I’m always searching for a great scented shampoo. I realize this is a silly criteria for judging a hair care product, but it will definitely make or break a shampoo (and conditioner) for me. I want something that is gentle for my hair, but that smells great too.

Beauty Without Cruelty is a brand that fits the bill. Their shampoos use gentle surfactants to cleanse, and contain a blend of essential oils as well. The products seem to agree with my hair, and I’m really enjoying using them.

I’m using Daily Benefits shampoo, which features a blend of lavender, sweet orange, and lemongrass, as well as panthenol, lecithin, soy protein, and vitamin C. This formula is gentle enough for everyday use (something I’ve gotten back in the habit of doing with the warmer weather) and has a soothing scent. I pair this with the Moisture Plus conditioner, which has ylang-ylang and lavender. The conditioner also has sodium pca, jojoba oil, vitamins, and a hair-friendly botanical infusion. Notably, neither product has silicones, something I know curly-haired gals try to avoid.

I got hooked on the line because I LOVE the scent of the conditioner. Ylang-ylang isn’t a common scent, but it’s one I am super fond of. This is definitely a line worth exploring if natural ingredients and animal friendly products are your thing.

The newest thing to hit drugstores (namely Target and CVS) is Boots, a British brand. Because the No. 7 Restore & Renew Serum is supposed to be the hottest thing going right now in skincare, I gave it a whirl. I wish I could say I was impressed. It is supposed to “reveal younger skin in 4 weeks,” and yet I didn’t notice any reductions in the few fine lines I have on my face. I didn’t notice any difference in pore size either. I suppose if you are a lot older and have more wrinkles or sun damage, perhaps you will see a big difference with this product. But it didn’t move me. On the plus side, it’s the first anti-aging product with peptides that didn’t give me pimples. So it definitely gets my thumbs up there – I suspect most women could use it with no trouble at all. It’s a lovely feeling product – super silky and light.

What I did like a lot from Boots were the Botanics Hydrating Serum Capsules. These are a once a day capsule that you pop or cut open, and smooth onto your skin. I bought them because they have Vitamin E, and Borage Oil, two things that are supposed to be great for your skin. Despite being an oil-based product, I think overall these have improved the oiliness of my skin… the whole adding oil to balance oil production theory. They have an awesome feel on the skin and work nicely under a night moisturizer. I will repurchase these.

The Boots makeup lines look pretty – especially the Botanics eyeshadows, and the body care products seem luscious. This is a line I look forward to exploring more.

If you like independent businesses, embrace the DIY philosophy, appreciate handmade things, or just love a bargain, you will love Etsy. It’s a site where anyone can set up a storefront and sell stuff they have made. What does this have to do with beauty?

Well… there is a plethora of handmade soaps and lotions and balms and even mineral makeup to be found at Etsy. I haven’t ordered any of these products yet, but I have ordered jewelry and a hat and I was very pleased.

Check out Etsy and maybe you’ll find your new favorite product!

I’ve finally had a chance to use the Sheer Glow All Over Face Powder I ordered from Avon. I don’t have a lot of experience with Avon products, outside of a handful of things I’ve tried in the past few years. But I’m thinking they might be onto something good, here.

The All Over Face Powder is indeed sheer. I ordered the Peach Champagne, and it’s quite sheer. It’s really more of a luminizer on my skin, so I use it over bronzer most of the time. It looks nice with Cargo Medium or Too Faced Sun Bunny or any other bronzer (I should really post on bronzers, I have a small pile of them now…)

I also bought the Planet Spa Green Tea & Rice Cleanser to try. Cleansers don’t usually knock me out – I mean, they’re just supposed to get makeup and the grime of the day off, and not much else. This one smells really good, rinses clean, doesn’t strip my skin, and gets off the makeup. So, thumbs up from Claire. Mostly, it smells really good. I’ll keep using it, because of that, if the performance is adequate. I’ve ordered the shower gel, I like the scent that much.

Jane Cosmetics is a brand that’s been around forever. Okay, at least since I was a cute little high schooler, and I graduated ten years ago… Back in the day, I loved their blush and lipsticks, so I was pretty excited to see some Jane products in Walgreens the other day.

I purchased the Nearly Foundation Tinted Moisturizer on a whim (it’s $4.99 regularly, but I got it on sale), since it is oil-free and has SPF 30. On further inspection, I discovered that, sadly, it isn’t a broad spectrum sunscreen (it has no UVA protection). But, I went ahead with my trial.

The texture is nice. It’s very smooth, not thick or greasy at all. It goes on really smoothly, and doesn’t make me any shinier than any other tinted moisturizer I’ve tried. The coverage is light, as befits a tinted moisturizer. I haven’t experience any irritation or breakouts from it.

My major complaint is the product only comes in three shades. The medium looked too dark, so I picked the fair shade. It’s too pink for my more olive-y skin. It’s enough too pink that I’m going to take it back to the store because it just doesn’t look good. Thank heavens for Walgreens’ great return policy!

I’m totally bummed, because I was really prepared to like this product. Everything else about it is great. I picked up a tube of Stila Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer yesterday to use, since it is the product I’ve found that looks the best on my skin (especially mixed with a smidgen of the Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer. The price kills me, but it’s been my favorite summertime complexion product. Also, the lighting at my new job is much friendlier – the Beauty Emporium lighting is designed to make you look as unflattering as possible, thus necessitating buying MORE MAKEUP!! but has the side effect of making all the sales people pile on makeup so as not to kill our self esteem by looking bad every day, surrounded by mirrors… Anyway, I can put away my full coverage foundation for the time being, and embrace the tinted moisturizer.

philosophy has introduced some new 3-in-1 shower gels for summer in some yummy new scents: Tangerine, Grapefruit, Lime, and Pomegranate. I like the Lime the best. There is also a body butter in the Grapefruit and the Pomegranate, as well as a Power Shower trio with Lime, Tangerine, and Grapefruit. Find them all at Sephora.

Bath and Body Works has introduced Fresh Pineapple, Island Coconut, Beyond Berry, and Sunset Mango bath scents for summertime. The Body Shop has three new home fragrance oils for summertime (Pina Colada, Hit The Beach, and Caipirinha).

In the ongoing saga of growing my hair out, finding styling products that suit my ever-changing hair lengths has been a challenge. I’ve gone from being a dedicated user of Aveda products like Control Paste and Light Elements Defining Whip to give some shape and spikiness to a super-short hairstyle, to needing something to give some lift and volume to otherwise flat, barely shoulder-length hair.

I’ve done the mousse thing. It wasn’t my bag. I haven’t figured out how to use those “root-lifting” sprays without having crunchy roots. Not my thing either… My hair also has just enough curl to it to be really annoying, but not enough to be truly curly.

This is where Frederic Fekkai Beach Waves comes in. One of the perks of my new job is starting my shifts on the half-hour, instead of the hour, as in starting at 9:30 am instead of 9:00 am. I get up at the same time, but I have an extra half hour to get ready. This rocks! What this really translates into is eliminating the need to blow-dry my hair. I simply let it air dry, apply a teensy bit of straightening with a flat iron (just a smidge, to the bangs in the front) and spray a copious amount of Beach Waves to the rest. Scrunch with fingers, maybe use just a touch of the blow dryer on the low-warm setting (if I feel like it) and be done with it.

The Beach Wave spray is awesome. I’m going for a slightly tousled, sorta wavy look to my hair, emphasizing its natural curl instead of trying to eliminate it. The result is pretty cute – my hair has a flippy look to it and doesn’t look flat anymore. I don’t have to use a blow dryer on my whole head (which is much better for the overall health of my hair), and I’m not hating on my hair as much as I used to – I actually am starting to love the way it looks now. I was previously missing my short hair, which always looked perfectly styled. Getting used to this longer length meant going through some serious bad hair days.

Don’t waste your time on imitations of this product, since everyone has some kind of beachy spray, from Garnier to Avon. I’ve tried them, and nothing works like Fekkai Beach Waves. I’ll be stocking up, before it leaves the shelves when the season ends.

KenzoAmour is the newest fragrance from Kenzo. It’s a woody oriental scent, and the latest scent to grab me enough to actually purchase it.

It is described as a “travel through Asia,” with notes like frangipani blossoms from Bali or Borobudur, cherry blossoms from Japan, tanakha wood, incense, Thai rice steam, vanilla of La Réunion, and white tea from China.

The first time I sniffed this perfume, I didn’t like it. It screamed “Ack! Powder!” at me, and I ran screaming. Scents that seem really powdery usually tickle my nose and turn me off. But there was something about this scent that kept drawing me back. I’d sneak a whiff on a paper strip, just one little sniff, and be drawn in. Soon I was noticing the vanilla, and the florals. After a little more of this tiptoe dance around the perfume, I took the plunge and sprayed it on my skin.

What’s this? It’s warm, and woodsy on my skin, and the initial powdery impression gives way to something edible. I’m reminded of a passage in Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses by Isabel Allende, where she describes a dream in which she is diving into a vat of rice pudding (it is a very sensual dream…), by this fragrance. It is creamy, sensual, rice pudding. Really, it’s a good thing.

This perfume is different from anything else I own. I love its warmth and softness. It’s definitely a new friend.