Clean & Clear has a new Morning Burst In-Shower Facial that they sent me to try for review. It’s quick, simple to use. It’s made with ingredients like Ginseng, citrus, purifying clay, and fruit extracts.

The facial is part of the Clean & Clear Morning Burst line. It’s very simple to use, apply, let it set one minute, then work into your skin gently to exfoliate. One of the easiest ways to avoid breakouts is to exfoliate regularly. Exfoliating clears the way for additional skin treatments (moisturizer, acne medication, self-tanning products), and it leaves your skin soft and smooth.

I liked that the gritty part of the scrub- the “micro-beads” – were super fine and there were a lot of them. Excellent. My biggest complaint with exfoliating products is that they are thin on the “grit” which leaves me feeling like I am only able to really treat one part of my face.

Another thing that I liked about the product is the smell – it’s very fresh, doesn’t smell medicine-y. The opening is at the bottom of the bottle which saves time in the long run, when you’ve used most of it up and you are trying to get the last drop out.  Plus, the price is great.

You can find this product anywhere that Clean & Clear products are sold. Click here for directions to an online coupon.

Image credit: Michelle Smith

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Give Yourself a Facial While You Shower

…full-size versions of Red Zone products; Body Spray, the Deodorant, the 8 Hour Body Wash, a “Deck Scrubber” shower tool, and a small size of the 16 hour Odor Blocker Body Wash.

I’m not a fan of overly man-scaped men (why do they insist on messing with their eyebrows?).  I do, however,  appreciate a man who smells good and has nice skin. The Old Spice Deck Scrubber, included in the gift set, is a mesh-type scrubber. It features a “manly” handle, so you don’t confuse it with a lesser, girly mesh scrubber.

These scrubbers are good for two reasons. One, you only need a little body wash to get a healthy lather (Guys, saving money means you’ve got more to spend on your lady. Yay!).  Two,  it exfoliates. Exfoliation is a trick that we women have known about for a long time. Exfoliated skin is soft, smooth skin.

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment telling me what you think of the Old Spice commercials featured here.

The Old Spice Gift Sets will be available this season at stores like Walmart and Target.

Image credit: Michelle Smith

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A Giveaway With Swagger

I was looking at some of the items in their online gift shop section and they have a line of fancy soaps for men and women.  The Chocolate Dream soaps are wrapped  and would look great as part of a gift basket of bath products.

Chocolate Dream Soap for Women
$28

Includes 4 bars of  olive oil and glycerin based soaps. Sabon recommends using the wrapped soaps in a sachet-type capacity, too. Place them in your drawers or closet and enjoy their fragrance.

The soaps are divided into scent categories:

For Men – Ocean, Lemon Mint, Lemon, HVW
For Women – Kiwi Mango Rose Petals, Rose Petals, Vanilla Coconut, Lilac
For Relaxation: Rose, Lavender, Jasmine, PLR
For Invigorating: Rosemary, Eucalyptus, Refreshing, Grass

Image credit: Sabon.com

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Chocolate Dream Gift Soaps From Sabon

Great beauty product lines also live and die by this principle — and Ayurvedic treatments are the leader of the pack when it comes to individualized skin care. Ayurveda is a centuries-old philosophy that promotes a holistic approach to beauty — that means paying as much mind to your lotions and masks as you do your daily intake of water and veggies. According to its tenets, a skin care regime is most effective when it takes your dosha, the elements that make you you, into account. The creams and oils you use should differ, depending on whether you’re a dreamy “vata” (space and air), fierce “pitta” (fire and water) or easygoing “kapha” (water and earth).

Before you dismiss this as hippy-dippy mumbo jumbo, visit Bindi Ayurvedic Skin Care’s website, take its quick and fun skin/body type analysis and explore the range of products designed to soothe the rough patches you may develop as a passionate pitta or balance your restless and dry-skinned vata.

Bindi Basic Aroma Mist

A few interesting products include: Basic Aroma Mist, an ideal after-yoga toner that contains ratrani, a sensuously sweet-smelling essential oil; and chywangrans, a tonic made from edible herbs and fruits, which is rumored to be an anti-aging gift from the gods.

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Bindi Ayurvedic skin care

(Image: Sephora)

This set contains:
- 5.07 oz Sweet Orange SPF 25 Sunscreen Emulsion Face & Body
- 1.69 oz Watermelon Body Scrub
- 1.69 oz Yogurt Cooling Gel

This Korres skin care kit is a must have for a day at the beach, your pool or for those times when you know you’ll be outside for most of the day.  Start off by using the Watermelon Body Scrub to exfoliate and smooth your skin. Next step is to apply the Sweet Orange SPF 25 Sunscreen all over (don’t forget your back!). Just because you want to lay out in the sun doesn’t mean you should give in to pre-mature wrinkles and expose yourself to harmful UVA and UVB rays. After a day out in the hot sun, soothe and hydrate your skin with the Yogurt Cooling Gel. It will instantly refresh and cool you down.

Taking care of your skin this summer and every day can’t get any easier! Korres is a great product line and it’s always nice to get an all in one kit that you can easily toss in your tote bag for trips and reapplication during the day. The cute little bag it comes with is reusable too! You can pick up the Korres Summer in Greece kit at Sephora for $32.50

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Your Summer in Greece with Korres

(Image: IQQU Beauty / Michelle Phan)

IQQU was created and inspired by everyday people who were never happy with their skin care products.
The name IQQU means inspiration.
The letter I represents IQQU as a person. The dot as a head, and the long shaft as the body.
In ancient times, the letter Q use to represent a thread going through the eye of a needle, it symbolized sewing. This represents unity.
The letter U represents you!
So it means IQQU uniting with YOU to create the best skin care to fit your need.

The IQQU line is still in its infant stages but the products available right now look to be quite promising.

(Image: IQQU Beauty) IQQU Product Line

IQQU Skin Rejuvenator ($37) is a light-weight face moisturizer for day. It’s non-comedogenic, fragrance free and paraben free, too! All of us want skin that’s well hydrated and evenly toned and this Skin Rejuvenator promises to do just that. It also gives your skin an extra life and stimulates collagen production while protecting your skin from the sun.

Key Ingredients
Saccharide Isomerate- is a carbohydrate that acts as a highly effective moisture regulator resulting in long-lasting water retention in the skin.
Lycopene- is an antioxidant derived from tomatoes that helps improve the skin’s texture and provides natural SPF.
Retinol- a purified form of Vitamin A, which purportedly has rejuvenating and restoring effect of tired, sun damaged skin by stimulating production of collagen in the skin.
Ginseng- helps maintain the vitality, elasticity and relieve stress on skin.

If you check out Michelle Phan’s make-up tutorials, she demonstrates how she uses these products as well as give you updates on upcoming product launches.  If you place an order today, you can save $3 on each product when you use the coupon code: grandopening upon check out.

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IQQU Beauty by Michelle Phan

(Image: Philosophy)

Philosophy Divine Illumination is their skin illuminating anti-aging moisturizer. It’s formulated to fade dark spots, hydrate, smooth and even out your skin tone. There are also firming and anti-wrinkle benefits. This would be a great product to try if you have age spots and feel your skin needs a little more ‘help’ than what you’re current moisturizer is doing.  I didn’t pick it up this weekend but I’m definitely intrigued about it.  The Divine Illumination moisturizer is $85 for a 1.6oz size jar.

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Philosophy Divine Illumination

According to Kings & Queens, former Queen of Spain, Queen Isabella was a big fan of cinnamon. She loved it so much that she financed Christopher Columbus’s expedition in the hopes that he would find a new route to further cinnamon riches.

Kings & Queens Gift Set, Queen Isabella – Cinnamon Orange 1 set
$19.50

Both the Shower Gel and the Shimmering Body Milk are made without parabens or mineral oil. They contain Pomegranate (a super fruit), Blue Lotus, and Malachite Natural Extracts.

Image credit: Beauty.com

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Kings & Queens Cinnamon Orange Set

(Image: Barneys)

The Jesse James Dopp Kit by Kiehls is inspired by Jesse James of West Coast Choppers.  Confused by the collaboration? Well, turns out one of the founding members of Kiehls loves bikes and has a collection of vintage choppers.  Neat, eh? Now you can tell your guy that Kiehls isn’t just for women, they cater to men too!

The kit contains:
Facial Fuel Energizing Face Wash
“White Eagle” Ultimate Brushless Shave Cream
Ultimate Man Body Scrub Soap
Facial Fuel Energizing Moisture Treatment
Deluxe sample of Ultimate Strength Hand Salve.

Awesome kit and it’s only $39 at Barneys or Kiehls stores.

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Kiehls Jesse James Dopp Kit

Kenzo uses special Rice Plant Water, from the Chinese province of Zhejiang, as a reinforcer to the product’s anti-oxidant ingredients. Cupuacu butter, an herbal butter from the Amazon forest, contains fatty acids that maintain the skin’s lipidic layer. Shea Butter, from the fruit of the Butyrospermum Parkii tree, repairs, soothes, calms, and protects the skin.

It has a thick consistency and a great scent – Kenzo calls it a Rice Steam scent. I think I smell a floral note. I used Kenzoki Barefeet Fantasy on my toes, heels, ankles, and elbows. It gives the skin a nice sheen, which really helped my dry heels to look better in sandals.

Image credit: Michelle Smith

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New From Kenzo – Kenzoki Barefeet Fantasy