Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Milk Made Smoothing Hand & Cuticle Buffer by Cake Beauty®

Photo Credit: Sephora.com
 My job takes a serious toll on my cuticles and nails. It leaves my cuticles all raggedy looking. I actually got a sample of the buffer, when I bought some lip gloss from Cake Beauty.  The buffer left my hand feeling so soft. My cuticles needed some tender love and care and after using this, all I can say is, "WOW!". My cuticles looked totally renewed and my skin felt so soft. Using this sugar based buffer is very easy, just rub on your hands and cuticles [pay very close attention to cuticles] and then wash off with warm water. I usually apply some cream afterwards to retain the moisture in my hands.  I have tried tons of hand buffers/scrubs, but this one is far better than any other. Just like the company says, "instant spa-like results after just one use!" 

Andrea 

Lashem Lash Growth Serum

Apply product to the lash line
After reading some reviews about lash enhancers, I tried giving Lashem Lash Growth Serum a try. First, a little history about lash enhancers: Patients who were on a prescription for treating glaucoma had developed beautiful long lashes thanks to the side effects of the drug. Noticing this, cosmetics companies started making lash enhancers mimicking the glaucoma drug. Shortly, boat loads of lash enhancers, serums and mascaras hit the market. 

One of them is the Lashem Lash Growth Serum. The serum promises longer, darker, more  voluminous lashes.  The product did live up to its promise, as I noticed my lashes grew a bit longer and got darker. The directions indicate the product should be used once daily on clean eyes. I normally use the product at night time, since it is easier to incorporate into my beauty regime.  The product is applied as a thin line on the lash line. The formula is paraben free, with a combination of goji berry, green tea, cranberry, grape seed extract, qusome and oligo polypeptide.
The brush is thin which makes application fairly easy
On the downside, using this product can be quite pricey. The retail price is roughly $90 but you can sometimes find it on sale for $50 or less. Also, if you  stop using this product, your eyelashes will slowly return to their normal size. Personally speaking, I would rather buy a lash enhancing mascara since you get the same benefits and it is a lot cheaper.



Lashem Lash Growth Serum
Andrea

Monday, December 27, 2010

Clarisonic® Skincare Brush Plus

My Clarisonic Brush with Sensitive Brush attached
After reading tons of reviews, many of them positive, of the Clarisonic® Skincare Brush, I decided to bite the bullet and buy it. My main reasons for purchasing the brush are to reduce pore size and help fight against blackheads. I did notice an improvement in pore size and skin texture. My skin felt softer and smoother. According to the manual, it is recommended that the brush be used twice daily, [preferably in the morning and the night]. I used to follow this regime, but I noticed that when I cleaned my face twice, the skin felt really tight, sensitive to the touch and dry. I eventually switched to using it once daily, depending on my schedule [sometimes in the morning or night]. And, WOW, that really did wonders on my skin. I no longer have that tight skin feeling and no sign of flaky skin. Depending on your skin type, I really recommend taking some time to figure out a good regime for yourself. 

Brush with Charging Cradle
The kit I bought came with three cleansers, but one of the benefits of this brush is that you can use basically any cleanser and it will work just as good. I do however recommend staying away from any cleaners that has small bits of uneven substances, [think apricot bits like in St. Ives Cleansers]. They tend to get caught in the brush, making it hard to keep spinning. They also cause irritation on the skin and leave little red marks if you're unlucky.

Body Brush attachment
A bit more on the brush: it has three speeds and also allows the user to attach a body brush to make it a full body exfoliator. There are three types of brushes available, not including the body brush: Delicate Skin, Sensitive Skin [I prefer this] and Normal Skin. I switch from the Normal Skin brush to the Sensitive Skin since it seemed to be far more gentle.
Up close of the brush



All in all, if you just want a basic skin cleaner, I would suggest getting the cheaper model [by $76], Clarisonic Mia. The Mia, only has one speed and I don't believe you can use the body brush attachment.






This model I bought, cost roughly $225. It is a limited edition but there are other models available. The only thing that really differs was the products that came with the brush.

Sephora - Clarisonic Brush
Sephora - Clarisonic Brush Mia
Amazon- Clarisonic Brush

-Andrea 

Updated:
I just got a shipment of Stila and Lola products! I can't wait to try them out. Please to be sure to look out for the reviews =]

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Our First Post!

Hello All,

This is our of many blog post. Well, I guess we should first tell you guys a little about ourselves and why we started this blog. My name is Andrea, and I live in New York. Mads the other person who will be writing in this blog lives in Denmark. We will be writing about an array of topics.

Andrea

Hi,

The blog is a place for us to gather our thoughts on things we know something about, which is not so different from many other blogs. But we're doing it as a pair, separated in distance as well as culture. We think our different points of interest will make for a good dichotomy - hopefully providing you with a perspective which is fresh and distinct from what you'll find elsewhere.

Mads