Category: Natural Cosmetics

How to Properly Care for Your Cosmetic Brushes



Professional makeup brushes are an investment. And, like any other investment, we want a great return. One of best ways to ensure that will happen is proper brush care. Did you realize that makeup build-up, especially foundation, makes your brushes feel scratchy? If you have sensitive skin, cleaning your brushes regularly will help them stay soft and lush. It is imperative you make a point to clean the accumulated gunk out of your brushes regularly. This is not only good hygeine (for you, your skin, etc.), but it keeps your brushes in good shape.

Wet the hairs under the faucet with tepid to warm water with the hairs pointing downwards – this will help prevent any water getting in to the ferrule (metal part) or down in to the handle for brushes that don’t have ferrules.

Using a mild shampoo, liquid hand soap or castile soap, squirt a little on your fingers and apply it to the hairs from ferrule to hair tips. Gently squeeze the hairs from ferrule to hair tips over and over adding a little water at a time. Rinse and repeat until the water runs clear. Make sure when you are rinsing to keep the brush hairs pointing down.

After your brushes have a good bath, brush them off a little on a clean paper towel and lay them to dry on their side on a paper towel or a regular towel. It is also a good idea to reshape the brush at this point in time to prevent splaying. Whatever shape your brushes are left in to dry is the same shape they will be when they are dry. You don’t want your contour brush looking like a tapered blush brush, do you? Similarly, if the shape is off, wetting/washing your brush will allow you to reshape a brush. Lay kabuki’s and any other stand-up brush on their side. Never leave them to dry brush hairs up in a brush holder. The water can run down in to the ferrule and loosen the glue holding the brush together over time.

On top of cleaning, conditioning your brush with a quality hair conditioner will help keep the bristles soft. It’s not something that needs to be done as often general washing, but it is a good idea to do it often enough–like once a month. Mostly, it depends on how often you use and wash your brushes.

Lastly, let brushes dry completely before using. Dry time will depend on size and brush density.

Scrub A Dub, Dub



It’s getting to be that time of year. My skin dries out, gets flaky and looks disgusting. I know I don’t drink enough water (which would help the appearance of my skin), but the dry air from the heater and lack of humidity outside doesn’t help either. I’ve tried dry brushing. That seems to help, but I’m not disciplined enough to do it every day. One thing I can do at least once a week if possible is a body scrub. They’re an inexpensive, easy way to keep you from having alligator legs.

Basically, you combine an exfoliant (salt, sugar, ground coffee, oatmeal, flax meal, rice bran, etc.) with a carrier oil (jojoba, sweet almond, olive, etc.) and scent (essential oils). The possibilities are endless. Here are some favorite recipes:


Lavender Sugar Scrub
2 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. sweet almond oil
1/2 cup white cane sugar
1-3 drops lavender essential oil

Whisk together the olive oil, sweet almond oil (find it at health food stores), sugar and essential oil. Pour into a container with an airtight lid. It should last 2-3 weeks if kept away from water (it dissolves the sugar). Use a tablespoon scoop to dish out a few dollops once or twice a week, scrub, and rinse. The olive oil is full of vitamins and minerals that can help firm and moisturize. Lavender is great for healing damaged skin and regenerating skin cells.


Vanilla Brown Sugar Scrub
1 cup fine brown sugar
1/3 cup sweet almond oil (or other carrier oil like jojoba, kakui nut, macadamia nut)
20 drops vanilla essential oil or 1 tsp. vanilla essence

In a glass or ceramic bowl, add essential oil to sugar and stir thoroughly. Add almond oil gradually, stirring continuously. Stop when the scrub reaches the consistence of moist sand.


Citrus Salt Foot Scrub
1/2 cup sea salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1 or 2 slices of lemon
1 or 2 slices of orange

Add the olive oil and sea salt into a blender. Add the fruit to the blender and blend. For a refreshing foot scrub, omit the fruit and add a few drops of peppermint essential oil. Store in a jar, and rub briskly onto feet to exfoliate and soften skin. Rinse and dry well (be careful, oily feet can slip on tile floors!)


Mocha Espresso Body Scrub
1/2 cup ground coffee
3/4 cup honey
3 tbsp. cocoa powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. sweet almond or grapeseed oil

Blend the ingredients together and store in glass jar. Use in shower to get rid of dry skin. Great for morning use as the coffee wakes up your senses!


Oatmeal Scrub with Honey
8 tablespoons oatmeal
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon dark organic honey
2 teaspoon finely ground almonds

Mix all the ingredients until you have a smooth paste. Rub this in a circular motion onto your body and face and gently massage to exfoliate. Leave it on for 10-15 minutes. Then rinse it off with alternately cold and warm water, end with a splash of cold; pat your skin with a towel; tone and moisturize. Honey is a natural humectant (it will attract moisture to your skin). Apple cider vinegar closes your pores and preserves or restores the skin’s natural acidity (pH balance). Vinegar keeps both oily and dry complexions soft and fresh.

Fall 2012 Make Up is All About Bold Lips and Bright Eyes

It’s my job to pay attention to trends in fashion and cosmetics. I weed out the ones I don’t like, don’t think are practical or don’t think would stand the test of time, which accounts for about 90%. Let’s take a look at the 10% I think are worthy.

Rich Lipstick – The trend this year is to pair natural colors for the face with a bold pop of colors on the lips. I’m seeing unexpected harvest shades like pumpkin and eggplant. Deep plum shades are huge. Think Superstitious, Aztec, Vintage Merlot and Risque. Don’t be afraid to try it. I actually wore Superstitious at the trade show last week and got so many compliments that it’s now a mainstay in my cosmetic bag (and I normally wear very neutral shades like Bombshell, Seduction and Cherokee).

Flawless Skin – I sort of hate this one because who really has flawless skin? All we can do is try. My favorite technique? Twice weekly face scrub, followed by a light moisturizer. I use the kabuki brush to apply just the right amount of our Pressed Mineral Powder Foundation, focusing more coverage on my cheeks, and less on my nose and chin. I love it because this foundation is so customizable meaning you can wear it as lightly or layered as you want without it ever feeling heavy or clogging your pores. You want to keep your complexion matte, so carry blotting papers (or a tissue) if you tend to get oily late in the day.

Bright Eyes – Greens, ocean blues, and glam rock purples are all the rage. And it’s not just one color; fashionistas are combining three and four bright shades in one look. Our answer to this trend: The Party Girl eye shadow palette. The still-popular Smokey Eye goes a step further by adding a metallic sheen to the look. Also hot on runways is the brown smokey eye. Try combining Sedona, Satin Sheets, Passage to India and Chai PowderColors to achieve this look. Eye liners are bold and colorful. Heavy winged eye liner and shadow is all the rage, as is graphic boxy and dotted eye liner (which I don’t like). Well-defined natural brows continue to be popular. Brows a bit sparse? Try our Brown Sugar Eye Liner as a fill in, or our Chai PowderColors Mineral color (or a combination of both).

Colorful Nails – Nail polish sales leaped a whopping 23% this past year. More women are getting manis and pedis, trying new nail products and keeping their nails polished throughout the year. Bold colors are hot: bright blue, bright red, deep plums and rich wine shades are all the rage. Black is still hot as well, which surprises me because I thought that trend would die off after a year or two. I was wrong (hence the addition of Abyss to our color line). Colors we expect to see flying out the door: Oasis, Wild Fire, Tease, Vintage Merlot, and Renaissance.

Use common sense when trying these trends. If you’re going to do a bold lip, keep the eye color soft and neutral. And if you’re going to do a colorful peacock eye, tone down the lips using shades like Karma, Inuendo, Soft Kiss and Dream. But for heaven’s sake DO try at least one of these trends. You never know what’s going to work for you until you try it. And besides, make up is supposed to be FUN! Honeybee wants to keep the FUN in FUNctional cosmetics….okay that was just corny….I need more sleep.

Day 15 of the Lemon Water Chocolate Diet



It started out as all diets do: good intentions and a lot of drive. But five days at a trade show last week made that all come to a screeching halt. Not that I didn’t try. I even brought Fiji water, 6 lemons and Endangered Species Chocolate WITH me to the show. Still, I fell off the wagon. Didn’t even make it through the first day. Trade shows do that to me.

Now I’m home and determined to jump back into my plan. I even have lemons at work, so no excuses. Have I even discovered anything so far from my weird diet experiment? Actually, I have. Drinking lemon water first thing in the morning isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It’s kind of refreshing. And I really think it influences me to make better food choices throughout the day. I’m not sure why, and I’m pretty sure it’s a psychological affect. Perhaps forcing myself to do something ‘healthy’ first thing in the morning gets me in the mindset to keep making healthy choices throughout the day. Time will tell if this trend continues.

The chocolate also has an interested affect. It eliminates the craving for junk food in the evening. While those around me are snacking on ice cream, cookies and cake, I can eat an ounce of chocolate and not feel deprived. I thought I would eat the chocolate and THEN want the cookies and ice cream, but that’s not the case. The chocolate fulfills the need for ‘something bad’ (even though it’s actually good for you) and keeps me from actually wanting the other junk food. Not sure if this one is psychological or an actual physical reaction. But I’d tell anyone wanting to control their diet, especially when it comes to snacking in the evening, give this a try.

Have I lost weight? Honestly I’m afraid to even weigh myself after that trade show. Give me a week, and I’ll check. Not that I’ll share those numbers (only my cats and I know my weight, and I even try to hide it from them). But I will tell you if it went up or down.

Pumpkins and Scarecrows and Football, Oh My!



I’m starting to feel a chill in the air come evening, which could only mean autumn is right around the corner. I’m a summer kind of girl, so this makes me a bit sad. But there are some things about fall that you gotta love: pumpkins, apple cider, hay rides… So I’ve decided to get into the spirit this week and bring you some autumn-inspired DIY cosmetic recipes.

First, there’s pumpkin. It’s great for all skin types, especially environmentally damaged or sensitive skin. High in Vitamin A (skin healing), C (anti-oxidant) and Zinc, pumpkin soothes, moisturizes and acts as a carrier, assisting the other mask ingredients to absorb deeper into the skin and intensifying the results. Enzymes remove dead skin cells making skin glow. And it may also help get rid of and prevent blackheads.

Pumpkin Pie Face Mask

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons cooked or canned pumpkin, pureed (or fresh if you have it)
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon milk (or soymilk)

Optional Ingredients: For Dry Skin add 1/4 teaspoon heavy whipping cream or ½ teaspoon brown sugar (for exfoliation). For Oily Skin add ¼ teaspoon apple cider or ¼ teaspoon cranberry juice.

Directions: Combine the ingredients. Mix gently and apply to your face avoiding the eye area. Rest and relax for 10-15 minutes while your pumpkin pie facemask gently exfoliates, nourishes and conditions your face. Rinse with warm water and apply the appropriate moisturizer for your skin type.

Pumpkin Pie Body Scrub

This foot and hand scrub will help slough off rough skin, leaving it soft and moisturized.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup pureed pumpkin
2 Tbsp organic cane sugar
3 Tbsp oil (try jojoba, grapeseed, almond, or olive oil)
1 pinch cinnamon
1 drop natural vanilla extract

Directions: Blend ingredients thoroughly. Over a large bowl or in the bathtub, massage mixture onto feet, hands, elbows and any rough areas. Allow mixture to remain on skin for 15-20 minutes, and then rinse with warm water.

Next let’s look at apples which have been used in beauty products for centuries. Thanks to a high concentration of vitamins A and C and potassium, when applied as a facial toner, apple pectin can sooth and refresh all skin types.

Apple-Pectin Toner

Ingredients:
1 apple, cut up with peel, seeds removed
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup witch hazel

Directions:
1.Place the cut-up apple in a small saucepan with the water. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat.
2.Allow the mixture to cool completely, then strain out the apple chunks. Stir in the witch hazel and pour into a clean container.
3.To use, spray or apply to skin using a clean cotton ball. Keep in refrigerator and use within one week.

Lastly, we can forget cranberries. Cranberries are naturally rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin K and plenty of other antioxidants, which will keep your skin looking healthy and may even decrease dark circles. This power-packed berry also acts as a natural toner, and when combined with moisture-rich honey and yogurt, creates a soothing mask.

Cranberry Lip Gloss

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon organic sweet almond oil
10 fresh cranberries (organic if possible)
1 teaspoon organic honey
1 drop vitamin E oil

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Microwave for two minutes or until just boiling. You could also heat your bowl in a pan of water on the stove.
3. Stir well and gently crush the berries.
4. Cool the berries for five minutes. Strain with a fine sieve until there are no fruit pieces left in your mix.
5. Stir and set aside to cool completely.
6. When cool, transfer into a small portable plastic container or tin. Store in refrigerator and use within a week.

Wake me up when spring arrives.