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Brand Spotlight

Brand Spotlight: Playa Hair Care

August 25th, 2017 by Karen 6 Comments

playa haircare
Next stop: California cool beach waves by Playa

A friend of mine moved to Hawaii, to the island of Oahu, where she stayed for several years, and during all that time — years — whenever she went to the beach, she never went in the water, which just blows my mind!

Then again, I’m a water baby. I could happily paddle around on a surfboard all day long (assuming it’s in warm water, though, because I don’t do freezing surf!).

One thing I’ve always loved about the beach is the tousled beach hair, and new Playa, a new SoCal hair care line, has five products to give you Cali beach waves without any heat styling. So, basically, beach hair without the blow dryer. Or curling iron.

They use coconut water and sugar beet extract in their products, which range from $26-32, so around Bumble & Bumble/Ouai and R+Co prices.

Most of their ingredients — they say between 96-99% — are naturally derived, too. The Dry Shampoo is the only one that doesn’t mention the percentage.

playa hair care
Playa hair!

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There are 6 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Brand Spotlight, Hair, Playa, Product Reviews

Brand Spotlight: Natura Brasil, Made From Brazil’s Rainforests‎

August 11th, 2017 by Karen 7 Comments

natura brasil
Have you heard of Natura Brasil?

New York friends, here’s another store that you can go to on your next beauty shopping adventure, and that I would LOVE to be able to go to as well if I didn’t live 2,903 miles away… It’s Natura Brasil, and it’s at 240 Elizabeth Street in the heart of Nolita.

They’re Brazilian brand, and I’m not sure how long they’ve been around, but they’re new to me. They’re a big deal in Brazil (If you follow beauty news, they might sound familiar because they recently purchased The Body Shop from L’Oreal! So, yeah, that’s $$$ BIG.), and they do body, bath and hair products. They’re also a favorite of many high-profile Brazilian babes, including Adriana Lima and Gisele.

Even if you aren’t planning a trip to New York anytime soon, you can still try their products, because they’re also available on the Natura Brasil website. Most of their products are about $25 each, so right in the mid-range, similar to The Body Shop and Aveda.

natura brasil castanha body lotion
Castanha Body Lotion

I chatted with some PR peeps from the brand to learn more. The company is all about using local Brazilian ingredients, and they work directly with farms and families to source things like castanha (commonly known here in the U.S. as the Brazil Nut) and murumuru (a palm tree with edible nuts that are sometimes added to moisturizers).

natura brasil cacau body butter
Cacau Body Butter

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Categories: Brand Spotlight, Hair, NaturaBrasil, Skin Care

Brand Spotlight: IGK

May 18th, 2017 by Karen 10 Comments

igk
Getting to know the IGK hair care line

Girl, there’s this IGK display at the Sephora by my house that I’ve walked past…I don’t know how many times, and I swear to gawd, up until about a month ago, I thought it was a display for R+Co!

Doesn’t the packaging look similar?

randco high dive
R+Co High Dive
igk
IGK has cute packaging, yeah?

Still, I should probably, like, get my eyes checked soon. Maybe I should break down and get Lasik already.

IGK is a pretty new brand. I think they showed up in 2016, so they’re still the new kids on the hair block.

The name “IGK” is an acronym based on the names of the founders — two brothers and two of their friends — Frank Izquierdo, Leo Izquierdo, Aaron Grenia and Chase Kusero.


There’s a reference to “X-Men.” Wait for it.

They’re all US hairstylists who work in different cities, and if you look closely at the labels, they have a code at the top — MIA, NYC and LA — which is a shout-out to their respective city and the name of the scent, of which there are three in the line.

MIA, or the Miami scent, has guava, coconut water, pink lotus, violet and vanilla notes.
LA, the Los Angeles scent, has notes of bergamot, lemon zest, mimosa, heliotrope and black amber.
NYC, the New York City scent, has of black pepper, blackberry, violet, geranium and leather notes.

They’ve got everything you need to take care of hair — shampoos, conditioners and hair styling products. All of the products are cruelty free, offer UV and heat protection protection, and are made without mineral oils or petroleum.

Smoke & Mirrors Conditioning Cleansing Oil ($29)

I’ve tried a handful of things, and the product I’m totally and completely in love with is Smoke & Mirrors Conditioning Cleansing Oil.

igk smoke mirrors
Smoke & Mirrors Conditioning Cleansing Oil

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There are 10 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Brand Spotlight, Hair, IGK, Product Reviews

Brand Spotlight: Kosas Cosmetics

March 6th, 2017 by Karen 27 Comments

kosas cosmetics
Kosas Cosmetics Lipsticks, $24 each

I might be the poster girl for the antithesis of makeup minimalism (makeup maximumism?).

No, seriously, I carry like 12 lip products in my bag at any given time…or maybe 15, because I love ALL TEH COLORS, so it’s funny to me that I fell for Kosas Cosmetics, a line all about makeup minimalism.

Lipsticks ON POINT

Kosas, an up-and-coming luxury natural makeup line out of LA, is also the Sanscrit word for sheath. Their first products, a line of eight semi-matte lipsticks, launched last year in shades of pink, rose, red and plum ($24 each).

Girl, these lipsticks are totally and completely on point. ON. POINT. Based on these, I can’t wait to see what else this brand comes up with.

kosas cosmetics
Hello, pretties!

It’s all about the basics

Founder Sheena Yaitanes, who happens to be a painter AND a chemist, said that she wanted to create a line of products edited all the way down to the basics — no unnecessary or redundant colors or chemicals.

kosas stardust
Kosas Cosmetics Lipstick in Stardust

Flattery will get you everywhere…

Sheena drew upon her background in painting when she was working and experimenting to develop her lipstick colors. In painting, when you’re mixing up colors to paint skin, you use a lot of reds, blues and yellows, and Sheena purposefully picked these undertones for her lipsticks, which encompass some very flattering colors.

kosas rosewater
Kosas Cosmetics Lipstick in Rosewater

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Categories: Brand Spotlight, Kosas Cosmetics, Makeup, Product Reviews

Brand Spotlight: YUNI Beauty

February 21st, 2017 by Karen 8 Comments

yuni beauty
YUNI Beauty, a new line of yoga- and fitness-inspired body products available now at Sephora

Oh! This line? — YUNI Beauty — has, like, hot Soul Cycle babe written all over it. If I ever go back to Soul Cycle (why is it so expensive?), I’m definitely bringing a couple things from YUNI along with me. Side note: remind me sometime to tell you about the one and only time I went to Soul Cycle and how I had a full-on emotional meltdown on the bike.

No, seriously, I cried like a freaking baby! It’s kind of funny now that I think about it…

“Mindful beauty for an active life”

YUNI Beauty is a small brand that just recently launched at Sephora with six products, and their mantra is “Mindful beauty for an active life.” They have products for cleaning up after your workout, helping your muscles recover, and they also have a hair treatment that you can use while you’re working out, so everything in the line revolves around the idea of active beauty.

Plant-based products

Their formulations are made with primarily plant-based ingredients, and without parabens, formaldehydes, synthetic colors or fragrances.

I’ve tried four of the six products available now at Sephora, and my favorites are the $25 Hot Head Microveil Hair Treatment and $18 Chillax Recovery Gel.

Hot Head Microveil Hair Treatment ($25)

Hot Head is neat. I haven’t run into anything quite like it before (and I’ve been writing about beauty for 10 years!). Basically, it’s a moisturizing hair treatment with a fresh herbal lavender scent that you spray on your scalp and throughout your hair before you get your sweat on. After working the product through your hair, you put your hair up into a bun or braid — this is key! I’ll tell you why in a second — and, during your workout, your body temperature opens the cuticle of each hair to condition, repair, add shine, hydrate and control frizz and flyaways.

yuni beauty hot head
YUNI Beauty Hot Head Microveil Hair Treatment ($25)

You can keep it in your hair after you’re done with your workout, and go about your business, or, you can rinse it out. I like to rinse it out because it feels slightly greasy to me, and I don’t like feeling that in my hair all day long.

Hot Head Microveil Hair Treatment Ingredients
SD Alcohol 40-b, Dimethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone, Isopropyl Palmitate, Argania Spinosa Kernal Oil, Aleurites Moluccana Seed Oil, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Ethyl Macadamiate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Fragrance

The greasy feeling is also why I prefer to put my hair up in a bun or braid when I use it. I wore a ponytail once while I was using it, and my greasy ponytail kept hitting me in the face…which was aggravating.

Anyway, my hair likes it. After I rinse it out, then shampoo and condition, my hair looks extra shiny and feels soft and sensational.

Chillax Muscle Recovery Gel ($18)

The Chillax Muscle Recovery Gel is like a beauty girl’s high-end Icy Hot. LOL! With arnica, menthol, peppermint oil and aloe, among other plant-based goodies, it’s supposed to make muscles feel better.

I dunno… I think it works. I rub it on the arches of my feet after I exercise, and my feet aren’t nearly as sore as they usually get the next day when I don’t use it.

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There are 8 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Brand Spotlight, Makeup, YUNI Beauty

Brand Spotlight: Axiology Beauty

February 14th, 2017 by Karen 9 Comments

axiology beauty lipsticks
Axiology Beauty Natural Lipsticks in Identity (left) and Devotion (right), $28 each

Avocado, coconut, oranges, grapes… Am I making a delicious smoothie?? Um, I wish, because I’m hongray right now, and, truth be told, my plumbing could do (haha) with a mega dose of fiber (TMI much?).

I’m reading the list of ingredients on a box of Axiology Beauty Lipstick, and it’s making my tummy rumble…

Ingredients
Candelilla Wax, Organic Avocado Oil, Organic Castor Oil, Organic Avocado Butter, Organic Grape Seed Oil, Organic Coconut Oil, Vitamin E Oil, Elderberry Extract, Sweet Orange Oil, Neem Seed Oil; May Contain: Iron Oxide, Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Manganese Violet

Axiology is a cool little company out of Bend, Orgeon, which is a town I visited many moons ago… What’s up, Bend!?

Anywho, they craft luxury organic lipsticks.

Yup, just lipsticks. And everything is vegan, cruelty-free, non-GMO and doesn’t contain any synthetic colors.

The first time I read the ingredient list on the box, my brain was oh-so-happy to avoid the dusty folds where all of my former college chemistry now hides, since I recognized a lot of the ingredients from cooking.

There are lots of edible-sounding things.

axiology natural lipstick boxes
Neat boxes…

The ingredient list reads like a smoothie recipe at a posh juice place.

I dunno… I think I’m hungrier than I thought. If we were zombie apocalypsing (not a word) right now, and I desperately needed a boost, I’d grab one of these Axiology Lipsticks, put a little on my lips, then eat the bullet and keep running.

Side note: I totally forgot to watch The Walking Dead last night! What the what!!

Sheer-to-medium coverage

There are 22 shades, and they’re $28 each, which is right in line with Bite, NARS, Laura Mercier and Hourglass.

There are tans, browns, some funkier blues and purples (even a black shade that looks Robert Smith-y!), but you know me. I had to get all up in some nudes first!

Um…that sounded dirtier in print than it did in my mind. Whoops.

I’ve tried Identity, which is a pearly cool pink with a slight hint of lavender, and Devotion, a pearly rose tinged with brown, and if I just apply one layer, they’re a little sheer, so I like to build them up to medium coverage with two or three layers.

They layer well up to three layers. More than that and they start pooling in my vertical lip lines, but if it happens, I just pat them down with a finger.

axiology lipstick identity
Axiology Lipstick in Identity

Soft and creamy

The thing I love most about these lipsticks is how they feel! When I rub the bullet across my lips (I’m doing it right now with pink Identity), it feels like this one time I was cooking with coconut oil… You know those big-@ss jars you can get at Trader Joe’s?

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There are 9 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Brand Spotlight, Makeup, Product Reviews

Brand Spotlight: Rituel de Fille, Spellbinding Natural Color

December 15th, 2016 by Karen 23 Comments

rituel de fille
Experimenting with Rituel de Fille

Artemis“Kamat wimings!” said Allora, tapping Artemis on the shoulder with the Wand of Skunkrillis. Instantly — POOF! — there was a burst of twinkling golden magical ✨ energy, and a pair of raven’s wings sprouted from the black cat’s back.

“Mrow,” said the cat, unfurling his new appendages to stretch them out.

“Good kitty,” said Allora, scritching him under his chin, and the cat-raven purred in delight.

—

Makeup is a kind of magic. Our eyeshadows and lipsticks and blushes are modern day potions, and our makeup brushes are like magic wands. And when we sit down to put on our face, in a way, there’s a bit of actual mysticism involved, because there is that aspect of transforming oneself. I think the coven of cosmetic lovers at Rituel de Fille probably also see it that way.

rituel de fille
I’m wearing the Ash and Ember Eye Soots in Viscera, Night Shade and Serpent de Mer; as well as Frenzy Blush and Bittersweet Lipstick

Rituel de Fille (pronounced “ritoo-el-day-fee”) is a fairly new indie makeup brand. They’ve been around since 2015, but in that time, they’ve done some really cool things.

Their approach to makeup? — minimize ingredients (99% natural and no fillers) and maximize the pigment, so there are plenty of punchy colors and products with short ingredient lists. Their makeup is made without synthetic dyes, fragrances or parabens, and it’s all cruelty-free. They aren’t a vegan line, though, because some of their products do have beeswax and lanolin in them.

They list all of their ingredients on their website, which is cool because a lot of brands, especially bigger brands, aren’t always transparent about that kind of thing.

The brand is available all over the U.S. now, as well as online at ritueldefille.com and credobeauty.com.

rituel de fille packaging
The packaging

I get a witchy, astrological vibe from them, and I think that’s what they’re aiming for. The founders are three sisters (they call themselves “The Ramos Sisters”).

Here’s a picture of them from their website pouring what looks like magic fairy dust…

rituel de fille ramos sisters
The Ramos Sisters (P.S. I would like to petition to become the fourth Ramos Sister)

They look like three super cool gals who listen to Stevie Nicks and have probably seen The Craft a hundred times. Perhaps they have a secret room in their house where they keep all of their love potions (because in the story I just made up in my mind, they all live together in a ramshackle Victorian, obviously).

I’ve tested a few pieces from the line, and the Ash and Ember Eye Soots ($38 each) really stand out. They’re pigments held together with a touch of oil, so they have a consistency somewhere between a cream and a powder.

rituel de fille ash ember eye soot
The Ash and Ember Eye Soots, clockwise from the red jar on the left: Viscera, Night Shade and Serpent de Mer

They come in jars with an opening that’s about the width of a fingertip, which is great, because they’re designed to be applied with a fingertip (or a flat eyeshadow brush or angled liner brush). You just press down to pick up some of the product, but because the opening of the jar is narrow, you’re forced to apply downward pressure, as opposed to swiping your finger back and forth.

They say that it’s the best way to get the product out of the packaging and onto your lids.

rituel de fille viscera
The Ash and Ember Eye Soot in Viscera…

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There are 23 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Brand Spotlight, Makeup, Rituel de Fille

Brand Spotlight: Studio 78 Paris

December 10th, 2016 by Karen 12 Comments

studio 78 paris
Brand spotlight: Studio 78 Paris

Chic, French, fun, natural and fabulous.

Who is that coy cutie peeking out from behind the leaves on these pieces from the Studio 78 Paris makeup line? I want to hang out with her and her fabulous mane of cascading foliage. 🙂

studio 78 paris
“Studio 78 Paris carries the prestigious ECO CERT organic certification. Using botanical ingredients combined with a gorgeous shade range Studio 78 Paris was created by Margareth Halfon who got her experience developing products for Guerlain Makeup and Rouge Baiser. These perfectly pigmented products are also gentle enough for sensitive skin.” –credobeauty.com

The playful pigments in the Studio 78 Paris makeup line are products of founder Margareth Halfon’s creative mind. The organic beauty brand is still mostly under the radar here in the U.S., but Credo Beauty does ship their products and many other clean/natural beauty brands internationally to our side of the pond. And if you’re interested, now’s the time to act because you can also get 20% off orders over $75 through Dec. 11 using code CredoLovesFriends.

In many ways, I dunno…Studio 78 Paris seems like a line that could (and should) be the next underground cult fave of beauty girls who know what’s cool before social media and magazines call it cool — chic black and white packaging, playful pigments, and a simple elegance that’s totally casual.

Everything in the line carries the ECOCERT organic certification, which means that their products all have at least 95% plant-based ingredients, and no GMOs, parabens, phenoxyethanol, nanoparticles, silicon, PEG, synthetic perfumes and dyes, or animal-derived ingredients, unless it’s things that are naturally produced by animals, like milk and honey. The packaging is also biodegradable or recyclable.

I’ve tested a few of their products so far, including…

On the Beach Blush, $34

studio 78 paris blush
On the Beach Blush

This long-wearing baked mineral blush is pretty pigmented and has a soft satin finish that I really like. You can sheer it out if you don’t want a ton of color on your cheeks, or you can build it up in layers for a brighter look.

I usually like when my blush doesn’t look too “blushy,” and this peachy shade is one of most natural-looking blushes I’ve ever worn. I think it looks A LOT like the impeccable Chanel Joues Contrastes, which are IMO the crème de la crème of natural-looking blushes. Sadly, Studio 78 Paris only makes three shades.

BOO! [INSERT WHINY VOICE HERE] 🙁

INGREDIENTS: mica, zea mays starch, squalane, zinc stearate, cocos nucifera oil, helianthus annuus seed oil, prunus armeniaca kernel oil, persea gratissima oil, chamomilla recutita flower extract, parfum, dehydroacetic acid, benzyl alcohol, limonene, linalool. May contain: ci 77891, ci 77491, ci 77492, ci 77499, ci 77947, ci 77510, ci 77007, ci 77288, ci 77289, ci 77742.

Liquid Lipstick in Ruby Wedding, $32

studio 78 paris lipsitck
Ruby Wedding Liquid Lipstick, a.k.a plummy red perfection

[Continue reading…]

There are 12 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Brand Spotlight, Makeup, Studio 78 Paris Keywords: Credo Beauty

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