Product Review: Yes to Cucumbers Facial Towelettes

Mission: To find an affordable and natural makeup remover/facial cleanser towelette that effectively removes makeup.



Merchandise: Yes to Cucumbers Facial Towelettes

After my positive experience with the Yes to Carrots Shampoo and Conditioner, I decided to try their other vegetable line, which is the Yes to Cucumber skincare/haircare line.With five unique collections, this particular recipe addresses sensitive skin. The Yes to Cucumber line gently hydrates and soothes with organic cucumbers, aloe vera and green tea.





To be honest, I'm not a big fan of facial towelettes. I typically clean my face with coconut oil which removes everything from waterproof mascara to long wearing lipstick. Olive oil is great too! But I tend to get hungry when I see, let alone smell olive oil. It reminds me of cheese, breasticks, and red wine. mmmm... makes me hungry just thinking about it. With that said, I'm sticking with coconut oil. haha!

But now that I'm a freelance makeup artist (YAY!), I had to find a product that would efficiently remove my client's makeup yet keeping with my goal of using natural/organic goods.






Yes to Cucumbers facial towelettes did the trick. I was impressed! Considering that I applied Urban Decays' All Nighter Long Lasting Makeup Setting Spray on top of my carefully applied makeup that day. After a long evening of partying, (and was too exhausted to wash my makeup off) I would definitely use this product. It gently removed sweat and makeup without the need to rinse. Which makes me spend less time on the sink, and more time to cozy on the couch and watch episodes of "guilty pleasures" T.V that I've missed during the week. YES!!






One point that I need to stress is that, these are FACIAL towelettes. I don't think these were specifically designed to remove EYE makeup. To remove eye make up, I placed a few drops of coconut oil onto the towelettes and began to gently remove my eye makeup off. Always remember that the skin around eye area is very thin and sensitive. So clean that area with caution! Your peepers will thank you later ; )


















Affordable, Efficient, Natural. Mission Accomplished!



Until next time, seek you truth and you'll find your way : )






Laugh, Love, Live Positive










NaturallyNancyDlish

Inspiration: You're great! Celebrate.

As I was watching Serena Williams give Oprah a pedicure on Ms. Oprah's show today (Super surreal, I know! But if you you missed it, http://www.oprah.com/showinfo/Celebrities-Take-on-Their-Dream-Jobs) Oprah said something that packed a pursuasive punch!



"You cannot pretend to be less than you are. You carry such a big light! You cannot go around dimming your light just to be with someone else!"



Which had me thinking. As adults, how often do we celebrate our greatness..?





If you asked children what they want to be when they grew up, they would yell out their answers without blinking twice. Children are bold in their choice of clothes, toys, and other forms of entertainment. It's always entertaining to hear a child's candid opinion of what they want or how they feel about every subject under the sun. To instill confidence, we would encourage them to celebrate their achievements regardless of how insignificant or "simple" they may seem to adults. We would acknowledge their efforts and reward them with hugs, followed by a roaring applause, treats, and maybe even a trip to the toy store. No matter what the accomplishment a child successfully delivers, we would simply...celebrate.




Enter adulthood.


And with adulthood comes the introduction to self-doubt. Self-doubt is like a crafty magician who lures you in with the slight of hand into believing what is clearly an illusion - a trick! Self-doubt questions, hesitates, discredits, confuses every decision we make. Worse, it acts like an impenetrable wall obstucting our views of how we should see ourselves and how we are meant to be seen. Simply put, we should see ourselves as powerful beings of light!


To further the cause of protecting your magnificent light, here are three simple steps to keep those critical, deceitful, and dishonest negative voices at bay.

*Be your own advocate of GREATNESS - Yup, it starts with YOU. To claim that you are a powerful and positive being of light, you have to think it, speak it, and act it! Set up little reminders, notes or messages of how valuable (no matter how big or small) your contributions are to your work, family and friends. Develop a frame of mind to applaud your own greatness in concrete ways on a daily basis.



*GREAT minds think alike - Surround yourself with people who appreciate your gifts, talents, humor and enthusiam! Steer clear of mud-sligers and disparagers, for they will deminish your light. You don't need to prove yourself to anyone or justify your aspirations and plans. Your main goal in life, is to be YOU.



* To give is to be GREAT - One of the best ways to act on your greatness is to share your time, money (if possible) and skills to those in need. Give without expecting anything in return. That could be from setting time aside to listen to a friend, to help a family member who needs your support (emotional or otherwise) or to volunteer of your time and energy into your community. I've always believed that if the intention behind your contributions (financial or otherwise) are cheerful and genuine, then goodness and abundance will come back to you ten fold.


Yes, I do believe in Karma.


And so far, things are working out to my advantage. : )



Finally, I think that we are all extraordinary in some way. Yet, it’s so easy to direct our attention to our imperfections and weaknesses rather than praise our positive qualities. Remember, that you give more life to whatever you focus on - good or bad. So why not hone in on the part of you that's great?





Please share this to those who may need a reminder that they are magnificent, powerful, and brilliant beings of light. All they need to do is to take a step forward and own their radiance! : )






Laugh, Love, Live Positive

Product Review: Yes to Carrots Shampoo and Conditioner

Since early 2008, Target stood by and delivered it's commitment to make natural/organic products accessible to the masses. As a result, I've purchased and tried several skincare and haircare items from Target. But, before I move forward with my review, I'd like to give you an idea of my hair woes. I have thick, long and naturally curly hair which needs to be treated and conditioned regularly.

Otherwise...

Now, some of you may think..."aaww, how cute!"

Uhm...No.

I wasn't going for the cute factor. I was going for the unruly, frizzy Don King hair factor. Yikes!

With that said, let's start with the first item up for review.

Yes to Carrots Shampoo (Normal to Dry hair):

First thing I noticed was the packaging - LARGE! It contained 500mL compared to most 350mL shampoos! Cost effective? Check!

Second, the scent wasn't offensive to me. Initially I thought..."Who wants the scent of carrots in their hair all day??". But after taking a whiff of the item, which had a sweet, clean faint scent of carrots, I was easily convinced that it will be an enjoyable hair cleansing experience. Check, Check!

Third and most importantly, LESS TOXINS. SOLD!!

Whilst reading the ingredients in the back of both products, (even if the product says organic, I ALWAYS make it a habit to read the ingredients) I caught myself smiling as I read the directions of how to use shampoo. I was immediately engaged, which made my shopping experince less of a bore. Kudos to the marketing team! haha!

Yes to Carrots Conditioner (Normal to Dry hair):

Though all three points mentioned of my shampoo review applied to their conditioner, I generally look for very specific quialities when it comes to choosing the right conditioner for my temperemental hair. Before using Yes to Carrots, I was an avid fan of Nutrogena's Triple Moisture Deep Recovery Hair Mask. The texture was rich and emollient which made my long, curly hair soft and managable. My hair needed intense moisturization...

Luckily, I hit the jackpot! Yes to Carrots conditioner provided the same concentrated texture comparable to Nutrogena's Triple Moisture Deep Recovery Hair Mask, but without the toxins. I stock up on both items whenever I take a trip to Target. YAY!

So there you have it! Organic/natural hair care without break the bank. You don't have to spend oodles to use organic. You just have to be vigilant coupled with a dash of common sense. It's always worth it in the end.

Love, Laugh, Live Positive

Adventure: Rouge and Run (Beauty Breadown-Nicole)

"I'm going to a baby shower and I wanna feel girly today!" she said. I was more than happy to oblige. So I thought, what color would be the girliest of all girly girl color?

You guessed it, she wanted pink! "But you know," I said "If you agreed to my makeover, I have to put my own twist and edge it out a bit." She smiled and said..."Do your thing girl!"

Ladies and gents, meet Nicole. My courageous co-worker allowing me to do my thing. God bless her.

A dedicated wife and mother of two beautiful children. I asked her a few weeks back if she could be my next model provided that I'd have full creative control of her makeover. I also mentioned that I love freckles! It reminds me so much of the beach and a child's carefree demeanor. "Full coverage won't be my goal today. You okay with that?"

"YES!" she replied without blinking twice. We were both giddy and giggling from that point on.

First Look

Prep:

*Yes to Cucumbers Facial Towelettes

*Korres Vitamin E Face Primer

Face:

*Tarte Clean Slate face primer

*Coastal Scents Camo Quad in Medium

*Nvey Eco Organic Moisturizing Liquid Foundation (511)

*Nvey Eco Organic Compact Powder in Neutral

*Purely Cosmetics Diamond Perfect Finish

Eyes:

*Nvey Eco cake eyeliner and brow (black)

*Coastal Scents Camo Quad in white (brow highlight)

*Earth's Beauty Pebble eyeshasow (to help lighten up brows)

*Sephora Color Play - 5 in 1 Shopping in Milan (purple and pinks on lid)

*Earth's Beauty Primrose Blush (lids)
*Earth's Beauty Rose Quartz eyeshadow ( inner lids - lower lids)

* Nvey Eco Organic Eye Duo Eco Chic (lower lids)

*Earth's Beauty Pebble eyeshasow (eye crease)

*Physician's formula Organic wear mascara (ultra black)

Cheeks:

*Earth's Beauty Primrose Blush

Lips:

*Burt's Bees Beeswas Lip Balm

*Maia's Mineral Galaxy FrenchRose (lipstick)

*Bare Minerals lip liner in Natural

*Earth's Beauty Wild Rose Lip Glaze

Second Look:

Eyes: (Added)

*Earth's Beauty Primrose Blush (lids)

*Earth's Beauty Rose Quartz eyeshadow (lids - lower lids)

*Nvey Eco eyeshadow 170 (crease - lower lids)

*Nvey Eco eyeshadow 173 (crease)

*Earth's Beauty MIdnight BLue eyeshadow (crease)

*NYX Auto eye pencil in black

*Urba Decay Heavy Metal - Metalhead (upper and lower lids)

Lips: (Added)

*Maia's Mineral Galaxy Orchid (lipstick)

Notice the various hues of purple, pinks, blues, greys and black used to achieve a specific smokey eye with different dimensions. The pictures may not translate the color hues as richly as it did in person, but in person it was a dazzling sight of sultry shades and sparkles. We had so much fun that day!

Thank you Nicole for accomodating my every creative whim. I appreciate you.

And there goes makeover number two. A girly girl's makeover dream full of giggles and sparkles. For my next makeover, I'm feeling a little more daring...unconventional even. You just have to wait and see who my next Rouge and Run subject will be...

Love you all!

Laugh, Love, Live Positive

Inspiration: Carpe Diem!

" I can't wear this yet, I'll wait for special event to show it off.." or " I can't travel abroad, I have so many other things I need to tend to here ..." or " I can't really wear a red lip color, although I would love to, for I do have quite a collection of them..but it's too bold of a color for me and ..." or my favorite of all excuses..." I can't start this project/idea that I've been talking about and dying to do since the creation of time, because I don't have the time for it." Sheeesh.

How may excuses have you heard today? Excuses coming from friends, co-workers, loved ones or maybe even excuses coming from yourself? I've read once that most perfectionists end up being procrastinators because they tend to wait for the "perfect" time to start travelling, embark on a project they adore or begin a relationship with someone. All of us guilty of glancing to the past to predict what will happen to us in the future, holding us back from our heart's need to enrich our souls and better ourselves.

What we tend to forget is that the past is there to teach us how to make better decisions once confronted with circumstances similar to what had occured - not to prevent us from fulfilling our true passions and desires in life. We also tend to forget that NOW is as good a time as any! NOW is the "perfect" time to start whatever longing is in your soul, impatiently waiting to come out and complete it's course.

If you want to travel or start a project near and dear to your heart, find a way to make it happen. Talk to people about it. Make it known to all your friends, family or anyone willing to listen about your plans. Human beings by nature, are open and willing to lend a helping hand to those in need.

When I finally decided to pursue the world of makeup artistry, I have to admit, I was very leary of how that was going to come about. Talk about excuses, I had them all! I covered the gamut of excuses from "where will I get the funds?" to "the economy is bad! I'll never get a client!" But once I started telling people of my plans, I received an outpouring amount of support! My husband funded both Glaminar and IMATS events, I stayed at my aunt's (who was BEYOND supportive) home to save up on hotel fees. My mother, sister and niece were nice enough to come out to an event they knew was important to me. Then to top it off, the support from random people, people I respected and admired, encouraging me to follow my dreams.

So, let this be a reminder to inspire you to "Seize the day!" and follow your heart's desires. Go ahead! Use that piece of clothing or accessory that you've been hiding away in your closet, save up for that wonderful trip to Spain, wear that traffic stopping red lipstick stashed away in your makeup drawer and take baby steps to achieve your goals.

Tell people about your purpose of action with fervor and enthusiam! Right NOW is your opportunity to show the world your gifts and talents! Work your way towards your truth everyday. You'll be pleasantly surprised of what destiny has in store for you...



Laugh, Love, Live Positive.

Product Review: Crystal Essence/Lavanilla Laboratories Deodorant

Stop living in a funk! Stand up and take action!



Did you know that all natural deodorants are aluminum-free and do not have antiperspirant ingredients? The best, however, contain odor-fighting ingredients to neutralize odors. The produts I've chosen to try out are two different scents of Crystal Essence deodorant and one Lavanilla Laboratories deodorant.

Growing up in the Phillipines, I was more familiar with this crystal stick referred to as "tawas". This came in a couple of forms. The ever popular stick crystal which is the most common form we used or the crystal stick crushed into fine powder. It's odorless but absorbs the odor from your underarms. Kinda like baking soda version for your pits! haha! Little did I know that this product not only helped with keeping your underarms smelling fresh all day, but it's an all natural product which means no toxic chemicals. Sweet!


Picture above from left to right
Crystal Essence Lavender & White Tea — Merges the natural anti-inflammatory gifts of lavender with the relaxing benefits of White Tea.
It's a roll on dispenser.The product itself comes out wet and slick, but dries quickly. So if you feel squeamish about wet slickness making contact with skin - not to worry! It only lasts for a few seconds. I am a big Lavender fan so, I immediately loved this scent. After work,I took my deodorized pits to a strenous Zumba workout and found that even after the class, my "funk" stayed on the dancefloor and not my pits! Oh yeah, I'm buying more of these babies once they run out.
LaVanilla Deodorant (Vanilla Lavender) - typical stick deodorant texture akin to "Secret" but without the toxic chemicals.
Like I said earlier, I am a big fan of Lavender and an even BIGGER fan of LaVanilla products. I was really excited to try thier deodorant. Sad to say that this product lost it's deodorizing strength after just five hours! Man, I was bummed out because I really wanted to like this product. Basically, If I wear this product, I would have to take it with me to reapply at least twice a day. Who has time for that? Sorry LaVanilla deodorant, this particular product "stunk".

Crystal Essence Pomegranate — The naturally occurring anti-oxidants in Pomegranate help regenerate the skin.Another roll on dispenser. The scent is a little overbearing for me. It has that heavy "rose" scent that some people enjoy but I don't much care for it. If you like heavy rose or berry scented products, this one is for you. The deodorizing strenght is up to par and the packaging for both Crystal Essence deodorants I reviewed were straight forward with easy to read labels and appealing designs in front of the dispenser.

So there you have it! My take on three specific natural deodorants which would hopefully, help you make better choices out in the marketplace once you decide to purchase one. Thank you lovelies for reading this post and I'll smell, I mean, I'll see ya later! haha!


Love, Peace and sweet smellin' arm pits,

Adventure: Rouge and Run (Beauty Breakdown-Tina)

Hello lovelies!


This will be the portion of my blog where I will have a product/beauty breakdown of all the makeovers conducted by yours truly. Rouge and Run came about as a reference to the saying "Hit and Run". In this case, cosmetic information will be dispersed directly and to the point (Hit) then, moving on to the next subject or makeover breakdown (Run). Hence, Rouge and Run! hahaha!


First brave soul up for the Rouge and Run challenge...my sweet niece, Tina!





This girl is such a sport! After a late night of gossip and giggles with the girls, she was up early the next morning (or a few hours from the night before, depending how you look at it) and ready to be dolled up by her auntie Nancy. What started off as a simple before and after pictorial ended up being a full blown photo shoot with wardrobe changes, then toss in auntie's accessories and hair! haha! How fun was that! Tina, thank you so much for coming up and spending time with us. It was a blast and I can't wait to see you soon! *muah*

First Look



Face
* Tarte Clean Slate (face primer)
* Nvey Eco Organic Moisturizing Liquid Foundation (511)
* Coastal Scents Camo Quad concealer (medium)
* Purely Cosmetics Diamond Perfect Finish (with real crushed diamonds! ooh la la!)


Eyes
* Earth's Beauty Moonstone (eyeshadow)
* Earth's Beauty Lava Rock (eyeshadow)
* Nvey Eco cake eyeliner and brow (black)
* Nvey Eco Creative Eye Color System (eyeshadow - black)
* Physician's formula Organic wear mascara (ultra black)


Cheeks
* Sephora Collection Dinner in Paris (blush)


Lips
* Zosimos Cascade (lipgloss)

Second Look



Added:


Eyes
* NYX pigment Nymph on lids (chrome eyeshadow)
* Nvey Eco Creative Eye Color System on crease (eyeshadow - black)


Lips
*Elixir Plumping Lip Gloss (Vivid)



Third Look





Eyes
* Earth's Beauty Sage (lids)
* Sephora Tango in Buenos Aires (dark blue/crease)
* Sephora Tango in Buenos Aires (sage & lime green/bottom lashes)
* Uban Decay glide on eye pencil (white)
* Earth's Beauty Moonstone (eyeshadow/highlight)
* Elegant Lashes # 503 Black




Blush
* Organic wear 100% natural origin 2-in-1 Bronzer and Blush (Soft Ginger)




Lips
* Zosimos Copper Canyon (lip gloss)


That's all for now. YAY!

Thanks for stopping by and see you soon for another bloggy-sode of Rouge and Run! ; )


NaturallyNancyDlish