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Foxy Face Needs – Hair & Body Edition

On my last Must-Haves post, I talked about the things I could not live without for my face products. Of course I thought of a few more after I posted it, but I will have to save those for another time, because this one is all about HAIR and BODY product must-haves!

As I mentioned before, I rarely buy something more than once, and if I buy it more than twice it means I really, really like it. I am exposed to many brands all of the time, and every now and again I find a few gems that I can not do without. On that note, let’s get started!

Flacon-Lait-corporel-400ml-CMJN-HDBiotherm Lait Corporel Body Milk – I first tried this body milk back when Alanis Morisette was ruling the airwaves, so that gives you an idea of how many years I have been loving this iconic lotion! Described as “deliciously smooth and fabulously fresh”, this milky lotion is one of the single most pleasant things I have ever used on my body. It does not feel sticky, greasy, or watery, it absorbs in right away and leaves my skin soft and smelling so citrusy and clean. This is a truly magical elixir of sensorial pleasures; from the impossibly smooth texture, to the fragrant yet delicate scent. This is one of those products that feels like a true escape when I apply it and it is a worthy self- indulgent treat or a spectacular gift for anyone who appreciates luxury!

Algemarin Foam Bath Original – If I am not mistaken, I remember seeing this blue container with the little sea horse on it when I was only about 4 or 5 years old. algeAs a kid, this was not MY bubble bath, but I was fascinated by the beautiful blue container and sea shell looking lid. Fast forward to when I am an adult working in a drug store- it comes in for Christmas stock and I buy one to try it out. I am now hooked forever. First of all, it turns your bath water blue. The same beautiful blue shade as the container, and it immediately transports me to another place where relaxation rules. Algemarin Bubble Bath contains mineral-rich sea algae to soothe your skin and while I do not find it moisturizing at all, I also don’t find it drying. The other feature that makes me love this product is the “fresh seaside scent”. OK, I have been seaside and it is not always that pleasant, but this product smells more like what you would want the seaside to smell like rather than how it actually smells. I have no idea how long this product has been around for, and sometimes I can not find it anywhere, but I like to have it in my house as often as possible. I suggest if you see it to try it, and if you like it stock up!

loccitaneL’Occitane Shea Hand Cream – I first tried this product last year, and praised it in this blog post. I have gone through about 5-6 tubes (travel size) of this in the past 2 months, and have the really big one now. This is fantastic cream that moisturizes, absorbs well, and most importantly it works. I know I can probably get something effective that costs a little less, but I like everything about this cream – the scent, the texture, the packaging. I need it all!

Pantene Hair Conditioner – I am not loyal to a specific type of Pantene Hair Conditioner, and will generally use any of them (except the volumizing one – I hate that one for me). I have been using their conditioners since the late 90’s, and from time to time I will try something else.725_FIND_MY_PANTENE I always end up back at Pantene. I am not particular about shampoos at all, but I need my conditioner to smell decent, detangle my fine hair easily, feel lightweight and non-greasy, and ease my styling process. Pantene is the ONLY one that hits the mark for me on all of these requirements. I have used high end salon stuff, cheap to expensive drug store stuff, and I always arrive back at Pantene.

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Living Proof Prime Style Extender Cream – This is a really new product in my must-have roster, and I don’t often consider something a must-have before I have even finished the first tube. But at the rate this little number is performing, it will surely be with me for years to come. It has literally allowed cut the amount of times I wash my hair in half! I can get away with washing my hair now only about twice a week, and this saves me so much time. For myself, all the hype around this product was true, and really with Jennifer Aniston as a co-owner did we expect less?

OK your turn Foxes! Tell me what hair and body products you can’t live without. Maybe it will encourage me to hoard a little more….


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New Years Beauty Resolutions

Every time we ring in a New Year, people make resolutions – promises to themselves to improve their life and well being. These promises range from exercising more, eating better to committing time to self development and doing things like avoiding swearing or taking some classes for an interest or hobby. In my single and partying days most of my resolutions would be a direct result of whatever I was up to on New Year’s Eve – lol! Now that I am a lot more lame, my resolutions are too. I would take an educated guess that more than half of these resolutions fall flat within a few weeks anyhow, but I am making beauty resolutions this year and hoping for the best. I can do it! (Maybe).

  1. Dirrrrrty!

    Dirrrrrty!

    I will wash my makeup brushes more often. My brushes are disgusting. I know better, and now so do you. I keep multiples of each brush so I don’t have to wash them often, but even so I let them go way too long. When you use a makeup brush, the makeup, oils and bacteria build up in it. This can cause problems like making your makeup application streaky or blotchy or spreading bacteria on your face causing breakout mayhem. Plus oils collect on your brush from your face and this can transfer to your products making them yucky and potentially changing the texture of powders. So, it is a good idea to keep a brush cleaning spray on hand to do a quick clean of your brushes in between a more intense wash. I like Lise Watier Makeup Brush Cleanser and use this little treasure by spraying it on a tissue and then rubbing the makeup brush on the tissue. I repeat this process until no more colour comes off the brush. The pros of using a brush cleanser like this is that it is quick and you are able to disinfect your brushes in between uses. The downside is that I find over time the sprays make your brushes feel a little more rough and dry (due to the high alcohol content to disinfect). Nothing is quite as good as a thorough wash. To do this, I add a few inches of water to a bowl or my sink – just enough to cover the brush heads only. I wet all of the brush heads. I then put a little shampoo in the palm of my hand and work a good lather up on each of the brushes and rinse them under running water until no more colour comes out. DO NOT soak the brush below the bristles as over time this will loosen the glue that keeps it all together and your brush may fall apart.  Lay brushes flat to dry overnight on a towel and enjoy the clean and soft fluffy application the next day. NOTHING feels as good as applying powder with a clean makeup brush. I aim to do this once a week if I am am applying makeup everyday (of course I am).

    Some of my extra brushes

    Some of my extra brushes

  2. I will stop picking at my cuticles and hangnails. One of two awesome L'Occitan sets I was giftedI am notorious for this, and recently have noticed that my 2 1/2 year old daughter does the same thing almost obsessively. If I have the tiniest tear in my cuticle or a hangnail starting, I will have that whole area ripped to shreds in no time causing cracks and unnecessary pain. I hate that I do this and it really looks gross. I will have it under control for a good chunk of the year, but once the dryness of winter hits, all bets are off. To help overcome this I need a plan. I am going to carry a cuticle oil and hand cream with me at all times, and anytime I find my self with an extra minute or so I will apply them. I know all the tricks to prevent and fix this problem, but staying committed to caring for this annoying area is difficult for me. I even wrote a post about how to care for this area and you can read it here. I know better. And now so do you.
  3. Heaven for my feet

    Heaven for my feet

    I will apply a foot cream. I love how my feet look and feel when I walk out of the nail salon after a good pedicure. I vow to myself that I will do more upkeep to make this feeling last. Then, I get really lazy. Within a week my feet look like a shoeless hobbit foot and the callous build up and cuticle dryness cause me great stress. I have the driest skin ever on my body and it is annoying. My husband never gets dry hands or feet and simply cannot understand my need to constantly apply stuff. It is my cross to bear (dramatically speaking, please don’t send hate mail over my first world problem). I am trying out L’Occitane Soothing Shea Butter Foot Cream and I adore it so far. I received this in a gift set for Christmas, and I was already a huge fan of the hand cream so the fact there was a specific foot cream really made me happy. I like products dedicated to a certain part of the body, I feel that they are more legitimate. Maybe I am car-razy but that’s how I feel.

  4. Antiques from the start of the millennium

    Antiques from the start of the millennium

    I will say goodbye/ adios, au revoir to anything in my collection that is older than my children. I have a Quo Electronica Eyeshadow (a shimmery electric blue) from around 2001. I just can’t part with it, even though it looked absolutely hideous on me back then and I am certain the 14 years since I bought it won’t change the fact that it’s not for me. But I haven’t been able to throw it away. I am a product hoarder, there is no doubt. I keep beauty products forever, and some of them are like mementos of times that have passed and I have the hardest time parting ways with them. I have a Tony & Tina dark glittery green eyeshadow I bought on my first ever Sephora store visit in Las Vegas in the early 2000’s (before Sephora was in Canada). Every time I look at it I know I can’t pull it off but also can’t part with it because it reminds me of my first trip to a Sephora. Not even my first trip to Vegas, but my first trip to a STORE! These strange little items have even moved across the country with me and lived in 3 cities in two provinces and one territory. All the while I have not worn either one of them even once since they were initially purchased. I have troubles. I will try to rid myself of these relics by June. (Sad face, maybe a tear or two).

  5. I will find a reason to wear false eyelashes once a month.
    More of my hoarding

    More of my hoarding

    Speaking of hoarding, I have a thing with false eyelashes. I have a drawer FULL of these babies, and even have doubled up some of them in the package to save room and fit more in. Why? I rarely do anything more glamorous than strolling through my local Superstore buying baby food and produce, but if I see some cool lashes on sale I HAVE to buy them. It is a compulsion. I love halloween clearance when all the weird and wacky lashes go on sale. I have feathered ones, glittery ones, Katy Perry looking ones… you name it. I simply love a fun lash. Soooo, rather than getting rid of them or stopping myself from buying them, I figure I should find something to do once a month where they will be at least semi-appropriate. Do you think a trip to my local Starbucks counts?

  6. I will use my lipliner more often. Ok – here is another thing I have way too many of and I never use them. I recently watched a Vlog on YouTube from Kandee Johnson about lipliners and creating a contour and I am so so so convinced. She is right! We add contour and highlight to our eyes and sculpt our faces the same way, but then just slap on a lipstick and call it a day. Why aren’t we creating more depth and highlight on the lip? Well 2015 is the year for me to bring out my lipliners and make my lips POP! (P.S. I have fallen into the rabbit hole with YouTube tutorials and am obsessed with watching them. Why didn’t this exist when I was learning about makeup? Everyone has access to top artist tips, tutorials and technique now and it is AMAZING!)

 

So, that is it for me for my 2015 Beauty Resolutions and here is to a productive and successful 2015! Do any of you Foxes have resolutions planned? Tell me about them in the comments below, even if they are not beauty related. You may inspire me to add a few more to my personal list!


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Baby It’s Cold Outside Part 2

I think the worst condition I have ever seen my hands is when I worked over the winter in a post office in Edmonton. With all of the Christmas deliveries, the back door open, the wind blowing the fridgid air in, and then handling all of the parcels and papers…. every action I took in that job sucked a little more moisture out of my already desolate hands leaving them cracked and bleeding and having to wear something on my fingers that I not so fondly referred to as a “finger condom.” Ugh – that was a run on sentence if I have ever written one but I also wanted to get that memory over with quickly!

Normally, my hands are dry. My cuticles snag on things and rip and hurt. Living in Ontario now I find the summer humidity rectifies all of this and I barely need to pay attention to them at all, but once the cold hits I need to be on hand duty pretty much 24/7. There are so many hand products out there and I have tried many, but only a few I have found can stand up to a Canadian winter.

Let’s start off with this piece of advice – cream or lotion of ANY kind going on ANY part of your body will not absorb properly if your skin is too dry and flaky. You need to remove some of the rough surface in order for the cream to do it’s job best. This is where a hand scrub comes in. For some of you this may seem like an unnecessary step or a luxury, but trust me and try it! Who cares if it is a luxury, it feels AH-MAY-ZING! While there are many DIY posts online to help you make your own scrub, I tend to purchase them. I am not saying one is better than the other, I am just not a DIYer.

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There are a few hand scrubs that I have used and enjoy. Crabtree & Evelyn makes a great scrub called “La Source Hand Recovery”.  This product helps remove the dry and flaky skin with mild exfoliants. This is best applied to dry (as in not wet) hands and then you work it around by rubbing hands together. Pay special attention to the backs of hands and around the cuticle. Then, rub hands under warm water until it is all rinsed off. Immediately your hands feel smoother and look more lovely. Although this product is touted as a scrub and moisturizer in one, I would recommend applying a good moisturizer afterwards after blotting your hands dry with a towel. I have also enjoyed Mary Kay Satin Hands Satin Smoothie Hand Scrub, but it only comes as part of a set and I don’t always require the other pieces. You can use a hand scrub a few times a week or even daily in the driest of seasons.

I don’t know about you, but I really like to try a hand cream out before I buy it. This often limits me to more expensive brands as they are usually the ones that have testers. I have taken the risk of buying without trying before, and I usually end up with something too watery to do a good job, or alternately one that is too sticky and won’t rub it (subsequently leaving a film on my hands that collects dirt throughout the day so I look like I have been digging through garbage). I find L’Occitane makes wonderful hand creams that are a real treat to use AND are effective at reparation. There are a number of scents to choose from and often you can find multi-packs to get several to try. I also really like Avéne Cold Cream Hand Cream and Biotherm Biomains Hand Cream. 

BODYBATH_Hc_Moisturizers

Application of hand cream is really important. For years I would just squirt some into my palm and rub it in. Then, I would be irritated when I couldn’t open a jar of pickles or something (I know weird) because my hands were too greasy. Well, let me give you a tip… maybe you are super smart and already use this method… put your lotion onto the BACK of your hand and then rub the backs together. Since this tends to be where you are dryer it will help distribute the lotion or cream to where you need it most. Pay special attention and rub into each finger nail and into each cuticle. Lastly, rub any remainder into palms only if you need to. Voila! Now you can open jars to your hearts content!

Nail_Care_Apricot_Cuticle_Oil_PackSpeaking of cuticles, I like to employ the use of a cuticle oil whenever I remember (not nearly often enough). This is a great way to prevent hangnails and cracks as the winter weather sets in. I am prone to the skin on the sides of my nails splitting if I neglect my hands, and this is a very painful and ugly thing to experience. The options are endless here too, but I like to use Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil. It is in a nail polish bottle so it’s small and easy to tote around, and I like to apply cuticle treatments with a brush as it is fast and easy. Truth be told, the main reason I ever purchased this particular one is I had a sample of it in a magazine insert. I used the sample, liked it and bought it. Sampling works!

There are times when my hands need an intervention due to abuse and neglect. This is when I use a night treatment that looks a little strange and makes my hubby call me “Mickey Mouse Hands” (I think he is a little creeped out by how it looks). BUT – it helps provide quick relief to painful stinging winter dry hands. Go to the drug store and buy cotton gloves. You can usually find these in the beauty section. Then at night slather on your cream of choice, or if you are like me and require major help, Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Skin Protectant. This magic elixir is a beauty fix-all for everything from ravaged hands to windburn on your cheeks. This is a truly legendary, award winning product that boasts a multitude of uses. So, once I have slather this stuff all over my hands, I put on the cotton gloves and go to sleep. The gloves allow the product to stay put and have a chance to soak in to where you want it rather than it ending up all over your sheets. When I wake up there is a noticeable difference. If my hands are really bad I will do this a few nights in a row along with the regular daytime methods noted above, and within a week my hands look human again. elizabeth-arden-eight-hour-cream-skin-protectant

What do YOU use for hands to keep the winter sting at bay? Please leave your comments and questions below- your feedback is important to me. If you enjoy this blog please feel free to share on your social media!

Up next… Baby It’s Cold Outside Part 3 – Body and Part 4 – Face… and then on to some make up stuff!