A Pamper Evening

Hello everyone! 

As you know, HelperBaby has been very very sick, and the other night I got approximately 2 hours of sleep. Needless to say, I looked like death warmed over the next day. So, I got out all of my spa essentials and decided an evening of pampering myself would do the trick. 

I didn't buy all these items at once, they are things that I have stock piled in my bathroom for about a month. I don't do pamper evenings all the time, but when I do, I want to fee luxuriant and lethargic; this is just what the doctor ordered. 

To start off with..

This, is everything that I use to acheive my pamper evening. 

I start out with brewing a cup of camomile tea for myself. 

Then, I wash my face and drink my tea. 

Next, I do a Biore nose strip to open and clean out my pores. And I read while that sits for 10 minutes. Then, I do a small GlamGlow mask. I already need more, but I still have enough for nose and spot treatments, so this is what I did. That sits for 20 minutes, and in the mean time, I sprayed all the summer shoes I took out of storage with an anti-bacterial, anti-fungal shoe spray to make sure they smell nice when it comes time to wear them all summer. (I can't wait!)

 Then I run my bath, with my Bath bomb, that my best friend, Tia, gave me for Christmas. It smells sweet, but not overpoweringly so and it makes the water smell good and get all fizzy. I loved it I will be buying more bath bombs in the future!

I soaked for about 10 minutes (I'm not a HUGE fan of baths, but my muscles needed the soak) and then I drained the tub and took a shower. I first scrub my lips with my LUSH Bubblegum Lip scrub, then I wash my hair with my Biolage and then scrub my arms (where I have unevenness and redness that I am trying to get rid of) with my LUSH Ocean Salt Scrub. I wash my body with my Nivia Harmony time and that leaves my skin feeling super soft. And I smell like a rose garden. How lovely. Then I wash my face with my Micheal Todd Tropical Enzyme Scrub to get all the dead skin off my face and make sure that all the mask and glue from the Biore strips has been taken off. 

I then Brush my teeth (my tea is finished by now) and I put on my rejuvenating eye pads and my almond oil hair mask. They both smell amazing. They only need 15 minutes, so I fold laundry while I'm waiting. 

Then I rinse out the hair mask and wash off any residue from the eye pads and towel off. I then spray my hair with my Soy Leave in Conditioner from the sexy hair line. Then I comb my hair and run my AG Keratin repair through my strands and comb those through too. I braid my hair and let those work their magic on my damaged locks. 


I then tone my face with my Pore Refining Toner, just to try and get those pores as tiny as possible after I removed all the junk from them. Next, I massage my Liftactiv Night from Vichy onto my face (this stuff smell so good) and follow up with my Ceramide Youth Restoring from Elizabeth Arden. I then gently pat my Ceramide Lift and Firming Eye Cream from Elizabeth Arden under and around my eyes. And then I put on my normal, everyday deoderant. And I finish my routine off with some Hurraw MoonBalm onto my lips. 

 I then put BioOil on my arms and anywhere I have scars or stretch marks. 

I then go crawl into bed and paint my nails with one of my favorite polishes, Wedding Glitters by Sally Hansen. Two coats does it, and I'm ready to read and then fall asleep, renewed, refreshed, and ready for another day of mothering.  

 












I hope this inspired you to do a little something for yourself this week. As mothers, we are busy and tired and often over worked, and we need a little break ever now and then to balance everything out. I hope you do a little balancing yourself. 

Remember to go check out my Luvocracy page to see all the products I used in my paper evening. @caitlynnescagel

See you on Monday!

Warm wishes. 

Glamglow!

Hello all, 

Today is another edition of Beauty is on the Inside. I have a little bit of catch-up to do, so these next few posts will be quite quick, but hopefully still useful to you. 

Today's post is about the GlamGlow mask. It is a mud mask that you can actually see pulling the oil out of your skin as it dries. It takes about 1 to put it on, 20 to let it work its magic, and 1 to take it off. It is so simple and so effective. 

The jar is a great quality metal and ceramic jar that has GlamGlow on the side. The actual directions are in the packaging, so make sure you read those before you do the mask. It talks about the active ingredients in the mask, and you want to make sure you aren't allergic to anything in the mask. And, as with any mask, make sure you test the mask on your arm first, let it sit for 20 minutes, and then wash it off to make sure that the ingredients in the mask don't react on your skin. 


The jar is a 1 oz jar, and the packaging says you get 1000 spot treatments or 17 full face masks. It costs about $70.00 CND, and while that is a lot of money to spend on 17 uses, it really does work. I use the mask only about once a week, so for me, that is 17 weeks of product in one 1 oz jar. Which, if you think about it, is about $4.11 for a facial that you don't have to get a baby sitter for, get out of your pajamas for, and can go whenever you want, day or night, for 17 weeks straight. Not bad in my opinion. 

I think that this product really works. I put it on my face and after it started drying, it immediately began pulling the oil u of my nose and cheeks and chin. I have horribly oily skin, so this product is lovely for me. 

After, my face feel clean, and a little tight, which for me, makes me feel like I am getting a really great clean. I have gotten a facial or two in my time, and I have to say, this is almost as good. 

Of course, it feels great to have someone else massage your face and apply a mud mask and all you have to do is lie there and think of how great your skin will look after. But, I also feel so productive when I use this mask. Like the ultimate multitasking mom: she takes care of herself, while taking care of the house, the child and the dogs! You look a little silly at first, but then, your family will get used to mom looking like a mud monster while managing everything. Heck, you could even use that to your advantage to chase your kids around the house, like a mud monster of course. You'd burn some calories that way, for sure. 

So, to demonstrate the awesome powers of this mask, I will now put it on, let it sit for 20 minutes, and then take it off and supply you with before and after pictures of the whole process. 

First, I have cleaned my face with an exfoliant. I really want to open my pores and let the mask pull all the junk out of it that it can. 

I use a brush. I was told to use a foundation brush, but I didn't have one at the time, so I use a paint brush from Micheal's. Yes, a paint brush. It never saw any action, and now it is my mud mask brush. Not only does it allow you to control your product better, it also allows you to regulate it much better, and you don't waste as much. Remember to wash your brush right after!!!

Paint it all over you face in a THIN even layer. You do not need a lot of this stuff, I promise. Plus, the more you put on, the longer it will take to dry, and that means less time absorbing the oil because it is still trying to dry. 

Let it sit for 20 minutes. 

And see how it pulls all the oil and junk to the surface?













EW













Nasty

















Gross

















Disgusting. 



























Now wash it off with water. DO not scrub it off! Your pores are very open right now, and if you scrub it in, you will be left with black pores because you will be pushing all the oil right back into your face. Wash it off with gentle circular motions with warm water. 

After, use toner. I use about three cotton pads worth because I want to make sure I get all the oil on the surface of my skin off. 

Then moisturize and you have lovely skin. 

My skin feels great and I think it looks better that before I did the mask. 

My make-up just slides right over my skin and it makes me feel like I have the prettiest skin in all the land. 

That might be delusional, but hey, I'm not hurting anyone. 

I hope you all enjoyed the short review, and I hope to see you again on Friday for more Beauty is on the Inside. 

Warm wishes. 

January Favorites

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to give you guys a January favorites list to let you know what I am loving this cold, dry winter. I will be doing a products I regret buying a little later, and I will do an empties post every six months. I will be doing a favorites post the first week of every month just because my life changes, and I find products that work well for me and for my family, so hopefully this will help you in deciding to buy some of these products or not. 

Let me know what you think, and let me know how you liked these products. 

Also, none of these brands pay me to promote their products, and none of these retailers pay me or asked me to promote their stores or sites, this is just the most information I can give you, in the hopes that you will easily find something you truly love. 

First up is my LUSH Bubblegum lip scrub. I love this product. I have been using it every morning and every night and it has done wonders for my lips. It has been horrible and ugly outside for about a month and a half now, and I can't stand it. My lips crack and are dry and flaky every morning, and it feels disgusting. Using this has helped so much. It is raw and vegan and made without animal testing and of recycled materials. The only downside to this product is that it costs $9.95. Ugh. So, I made some of my own lip scrub. I think it's just as good. You will have to decide yourself. You can buy this product here, or make your own. 

The next favorite on my list is my Revlon Steel My Heart Nail polish. I have worn it pretty much everyday this month. I think it is sexy yet sedate. I filed my nails down short just to really give off that "bad-ass-mom" vibe. it looks great with every outfit, but then I think that about almost all nail polish colors. I use it with my Nail Strengthener by OPI and my RapiDry Top Coat by OPI. I feel that it helps my nails not to chip and break like they often do in dry weather, and let me get on with my day.  

It might be hard to see but this is a gunmetal grey metallic nail polish and I can't get enough of it. You can find it at Walmart or here.

Next on my list of January must haves is my GlamGlow mask. I love it! I haven't done a post on it yet, but I will! I love this mask. It removes all the dirt and nastiness from your pores one use at a time. The first time I used this mask my face looked BLACK because of all the oil and dirt it was pulling out of it, and the next time I used it, it was still pretty dark, but not as much as the first time. I use this mask every week and for spot treatments. If you are a big mask person, especially if you have acne prone skin or acne problems, I would definitely suggest this mask. I will do a full post later on, and I will demonstrate how it works and all the lovely goodness that is the GlamGlow mask, but for now, I will say buy it. The only downside to this mask is that it is $70. But if you use it for a full mask you get 17 uses and for spot treatments, you get 1,000 uses, according to the packaging. I will be re-purchasing it when I run out. There is also the GlamGlow 10 minute photo ready mask, and I love that one as well, but I rarely use it because it comes in such a small container, and while it does exfoliate your skin and give you a really nice finish to put your make-up onto, I don't have 10 extra minutes in the morning to wait for my mask to dry, so I only use it when I have the extra time. But it is very good as well, though not a favorite of mine. 

Here is where you can order the GlamGlow mask.

My next favorite I actually got out of necessity and then found out that I loved it. It is the BIOLAGE Color Care UV protection Orchid scented shampoo. I love the way this smells, my husband loves the way this smells, I think that the dog loves the way this smells. It is great. So subtle yet elegant and soft and lovely. I feel fresh and new when i use this shampoo. It makes my hair super soft and shiny and my color has stayed put for weeks now. It comes in a big ol' bottle and it lasts me for several months. It is so much less expensive than a big bottle of salon brand shampoo. Now don't get me wrong, I love my Big Sexy Hair Shampoo and Conditioner, but I don't have a salon near me right now to purchase it. So, I would say that this is probably the next best thing to the salon brands. 

Here is a link to Amazon where you can buy it, but I found it at my local Walmart.

This month has been a busy one for me!!! Between getting my blog up and running (thank you for reading me!) and adjusting to my hubby being home, and the baby is going through some crazy phases, and I'm going to this parenting class during the week, and about a hundred other things, I have sometimes been too busy/lazy to actually wash my hair. The longest I can go without washing my hair most weeks is one day and then i have to wash it again. So if I wash my hair on Monday, I have to wash it on Wednesday. But, with the miracle of a great dry shampoo, I can wait an extra day to wash my hair. And when I say wash my hair, that is all I mean, I shower everyday, but it being Canada, if I were to go outside with my hair all wet, it would literally freeze. Which means that every time I wash my hair, I have to blow dry it or not leave the hours for two hours. So, I take a shower, without getting my hair wet, and then I wash my face at the sink and that is that. But, my hair gets super oily when I don't wash my hair, so I use KMS make-over spray. I love this product. I am going to see if I can find one that I enjoy equally as much because it is quite expensive, as you can see here. I have found that my local Winners sells batiste at half price, so hopefully in February I will be able to find that again, but back to KMS. I love the way this spray smells, and what it does for my hair. It isn't thick or gross or too powdery. I just can't get enough of it. I will do an official review later, so come back next month and see what I have up! 

My next monthly favorite is my Elizabeth Arden Lip Balm. Years and years ago, my grandmother gave me this balm and I fell in love with it. it is very, very expensive, but in my opinion, well worth it. For me, it brings back a lot of good memories of learning how to put make-up on with my grandmother and how thoughtful she was at every chance. It is smooth and creamy and the consistence is beautiful. i just can't get enough of this balm. I'm really happy to have it back in my stash again. I will review all of my lipsticks, balm and glosses when I do my lipstick swatch post. Keep an eye out for it. You can find Elizabeth Arden at your local drugstore that sells beauty products. I found mine at Shopper's and you can buy it here as well. 

This past month I have really been trying to amp up the health factor in my family. We eat less sugar and more fruits and veggies, and we are no longer soda drinkers, and we have officially cut out artificial sweeteners from the entire house. There are many more things, but they are too numerous to list here.  Another thing I am doing for myself, is cutting caffine out of the equation. Don't get me wrong, I love coffee as much as the next girl, but it just wasn't good for my stomach or my skin. So, I needed a different sort of pick me up. I started doing my research and I found a natural way to increase blood flow in the morning and a great way to wake up is by taking natural vitamins. I take B100 vitamins every morning now. I make sure to take them on a full stomach and they don't make me sick or even slightly nauseous. And they work. I take fish oil for my skin and folic acid for my nails and hair and B100 to help give me that little extra boost in the morning. They are so beneficial for you and I absolutely love them. They feel so much more natural than drinking coffee and I don't crash afterwards. In Love. I bought them at Walmart, but you can find them where ever vitamins are sold. Or here. 

These last three things are not beauty related what-so-ever, but they are still my main attraction in their categories for this month. 

The first is J.R.Ward's Lover At Last. I read this book this month, actually I am still reading this book, I have been way busy, as I mentioned before, and I barely get time to read, but i am determined to finish this book. Look for my post on silly goals on the home page. You will see a list of silly goals I have for this year. Coming soon to a computer near you... Anyway, I love this series. If you are a fan of supernatural romance then you will love this series too. It is hardcore and sexy and funny and tear-jerking, and exciting and everything you could ever want from a book series. Mrs. Ward is an amazing author, who I was actually able to meet! Hopefully one day we will be able to meet again, but until then I will just revel in the amazing-ness of her books and devour all that I can. 

My video game for this month is Two Worlds. It is a horribly laggy and glitchy video game, but I am obsessed with it. it has a good story line and about a hundred thousand different quests. It does have some flaws which make it simultaneously the most annoying game I have ever played, but to beat it would be an accomplishment in and of itself. So, that is what game I am loving this month. 

These were my favorites for the month of January. I hope you liked them. And I hope you will look forward to my February favorites. I am trying a lot of new products in February, so come see me on March 1st and hopefully you will see something you like. If there is anything you want to see me test out, let me know and I will try my hardest. 

Warm wishes.