ProductWhores

Rubberize Your Skin

I love to use face masks, but even I have to admit, they do get a little boring sometimes.  So anytime I can try one that doesn't have your run of the mill apply, sit for 15 minutes, rinse off process, I'm excited.  Bliss' Fabulous Skin Reviving Rubberizing Mask definitely fits that bill.  To use it, you empty one of the packets in the box into a mixing bowl, then add a scoop of water and mix it into a thick paste.  Then you apply the paste to your face and hang out for 20 minutes while it rubberizes before you peel it off.  

First of all, rubberizes is such a weird word that I was totally curious what it would look like.  It really does form some sort of thick, rubbery consistency on your face, but it's not painful or stingy at all.  It's just kind of... cool, for lack of a better word.  Definitely different than any mask I've ever used before.  The one thing that I would be careful of though is to keep it away from your hairline and your eyebrows.  I wasn't really thinking about that when I applied it and once the stuff rubberizes, it's a nightmare to get out of hair.  At one point, I was really worried that my eyebrows would come off with it, but I was able to finally get it all out without becoming eyebrow-less.  But still, you can easily avoid that torture if you  take your time, so just be careful.  It's also really fun to peel off - it's totally satisfying to do it, plus it doesn't come off in tiny pieces, so it won't take you three hours to get it all off.  (There's nothing more annoying than a mask that has great results, but requires you to spend an entire "Scandal" episode to take off).  It basically peeled off my face in about five big pieces, then there were only a few places where I had other small pieces to peel seperately.  Totally easy and kind of fun!  

You're supposed to use it once a week and I've only tried it once so far, so I can't really talk about long term results, but my skin did look really clean and glowy after I took it off, plus it felt all smooth and hydrated.  I'll definitely use the other packets in the box to get Blissed-out!

Note:  A sample was sent to me by a PR representative working with Bliss   

Firm, Baby, Firm

So for the past year or so, I've been all about the serums.  I think I read some article about how important they are, so even though I used them before, now I use one every morning and night.  I'm good like that.  Lately, my serum of choice has been Bliss' Firm, Baby, Firm Dual Action Lifting + Volumizing Serum.  I've been using it for 2-3 weeks now, so I'm not sure how much I can speak to the long-term results, but on a daily basis, my skin feels less tight and it seems to be making my sensitive skin less... reactive.  I also really love its scent - I can't even totally place it - it's something fresh and spa-like, which makes sense since the 99% active, water-free formula is what they use in every Firm, Baby, Firm facial at their spas.  All I know is, when I smooth it on, the scent makes me really happy, which is a definite plus over some of the other medicine-like serums I've used.  (It might be lavender mixed with something else, since the serum has an aloe base with lavender in it).  It's also supposed to correct and prevent the appearance of fine wrinkles with long term use, which is a definite plus (I'll keep you guys posted if it seems to be working on me although luckily, I don't really seem to have any wrinkles yet.  Thanks, sunscreen!)  I'm kind of obsessed with Bliss products at the moment (pretty much all of them, from the shower gels to the entire skin care line) so this one fits into my new routine nicely.  Bring on the firming! 

A sample of this product was sent to me by a PR representative working with Bliss

A Blissful Feeling

 

I have a Bliss problem.  I'm so addicted to the Bliss Spas - every single one I've ever visited has been awesome - and sadly, I can't afford to go as often as I'd like, so I just cheer myself up by using all their fabulous products in between visits.  Their newest achivement is The Youth As We Know It Anti-Aging Night Cream.  A Sephora exclusive, the cream has a total of 10 aging benefits.  It promises to:

1. Visibly reduce wrinkles with 2x the power of Bliss' Youth As We Know It Moisture Cream
2. Intensely replenishes and soothes
3. Retexturizes skin
4. Promotes collagen and elasticity
5. Visibly fills fine lines
6. Boosts oxygen circulation
7. Evens skin tone
8. Hydrates and plumps
9. Brightens and clarifies
10. Improves skin's firmness

I've only been using it for about two weeks now, so I can't attest to any wrinkle fighting ability yet (also, luckily my total insistence on always wearing a high SPF has kept me wrinkle-free so far, thank God) but I really like it as a nighttime moisturizer.  It has a delightful clean, fresh scent and it's not greasy or oily at all, just light and moisturizing (obviously!)  It's also used in the new The Youth As We Know It Night Time Facial Treatment at Bliss Spas, so that should tell you something.  The cream is kinda pricey at $79, but the jar has a decent amount of product in it at 1.7 ounces and you don't need to use a lot each night, so it should last you a fairly long time.  (Seriously don't use a lot.  I am terrible at taking this advice and every single time I use too much serum or moisturizer, I always get annoyed at how much money I'm wasting).  And just writing about a Bliss product is making me realize that I'm due for another visit to the spa near me sometime soon.  The Double Chocolate Pedicure is calling my name!         

Note: A sample of this product was sent to me by a PR representative working with Bliss

Gift Sets To Go Gaga Over

This is the time of year when all the stores are awash in gift sets.  Makeup gift sets, skin care gift sets, body care gift sets...  Sometimes the deals are so good, it's actually cheaper to buy the set and get a couple products than it is to buy a single one of them on its own.  (I call this the "doesn't even need justification, just throw it in my basket as fast as I can" purchase).  Since I'm sure at least some of you are like me and still have the majority of your gifts to buy, here are a few of the sets I'm either buying for myself or handing out to others this year.

Bliss' "Glow"-Ho-Ho Radiance-Revving Triple Oxygen Trio is a limited-edition set with three products - a1.7 ounce Triple Oxygen+C Energizing Cream, a 3.4 ounce Triple Oxygen Energizing Mask, and a pair of Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Eye Masks.  Before I got the set, I'd only tried the mask before, which I love, but now that I've tried the cream too, I like to pair them up for full effectiveness.  It's a great value too since Bliss can be a little pricey and you're getting a lot for your money here.  (And if you like Bliss, make sure you check out all of their holiday gift sets because there are a bunch of them and they're all fantastic values.  I sort of want them all).  This set's a great way to get introduced to their skin care line if you've never tried it before and it's easy to pick up at Sephora at one of your many holiday shopping trips to the mall.

I've been totally obsessed with Ahava's products all year because they're great on my sensitive skin, so I'll take any excuse to pick some more up.  Shoshanna for AHAVA is another limited-edition set that comes packaged in a bright travel bag perfect for a weekend away.  Inside you'll find a 3.4 ounce Mineral Hand Cream, a 3.4 ounce Mineral Body Lotion, and a .85 ounce Dermud Intensive Foot Cream.  I love their Mineral Body Lotion so much that I use it almost every day, so I'm really psyched to have stumbled across this set before I have to pack for my trip to the east coast next week.  More room for another five lipsticks!

Origins is one of those brands that I sometimes forget I love as much as I do and then I'll use one of their products and get all excited about how great it is and want to buy every single thing they make.  Since that's (sadly) out of the question, this season I'm turning to their gift sets as a way to get the best bang for my buck.  I know their ginger products are uber popular, but I hadn't tried them until now and I can finally see why everyone raves about them so much.  I always thought I didn't like the smell of ginger, but apparently I was confusing it with like, the scent of exhaust of something because it's SO nice.  It's all rich and warm and a little spicy and just delicious.  The Ginger To Go and Stay set is great because you get both travel-size and regular-sized products in it, so you can use them both at home and on vacation if you want.  (And I definitely do.  The smaller sizes will also be making the cross country journey with me next week.  They'll be perfect to use in the apparently frigid NJ weather that I'll be flying into).  You get a full array of body products in the set too - Body Wash, Body Scrub, Body Cream...  You'll be able to layer the scent as much as you want, which always makes me very happy.  Now I kind of think that I need the Ginger Essence to spritz on top as a final layer.  It seems very winter appropriate, doesn't it?  It'll be the perfect scent to wear to cheer me up when I'm shivering in my sixteen layers as I trudge through the snow, wondering how I ever managed to spend four years of college in upstate New York with its ten foot high snow drifts.  Los Angeles has made me soft!

Note: Samples of these items were sent to me by PR representatives working with Bliss, AHAVA and Origins

Get Fabulips

If I could only visit one spa for the rest of my life, it would be Bliss.  I just love all their services (and products) so much that a few hours at one of their locations is my idea of total, well, bliss!  Their new Fabulips collection is a great way to ease into the brand if you're not familiar with a lot of their products.  It's a collection of four different products that will whip even the most chapped or unappealing lips into shape.  Here are the four steps in the process:

• Refresh - The Fabulips Foaming Lip Cleanser will take everything from food to makeup off.
• Retexturize - The Fabulips Sugar Lip Scrub smells like a Creamsicle and will exfoliate away dry patches and flakes.
• Rejuvenate - The Fabulips Instant Lip Plumper is mint-flavored and plumps without stinging.
• Replenish - The Fabulips Softening Lip Balm is full of moisturizers to keep your lips as soft as possible.

I'm super obsessed with this kit at the moment.  It's the perfect, quick facelift if your lips are starting to get too rough or chapped, and I love the Instant Lip Plumper so much.  Mint is my favorite lip product flavor and this one works really well on top of the delicious scent.  Buying all the products together saves you a lot of money too - the set is $45, but all the products separately would be $74, so you're saving almost $30 by grabbing them all at once.  After all, a girl can never be too rich, too thin, or have too many lip balms!

Note:  A sample of this product was sent to me by a PR representative working with Bliss

Pure Bliss

 

I am LMAO right now because I just read Stacey's post about how she "had" to use the Sephora friends and family discount and I, too, went online late last night (in darkness so no one would know how much I was going to blow on products) to indulge in the discount!  Seriously, how can anyone pass up free shipping and 20% off?!  Anyway, I bought a few random items I am dying to try, but one that I'm super excited about is the new Eau du Toilette by Bliss.  If you didn't receive that little cheat sheet of a fragrance guide by Sephora, you need to run to the store and smell this stuff immediately.  It's fresh, slightly florally, but really smells like the inside of a spa (cucumber-y and fresh linen).  Okay, I may sound sort of insane when I'm saying that these scents go well together but that's just my take on it and I love it.  Plus, I only shelled out the $18.00 (ahem, make that $14.40 with the discount) for the rollerball so I don't feel too guilty.  We don't talk about the other stuff I bought, which I should feel guilty about.

Bliss on Gilt!

In need of a trip to the spa?

No matter which coast you call home, find the skin-fixing and tension-nixing services of Bliss at your fingertips and indulge in the ultimate spa experience on Gilt Groupe with our special Bliss sale!
 
For the FIRST TIME EVER on any luxury flash sale site, Bliss is partnering with Gilt Groupe for exclusive sales in multiple cities, offering treatments and packages with locations in New York, L.A. and six other cities in between! In addition to cult-favorite products, this sale is a MUST for beauty buffs looking to refresh for Fall!
 
Log onto gilt.com/bliss today, September 16th at 12PM ET through Saturday, September 19th at NOON ET to find the de-stressing services of Bliss at your beck and call.  The renowned spa offers high-tech beauty solutions in a sleek, refined-yet-relaxed environment.  With trademark touches like rhythm and blues tunes, a brownie buffet, and the most talented staff on the planet, it's no wonder they’ve gained a gaggle of grooming groupies over the years.  Bliss' super-effective bath, body and skincare blends are based on years of tension-nixing, skin-fixing expertise, and will make you look and feel ‘spa’-tacular every day!

Big Deals

There really are no words for how excited I was when I walked into Sephora recently and saw this bargain.  I love, love, love the entire line of Bliss' Blood Orange + White Pepper scent, but Bliss can be kind of expensive and I really can't justify it at the moment because of how much I already have.  But this?  This I can justify.  At only $18 for a 16 ounce bottle, you can't afford not to buy it.  The Blood Orange + White Pepper Soapy Suds Body Wash + Bubbling Bath can be used as a body wash or to create gorgeously fruity scented bubbles for an energizing bath.  I can't wait to try it!  (Especially with the Sephora Friends & Family coupon coming up for 20% off).  It's like the product Gods want me to have it! 

Get Bikini Perfect

So I kinda hate the thought of getting a bikini wax.  Even though mostly every woman I know depends on them, I'm just one of those people who hates the thought of willingly putting myself through that much pain.  (And yet my sister, who swears that Too Faced's Lip Injection hurts too much to use, has no problem lining up to get waxed.  Figure that one out!)  So I sort of, uhm, fix up the area myself.  Up until now, I had been using a bikini trimmer that I got from the drugstore, but I'm loving the Bikini Perfect Deluxe - Spa Edition from Bliss and Philips that I recently tested out.  It's a cordless, rechargeable personal trimmer that you can even take in the shower for you, so it's super convenient and easy to use.  Perfect for when you can't get to the spa (or even as your main hair removal system), it comes with six different attachments that can be used for everything from your bikini line to your eyebrows.  The attachments include:  a precision trimmer, precision comb, epilator, micro shaver, micro trimmer, and eyebrow comb.  (Although I have to admit, I didn't test out the eyebrow attachment because I know myself - the phone would ring or someone would knock at the door, my hand would slip, and all of a sudden, I'd have half a brow left on one side of my face.  I trust only the pros with that area!)  I did test out the different attachments for the bikini area and really liked the way they all worked.  The instructions were easy to understand and I think I did as good a job as a technician at a spa could've (if I do say so myself).  Plus, using the Bikini Perfect at home involves a whole lot less being naked from the waist down in front of a total stranger, is completely pain free, and at only $60 (less than the price of ONE waxing at most spas), is a smart investment.  (You can use the money you'll save to get a massage instead!)  The kit even comes with a 1 ounce tube of Bliss Lemon+Sage Body Butter and Lemon+Sage Body Scrub, plus five Bliss Ingrown Hair Eliminating Peeling Pads and a drawstring travel bag, so you can easily pack the trimmer if you go on vacation and know you'll be hitting the beach all week.  Or you could just go au naturale and hope you don't scare everyone away.  Your choice... 

Photo courtesy of Sephora

Go Naked

I'm all about the layering of scents. In fact, I would say that I'm slightly obsessed with it. (But in a good way, not in a boiling bunnies kind of way). And I tend to feel the same way about layering my scents that I do about my underwear - if two things are going to be paired together, they better match or my whole day is going to be thrown off. (What? Me? OCD?) So I would never pair, say, Angel perfume with a Coco Mademoiselle lotion unless someone was forcing me at gunpoint. (Which would be the weirdest crime ever, by the way...) This creates a problem for me though on the days when the perfume I want to wear doesn't have a matching lotion in my closet. It's at these times that I reach for Bliss' Naked Body Butter. It's a great moisturizer that leaves your skin silky without the greasy after effect that so many lotions produce. Even better - it's completely unscented. And unlike some products that claim this (while actually smelling like chemicals or burnt plastic), Naked really is scent free, allowing you to apply it before any of your fragrances without changing the way they react with your body chemistry. It isn't cheap - $35 for only 8.5 ounces makes me wince every time I hit the checkout line - but it is worth it when you consider how much more it would cost to buy matching lotions for every other perfume you own. Hhhhm. A thousand dollars vs. $35? If you want to stay moisturized without clashing, I think the choice is clear.

Photo courtesy of Bliss