Sometimes You Don't Need Something...Until You NEED It...

The good people at Healthy Solutions generously gave me a tube of their OxyRub Pain Relief Cream, in exchange for my sharing my opinions on it. Awesome. Well, as the way of the world goes, I have a good couple of weeks pain wise, and I didn't really have much of a need for it. So I looked at it, and I thought on it, and I couldn't decide what on earth to do!

And then because sometimes life works out like that, I tossed it in my bag when we left for vacation. And within a matter of hours, my son has shin splints - and me without my children's aspirin! - and I jam my toe on the sliding door at the hotel, with no ibuprofen either.

OxyRub, take me away!

I applied it to my son first. It is mentholated, and I thought almost had a wintergreen sort of smell to it, although the Amazon listing claims the smell is citrus. I did not get that, I'll take their word for it. Despite the fact that I did not smell the citrus that they claimed, I do actually like the scent.

I noticed a little went a long way, I squeezed out the amount of rub that I figured would cover one leg, and was able to capably cover both.

Afterward, I asked his opinion on how the lotion went on, and how it felt. He said that it went on nice, but reported feeling like it took a long time to absorb. He described it as feeling a "little greasy". I will tell you to take that with a grain of salt though, he's pretty fussy with his opinions of lotion.

He also reported that it relieved the pain for 1 to 2 hours, and that when the pain returned, it was noticeably less. So, other than the greasy factor, he was a fan.

And I've now used it myself several times since we've been here, and one of them was admittedly kind of silly, so stay with me.

I jammed my toe on the hotel door. There is a sliding glass door, and I tried to go out it. The seal is really high, and my second toe didn't make the cut. Brutal. So I slathered up my toe, and down around the joint.

My opinion differed from my son a little bit. I found it easy to use, and fast absorbing. And it was very cooling, which immediately helped me be more comfortable, and feel like my pain was more under control, which was great. I was able to get comfortable and up off of my foot. By morning, of course, the effect had completely worn off.

Today, I used the cream again, for a reason that is admittedly sillier. We're on vacation today, and we did a lot of walking. Like, more steps than I'd ever done in one day on my Fitbit. And my feet were tired! I slicked the soles of both feet down with my OxyRub, gave it a minute to absorb, and walked to dinner. You guys...I didn't feel so silly after that! I mean yes, my feet were still sore, but I was in so much better shape! I'm not sure I could have made it across the street without the pain rub!

So, like I said - I was initially a little perplexed by this product. But if you need a quick acting pain relieving alternative - for cases like mine, where you're caught without, or just because it's your own preference not to take a pill - OxyRub has got you taken care of!

As a special treat for my readers, go to Amazon, use code "SAVEOXY2" and take 20% off of your purchase. It's well worth it - quick acting pain relievers are hard to come by, take advantage of the good ones!

Find them online;

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EASY536
http://www.healthydirections.com/product/oxyrub

I Got A Problem...

Well, I had a problem.

At any rate, I went to my son's elementary school field day. I'd never been before, so I figured why not? I was in charge of the "pizza box game", where the kids had to run a variety of relay races in order to stack pizza boxes. In a portion of the soccer field that felt like it was 1,000 miles from any sort of shade. On a scorchingly hot day.

And in case this IS your first time at the rodeo that is the Big Blog...I'm very fair.

As a result, I came home from elementary school field day, looking like this:

Starting to see my dilemma, right? Let me add in a few more layers (pardon the pun, but I'll get to that...). My day job is working at a local dance studio. I run the front desk, and teach a couple of classes, and it's an absolutely blast-y blast. The kind of fun that I feel awkward using words like "job" and "work" to describe it. This picture happened to be the same day as our end of the year banquet, and, a mere 4 days before I was going to have to look good, in a costume with exposed back and shoulders.

Yep, I got a problem. And then this sunburn began peeling like a beast because...well, because why not, at this point, right?

Enter my good friend;

Adovia Dead Sea Salt Scrub with natural oils. My burn was peeling, and I needed it to be over, much faster than it was actually going. And there are no pictures of my peeling sunburn, because let's be honest with each other - I didn't want to take them, and you don't really want to look at them. :D

I tried this scrub out on my hands first. Did you ever use the Mary Kay Satin Hands kit? This scrub sort of does both steps at the same time. It's kind of awesome like that. Your hands will come away smooth and buttery soft! Big, fat grains of salt and smooth, silky oils. Beautiful!

At any rate, back to the sunburn.

I got in the shower, dipped my hand in to the well, and hoped for the best. Scrubbed off my back and shoulders and chest, and hoped for the best.

I got up in the morning, and much to my surprise - it worked! It really, really worked! The peeling skin had dried up, and could simply be brushed away! I was so surprised! This stuff is great!

Here's a few other minor details I noticed;

Keep this A. WAY. from your kids. There's no fooling - you open this up, and it's salt and oil, clear to the top. Even with my 8 year old (who should reasonably know better than to pour oils all over the table), I was nervous to let him mess with it, it was filled to the top, and oily!

The scent is "Ocean Breeze", and I found it a bit...cloying. Stuck in my nose a little too well, you know?

But, otherwise, I was more than satisfied with this product. I gave it the biggest test I knew how (peeling sunburns are brutal. If you're lucky and haven't had one in a while, think back. You've been there. lol...), and it passed with flying colors. I would very enthusiastically recommend this to a friend!

See you later beautiful!

This was my first try talking about women's body scrubs, but I have talked about men's before!

Have you liked my Facebook page yet? Click the bar at the top! C'mon! It's easy!

Full Disclosure: Adovia was kind enough to supply me with this product in exchange for my opinions on it, however, the opinions are all my own. You can purchase their scrubs through this website here, and their products are for sale on Amazon as well.

Radha Beauty Knows What's Up, You Guys...

I've been on a battery of dermatologist treatments for a few months, and I've got probably the best complexion I've ever had. Amazing.

I'd recently tried a different product (that shall remain nameless) for another company (ditto), and was dismayed to find out that pretty much all my dermatologists hardwork had been undone. In all of about 48 hours.

I panicked a little - if you've ever had bad skin, and then had it clear up, you know the feeling - and I didn't know what to do.

Enter my good friends at Radha Beauty!

Their skin clearing serum is that ever so rare combination of an anti-aging and anti-acne product. It's formulated with Vitamin C, retinol, hyaluronic acid, salicylic acid and niacinamide, to both clear your face up, and help with wrinkles.

Fortunately, the wrinkles part hasn't hit me that hard yet. But, I did have break outs across my forehead, and I needed help!

A sleek, masculine product that anyone would pick up. Clearly labeled, easy to understand. The product comes out to the thinner side, and you put it on under your other face products. It has a distinct medicinal property - it's got several essential oils, including tea tree oil in it. Tea Tree oil is pretty far down in the ingredients list, and I can even still plainly make out the scent of it. I mean, I secretly like the scent of tea tree oil, but even still.

I did actually find it a bit drying - which was fine by me. I'd actually broken out from increased oil production from the last product I'd tried, so drying out a little was fine.

I did drop the ball a little bit, and forgot to take shots for before and after pictures. Oops.

At any rate, my forgetting to take pictures aside... the breakouts I'd experienced are long a thing of the past. This serum layers well, and plays nicely with my other skin care products. It is scented - and fairly heavily - but I actually enjoy the scent, so it doesn't bother me. A possible packaging concern is that I don't think this would travel all that well, there doesn't seem to be any way to close or lock the pump. Other than that, even the packaging is great. If you need that rare combination of anti-acne and anti-aging skin care, Radha Beauty has the ticket!

DISCLOSURE: The good people at Radha Beauty supplied me with this product in exchange for my opinions on it. All opinions are my own.

Intrigued by Radha Beauty products? I've talked about them before!

Lotion...and vitamins?

Vitamin B is important. In fact, Dr. Oz brands Vitamin B12 in particular as "the most important vitamin you're not taking". Why is it important? Deficency can lead to "certain characteristics" of anemia, slower neural transmission and it's required for the replication of DNA - which means without it, we can not generate new healthy cells. Those three come together to mimic virtually all effects of aging. Lack of B12 is making you look old, Dr. Oz is saying. (Source).

And bad news for our Vegetarian and Vegan friends, most of the naturally occuring sources of B12 are meats - clams, trout, haddock, cheeseburgers and liver are just a few. (Source)

Fear not! My good friends at VitaSciences have got your back, with their Maxasorb B12 Cream!

A rich, emollient lotion that delivers your daily dose of Vitamin B12. If you don't want to look aged ahead of your time, but don't eat a lot of clams, don't worry.

The Maxasorb B12 Cream is a nice, rich, emollient cream that absorbs quickly, and provides your daily dose of B12.

Scent is always a big thing I notice from lotions, and there was no scent to speak of with this lotion, which is nice. So the fragrance sensitive will have no problem with this.

I did have a strange dilemma, in that I almost had to build a tolerance to this lotion. The first couple of times I used it, I itched! And I was panicked! Like, how am I supposed to say anything about this lotion, if putting it on makes me want to wipe it off?

After a few times, and a built up tolerance, I did like this a lot more. Emollient and moisturizing, not thick and greasy. I can't speak to the anti-aging properties - I didn't get nearly as awesome results as I did from the eye cream I tried a few weeks ago. But I'm sure with long term results I would!

I did not use this cream on my face either - my skin is more to the oily side, and a rich, emollient lotion feels nice and all, but I didn't want to push it. I used it on my chest and neck (which is where I experienced the itching) and my arms (which is where I did not experience any itching).

(Pictures coming in the morning, when there's better lighting at my house. In the mean time, go here!)

DISCLOSURE: VitaSciences generously provided me a container of this lotion in exchange for my honest opinions. All opinions are my own.



Like lotion? Me too! I've talked about it before!

It's Even Better Than I Thought!

Eye cream!

Aah, eye cream. My great love. It promises a lot of things I'm not sure it can deliver on (what is a peptide? Why is it important to my eye skin?), and yet, I can hardly resist one. I can think of five in my house, right this very second. Six, actually.

GoPure Naturals promises products that do what they say that they do, naturally, without any fillers like parabens and waxes. With consistent use of their eye gel, they promise that they can take two years worth of aging off your eyes in just two months!

Sold. Let's talk, right?

My eyes are...weird. Not baggy, necessarily. Like, anti-baggy. There's a hollow. And there's no crows feet, but I have a few wrinkles that go across the bottom of the eye. And no real dark circles to speak of.

GoPure Naturals "Youth Glow Eye Gel" promises to work on under eye circles, bagginess and puffiness, with noticeable results after one use, and removing 2 years worth of aging in a single month.

I happily ripped the package open right in my driveway, and slicked it right on. And I'll say - this pump is super high powered. One solid pump will dispense enough eye gel to do both of your under eyes, and the under eyes of six or seven of your friends! I've found pressing the pump down about halfway allowed for the amount of product that I needed, without any extra.

I smelled the smell of cucumber when I used this product pretty consistently. Which is funny, because I don't actually see cucumber listed in the ingredients. No dyes, or scents, other than the cucumber thing. The gel absorbs quickly, and wears well. I've tried similar products that dried to a shine (yes, shiny under eyes. That was what I was after...), but there's none of that here!

The official GoPure Natural website is here, and it can explain the science a lot better than I can.

I feel a little worried that I'm being a little vague with you guys, and I don't mean to be. If you can think of a question that you have that I'm not addressing here, leave your question in the comments section, and I'll be all too happy to talk about it with you!

But in the mean time, some pictures!

Product shot! Light, easy to read, and clearly identifiable. The last eye cream I bought came in a bright red tube. Believe, when you put them next to each other, this stands out!

And the Before and After shot, which was even better than I realized;

You guys! You GUYS! The wrinkles under my left eye are GONE, and the ones under my right eye are half of what they were. And this is after maybe a week of use. Oh my word. I'm sold. Everybody needs this stuff in their life, right now. I knew I liked the cream, but I didn't realize the results were so awesome. I'm in love!

GoPure Naturals is running a promotion on their website right now where you get 50% off your first purchase if you sign up for their email list. It's totally worth it. Go Pure. Go NOW! Go here!

DISCLOSURE: The good people at GoPure Naturals were kind enough to supply me with this eye cream in exchange for my opinions on it, all opinions are my own.

Later, beautiful!

Argan Oil might be my new bestie...

If you prefer a more natural, simple beauty routine, then you're well aware of the benefits of products like argan oil. But did you know that a lot of the products that boast of oil have other ingredients in them as well? That argan oil hair serum is not 100% pure, it will often include silicones and other ingredients, making it virtually identical to any other serum you'd find on the market.

Argan oil is pressed from the kernel of the Argan tree, which is native to Morocco. It has gained popularity as a beauty treatment as of late, thanks to it's moisturizing and anti-oxidant properties, allowing it to balance oil, help with anti-aging concerns, and moisturize - leading it to be considered as "liquid gold" in some circles!

Radha Beauty Products sells 100% Pure Argan oil, and my friends, this stuff is magic.

This bottle is 4 oz., and comes with a dropper to measure out the oil that you will need. And you guys, a little goes a very long way, you can do so much with this!

Argan oil has moisturizing, and antioxidant properties - and is 100% safe to use in its natural form. And randomly, I just looked it up - it's food safe, and is safe to use on your pets!

I've spent a week using this oil in every way I could think of, and on everyone that would let me near them for long enough to try it, and was consistently impressed and surprised with the results.

My dry, scaly winter legs? A thing of the past, thanks to argan oil. And that's even after having showered since! The effects of lotion would have washed away, right along with the body wash. I'd like to be able to demonstrate this one in pictures, but you don't want to see pictures of my legs, any more than I want to show them to you!

Yesterday, I decided to do what I consider probably my ultimate experience - I have thick, coarse, color treated hair. So yes, it is often an out of control disaster. I showered, completely skipped hair conditioner, applied a generous dose of argan oil in it's place, and waited to see what happened. Imagine my surprise to see that my hair dried frizz free, smooth, and laying nicely! Curiously, a little straighter than normal, even. When I did this, I concentrated my oils in to the ends, and just smoothed over the part near my scalp. I'm on day two, and my hair is still smooth, and soft. Amazing!

My 8 year old has sensitive skin, and hates the feeling of lotion. Like they do sometimes, he got too close to me one night when I was feeling experimental, and he quickly found his legs slathered in oil. Once his giggles subsided (he's very ticklish, haha...) he marveled that it made his skin feel "like butter". He couldn't stop exclaiming over it! No complaints from his sensitive skin, either!

He also boasts a beautiful head of long blonde hair, that he takes a tremendous amount of pride in. It's fine, with a slight wave, so it made me nervous to do it, but I put two drops of oil in to my hairs, rubbed them together, and smoothed them over his hair. He was thrilled to see his hair look softer, shinier, and lay better than usual.

The next morning when it was time to go to school, and we didn't have time to use the oils again, he was honestly disappointed! I couldn't believe it! He went "But, it makes my hair so shiny and soft!" And I, like any self-respecting mom of a kid that's about to be late for school, went "But that won't matter if you're late!" Moms: causing bad hair days, all over town. :D 

And for the biggest, most impressive, no doubt weirdest picture I've ever posted? I have chronic, awful dry skin on my feet (I blame that on my own mom, because so does she). Every treatment I've ever tried has been temporary at best.

When I started on this post, about a half hour ago, I slathered a few drops of argan oil on the bottom of one foot. Ladies and gentlemen, exhibit A for why you need argan oil in your life:

In dire need of a pedi? Ain't got time for that? Ain't got cash for that? ARGAN. OIL. That's 30 minutes difference, you guys. That's unreal. 

I can't say enough positive things for this product. It's $16 on Amazon, and if you order before 4 PM EST today (by clicking here), you can have it in your hot little hands by this time tomorrow, and be slathering up things in your own house. Which you absolutely should. If you're not quite in that much of a hurry, it's also a Prime eligible item, so you could have it by Saturday for free! A little goes a long way, the 4 ounce bottle will last you a long time!

FULL DISCLOSURE ALERT: Radha Beauty generously supplied me with this bottle of Argan Oil in exchange for my opinions on it. All opinions are mine. As are the photos. Although I'd gladly give up those dry feet, if someone was crazy enough to want them. :)

Edited: I'd originally decided to tell you about these in two different posts, then decided I should probably pair them together.

I also was supplied with a full sized bottle of Fractionated Coconut Oil to try.

I used the Coconut oil in similar ways that I had the Argan oil, and was a bit disappointed with it. I honestly didn't care for the rate of absorption. Everything felt slightly slick after having used the coconut oil. It didn't feel as soft and moisturized as things had with the Argan oil.

In fairness to that ideal though, the advised uses on the package aren't uses I tried. Radha recommends the fractionated coconut oil as a oil for massage, and as a carrier oil for essential oils. Neither way that I tried. So I might actually like it much better in that instance.

This oil, like the other, is food safe.

So, where I would actually use the argan oil again, gladly, I can't speak with as much enthusiasm for the coconut oil. I'm sure if I were a masseuse, or made more use of essential oils, I'd be singing a much different tune.

Say what you will, the Radha packaging game is on point. Both of these are beautifully packaged.

Talk to you later, you well moisturized beauties!

Like this post? Tell your friends! I'd love a nice +1!

This one's a little off the beaten path for me...

...but this week, we're talking men's skincare. More specifically, we're talking Kyoku for men, which is also known as "the best skin care products your guy probably isn't using."

I'd not ever heard of this line before, but was presented the opportunity to try it, and so I set about researching it, so I'd know more about it. Synopsis from birchbox.com - Kyoku for Men founder Asim Akhtar visited the Japanese hillside village of Yuzuri Hara. He was amazed to find that the inhabitants were not only remarkably youthful looking, but also lived longer than their Western counterparts. He learned that their secret was a combination of diet, as well as skincare with natural ingredients, such as sake, adzuki beans, and volcanic ash. Akhtar began incorporating those same ingredients in to his own life, and later in to the skin care line that he founded.

Neat, right? So if you're someone who prefers their products to be a little more natural, these products will be right up your alley!

Before I go much farther, the glamour shot;

I dig this, because if there were ever any products that were custom designed to give a guy, these are probably them, right? Nice packaging. Sleek. Clearly labeled, easy to understand, easy to use. Tailor made for the manly men in your life.

The two products that you see are the BDY-SC and BDY-BL, or body scrub and body lotion, both in the "Wind" scent. I gave these products two tries, once myself, and once on my absurdly dry husband. Serious, the man's got some real problems with dry skin. What I found out;

I love this stuff, you guys.

The body scrub will do the duty of body wash, but has some extra scrubbing power. Your guy might hear "body scrub" and think of that peach stuff of yours that they see in the shower sometimes, but nope. This will multi-task - you're clean, you're confident, you're on with your day.

The lotion does a little double duty too! This reminded me of one of my very favorite lotions, (Trader Joe's "A Midsummer Night's Cream", if you're curious), and I don't bestow such compliments on many lotions! Went on quickly, absorbed smoothly, and didn't leave me feeling slippery or greasy! Notice that those are all buzzwords that guys will LOVE, right?

And as for my salamander of a husband, the man with the chronically dry skin? Dude normally can't go a full 8 hours without reapplying lotion. Not even kidding. One application of Kyoku BDY-BL, he made it a full DAY before complaining of dryness! A full 24 hours! I'd pay nearly any amount of money for that!

As for scents - these are scented products. And they're musky enough that you'll know that you're using a mans product. But, you'll be pleased to find out that the scent dissipates pretty quickly, so you won't find yourself with people asking you if you inadvertently put on your husband or boyfriends cologne that morning. And as for your guys - they can get away with muskier scents, but it also layers well. By the time my husband got to the portion of the day where he was putting on cologne, the scent layered nicely in with his chosen cologne.

The only vaguely negative thing I have to say, honest, is a really small problem. The PUMP. The representative for Kyoku that I had the opportunity to speak to said that they were really excited for the pumps, because they believed that it would help the customers get the most product from the container, therefore getting maximum bang for the buck. And I believe that he's right in saying that - I think that they will. But I also think that the pump quality leaves a little to be desired. I received the lotion, the scrub and two pumps in the mail. Neither pump was labeled to go with a specific product. The pump I selected to go with the lotion was sealed really well. Like, it took me several minutes worth of standing there and turning for the pump to open. Meanwhile, the pump I put in to the scrub was sealed off so tight, and took so much effort to get a modest amount of scrub out, that I kind of started to question whether or not I actually knew how to use a pump at all. It was that bad!

Pump aside, I was tremendously impressed with their products, and have already been scouting out the list on Amazon for others I want to try! The Kyoku For Men products come in four scents - Earth, Wind, Fire and Water, and are available for sale on Amazon. They also have a skin care line for sale on Amazon, as well as an anti-acne line available from Kyoku.com. In the interest of full disclosure, I was provided these products in exchange for my review, however, all opinions are my own.

Ooh! I almost forgot! If you purchase any of the Kyoku For Men products on amazon, put in promo code "SRAFB3GT", and take $1 off each product! Thanks, Kyoku!