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Skin Care

Burt’s Bees Radiance Travel Kit, aka Adventures in Mini

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Dude, am I the only person who thinks the Burt’s Bees line kicks arse? I love their lotions, hand soaps and lipglosses, and I’ve had my eye on some of their fancy Travel Kits for a while.

I. LOVE. SAMPLE SIZES, and these travel kits are chock full of ’em. Those mini-bottles and jars make it easy to discover new products from a line without having to commit.

Case in point: the Radiance Collection Kit ($15), which I sampled last week.

It comes with seven mini-items from the Radiance Collection, a body care line featuring products containing royal jelly (a nutritious substance eaten by queen bees in the hive) to restore glow to dull skin: Radiance Exfoliating Body Bar, Exfoliating Body Wash, Body Lotion, Day Creme, Night Creme, Eye Creme and Lip Shimmer.

I liked everything in the kit, but my favorite product turned out to be the one I least expected to like — the Exfoliating Body Bar.

Scented with rose and freesia, she foams up like crazy and leaves my skin feeling clean without that annoying tightness some cleansers can cause.

I figured out that it also works fab as a shave cream, too (I have hairy Yeti legs…).

I was able to try a product I may otherwise not have tried and now may even spring for the full-sized $4 bar. 🙂

Burt’s Bees Radiance Collection Kit

Price: $15
Use: Seven sample-sized body and bath products from the Burt’s Bees Radiance Collectionn
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

Whatever happened to Lil’ Ceaz?

I’m almost too ashamed to admit that I still know the lyrics to Crush on You, by Lil’ Kim and Lil’ Ceaz (“I know you see me on the video, TRUE!”).

Raise your hand if you remember being in a club when this song played. It always made everyone go NUTS! Ahhh… memories.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Philosophy’s Holiday Cookbook Smells Like a Bestseller

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Have you ever taken a cookbook into the shower? Well, Philosophy wants you to give it a try.

I was so excited to try the six scented shower gels in the Philosophy’s The Holiday Cookbook that I took each and every one of them into the shower with me.

I washed my left arm with Hot Cocoa, my right leg with Spicy Pear Cobbler, my buns with Cinnamon Buns (ha!)… I was a scented smorgasbord of delicious baked goodness. Cooler still, when I rinsed off, I didn’t smell like the inside of a bakery. Nope, these gels suds up nicely but wash off well, leaving just the faintest flavored scent on the skin.

The six 2-oz. bottles — Ginger Bread, Hot Coca, Red Velvet Cake (my favorite), Pumpkin Spice, Cinnamon Bums and Spicy Pear — come “wrapped” in Philosophy’s spiffy cookbook, decorated festively in red and white gingham.
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Comodynes Oats Makeup Remover Facial Cleanser Wipes: Simply Clean

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I was cruising a Bed, Bath & Beyond a few weeks ago, looking for couch covers, when I spotted their ginormous, new beauty section. The company has been rolling them out in their larger stores nationwide.

Anywho, that’s when I spotted Comodynes Oats Makeup Remover Facial Cleanser Wipes ($6). I can’t resist makeup wipes, so I picked them up but hadn’t gotten around to using them until this week.

Takes It Off; Takes It *ALL* Off

I opened the pack after Jen’s wedding last Saturday, and wouldn’t you know it? — these things rock. A single wipe was all it took to remove my full-coverage foundation, long-wearing MAC Fluidline Gel Liner AND several layers of heavy duty Chanel Exceptionnel thickening mascara. Not bad.

The wipes feel soft against my skin, kinda like the stretchy fabric of L’Oreal Skin Genesis Wet Cleansing Towelettes. In fact, they’re so soft and moisturizing that they didn’t irritate sensitive areas like the skin around my waterline (they’re even alcohol-free).

Comodynes Oats Makeup Remover Facial Cleanser Wipes

Price: $6 (20 big wipes per pack)
Use: A superb makeup removing moist towelette; even removes long-wear and waterproof eye makeup with ease.
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

No Sticky Film, Yay!

And, unlike L’Oreal Skin Genesis Wet Cleansing Towelettes, Comodynes wipes don’t leave a sticky film. I’ve gotten used to following up makeup wipes with water and a facial cleanser like Chanel Precision Cleansing Milk, but since these leave almost no detectable residue (just the faintest moisturizing coating and light rose scent), I could use them sans cleanser in a pinch.

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At 8-by-8 inches, Comodynes wipes are huge! I’m going to cut some of them in half and stuff ’em back in the package (a plastic pouch that seals with a sticker). 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

$375 Chanel Sublimage Texture Universelle: Someone Forgot to Tell Chanel about the Economy

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Question: How does Chanel intend to weather the down economy?

Answer: Simple, they’re gonna release another $375 skincare product.

Their Sublimage franchise has been a big hit, accounting for half the brand’s skincare sales wherever they’ve been sold, so this January the company plans to add a new product to the mix, Sublimage Texture Universelle, an identically priced cream offering the same broad anti-aging benefits as the original Sublimage cream, but in a lighter texture for even more skin types.

Back in April I tried and LOVED Chanel’s Sublimage Eye Cream (I even kept the empty 0.13 ounce sample jar as a memento, LOL!), but Chanel broke my heart by charging $225 per ounce!!!

The addition of Sublimage Texture Universelle brings the Sublimage line to a total of four products, including an eye cream and a serum. Introduced in September 2006, the original cream has been renamed Sublimage Texture Supreme.

As Chanel’s premiere skincare line (no kidding), Sublimage targets wrinkles, loss of firmness, dehydration, lack of radiance and uneven pigmentation.

Why does Sublimage work so well?

Psychosomatic placebo factors aside … it’s thanks to a compound Chanel calls Plantifolia-PFA, the line’s active ingredient, derived from the fresh fruit of a Madagascan orchid-family plant. Chanel claims the compound boosts skin’s inter-cellular communication. “If Texture Supreme is cashmere,” the press release says, “Texture Universelle is silk.”

That’s mostly marketing fancy talk, but I did think the rich, jasmine-scented Sublimage eye cream worked well. I loved it even more than my previous eye cream crush, MAC Moisturelush ($30, 0.5 oz jar), and that’s saying a lot.

Chanel must agree because they’ve priced Sublimage out of reach of most consumers. The new Texture Universelle will cost $375.00 for 1.7 oz. The other sizes will be priced from $175.00 to $385.00.

Because of the price, the Sublimage line gets limited distribution, but you can usually find it on Chanel’s counters in Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue stores.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen
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Korres Natural Products Sugar & Spice Showergels Make Good Scents

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WARNING: Korres Sugar & Spice Showergel Trios ($12) will test your will. If you get these intending to stuff them in stockings or to give them away as gifts, be warned — they smell great, and you might want to keep them for yourself.

It’s weird because these don’t look like much from the packaging — not like holiday or food-scented products. The nondescript packaging doesn’t convey the holidays or rich, authentic foody fragrances. You look at ’em and think, “Meh,” but that only adds to the effect.

These are far more authentic and less synthetic fragrances than the typical sugary sweet pumpkin-spice-gingerbread scented concoctions you’ll find from other holiday lines.

  • Hot Spiced Chocolate Like you’re waiting in line at a Starbucks and someone walks by with a grande dark chocolate and cinnamon latte. I WANT!
  • Sugar Glazed Clementine Reminds me of fresh cut orange slices and brown sugar.
  • Honey Spice Like warm honey cookies and roasted pecans. Mmm…

Each moisturizing gel creates lots of big, frothy bubbles and gets the job done in the shower, but the yummy fragrances are what really set them apart. The scents quickly fade and don’t really linger on the skin, so I’ll still use them with other scents or perfumes.

Scent is highly tied to memory, yo, and showering with one of these takes wash time to a whole new level.

Korres Natural Products Sugar & Spice Showergel Trio

Price: $12
Use: Fantastic scented bath gels to get into the holiday spirit
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

TIP: Be careful when you pour from the bottles because the mouth is wide and pours like a gusher. It’s not hard to empty half a bottle in a couple seconds.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! It’s a little after 8:30am out here in Florida. Do you know where your gators are?

Simple Sensitive Skin Specialists Cleansing Facial Wipes Review

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Dang, remember when seeing Boots at Target felt exotic? It seems more skin care and beauty brands from the UK are landing on US shores, yah? Case in point — Simple Sensitive Skin Specialists Cleansing Facial Wipes ($6 for 25 wipes), a UK cult beauty fave now available at Duane Reade drugstores.

I can see why Brits love this product. It’s oil- and alcohol-free and doesn’t contain any perfumes or dyes. The package is convenient, and the sticker closure stays firmly shut after opening (huge plus!).

I like that these wipes lift away foundation, powder, lipstick and most eye makeup without leaving a sticky film on my skin. However, the package says the wipes also lift waterproof mascara, but when I used the wipes to remove Shu Uemura Precise Volume Waterproof from my lashes, they left behind plenty of product. I also tried removing Chanel Exceptionnel, a non-waterproof mascara, and the results were the same. In both cases I ended up using Lancome Bi-Facil to finish the job.

One more thing — the wipes also felt scratchy and weren’t as soft as L’Oreal Skin Genesis Wet Cleansing Towelettes when I rubbed them against delicate areas like my lash line.
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Philosophy’s The Haunted House Shower Gels Are Scary Good!

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True confession: when I visit other people’s homes I peek inside their showers to see what shampoos and body washes they use.

Of course, if someone were to peek into my shower, they’d probably think I have shower gel ADD. It’s jam packed with products, like the shampoo aisle at Rite Aid, LOL! I’ve covered every single square inch of usable surface area. It drives El Hub crazy. I listen when he’s in there and hear thud after thud as bottles and jars fall from the shower ledge and into the tub, followed almost immediately by something like “Damnit!” or “Argh!” or “Karen!”

Well, this week the ledge inside my shower has also been home to Philosophy’s The Haunted House ($30) shower gel set.

It comes with three 6-oz. bottles of Halloween-inspired scented shower gels. Each doubles as a shampoo or bubble bath, and all three come in a cute lil’ haunted house box.

  • Pumpkin Spice Muffin smells just like homemade pumpkin muffins (with plenty of brown sugar and cinnamon!) baking in the oven.

  • Caramel Apple has a sweeter scent, like caramel, with just a hint of crisp juicy Granny Smith Apple.

  • Black Licorice reminds me of the licorice plants that grew all over my neighborhood in the East Bay. I have great memories of the smell but don’t really like the taste of licorice, so this was my least favorite of the three.

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L’Oreal Skin Genesis Wet Cleansing Towelettes: BHA Me

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I think there’s something therapeutic about watching bad reality TV from the couch while I remove my makeup with a cleansing wipe. Last night I grabbed L’Oreal’s new Skin Genesis Micro-Smoothing Wet Cleansing Towelettes, which I’ve been itching to try for a while, and wiped away my makeup (and my cares) while LC, Spencer, Heidi, Audrina and Justin-Bobby (that dumb ass) battled it out on The Hills.

Why I love BHA Products

L’Oreals Skin Genesis Wet Cleansing Towelettes are the first wipes I’ve used that contain BHA, or beta hydroxy acid (aka salicylic acid). I have mild adult acne, and past BHA products have helped relieve my acne without drying out my skin. I seem to respond well to BHAs, so I was looking forward to putting Skin Genesis Wet Cleansing Towelettes to the test.

BHAs are widely reported to decrease the appearance of wrinkles, roughness and mottled pigmentation caused by sun-damage. Dermatologists often recommend BHAs over AHAs because they’re generally less irritating, but here’s a previous post with more detailed information on BHAs and AHAs.

What Sets These Towelettes Apart?

I gotta say… these are the softest wipes I’ve ever used. The embossed fabric looks fluffier and feels much softer against the skin than MAC Wipes do. Plus, they give a little, like cotton, and have a pleasant (albeit intense) honeysuckle/rose fragrance, which I like.
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