I recently ran out of my beloved Kinerase Clear Skin Treatment Serum and I’m feeling a little on the poor side… so I bought a product at the health food store that I figured would suffice in the meantime. It’s from a company called Home Health, their Blemish Treatment Lotion.

They’re using a more technical definition of “lotion” (see lotion in the dictionary), so it’s not an emulsion but is rather a liquid you apply with a cotton pad. I picked it out because of the 0.5% salicylic acid, and the fact that it’s easy to apply.

On the plus sides: it’s cheap. It’s around $7-8 a bottle. Also, it dries up active blemishes like nobody’s business. It has some botanical stuff in it, namely witch hazel, meadowsweet, and tea tree oil. It’s rockin’ as a spot treatment, applied with a q-tip. It’s adequate for larger areas – like combatting blackheads on my nose and chin.

On the minus sides: it has alcohol in it, so it’s rather drying. It also has camphor and menthol, two ingredients that serve no purpose (in my humble opinion) other than being potentially irritating and giving a “cooling” effect to the skin. I call it the “oh look, this must be doing something because I can feel it” effect. I dislike the sensation.

Bottom line: it’s not my beloved Kinerase. But it’s a great deal cheaper and it’ll hold me through the summer while I’m feeling a little pinchy in the pocketbook. I do like that it dries up pimples faster than just about anything else. That’s awesome.

I picked up a jar of Alaffia Shea Butter & Rooibos Antioxidant Face Cream from Whole Foods Market a few weeks ago. I will admit, I purchased it mostly on scent – it’s made with vanilla and ylang ylang and the scent is intoxicating to me. It’s a bit on the rich side for oily skin and it has virgin coconut oil (in addition to the shea butter) which is possibly pore-clogging. However, I exfoliate regularly and use salicylic acid products so I figure it evens out. I’ve been using this at night and my skin seems happy. I like that it’s a simple formulation, and fair trade. I’ve been doing business with the parent company of Alaffia for a while (ordering shea butter wholesale for my soap business) and they are good people.

For day, I’ve been using L’Occitane Honey Face Cream. It’s lightweight and soothing, and smells so nice. I either use my Stila Tinted Moisturizer for sun protection or Murad Oil Free Sunblock SPF 30 on days when I’m avoiding makeup or going to be outdoors for more than 15 minutes.

The Body Shop got me with a sale. I picked up the Spa Wisdom Monoi Miracle Oil because of… you guessed it, the scent. It’s ylang ylang, jasmine, and gardenia. Oh, heaven in a bottle! I like to rub it on my legs after a shower, or massage my scalp with it and let it sit for an hour before I shampoo. If I could convince my hubby to give me a massage with it, I’d die and go to heaven.

Last, but not least, there’s mark. That’s Avon’s mark., that is. I ordered the Instant Vacation Greek Isles fragrance mist, and it’s delecta-ma-ble, to quote Homer Simpson. It has notes of warm honey, fresh gardenia, white freesia and creamy coconut. Sure, coconut ain’t exactly Greek, but it’s not terribly strong in the blend. Mostly I smell honey and flowers, and it reminds me of baklava. It doesn’t last very long, but is quite yummy for summer.

There you have it, Claire’s early summer love letter.

My three favorites: Shiseido Accentuating Color Stick, Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush, and Lancome Magique Blush.

The Shiseido stick has the most amazing texture. It’s super creamy without being greasy, and wears really well. I think it’s my favorite.

At first, the Lancome seems like a much more expensive version of the Maybelline product. But I love the color (Cinnamon Glaze) and it seems to have better staying power than the Maybelline. The Maybelline color is “Whipped Strawberries” and it is my favorite shade of delicate pink on the skin. Not too crazy pink at all.

So what’s the deal with cream blushes? I like them because they look a lot more natural on the skin than a powder for those days when I want a really subtle look. I also like how they wear in the summer – powders can get weird when I sweat a lot, whereas the creams stay put and don’t seem to look too fake and obvious.

Cream blushes are my choice for summer blush.

Home fragrance is a new topic for this blog, but since I’m obsessed with all things smelly and nice, I figured it would be okay. Besides, a lot of my favorite bath & body companies make candles too.

The company I’m featuring today is called For Every Body. They make some of my FAVORITE candles – especially if you like bakery scents that smell like the real thing. I’ve fooled people into thinking I was baking cookies by burning a For Every Body candle before.

I’ve burned Happy Birthday Cake (yummy vanilla cake), Cinnamon Toast (yummy cinnamon-y goodness) and Apple Pie (apple-y cinnamon-y goodness). Now that I’ve seen the selection on their website, I’m having a major drool-fest. I purchased their candles from a local store (Fred Meyer), and their selection isn’t nearly so good. I’m also thrilled to see that they offer their candles in tins too. My cats have a bad habit of knocking things off my desk, and the glass ones break on my tile floors.

The candles burn really cleanly, the scent will fill a room, and the jars are really cute. If you are looking for some new candles, give For Every Body a try.

Despite not being a huge fan of mineral makeup foundation, I absolutely love mineral blushes and bronzers. This is mostly because the awesome indie companies on the internewts offer such an amazing selection of colors that mainstream companies aren’t really doing right now, or else they have what I want for a much better price.

Everyday Minerals has their Natural shade in the Blush section that is the perfect luminizer. The key is to use sparingly, or else you will have a blinding flash of light on your cheekbones. But just the teensiest smidge looks awesome. My other favorite use for it is to mix a teensy smidge with my loose powder before I swirl my brush in it and dust my face.

Larenim has a shade called Forbidden Flush in their Blush section that I’m totally loving. It looks like a scary shade of pink in the jar, but dusted on the cheeks it becomes this pretty iridescent touch of pink. The iridescence put me off at first, but now I love it. It’s hard to find companies doing iridescent colors – I guess it’s not really “in” at the moment, but I like the look. Paired with a little Bare Escentuals Warmth (that ubiquitous color) it’s my favorite summer look.

Mostly what I love is how darn economical these products are. I’m still working on my itty-bitty Natural sample from Everyday Minerals, and I think the Larenim blush will last forever. I love the prices on these products!

I wish I could find a picture of it, but Lancome is doing the cutest GWP at Macys right now. (edited to add: as I suspected, if you cruise eBay looking for Lancome Orange Bag, you will see it…) With a $29.50 purchase you get an awesome reversible tote bag (orange and a pretty floral pattern), flip flops, a mini Bifacil eye makeup remover, a small size of the High Resolution Anti-Wrinkle Serum, a mini Definicils mascara, a Color Design lipstick, and a mini eyeshadow quad. You can pick between warms and cools.

I picked the warms, and the colors are great. The eyeshadows are really pretty neutral browns with one intense copper, and the lipstick is an awesome copper color.

And what did I buy to obtain this awesome GWP? A Juicy Tube from the summer collection (Tropiques) in Strawberry Glass and a Magique Blush in Cinnamon Glaze.

The Juicy Tube is a great shade of pink – bright, but not too Barbie Doll. I love it for summer. I’ve been lusting after the blush for a while now – it’s a mousse blush, super blendable and the color is so pretty. It’s almost like a bronzer and looks really natural on the skin.

I’m not usually a sucker for GWPs but I love this bag. It’s perfect for toting (ha ha!) around all my stuff and the color is so cheerful. I kept seeing ladies coming into my store carrying it and decided I wanted one too… Sucker! *grin*

There are so many pretty cosmetics out for summer!! Here’s a quick rundown on what I think is too awesome to miss.

Bare Escentuals Fruit Smoothie Glimpses are the perfect colors for a sheer, neutral eye that isn’t the usual browns and beiges. These colors would look awesome on brown-eyed gals like me.

Bourjois’ new Eau de Gloss lipglosses are perfect for keeping your lips hydrated this summer without sacrificing shine.

The new Pearlessence Gel Stains from Vincent Longo look amazing. I love stains, but they almost always are clear washes of color. These new stains have pearly finish for a new take on the lip and cheek stain.

Not a makeup, but I totally want these Korres Body Scrubs. I adore Korres’ body products, being a total addict of their shower gels. I’m sure the scrubs rock.

In the drugstore fabulous category, head over to your nearest Walgreens to check out the new Jane Cosmetics products. The new eye palettes look awesome!

Here’s something I know everyone will love: an awesome body scrub and hand & body cream.

Melba’s Paradise Potions is an independent business based in Southern California specializing in bath and body products. The products are amazing!!

This time of year it’s shorts and skirts weather, so having a great scrub and a great body lotion is key to great looking skin. Why? Here are some good reasons.

First, combat dry skin by removing dead skin cells so your lotion will penetrate better. The result is smoother, supple skin. If you use a self-tanner (and I will post a review on one soon!), using a body scrub first ensures an even application with no streaks or dark spots. If you are a sun-worshipper (naughty you!), using a rich body cream afterwards helps your skin recover from the drying effects of the sun.

Melba’s Paradise Potions makes an awesome scrub called Sweet Body Smoothie Tropical Sugar Body Polish, available in several amazing scents. My current favorite is the Cucumber Mango, although I’m dying to try the Kona Latte and Eucalpytus & Lemon. This is one of the best scrubs I’ve ever used. It’s a sugar scrub, and it has the perfect thick texture that ensures you don’t lose half of it to the tub floor before you can rub it on your skin. It’s not too oily or greasy (so no slippery tub), but it does have just the right amount of skin-loving oils to leave your skin perfectly soft and smooth. I’m totally hooked.

The Satin Sheets Hand & Body Creme perfectly complements the scrub. Slather yourself with it after your shower or bath for nicely moisturized skin. It’s not greasy or heavy, but rather has a light almost whipped texture. The scents match the scrub scents, so you can layer your fragrance.

As a special offer for my readers, Melba’s Paradise Potions is offering a special deal – Buy One Scrub and get a FREE matching Satin Sheets Hand and Body cream. All you need to do is buy one scrub and then type “Claire’s Beauty FREE Hand Cream” in the notes section when checking out and Melba’s Paradise Potions will then automatically add your FREE Satin Sheets Hand and Body Cream. This is an awesome deal, and I know you will love the products.