burt's bees

Today I Was Gud and Grumpy With a Side of Cherries: Gud From Burt’s Bees Floral Cherrynova

June 19th, 2012 by Karen 24 Comments

novato-farmers-market-cherries
Life is just a bowl of these…

Hey, friend. Typing right atâ€˜cha from the trenches of my living room couch. I just finished a slow, arduous 5-mile run — arduous because I really wasn’t feelin’ it, but I’m glad I did it anyway — and now, in my freshly showered state, I’m basking in a post-workout high, babbling in print and breathing in the scent of Gud From Burt’s Bees Cherrynova Body Wash on my skin.

But more on that in two seconds. 🙂

I’m also half watching Avatar on TV, eating a big bowl of cherries and trying, so far unsuccessfully, to deter Tabs from scratching my Pier 1 chair.

You know the old saying, “Life is just a bowl of cherries”? Well, I’m feeling that way now thanks to Cherrynova, but earlier today? — MAN! I was grumpy, grumpy, grumpy.

grumpy tabs in the closet
Grumpy with a side of grumps!

I dunno… I’m just really stressing over what to do with the rest of my life. After five years as the executive assistant to an international plus-size kitty supermodel, I’m starting to wonder, “Where is this job taking me?”

Stir in my natural tendency to worry, add a dash of insomnia, and you’ve got yourself a woman on the brink of FREAKING OUT!

But then I took a few deep breaths, talked to El Hub on the phone, pet Tabs, checked the blog, read through some comments, and slowly calmed down enough to hop on the treadmill.

Running usually takes the edge off…

So here I am, fresh out of the shower and eating a bowl of cherries. And kinda smelling like a bowl of cherries, too, courtesy of Floral Cherrynova.

gud body wash
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Brushes and Bodies Are Buzzing Over Burt’s Bees $5 Mango & Orange Energizing Bar

February 5th, 2012 by Karen 50 Comments

Burts Bees Energizing Body Bar

Initially, I brought home this $5 Burt’s Bees Mango & Orange Energizing Body Bar from Target 1) because I can always use a little extra energy, and 2) because I thought it kinda looked like food, ha!

Burts Bees Energizing Body Bar I ended up liking the invigorating citrusy scent so much that I started using it to clean more than mah bod.

When I used up the last little slivers of my bar of Becca Brush Soap, I grabbed Burt’s Mango & Orange bar on a whim, using it to clean a couple of skunk brushes that I’d used with a bright blush and a MAC 239 brush crusted over with concealer.

As luck would have it, Burt’s invigorating body bar worked wonders on the brushes, removing all of the funk from their stinky ferules and the gunk from the handles and brush heads themselves.

I’d like to shake the little hand of the bee who developed this bar and thank him/her for doing such a great job. Not only do I think it’s one heck of an energizing, moisturizing body bar, it’s also one of the better brush cleansers I’ve used in a while.

And fast, too. It cuts through hard-to-remove products like dried foundation just as quickly as Becca’s Brush Soap does and rinses without putting up a fight. After air drying, my brush bristles feel soft, clean and malleable, not crunchy or stiff.
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3 Ways to Wear Red Lips for the Totally Terrified

December 8th, 2011 by Karen 49 Comments

Earlier this week in the comments on the MAC Unsung Heroes Red Lipstick post I got to chatting with reader Dana Jae about a question a lot of us wrestle with — “What can I do to get over my fear of red lips?”

We may love the way red lips look on other gals, but for one reason or another, we just don’t feel they work as well for us.

“I have such a hard time with red lipsick. I have Ruby Woo, and it looks like my lips take over my whole face (and my lips aren’t that big). It just doesn’t blend well, sticks out too much.”

— Dana Jae

I feel like the holidays are a perfect time to rock dramatic, rich red lips, but I know they’re not for everyone. Red can be daunting, especially if a particular shade of red contrasts heavily with your skin color, or even if you’re just unaccustomed to seeing yourself in something bold and/or bright.

But here’s one of my favorite things about red lips: you can dress ’em up or down, and you don’t have to wear a red that’s fully opaque.

If you don’t feel quite red-y (haha!) for full-on red BAM! — here are a few less intense ways to wear one of the hottest colors around.

1. Using a lipstick as a light stain

Wearing a red lipstick as a stain is probably the quickest, easiest way I know of to dial down the intensity of a red lipstick while retaining much of its rich color. If you already own a red lippie that you like but don’t wear very often because of its rich red might! — this little trick might help you two get along even better. 🙂

To create a stain, lightly dab your lipstick directly from the tube to your lips, aiming for a very light wash of color. Then, pat and blend it out with a finger.

MAC Lipstick in Lady Danger ($14.50) worn as a lip stain

I usually don’t wear a lip liner when I do this because I find that the blending doesn’t leave me with a crisp line around the edges of my lips, but it’s still an option. Unless you’re trying to maintain the contrast between the liner and the lipstick, blend it out with a finger or brush until it looks nice and seamless.
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Burt’s Bees Thoroughly Therapeutic Honey & Grapeseed Oil Hand Creme Knocks My Nose for a Loop

October 23rd, 2011 by Karen 14 Comments

burts bees thoroughly therapeutic honey grapeseed hand creme ingredients

Every year I shamelessly use fall as an excuse to justify stocking up on certain things — things like boots, hats, lip balms (gotta have one for every jacket!) and, of course, hand creams.

Burt the Bee To wit: even though I probably already have enough tubes of hand cream to last me through the next ice age (stashed in the car, on my nightstand, on my desk, in every purse…), I still couldn’t resist bringing home Burt’s Bees Thoroughly Therapeutic Honey & Grapeseed Oil Hand Creme ($10).

It’s been around for a while, but I’d been so enamored by another one of Burt’s products, his Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme (which I still love despite how long it takes to absorb), that it took me this long to branch out.

True to form, Burt’s bees kept Thoroughly Therapeutic 99% natural, incorporating honey and hydrating grapeseed oil, and they were kind enough not to test it on animals.

burts bees thoroughly therapeutic honey grapeseed hand creme tube-1
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Burt’s Bees Put the Sting in Cranberry & Pomegranate Replenishing Body Bar

October 16th, 2011 by Karen 9 Comments

Methinks Burt’s industrious bees put a little too much of themselves into their new Cranberry & Pomegranate Replenishing Body Bar ($5) because it hurts. so. good.

Well, good…depending on how you use it. While I thoroughly enjoy the scent, which smells just like cranberry juice to me, the bar doesn’t exactly make for a relaxing shower experience.

Burt the Bee Since I’d just about finished the Honey & Shea Conditioning Bar I picked up a while back (), I was on the market for a new body bar to try and picked up this here Cranberry version at the drugstore last week.

The bees at Burt’s, Inc. added crushed cranberry and pomegranate seeds to the recipe to, according to the print on the box, provide a “rich, natural lather leaving skin smooth and rejuvenated,” and like the Honey & Shea Conditioning bar, it builds into a lush, creamy lather that also rinses clean. Unlike its more soothing cousin, though, it contains those exfoliating seeds…

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Cozy Up with Burt’s Bees Cranberry & Pomegranate Body Butter This Fall

September 10th, 2011 by Karen 11 Comments

burts bees cranberry pomegranate body butter (1)

Burt the Bee Bees and tattoos have at least one thing in common. Both of them sting, but the sting isn’t why I haven’t gotten any tattoos. Credit for that goes to my fickle nature.

I’m probably the worst candidate for permanent body ink because I’m just way too fickle for my own good. I mean, I can’t even commit to a body cream, for crying out loud!

Last month I was crushing hard on Nuance Salma Hayek Super Secret Moisturizing Body Cream; this month I’m buzzing over Burt’s Bees Cranberry & Pomegranate Body Butter ($13).

I haven’t set Super Secret aside altogether, but I have been craving cozier scents lately, like the one Burt’s moisturizing body butter exudes.

Ingredients: aqua (water, eau), helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, glycerin, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, cetyl alcohol, prunus amygdalus dulcis (sweet almond) oil, parfum (fragrance), sucrose stearate, vaccinium macrocarpon (cranberry) seed oil, punica granatum seed oil, butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) butter, theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter, tocopherol, lactic acid, magnesium aluminum silicate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, glyceryl laurate, sucrose polystearate, glycine soja (soybean) oil, xanthan gum, phenoxyethanol, evernia prunastri (oakmoss) extract, citral, citronellol, farnesol, geraniol, limonene, linalool, natural fragrance

I’ve been tempted to gobble it up (but not enough to warrant a trip to the emergency room)! It smells exactly like Burt’s wonderful Pomegranate & Cranberry Scrub — just like a homemade cranberry crumble, hot and fresh from the oven.

burts bees cranberry pomegranate body butter (2)
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Burt’s Bees $5 Honey & Shea Conditioning Body Bar Is a Sweet Bar of Soap

September 2nd, 2011 by Karen 14 Comments

Burts Bees Honey and Shea Conditioning Body Bar

You da man, Burt! Give those bees of yours a big bonus because they’ve been going above and beyond the call of beauty duty lately with some really top tier, affordable products, like the new 100% natural Burt’s Bees Honey & Shea Conditioning Body Bar ($5), available now at drugstores, most grocery stores and also online.

I’ve been using it for about two weeks, just lurving the heck out of the honey-vanilla scent, and I don’t have a single complaint. Frankly, I’m shocked that something this good is so affordable AND natural. Seriously, Burt, you’re kind of a big deal.

Ingredients: Sodium rapeseedate, aqua (water, eau), sodium cocoate, glycerin, parfum (fragrance), butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, mel (honey, miel), royal jelly extract, sodium citrate, CI 77492 (iron oxides), CI 77891 (titanium dioxide)

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I’m Feeling the Sting from Burt’s Bees Facial Cleansing Towelettes

August 24th, 2011 by Karen 45 Comments

Burts Bees Facial Cleansing Towelettes

A Burt's Bee If there were an award for Best Bees in the Beauty Biz, it would have to go to Burt. Those benevolent little bees of his have been cranking out some really fantastic products lately, so when I spotted something from the line I hadn’t seen before at Target, I reached for it quicker than you can say “bzz!”

Burt’s Bees Facial Cleansing Towelettes with White Tea Extract ($6 for 30), pre-moistened wipes designed to remove dirt, makeup and oil in a single step (no rinsing required), boast being made from 99.1% natural ingredients. The all natural cloths also carry an FSC certification, meaning that the ingredients used to make them come from a well-managed forest (as certified by the Forest Stewardship Council).

The moment the first cloth touched my skin I thought, These are so soft that I’ll go through 30 of them quickly. One wipe easily removes whatever foundation, powder, lipstick, blush, eye primer, eyeshadow and non-waterproof mascara I might be wearing (waterproof and long-wearing eye makeup, however, require something stronger, like a dedicated eye makeup remover).

Two big considerations for me when it comes to wipes like these are the scent, if they have one, and whether they leave behind a film on my skin. I think these are great on both fronts; I love the white jasmine and citrus scent, and I don’t detect any residue or film.

burts bees facial cleansing towelettes
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