Caudalie

14 Days of Ravishing Red! — Day 12: Satiny Bluish Red Lips With Bite Beauty 078 and Caudalie Innocence

February 13th, 2018 by Karen 7 Comments

Are you ready for 14 Days of Ravishing Red? Stay tuned as we explore ravishing red ? lipsticks, lip liners and glosses every day on our way to ? Valentine’s.

Namaste… You wanna do some red lip yoga? — because there are sooo many ways to work a red lip using just a tinted lip balm and red lip liner. They’re two of the most flexible things you can have in your makeup bag.

Like, last weekend I did a causal red lip stain with a Caudalie lip balm/Bite Beauty lip liner combo, and today I used two more Bite and Caudalie products in different shades — $18 Bite Beauty Lip Liner in 078 and $18 Caudalie French Kiss Lip Balm in Innocence — for a more formal Tuesday satiny bluish red lip (got gussied up for a trip to CVS).

Same as with the lip stain, I did the liner first, then followed with a layer of the balm on top, but instead of diffusing the liner to soften it, this time I lined my lips first with bluish red 078 Lip Liner before completely filling them in with the same pencil for a full-on opaque matte lip. Then, I lightly dabbed pink Caudalie Innocence balm in the center of my lips to take the edge off the matte and add some shine.

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14 Days of Ravishing Red! — Day 10: Stained Brick Red Raspberry Lips With Bite Beauty 082 and Caudalie French Kiss in Addiction

February 11th, 2018 by Karen 8 Comments

Are you ready for 14 Days of Ravishing Red? Stay tuned as we explore ravishing red ? lipsticks, lip liners and glosses every day on our way to ? Valentine’s.

Hope you had a fab Sunday Funday, girl (and guys). I had to run a bunch of “mom errands” today, like I had to get diapers for the Coywolf, picked up a 28-pound bag of kitty litter for His Highness, Sir Tabs, returned a throw pillow I got from HomeGoods that was way too white, which begs the question — why did I even buy a white pillow in the first place? I live with little animals.

But I digress…

Anyway, life errands, so I didn’t go too crazy today in the red lip department. I wore a brick red stain, but instead of applying and blotting, I lined my lips first with a creamy brick red liner, Bite Beauty Lip Pencil in 082 ($18), blended out the line with my finger to spread the color all over my lips, and topped it off with a layer of raspberry red Caudalie French Kiss Lip Balm in Addiction ($18).

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Empties

September 14th, 2017 by Karen 10 Comments

I stepped into my bathroom to take a shower the other day — because, apparently, I shower three times a day now because I’m so freaking sweaty — and discovered that a bunch of products I used all summer long have all gone empty at the same time.

Thing is, I use things items practically every day, so you’d think I would have noticed sooner that my industrial-sized bottle of honey mango shower gel was running low, but nooOOOOooo. As if out of nowhere, it’s empty.

I’m curious — what are some of your recent empties/things you’ve run out of lately? I’m kind of a voyeur who loves hearing about things people have finished to the last drop.

Here are mine…

1. Alba Botanica Very Emollient Bath & Shower Gel in Honey Mango Replenishing Moisture for Extra Dry Skin ($12.99)

When I got this 32-oz. bottle for $12.99 at Target, it was for both me AND El Hub. So it wasn’t just for me! It doesn’t contain parabens or pthalates, and the light mango scent smells divine when I’m lathering up, but it doesn’t linger on the skin, which my husband likes (I guess he doesn’t want to smell like mangoes at work). I always feel squeaky clean after using it.

Now it’s empty.

2. Caudalie Nourishing Body Lotion ($30)

An old fave from years ago that I rediscovered earlier this summer. It’s so good that I seriously considered cutting open the bottle with a knife to extract the last drops, but I decided that that was probably a bad idea… I didn’t want to accidentally cut off my pinky.

3. Burt’s Bees Baby Shampoo and Wash ($14.59)

OK, this one isn’t technically one of my empties. It’s one of Connor’s.

It creates LOTS of bubbles, which she loves to play with in the bath, and it doesn’t sting her eyes.

P.S. She loves it when we use it as a shampoo, and I style her hair into a baby mohawk.

P.P.S. Someone needs to invent a baby emoji ? with a mohawk.

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Shower Tales, and Current Caudalie Body Favorites

July 26th, 2017 by Karen 29 Comments

caudalie body products — Some of the best body products from Caudalie

For the longest time — for MONTHS after Connor was born — and this may or may not sound weird, but whenever I’d take a shower, I’d cry.

Like, bawl my eyes out. My hormones were redonk for months after Connor’s debut. Also, every time I touched or glanced down at my emergency c-section scar, I broke down. I would start thinking about that night and the nurses and the fear and the doctors coming into the room to quietly discuss serious options… It was too much.

Most of the time, I was able to focus on the fact that Connor was born healthy, and that would calm me down, but standing there under the water when you’re looking at your naked body with nothing between you and a huge scar, and wishing that things had turned out differently… I felt let down by my body. It’s hard to explain. Anyway, I couldn’t even talk about it for a really long time.

Like they say, though, time heals all wounds. I’m no longer crying in the shower anymore, yay! It’s back to being the fun, safe, happy place it used to be. 🙂

Now, let’s talk about some bad-@ss body products from Caudalie.

caudalie vine body butter — If I could dive right into a gigantic bucket of Caudalie Vine Body Butter, I totally would.

Caudalie is a French skin care line (available at Sephora) known for adding antioxidants from the grapes in their vineyards in France. They make some of the best moisturizers and body products out there, like my old-school faves, their Vine Body Butter ($34) and Hand and Nail Cream ($15). Both are righteously rich and thick — so rich that you can pretty much kiss those scales on your shins buh-bye.

When you step out of the shower after a day at the pool and your dry skin desperately needs moisture, or if you just need some heavy-duty hydration, they’re great.

caudalie hand and nail cream — Moisturizing mania continues…

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The Summer of Skin Care! Caudalie Vinoperfect Essence and Vinoperfect Serum

July 5th, 2017 by Karen 14 Comments

caudalie vinoperfect essence serum — The Summer o’ Skin Care continues…

Back when I was breaking “out on the regular,” Caudalie’s face lotion was one of a handful of products that got me through life. I’m a fiery fan of this French brand, especially their moisturizers. I’ve gone through more bottles of their face moisturizers, body moisturizers and their hand and nail cream over the years than I can count.

I know the brand, and I know their products work for me, so I couldn’t wait to pat-pat-pat and try their new Vinoperfect Concentrated Brightening Essence ($42).

First things first, it is NOT a toner. Let’s get that straight. It’s closer to a super watery glycolic serum, and girl, you know I’ve been all about those glycolics lately.

I just wish it listed the percentage of glycolic acid it contains on the ingredient list, because that would make The Summer of Skin Care sooo much easier.

Remember last week how I mentioned that I’ve been incorporating glycolic products of various strengths into my regimen — one mild, one medium and one strong? So I wish I knew which category to file Vinoperfect Brightening Essence under.

Based on how my skin feels after using it — which I know is completely not scientific AT ALL — I’m guessing that it’s on the very mild end of the glycolic spectrum. After I apply it (following the directions, I put a few big drops in my palm, which I then pat on my face and neck after washing my face), I get less of a tingly kick than I get from Pixi Glow Mud Cleanser, which is a 5% glycolic acid product. My skin just feels like it’s going, “Ah…” and it looks pleasantly plump and hydrated.