ProductWhores

Scrubbing It Up

I love a good scrub.  Body washes are great, but it's nice to give yourself a good exfoliation every once in awhile.  The Almond Cookie Sea Salt Scrub by Carol's Daughter is a recent addition to my shower and from my experience, it should be to yours as well.  The packaging is adorable - it comes in a plastic jar with actual almonds floating in the scrub.  I'm such a sucker for touches like that.  Since the scrub itself is made with sea salt, it's a little rough in its consistency.  I had no problem with it and in fact, the roughness makes it a great exfoliator, but those of you with sensitive skin might want to test it out on a small section of your skin first.  The best part about this scrub is the scent.  It smells delicious - it's so good that I've had to force myself not to use it in the morning because it makes me hungry and I end up at Starbucks ordering one of those bacon, cheddar and egg sandwiches.  (They're amazing, but once your diet includes something like that before 9 am, it's all downhill from there).  The scrub is described as smelling like "the sweet essence of almonds blended with marzipan and enticing, warm accords of sandalwood and mists of musk, almond, lemon, sandalwood and vanilla, tapioca pearls and apple slices."  That's a lot of words to describe what I can sum up like this - "Yum."  It leaves my skin soft and silky, but make sure you're careful - it's a little slippery, so if you drop it on the floor of the shower, you're going to turn into a cartoon character, slipping and sliding around.  But hey, there's an easy fix for that - make sure all of the precious scrub makes it onto your body.  Your skin will thank you!

Photo courtesy of Carol's Daughter

Truly Ecstasy

I love products that multi-task.  There's something truly glorious about buying one thing and knowing that it can do so much for you.  I guess it's like finding the perfect man who watches the Celtics game with you, does the laundry, and cooks a fantastic dinner, all the while listening to what you're saying (and I don't mean that annoying "uh huh" listening, I mean really listening).  Anyway, when I discovered the Ecstasy Bath and Body Oil, I was in heaven.  This wonderful product is a must have for everyone, and I'm not just saying that because it comes in the most beautiful bathroom-counter-worthy bottle with real flowers floating around in it.  I say it's a must have because it really is a hard-working multi-tasker.  I use it on damp skin to moisturize like nothing else.  While it doesn't sink in immediately (whatever, stand around a bit) your skin will be left incredibly soft and will have a wonderful, sexy fruity (hmm, what an odd way for me to describe the scent, but you'll understand when you smell it) scent that lasts for hours.  I also use it in my frizzy hair (helps to moisturize and gives my hair a sexy scent) and I love to put a bit in the bath to make my skin extra soft.  I recently started putting it in a basin to soak my feet, which has proven better than other expensive foot treatments I've tried.  It also makes a wonderful massage oil (if you can sucker someone into giving you one).  I can't think of another product that has so many uses.  And at $20.00, you'll have money left over to order in dinner so you don't have to eat that spaghetti dish your man likes to cook.  Is it just my husband who cooks that?

Photo courtesy of Carol's Daughter 

Now This Is Some Painting I Don't Mind Doing

As if I didn't already have enough stress in my life (driving in LA traffic, deciding which Ice Blended to drink, deciding if I get bangs or not) Carol's Daughter just came out with a new line of Lip Paints that are brilliant.  The 12 colors are all so beautiful and wearable, I stood at Sephora for thirty minutes just stressing out over which one to get!  Okay, I realize this stress is lame, but c'mon, you understand.  I ultimately chose Hot Mocha - a rich brown that looks gorgeous on the lips.  It appears very dark in the tube but the color is actually sheer with a hint of brown to it.  My lips look shiny and sexy (if I do say so myself).  The peppermint scent is lovely and the tubes are contoured for easy application.  I do have two complaints, however.  One, it's impossible to not use your fingers because the stuff squeezes out too fast giving you a sort of lip gloss moustache if you're not careful.  Two, for some reason the Hot Mocha tends to separate making your first squeeze each time a clear runny mess.  My recommendation, she should've put these in tubes with wands - would've been way more convenient and less messy.  But, that said, the colors are fun and the Lip Paints are actually moisturizing so you won't dry your lips out.  Funny how we wait for  paint to dry, but Lip Paints we don't want to dry.  Hmmm, i'm so deep.

Doesn't Exactly Go On Like Buttah

I know in this day and age I shouldn’t admit that I love butter. I realize it’s bad for me, yet, somehow, I can’t care. I’m just rebellious like that. So, when I saw that Carol’s Daughter made a Lip Butter, I was all over it. I smear butter on bread, why not smear it on my lips, too? While the scent of the Lip Butter is delicious (almond), it takes a lot of effort to actually get enough on your finger to be able to apply to your lips. You actually have to let your warm finger rest on the stuff for a bit until it melts enough to scoop some out. Try and do this in public without looking like a freak. The ingredients are sweet almond oil, beeswax, cocoa butter, jojoba oil, shea butter, vanilla and essential oil of bitter almond, which I love because it really is all-natural. No petroleum or added weird things I can’t pronounce. While it’s not something that would be my first choice to moisturize my lips (hello pure shea butter from L’Occitane), I do enjoy putting some over lipcolor for extra sheen. And, at six bucks, I feel like it’s worth it even if you don’t use it all the time. Heck, I spent twenty bucks on boxing gloves and do they ever leave my closet floor? No, no, they do not. 

A Scrub Worth Justifying

You know how sometimes you’re drawn to a product and you try to justify how you NEED it and how you have nothing else like it and despite the fact you can’t come up with any solid evidence, you purchase it anyway?  Yeah, well, I did that… again.  I bought the Lemon Ginger Mint Manicure In A Jar by Carol’s Daughter and I had absolutely no justification for it whatsoever.  I kept saying to myself that I don’t NEED an exfoliator specifically for my hands.  I mean, I could just use a body exfoliator, right?  Well, I am thrilled that I purchased it because it’s amazing.  You use a small amount, scrub those chapped, dry hands and once you rinse it off, your hands are smooth and smell of lemon pound cake.  Seriously, a fantastic product – no wonder it won an award in Health Magazine!  It’s a small jar for ten bucks, but you really don’t need to use a lot to reap its benefits.  Also, you can use it on other dry parts of your body, but I personally wouldn’t recommend that because you’d go through the jar super fast and no one wants to have to justify buying a second jar of anything, right?  Man, shopping is so stressful sometimes.

Super Groovy

My friend swears by Carol’s Daughter products.  She is downright obsessed with the Almond Cookie Shea Souffle, which is what led me to peruse the shelves at my local Sephora.  My friend is definitely right about the butter – what a wonderful product!  I actually bought Groove Shea Souffle because the scent is so sexy and alluring, I couldn’t not own it.  Groove contains peach, pineapple, vanilla, chocolate and musk which sounds like a bizarre mix, but it smells so delicious, you won’t be able to stop smelling your buttery-soft skin.  The Souffle is extremely moisturizing and a little goes a long way.  But, be forewarned, because it is pure shea butter (along with cocoa butter and almond oil to name a few ingredients), it does not sink in quickly so expect to wait a bit before getting dressed after applying it.  Regardless of its sinkability (yes, I just made that word up) you will not be disappointed with the results on your skin.  The scent lasts all day (yum!) and the moisture lasts for hours.  One negative to the cream, however, is it states on the jar that you must use it within six months so it’s at its peak freshness.  It is a big jar, so I fear I won’t get through it all in that amount of time.  But, for the money (only $25.00 for a HUGE jar) I guess I can re-stock my shelf in six months.  Or, go on their website and order the smaller jars.  They turn out to be more expensive, but you’ll be sure to get through them in time.  Plus, with the smaller jars, you can actually get a few of the different scents.  It’s always good to mix it up a bit.  (This coming from the chick who can’t stop buying black sweaters).   

Fresh Baked Cookies

Ever since I read an article about the brand Carol's Daughter years ago, I wanted to try it.  But I'm always a little sketchy on ordering something online without having seen it in person first because I feel like it's a little like online dating - you never really know what you're going to get.  You want to believe that you're going to buy the makeup equivalent of George Clooney, but sometimes you get stuck opening the package to find Booger from "Revenge of the Nerds."  So I was really excited to hear that Sephora had decided to carry the entire Carol's Daughter line this year.  So far, the product I'm really liking is the Body Cleansing Gel in the Almond Cookie scent.  It smells just like a fresh baked almond cookie, which is a nice change of pace from the usual food scented body products.  It foams up nicely and doesn't dry out your skin, which is always a plus.  And most importantly, you can layer the scent with bath oil, body scrub, shea souffle and other items, so if you like it, you can go all out and REALLY smell like almond cookie.  The coolest thing of all is that the company was started by one woman out of her apartment and now it's grown into something so successful, Sephora wanted to sell it.  How awesome is that?  If I had any patience at all, I'd try doing the same thing, but then how would I justify all my trips to the mall?