By Guest Blogger Kori Ellis, Shoe Blitz

As I’m sure you know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Hundreds of companies produce and designate “pink” products with a portion of sales going back to breast cancer related charities such as the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and many others.

You might be surprised that some of the products that you use regularly are part of the promotion. For example, here are three of my personal favorites that are giving back.

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion
I have used this product for over a dozen years. The special, limited-edition bottle of this best-selling moisturizer is priced at $35 with $10 per bottle sold going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The jumbo-sized bottle comes with a pump and a collectable Pink Ribbon key chain. Available at select Clinique counters around the country.

Elizabeth Hurley High Gloss Lip Color Collection
Three high gloss shades (pearl, pink and rose) come in a limited edition Pink Ribbon case. This set is priced at $16 and just a small part of the Estee Lauder Pink Ribbon Collection, which includes the Evelyn Lauder Lip Collection, a special edition of Beautiful Ead de Parfum Spray and other fantastic items. Estee Lauder is committed to at least at $500,000 donation to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The products are available at all Estée Lauder counters in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, as well as online at esteelauder.com.

e.l.f.’s Super Glossy Lip Shine in Pink Kiss
The best cheap lip gloss out there, in my opinion, is offering 100% of profits from sales of the Pink Kiss shade to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. And it’s only a dollar!

For more information about breast cancer, turn to Pink Ribbon Review, where Karen blogs about raising breast cancer awareness.

Photo credit: Clinique

‘ Tis the season for lizard skin.  It is for me anyway.  This time, every year like clockwork, my skin turns pasty white and disgustingly scaly.  Really, its not cute.  So I am always searching out body creams desperately this time of the year.  There are, of course, no shortage of good ones out there, but the one I have been using most recently is the new Vitalization from Bioelements.  Bioelements is one of my all time favorite skin care brands so I always really love to check out what they have out that is new, and Vitalization is, not surprisingly, a great, rich body cream. 

The key features of this multifunction cream are:  “Regulates moisture to banish dryness, smoothes away rough brittle surface cells (hello!), encourages a firmer body (uh huh), restores radiance to skin and surrounds the body with the enticing aroma of pure botanical oils.”  Pretty dreamy stuff.

Along with some groovy peptides and amino acids, Vitalization also contains 10 botanical oils, shea butter, red tea and beta carotene.   The fragrance is good, but light and nothing that clashes with your fragrance at all.  It is thick, but creamy, not REALLY thick like some of the other shea butter products out there. 

For those of you that are concerned about this sort of thing, Bioelements products are not tested on animals, use no artificial colors or fragrances and contain organic botanicals (have you visited Pretty by Nature lately?).  Vitalization is sold in a big 8 oz jar, and can be purchased at DermStore for $49.50.  DermStore also has a deal going on right now, with a $125 purchase, receive a free Pumice Peel (exfoliating cream - $48 value).  That’s a great product too - in fact, I really have never met a Bioelements product I didn’t really love.  Sleepwear - the best night cream going.  So spend a little time at DermStore and try out Bioelements if you haven’t - I am positive you will love it!

I still love to have beauty night, just as much as I did when I was spending the night at my girlfriends homes as a teenager. A nice facial is a great thing to do for your skin, whether it is at home or at the spa. Back in Knoxville, where I lived most of my life, I had the most wonderful esthetician and have never been able to replace her any better than I could do it myself, so here is what I do:

1. Put my hair back with a headband and wash my face - Using my regular cleanser, and very warm water, wash my face well.

2. Steam - either with a facial steamer or a boiling pot of water over the stove (be careful!!). Sit with your face as close to the steam as is comfortable for you. You can put a towel over your head and let it hang down so you create a mini steam bath for your face. Steam for about 5 minutes.
3. Extractions - I hate this word, but there are no better ones. I use either my favorite extraction tool or the pore vacuum, do NOT use your fingers. You will bruise your skin and make a big mess, and potentially cause infections (bad!).

4. Scrub - I use a scrub to exfoliate my skin.

5. Tone - Use a toner to bring my skin back to its normal pH.

6. Treatment - Use a mask designed to treat your skin problems, whether it be acne, oil, dryness, wrinkles, whatever. If you, like me, battle 2 things (wrinkles and acne here), use one mask one time, and another a different time. You can also use a microdermabrasion kit or a peel. Choose only one treatment per facial though, you don’t want this treatment to hurt. While you are waiting for your mask to do its thing, lie down and put some cucumber slices over your eyes.

7. Toner again.

8. Moisturize! - I use a good moisturizer and eye cream!

If you can find time weekly to do this, your skin will really thank you. And don’t forget to keep it up all week by washing your face and getting all of that makeup off before you go to bed. Nighttime is the time that your skin does battle with the daily stress of living - give it the best opportunity to do what it does naturally. And get plenty of sleep!