Product of the Week

eos Lip Balm Smooth Sphere in Summer Fruit

Unfortunately, as much as I try to wish it away, winter is still here. So with today's weather forecast predicting frigid temps and lots of snow I figured I would share with you one of my favorite winter must haves. eos lip balm is a saving grace for dry cracked winter lips. The balm contains shea butter and vitamin E to keep your lips soft all winter long. Plus, it's also 95% organic and 100% natural, so you won't be slathering your lips in a bunch of chemicals that are actually drying them out even more. The fun sphere shapes come in summer fruit, lemon drop with spf 15, honeysuckle honeydew, medicated tangerine and sweet mint. I personally like the summer fruit and sweet mint the best. If you are not down with the spheres they also come in stick form in vanilla bean, sweet mint and pomegranate raspberry. The big plus is it's only $3.50 and is available at Walgreens!

Product of the Week

Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat Shampoo





Giovanni Magnetic Moisturizing Conditioner

This week's product or should I say products of the week are Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat shampoo and Magnetic Moisturizing conditioner. For the past year I have been the sort of Goldilocks of budget friendly shampoos and conditioners. I used to use Davines which I really liked, but my budget hated it since it is not exactly a wallet friendly brand, so I set out on my journey through the haircare aisle at Target.

I have a lot of really fine hair that tends to be on the drier side so I was on the look out for a great moisturizing combo. I also wanted the products to be organic or as natural as possible because I had just read an article on shampoos and how most of the moisturizing types contain propylene glycol which is apparently also a component of plane de-icing solution. So using products containing this chemical along with other pore opening chemicals is basically, as I understood it, like opening the pores on your scalp and pouring plane de-icer in them. Not exactly an appealing thought, and I can't imagine that a lifetime of using those products can be healthy.

Finding an organic or natural shampoo can be tricky as some of them can be drying. However, I found the perfect mix of moisturizing and natural with the Giovanni line. I first came upon the conditioner while at Whole Foods in Brentwood. My hair at the time was in massive need of some tlc after testing out a product that was sent to me to do a product test and survey for that left my hair unmanageable and scarecrow like. After about three uses of this conditioner my hair was back to normal. It was soft, smooth and not nearly as dry. After the success of the conditioner I decided to try the shampoo.

I found the shampoo at Ulta where they had a sale for buy one for $7.99 and get one free on all Giovanni products. They did not carry the magnetic line so I decided to try two of the shampoos instead. Of the two that I purchased I chose to use the tea tree one first based on it's refreshing minty scent, which is fabulous for a post gym shower or after walking around in this Midwest humidity that causes you to sweat like you are at the gym. Not only is the scent amazing it also cleans you hair without stripping the heck out of it or fading your color. And best of all is you get all of that without the use of nasty chemicals, and who doesn't love that.

Product of the Week

Maybelline The Falsies Mascara

Ever since I decided it was ridiculous to pay $30 for mascara (I used Chanel Inimitable) I have been searching for the perfect cheap mascara. I was near the end of my fifth tube, still without a winner, when I saw an ad for The Falsies. I have never used a Maybelline mascara other then Great Lash, which irritates my eyes, so I was a little reluctant to try it but the ad made me curious. Not that I expected to have the ridiculously fake CGI eyelashes of Erin Wasson from the print ad but it sounded promising.

It took me a few stops to track it down; most of the drugstores either were sold out or didn't carry it yet and I couldn't find it online either. I finally found it at the Target in Brentwood. They had a few so if you would like to try it you better get while the getting is good, and I highly suggest you try it. What makes this mascara so great is it comes with a flat curved wand so it separates and coats every lash giving the lashes a full and lush look. I thought it did a decent job on lengthening too as long as you curl your lashes before applying and apply two coats without letting the first one dry.

I have never worn false eyelashes so I cannot attest to the claim of no false lashes needed, but I can say that this is the best mascara I have tried in a long time. It's even better then the Chanel which is almost three times the price, and that is what makes The Falsies fabulous!

Product of the Week

Aveda Beautifying Composition

This week's product of the week is Aveda's Beautifying Composition. Today at the gym a group of girls were waxing poetic on the virtues of Aveda products and I had to put my two cents in about the beautifying composition since most people have never heard of it.

While Aveda's virtues are many one of them is not being super affordable. So instead of filling my bathroom with their products like I would like to, I instead allow myself a couple of products that aren't everyday use products so they last. One of those products is this oil that seems to cure everything beauty related (well almost everything). At $21for 1.7oz it is a tad steep but trust me a little bit goes a long way (unless you are using it as a body oil, which if you can afford it for that use I am sure it is fabulous). I originally purchased mine as a scalp oil, since they say they key to healthy hair is a healthy scalp. :) All I do is shake out five or six drops into my hand, rub it onto my fingers and massage around my scalp with it, then instead of wiping my hands off or washing them I wipe them off on my ends and then rub the rest into my hands and leave it on for five minutes before rinsing it out and washing my hair. And poof soft hands, scalp and ends all from just a few drops of this amazing little product. I also use it every once in a while if I have spots of dry skin or dry cuticles in the winter. The best part is it doesn't leave your hair or skin super oily, it smells amazing and it is made of mostly natural products which is a big plus in my book. The product is a little hard to spot in the store as it is kept with the candles and massage oils not the hair and body products. I found mine at the Aveda store in the Galleria.

Another little tip for all of you Aveda lovers on a budget is that lately most fashion magazines have an Aveda sidebar ad that usually runs along the side of the masthead (that page with all the names on it that no one really looks at) offering sample packs of their newest product lines. It says you just have to ask but I always bring in the ad because they always ask for it. The samples are decent size and you normally get three sample products per pack and it's completely free you don't even have to make a purchase! If you do make a purchase make sure to get on their mailing list. Once on the list they will send you a card on your birthday for a free full size container of bath salts. They mix the salts with an essential oil of your choice and they have you smell all of them and narrow it down. It's about a 10 min process but it was pretty fun and I looove the bath salts, soo soothing after a tough day at the gym.