This is a sponsored post written for Neutrogena. I was compensated and provided complimentary products for this post. All opinions are my own.
I live about 2000 feet above sea level on the mountain of Haleakala on Maui. It’s funny because as I sit here quite warm and cozy with warm clothes, beanie and gloves – I’m always reminded that many people think that because I live in Hawaii, they can’t fathom the thought that we have cold weather here. It does snow – well, on my island – snow is mainly on the summit only and every few years if the temperatures allow, but during a cold winter my house can easily get to 40 degrees without any issues. Today, it’s actually 52 degrees so it’s colder than the normal 92 degrees that most locals here are used to. I provided you with a little lesson on the winter here in Hawaii because it’s a common misconception that boots, gloves and beanies are odd things to find here when in all honestly, I’m using them all right now to keep me warm. With colder weather in Hawaii, I desperately need to change up my skin care routine for my face and entire body. I naturally have dry skin, so anything I can use to keep my skin feeling soft and smooth, well – is definitely essential. To keep from an Eczema flare up, I tend to reach for products I know work and for me, Neutrogena Body Oil has been my winter buddy this season.
Neutrogena is a brand I have loved for years and I kind of consider it a family tradition. As a child, my dad used Neutrogena products so I’ve been familiar with their old school products for years. This year, Neutrogena Body Oil is celebrating its 50th anniversary which really reminds me how great products really can stand the test of time over the years. (Check out the vintage ad below from many years ago – this body oil has certainly stood the test of time)
Since Winter tends to do the absolute most damage on my skin each year, I tend to look for products that will provide me with much needed moisture and hydration but that don’t leave that icky-greasy feeling behind. Neutrogena Body Oil is my pick because it’s so different from other moisturizers. It absorbs quickly without the greasy after-feel you can experience from others on the market, it’s dermatologist-tested which is a big deal for me and it leaves my skin feeling soft, silky and protects against moisture loss. With just one use and in a matter of seconds you will notice your skin feels softer and smoother and I love that there is no wait time for it to dry before getting dressed and ready.
To keep my skin feeling smooth, sexy and soft I put the Neutrogena Body Oil all over my body right out of the shower. I always make sure my skin is still damp and my skin absorbs the oil quickly and usually under a minute. Because of the light formula, I don’t have to wash my hands after applying and the oil leaves my skin feeling so soft and smooth without that greasy you can expect from an oil. Of course, if you have time for a bath, you can put a little of the Neutrogena Body Oil into the bath water and it will moisturize you that way, but seriously – I don’t have time for a bath, so I like the quick and easy way of applying it. For moms on the go like me, this is a great no-fuss alternative to the “spa” like treatments that can be messy. There’s no need to wait ages for the oil to dry and definitely no worry in messing up the floor, bath tub or even your bed after using it – since the product works its magic quickly and painlessly.
I love that the Neutrogena Body Oil has a light fragrance, but you can opt to get a fragrance free version if you would like. It’s great for the winter months or year round. My Hawaii Winter Skin is loving it and I love that I don’t have to worry about dry, rough skin this time of year.
Seriously, if you know anything about me, then you know I’m all about an easy routine that allows me to be done in a heartbeat. Neutrogena Body Oil has been an absolute favorite and knowing it is a brand that my family has trusted for years, well – let’s just say it’s worth looking into. After 50 years, I think it’s safe to say that it’s definitely something worth a try, and something I highly recommend.
Have you tried a body oil before? Do you think Neutrogena Body Oil could be a good one for your winter skin?
Disclosure: The products featured in this post were sent for review and feature for editorial purposes. This post is sponsored and may contain affiliate or referral links.
When it comes to wearing my curly hair down, I tend to go the easy route, easy peesy and as little work and effort as possible. Let’s face it, I have really long hair so my arms enjoy the freedom of allowing my hair to air dry if at all possible. The problem with air drying (especially during the Fall and Winter months) is that it can take literally ALL DAY LONG if my hair is left to dry naturally. I’m not about that life, seriously – who’s got time to wait around for your hair to dry. Since I don’t use heat on my hair most of the year – I try to keep it to a minimum during the colder months – but I also rely on products that work and that I can trust. The Dura CHI Hand Shot Hair Dryer has been my new best friend, or shall I say my Curly Hair’s new companion lately. It allows me to dry or style my hair easily without the fuss and today I’m going to share this interesting and fun product with you.
The Dura CHI Hand Shot Hair Dryer was launched this year (2016) in August. I have had this product in my possession now for a few months and have been giving it a good run for trial and error. This tool helps and aids in time constraints of hair styling by providing efficiency and comfort through its cutting-edge design, even allowing for hand-free use. Since there is no conventional dryer handle, the hand shot dryer allows for consistent control over the dryer to produce a multitude of styling techniques with ease.
The Dura CHI Hand Shot Dryer helps to cater to all hair types since the dryer also features a state of the art, touch sensitive control screen that offer numerous head and speed setting combinations to deliver optimal results.
Key Features of this unit include:
Hands-free drying stand enables the dryer to stand alone on a flat surface.
Handle free design for a more balanced and efficient drying angle that allows for the wrist to sit in a more comfortable place.
Touch-Sensitive Screen that regulates temperature and speed levels.
1875 Watts of power that allows for consistent heat from ceramic heat technology.
Non-slip, soft touch grip that provides optimal control and molded finger groves for added comfort and support.
Retail: $144.99
Unit includes: The Hair Dryer, Blow Drying Attachment and Diffusing Attachment.
So – with a hefty price tag, you must be wondering what my thoughts are overall on the product. There’s the thing – I really like it. I have several diffusers and a blow dryer that literally just died on me and since my hair is soooo long, my arms and wrists get tired quickly with a traditional hair dryer or diffuser. I’m not saying that my arms didn’t get tired while using Dura CHI, let’s be real here… if you had to dry my hair (which is past my buttocks), your arms would be tired too. But as someone who suffers from Carpal Tunnel syndrome, I found that I was able to adjust how I hold the unit to accommodate for the achy pain in my wrist. You can’t do that easily with other dryers because holding anywhere other than the traditional handle will literally burn your hands.
I absolutely love the fact that this dryer has a hands-free drying stand which helps with the drying process of my hair as well. I can literally sit the dryer up on a flat surface and just let it dry on it’s own without using it. It dries my hair quickly, consistently all around and I LOVE how it feels in my hands when I’m diffusing my hair. It may not seem traditional to many – but having long hair and being able to grab the length of the blow dryer to diffuse the lengths of my hair, is much easier with this unit.
The unit itself is heavy – so if you are accustomed to a light weight blow dryer, you may not like this particular one. I find that it is not heavy for me because it allows me to control how I use the product fairly easily. It offers balance when diffusing the lengths of my hair and again – holding this while catching my entire hair hasn’t been a struggle. If you are a hair dresser and do blow outs, the ease of use of this unit may be something you’d like – because blow drying someone else’s hair for me was really comfortable and easy to control.
With a touch sensitive control dial and LED lights display to help provide you with an easily adjustable temperature and speed levels with a single touch – the Dura CHI offers you great ease of use. You can adjust the temperature settings using the right control panel and change the temperature range from Cool to Hot. There is also a screen locking feature. Lock the screen during use to prevent accidental temperature or speed changes by pressing the Lock button on the unit.
The price of this unit is a bit on the high side, but you are paying for a brand name that offers quality products, while getting all the cool features that this dryer provides – soft touch grip handle for non-slip control, ceramic heater 1875 watts of power and a touch sensitive screen. With my curly hair – I am very particular with the tools I use on my hair – mainly because it has taken me years to get my hair to the state it is and it’s a work in process consistently. So, I really wanted a product that offers awesome technology, ease of use and that would still work for my hair. the Dura CHI has offered all of those things and I’ve been enjoying it.
I’ve used my fair share of hair tools on my hair over the years and I have to say – I’m totally crushin on this one. Yes, again – it’s costly, but after years of throwing my hair around like it was some unused toy – I realized that I really needed to invest in some good things to keep it looking great. If are looking for a little help in blow drying or styling your hair and find the traditional blow dryers a little uncomfortable to hold as I did, you may really like this one from CHI – I do!
You can purchase this unit at: https://www.loxabeauty.com/chi-dura-chi-handshot-dryer or http://www.farouk.com/
What about you, do you think this hand shot dryer is worth checking out? Have you tried anything like this before and if so, what are your thoughts?
Disclaimer: The product featured in this post was sent for review consideration. All opinions are my own, 100% honest & unbiased. Affiliate links are posted through out.
When it comes to makeup – I have an overall love relationship with most of the things I’ve tried. I pride myself in the fact that I have favorites from both the drugstore and high end, luxury items. There’s no doubt, I’m a makeup lover with an extreme cosmetic addition… hehe! Don’t judge me, lol! I have been using Pixi Beauty products for a few years now, but today I’m sharing with you a few of my current Pixi Beauty favorites. Recently I received a little green box of treats and I have been loving them all so much that I just had to share it with you. Let’s chit chat about each one shall we?
All of the products I got in my little sweet green box were “new to me” treats so I was very excited to dive in and check it out. The Nourishing Cleansing Balm is something that I’ve had my eyes on since seeing it on the website a few weeks ago. This deep cleansing balm-to-oil cleanser immediately caught my attention because I cleanse and moisturize with oil daily, so it was something I really wanted to give a try. The balm melts aware makeup and impurities to leave you with clear, glowing skin.
Retailing for $22.00 (90 mL/3.04 fl.oz.), this nourishing balm has sweet almond oil and cocoa butter and leaves my skin feeling so soft and moisturized after each use. I love that it includes skin loving ingredients and is not harmful to my sensitive skin. If I had to choose one of my absolute FAVORITE products from Pixi that I’ve tried, this balm right here, would be at the top of my list. I LOVE IT! It’s very rich in texture, but smooths onto the skin so nicely and cleanses so quickly. It nourishes my skin with sweet almond oil, shea butter and vitamin E to leave my skin feeling plum and nourished.
To follow the Nourishing Cleansing Balm, I use the Pixi Glow Tonic (100mL / $15.00). Now – they call this a cult favorite and I’ve been hearing my blogger friends swoon and rave about this product for a while, so I just couldn’t wait to try it out. This toner is an exfoliating toner that helps give you brighter, more radiant skin. I have a secret to share… I can’t use Toner often and hardly use it because it causes my skin to get irritated. I was afraid to try this, even if I had only heard great things about it. This miracle in a bottle toner helps to bright the complexion while resulting in a healthy glow. It’s formulated with 5% glycolic acid and helps to exfoliate, brighten and smooth your skin. With Aloe Vera, ginseng and botanical extracts working together, you are nourishing and treating your skin while revealing an improved complexion. I also LOVE that this is alcohol-free. I use this after cleansing and apply with one of my favorite reusable rounds from Facekins. I don’t notice any burning or irritation while using this product and my skin looks brighter after using it for a few weeks. While I’m not the toning kind of gal, I think this will be one I’ll continue to use.
The Pixi Beauty Rose Oil Blend ($24 – 30 mL/1.01 fl.oz.) is also a product I have not tried before. It includes a botanical blend infused with powerful complex of youth-preserving oils to help improve skin’s elasticity and glow. Formulated with sweet almond, rose hip, jojoba, pomegranate seed, and rose geranium oils to help nourish the complexion, leaving my skin feeling smooth and hydrated… but most importantly – soft to the touch. If you’ve been following me a while, then you know I’m an oil moisturizer gal – I use coconut oil to moisturize each night with my regular skin care routine, so I’m always excited to try out new oils. I love this one. I love the packaging – but the oil applies and soaks into my skin so quickly and easily. I love mixing this with my standard skin care regimen for moisture that lasts all day and night and my skin feels so incredibly soft. The oil soaks into my skin quickly, it doesn’t sit on the surface like others can do. It doesn’t leave my skin feeling oily at all – but moisturized and half a dropper full is more than enough to cover my entire face, neck and decollete area. If I want to have that dewy/glowing skin look, I will blend the Rose Oil Blend with my regular moisturizer and apply to my face. It leaves my skin looking and feeling like I just stepped out from under a waterfall – fresh and glowing.
Ah, of course – I can’t leave out a gorgeous highlight, because we all know that Honey loves to glow. The Beauty Blush Duo & Kabuki in Peach Honey ($18 – 10.21 g/0.35 oz.) is GORGEOUS. I love a great highlight but I have a skin tone that is not quite dark but not light at all – an in between. So because of this, a daily highlighter and blush with shimmer is hard to find… well, until now. This gorgeous blush and highlighter duo is perfect for that lit-from-within look for fuss free beauty in just a few seconds. Simple swirl the kabuki brush (which is included – woohoo), into the compact and pick up the color to apply to your cheeks for a great and gorgeous glow. Both powders are super silky and provide your cheeks with a flawless and fresh finish. I LOVE these for everyday use because it provides me with the glow I want in an everyday product, without looking like I just came out of the disco era… but still enough color to be show stopping.
The natural mineral formula of these powders is infused with vitamin E and mica, so it treats your skin as you wear it. You get hydration and long wear with light diffusing capabilities. The Kabuki brush that is included is also a steal. It’s soft and applies the product nicely to the skin. Definitely a great duo to have for every day use or those days you are feeling you want a little more glam. I love golden hued highlighters so this takes the cake for me and the peachy toned blush is perfect for my everyday look. The blush is a tad bit too light for my skin tone, but that excites me more because it makes for a great everyday flush of color without looking like I just plopped rose colored paint on my face. I love both shades – both pigmented and gorgeous.
Ingredients: Talc, Mica, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Polybutene, Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Tocopheryl Acetate. [+/- Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Red 40 Lake (CI 16035), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891)].
It seems as if I have covered everything except for lips. I want to introduce you to the Pixi Beauty Liplift Max ($14 – 2.7 g / 0.09oz). A volume-maximizing lip treatment with peptides to hydrate and plump the lips… YAAAASSSSS… sign me up! This volume-maximizing lip treatment has a cooling sensation with a glossy finish. It is formulated with peptides to hydrate, firm and plump the lips. You also get an added benefit of aloe to heal, jojoba to moisturize and chamomile to soothe. With a fresh mint flavor, you simply can’t go wrong. I have the Liplift Max in Honey Sheen – a gorgeous nude shade. All of the three shades (including Honey Sheen) are sheer, but they make perfect toppers to your favorite lipsticks or liners and wear nicely. I’m not a huge gloss fan but I do tend to wear glosses in the winter months and this one is perfect for such. It helps to hydrate my lips while leaving them looking plump and full. I am a huge fan of Buxom lip glosses so I had used those to compare to this one. It seems like this one offers the plumping without the sting and I like the minty flavor.
I think the LipLift Max is perfect for topping off your matte lippies and while it is a bit sticky, it’s not that bad and still wearable in my book. I’ve been getting lots of use out of this product for a daily lip gloss and I find that it works as I would expect. It’s a little thick, but still workable and leaves a gorgeous sheen on the lips. If you are a fan of glosses, you may like this one.
I love when I have the chance to try out new products from a brand I already love. It’s especially fun when these new products work well with my sensitive skin. I’ve always been a fan of Pixi Beauty and have talked about many of their products in the past. I’m loving trying out some things that are new to me. I’m sure there will be more products in the future that I’ll try and love because Pixi is one of those brands that offer good quality. Pixi products are a little more costly than your average drugstore finds, but I am so excited to have Target near me now that I can browse through and pick up my favorites. If you haven’t tried Pixi before, I highly suggest checking them out. If I had to choose just one item from all of these I featured, I highly suggest the Nourishing Cleansing Balm – seriously, it’s a favorite for sure.
#PixiGlow
You can purchase any of these products and more at: http://www.pixibeauty.com/ or at your local Target store.
Have you tried any of these products from Pixi? If you have, what are your thoughts on them? If you haven’t, do you see any in this post that may make your list of must-try products?
Disclaimer: The products featured in this post were sent for review consideration. All opinions are my own, 100% honest & unbiased. Affiliate links may be posted through out.
When it comes to fragrances, we all know that I have my favorite scents and notes but I don’t dare discriminate against any one fragrance and try to love them equally. I love sugar sweet scents, but I’m a fan of anything that smells… well, good! Whether it be a highend perfume, something sweet and sensual from the aisle of the drugstore or an essential oil, I’m always smelling like something – I love to smell good! I also love to smell good on a budget and while I tend to gravitate towards high priced fragrances, I can tell you from experience, a good budget buy is definitely worth a look, especially if you like to bathe in scents like I do. Because I’m my addition to “smell great things” I wanted to share with you the Fragrance Outlet. I’ve heard of this site before, but until recently, I haven’t had any experience with the site. Let’s chit chat about it and see if this is something you may want to check out too.
So what is Fragrance Outlet and how can it help you in your perfume purchasing needs? Fragrance Outlet was founded in 1990 (their first store at the Potomac Mills Mall, just outside of Washington D.C. The Fragrance Outlet’s concept was simple – to offer the widest selection of genuine designer fragrances, sold by knowledgeable and friendly staff, at affordable prices. Through the years, due to the success of Fragrance Outlet in the fragrance market, they expanded its presence by opening stores in the best Outlet Centers across the country and in Guam. The brand continues to grow and offers a successful foundation to provide their loyal customer base with an online venue for purchasing designer fragrances at affordable prices without ever leaving the comfort of home.
I love fragrances (we’ve established this in a paragraph or so above) and I absolutely enjoy finding a site that offers me the option to find my favorite brands all in one place. I love that all of my favorite perfume brands are there and I can afford to pick them up in full size.
I want to share with you Fragrance Outlet’s latest exclusive scent – My Pure for Women by Karen Low. I’m always eager to try new fragrances and I was absolutely wowed by the packaging and bottle of this fragrance. That gorgeous forest/emerald like green is a show stopper and would grab anyone’s attention while seeing this displayed.
The notes are interesting, unlike any in my vast collection of scents – so it definitely was something new and fun to check out and try. I’m very particular with my floral scents and still like them to have a sweet middle note to bring the fragrance together. The scent is different, quite sensual and luxurious with a slight woody aroma. It would make a great “night on the town” fragrance and has a definite seductive appeal to it. It’s bold, but in a subtle way – if that makes any sense. And, it’s definitely the type of fragrance perfect for evening.
SCENT
Top Notes: Plum and Iris
Middle Notes: Bulgarian rose and Jasmine
Base Notes: Amber and Vetiver
I’m someone who loves to layer fragrances, so using this fragrance is a bit too bold for my taste, it’s a tad bit too intense. It has a floral scent to it (with the Iris and Rose) but you can certainly pick out the notes of Jasmine and Amber, leaving it with that woody flare that gives it that sensual and sexy feel. This is the perfect fragrance for Fall but I can’t use this on it’s own. Blended with one of my sugar scents and layered to perfection, this scent makes a great base to bring together a good perfume. If you are not too hype on rich floral scents like this one, I highly suggest layering it with something you do love – like an oil fragrance or sugar/vanilla that you would enjoy. A little spritz of this is more than enough and the fragrance will last for hours.
If My Pure by Karen Low is a scent you would like to check out for yourself or a loved one, you can find a fab deal on Fragrance Outlet online. Use code MYPURE55 to save 55% off the already low retail price, woohoo! Shipping is free with orders over $50 and there is a huge selection of other scents to choose from as well.
Be sure to check out Fragrance Outlet for more details:
So, how about you? Are you a fragrance lover like me? If so, what are your favorite types of scents?
Disclaimer: The product featured in this post was sent for review consideration. All opinions are my own, 100% honest & unbiased. Affiliate links are posted through out.
Oh my gosh, I hope I’m not too late in posting this or that Lorac decides that they will do another release for more palettes before the year is up. But, today I wanted to share with you my thoughts, swatches and so much more on the Lorac Mega Pro 3 Palette. This Limited Edition release had me drooling because I’m a huge fan of Lorac Pro Palettes and the quality of the shadows. I own Lorac Mega Pro 1 and 2 so skipping out on this one was not the choice I was allowing myself to make. Besides, I had been really good with expenditures all year this 2016, so I felt I deserved to pick this baby up and enjoy. I also didn’t get my hands on Lorac Pro 3 palette so I figured that I would get Mega Pro 3 and be one happy camper. For the third year in a row, I set my alarm to pick this baby up as soon as it was released, so I’ve actually had this palette in my possession now for just about 3 weeks and I’m finally ready to share my thoughts with all of you.
Let’s take a look at this beauty shall we? First of all, the packaging is gorgeous and sports that metallic lettering on the front of the palette itself. I love that Rose Gold and it absolutely has stolen my heart. The palette itself is white… hmmmm… yes, I did say it – WHITE! It’s not ideal considering my other palettes are dark blue and red, and white can be a challenge to clean, but nonetheless, I digress… it’s not preferred, but I’ll try to make it work. haha!
Like the other Mega Pro palettes, the Mega Pro 3 sports that cardboard packaging, thin and compact considering the palette itself is HUGE. I like that Carol & Lorac kept with the themes of the others and created a signature look to keep within the family. The lid seals magnetically (fairly well if I might add) and all of the shades within the palette are laid out the same as the others, with their names listed below each color (one of my favorite things about these palettes).
This palette sports 32 shades with the top two rows being the matte shadows (16 total) and the bottom two rows being the metallic and shimmery shades (16 total). This palette is quite different from some of the others as there are only two repeat shades in this palette and the others are all new and exclusive to the Mega Pro 3.
When it comes to designing the functionality of a palette, I think Lorac really has it going for them. I love that each palettes has the shades laid out from light to dark – left to right. This makes it easy to create a look and a great way to lay the colors on your eyes – your highlights being on the left, transition and crease shades towards the middle and crease and outer v towards the ends. You can also pick and choose any color you want to place on the lid. It’s definitely a great selection and the color range is something I love.
There are a lot of different neutral tones in this palette with a few pops of color. I’m definitely in love with each shade because these are the types of shades I tend to gravitate to often. The palette mainly consists of warm tones, but there are some cool tones within the palette which come together to make this a favorite of mine.
Let’s take a look at each shade in the palette, shall we?
I’ve been getting a lot of use out of the bronze and brown shades in different variations of color. Just like the other Lorac Pro palettes I own (currently in my possession I have Lorac Pro 1 and 2 and Mega Pro 1, 2 and now 3), the Lorac Mega Pro 3 offers you gorgeous and butter shades. The mattes are very smooth and silky in texture and blend onto the lid like a dream. I love the matte shades especially because while they are so soft and satin like, they are just enough color for me to use as a transition or blending shade, but still offer a punch of color when they need to be built up. The shimmer and metallic shades are just as divine as others I have used from Lorac. They are so buttery and soft, but they can kick up some dust, so be sure to tap off any excess on your brush and apply to the eyes with a patting motion instead of sweeping motion.
Jet Black is quite a bold shade, with a powdery kick up and really needs to be packed on to eliminate fall out, but it’s a gorgeous shade for an eye liner or in place of your traditional liner as well. But, taking the time to familiarize yourself with the palette and how it works would be best, as I find that most of Lorac shadows offer a bit of fall out, but it’s worth it in the end for me, I love them.
I don’t have an Ulta near me, so I had to order this charm online the day it was released. I’m glad I made the purchase though, I’m seriously in love with this palette. I know there are a lot of these types of palettes, neutrals I mean, on the market today – so finding one that offers your versatility and ease of use can be a challenge. I’m sure there are similar shades to these in palettes I already owned, but remember… I said I needed to complete my collection and now I have the Trifecta.
I’m not sure if this palette is still available for sale in various Ulta stores, but I know it’s been sold out online through Ulta’s website for a minute now. If you love neutral shades and are looking for a palette that offers it all, I definitely suggest snatching this up if you come across it in your local Ulta store. If you can’t get your hands on this beauty, I’m so sorry – but I know I definitely had to share it with you – it’s gorgeous.
Cost of Lorac Mega Pro 3 – $59.00
Availability – Ulta Stores (if sold out), this is a Limited Edition item.
Have you had the opportunity to get your hands on the Lorac Mega Pro 3? If so, what are your thoughts, if not – are you crushing on this palette?
Disclaimer: I purchased this product with my own money. All opinions are my own, 100% honest & unbiased as with all of my reviews or features here on my channel. Affiliate links are listed below.
