Archive for March, 2008
Product Review: Curél’s Life’s Stages Skin Care for Pregnancy & Motherhood
- Author: BeautyDiva
- Filed under: Product Reviews
Mar 30,2008
Pregnancy has brought on a myriad of changes and challenges, from increased acne and getting stretch marks to worrying about the ingredient in the things I eat and the products I apply to my body. The latest scares concern studies showing the link between caffeine intake and miscarriage, as well as questions about parabens (in everything from shampoo to cosmetics) disrupting your hormones. (See a full list of ingredients to avoid while pregnant in my post Harmful Products When You’re Knocked Up?)
But it’s also fun to have a whole new world of beauty products available that address the needs of pregnant women. Curél’s new Life’s Stages Skin Care for Pregnancy & Motherhood address concerns about parabens (by leaving them out) while combining the fun of a product specifically made for pregnant women.
This lotion is nice and thick, providing tons of great moisture without being greasy. It has a light fresh scent and is really helping out with my dry skin. It’s hypoallergenic and mineral oil and petrolatum free, so I know that it won’t be irritating any itchy spots I get. It also claims to help increase skin elasticity, so I’ve been religiously applying it to expanding areas, hoping it’ll help prevent more stretch marks.
Another great bonus for this product is that they’ve made it so safe and gentle, that it can be used on your baby. So no need to worry about having leftovers after your pregnancy. Not that that should be a concern, since as far as pregnancy specific creams go, this is certainly one of the most affordable (and readily accessible) ones on the market.
Did you use this product through your whole pregnancy? How do you think it worked for you?
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Product Review: Avon’s SuperSHOCK Mascara
- Author: BeautyDiva
- Filed under: Product Reviews
Mar 26,2008
I’m rarely a fan of colored mascara. Every few years I forget the last colored mascara disaster, read about how using it will make my eye color “pop” and give it a try again. Usually the color is too bright too look natural and I feel silly wearing it. So when I got a sample of Avon’s SuperSHOCK Mascara in Navy, I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did.
This mascara comes in the usual brown, brown/black and black in addition to navy. The navy is a very dark blue (the picture shows the color of the brush material, not the mascara), so it doesn’t look juvenile when applied. I would liken it to a soft black and it’s a great alternative to wearing brown if you aren’t a black mascara kind of gal. I can’t say for sure if the color made my eye color “pop” but I definitely liked how nice this mascara applied.
The brush is a bit unusual - it’s a rubber tip covered in little bristles. Kind of like a soft porcupine. The design is great though! You don’t have to wipe excess mascara from the brush and all of the little bristles coat lashes separately, so the don’t clump. They don’t advertise it as a feature, but this is one of the very few mascaras I’ve tried that was genuinely clump free. One coat didn’t give as much volume as I expected, but when you don’t have clumped lashes to deal with, it’s easy to apply a few addition coats.
Have you tried this exciting new mascara? What’d you think?
Product Review: Curél Targeted Therapy Deep Penetrating Foot Cream
- Author: BeautyDiva
- Filed under: Product Reviews
Mar 23,2008
Curél recently put out a handful of new moisturizers that I’ve had a chance to try. Since they each target a different area of the body, I’ll be writing a review of each separately.
I couldn’t decide which to write about first, until I overheard some ladies talking about going to the beach for spring break and needing to get their first pedicures of the season. This may seem strange to some of you in milder climates, but in the mountains, your feet don’t see the light of day for many months, making pedicures completely optional.
My usual fix is to slather on a thick moisturizer, put on socks, hop in bed and reveal happier feet in the morning. But I generally run into 2 problems with this: 1) Even on the coldest night I somehow manage to kick off my socks in the middle of the night and 2) the fix is only temporary and has to be repeated every few days.
When I tried Curél Targeted Therapy Deep Penetrating Foot Cream, I donned socks to bed to try to help “lock” in the moisture. But once again woke up barefooted. The difference, though, was that my feet were still soft. I tried it again the next night sans socks and once again woke up with soft feet.
Besides the fact that this product really lives up to its claims, I love that it has a nice light scent, isn’t at all greasy and has a convenient flip-top lid. I’ve been keeping this cream on my night stand and applying it every night before bed, just like I do with hand cream and lip balm.
I’ve also used this cream on my husbands rough, dry elbows (how do they get like that?!?). We’ve only tried it a few nights, and while he’s definitely going to need some exfoliation and more regular moisturizing to clear that problem up, it definitely made a difference.
Have you tried this product? What did you think?
Review: The Nude Look with Stila
- Author: BeautyDiva
- Filed under: Product Reviews
Mar 19,2008
With all the fun makeup looks this spring, you really need to start with a good nude base. Adding a splash of blue eye shadow or sporting a bright pink pout will look garish if the rest of your face is a mess. Or maybe you just prefer that “I’m a natural beauty” nude look and look for makeup to help hide natures little imperfections. Either way, the products I tried from Stila are a great help.
I’m one of the unlucky ladies with permanent under-eye circles. No matter how much sleep I get or what fancy eye creams or gels I use, they are still there. Concealer is my “if you were stuck on a desert island and could only have one product, what would it be?’ product. So I’m always on the lookout for The concealer that will cover my circles, look natural and last all day. I think I found it with Stila’s Perfecting Concealer! This concealer comes in a cute tube with a tiny tip for dispensing the concealer, which is a good thing. The first time I used it, I put a drop the size of what I’d use in my previous concealer on my finger tip and ended up with way too much. The formula is very thick and can be a little hard to smooth out - the bonus to that being that it lasts all day - no reapplication needed. And no creasing! It also gave great stay-put coverage to red spots.
Maybe you are like me and have naturally pale brows which you have the bad habit of over plucking. Or you have naturally sparse brows. Or, oops! You accidentally plucked the wrong hair and now have a small bald patch. Stila has your solution with their Brow Sets powders. These handy little tins contain two shades for shading, shaping and hiding bare spots. I do recommend a light touch, though. The first time I used the lightest shade, my brows ended up so dark that my husband juts started laughing at me. I also recommend testing at a makeup counter first, if you can, to make sure you get the right shade.
I love cosmetics companies that let you create your own shadow palettes! Still has an amazing range of colors you can use to create your own compact. Two of the matte shades, chinois (an off-white) and bouquet (a very pale pink) work well as a nude shadow to hide any lid discoloration or as a base to wear brighter colors over.
Part of the appeal of the nude face is not only looking like you aren’t wearing makeup, but also feeling like you aren’t. Stila’s Multi-effect mascara covers all the bases of curling, adding volume and lengthening, all while using a formula that keeps lashes soft. The curved brush worked well an getting each individual lash coated without clumping, so it was easy to add an extra coat for more drama.
You can check out some ideas for how to add color to your nude base like Stila did for Marchesa’s Fall 2008 fashion show (by clicking on this thumbnail). Or check out the hilarious movie Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, that used Stila to give the actesses a great vintage look.
What’s your favorite Stila product? Share a comment.