All the bebes are doing it

| Loni

Mustela Hydra Stick

$9.50

More info HERE

I have mentioned before that I love French beauty products, not because I am obsessed with France, even though it is a lovely country that I had a great time visiting (Hey Rosey!) but because the EU regulates personal care products differently than the US, by regulating what chemicals are allowed to go into personal care products to protect consumers. The EU does not allow chemicals known to cause things including cancer, reproductive and neurological harm, into personal care products. The US, not so much. The EU has banned over 1,000 chemicals from being put into personal care products while the US has banned only nine.  I like products made in the EU because they make me feel extra safe.

The first time I used the Mustela Hydra Stick was in high school. I saw it in a magazine and hunted it down to a fancy pharmacy in NYC. I toted it around like I was the coolest person ever because I had this coveted little piece of magic from France.

Nevertheless, as I have mentioned in other posts, I like to, late night on the weekends, on the way home from being out, I like to go to drugstores. Conveniently, there is a great drug store that carries super hard to find brands and is open 24 hours a day down the street and on the way home to my house. So the other night after dinner with my friend Rosey, I stopped in and was inevitably greeted by the night staff that know me well.

I found myself in the baby aisle staring down this little pint-sized deodorant shaped stick of moisture goodness. Because I know Mustela is made in France I knew it would be made without parabens, sulfates, synthetic dyes, phthalates or triclosan, which it is, so I didn’t even have to do my compulsive label checking.  I walked that little stick to the register and skipped home.

The Hydra Stick is a great shape to haphazardly slap it on your lips and it lasts a super long time without being sticky. Its not shiny shiny, but rather it leaves a healthy moistness to your lips and because it is creamy, it tones your lips into this nice supple color, that’s not obvious and is totally unisex. It has a mild baby scent that’s odd for a lip product, but since that’s not its only use, as you can use it on your face too, that makes sense and besides the scent is nice. Its super cute in your purse and it makes me smile every time I pull it out because this little stick is so adult for a baby product and its funny to think of little French kids using it on the playground. Well I don’t know if that’s what all French kids do on the playground, but using my own childhood as a source, that’s what I would do.

*Above image used without permission from HERE

Yeah, you probably need more horse power

| Loni

Butter London Horse Power Nail Fertilizer

$18.00

More info HERE

Despite going green, the one thing I continue to have a hard time giving up is my Gel Manicures. They are amazing. They last at least for me, three weeks (I only use the CND brand) and I save money, time and my nails always look perfect. But, I am aware of all the toxic chemicals in the Gel process, so I did give them up for a while.

Right now I’ve been traveling a lot and its much easier to have Gel nails on the go so I can leave all of my nail paraphernalia at home and concentrate on bringing other skin care necessities. But when I did give up Gel my nails were ragged, thin, peeling and not like they were before. I’ve heard dermatologist say that if you are going to get a Gel once in a while its okay, but not all the time one after the other. I clearly do not listen, because all the ladies at the nail place know me really well.

I was desperate to fix my nails. I was going all-natural and it was not pretty. This was the beginning of my quest to go green in my beauty routine and I was still teetering in and out of being green. I went through several conventional nail growth, fixer products that did not work including Nailtiques. I had been looking at the Butter London Horse Power Nail Fertilizer  for some time but it was expensive with shipping and I wondered if it would work at all, or if it would fail like the others.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised. I used this consistently, alone on bare nails and under Butter polish and my nails got stronger. I followed the directions to put a coat on once a day and to take it off after seven, and sure enough in about a month my nails looked much better. They were not perfect, I mean I needed to grow out my nails, but it did markedly improve them so I could wear bare nails or a little bit of regular polish, and it made them stronger.

The Butter London colors are also really great. The color selection is totally on trend and they offer lots of crazy fun glitter colors, which despite not being five, I think if you have a steady hand, can be really nice. The polish itself lasts a good 3-4 days before chipping, which I think is fine, because I’m rough on my hands and I don’t expect much longer than that. And besides it is just an excuse to change my nail color more frequently.

*Above image used without permission from HERE

Toxic Tuesday: Tainted Love

| Loni

Tom Ford Lip and Cheek Stain in Tainted Love

$48.00

More info HERE

Enter my favorite activity, going out to eat with my high school girlfriends and immediately upon seeing them asking them if I can look into their purse. Well, this time, it was not so immediate   After a delicious birthday dinner for our friend Sarah (Congrats BTW!), I asked my friend Chrissy if I could look in her purse, she obliged, but this time instead of letting me explore, she pulled out this square lipstick case and was like “You have to try this, your gonna love it.”

I took the luxe tube from Chrissy, and in the small cramped bathroom of a NYC restaurant went to town. I instantly knew it was Tom Ford by the imprint in the product and got really excited. I put it on, and it was as Chrissy had warned me, the most perfect universally flattering color ever. I was in love. The color, just slightly burnt brick, a really subtle red whose texture is not glossy but rather leaves a nice scheen to your lips. It  was also completely moisturizing like a balm. The most luxurious tinted balm ever.

I kept putting it on, and then Chrissy told me I could use it on my cheeks too. I had just powdered my face so I needed a little something and this too was the perfect color for my cheeks. Just a nice healthy flush, nothing special, but nothing overdone. I love a multitasking product, but so often, the color just does not work on one part of your face. This one at least for me worked really well. I tend to have a reddish face so I sometimes shy away from blush because in my head I think it makes the redness worse, but this really just made me look healthy.

Chrissy then delivered the worst news: It was limited edition. Chrissy, being smart, bought two and told me if I could not find it, she would gladly give me one. I have such smart and nice friends. As soon as I could steal a moment away from the group I took out my iphone and searched for it. I found it at Neiman Marcus, and, I may have bought two and I could not be happier every time I pull it out to put it on.

*Above image used without permission from HERE

Love & Toast

| Loni

Love & Toast Daily Shampoo with White Tea & Mint

$9.99

More Info HERE

I was really in need of new shampoo after I dyed my hair that was safe to use daily but would not weigh my hair down. I have about three in rotation right now, but none seemed to be getting the job done, blame it on the switch in the weather, but my hair has been anything but awesome recently.

Enter Love & Toast Shampoo. Packaged in a cute square container with a pump and the most adorable label I was instantly in love. I love the scent of mint, and I feel like I get a lot of the gunk out of my hair with this stuff. It’s nothing particularly special but its a great standby basic daily shampoo, that agrees with my colored hair, and looks adorable in your shower. I like it the most because it’s a daily shampoo that’s formulated without parabens, phthalates, petrolatum, mineral oil, propylene glycol, retinol, sulfates, or synthetic color, which is hard to find.

Basically, we all need a daily shampoo thats no frills and gets the job done. This daily shampoo fits the bill, but  honestly, that bottle design  is perfection and I really love the pump dispenser.

*Above image used without permission from HERE

Hearts of Palm

| Loni

Earth Therapeutics Purest Palm Body Brush

$7.68

More info HERE

I bought this brush a while ago, and it sat sad in a corner, until this morning. I was in need of a shower pick me up, and this was exactly it. The brush itself can be used both in the shower and for dry brushing, but I use this for the shower, I have a separate one for dry brushing. More on dry brushing later.

Nevertheless, I really like to have a clean back, but its hard to find a good body brush that will reach there without having to contort yourself into a yoga pose. Saved by the Palm Brush. The Palm is my new favorite because all of my previous body brushes were so unsightly, bright pinks and aquas that seemed more at home in a communal dorm room shower, not in my mid-century furnished apartment.

Its also slightly smaller than other body brushes, which is nice too, because I don’t feel like I have a baton in my shower ready to be used to defend against intruders. Even though the Palm looks like it would hurt, and even though it looks like a torture device from 1347, once its wet its really nice and soft and feels super ‘massage-y.’

This is definitely something I am going to replace once is molds or dies in my shower by perhaps meeting the same fate at my last body brush, which was doused with Raid to kill a giant silver fish that made its home on my brand new super luxe bar of soap, sad. Anyway, I found mine at Whole Foods, but you can find it online at Amazon. If you struggle with Backne (worst word ever!), might I suggest pairing this with Neutrogena Clear Body Wash. Nothing works better, literally nothing. Except for this Clinique Body Spray that was discontinued, that worked like a charm and removed a step from my shower routine, saving me two minutes, which I would later use when I inevitably changed my mind about my outfit and put on the first thing I tried on.

*Above image used without permission from HERE

10/22 Sunday Round Up

| Loni

Sunday morning round-up. Basically, really cool things from around the internet to look at while drinking some coffee on Sunday Morning. Click on the description to be taken to some cool articles, pictures, tips and recipes.

This space is super amazing

Navy Nail love, can’t wait to try this and pair it with one of my many army green anorak jackets 

I should really bust my sparkle oxfords out before it gets too cold! 

Looking for a reason to make a batch of these vegan truffels, mhmmmmm

Funkins, aka fun pumpkins

Joy Cho of OHJOY! gets me every time, every single time

Back to basics? I think OhHappyDay! basically broke into my house and took pictures of my closet, swoon, the essentials are where its at! 

Finally, broke down and got this tote, I am hoping that it will help me contain myself, and only carry one bag instead of multiple tote bags. So excited! 

Hair Rut? Mom hair? Some easy, super cute non technical solutions! 

* Image above used without permission from HERE

Jammin’

| Loni

So, I am in a bit of jam. I have my little cousins wedding in one hour, and my hotel room is not ready. Ugh, like a Girl Scout or MacGuyver, here are the products I am about to use in the hotel lobby to get ready!

This foundation stick requires no brush or sponge, just dab it onto your face and pat into your skin and bam, perfect canvas. 

This pot rouge in Raspberry, can go on lips and cheeks, making it one less thing to drag out of my bag

A dash of eyeliner (maybe, it is the afternoon)

This eyelash curler is amazing, I’ve gone through a bunch over the years and I keep coming back.  Using this makes it easier to skip the mascara- Also just noticed they make this in gold, super crush.

Also, CONGRATS Colleen & Shawn!!!!!

Run, run, run you wild rose

| Loni

Wild Rose Moisturizing Lip Butter Glaze

$14.00

More info HERE

This stuff gets so much hype and people tend to flip over these little tubes and pots. As a lip product junkie I too drank the Kool Aid after my friend Sabina had been toting her Guava one around and raving about the brand in general.

For the moisture part, these do the trick, they are just the right level of thickness without being gloopy. Which avoids that annoying aspect of gloss of having your hair gets stuck in it, which is a plus during the winter when I would be using such a heavy gloss like this and wearing my hair down. Anyway, this glaze unlike so many other does not dry out your lips, probably because its free of parabens, sulfates, sythetic fragrances, petrochemicals, phthalates, GMOs and Trisoclan.

So, in addition to having the moisture part down pat Koress has nailed the color. Its that perfect, berry thats not too obvious. Its a fuchsia color that is pretty deep and vibrant without looking clownish. I just dyed my hair super dark brown and this really pops against that dark backdrop. It’s a really nice wash of color, that says I tried, but not too hard.

What I like most about it though is how healthy it makes my lips look. The glaze really coats my lips and minimizes the fine lines I have been noticing more and more– likely due to the excessive diet coke and indoor air– but its does so without that overly glossy balloon lip look that I really try to stay away from.

Definitely, a good lip gloss, that achieves the holy grail here at One Product at a Time, that ‘pulled together effortlessly look, that totally says everything I did was an afterthought.’

*Above image used without permission from HERE

In plain sight

| Loni

Malin+Goetz vitamin E Face Moisturizer

$45.00

More info HERE

I’ve been treating my skin, inside and out pretty bad recently. Eating dairy, some gluten and a TON of diet Coke. I blame travel and working from home, but nevertheless its taken its toll on my skin. Its super dry and oily at the same time, uber combination skin.

I have been using my same moisturizer as the temperature dips that I used in summer, but it almost seems like its making my skin more oily and leaving a film on my face. I’ve been noticing that my skin gets shiner and that my makeup seems to be sliding off my face.

Enter Malin + Goetz, a brand whose packaging always caught my eye, but a brand that I knew not enough about of to warrant taking a closer look. In fact, I was thrown by the packaging, how could something so pretty actually deliver results. That was until one of my favorite makeup artists for Laura Mercier, recommended the line I had seen so many times, urging me that this would be super gentle and bring my skin back to normal.

I’ve had the generously sized samples sitting around for a while, but they just sat in my sample drawer.  I try so many products for the blog, that sometimes my skin gets super reactive and ‘burny.’ Desperate for relief  I reached for the these little guys and went for it.

Not expecting much, this moisturizer  instantly absorbed into my skin, which must have been super super dry. The fine lines I had been experiencing were greatly reduced, and in my very unscientific opinion something happened to my enlarged pores in a good way. They seemed to me at least, before I used the lotion, because my skin was super dry, very exacerbated and obvious, but with this moisturizer they really seemed to be minimized.

Overall, I was quite surprised by my experience with this face lotion, I really loved it. My face felt smoother, the burn I was experiencing was greatly reduced, and my face looked better. In my own head I look more rested and just generally hydrated. I just bought a new moisturizer for day, but I am and have been trying to rationalize a reason to purchase this full size. I really am obsessed, I can’t stop thinking about how great my face feels. Maybe when I finish my summer moisturizer I will restock with this, or at least I’ll wait until the temperature dips and I really need it.

Have you tried any other Malin + Goetz products, I would love to know what you think!

*Above image used without permission from HERE