Blog | Page 45 of 225 | Makeup By Kim Porter

My Top 5 picks of LUSH Holiday Gifting Options all under $25

November 26, 2013 by Kim S. / blog, Miscellaneous / 12 Comments

This holiday season, LUSH has a crap load of affordable gifting options for everyone in your life – bath lovers, people who need to de-stress, your significant other, and more. LUSH has something, and whatever the item is, it will not break your bank. The best thing about LUSH Holiday items are that you don’t have to worry about gift wrap, since most of the products come pre-wrapped, and if they aren’t they can always be wrapped for you at the store.

Below are my Top 5 picks of LUSH holiday gifting options all under $25

Rosy Christmas – $15.95

The Rosy Christmas provides you with two of my favorite LUSH rose scented products, Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner and Rose Jam Shower Gel (read review). Both are sure to provide soft skin and decadent, floral showers all winter long. Give a Rosy Christmas to the hostess, friend, mother or sister who could use a reminder to take time out for themselves during this busy holiday season.

Joy to The World – $14.95

Cool winter months can be tough on our skin. The luxuriously moisturizing pair available in the Joy to The World gift set will keep things soft, hydrated and smelling lovely! First, suds up with the LUSH seasonal favorite, Snowcake soap. Snowcake Soap has an almond marzipan-inspired perfume and benzoin to care for cracked, irritated skin. Then apply LUSH’s worldwide best-selling Dream Cream (check my review of the DreamWash) with its soothing oat milk and lavender and hydrating cocoa butter, and luxuriate in your smooth, perfectly calmed skin. Bring on the winter weather!

Christmas Kisses – $22.95

The holiday season is marked by kissing under the mistletoe, and sometimes engagements. Who wants to be caught with dry, flaky lips or even unsavory breathe on Christmas? Not me! With the LUSH Christmas Kisses set the sweet taste of lemon and fresh rose after brushing up with Chou Chou… I Love You Toothy Tabs. A soft, supple lip after exfoliating with LUSH’s brand new and incredibly fizzy cola flavored Santa’s Lip Scrub. The alluring shade of festive red lips, thanks to our cola flavored Santa Baby lip tint. Lucky for you, LUSH has packed up all three into one adorable, reusable box; keep you lip care essentials in it all year round!

The Sweetest Thing – $22.95

LUSH has something sweet for your sweetie pie with The Sweetest Thing gift set. Have fun in the shower with Sweetie Pie shower jelly, a purple, sparkly soap with the sweet scent of blackcurrant candies. The scent is amazing (read review)! Godmother soap brings one of our favorite cotton-candy fragrances sink-side. And lastly, Bubblegum lip scrub gets lips glowing and delights taste buds with Fair Trade sugar and the flavor of pink bubblegum. It truly is the sweetest gift!

Relax…Take a Bath – $21.95

The Relax…Take a Bath gift set is a little hint to that someone in your life who needs to take some time to unwind – for instance, a busy mom or boss. With a little nudge from you, with this gift, they’ll have three good reasons to take time out for themselves and relax in the bath. LUSH has updated this gift with Dorothy bubble bar, a floral ylang ylang bubble to help clear your mind and lift your spirits and their sleepy bomb, Golden Slumbers. Dreamtime Luxury Bath Melt tops this gift off, a cocoa butter brick full of chamomile and lavender to take the edge off and send them away to dreamland.

*Photos courtesy LUSH Cosmetics

Review: Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm

November 21, 2013 by Kim S. / blog, Reviews / 12 Comments

PR SAMPLE

Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm is a balm for the eye area with the exclusive anti-aging ingredient Alguronic Acid. The revolutionary microalgae-based ingredient Alguronic Acid fights visible signs of aging. This rich yet lightweight balm hydrates and soothes the eye area to decrease puffiness and dark circles. Alguronic Acid along with other complementary active ingredients combines to deliver renewing properties to the eye area.

What it is formulated WITHOUT:

– Parabens
– Sulfates
– Synthetic Fragrances
– Synthetic Dyes
– Phthalates
– GMOs
– Triclosan

Claims

In comparison testing, Alguronic Acid outperformed other well-known active anti-aging ingredients, demonstrating superior anti-aging benefits. Average results measured following an in vitro test with Alguronic Acid:
– 55% increase in cellular regeneration
– 32% increase in elastin synthesis
– 26% decrease in melanin production
Following a self-assessment of 100 women, within 10 days of daily use:
– Skin density (suppleness, elasticity) is restored in 86% of subjects.
– Skin radiance is boosted in 93% of subjects.
Within 4 weeks of daily use:
– Deep wrinkles are minimized in 78% of subjects.
– Skin is noticeably tightened and lifted in 81% of subjects.

My Thoughts:

Did you see Demi Lovato’s instagram post of the skincare products she uses? Well, the Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm was included. Not to push Ms. Lovato aside, but, I’ve been using the Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm both night and day for over a year to hydrate my eye area, and strictly as a preventive measure towards wrinkles. Honestly, when it comes to anti-aging products, there’s no way to tell if it’s working until further down the line, and as of now, I do not have wrinkles.

The Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm works well as an all around eye cream that keeps my eye area supple and moisturized; however, I have not noticed any reduction in my dark circles. I’m a contact lens wearer, and I do have issues with products irritating my eyes, and the Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm doesn’t irritate them at all.

The texture of the Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm is creamy, and it goes on light without any oily or greasy residue, and absorbs easily, which makes it a perfect for use under eye makeup.

The Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm costs $65/0.5 oz, which sounds a lot, but to be honest, a little goes a long way. The year is coming to close, and I still have some eye cream left over to last me at least another 2 months. If you’re in the market for a hydrating eye cream, then the Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm is something you may need to pick up.

The Algenist Eye Renewal balm can be purchased at Algenist.com, Sephora/Sephora.com and QVC

Have you tried the Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm? Do you use an eye cream?

Holiday Gifting Made Easy with tarte bow & go 24-piece collection #BowandGo

November 18, 2013 by Kim S. / blog, Miscellaneous / 8 Comments

tarte bow and go 24 piece collection QVC.com v2

It’s that time of year again! With the holiday season being just around the corner, one of my favorite cosmetics brands, tarte cosmetics kicks off the season with an affordable holiday gifting option, the tarte bow & go 24-piece holiday collection. The tarte bow & go 24-piece holiday collection is available today, November 18, 2013 ONLY on QVC’s Today’s Special Value priced at an affordable $49.98 or $16.66 each piece!!! That’s a bargain compared to the suggested retail price of $248.

The tarte bow & go 24-piece holiday collection contains a 16-shade Amazonian clay eye shadow palette to create stunning, sultry eyes, four LipSurgence(TM) lip cremes, two smolderEYES(TM) Amazonian clay waterproof eyeliners, and two lights, camera, LASHES(TM) 4-in-1 mascaras. Add the perfect finishing touch to any look with brand new shades of LipSurgence lip cremes to give you velvety rich color with a hint of peppermint. Infused with skin-vigorating ingredients like Amazonian clay, olive esters, and vitamins A and E, your look is sure to keep up with you throughout the season.

Each set is housed in beautifully packaged gift boxes and even includes a luxe gold tone ribbon for effortless bow & go™ wrapping! The tarte bow & go 24-piece holiday collection is the perfect gifting option for family, friends, co-workers, to treat yourself, or all of the above. The tarte bow & go 24-piece holiday collection allows you to affordably give the gift of beauty to any beauty lover allowing them to create an endless array of looks for the holiday season and beyond.

I will post swatches of the tarte bow & go 24-piece collection shortly, so keep check back.

Where to buy: Purchase at QVC.com item #: A237579

Price: $49.98

Available: November 18, 2013 (Lip cremes & eye shadows are exclusive to QVC until 12/18/2013)

Will you purchase the tarte bow & go 24-piece collection?

Disclosure: Product provided for review consideration.

Review: LUSH Dreamwash Shower Smoothie to Soothe Irritated Skin

November 13, 2013 by Kim S. / blog, Reviews / 9 Comments

When the weather gets colder, one of the first things that tend to suffer is my skin; my skin, at times, becomes dry and irritated. While perusing the LUSH Cosmetics website, I came across the LUSH Dreamwash Shower Smoothie. Now, I’ve tried other LUSH products like their bar soaps, shower gels and jellies, conditioners and massage bars, but never their shower smoothies. Before I get into my review of the LUSH Dreamwash Shower Smoothie I’m going to provide a little background information on what I learned about them.

What is a shower smoothie?

A shower smoothie is a soap that looks and feels like a soft, creamy, whipped lotion that are meant to be rubbed all over your wet body – face excluded – to give you soft, conditioned and lightly scented skin. Currently, LUSH has about 5 shower smoothies: Dreamwash, Gumback Express (online ONLY), Turkish Delight, Creamed Almond and Coconut, and Lime. Each of the smoothies serve different purposes, but, for the most part, they are all designed to condition and moisturize as you cleanse your skin, making it the perfect option for winter cleansing.

What does the LUSH Dreamwash Shower Smoothie Do (Source: LushUSA.com)?

Sore skin no more: Instead of running from the shower, sensitive, sore skin will be calling out for Dream Wash.
Not just for bug bites: We love calamine for its calming and soothing effects.
Cool and the gang: Aloe Vera gel has a long history of use to soothe wounds and irritations.

My Thoughts:

The LUSH Dreamwash Shower Smoothie contains all of the ingredients to soothe irritated skin: aloe vera, lavender, rose, tea tree, calamine and chamomile. Boy do I remember calamine lotion from when I was a child sick with chicken pox. The LUSH Dreamwash Shower Smoothie looks just like calamine lotion, just thicker.

The Dreamwash goes on smoothly, but, to me, it doesn’t lather too well. That’s fine for me since I know lather doesn’t always equal clean. After rinsing the LUSH Dreamwash off of my skin, my skin feels squeaky clean, but not stripped. It’s also left soft.

Let’s get to the scent. If you’re turned off by herbal-like or medicine-like scents, this just may not be for you. It definitely takes getting used to. I like that it doesn’t linger too long after you shower. If it had lingered, I don’t think I’d use it too often.

Would I recommend:

The LUSH Dreamwash Shower Smoothie is a good addition to your winter body care routine, especially if you suffer from dryer skin and/or eczema. I’ve read that the LUSH Dreamwash Shower Smoothie is great for people who suffer with eczema, and I can see why – the calamine, aloe, and tea tree are great for soothing and disinfecting. If you’re worried about sulfates and paragons, the LUSH Dreamwash Shower Smoothie is free of those ingredients, which is definitely a plus for me. The price point, $22.95 for an 8.8 oz jar is steep if you’re on a budget, but, what price would you pay to have non-irritated skin?

One more thing, I love to use LUSH Body Conditioners like Ro’s Argan Conditioner after showering for soft, supple, smooth and moisturized skin.

Have you tried any of the LUSH Shower Smoothies? Which one should I try next?

Disclosure: Product provided for review consideration. All opinions are my own and are 100% honest.