September 22, 2009

Pureology Hydrate System

I've been out of my all-time favorite shampoo, Pureology Hydrate Shampoo for several months now. I've maintained using the Hydrate Conditioner, but my hairdresser is always out of the shampoo when I'm there for my hair appointment so she keeps suggesting that I try other brands. To appease her, I've tried a Eufora Moisture Cleanse Shampoo that I did not like at all and an Enjoy Luxury Shampoo that was just okay.

I had to run in Ulta last week to pick up my Donna Karan Cashmere Mist Deodorant and I also wanted to look for the Neutrogena Deep Moisture Hand Cream that BigSis just mentioned last week. My Ulta didn't have the hand cream so I was a little bummed, but to cheer myself up, I decided to break down and buy my favorite Pureology Hydrate shampoo. 🙂

I didn't realize how much I missed this shampoo until I finally used it again! My hair is SO HAPPY!  It makes a drastic difference in the way my hair feels. Even though my hair is short; it's naturally curly, it's thick, it's color treated, and I'm in the sun a lot, so I have to use a great shampoo. My hair is so much more manageable when I use this shampoo. It's not fly-away from being too dry or limp from using something too heavy.

The bottle is $27.00 at Ulta but it is so worth it. You use such a small amount each time you shampoo that this bottle of shampoo will literally last for months. I would rather spend a little more on something that I know works well for me instead of trying something less expensive that ends up in the garbage!

This is what Pureology says about their Hydrate System:

Hydrate is designed for colour-treated hair in need of deep hydration, nourishment, and colour protection. Enhanced with advanced hydrating technology and pure natural ingredients, this system restores dehydrated hair while the ZeroSulfate® shampoo and our AntiFadeComplex® maximizes colour retention.

Natural Ingredients:

Multi-Weight Proteins of Soy, Oat, and Wheat
Strengthen and repair hair from within.

Organic Botanicals:

Rose, Peppermint, and Green Tea
Deliver natural conditioning.

If you aren't completely happy with what you're using now, you might want to try Pureology. I've used lots of different Pureology products and I've never been disappointed. They have so many products for so many different needs.

Here's a list of all the Pureology systems:

Hydrate system – Designed for color-treated hair in need of deep hydration, nourishment, and color protection.

Pure Volume system – Designed for color-treated hair in need of soft volume, moisture, and color protection.

Super Smooth system – Professional color care for unmanageable color-treated hair in need of intense smoothing and discipline as a result of multiple chemical processes.

Essential Repair system – Designed for color-treated hair in need of intense repair, strength, and color protection.

Nano Works system –  Extraordinary luxury system for color-treated hair in need of dramatically improved condition, renewed shine, youthfulness, and color protection.

And this long list of systems just includes their Shampoos and Conditioners. Pureology also has some great styling products; lotions, serums, texturizers, sprays; you name it, they've got it! But, we'll have to talk about those a different day!

~LilSis

September 16, 2009

In my post earlier today, I mentioned that the Free Skin Care Set was not available through online purchase. I even called Origins yesterday to verify it.  Maybe, they got a bunch of negative feedback from customers about it because I received a new email this morning with this offer:

Through Sept. 20th!

Plus, receive a FREE Skincare Starter Set with any moisturizer order!

Since this offer only last a few days, I think I'll place my order today since quantities are limited!

~LilSis

September 16, 2009

This offer starts today and lasts through October 3rd, but if you LOVE Origins like I do, you don't want to wait! Take advantage of this offer NOW!  Origins says quantities are limited so you don't want to miss out on this deal!

All you have to do is purchase any Origins moisturizer and you get one of these skincare sets for FREE! Each set includes your perfect cleanser, a clinically proven serum, and Origins best selling Modern Friction gentle dermabrasion.

I've used almost every one of these products and I love them all. Modern Friction is the only scrub that I use now and Checks and Balances and Never a Dull Moment are also a couple of my favorites. Each of these sets contain the “best of the best.”

I did call Origins Customer Service to verify that this offer is only good at the Origins stores and not applicable for online purchases. If you happen to have an Origins store nearby, I still think it's worth a quick trip to get these awesome products for free.

I'm not going to miss out on this offer!

~LilSis

September 15, 2009

Are you fanatic about hand cream like I am?  In the summer my hands just feel crunchy, and in the winter they feel parched, irritated and sometimes get red and crack between my fingers.  Not a very lovely image, right?

So I put on hand cream several times a day and have tried lots of different ones over the years.  I like the classic Neutrogena Norwegian Formula but it's strictly a nighttime treatment because of its' greasy nature.  I also love the traditional Jergens with the cherry vanilla scent because it reminds me of my grandmother.  But it's not really moisturizing enough for me; just nostalgic.

My current 3 favorites are excellent hand creams that you may have never heard of.  Here are my nominees for the 3 best hand creams:

Neutrogena Deep Moisture Hand Cream, Butter Cream –  I just picked this up over the weekend at Ulta.  I've never seen it before, but the Butter Cream label grabbed my attention.  This cream smells like the Birthday Cake scented candles, and it leaves that delicious scent on your hands for a while.  It contains shea butter, cocoa seed butter, and mango seed butter.  Surprisingly, with all of those rich ingredients, it does melt into your hands without being greasy.  LOVE it!  They also have a body cream and body wash in this line, and in my future!  $21.78 for 4 tubes (2 oz each) from Amazon

L'Occitane Hand Cream with 20% Shea Butter –  Rich, rich, rich!  I've been buying this cream for a while from L'Occitane in the small travel sizes, but LilSis bought me a big tube last year on my birthday and I'm just now finishing it up.  You need very little of this cream, so it goes a very long way.

It's just a touch greasy, but I can still use it in the morning on my way to work.  Besides shea butter, this cream also has vitamin E and extracts of honey and sweet almond.  The jasmine and ylang ylang scent is fabulous!  There are lots of other shea butter products in this line…try the foot cream too!  $25 for a 5.2 oz tube from Amazon

Medline Remedy Skin Repair Cream –  I can almost guarantee that you haven't heard of this cream!  I certainly hadn't, until last year when I was in the hospital with the Nasty Virus and asked the nurse for some cream.  She brought me this, and I went nuts for it!  Medline apparently makes all kinds of medical products.  They've formulated this cream with a trademarked ingredient called Olivamine which contains antioxidants, amino acids, and vitamins which supposedly play a role in basic cellular construction and protection.

I don't know about all of that, but I know it soaks into the skin quickly and leaves it feeling very hydrated.  Plus the scent has an awesome orangey creamsicle kind of a thing going on.  I've never seen this cream in a retail store, so I'll be ordering online now that I've used up the whole tube.  It's amazing.  $7.79 for a 4 oz tube from Amazon

There you have it…my best 3 hand creams you didn't know about til now!  Please let me know if you try any of these, or if you have another fabulous hand cream I should try!

~BigSis

September 6, 2009

It is HOT and MUGGY here in Southern California! This past week, we've had higher temperatures than we've had all Summer. And I don't know about you, but in this kind of weather, I MUST have a reliable deodorant that's also an anti-perspirant. There was a time when I absolutely, positively could NOT find one that worked for me, but those days are gone!

I've talked to other women who have had similar problems trying to find a good deodorant. Over the years, I've used Sure, Secret, Secret Platinum, and Mitchum and they all eventually stopped working for me. I'm not sure if it's hormones or age or a combination of both. Luckily, a couple of years ago, BigSis turned me on to Donna Karan Cashmere Mist Deodorant/Anti-Perspirant and it still works like a charm!

I was thrilled to finally find something that works! I can work up a real sweat while exercising out in this weather and this deodorant still does not fail! When I do perspire during exercise, I might detect a faint scent of Cashmere Mist, but no more stinky, sweaty smell! And it doesn't leave an ugly underarm stain on your clothes like some deodorants do.

Here's how they describe this amazing deodorant on the Donna Karan website:

The Ultimate Cult Product, try it to believe it. Totally gentle and effective, delicately scented with Cashmere Mist, this advanced formula also controls wetness and perspiration keeping you feeling dry and smelling fresh all day. So gentle it can be used immediately after shaving without irritation. Perfect for even sensitive skin.

You can buy the deodorant individually for $18.00 or the trio for $45.00 at most department stores or on Amazon.  I know it is more than most deodorants, but I can promise you that it is money well spent. One bar lasts for almost three months! Seriously!

~LilSis

September 2, 2009

When was the last time you shampooed your makeup brushes?

I was recently at a MAC counter picking up my favorite loose powder when I decided to ask the Sales Person a quick question about my powder brush. The brief conversation went something like this:

Me: “Do you think that it's time for me to get a new powder brush if I'm noticing that bristles are falling out and ending up all over my face when I'm applying my powder?”

Sales Person: “No, not necessarily.  When was the last time you gave your brushes a good shampoo?”

Me: “Hmmm… I guess it would be bad if I said never?”

Sales Person: “Yeah. That could be the problem.”

Me: “Oops.” (as I lower my head in shame.)

I proceeded to tell her that I do occasionally use the MAC Brush Cleanser but that no one ever told me that I needed to shampoo my brushes. I asked her a few more questions and bought a few more items so she wouldn't be so disgusted with me, then I headed home, with my tail between my legs, to shampoo my brushes.

Apparently, most experts suggest cleaning them once a week, but every couple of weeks is better than not at all. Cleaning your brushes more regularly will not only extend the life of the brush but also could prevent some skin problems. Dirty makeup brushes can harbor lots of dirt and bacteria, but frequent washing of your brushes can keep them, and your face, clean and healthy.

It really is simple. Let's do this step by step, shall we?

First, gather your dirty brushes.

And your favorite shampoo.

To get started, wet each brush thoroughly.

Then, apply one to two drops of shampoo directly to each brush and gently massage the brush in between your fingers or in the palm of your hand. Do this for at least a minute or two to get all the makeup and dirt out of the brush. The bigger brushes should be cleaned one at a time.

But, you can wash a few of the smaller brushes at the same time.

Rinse each brush thoroughly. It's very important that you rinse each brush well so you don't leave behind soap residue, dirt, or bacteria. You can gently massage the bristles if needed, but be careful not to pull on the hairs.

Remove excess water and pat dry on clean towel. You can gently squeeze the brush in between the towel, if needed.

Lay the brushes on a towel to dry overnight. It's important to lay the wet brushes flat or even pointed down at an angle. Don't ever stand them up to dry. Some of the water could run into the bottom of the bristles and damage your brush.

Take a closer look at these after they were shampooed.

They look 100% better than the ‘before' photo!

Check each brush before you use it to make sure that it is completely dry. If the brush is still damp, then don't use it, and whatever you do, do not use a hair dryer to dry it.

Now, wasn't that easy? I sure wish that I had known to do this sooner. I can't wait to use my clean brushes in the morning!

~LilSis

August 13, 2009

I don't know about anyone else, but this Summer has taken a toll on my hair.  And if I didn't pay a frappin' fortune for highlights and  low-lights, I really wouldn't care so much. I sure wish that I didn't have the challenges of gray hair, but I do and I'm not ready to be like Jamie Lee Curtis and go “all natural”. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

It's taken me years to find a good hair stylist who knows how to do my hair, so I really try to take care of it. As it is now, I go every six weeks in-between appointments instead of every four weeks, which is what I used to have to do! I know, that's high maintenance, but it's the lesser of two evils.

Since there is still a little Summer left, I thought that this might be of some interest to those of you that still have that intense Sun wreaking havoc on your hair. When I'm at home, whether at the pool or the beach, I always have a heavy duty conditioner on my hair. Between the chlorine, saltwater, and sun, it doesn't take long to do some real damage to my hair if it's unprotected.

I somehow forgot to take a good conditioner with me on my recent trip to Texas so BigSis and I made a quick stop at Ulta to check out some hair products. Originally, I was looking for some sort of color protectant that I had used in the past but we couldn't find anything similar.

Then, the display of Fekkai Marine Summer Hair Collection caught our eye.

Fekkai Marine Summer Hair Collection

We really loved the ingredients and the scent of all of these products. For our purpose at that time, I decided to buy the Fekkai Summer Hair Beachcomber Leave in Conditioner.

Fekkai Beachcomber Leave in Conditioner

This product is intended to be used as a normal everyday leave-in conditioner, but after consulting with a sales person at Ulta, she agreed that it would be fine to use it to protect our hair while in the sun. To use it in this way, we just got our hair wet first and then sprayed the conditioner in, combed it through, and went on our merry way.

We loved how this conditioner held up, not only to the heat and humidity, but also to our curly hair! Years ago, whenever we went to the pool or water park, we always used a product called Mermaid, which also contained a lot of seaweed and sea algae ingredients. We loved it and have never found anything remotely similar until now.

This description from Fekkai might explain why we like it so much.

Fekkai Beachcomber Leave-in Conditioner — A lightweight formula that contains marine peptides, sea algae extract and UV shielding ingredients to detangle the hair, boosting its moisture and shine while protecting it against damage fading effects.

For those of us with curly hair, it's a big deal to find a conditioner that you can just comb through your wet hair and it remains sleek looking all day.

This Fekkai leave-in conditioner was actually that good!! We were both pleasantly surprised! Our hair type is a true test for any hair product and this one held up despite the temperatures and humidity!

Since then, I've used it after my regular shampoo and conditioner and my hair was quite happy.  But the last time I used it, I decided to eliminate my regular conditioner and just use this leave-in conditioner by itself to see what would happen. I love it! I'm really happy with the results that I got from using it alone.  Honestly, I've had better results with this leave-in conditioner than I've had with the past two Enjoy products that I've bought at my hair salon.

Unfortunately, I just realized that this is a limited edition product so I'm going to have to stock up!

~LilSis

July 22, 2009

Colour Craft Collection Look

I really don't know many people that could pull this ‘Look' off without ending up looking like a clown, but when you go to the MAC website, you can see what it actually looks like on their model. It must have been a very creative makeup artist that came up with this idea.  The ‘Look' is showcasing some of their summer Colour Craft Collection, which has some awesome new shadow and lip colors.  I'm sure there are more subtle ways that you can wear these same colors!

While I was on their site, I discovered their adorable new Summer Trend Bags! I love animal prints and I've never had an animal print make-up bag so I might have to buy myself a little treat.  And guess what? MAC happens to be offering free standard shipping right now! Score!

To make sure you don't miss out on this offer, you have to make your purchases online by 11:59 p.m. EST on July 24th!  There is no minimum purchase and no offer code required.

And if you have a hard time waiting days to receive your order, like I do, you can upgrade to 2nd Day Shipping for $5.00 or Overnight Shipping for $10.00!

~LilSis

July 18, 2009

BigSis first mentioned how much she liked the Relastin Eye Silk back in November of last year. Honestly, I hadn't ever heard of it but I wasn't totally satisfied with what I was using at the time so I started using the Relastin Eye Silk. I really loved it and decided to share my Eye Silk Results with everyone after I'd used it for about 45 days. I'm still sold on this product.

You can't beat this Relastin 2 for 1 offer!

Last time I bought my Eye Silk, I purposely bought two bottles so I would always have a backup and wouldn't have to worry about ever running out. (I do the same with my Borba Firming Products.) Well, as luck would have it, I recently ran out and now can't find the “backup bottle.”  I've been puzzled about what could have happened to it since I'm the only female in the house. 🙁

I've actually been putting off placing an order in hopes that I would find the missing bottle. I'd finally given up on finding it and was just about to go online to place my order when I received this email yesterday announcing the Relastin 2 for 1 Sale. It came at just the right time!! The Eye Silk normally sells for $69.00 so a BOGO free offer is a fantastic deal! The offer is good through July 31st.

If you haven't tried this product before, it would be a great time to give it a try and possibly split the 2 for 1 with a friend! I'm going to order mine now!

~LilSis

July 10, 2009

I hadn't planned on discussing this today, but since BigSis mentioned the all natural insect repellent, Buzz Away yesterday, I thought that it would be a good time for me to share with you another all natural product that I just discovered.

We don't have chiggers here in California (thank goodness) and we really don't have much of a mosquito problem, but as you get closer to the water, there are definitely a few annoying mosquitoes. I know some people who rave about scented oils for pest control, which sounds super-interesting so potentially something to try in the future were we to ever move somewhere bugs and pests were a little more common.

Wednesday night we were at the Harbor around dusk and some of us started to notice that we were getting bit. One of our friends who has lived aboard his boat for years, has, according to him, tried almost every single insect repellent on the market. As we were complaining about our bites, he was raving about his favorite, Herbal Armor by All Terrain.

All Terrain Herbal Armor Spray

I really didn't want to spray anything on me because I didn't want to have to go home and shower it all off before climbing into bed. But, our friend promised us that it wasn't sticky, didn't smell, and said that you could definitely go to bed with it still on.

I gave in and tried it and I really like this product. You spray it on but then spread it around and it becomes almost like a thin lotion. It wasn't sticky at all and at first, it did have a pretty strong citronella scent, but that went away in just a few minutes just as our friend has told us.

I'm sold on this spray and went out yesterday and bought us a couple of bottles. This spray is also all natural and 100% Deet free! All Terrain states this about their product:

Clinically proven to be 100% effective for over two hours, 95.8% effective for three hours and 77.1% effective for four hours. Unique formula w/five natural essential oils.

If you want to give it a try, you can either call your local drug store to see if they carry All Terrain or you can order the All Terrain products on Amazon.

When doing a little research, I found that All Terrain also makes a Herbal Armor Spray for Kids.

Herbal Armor Spray for Kids

And, they even make a Pet Herbal Armor for your furry little kids.

Pet Herbal Armor

Most of the time, I would rather take my chances on getting bit versus putting stinky bug spray all over me, but now I've come to realize that insect repellent doesn't have to be stinky and loaded with chemicals. If you have an all natural insect repellent that you love, we'd love to hear from you.

~LilSis