Top 5 Beauty Must Haves

So, I was thinking about all of the beauty products that I use on a daily basis, and I realized that there are just certain products that are in constant rotation. These products are definitely my MUST HAVE ITEMS. I just cant live without them. With the change of the season, and all of this cold weather, my must have items have adapted to the weather. Here is a list of my Top 5 must have beauty items for the winter:

1. Arbonne BefoRE Sun Lip Saver
WHY?: First off, I'm addicted to lip balms. My lips have a tendancy to get very dry, so I am constantly using this product to keep them hydrated. A little bit goes a long way with this lip saver, and I love the fact that, unlike the majority of lip products, this one contains NO mineral oil, chemical dyes, fragrances, or animal byproduct. PLUS, it also has an SPF of 30, and if you know me, you know I am all for sun protection.

2. Coconut Oil
WHY?: It may sound strange that I use coconut oil in my hair, since generally, it is used for cooking, but this stuff is the TRUTH. My hair is very curly, very frizzy, and very dry. I use coconut oil as a light weight oil for my scalp and on the ends of my hair. As soon as I put it in my hair, I feel an instant difference. My hair is immediately more hydrated, softer, and more managable. When my hair feels super dry, I also use this for deep conditioning treatments. I'll use whatever deep treatment I'm using at the moment, and add a little bit of coconut oil to the mix for an extra dose of hydration. You will not believe the shine that my hair has after. I love this stuff!

3. Arbonne FC5 Skin Conditioning Oil
WHY?: As soon as the weather got cold, my eczema started acting up. I mean acting UP!! I've always had a small patch of eczema on my left hand, but this winter, I recently developed small patches on the back of my left arm, and around my elbows...it's so annoying and itchy, and not to mention unattractive. But when I use my Skin Conditioning Oil, the itch almost immediately goes away, and the irritated area seems to almost disappear. This oil does not leave you actually feeling "oily" either. And I just LOVE how it smells! FC5 products contain cells from strawberries, mango, kiwi, carrots, and pumpkin that stay freshly entact until they make contact with your skin...so the skin is getting all of the soothing and hydrating benefits of these ingredients at their finest. I also use this a cuticle oil around my nails to keep my cuticles hydrated. Even my little dog Macho loves FC5 - everytime I use this on my hand he tries to lick it off!

4. Water
WHY?: Okay, this sounds like a no brainer. I absolutely love drinking water. I'd rather drink water over anything else. I love nothing better than an ice cold glass of water. Sometimes, I can tell that my skin is just SCREAMING for water..not to be used topically, but internally. After 25 years of being in the skin that I'm in, I know my skin very well. When it tells me it needs exfoliation, I exfoliate. When it tells me it needs a deep pore cleansing, I use a mask. When it tells me that its tired, I give it a break by not wearing makeup and getting rest. And when it tells me its thirsty, I drink water. Simple as that.

5. Arbonne Clear Advantage Spot Treatment
WHY?: Oh, the joys of acneic skin. This post just made me realize that I'm a huge skin care mess...seriously! I have breakouts, oily skin, and eczema...I'm a hot little mess! But seriously, this product works wonders on those random pimples that pop up and just seem to stick around for days. I find that within a few hours of using this spot treatment, my pimple has already begin to disappear a little. If I use it again before going to bed, I almost dont have a pimple in the morning when I wake up. This product is a must have for keeping my skin clear enough so that I dont have to wear makeup (unless I want to). For the most part, I'm a minimalist. I love makeup, but I dont always like to wear makeup because I break out so much, plus I dont always have time to do my makeup the way I'd like. So with my spot treatment, I'm in the clear...literally lol! My breakouts get treated in a very effective and efficient manner with this little tube of treatment. Plus, unlike a lot of other spot treatments, it doesnt dry the skin out as it is treating the problem area. The Clear Advantage Spot Treatment is good stuff.


So what are some of your favorite items that you just cant live without this winter? Do you have a favorite hand cream, eyeshadow color, hair product? Fill me in!!

Make It Happen

When I was a kid, I was in love with Mariah Carey. She was so young and talented it was sick. Even still as an adult who has followed her career for the last 20 years, her voice still sends chills down my spine and I'm still amazed by her talent. Some of the words she sings truly touch me. Whether it be about love or life, Mariah's songs are amazing. One of my all time favorites is "Make It Happen". This song says so much to me. Mariah sang about her faith that she could make her dreams happen. She sang about how her road to success was NOT an easy one, and there were times when it was incredibly hard, but she still kept going towards her goal because she knew it was meant for her. This song is so inspiring to me, and I absolutely love her voice on this single. My love for this song, these words and her talent is so strong that I just had to share it with you guys...hopefully, you'll love it too, or maybe you can find inspiration through her words and experience like I did. Enjoy :)

Arbonne 5-in1 Essential Massage Oil

"Its been a long time, we shouldn't have left you without a new beat to step to..."

...well...I shouldn't have left you without a new post to read!! Sorry for the hiatus, I've just been pretty busy between work, building my Arbonne business, and life in general. This post was inspired due to a current life event. You see, I'm finding myself on a quest for health lately, and in that quest, I've began excercising like a mad woman. I've been taking zumba and body sculpting classes and they're kicking my butt (and also lifting and toning it too!!). My body has been so achy lately and my poor out of shape muscles are so SORE! So tonight, I had to do something to ease the pain!! I decided to try a nice, hot bath. I'm not usually one for baths...generally, I prefer a shower, but my muscles were begging for it.

While I let the tub fill up with hot water, I decided to "Arbonnize" my bath lol. I wanted to create an incredibly relaxing experience for myself because its very rare that I even get to relax like that, so I grabbed what was left in my bottle of Arbonne's 5-in-1 Essential Massage Oil from their Detox line.

I only had a little bit left in the bottle so I just poured it all in. As the tub filled, I could smell the Lavender, Bergamot, and Pepermint Oils filling the air in my bathroom. I was relaxed just by the smell! When I got in the tub, my body immediately felt calm. I literally just soaked and gave my muscles a much needed massage. I didn't feel extremely "slippery" or "oily" at all. In fact, my skin felt wonderful! My skin looked and felt extremely hydrated and conditioned. With the change of weather, my arms and a small area of my left hand have been a little irritated and itchy with eczema, but when I finished soaking, my skin felt so good that I completely forgot about the eczema. It was wonderful.

The essential oil blend that is used in this product contain stimulating marine derived ingredients to help remove toxins and deliver nourishing minerals. Deep skin conditioning is provided by linoleic acid derived from sunflower, safflower, jojoba, lavendar, and olive oil. Bisabolol from chamomile provides calming and anti-irritating effects. I use this product daily by mixing it in with my body cream, and I sometimes use it alone, but I really love the effects that I'm seeing from using it as a bath oil.

This 5-in-1 formula preps skin for further detox treatments and can be used for body and facial massage, as a bath additive, as a purifying facial steam and for relaxing aroma therapy. By using it as a bath additive, I basically covered all the uses in one shot!!

As I said before, I use this oil very regularly, but I'm glad I found another use for it! To purchase this product, visit www.melissawilson.myarbonne.com and click on the "shop online" tab!

The Story of Cosmetics

Throughout my personal search for the best beauty products for myself, I've taken the time to educate myself on ingredients that are included in a lot of beauty products. I am able to read ingredient labels well enough to know if the products that I am interested in purchasing and trying on myself, and potentially recommending to friends and family, are not only effective with beneficial ingredients, but safe as well. A lot of ingredients that are used in cosmetics and other beauty products contain toxins that can be harmful to the body. They can increase the risk of cancer, cause reproduction problems in men and women, and even increase learning disablilities. Crazy, huh?? Whats even more crazy is that the FDA has no regulation of the ingredients that go into our products, and does not even assess how safe these ingredients are! Thats just insane!!

I found this video that really brings to light the dangers of using "just any" products on yourself and your loved ones. I consider myself to really be aware of what I'm using on my body, but this video really drove something home to me: the importance of using pure, safe, and beneficial products and informing the people that I love (and even who I dont know) about making better decisions about what they use as well. Its so important.

PLEASE watch this video. Maybe it will make you think the way it made me think about things. Maybe you will learn something you didnt know before. Maybe it will drive you to take action like I am. Message me with your thoughts, and if you are interested in learning how you can make a difference in your life and the life of others through choosing better products, please feel free to contact me.

Here's the link to the video: The Story of Cosmetics

Enjoy.

Sunday Giveaway! : Arbonne Virtual Illusion Lash Enhancer

WIN THIS TODAY!!

Arbonne Virtual Illusion Lash Enhancer 0.25 fl. oz

($34.00 value)

Do you ever wish your eye lashes were longer, fuller, and stronger?

Magnify your eyelashes with this science-based, nourishing formula that helps transform the appearance of volume, texture, density and radiant shine in lashes. Strengthening and conditioning ingredients revitalize lashes, helping to prevent breakage, and promote longer, thicker looking eyelashes.

Recommended for:

All skin types

Usage:

Using the applicator brush, apply along lash line as with an eyeliner. Use twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, after removing eye makeup. In the morning, allow five minutes for the product to dry before applying eye makeup.

*No purchase necessary. Win this product by entering your name, address, and telephone number to melissawilson@myarbonne.com . The 10th entry will be chosen as the winner. One entry per person.

Icon: Aaliyah

There are some people who have truly inspired fashion, beauty, and pop culture as a whole. When the word "icon" is spoken, people like Audrey Hepburn, Jennifer Lopez, Farrah Fawcet, or even Rihanna may come to mind. But for me (and many other people), Aaliyah is an icon who should never be forgotten.

Aaliyah was only 22 at the time of her passing, but she had been on the scene since the age of 15. She began her career as a shy, beautiful tomboy wearing sunglasses, bandannas, hats, sneakers, Timberland boots, and baggy clothes.

As Aaliyah got older her style (both fashion and musical) matured with her. The sunglasses came off and the clothing became more "womanly", yet she still had her "tomboy" edge to her. As a Tommy Hilfiger model, Aaliyah beared her belly, wearing tiny tube tops and bandeaus, but also wore her pants baggy and low, showing the rim of her Tommy boxers.

In the last years before her incredibly untimely death, Aaliyah's style truly came into its own. She embrased the woman that she was becoming showed it by wearing dresses, heels, and form-fitting clothes.

No matter what, Aaliyah was always tasteful, and alway classic. Truly a natural beauty, Aaliyah never wore tons of makeup caked on her face, or clothing that was inappropriate. She was always conscious that she had young women who looked up to her, and presented herself in a way that was fashionably respectable. As a person, Aaliyah was very down to earth and her entire style reflected that. I feel that although Aaliyah has her fans that will be forever loyal to her (myself included) and will always remember the influence that she had no only in the music world, but also in style, there are still people who seem to forget the impact that Aaliyah Dana Haughton actually had. She was classic. Aaliyah was on the edge when it came to fashion. She was, in her own words, "sassy yet classy. Never trashy." Truth.

As we approach the 9th year since Aaliyah's tragic death on August 25th, I felt that her spirit should stay relevant. If she were alive today, I can only imagine how music and fashion would be. They say the good die young, but to me, Aaliyah was great. That being said, I believe that Aaliyah was, is, and always will be a true ICON.

Carol's Daughter Hair Smoothie

This has been such a hot summer so far, and my hair is really feeling the effects of all this heat. I've also been swimming a lot (I'm a pisces...I LOVE the water!) and being in a chlorinated pool a few times a week is also taking its toll on my hair. I've been doing a pretty good job of keeping my already dry curlies hydrated by shampooing immediately with a shampoo that is specifically designed to remove all cholrine from the hair, then I'll ALWAYS use a good conditioner and leave it in for a few minutes longer than normal. My hair is always easy to detangle and never feels too dry.

With all the heat and chlorine that my hair is being exposed to however, I felt that it is necessary to get a little more intense with hydrating my hair. For my birthday back in March, my sister bought me a gift card to one of the only places that gives me serenity on this earth...you got it! SEPHORA! I've been holding onto this gift card for months now debating on what to buy. So yesterday, I rushed out of work and knew exactly what I wanted to use my gift card on. I purchased the Carol's Daughter Tui Hair Smoothie for $20. I've used other products from Carol's Daughter before, and honestly, I wasn't super impressed with them all. I felt like some of them were either too heavy for my hair, or just not heavy enough. I figured that if this treatment is heavy, that will be a good thing though. Plus it smells like a little slice of heaven in a 8oz jar.

According to the Carol's Daughter website, the Tui Hair Smoothie "is an intense, deep conditioner rich in essential oils and Shea and Cocoa butters that provide moisture and protection to dryness and brittleness. The creamy, nutrient-rich ingredients immediately detangle unruly hair and boost shine." Sounds just like what I have, and exactly what I need. This hair smoothie is also free of parabens, mineral oils, petrolatum, and artaficial fragrance.

I haven't tried it yet. I'll probably deep treat my hair after my swim today. Most likely, I'll use it with a plastic cap and my hooded dryer so that I get a really intense treatment. I'm excited to try and I'll post results when I'm done!

Has anyone ever used any Carol's Daughter products? Has anyone ever used one of their Hair Smoothies? What are your thoughts?