Feel Like A Natural Woman

Hello.  My name is Erika and I’m addicted to buying and trying beauty products.

Hiiii, Errrikkkkaaaaa.

It’s true.  I don’t care if it is from Macy’s or Walgreen’s – I’ve tried almost every beauty product I can get my hands on.  When I discovered that I was pregnant with Little AG I suddenly realized that I had been largely slacking in one beauty product area – organic and natural makeup and skincare.  Being pregnant suddenly made me extremely aware of every single product I applied to my body, including things like sunscreen, makeup, toothpaste, and body lotion.  I spent hours using the internet to research every possible danger associated with every single product that I currently used – and it was then that my family forbade me from continuing to google information about beauty products on the internet.

They were all — um, crazy chick…step away from the laptop.  And I was all — must.do.more.googling!  After a brief intervention, they won.  It was a bit obsessive, I suppose.

So, in the absence of Google I turned to my two younger sisters, who had been using natural beauty products for quite a while, to help me figure out ways to incorporate organic and natural beauty and skincare products into my routine.  They pointed me in the direction of some fantastic products for both myself and for my then-still-a-peanut-sized daughter.  If you’ve ever found yourself wondering about these products but not really sure where to start – check out some of the awesome products I’ve suggested for you below, compiled with the help of my sister Dawn.  Most of these products aren’t completely organic, but they are all formulated without parabens and  without sodium lauryl/laureth sulfates.  Both of these have the ability to pass through the skin and to build up in the tissues of your body.  Yech.

1. Can You C Me? A makeup remover for both your visage and peepers, it combines organic carrot juice, minerals, and Dead Sea Mud and leaves my face feeling smooth and refreshed (isn’t it funny that mud makes my face feel refreshed?).  As a bonus – one of the ingredients is Aloe Vera so that it won’t irritate those pretty peepers, and will actually soothe tired eyes.

2.    Burt’s Bees Lemon and Vitamin E Bath and Body Oil – For an intensive moisturizing treatment, add some of this to a bath or apply it directly onto your skin.  After the birth of Little AG I used Vitamin E oil religiously after exfoliating, and it rid my tummy body of all of those pesky pregnancy stretchmarks.

3.  Pacifica “Mexican Cocoa” Solid Perfume – My sister Dawn let me try this stuff at the beach a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say that it’s true – good things absolutely come in small packages!  This delicious smelling perfume is created with organic wax and all-natural oils.  I would have never thought smelling like cocoa would be sexy, but I’ve gotta tell ya, dabbing a bit of this solid perfume behind my ears did not make me feel like a walking chocolate cake.  Bonus:  since it’s tiny, you can slip it in your evening bag or clutch and freshen up throughout the evening!

4.  Alba Sport Sunscreen SPF 30+ – Wearing sunscreen everyday is one of the most important things that you can do to combat aging – so next time you are in the market for more, try out this awesome broad-spectrum sunscreen.  This sunscreen is infused with all sorts of delish ingredients, including lavender, green tea, and aloe vera.

5.  Burt’s Bees Radiance Day Creme – Along with sunscreen, moisturizer is a product that should be used daily to fight off signs of aging, so why not give this one, with 134 different nutrients to nourish and protect your skin, a try?  Use it daily to help diminish the apperance of fine lines and keep your skin glowing.

Tea Tree Skin Care from The Body Shop {Giveaway CLOSED}

I have been shopping at The Body Shop for over 10 years now — my nose won’t let my body pass one of those awesome stores by without going in!  I discovered the Body Shop back when I was in high school when I began using their tea tree products that help prevent and control breakouts and blemishes. I used the line for years, so I was really excited to hear that they had revamped their their Tea Tree line – reformulating some existing products and adding new ones to create an entire skin care regime.

All of the products are now paraben & phthalate free – which is great news for anyone trying to be a bit more “green”.  (And a smart move, in my humble opinion!)  The line now includes products to prevent blemishes and breakouts, treat existing blemishes, and control oil and shine.  The products are formulated to not be too harsh or to overdry your skin, while still being effective.

Win It! To celebrate the relaunch of their new line, The Body Shop is offering 2 Chic Shopper Chick readers a prize package that includes all of the products that you see above ($115 value).  To enter to win, click on over to The Body Shop’s website and then come back here and tell me which one of their born-again Tea Tree products you would most love to try.  Leave a comment here, and stumble, subscribe, tweet (button at the top!) or blog about this contest with a link back here for additional entries. This contest ends August 20st, 2009 (ooh, on my birthday!). US entries only, must be 18 or older to enter, no purchase necessary to win.

Your Best Face Forward! {Giveaway CLOSED}

When I was 16 years old, everyone thought I was so much older than I actually was.  People made comments about it all the time (”Oh my GOODNESS you’re ONLY 16?!  Wow, are your parents in trouble!”), and occasionally men in their late 20’s would ask me on dates or worse, make inappropriate comments to me or in my direction.  My mom, being the good mom that she is, would shoot them dirty looks, quickly usher me away, and tell them in a growling voice, “she’s only 16!”.  Naturally, I didn’t mind looking older than I was at 16, because it worked to my advantage! (And, since my mom is BOUND to read this, we’ll leave that at that. Ahem.)

Somewhere around hitting 21 years old, everything changed, and suddenly people started thinking I was much younger than I actually was.  I remember being asked for ID while buying a lottery ticket (WHAT?  Somebody’s gotta win, right?!), which simultaneously surprised and irritated me since I had been able to buy lottery tickets for 3 years at that point.  It got progressively worse, at 22 years old people would ask me if I had considered where I was going for college yet – though in actuality I was a college senior and newly married.   At 24 years old and 8 months pregnant, I had several different instances where people looked at my belly in shock and horror and flat out asked “How OLD are you?!”  (My response?  “You first!!  How old are YOU?” with a sweet smile that told them to BUTT OUT.)

So, it seems the gods of aging or anti-aging have smiled upon me for most of my young adult life.  I’m not silly enough to think this will go on forever though, nuh uh.  I’m doing my part to take care of my skin and body so that I can prepare for the years ahead of me with a fanatical beauty routine that focuses heavily on skincare.  There is a new product on the market called Tripeptinon – a small capsule of liquid that combines 17 amino acids to address your skin’s surface issues as well as underlying issues such as supporting and connective tissue in your face.  Applied as the very last facial skincare step at night during a 6 week regimen, Tripeptinon is being celebrated as THE best way to have youthful skin – kinda like a face lift in a capsule. Here’s the thing though, you don’t have to be *ahem* OLDER to use this stuff.  No matter your age, your skin is constantly exposed to elements that are working against it, sun, wind, toxins in your environment, etc.  That means that no matter your age, you’re at the perfect age to take care of your skin.

Win it! I have a 6 week supply of Tripeptinon to give away to one lucky CSC reader!  To enter leave a comment for me on this post, and I’d luff you forever if you could say something with a bit more effort than “I wanna win.” or “enter me”.  Oh, and I have final say over what comments qualify as effort.  After your initial comment, every other (pertinent) comment left on this site on other posts from now through March 15th will count as an extra entry each.  You don’t need to come back to this post and tell me you commented on another post, I can stalk track you via your email/IP address.   As usual, extra entries are also available for stumbling Chic Shopper Chick (leave your stumble name), subscribing to my site, following me on Twitter, and blogging about this giveaway with a link back here.  That’s it, so good luck!

US entries only, winner will be chosen via random.org at the end of the contest. Winners are posted here, please leave a valid email address or blog address if you’d like to be contacted should you win. Winner has 72 hours to claim their prize. This contest ends at 11:59 pm CST on March 16th, 2009.