Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstain Review

I am a true, bonified lip gloss wearer. I love the way it feels, looks and tastes (flavored of course) on my lips. I never leave home without one and if I do, please believe I have backups. I have two in my purse, at least four in my make-up drawer at home, one in my desk, one in my gym bag and I used to keep one in my car for emergencies (until I had one explode in my interior). Before I really knew about make-up, lip gloss and eyeliner was all that I wore.

But, after a funny conversation with a lady who said she had accidentally mixed up her lip stain with her son's Magic Marker, I decided to give this lipstain thing a chance. She said she loves it (the lipstain, not the marker), and won't ever go back to lipstick again.

I usually wear a clear or nude lipgloss color, so I tried to find the lipstain color that was the closest match to my skin tone. I found Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstain in Bit of Brown. It was darker than I was used to, but I liked it. At first look, I understood how it could get confused with a marker, but I drew it on (smile)and tested it out for a day.



I have to admit, it was very hard for me to resist putting on some lip gloss. With the lipstain, my lips just felt naked. The color was nice, but I felt dried out. It was too matte for me. The color lasted somewhat, but it just bothered me that it felt so dry. So I wound up reapplying about 5 times throughout the work day. So, for me at first, I was not impressed.

But, because I didn't want to give up on this product totally and my husband loved my Bit of Brown lip color, I decided to try it again, but this time with a little gloss. Day 2 was sooo much better. So what I did first was I gave myself a mini lip treatment by brushing my lips with a damp toothbrush, I applied the lip stain, and once it dried I put on a slightly tinted lipgloss. I had my long lasting color and my smooth shine all in one. I only reapplied once through the day after lunch (more out of habit than necessity).

So I give I give Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstain 3 out of 4 Smooches.

 

  

Five reasons you should have a skin care therapist

I know that times are tough. Jobs are hard to come by and the economy is on a slow crawl up (especially here in Michigan). But, that doesn't mean that your health, wellness and quality of life have to suffer. For a lot of divas I know, it doesn't. They are still getting their hair and nails done on the regular and keep their look fierce with false lashes. But, they tend to forget about the biggest and one of the most important multifunctional organs on their body...their skin.    

So here's my top five reasons of why my job is so important for skin care health. 

                 

1. Natural Aging process. It's inevitable that we will age. Some more gracefully than others. But, the natural aging process causes our skin to loose it's elasticity, it becomes more dull and sallow and our skin cell turnover decreases. Having an esthetician provide you with the correct treatments can help you treat fine lines and wrinkles and help brighten skin.

2. No sunscreen protection and the use of medications. Did you know that only 10%- 20% of the wrinkles, fine lines and sallow skin mentioned above is due to the natural aging process? The rest is what we do to ourselves. Years of smoking or not wearing sunscreen can cause your skin to rush into premature aging.

3. We don't wash our face enough. After a long day is done, I can barely muster up the energy to stand in the shower, let alone wash my face properly with cleanser. But, it's important to wash away not only make-up, but all the debris and natural oils that have gathered throughout the day. So what happens as a result of not cleansing the skin at night is clogged pores. The double cleanse process, as well as, other techniques used during my facials can help unclog unsightly buildup.

4. Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate. Speaking of clogged pores. When is the last time you exfoliated? It's important to use body and facial scrubs to get off layers of dead skin that just "stick on" because they can cause breakouts and leave your skin rough and unhealthy looking if not treated. And if you suffer from pigmentation or have acne scars, a professional exfoliation will help you get that fresh, youthful glow.

5. You know that saying, "you are what you eat?" Well, the same is true about your skin because your face will tell what you put on it (or what you don't put on it for that matter). Not all skin cleansers, scrubs, moisturizers, etc are created equal and they may contain ingredients that do more harm than help. And if you don't give your skin the care the protection it needs, it will show. Did you know that a product only has to have the majority of it's ingredients be organic in order to use "organic" on the label? So don't be fooled. A licensed skin therapist can help you find the right products that are right for your specific skin care needs.

Even I didn't realize the damage that years of neglect could do on the skin. People want to rush and get quick fixes to damage that took years to create, when preventative care is not only simple, but less expensive and more relaxing. For more information about me and my skin care business, Soul Deep Beauty Skin Therapy, click here.

Dare to be . . .

                                                                                                       
At my company, Soul Deep Beauty Skin Therapy, I am not only focused on helping people take the lead in realizing the importance of skin care, but I also want to  help encourage both men and women to take the lead in their own personal lives. Encouragement can help empower, and it's life's little experiences that help get us to our big goals.

So, I have decided to start a "Dare To Be" campaign. This journey will be little baby steps towards living outside the box. Not all steps will be for both men and women (unless that's your thing), but it's just a way to experience things we never have before.

The rules are simple: I'll pick a topic every month, and write about/ post pics of my experience of that topic. And you can feel free to post pics and comments of your experience as well. So join me on this empowering journey. I dare you ;)

My quick morning fix

I get about 6 hours of sleep at night, if I'm lucky. So it should come as no surprise that I utilize my "snooze" button every morning. Sometimes two or three times. On really hard mornings, I accidentally turn the alarm "off" instead of hitting the "snooze" and I find myself on a mad dash to make it to work on time. I don't have time to put on a complete face, so I have to utilize my quick morning fix. After I wash my face, here are my must have beauty products to get me ready for my workday.

1. Moisturizer- Moisturizer is used to off course, add moisture. It helps prevent and treat dry skin and it is a protectant for sensitive skin. It is a must for me. My combination skin will not have it otherwise. My favorite is Olay Complete for sensitive skin because it has an SPF of 15 and it's unscented. Sunscreen protection is equally, if not more important so I love finding formulations that have it already mixed in.

2. Concealer- There are two different types of concealer: colored and skin toned. The colored concealer has colors like purple for dark under eye areas or sallow looking skin and green for redness. It is applied under a skin toned concealer or foundation. The skin toned concealer is easier to blend and it conceals blemishes and undesirable pigmentation. Because some concealers tend to make me look ashy, I use a foundation stick and I just swipe it over my problem areas and press it in with a sponge.

3. Bronzer or highlighter- I love bronzer. Most make-up artists describe it as giving you that sun kissed look, but I love mine because it has shimmer in it that gives my skin a healthy glow. It can be placed on your forehead, just at the hair line, your cheeks, tip of the nose and chin. Mostly places where the sun would hit. I usually just apply it on my cheeks and decollete`. Highlighter is used to accentuate. I place it just under my eyebrow arch and the apples of my cheek.

4. Lipgloss- There is nothing more irritating than dry lips. You lick them, and that makes it worse because the saliva is evaporating quickly and it's taking whatever moisture you may have had. So my favorite lip protector is lip gloss. I don't like sticky ones. It has to be a kind that glides and gives my full lips that extra uumph.

5. Eyeliner and/or mascara- I've been told that I have beautifully shaped eyes, so I play them up a lot using both eyeliner and mascara. They go together to me like cake and ice cream. Eyeliner (used correctly) widens the eyes and the thicker the line, the more dramatic the look. Mascara is a heaven send because it darkens, thickens and lengthens sparse lashes. I put on false lashes on special occasions but because of my issue of sleep, they usually are bent from me literally sleeping flat on my face. So mascara is my best friend.

The good thing about my quick fix is that it takes not even 3 minutes to do. What beauty products do you use as your quick fix?

Baby Shower Pamper Party

So I hosted a pamper party for my best friend's baby shower over the week-end, and it was a success! The ladies enjoyed their facials (a few of them were facial virgins) and I heard it being said that "this is the best baby shower, ever." My head was so big after that, I'm surprised I was able to stand up straight without falling over. But, anyway, I think it's safe to say that we all had a ball. So much so, that I didn't get to take many pics, but I'll add more as those who did take some email them to me.

So here's the run down:

Theme: Teddy Bears and Mocktails
As each guest came in, she was treated to a chocolate covered strawberry and a mocktail (cocktail minus the liquor), and the guest of honor has chosen teddy bears as the accent for her baby's room decorum.

Food: Main entree of lasagna, garlic bread, salad and cheese and craker tray provided by other host, LaRhonda (pictured below). I provided the chocolate covered strawberries, the fondue pot and the fixings, which were strawberries, bananas, apples, brownies and donuts. I also had water bottles that had cute labels on them of the guest of honor and the hosts.

Pamper party: Facials- Because this was my first party and I was doing it by myself, (even though I did get some help), I wanted everyone to be able to enjoy a facial, so we set up a couple of tables and I talked them through a do it yourself facial using Dermalogica products. I didn't get to go into too much detail because we had so many activities planned, but I was able to give them a few pointers on taking care of their specific skin type. They seemed to realy enjoy it, and everyone was feeling how smooth their skin was afterwards.
Hand Treatments- I brought along my parafin bath and gave hand treatments to the ladies. As a precurser, a scrub presentation was given by Diamond's Bath and Body with one of her wonderful sugar scrubs. The ladies nearly melted when they felt their hands after the scrub and parafin treatment.

There were other stations as well, but we had so many activities, I din't have a chance to do make-up and the nail color station is pretty much self explanitory.

Games: I planned 4 games for the ladies to play, but my favorite two were the Dirty Diaper Game and a game called Tinkle in the Pot. With the dirty diaper game, you melt candy in diapers and whoever guesses what candy bar is which, wins a prize. Sounds kind of gross, but it was fun. I had them play this while their facial masks were setting. The Tinkle in the Pot game was hilarious as two teams did a relay race. But, it was complicated by having to hold a quarter inbetween their knees and dropping the quarter in a pot. If they dropped the quarter or missed the pot, they had to start again.

I definetely enjoyed myself and hope that Andrea loved her baby shower, too. It's something that I will surely add to my list of services. For more info on spa party options, go to my website.

LaRhonda, Mom to be, Andrea and me.

The facial table

Hand treatment table

Nail color table

Chocolate fondue pot

Chocolate covered strawberries. Yum.

The guest of honor set up her cake table. It's so cute.