Review Stages of Beauty Radiance Treatment Cream

Price? $52.99-$74.99 (varies by size)


Where can I find it? Stages of Beauty's Website

What's included?            I'll just show you..

I can't tell you how much I love the attention to detail! 

The butterfly is adorable, I love the canister that the treatment cream comes in, it's all impeccably packaged.

Rating

(Out of 5)

I was sent this to review by Stages of Beauty, thanks Stages of Beauty! One quick question, do your other lines come with little cutouts too, like the butterfly? If so, I'll be so tempted to order some of your Grace line because I LOVE swans!

Moving on...

I'm sure you're all wondering what the treatment cream itself looks like!

As you can see it comes in a glass bottle with a pump.

Stages of Beauty (as the name implies) has developed different lines for different ages, their lines include Radiance in your 20s, Harmony in your 30s, Elegance in your 40s, and Grace in your 50s+

I think this is a nice concept because it can be confusing choosing which products to use at a certain age. I know a lot of us are starting to use anti-aging products earlier.

On to my thoughts about what's inside the bottle!

Consistency wise it's a cross between a cream and a gel. It's light, blends in smoothly and absorbs fast. It's fragrance free, and formulated for sensitive skin.

I honestly love this stuff! It moisturizes well without being heavy. The bottle recommends using 3-4 pumps on face and neck, but I usually use 2 for my face, and just go back over with more if I have any dry areas. I have dry/combo skin, but I think this would work well for all other skin types.

I only have two very minor complaints, those are 1. I wish it had SPF (the bottle does say to use with SPF during the daytime.) 2. The price, I'm not one who generally splurges on skincare, but I will say that if you want to treat yourself this is worth a try!

If you have extremely dry skin, (as I do in the winter) this may not be rich enough for you in the fall/winter, but I'll have to use this then, and let you all know!

If you're interested in keeping up to date with the brand, and learning more about their products, you can check out all of the below fabulous-ness

Twitter http://twitter.com/StagesOfBeauty

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/StagesofBeauty

YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/StagesofBeauty

Blog http://www.mystagesofbeauty.com/blog

Overall, I do recommend! I wish it was less expensive so I could totally OD on their products, but I'm really thankful that I got to try this one.

PSST, over here! Read me.. 

They're currently offering free samples!

 http://www.mystagesofbeauty.com/ just click on the link, and scroll to the bottom of the page!

Review Avalon Organics Vitamin C Balancing Facial Toner

Price? $8.48 to $11.95


Where can I find it? Drugstore.com & Walmart


What's included? The toner itself.


Rating

(Out of 5)

Avalon Organics were lovely enough to send me a few coupons to use for their products, and one of them was for a free product. Thank you Avalon Organics! I chose this because I love anything orange scented.

As stated above I absolutely adore the scent of this! Very citrus-y, and fresh.

It does a good job of removing dirt/oil, and it doesn't dry out my skin, however there are a few downfalls 1. It has a slightly yellow tinge so you can't get a 100% accurate take on how much dirt/oil is removed, and 2. it does leave behind a residue on your skin.

I don't like the residue it leaves behind. To avoid this you could use it before washing your face though I know that's not how toners are meant to be used. I do also notice a tingling sensation, but I'm assuming that's because of the citrus, I don't find it to be an issue as most toners tingle, but I would avoid using it if you have any scratches/cuts. 

Overall I like this toner, it removes dirt/oil well, and smells great, but I won't be repurchasing with my own money. I have in the past purchased a few of their products with my own money, and hope to try more in the future.

Review The Brush Guard Variety Pack

Price? $5.50


Where can I find it? The Brush Guard's Website, and Amazon 


What's included? A total of 6 brush guards in various sizes.


Rating






(Out of 5)

Here are the sizes included in the variety pack

Here's how it looks on my EcoTools Blush Brush, this is the second largest size

A better description of the product, and sizes

Click to enlarge

As it says on the front of the package they can be used for traveling, storage, cleaning, and protection.

I've only used them for keeping the shape of my brushes after washing them, and they work very well for that purpose, especially with my EcoTools Blush Brush. I also like that they can be stood upside down while drying so all of the water comes out.

I can't say if my brushes dry faster with these because I don't stand around checking my brushes every 5 minutes, but they seem to dry in an average amount of time.

Overall I do like these. I don't think they're a necessity, but they're nice to have, and I think they're reasonably priced. If you're interested in purchasing them I suggest buying them from Amazon (which is what I did) because you'll get free shipping.

Animal Testing

When I first started my blog I had a post about animal testing.


 I've since removed that post because I wanted to re-write it, and hopefully reach a larger audience.

What is animal testing?

There are a variety of different tests preformed on animals to determine the safety of a product when introducing a new ingredient. 

They will do anything from pouring chemicals in rabbits eyes, potentially causing them to go blind or shaving off their fur to test chemicals on their bare skin. 

The animals are given no pain relief, and are killed after the experiments.

It's NOT only rabbits

They also preform tests on mice, primates, cats, dogs, and even pigs!

What can I do to help?

Boycott these heartless companies! 

While we can't make them stop today, we can do our best to not support such terrible animal cruelty.

Some of the bad guys

Procter & Gamble

Unilever

Clorox

Johnson & Johnson

L'Oreal

If you would like to see a full list of the companies to avoid click here

The above companies own a larger majority of the brands you'll find at drugstores. Check the label, and if it's owned by any of the above, steer clear of it!

♥Some of the good guys!♥

Stila

Too Faced

LORAC

Tarte

Hard Candy

Afterglow Cosmetics

Avalon Organics

Aubrey Organics

Yes To Carrots

Barry M

Beauty Without Cruelty

Ecco Bella

Desert Essence

Dickinson's Witch Hazel

Dr. Bronners

DuWop Cosmetics

EcoTools

e.l.f Cosmetics

EOS

Face of Australia 

Freeman Beauty

Garden Botanika

Hourglass Cosmetics

Kiss My Face

LUSH

Wet 'n Wild

Method Products

Nature's Gate

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics

Prestige Cosmetics

Queen Helene

Badger 

Ocean Potion (Sun Care)

Zia Cosmetics

Honeybee Gardens

...Just to name a few!

If you'd like to see a full list of the good companies, click here

Please note that no list is 100% accurate. If you're unsure about a brand you can always email the company directly. 

If the company says "final products not tested on animals" or "unless required by law" avoidthem. 

Animal testing is NOT required by law. 

It is required by law that companies must test new ingredients to make sure they're safe, but they don't have to test them on animals. 

They could avoid testing all together by simply using ingredients that have already been proven safe.

Companies like Procter & Gamble are just plain greedy. They don't care about animals. Their goal is to create new compounds so they can make false claims like "New hbgyusdbdjn complex makes lashes 5,000x thicker."--Um, no I think not P&G!

Keep in mind that just because a certain brand may not test on animals, it doesn't mean that the company that owns them doesn't. --Burt's Bees doesn't test on animals, but they were bought out by Clorox who do test on animals.

If you have questions about companies feel free to ask me!

Review/Swatches Wet N Wild Idol Eyes Creme Shadow Pencils

Price? $1.99 each

Where can I find it? CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, and Walmart

What's included? Just the shadow pencils themselves.

Rating

(Out of 5)

Left to right

Envy, Electro, Distress, Techno, and Graphite

Some really gorgeous colors!

The folks at Wet N Wild were kind enough to send me these to review. They sent me every shade except for Pixie which is champage-y gold color. Thanks WNW!

These are very creamy, and have nice pigmentation except for Techno, and Graphite which are sheer. They are all shimmery.

Wearing these alone they did crease on me within about 20 minutes. The best way in my experience to wear them is to use a primer, a thin layer of these followed by a powder shadow on top. Using this method they didn't crease! 

These would also make nice liners for a pop of color on the lower lashline, but I wouldn't recommend using them on your waterline because they will smudge.

Two slight complaints I have, one is that when I received them there was oil at the bottom of the caps on some of them. I'm not sure if this is normal or not, but it could just be because they melted in the envelope? After all it is summer!  My second complaint is that the bottom of the pencils (the silver part) does come off somewhat easily, but it's really no big deal. It doesn't affect the actual product.

Overall if you're looking for something to use as a light tint of color to layer your shadow on top of or to use as a pop of color then I do recommend, but if you're looking for something super long wearing & crease proof then I wouldn't recommend.

Swatched - LORAC Innocence Eyeshadow

Really unique shade, it's a lilac-y-silver color.

The consistency is great, and the pigmentation is good as well, I totally recommend LORAC eyeshadows!

They have a couple of these shadows in the sale section on Lorac's website for $3.00!

Review/Swatches Nisim F.A.S.T Shampoo & Conditioner

F.A.S.T Shampoo & Conditioner Combo $31.80 for 12 fl oz (each) 

This shampoo & conditioner combo was designed to help hair grow faster. The woman I was speaking to from Nisim said it usually doubles the rate of hair growth!

If you're curious how they look

Top is the shampoo, and bottom is the conditioner

The shampoo is colorless except for a pearly undertone.

The scent is nice. I like it, but It obviously depends on personal preference. It doesn't specifically smell like anything, just shampoo-y.

You may be wondering how do I use it? 

Here are the directions for both the shampoo & conditioner.

For best results use daily for 3-4 weeks or until you reach your length goal. Shampoo, rinse, repeat, condition. 

I left the conditioner in anywhere between 1-3 minutes. If you have dry/damaged hair it's recommended to leave it in for longer.

I used this religiously everyday for 3 weeks.

It's impossible to completely duplicate an image, but I tried to get them fairly close. (I even wore the same shirt!) My hair is a little wavy at the bottom in the after shot because I had it up before taking the photo, sorry! 

My hair definitely grew! I plan to continue to using it even if not for the hair growth effects. 

The only bad thing I can say about it is that I did find it a somewhat drying, but then again, I'm not used to washing my hair so much.

For more information about this brand or their products visit http://www.nisim.com/FAST-Fortified-Amino-Scalp-Therapy-Shampoo-Condi-p/su2020.htm

Overall, if you've had an unfortunate haircut or just want a good shampoo/conditioner I would recommend these products.

Products provided for consideration.