Review: Yes to Carrots, C Me Shine Lip Gloss: Rose Bliss

Yes! to: No parabens, 95% organic.

Personally, this color, which looks very neutral in the tube, makes me look a bit ghastly, so I can't wear it alone. It's also very minty. I opened this hoping for a gloss that I can use in the morning, before breakfast - and I don't like other flavors mingling with my morning tea. It leaves you with a minty tingly feeling on your lips.

This is not sticky. It is of moderate moisturizing ability. It's doesn't leave my lips super soft, but it does a decent job. The staying power is moderate.

The minty flavor/scent stays around for a bit, it's distracting to me.  Personally I don't like this.  But, it may not bother everyone.  But - very affordable.  And, pigmentation is decent.  So - 3/5 stars from me, but that's due to my quirks.  I think if I were going to be more fair about it, 4/5 stars, if the color were different and I were neutral about minty smells and sensations.

Review: Estee Lauder Gentle Eye Makeup Remover

Well, I got a sample size awhile back, and finally got around to trying this baby out.  I ran out of Lancome Bi-facil, and was thinking that this would perform similarly.  After all, they are both high end brands, with high price points, right? ... Wrong.

I use Urban Decay primer potion before I do my eyes.  But Bi-Facil makes quick and easy work of removal.  This stuff... not so much.  With bi-facil I would just barely wet the cotton ball and it would take care of one eye, no problem.  With this, I need to use significantly more. Not only that though, I have to clean each eye twice. So, I'm probably using eight times more product than the Bi-Facil.  I have to use two generous applications for each eye, meaning I use not only more product, but more cotton balls.  (I seem to run out of cotton all of the time, though I only use it for eye make up removal, generally speaking.)

Good points?  It does not leave behind any kind of oily residue. It's very clean.  It does not give you blurry vision at all.  The bottle is really pretty.  There is no scent, and you do not have to shake it before use.

Would I purchase?  No.  I will finish this bottle up, because I don't like to waste things.  Would I recommend it?  I like Bi-Facil better.  It does, however, leave a very slight residue behind.  Very slight. So, if you can't stand that, and don't mind using much, much more remover, then ok.  I do not know how well this works on mascara, and I don't regularly use mascara so I haven't been able to test it on that.  I would guess that it would take even more product to do so.

Cetaphil DailyAdvance Ultra Hydrating Lotion

I'm really not sure what possessed me to grab this bottle of moisturizer.  But after seeing that there are no parabens in it, I decided to go ahead and give it a try.  Years ago I had tried Cetaphil original moisturizer, and it did not moisturize enough for me.  I liked that it was fragrance free, but I had to put on 3 layers.

This did not disappoint.  One layer is generally all that I need, and I don't need to slather it on, either.  I used to use Dramatically Different Moisturizing lotion by Clinique, and I had to put on 4-5 layers, and still felt dry.  So, this is great!  The price point is good, you get a large bottle with a pump top (love those!) and you can get it while you are on a Target run instead of making a special trip to the department store.  I have sensitive skin, but this didn't seem to make it break out (I have oily T), but very dry cheeks.  This works out well for me.  I put it on all over and it works out fine.

Simple Refreshing Facial wash Gel

Love this!!!

I love this line for being perfume and dye free.  It's also amazingly gentle.  My skin is sensitive and it also is dried out by something as simple as a splash of water.  But, surprisingly, it is not dried out by this cleanser!  It is super gentle.  The only thing is, it doesn't really foam much.  But knowing that foaming agents are harsh on the skin, it makes sense.  I love, love, love this cleanser and I'm so glad that this line has come to the US. I highly recommend it for sensitive skin types and also those with drier skin.  

Mineralogie Waterproof Mascara

Oh why did I deviate from my gold standard?  It took me so much experimenting to find Lancome Definicils.

I encountered this on Little Black Bag, a wonderfully fun shopping site.  I figured, why not try this product?  Let me tell you why... On my oily skin, most mascara ends up under my lids.  That includes most waterproof mascaras.

That includes this brand of waterproof mascara.  Unfortunately, this is not for me.  It does a very decent job of defining.  But I hate "raccoon eyes", even with primer under my eyes.

Pros and Cons of shaving with conditioner vs. gel or cream

So I have a confession to make. ... I typically do not wash my hair every day. I just can't be bothered, I have a baby to take care of, and drying my hair adds an extra 20 minutes to my shower, which I've found that I can avoid by only washing every other day, and using spray in dry shampoo on my days off from washing. And I love it. It saves me so much time. So, sometimes I will shampoo and repeat. Not usually if it's only been a day since my last wash. But if it's been two, then I'll shampoo twice. This makes for a conditioner surplus, as I usually like for my shampoo and conditioner to match up, and I do switch around a bit. So I decided to try conditioner as a shave gel, as you've probably read somewhere. Here are my thoughts... Pros: You don't wast product. Super smooth glide. You can see the hairs through the product, unlike when using shave gel or cream. This means you won't miss spots by accident. LOVE THIS. One less product you need to keep track of and buy. (As a mom, this can be a big deal. I now hate needing to run to the store for just one item.) Cons: No lather (I like the novelty.) More drying of the skin (I needed two layers of lotion after my shower, whereas usually with shave gel, I don't feel skin tightening even before I put my usual one layer of lotion on.) VERDICT: I'll use my any extra conditioner that I have laying around that does not have parabens. I am not sold on the idea permanently yet, but I've only tried it for two weeks and so there's still room for changing my mind. In any case, I have enough extra conditioner to do this for at least a few months.

Binder Clip: Secret Beauty Weapon

A few months ago, I was reading some blog links and ended up on a page that extolled the virtues of binder clips. Apparently they have all sorts of great uses that I've never thought of. But that page inspired me. See, my eye primer in a tube was on it's last legs. I was waiting and waiting for it to run out so that I could start on my new tube of primer. You know how it gets - it takes so much effort to extract the last pits of produce from a squeeze tube. I thought I had had enough of it. (This was my Mary Kay eye primer, btw...) Then I read the binder clip post and realized I could use a binder clip. I folded the bottom of the squeeze tube of eye primer two times and clipped it with my binder clip. This made dispensing the last bit of product so much easier! It was like a miracle. Not only was it super easy, I managed to get a good SIX WEEKS of additional product out of that little squeeze tube. It was amazing. So now, my Juicy Tubes mini lip gloss is running pathetically low, and it's getting hard to get product out, but I can see that there is still plenty. So, same deal! I have folded the end under one time, and attached a mini binder clip to the end. And now, I will see how many weeks of additional use I will get out of it - I use a layer of Juicy Tubes on my lips each night as a night treatment, and this will serve that purpose very nicely. And then... one day... I can FINISH my Juicy Tubes!!! I will feel so accomplished! There are a plethora of other uses for this trick: toothpaste, liquid eye shadow, anti bacterial wound gel... really anything that comes in a squeeze tube can benefit from this trick. The best thing is that it makes dispensing the last bit of product as easy and the first bit! LOVE it. UPDATE: After trying to use the binder clip for 2 weeks, I gave up and threw it out. The plastic they use for Juicy Tubes packaging is not as pliable as the plastic for Mary Kay eye primer. Also the angled applicator was very hard to use with such a short handle. My verdict: if you want the last of your Juicy Tubes, you should cut it open and use a Q tip to get to it. Which is also very annoying. Just get a new one! Since I have so many around, I can't imagine the next time I will get to the bottom of another tube anyhow!!!