"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
- Anais Nin
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01: I am in dire need of a replacement for my Poshe top coat. Mine has gone rather gluggy and gross and has a tendency to drag the top layer of my polish around ruining my meticulously messy manicure efforts. 02: Who could lay eyes on the Chantecaille turtle palette and not want one for their very own? Especially when you know that 5% of proceeds go to widecast to ensure the survival of sea turtles.
03: Lemming, lemming, lemming. I need this in my life after reading Lara’s review. 04: Continuing with the lemming trend, after seeing it on Stef’s blog, Illamasqua cream blush in lies must be mine. Unfortunately I think this product is discontinued, so anyone who manages to tell me where I can buy it is entitled to my firstborn child with Prince Harry.
Carrying on with my new tradition of Sunday evening relaxation and face mask wearing, this past Sunday evening I treated myself to some quiet time with a good book and my holy grail of face masks – The Dermalogica Skin Refining Masque. This product was recommended to me by a Dermalogica specialist during my initial Face Mapping session and has been my favourite mask ever since. I think I’ve repurchased it around three times now, and will continue to do so in the future. Though it’s not not as interesting to look at as the Rodial Glamoxy Snake Mask, I can’t deny the internet yet another picture of me looking like a moron, so here we are:
Please, try to resist. The mask is designed to “clarify and refine the texture of your skin, and contains oil-absorbing clays and purifying plant extracts to deep-cleanse, which helps to reduce oily-skin breakouts”. This makes it perfect for those of you who have oily/combination skin like myself. The biggest results that I see from this mask occure are following few days, with my skin looking a lot clearer (breakouts begone!) and the general redness in my skin is reduced dramatically. The Dermalogica Skin Refining Masque retails for $59 AUD and can be purchased from Australian online beauty retailer Adore Beauty. (shh, if you’re quick you can also pick it up from Strawberrynet for $38.50 AUD)
Finished up in April: Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant, Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Lift Off Face Wipes & a sample of the Philosophy Purity Facial Cleansing Cloth.
It seems to be wedding season in my life at the moment, with the invitations to the nuptials of friends and family piling up (in fact I have only just returned this afternoon from a trip away to attend a family wedding). Dermalogica seem to be making the most of this timing, and have set up Skin Savvy workshops around Australia throughout the month of March for brides and bridal parties to-be. What is a Skin Savvy workshop? Basically the opportunity to work with Dermalogica skin experts and to learn how to ensure picture perfect skin on the big day. You’ll also receive refreshments and have the chance to experience Dermalogica products for yourself (and yes, there will be goodie bags!). You will also have the opportunity to win a VIP Skin Treatment and Dermalogica products valued at over $300 AUD. I absolutely love the Dermalogica brand (as I’m sure you’ve noticed me mention time and time again) and I can’t think of a better skin care brand to put your photo-ready faith in before the big day. To sign up, check the Bride To Be website for times and locations, and email Dermalogica to RSVP.
What is FITE? In a nutshell, FITE is a platform powered by Kiva.org that is designed to provide financial independence through entrepreneurship (FITE) for women in the developing world. FITE provides women entrepreneurs access to small loans that help them to start or grow their own business, and to educate the public about the benefits of empowering such women.
We as beauty lovers have been given the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of women around the world, just by continuing to purchase our favourite skincare products from FITE founding partner Dermalogica. Australian beauty bloggers have signed up with FITE to create our own team, “Australian Beauty Bloggers” for bloggers and readers to contribute towards.
How does it work? It’s pretty simple. The five best selling Dermalogica products (Daily Microfoliant, PreCleanse, Skin Hydrating Booster, Total Eye Care and Intensive Eye Repair) now come in FITE themed packaging that contain a special promotional code that gives you $1 USD to loan.
You then take this code to the FITE site and click on the “REDEEM CODE” link where you will be prompted to enter the code (you may enter up to 3 at once). You can then select which type of entrepreneur you wish to support, and where in the world they will be located. After filling in your details, and if you wish to have your donation marked against the Aussie Beauty Bloggers team, select “Australian Beauty Bloggers” under the team listing (these are in alphabetical order) and click ‘redeem code’. After that, FITE takes a week or so to gather together the microloans actioned and will send out an email with the details of the women and organisation/s your microloan is benefiting. Alternatively, you also have the option of lending a microloan directly to an entrepreneur for as little as $25 USD. This whole process takes very little time and effort and can make the world of difference in the life of women across the globe. Any other Australian beauty bloggers who would like to join the team, please email me and I’ll add you as soon as possible. Let’s all get on board and help support our fellow women.
People often ask me what would be the number one Dermalogica product that I would recommend they use, and my answer is always the Daily Microfoliant. Not only because it is suitable for all skin types (except for those using medically prescribed skin care), but because it’s one of the best skin care products I’ve ever used. I’ve heard so many people raving on about this product, and I agree with all of the positive reviews. The Daily Microfoliant is one of my skin saviour products, and I can’t live without a bottle of it in my beauty cupboard. The microfoliant is a rice based enzyme powder, and to use you simply tip a little bit of the dry product on to damp hands, massage onto your face and rinse. It leaves my skin looking clear and bright, and it’s one of the most gentle facial exfoliants I’ve ever come across. You can purchase the Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant online for $75.15 AUD (currently on sale) at Adore Beauty.
I posted a short review of this product in one of my Dermalogica love-rant posts back in February 2010, but I thought it might be nice to do a more in depth review of the product as it is still one of my holy grail skin care items. I love the Dermalogica Precleanse. I’ve tried various other oil cleansers, but I keep coming back to Dermalogica because it has worked the best for me. I say that because I’ve heard quite a few people say that this product simply didn’t work for them. It’s definitely an on-the-fence product, so if you are considering trying it I would suggest sourcing out a sample before investing in the full size bottle. The Precleanse is an oil that you use on your skin prior to using your regular cleanser. To use it you apply the oil to your face with your hands (ensuring that your face is still dry) then wet your hands and rub them over your face to ‘activate’ the product, rinse with water and follow with your regular cleanser. I find that using the precleanse in conjunction with my normal cleanser leaves my skin feeling cleaner than it’s ever felt before. In fact I really struggle now on nights when I’m lazy and I skip the pre-cleansing step because my skin never feels clean enough. It’s quite addictive really. The Dermalogica Precleanse retails for $65.50 and is available for purchase online from Adore Beauty. If you’re lucky, you can sometimes pick it up for a bargain price over at Strawberry Net. Go forth and precleanse!
