As many of us get further and further into going green, some are turning towards beauty products that are paraben-free and made with organic ingredients. I am one who as you know, is always willing to give any beauty product a try and thought what better time than the beginning of a glorious new year to share a few of them with you.

Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics uses only the purest of ingredients, and has a long list of loyal customers who just love their products, and will wear nothing else. Their Mineral Radiance Powder is light-weight and glides on the skin giving you a gorgeous glow.

Whish Body is another fabulous company that I came across recently and had to share. I just love, love, love, everything pomegranate including this Pomegranate Three Wishes Body Butter. This body cream is one that you will definitely want to hide from your mate. It is super rich, luxurious, and uses a unique triple antioxidant formula that leaves your skin feeling so good. All Three Wishes products contain Organic Aloe, Organic Raspberry Butter, and Organic Shea Butter. You can check out the entire line of products at Whishbody.com.

The remedy for rough skin comes from this cute little lemon-wedge container filled with the most amazing balm. Be-Fine Rough Spot Lemon Balm works to smooth out dry elbows, and moisturize other rough spots with nourishing and antioxidant rich ingredients like Shea Butter, Jojoba, Vitamin A, E, and Avacado. Yummy!

Burt’s Bees probably the most well known amongst chemical-free and all natural beauty products has this fabulous serum that isn’t too pricey and is packed with pure ingredients like royal jelly, licorice extract, and glycerin to restore moisture to your skin and improve the appearance of your complexion. You can find this Radiance Serum as well as the entire line of Burt’s Bees products at most Wholefoods or at burtsbees.com

So there you have it. Four fantastic paraben-free beauty products for you to wrap your arms around in 2009!

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image credits: Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics, Whishbody.com, Befine.com, Burtsbees.com

Have you tried this newest powder from smashbox? A powder that reduces fine lines & wrinkles in 10 minutes? It’s the first anti-aging powder that has built in ingredients to care for your skin as well. Halo Hydrating Perfecting Powder uses an advanced formulation of pure gold, 48 minerals, 11 amino acids, and a powerful peptide to deliver powerful anti-aging benefits to your skin. The patented hydration system continuously revitalizes the skin for a brighter, more radiant complexion.

Clinical studies show that after just 10 minutes there is a 33% decrease in the appearance of wrinkles around the eyes. After six weeks of regular use that number goes up to 67% in a decrease of fine lines and wrinkles overall.

This sounds like something I definitely need to have and right away! Each powder comes with a custom designed Kabuki Brush for a perfect application every time, plus a sample of their award-winning Photo Finish Foundation Primer. This I have tried and it is fabulous! Perfect for those of us who tend to get a bit shiny, and it makes your foundation look flawless.

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image credit: smashbox.com

Radiant and restored. Though it is hard to feel like it every day, you can look the part, with some help. I need to preface this with the fact that I am skeptical about certain makeup products, especially ones that promise “certain” wonders.

Enter Covergirl’s Advanced Radiance Restorative Cream Foundation. The premise of this foundation is to not only provide coverage for what we want to hide, but to enhance and hydrate as well. In the end, to give the skin the luminous look of a full nights sleep. This foundation contains more complexion enhancing ingredients then I can fathom. But they are there and they work.

The foundation itself is definitely creamy, and I experimented with it by applying with my fingertips, makeup brush, and sponge. Using my fingertips, I got the most coverage, followed by using the brush, then the sponge. I found that using the sponge is the best method for me, as it felt a bit heavy using the other methods.

I was pleasantly surprised as how much I really am liking this Advanced Radiance Restorative Cream Foundation from Covergirl. The coverage is wonderful and very long lasting. And I did get a few comments from friends about how well rested I looked. Seems all those fancy ingredients are working.

Like I said though, it is a bit heavy, and I am going to save this foundation for days when I am not feeling my most radiant or when my skin is drier in the winter. If either of these problems are plaguing you, I would highly suggest trying this foundation.

Advanced Radiance Restorative Cream Foundation comes in 15 universal shades (though I found that mixing two shades together gave me the perfect shade) and retails for $9.99 at your favorite mass merchandiser such as CVS or Target.