all the offenses we waged on our skin during our reckless youth. Since using these for just 2 weeks my pores seemed to have disappeared, my freckles from sunbathing have lightened tremendously and my skin looks as though it's lit from within. As for the moisturizers I use the Day Cream SPF 15 with anti-aging properties of course which is fabulous for the winter since it is on  the heavy side which I have to apply with a very light hand as it does take a while to sink into my combo skin. With warmer days coming up I also have the Day Lotion SPF 15 which my skin sucks right in. At bedtime I use the Night Cream formulated for all skin types which though it feels it never sinks into my skin leaves it looking and feeling fabulous upon waking. Last but not least the eye cream. I opted for the heavier formula which is creamy, dreamy, and VERY moisturizing. So bottom line I am liking the results from these products formulated with all the good juju from the mighty Maple tree, ha. I could go on and on about the benefits and results however my darlings it's quite late and I need my rest, I wish I could say beauty sleep but it's mommy sleep haha! Bottom line, B. Kamin's Laboratory makes a great line. Just a note for those who suffer from sensitivities or rosacea, there are a BUNCH of products they have formulated in their line especially for those skin types to ease the redness and inflamation. Every product is a pleasure to use and does what it says, at least the ones that I have used. Hugs and Kisses sweethearts!

Calling all insomniacs like yours truly!

Lovey, the Lavender Lamb, IsabellaCatalog.com A natural way to fall asleep or calm down and relax. Cuddle with this adorable little lamb and moms, don't forget to get one for the kids too. I have the WORST insomnia in the world and aromatherapy helps miraculously. When my nerves get frayed I whip out my essential oils, and they really do help. However I find they won't work unless you LET THEM. Bottom line. Away from home and need a wonderful, portable roller? For one of the BEST lavender oils I have ever smelled head to Daybreak Lavender Farm for one of their aroma synergies. To relax, Daybreak's lavender is a synergy of a secret blend of 5 different essential oils from different lavender plants as there is quite a few types of lavender and Daybreak nails it with their house blend. However for sleep I personally use and advise as they do to get the Mysore sandalwood which is blended with a touch of luxurious Rose Otto. This will send you off to sleep with a smile as Mysore sandalwood is the best in the world & a rare commodity. http://www.daybreaklavenderfarm.com/store/AromaSynergies-pr-16687-c-400.html . I swear by these along with every single one of their products because I am literally obsessed with this company!!!! The handmade soaps, creams, and lotions are beyond decadent. The skincare systems are phenomenal. This indie company does everything first class, and everything is made from scratch. Yes, the prices are expensive but they use the best ingredients and don't skimp.....ever. I will order from Daybreak as long as they are around. I know a LOT about handmade soaps and they are simply one of the best out there. For a relaxing shower purchase one of their Blooming Aromasoap bars in Fresh Lavender. The name is such because the aroma blooms with the heat of your shower and fills the entire bathroom. Aside from aromatherapy benefits I love these for the skin loving ingredients which are high lathering and moisturizing as these soaps contain 11% unrefined shea butter as well as cocoa butter. Daybreak also has a line of 33% shea butter soaps, yes 33%!!!!!! There are even goat milk soaps in the 33% shea butter line. Could your skin love you more? Daybreak Lavender farm makes some of the most luxuriant handcrafted soaps and are a favorite indie bath & body company of mine. One of my top 3 go to soapmakers and I've tried TONS of different artisans. If you love lavender as much as I do, you will fall head over heels for Daybreak Lavender Farms. Sweet dreams and happy bathing my darlings. XOXO

tarte 100% Pure Cold Pressed Maracuja Oil from the Amazon - QVC.com

tarte 100% Pure Cold Pressed Maracuja Oil from the Amazon - QVC.com So back in November I gave you all a tease about my little wonder product, my latest beauty Ah-Ha!, Tarte's Maracuja oil which I am still clutching in my hands greedily in the early morning of December 22nd 2012, Happy New Years by the way my darlings :D! However back to business Maracuja oil beautifully if I may say presented to us by Tarte. Now most of you are probably going to or are already scratching your heads, what in the heck is Maracuja oil? Well in laments terms ladies and the intelligent gent or two out there, Maracujua oil is simply oil from the seeds of the passion flower fruit. Now I can hear some of you grumbling well I can get Maracuja oil from my GNC for a whole lot cheaper or this other supplement place. Some of you are right and some of you are wrong because what makes Tarte's' Maracuja Oil so special? Where it's harvested! Who is harvesting it! Is it Fair Trade?!  Under what conditions are they being collected and taken to have this amazing oil pressed until they finally fill our gorgeous purple bottles with the bamboo and gold topper batting her powerful eyelashes.....look at me, use me! Let me make you more beautiful my darling!!! Seducing us to use it from out of our vanities or bathroom counters? Well ladies, as anyone who knows anything about Tarte knows the lovely eco-friendly company's founder, Maureen Kelly is a GENIUS!!!! Bringing us all these innovative, pristine, and powerful ingredients from her trip down the long, long, ancient, did I mention long Amazon River? Jewels of the mighty Amazon River and surrounding rainforests. C'mon! No one knew diddly about Amazonian clay before Maureen discovered it's amazing multifaceted powers to benefit ALL skin types in SO many different mediums? Illuminating serums, tinted moisturizers which I will add Tarte's Smooth Operator Tinted Moisturizer is the best damn tinted moisturizer in the industry right now. None of the powerhouses of makeup can hold a candle up to Smooth Operator and I mean NONE!!!! I had oily skin in my teens to mid 20's that turned to what it is now at 34 combination, one of the most frustrating skin types to have because I now have to tend to both oily girl and dry girl skin issues. But if that's what I have to endure to have 19 year old men asking me out because they think I'm about 24 or 25, I'll damn well take it! HAHA! Now back to the Maracuja oil. It's light golden in color, has a natural slightly veggie/nutty scent about it which I've read some complaints about but come on now. You don't use skincare for the way it smells, and it's not even a strong smell, which dissipates as soon as it's applied to the skin. Did anyone go to use Tea Tree Oil for their acne issues smell it and think "YUMMY! I wanna just drink this stuff!"? Now This oil can and should be used as as a serum under moisturizer except for on very oily girls who can use it alone as moisturizer. Cleanse your skin, I currently use Pangea's cleanser for normal/combo skin or an organic handmade soap. Next tone, as an esthetician it shocks and drives me crazy the amount of people out there that don't get it why they need to use a toner after done washing! Now pay attention ladies.....especially you non toners! When we wash our skin we are throwing the PH of our skin out of whack. Now get some good cotton, organic is best if you can afford it, however spray your selected toner for your skin type onto the cotton pad and wipe the skin clean with it. What you are doing is re-balancing your skin's PH levels, wiping off remaining traces of cleanser or dirt, as well as prepping your skin to receive and absorb either your serum, our Maracuja oil for those of us lucky enough to have it and then moisturizer over it much better so the actives can delve into the deeper layers of the dermis and go to work. If your skin is dry, normal, mature, and/or damaged, you will want to use Maracuja oil as a serum before you moisturize. Combo girls feel it out, what I do is since I now have makeup optional skin since using Tarte on my facial skin exclusively, in the a.m. I will apply my moisturizer or Smooth Operator tinted moisturizer with.....TA DAAA....Amazonian clay after I feel the Maracuja oil sink into my skin. I even apply my Maracuja oil on my eye area making it all the more beneficial before applying my Pangea eye cream and my peepers are smooth, soft, and relaxed with no lines in sight. I've laughed and continue to laugh a whole lot in my life and have very little evidence of it. Now remember genetics plays a large role in that but so does the fact that I have always been on the wagon of PREVENTION! Now how is my skin you ask since I last left off? Smoother. Brighter. Reduction of monthly flareups. Reduction of pesky blackheads. Glowing skin, Comfortable, even happy skin. A marked reduction in sun damage and the pesky marks leftover from the good old 'pregnancy mask' that some of you other ladies that are mothers can identify with. I have....roll the drums.......found an AMAZING looking organic skincare company that I will be trying after I'm done using up all my Pangea called Angel Face Botanicals, if I don't get derailed by another line that is. This off the charts fabulous indie company has managed to get mentioned in Cosmopolitan, as well as Bazaar Magazines. Had the honor of top two finalists for about.com's Best Indie Skin Care People's choice awards. Won Fast Company Magazines Best of Artesian Cosmetics. The list goes on, I mean just numerous notable magazines and beauty and eco-chic blogs. The owner is known as the 'Spa Goddess' for good reason, this amazing creature doesn't utilize one single filler in any of her marvelous formulations. Prices are also very reasonable, a full size starter kit of best selling facewash, toner, and moisturizer goes for only $55.00 while the travel size of the same set is still friggin big is only $35.00. Also the perk of a 1st time purchase discount when you sign up for the newsletter. It just doesn't get any better! Honest, chemical free skincare with some impressive ingredients and makeup from Tarte that is truly good for your skin. Seriously! Skincare disguised as makeup!!!! MUSIC!!!! And I think to myself......what a wonderful world.............

XOXO Till next time my darlings!

Pangea Organics & tarte Maracuja Oil.....LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

My sincerest apologies everyone......due to some personal circumstances it has been quite some time since my last post. My intentions were there as I have a LOT of catch up to do but have not been able to sit down to even put a few sentences together. So starting with this post, here we go! Please do enjoy my frazzled attempt to post all the fabulous and not so fabulous products I've come across and tried, have come to love or have puzzled thoughts as to why they are still occupying space on store shelves and being sold, ha! As of late I've been searching for my latest OMG! I LOVE this stuff in the facial care product range. Having turned 34 at the end of August and constantly being mistaken for someone in their mid to late 20's, all those dollars spent and years of being borderline obsessed and anal retentive with taking care of my skin since I was in my teens that friends scoffed, or teased or chided me over paid off. Now I'm the one laughing and they're the ones begging to know my secret. In H.S. I saved up my lunch money, birthday money, allowance, even held a part-time job after school as a porcelain doll maker's apprentice to pamper my facial skin with Origins and Christian Dior, I dabbled in Lancome but decided I DID NOT have an affinity for it. Chanel of course was the Holy Grail but didn't really cater to young skin back in the early nineties. After H.S. earning more money while working and attending school full-time, I moved onto certain counters at Neiman's and to the world of Bliss in which the Remede line was in it's infancy stages and Bliss was still just a high-end spa for celebrities, not yet the wonderful brand name some of us have come to know and love, even covet. I also was a fan and still am of Peter Thomas Roth and DDF. You could only imagine my delight when Sephora opened it's doors! As I always like to try different lines I've heard rave reviews over, I'm quite pleased to announce I've found a few noteworthy lines and products. One of these dynamo companies is Pangea Organics. These products not only do their intended job very well, the sensory delight that comes with using these gems is a divine added bonus. Also please take note that these sensory delights all serve a purpose to nurture the skin and are not just fillers or there to smell pretty. Along with facial care Pangea offers up to us personal care gods and goddesses, a body care line to pamper ourselves from head to toe. For the body they offer body washes for those who prefer that cleansing format as well as my personal favorite, bar soaps. Not the kind most are familiar with that come from the supermarket that barely weigh anything and are filled with a bunch of junk you can't even pronounce when taking a peek at the ingredients. Those are cleansing bars, the labels don't even say soap! No.......I'm talking about good, time honored, real old fashioned........yet sophisticated, with modern day raw material availability and advances in technology & recipes kinda soap. Little bars of exotic luxury where art and science meet and what a beautiful marriage! The link at the bottom of the page will take you to soaphope.com where you will find superb brands, I mean top notch product lines at insane discounts. The particular link I attached is for the bar soap collection from Pangea Organics that contains one of each formulation, six in total to experience the complete range of fragrances and botanical properties offered. As for the facial care I was torn between the lines for Normal to Combination or Oily to Blemish Prone skin. Since my skin was acting skittish from the change of seasons with the occasional blemish trying to rear it's ugly head around that time of the month, I went with the Oily line. The Australian Wild Plum and Willow facial cleanser is formulated for both Combination and Oily skin so there wasn't much worry there. Also their Adzuki Bean & Cranberry Scrub is formulated for all skin types. Now here's where the difference lies in how to use the cleanser and the scrub as well. If you have Combo skin use the cleanser alone and use the scrub up to 3 times a week. If you have oily skin you are advised to add/mix The Australian Wild Plum & Willow Facial Cleanser to The Egyptian Geranium with Adzuki Bean & Cranberry Scrub. This scrumptious award winning scrub is dual action, exfoliating mechanically with the adzuki beans while enzymes also go to work dissolving dead skin cells. For those w/oily skin wash the face with the cleanser and scrub combined for a detoxifying, skin cell regenerating, skin with a clean slate experience. Another essential product to be used by all skins is the award winning Japanese Matcha Tea With Acai & Goji Berry Mask with a difference in frequency of use depending on skin type. Another award winning product meant for all skins in the line is the Turkish Rose and White Tea Eye Cream. Now the last two steps are where the products really differ due to skin type.  The toner is Argentinean Tangerine & Thyme and superb when you breathe it in after misting on your face. To control oily skin with this toner you may also mist and blot throughout the day to rid  the skin of excess oil. After patting the toner into my skin I apply 3 pumps of the Moroccan Argan With Willow & Rosemary Facial Cream into the palm of my hand and pat onto my face until absorbed, and this particular cream absorbs rather quickly. Ta-Da! My skin is radiant and the earth is much better off as well due to Pangea's amazing eco-awareness practices, positively cutting edge. So not only are you caring for your skin with remarkable products, the ingredients all serve a purpose and your carbon footprint is teeny tiny.
Now I was going to do this post just about Pangea but I would be leaving out an important component my skin utilizes to keep in top shape. Maracuja Oil by tarte. I found out about this important gem on of all places QVC.com For some reason it is not available anywhere else much like another great product of theirs which is their Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Foundation w/application brush. Now the great thing about this oil is that it benefits all skin types. I have read reviews about it helping people with dry skin all the way to helping diminish acne problems for others. As for my skin it helps brighten and balance it. Also take note this product is to be used at night before bedtime. This divine oil is derived from the Amazonian Passion Flower and is cold pressed. This pure maracuja oil is a powerful and intuitive elixir that instantly absorbs into the skin, delivering a high dose of essential fatty acids and vitamin C to hydrate.

http://store.soaphope.com/Every-Aroma-Collection-p/shb3118.htm