In Spa Magazine’s Jan/Feb issue, they mentioned some great facial recipes to help you get back that glow the winter months tend to take away.  For example, smash together about 2-3 figs and 1 tbsp of olive oil for a great exfoliating mask and leave it on for 5-10 minutes.  Or puree 1/2 peach with 1/2 cucumber and leave it on the face for about 20 minutes for the perfect tightening and brightening treatment.  With recipes as simple as this, making your own facial treatments at home can be a snap.

Head on over to spamagazine.com/diybeauty to get 13 more beauty recipes that cover everything from head to toe.  My faves are the Green Tea Toner, Moisture-Rich Lip Exfoliator and Revitalizing Foot Scrub.  And don’t forget to pick up this Mar/Apr issue out on stands now for a list of some great spa bath products you can use at home to extend the benefits of that blissful spa massage.

Until next time my loves…  xoxo

The author of one of my favorite skin care books, Passport to Beauty, is having a sale

on HauteLook.com for her makeup and skin care line called Global Goddess.

Check it out this Friday, February 19th!

Happy Shopping!

xoxo

PAO, or Period After Opening, is an icon used on cosmetic products designed to keep consumers aware about the freshness of their products.  It usually lists the number of months the product should last once you have opened the packaging. Keep in mind, that although unopened products last longer than the expiration date listed, they won’t last forever either.  So be sure to check unopened products you’ve had for a while by doing a test patch.  And obviously if it smells rancid, THROW IT OUT!  Another important thing to practice is to store your products in dark, cool places to avoid altering the product ingredients. Heat and light can actually speed up spoilage.

An interesting fact I recently read in body + soul magazine is that this icon is not yet required in the United States but is mandatory in Europe on goods with a shelf life of 30 months or more.  The good thing however, is that many domestic brands use the icon anyway.

To find out what to toss and when, click here to read the full article in body + soul magazine.  You’ll learn typically how long products like mascara and lipstick should last and insider tips on how to tell if your eye shadows are bad or how to store your organic lotions.  It’s a great article and every woman should be informed.

Until next time my beauties…  xoxo

The FDA does not require approval of cosmetics before their manufacture and sale.  The FDA regulates cosmetics only in the areas of safety, labeling, and the claims made for a product.  Ingredients must be listed in descending order of predominance, starting with the ingredient having the highest concentration and ending with the ingredient having the lowest concentration.  Ingredients with a concentration of less than 1 percent may be listed in any order.  This is why it is so important to match the marketing claims made by a company with the ingredients listed on the back.

For example, yesterday I told you that I’ve tried several anti-cellulite treatments.  St. Ives has always been one of my favorite drugstore body moisturizers, so when they came out with St. Ives Cellulite Shield Advanced Body Moisturizer, I was very excited to try it.  However, my results were not as apparent as they were with Caudalie’s.  These are the ingredients St. Ives advertises as their main innovative ingredients in this anti-cellulite moisturizer:

• Green Tea- Known for attacking free radicals
• Caffeine- Known to stimulate the skin’s circulation, targeting “imprisoned fat”
• Citrus Extract- Known to rejuvenate and energize the skin
• Menthol- to invigorate tired, sluggish skin as it cools
• Glacial Water and Botanicals- Known to moisturize and hydrate the skin

Now although their claims about these ingredients have been proven to be true, to be highly effective, these ingredients must be listed toward the beginning of the ingredients list.  Without being in a high enough concentration, the potency of these ingredients becomes diminished. So I took a look at the ingredients list and checked to see just how much of these wonderful ingredients are actually in this anti-cellulite treatment.  Here is what I found out:

• Green Tea- Listed at ingredient number 45 out of 52
• Caffeine- Listed at ingredient number 12 out of 52
• Citrus Extract- Listed at ingredient number 50 and 51 out of 52
• Menthol- Listed at ingredient number 29 out of 52
• Glacial Water and Botanicals- No specific evidence of “glacial” water and botanicals listed all throughout the lower half of the list

So I took this information and now understood why this product might not have worked as well as I had originally thought it would.  It still acted as a great moisturizer and I still love St. Ives lotion just because of the experiences I’ve had with it before, but I’ll be more careful now before I jump on the bandwagon.  It was obvious that although St. Ives Cellulite Shield Advanced Body Moisturizer did contain these active ingredients, they were not in a high enough concentration to be effective in the way they had intended.

So next time you run out to your nearest store just because you saw a great ad or commercial on some new innovative product, make sure you do your research first.  And since its beneficial for you to have one, I recommend purchasing Milady’s Skin Care and Cosmetic Ingredients Dictionary. It’ll help you understand why certain things are in your product, what those chemicals listed really do, and translate all the latin names for you.  It’s a great little thing to take with you on your next trip to the department store.

Until next time ladies…  xoxo

“From coal tar in hair dyes to formaldehyde in nail varnishes, the average woman is exposed to as many as 175 chemicals from her beauty products every day that can cause conditions as mild as skin irritation or as serious as cancer.  It’s not just the toxins in beauty products that are bad for the health either; synthetic chemicals from these products find their way from your home into waterways and soil, contaminating food and water supplies for all living things.”

Now most people don’t really think about these things when getting ready every morning.  So I am here to bring it to your attention so that we can all be conscious of how our actions affect the world inside and around us.  It’s interesting to see how in many ways taking care of our own health helps out the environment as well.  I definitely recommend checking out this book as it’s a total eye opener to not only all the harmful chemicals in many of our products, but to how much making just a simple eco-beauty purchase can positively affect our environment.

So Are You a Green Beauty?  Take this quiz to find out!  Its amazing to see how many of these answers can be found in our Little Green Book!  Stay tuned to BCB Eco-Fridays, as I will be discussing many of the topics that come up in this quiz.  And of course, if any of you have any questions about how you can be more beautifully green, leave me a comment!

Until next time ladies…  xoxo

I’d love to share with you one of my favorite recipes from the book.  I am such a huge fan of coconut and pretty much love anything that has a tropical fragrance.  So if that’s you too, you’ll enjoy this recipe that comes from Thailand:

Tropical Body Polish

½ cup of ground rice

½ cup of coconut milk

1 tablespoon of turmeric

½ cup of fresh grated coconut

Mix ingredients together to form a thick scrub.

Using circular scrubbing motion, apply the mixture all over your body.

Rinse and follow with your favorite moisturizer.

I find this treatment especially helpful during the winter months, as my skin tends to be a little drier.  With the extra need for exfoliation, and a definite desire to want to feel like I’m somewhere other than the freezing streets of New York, I love this home recipe!

Some other great SUMMER tips that come from our South American beauties can also be found in Passport to Beauty: Secrets and Tips from Around the World for Becoming a Global Goddess.  One that I thought was quite interesting was that Brazilian beauties munch on carrots for weeks prior to hitting the beach.  They believe that because carrot juice can cause a slight yellowing of the skin, it can deepen the bronze of their tans.  But like Shalini mentions, “Too much of a good thing is just that – too much.”  Carrots do have a high content of Vitamin A, which in large amounts, can be toxic.  So what I like to do is just have a glass of carrot juice after my beach day to help maintain the color I’ve already gotten.  Its refreshing, totally healthy, and definitely safe – unless you’re allergic to carrots of course!

And I just have to throw this one in there because you know I love you…  If you’re spending a day at the beach don’t forget your SPF!!!

Until next time ladies…  xoxo