Beloved Beauty Products by Apoterra Skincare

Rose Hydrating Toner with Hyaluronic Acid + Rooibos

This brand has been on my radar for a while. I sing their praises every chance I get, especially to those looking for natural skincare options. It's the company mission to provide "high quality, safe, healthy and affordable skincare products." Sounds good to me. Through their site, you can even see who made your product, when, and from where the ingredients were sourced.  

I've officially incorporated the toner and night cream into my routine. The products listed are the ones I was gifted and absolutely loved. I met with the founders and admired how immensely passionate they are about creating this line. 

The toner smells great and the bottle lasted much longer than anticipated. Head to the site for details on what it's made of and how it makes skin so glow-y. I've come to find that almost anything with rose properties is fantastic for the skin!

Night Regenerative Balm with Prickly Pear + Vitamin C

I love-love-loved this night cream, or balm technically. It glides on smooth and feels super moisturizing. It leaves a yellow tint, but soaks right into your skin. It's the perfect night moisturizer that feels thick and luxurious without clogging your pores. I woke up to soft, even skin that glows all day.

Hibiscus Exfoliating Mud with Rosehip + Açaí

Last, we have the exfoliating mask. It smells heavenly, a bit like Mexican candy, which I know is a super bizarre description. It's a spicy sweet smell I can't get enough of. It's sort of difficult to spread, but in a weirdly fun, play-dough way. Once spread, it looks like that "vampire facial" a la Kim Kardashian. 

I've been browsing their site since I received their products. Next on my list to try is their Herbal Detoxifying Steam. It's almost too pretty to use! 

Beauty Reviews: Crazy Masks, Blemish Busters and More!

Disney Brushes and Makeup Bags (Most are available at Walgreens)

I'm all for fairy tale makeup and colorful flair. It was a whimsical surprise to receive a box of goodies with a Disney theme. Beauty and the Beast was my favorite film as a kid (book worm alert!) and, as an adult, Aladdin is my Disney pick. I don't own any brushes so I'm a little overwhelmed at the options, but excited to try them out. I used the larger Ariel brushes for my daytime look at the Jazz Lawn Party (photos coming soon!). It helped create a silvery smokey eye and add shimmer to my cheeks. I also really liked the eyebrow brush in the purple Jasmine set.

Gel Mask: Wilma Schumann Hydra-Gel Professional Treatment Masques

This mask was thick and somewhat messy. It's the kind of mask you need a moment to relax in, not to run around doing things. I expected it to smell fruity for some reason, but it was neutral which I appreciate. What annoyed me is that the "stuff" was slightly watery and hard to keep on my skin. Overall, the scary selfies were worth it. It was weirdly fun to use and my skin definitely looked better in a lot of ways, pores and all.

Sunscreen: Obagi Medical Sun Shield Broad Spectrum SPF 50 Matte

I liked that this too was fragrance free. I'm not picky or sensitive about fragrance, but neutral is always a safe bet. This is a white sunscreen per usual, but it blends easily and makeup smooths over it. The only issue I had was that it is definitely not water-proof. It doesn't claim to be, but after going to the ocean, getting splashed with water resulted in weird pools of white gunk settling in my neck creases (sexy stuff!). Generally, I like it for everyday use. It's light and a high SPF for NYC summers, but definitely not beach-worthy. 

Mascara: .em by Michelle Phan

Honestly, I'm not sure how this came into my possession, maybe a gift bag, maybe a PR person, but either way, I'm sold. I've heard many good (and bad) things about Michelle Phan, but I'm not an avid-Youtub-er so I don't follow her much. It doesn't surprise me that she has some sort of makeup line or collaboration. It promises "dramatic volume" and pretty much delivers. I've been using it regularly and notice a substantial difference in length.

Face Cream: Una Lux Face Cream

I have a feeling rosehip oil is magic. After using this cream, my skin looks visible better after two nights. It contains other fancy ingredients as well. You can use it as a day cream, but I only did so if my skin felt especially dry. It makes a wonderful night cream and lasts a decent length. At $25, the cream feels luxurious but doesn't break the bank, which is important to a frugal gal like me!

Blemish Remover: Una Blemish Buster

I bought two items from this brand at the BUST Craftacular. I figured the cream would be great, but I took a chance on the blemish remover. I heard tea tree oil was great for getting rid of zits and, turns out, I heard right! Usually I wait for creams or oils to dry before applying the stuff, but, one day, I got lazy, washed my face and threw this on a enormous burgeoning zit (a real monster!). The next morning, it was gone. Forget Neutrogena, I'm officially convinced of the power in oils.

Beauty Review: Red Lips, A Sugar Scrub & Ballet Flats That Moisturize!

Maybelline: On Fire Red

I was reluctant to try a new red since I'm a strong believer in Ruby Woo, but I love how moisturizing this is. I definitely want to try other colors! It's not as matte as MAC (try saying that three times fast!), but it's a great color when your lips need some moisture. You can see the difference below where I am wearing Ruby Woo.

NYX Mascara: Le Chick Flick

I thought I'd throw in a review for this mascara. I don't remember where it came from, but it's currently in my bag, being used regularly. It works really well to create long lashes, as you can see in this photo. I rarely put it on my lower lashes, but when I do, I really like the effect. My only complaint is that it's kind of tough to get off. I can still feel it after washing my face at the end of the day.

Little Moon Essentials: Shine On, Sugar (*c/o)

I'm super into this body scrub. It's scrubby, but not overly so since my skin can be sensitive. After using it once, I could tell the difference in moisture. It worked so well, I rarely needed body cream after using. To be honest, the packaging distracted me from the product. It's not something I'd gravitate toward aesthetically, but I'm so glad I gave it a chance. I literally used it to the last drop. I recently tried a new scrub and was dissapointed at the roughness. This stuff is well-priced and definitely something I'll add to my regular routine.

PolyGel Geluxury Slippers (*c/o)

This product is literally ballet flats that moisturize. What a novel idea! My feet are ever in need of tender love and care so I was super excited to try this. I could definitely tell a difference after a few uses, but it was pretty subtle. The shoes are fun to use, but if you need something stronger, I might try the ole cream and socks trick. This appealed to me because of the lack of mess, unfortunately it didn't make the kind of difference I hoped. My mom did comment on the softness of my feet though!

*Some of these items were gifted, but all opinions are my own.

Beauty Review: Chrome Girl by David Boreanaz (yes, of Buffy & Angel)

Back to your regular scheduled prgramming..sort of! I was sent some nail polish a while back that was actually designed by Angel's David Boreanaz and his wife, Jaime. They were worried about their kid biting her nails and ingesting all kinds of weird nail chemicals. They made these 4-free, which means it's produced without formaldehyde, DBP, toluene or camphor. I'm not sure what that means exactly, but I'm all for less chemicals. Pink and red are classic, but I'm really obsessed with the gold. It has a pretty matte sheen and seems to stay on the longest. It's a nice holiday color and the prices are not bad. Best of all, I love being able to say, "Guess who designed this?!"

Chrome Girl Empowered Flower (gold)

Chrome Girl Pucker Up (pink)

Chrome Girl Heartbreaker (red)

Beauty Review: Lip Balm and Black Soap

The Smith's Rosebud Salve is widely known as super popular good stuff and I don't disagree. I love this balm! It's a classic beauty staple and I use mine to the very last bit. I like that it has a sheen and looks like lip-gloss, but still hydrates your lips.

Strangely, I wasn't as fond of a new version. I got Smith’s Rose & Mandarin Lip Balm in a sample kit and I was super excited, but I'm halfway through it and convinced that it's making my lips worse. My lips have been super dry lately and I applied this religiously every night. It's possible my lips are too sensitive for this version. It tingles very slightly sometimes and I end up with the same dry lips or worse in the morning. The smell is a little stronger and as I get older, my skin gets weirdly more sensitive.

This Beauty Bee Lotion Bar has been a definite "lip-saver." It literally fixed my crazy chapped lips in two or three nights. It's super thick and incredibly moisturizing. I got it at a BUST Craftacular, but I didn't use it for while since, as a hand lotion, it gets greasy and can leave marks on my desk. As a nighttime lip balm, I'm obsessed!

These days, I'm also into African Black Soap. I was skeptical, but I totally credit it with toning down random rashes that suddenly appear. It also works well for shaving and as an exfoliant. It feels odd when you first start using it since it lathers in black and leaves my tub sort of dirty, but it smells great and you're obviously squeaky clean after.

Tales of a Sad-Sorry Beauty Writer

In the past year, I have graciously been gifted items to potentially review, some of which I requested for xoJane. Since then, I either put off reviews or got a few xo articles cancelled. As I move away from xoJane to concentrate on Twee Valley High, I ended up with a lot of guilt over this lack of content return. My policy has always been "consideration only," but these companies took the time to send me something special and I'm hoping to remedy this lack of beauty content. At this point, I've tried quite a few products so I'd love to share my favorites! 

Most likely, I won't share products I was less than super into. I'm a big fan of honesty, but I don't think anyone wants to hear the negative stuff. I can always change my mind on this though so let me know if you feel differently. Obviously, if I promised a review to a specific company, I will always be honest, whether that's positive or negative. 

Today I'll start with a product I love, but is sadly out of my price range.

MUN No.1 Aknari Brightening Youth Serum ($95)

This fancy pants facial serum was sent with a few other samples and, since I was not yet an oil convert, I wasn't sure how useful it would be. I eventually came to the conclusion that...

..THIS STUFF IS AMAZING. If I had all the money in the world, I would bathe in it. I wore it before bed and it made my face all glow-y beautiful and shit (official reviewer-speak). At this point, I've used it all up, down to the last drop. I even added water to the tube to make it last longer. I was sad when it was gone. The serum is made up of organic prickly pear, rose oil and argan oils, which I kid you not, made my whole face look better instantly. I must be used to the cheap stuff since instant results are like a bizarre-o beauty world I don't live in. The site uses the word 'radiant' a lot, which is appropriate since it's pretty much the best word to describe your face post-serum usage. Apparently you can also use it as a primer if you're going for a dewy, moisturized look. I never quite tried that.

Like I said, I can't afford it regularly so I'm making due with coconut oil or grape-seed oil as nighttime moisturizer. It's definitely not the same though and I think I'll officially "be a grown-up" when I buy this for myself. It's one of those "beauty splurges" people talk about. 

*I was provided products courtesy of MUN for promotional consideration, but was not compensated or obligated to post a "review." All opinions are 100% my own.*