Most people are familiar with Burt's Bees lip balm (the classic soothing balm is made with beeswax and honey, but there are other variations available now), but fewer have taken advantage of their wide range of natural homeopathic products. You can find Burt's online at www.burtsbees.com and many other online retailers, but it's also commonly found at your neighborhood drugstore and Whole Foods. Here are a few of my faves from Burt's:
Hand Salve:
This is one of the most universal and useful of Burt's products. Although it's obvious use is as a salve for dry, rough, or cracked hands, I find it's also a universal salve for any dry patches. It's particularly useful for knees, elbows, and heels.
Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme:
This is a really nice softening butter for the cuticles. It's made with lemon oil, so it smells like fresh citrus, and it also has cocoa butter and vitamin E to moisturize those dry nail-beds. It's also great to use around the toenails, particularly during sandal season, to keep your pedicure looking fresh.
Beeswax and Banana Hand Creme:
To be honest, I don't find that this one moisturizes and better than any other hand cream, but it smells delicious. And the scent lasts throughout the day without being overwhelming. The moisture stays with you pretty well too, although you do have to reapply after washing your hands like many hand creams.
Aloe and Buttermilk Body Lotion:
This one is fantastic after you get a sunburn. Aloe is the best way to soothe and heal burned and blistered skin, but that green sticky formulation stains your clothes and doesn't smell that great. This one still has that aloe scent, but it's much much softer than the green gels, and it's not sticky. The buttermilk is another great natural remedy for irritated and burned skin, so the two ingredients working together in a softening lotion will have your skin feeling better in no time.
You can get a kit with trial sizes of all of the above plus more great Burt's Bees items for $13 at most drugstores, including their online counterparts and www.drugstore.com. It's a great way to check out the brand.
Showing posts with label Bath and Body. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bath and Body. Show all posts
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Like Buttuh!
I am a longtime fan of LUSH Cosmetics, a fabulous skin and body care line that prides itself on natural ingredients, eco-friendly packaging, no animal testing, and many vegan products. Additionally, they just make plain good quality bath and body goodies. Everything smells wonderful because LUSH uses natural ingredients and essential oils, from yummy honey, chocolate, and cocoa butter to pretty jasmine oil and rose absolute. Best of all, after using their products, your skin will feel soft and smooth. Two of my favorite categories of LUSH products, which are related, are the Massage Bars and Body Butters. These are solid cocoa and shea butter based bars that replace a body lotion. The Massage Bars are designed to be applied to dry skin and the Body Butters are designed to be applied to wet skin in the shower.
The Massage Bars are fabulous for their titled use, but because they are made with cocoa butter, shea butter, and essential oils, they are intensely softening and hydrating, leaving the skin with a gorgeous scent that lingers throughout the day. So in addition to using them for massage, I think they make a great substitute for body lotion. They are more moisturizing than lotion, their scents have more staying power than lotion, and your skin will feel incredibly soft. My favorite scents are the Heavanilli, which is made with vanilla, jasmine, and tonka. It smells soft and beautiful but more sophisticated than the vanilla scents we bought at the drug store back in junior high school. For a lighter fruity scent, try the Each Peach bar, which has lime and mandarin oils and mango butter. As an added benefit, the mango butter helps repair sun-damaged skin.
LUSH also makes a fabulous scalp massage bar called Snake Oil that is designed to treat scalp dryness and irritation, and in particular, dandruff. It is the single best dandruff remedy that I have heard of, and it is extremely gentle and good for your hair, unlike most dandruff shampoos. And despite the name, it leaves your hair smelling good as well with essential oils like lavender, tea tree, and peppermint. Sadly, this product was discontinued in the U.S. LUSH stores, although I understand that you can still get it in the U.K. and you can order it online at the LUSH web site under the LUSH Retro list. If you are prone to seasonal or occasional dandruff or other types of scalp irritation and itching (like eczema), you should stock up on a few of these bars while they're still available online and keep them in the fridge. Most LUSH products have minimal to no preservatives, but I've found that they'll keep quite well in tupperware in the fridge. All the massage bars run $10 to $12 except for Snake Oil, which is a bargain at $8.
LUSH's Body Butters are similar but they're designed to be used on wet skin, which makes them perfect for the bath or shower. Some of them are both exfoliating and softening, like the aptly-named Buffy the Backside Slayer, which combines shea butter with ground rice, almonds, and beans to exfoliate. Many LUSH fans swear by this one to reduce the appearance of cellulite. I love it to scrub away the rough skin on my knees and elbows. Buffy leaves them feeling soft. Running to the Embassy is a body butter designed to replace your pumice stone in the shower. Like Buffy, it exfoliates, but it also adds spearmint and peppermint oils to refresh and soften tired feet. But my favorite Body Butter has to be Soft Touch, which is non-exfoliating. This one is all about the soft nourishing shower butter. It has good-for-you wheatgerm oil, cocoa butter, mango, and beeswax. Think of it as a solid body lotion that you apply in the shower or bath. The moisture and scent stays with you throughout the day, even after you towel dry. The body butters are $12 to $15.
The Massage Bars are fabulous for their titled use, but because they are made with cocoa butter, shea butter, and essential oils, they are intensely softening and hydrating, leaving the skin with a gorgeous scent that lingers throughout the day. So in addition to using them for massage, I think they make a great substitute for body lotion. They are more moisturizing than lotion, their scents have more staying power than lotion, and your skin will feel incredibly soft. My favorite scents are the Heavanilli, which is made with vanilla, jasmine, and tonka. It smells soft and beautiful but more sophisticated than the vanilla scents we bought at the drug store back in junior high school. For a lighter fruity scent, try the Each Peach bar, which has lime and mandarin oils and mango butter. As an added benefit, the mango butter helps repair sun-damaged skin.
LUSH also makes a fabulous scalp massage bar called Snake Oil that is designed to treat scalp dryness and irritation, and in particular, dandruff. It is the single best dandruff remedy that I have heard of, and it is extremely gentle and good for your hair, unlike most dandruff shampoos. And despite the name, it leaves your hair smelling good as well with essential oils like lavender, tea tree, and peppermint. Sadly, this product was discontinued in the U.S. LUSH stores, although I understand that you can still get it in the U.K. and you can order it online at the LUSH web site under the LUSH Retro list. If you are prone to seasonal or occasional dandruff or other types of scalp irritation and itching (like eczema), you should stock up on a few of these bars while they're still available online and keep them in the fridge. Most LUSH products have minimal to no preservatives, but I've found that they'll keep quite well in tupperware in the fridge. All the massage bars run $10 to $12 except for Snake Oil, which is a bargain at $8.
LUSH's Body Butters are similar but they're designed to be used on wet skin, which makes them perfect for the bath or shower. Some of them are both exfoliating and softening, like the aptly-named Buffy the Backside Slayer, which combines shea butter with ground rice, almonds, and beans to exfoliate. Many LUSH fans swear by this one to reduce the appearance of cellulite. I love it to scrub away the rough skin on my knees and elbows. Buffy leaves them feeling soft. Running to the Embassy is a body butter designed to replace your pumice stone in the shower. Like Buffy, it exfoliates, but it also adds spearmint and peppermint oils to refresh and soften tired feet. But my favorite Body Butter has to be Soft Touch, which is non-exfoliating. This one is all about the soft nourishing shower butter. It has good-for-you wheatgerm oil, cocoa butter, mango, and beeswax. Think of it as a solid body lotion that you apply in the shower or bath. The moisture and scent stays with you throughout the day, even after you towel dry. The body butters are $12 to $15.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Common Scents
After working in the cosmetics industry for eight years, I've seen and smelled it all. And I quickly grew bored with fragrance. After a while, they all smell the same. It's hard to find unique fragrances that smell interesting, clean, and light. I discovered Jo Malone a few years ago and found some truly outstanding fragrances. My personal favorite is Mint & White Jasmine, which has a really interesting green fresh mint layer so that the heady feminine jasmine layer is not overwhelming. Since then, I've also fallen head over heels for Nectarine Blossom & Honey, Lotus Blossom & Water Lily, and most recently, Vanilla & Anise. The Vanilla & Anise is now a personal favorite. It's the perfect balance of sweet and spicy, and it's surprisingly light. I was afraid that it would smell too overpowering, but it's certainly not. I plan to wear this one for my wedding.
The great thing about Jo Malone, besides the innovative notes and combination, is that these simple two-note fragrances are designed to either be worn alone or layered with each other to create your own personal scent. For example, I've found that the Lotus Blossom & Water Lily is a great base layer that I can spray any of the other fragrances over to add some interesting differences and help them last all day. It's a great line for people who get bored with fragrance and wearing the same thing every day. Plus they have all kinds of goodies to layer fragrances: lotion, shower gel, hand cream, candles, and bath oil.
One tip I have is to buy the bath oil. First, I find that besides the cologne, the bath oils keep the scents with you best of all the products. Second, I personally prefer to use the bath oil as a body oil instead of a lotion. It's not at all greasy, and it makes your skin silky soft. It just gives a soft glow to the legs, arms, and decolletage, which is great for the summer. And a little goes a long way, so it lasts.
If you do decide to buy Jo Malone, you can find it at premier department stores like Neiman Marcus, Saks, and Bloomingdales. But the best place to buy is at www.jomalone.com, where every order gets free shipping and two fragrance samples of your choice. I would also suggest picking up their Vitamin E Lip Conditioner with SPF 15. It's very hydrating, and it's fantastic for soothing dry or cracked lips. It's $20, but it comes in a generously sized tube. Often the Jo Malone counters at the departments stores will give you a sample of this if you ask. The brand prides itself on generous sampling, so don't be shy.
The great thing about Jo Malone, besides the innovative notes and combination, is that these simple two-note fragrances are designed to either be worn alone or layered with each other to create your own personal scent. For example, I've found that the Lotus Blossom & Water Lily is a great base layer that I can spray any of the other fragrances over to add some interesting differences and help them last all day. It's a great line for people who get bored with fragrance and wearing the same thing every day. Plus they have all kinds of goodies to layer fragrances: lotion, shower gel, hand cream, candles, and bath oil.
One tip I have is to buy the bath oil. First, I find that besides the cologne, the bath oils keep the scents with you best of all the products. Second, I personally prefer to use the bath oil as a body oil instead of a lotion. It's not at all greasy, and it makes your skin silky soft. It just gives a soft glow to the legs, arms, and decolletage, which is great for the summer. And a little goes a long way, so it lasts.
If you do decide to buy Jo Malone, you can find it at premier department stores like Neiman Marcus, Saks, and Bloomingdales. But the best place to buy is at www.jomalone.com, where every order gets free shipping and two fragrance samples of your choice. I would also suggest picking up their Vitamin E Lip Conditioner with SPF 15. It's very hydrating, and it's fantastic for soothing dry or cracked lips. It's $20, but it comes in a generously sized tube. Often the Jo Malone counters at the departments stores will give you a sample of this if you ask. The brand prides itself on generous sampling, so don't be shy.
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