Yes To

Saving All My Kale for You…

July 17th, 2019 by Karen 10 Comments

Real talk: Does anyone actually sit at a pretty vanity table with a special lighted mirror, and scented candles burning in the background, and music playing, and perfect lighting hitting all the good angles while they apply their lipstick or other lip products for the day? — because my usual scenario involves me using the rearview mirror while sitting in my car as it warms up in my dark garage, and putting on whatever I’ve got in my purse in the 30 seconds I have before leaving to take Connor somewhere, and P.S., apparently, three-year-olds have many, many places to be, which is why I’m basically the family Uber driver now.

Anyway, that’s why I’m grabbing something moisturizing with a wash of color 99% of the time (#drylips #priorities), like a balm, a lip tint or a hydrating lip oil, which brings me to the latest love of my lip life by Wander Beauty…

Shine and moisture FTW

The Lip Retreat Lip Oils drench dry lips with moisturizing fruit oils and fatty acids, and they coat that kisser with a shiny finish that feels slightly sticky (but not obnoxiously so). There are four shades to choose from, each with a different degree of vivid intensity, and my favorites are juicy strawberry pink Spa Day, and clear shiny Oasis. Both of them smell and taste a little like vanilla, which I’m cool with.

wander beauty lip retreat 2 — Oasis (a clear shade) on the left and Spa Day (a strawberry pink) on the right

The angled doe-foot has a pointed tip, so drawing into tight corners with the brighter shades is just as easy to do as it is with the nude colors, and the squishy tube means that I can squeeze every last drop outta the 0.33-oz. $22 tubes.

No parabens, phthalates, synthetic fragrances or mineral oil, and they’re cruelty-free and gluten-free as well.

If you like your tints on the bougie side, a la the Hourglass tinted lip oils or the new NARS lip tints, you’re gonna love these!

I love lip oils…but I do not love kale.

I have no problem eating my veggies, but kale? Eww! I’ve tried all sorts of ways to get myself to like kale over the past few years, but it always tastes like gummy, chewy grass to me, and is therefore my equivalent of low-key punishment. (Give me spinach any old day.)

I don’t mind kale in my beauty products, though, especially when they work as well as the Yes to Carrots & Kale Wipes ($5.99).

yes to carrots makeup wipes — The only kale I don’t mind…

yes to carrots makeup wipes ingredients — What’s inside?!

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The Shower Files, Summer 2018 Edition: Moisture Mania

July 23rd, 2018 by Karen 12 Comments

Yup, still spending an inordinate amount of time in my shower. Also yup, I’m still a lizard person (and thus still require moisturizer). It’s hot here now, and I’ve been living for lotion and oils. If your skin could use a quenching kiss of extra moisture, you might like one or more of these…

Everyone 3-in-1 Citrus & Mint Lotion ($10.99, 32-oz. bottle with a pump)

A huge 32-ounce bottle of this organic cruelty-free lotion will only set you back $10.99, to which I say “What a deal!” This lotion is GREAT, and I can’t deny deriving a great deal of pleasure from seeing the huge bottle on my shelf.

This is what I use when I DON’T want to use a thick, heavy body cream but my skin still needs/wants more moisture.

Ingredients
Purified Water, Vegetable Glycerin, Organic Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Glyceryl Stearate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetearyl Glucoside, Sorbitan Olivate, Stearyl Alcohol, Organic Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Tocopherol, Lecithin, Cetyl Alcohol, Cetyl Esters, Hydrolyzed Rice Protein, EO® Organic Herbal Blend [Organic Aloe Barbadensis Leaf, Organic Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Organic Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, and Organic Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract], EO® Essential Oil Blend [Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil , Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil], Xanthan Gum, Sodium Phytate, Dimethicone, Citric Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Alcohol, Potassium Sorbate, *Limonene

As far as lotions go, it’s the runny side, but it isn’t greasy. It’s kinda like Curel or Lubriderm, and I’d initially presumed, because of the consistency, that it wouldn’t be very hydrating, but it is.

Oh, it is… I can almost hear my skin sighing in relief when I use it, and I think it smells soooo good, too. I get more of the orange than the mint, and the fragrance is of that magical variety that doesn’t overwhelm other perfumes.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ 5 out of 5 hearts.

Yes to Ultra Hydrating Moisturizing Coconut Oil Stick ($9.99 for a 2-oz. stick)

What can I say? I still love them Daisy Dukes (even though I probably should’ve stopped wearing them 10 years ago), and this solid stick moisturizer is booty shorts BFF material.

Ingredients
Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Beeswax, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Trihydroxystearin, Glycerol Caprylate, Glycerol Undecyleneate, Fragrance (Parfum), Coumarin

It leaves your legs a little shiny, but not in that oiled-up semi-scandalous Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover way.

Note: The scent will follow you around. In fact, you’ll leave a trail of coconut in your wake, which is a plus in my book.

❤️❤️❤️❤️ 4 out of 5 hearts.

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Drugstore Needs and Nopes, Vol. 3

June 2nd, 2017 by Karen 16 Comments

1. Yes To Liquid Hand Soap ($3.99 each)

I’m the weirdo who washes her hands about, oh, let’s see… 20 times a day? I’m so not kidding, either. And I’m REALLY picky about my hand soaps, but I thoroughly plan to love the dickens out of this bottle of Yes to Liquid Hand Soap because it doesn’t dry out my skin, even when I wash my hands hella times.

Also, the Marula Oil Mango var-eh-TAY smells like marvelous mangoes, but here’s the thing: it doesn’t smell fake, which is important if you wash your hands as much as I do, because, as you know, it’s nice to have a yummy fragrance waft up into yo’ nose.

It removes dirt, oils and all manner of baby goo, and it easily rinses off and doesn’t leave behind an annoying residue.

VERDICT: Need!

Yes To Liquid Hand Soap ingredients
Water (Aqua), Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Coco-Sulfate, Glycerin, Sclerocarya Birrea (Marula) Seed Oil, Mangivera Indica (Mango) Fruit Extract, Glyceryl Caprylate, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Sodium Chloride, Glyceryl Undecylenate, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance (Parfum), Benzyl Benzoate, Hexyl Cinnamal Linalool

2. E.L.F. Cosmetics Illuminating Palette ($6)

elf illuminating palette — E.L.F. Cosmetics Illuminating Palette ($6)

The four-pan E.L.F. Cosmetics Illuminating Palette is darned-near perfect for the price. The finely milled powders look really expensive and natural.

The highlighters are on the neutral- and cool-toned sides, which is a cool surprise (haha, bad pun) because of how many highlighter palettes skew warm.

The shimmer in these shades is also low-key — which again makes them seem higher end than they are.

Heck, I’d go so far as to call these drugstore Hourglass Ambient powders.

VERDICT: Need!

E.L.F. Cosmetics Illuminating Palette ingredients
Talc, Mica, Magnesium Stearate, Dimethicone, Silica, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Boron Nitride, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Tocopheryl Acetate (Ve), Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol. May Contain: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Manganese Violet (CI 77742)

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