my latest (skin) favorites

Don't get it twisted: my skin doesn't look this good because I'm black. Not exactly.  My skin looks this good because I have always worked at it religiously, with clean living -- no smoking, no alcohol, a minimal amount of sun -- and clean eating, and great products.  I love to experiment and try new things. Here's my top three products that I am embracing at the moment.

1. Algenist with Alguronic Acid: Regenerative Anti-Aging Moisturizer  Right now, every extra nickel I've got is going towards dental work. Once I get my teeth fixed, though (by next summer, I hope), this will be my new moisturizer.

I got a sample from my Beautyfix box subscription a few months ago and I seriously can't believe how wonderful it is. Alguronic Acid is incredible stuff, available only in Algenist products -- and you can only get those at Sephora.

 *sigh* Too bad this is so expensive. It's worth it, though.

2. La Roche-Posay Anthelios 60 Ultra Light Sunscreen Fluid  This product is hands down, far and away the best sunscreen for your face that's out there, bar none, in my humble opinion  -- and at $29.99 it's actually affordable.  Leave it to the French, I guess. La Roche-Posay is no joke.

 

3. Shea Moisture  I use all of these products faithfully on my hair and body because simply put, this stuff works.  The ingredients are all natural and certified organic, they're affordable and accessible (available at Target!), they do wonderful things for my skin and hair, and all of it smells amazing.  Here's the real kicker: they're one of the only independently black owned and operated companies that manufacture, package and ship their own products. That's why all of it is so inexpensive.

It's going to take a lot to get me to stop using any of this.

If these products ever got to black folk of the entire diaspora -- Paris, Nairobi, Moscow! -- the owners of Shea Moisture would be billionaires.

30 days of birthday - day 15: birchbox!

let me just say this for the record: i enjoy being a girl. admittedly, it was not always so. i wasn't the girl that knew how to be a girl in this really effortless female way.  i have always had to work hard at it. for the most part, its a fun ride but that wasn't always so, either. i was a tomboy until i hit puberty -- well, you can read all about that here, if you'd like) and then i was a very angry bitter pill until i hit college.  and then i got hit on, a lot. and then everything went left. thank God i was in texas. but i digress.

my friend gina told me about birchbox -- for $10 a month, a pretty package would arrive at my door, filled with anything from perfume to the perfect lip stain. i get to try all kinds of beauty products i'd heard about but could hardly afford. i love experimenting with makeup -- God knows there's always something new to explore -- but who has the time to run in and out of department stores and the like, and make that happen? and with no real money?

with birchbox, there are no contracts to sign, no crazy commitments, no complications. i get to try before i buy. and yes, there are online video tutorials, a pretty comprehensive website and a store to purchase whatever sample i like. too perfect!

i am smitten with the idea of trying things out at home like this. with enough subscribers, the opportunities are endless, really. what a great idea. is everybody doing this with all kinds of stuff, and i'm the last one to know about it? (probably.)


this is the way it looks when it crash lands on my kitchen table. it feels like a birthday present every month.

when i open it, there's a little card that explains how everything in the box coincides with the theme for the month. cute!

i open the tissue paper and what do i find? such lovely things. to the left, cynthia rowley dress-up band-aids -- something the girl in me could really get addicted to, if i were a little more accident-prone. below that, borghese crema saponetta cleansing bar for face and body -- perfect for traveling. you can even use it instead of shaving cream.

and then there's that little package, wrapped in tissue paper...

...filled with ada cosmetics bronzer ("flatters every skin tone"...yeah, we'll see about that...), bvlgari omnia crystalline eau de toilette spray ("combines notes of lotus flowers, bamboo and Nashi pear" - LOVE what this turns into when it melds with my chemistry/skin) and thebalm cosmetics stainiac in beauty queen (a two in one lip and cheek stain).

there are at least 3 things that i'd like more of from this haul, starting with that perfume. and the lip stain has inspired me.

hm. someone should create something like this exclusively for women of color.

okay, so here's the kicker: if i refer anyone to them, i get points (yippee!) so if you'd like to hook me up ("happy birthday to meeeee!"), please click here. and yes, a thousand thank yous in advance -- because like i said, this girl stuff is not only expensive. it's hard work.

shea butter, revisited

one of my birthday presents to myself this weekend was a container of 100% raw shea butter. it comes in yellow or white slabs (kind of like butter) and it has a slightly nutty scent. you can sit it on the shelf forever because thankfully it never goes bad. i got it on the street in the heart of harlem for five bucks from a west african in a suit. yeah, he was working it hard. and he had lots of other things, too -- and i'll get to them in a later post -- but that shea butter was all i needed for the moment.

basically, i'm really frustrated with a lot of the beauty products floating around out there for my skin -- especially the ones that are supposedly designed for me as a black woman. when i do find something i like, it's so expensive that i don't feel right about purchasing it on a regular basis. on the other hand, when it comes to my face -- cleansers, moisturizers, anti-aging creams, a good astringent -- i'll make whatever sacrifice i have to, for a clear, even complexion. for the moment, my face is taken care of. i have a facialist, i have an eyebrowist and i'm hooked on murad products. the rest of my body could use a little help.

right about now, the body shop and bath and body works are launching their summer sales, with deep discounts that make their body butters pretty tempting. but they still fall short. my solution? i take what they've got and fortify it with my own ingredients, thus creating something totally new and uniquely mine. it allows me to stretch the use of the lotion and give my skin the boost that the manufacturer never really considered.

it starts with an empty container. an empty body butter tub works very well, for example. i used an empty shea cashmere jar. i put in two parts of a heavily scented lotion -- this one is tahiti sweetie, filled with monoi oil -- and two parts shea butter that i carefully melted in the microwave. i stirred that up with a spoon until it reached a smoothness and consistency i recognized. and then i put in one part arygan oil and stirred that up, readjusting with more scented lotion until the jar was full. the litmus test? when i tried it, my skin drank it in and now it's softer than ever.

the bad news is, i won't be able to replicate the scent of the lotion accurately -- unless i use some of those oils that the africans sell. but that's okay. having healthy, clear, ultra soft skin is worth it.

good grief. i am so DIY. if i knew anything about construction, i'd probably build my own house.