fresh friday

Fresh Friday: Malavara, an Ayurveda-Inspired Body and Hair Care Line

March 15th, 2019 by Karen 2 Comments

MBB’s “Fresh Friday” series takes a look at new beauty brands (and venerable O.G. brands that are new to me). Let’s discover new makeup!

El Hub is always in awe of the time I can spend in the bathroom, because seriously…I’m in there for a looooong time. ? One time he even knocked on the door and asked if I’d fallen into the toilet because I’d literally been in there for hours.

So yeah, if you need me, I’ll be in the… Ha ha ha! El baño.

It’s great because nobody bothers me in there. I can have some privacy. Sometimes after I put Connor down for the night, I’ll shower, do some reading and, lately, have a mini spa sesh.

Speaking of that…have you peeped this new line of Ayurveda-inspired body products from Malavara?

A luxury body care line, Malavara was started by Tejal Engman and Alexandra Turner, two gals who worked high-stress jobs on the trading floor for JP Morgan. They bonded over their love for alternative therapies, including Ayurveda, one of the world’s oldest holistic healing systems. It was developed in India over 3,000 ago (!).

Their Ayurveda-inspired products are cruelty-free, blended with essential oils, vegetarian, vegan and designed so that busy people can simultaneously relax, recharge and de-stress while they get their necessities done in the bathroom.

For now, Malavara’s product line isn’t huge, but they have some good goodies for recuperative “meow” time sessions in the bathroom, like a dry body oil ($48), a hair serum ($39), lotion ($32) and body wash ($28).

I’m a big fan of the Dry Body Oil Spray. I love the crisp, refreshing scent, which is a unisex blend of lime peel and vetiver, and it contains apricot kernel oil, which is just interesting to me. The spray is light and hydrating, so I use it on my upper body (my alligator legs do better with the Lime Vetiver Body & Hand Lotion) and take extra time to massage it into my arms, my upper back and my neck.

It. Is. So. Relaxing…
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Fresh Friday: Hungry for Color? This Indie Makeup Line Names Palettes After Tasty Treats!

February 1st, 2019 by Karen 6 Comments

dominique cosmetics berries and cream — Looks good enough to eat! (But don’t.)

MBB’s “Fresh Friday” series takes a look at new beauty brands (and venerable O.G. brands that are new to me). Let’s discover new makeup!

OK, so I like to think that I’m NOT ruled by my stomach, buuuut the fact that the eyeshadow palette I rocked yesterday is called Berries & Cream may or may not have something to do with why I like wearing it. ?

Berries & Cream is from Dominique Cosmetics, a new-to-me indie makeup line by YouTuber Christen Dominique. Christen has just over four million subscribers, so she’s kinda Internet famous (to put it mildly).

Dominique Cosmetics has products spread out among three mini sub-collections, and each of the eyeshadow palettes in them are named after something delicious. There’s Berries & Cream, Latte and Lemonade).

YUM! A girl after my own food-lovin’ ~~tummy~~ heart.

I wore the Berries & Cream palette to lunch yesterday with a friend, who asked, “That, on your eyes? Are you wearing purple or burgundy?”

By the way, she asked me this after we’d been talking for an hour, LOL!

I was like, “Girl, I’m not sure! I was hoping it would distract you from the white hairs sticking up every which way!”

dominique cosmetics berries and cream collection swatches — Swatches of the Berries & Cream palette eyeshadows and matte liquid lipsticks

dominiuqe cosmetics plum berry lipstick — Wearing Creamy Matte Liquid Lip in Plum Berry on my lips and the Berries & Cream palette on my lids.

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Fresh Friday: If Your Skin Needs Extra Moisture and TLC, This New Australian Brand Might Be Your New Go-To

January 25th, 2019 by Karen 7 Comments

go to skin care — Why dry skin goes AHHHHH

MBB’s “Fresh Friday” series takes a look at new beauty brands (and venerable O.G. brands that are new to me). Let’s discover new makeup!

After last week’s epic deluge, I’ve been basking in the glow of this week’s sunshine. Funny thing is…just because the sun has been out here doesn’t mean it’s actually been, ya know, warm. I swear, the sunny days are colder than the rainy days, which means that all the dry spots on my face and body hurt more than usual… I mean, really, smiling at strangers isn’t easy when the skin on your cheeks feels like it’s about to crack. ?

A new skin care line at Sephora called Go-To has been saving me from walking around town with a perpetual RBF. It’s a dream for dry-skinned dames!

A non-fussy skin care line for all skin types

Hailing from Down Under, Go-To is the brainchild of Australian author and former Cosmopolitan beauty director Zoë Foster Blake. A scroll through her Instagram feed is like a visit to a glamorous land where everything’s beautiful and picture-perfect, and so I guess it’s fitting that her first beauty venture has that familiar “I’m doing it for the ‘gram” look — white and pastel packaging, fun names and playful fonts. Some might call it “millennial marketing.”

go to skin care useful face cream — Very Useful Face Cream ($31)

All of the products in the line are made for all skin types (even sensitive) and ages, but since so many of the cheeky and lighthearted skin care brands out there target 20- and 30-somethings, I mistakenly expected the products to be a better fit for someone who already has perfect skin and cherub cheeks and hasn’t been around the block as many times as I have, if you know what I mean… But once I got the cream on my face, the balm on my lips and the oil on my body, I was sold. This stuff means business. I’m talking majorly moisturizing KAPOW.

Some quick deets…

The products don’t contain parabens, PEGS, sulfates, GMOs, mineral oils, petrolatum or synthetic colors, and they aren’t tested on animals.

The number of products is on the smaller side for now, with items priced between $12 and $39.

You can find them in the US at Sephora and online.

There are more products available on the Go-To website, and they currently offer free shipping on US orders over $50.

Why dry cheeks go AHHH

Definitely peep the Very Useful Face Cream ($31). I started using a retinol cream by Kate Somerville a couple months ago, so my skin periodically freaks out and hurts as a result of the dryness that comes with the aggressive exfoliation. Very Useful Face Cream, which contains two powerhouse antixidants in coQ10 and amla berry (it’s also in IGK’s Bad & Bougie Shampoo and Conditioner), just makes everything feel better. Weirdly, it feels light and thin at first, but it starts to thicken up and feel more like a balm as you work it into your skin.

Once it’s absorbed…AHHH.

It’s supposed to be for all skin types, but if you happen to have dry skin that needs extra TLC, I think you’ll REALLY appreciate it.

go to skin care exception oil — Exception-oil ($39)

Exception-Oil body oil is another standout. It’s thick, creamy and smells like gardenia, and you only need a tiny bit. It’s so moisturizing that even my hella dry hands and feet are happy afterwards. I just put some on my paws, and now they feel like completely new hands, LOL!

And then there’s the Face Hero Oil, which I’ve used on my neck a few times… I like it just fine for moisture, but I’m still deeply committed to Fresh Seaberry Oil (THE BEST). Face Hero smells like green tea ice cream, though, which is a plus in my book.

go to skin care face hero — Face Hero Oil ($34)

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Fresh Friday: Blending Feels Good With the Super Soft Bristles in This New Cruelty-Free Vegan Makeup Brush Line

January 18th, 2019 by Karen 7 Comments

MBB’s “Fresh Friday” series takes a look at new beauty brands (and venerable O.G. brands that are new to me). Let’s discover new makeup!

One of the issue I’ve had with some synthetic makeup brushes is how stiff their bristles are, but that is not a prob for the brushes I’ve tried from aDesign, a new makeup brush line exclusive to Amazon. The angled buffing brush, for one, is so soft that it feels like you’re getting kitten kisses. Sometimes I’ll sit at my desk just rubbing it all over my face. If soft is what you want, soft is what you’ll get with these cruelty-free vegan brushes.

The line is the beauty brainchild of Anisa Telwar Kaicker of Anisa International (Forbes recently gave them a shout-out as one of the best small companies of 2018). Incidentally, Anisa makes brushes for some of the biggest beauty brands out there (Estée Lauder, NARS, Sephora, MAC, Hourglas, La mer and Laura Mercier, to name a few), so I guess it’s safe to say they know brushes.

The new aDesign line has 30 brushes, which are sold in sets of two brushes each. The sets range from $14 on the lower end (for a pair of eye brushes, which breaks down to $7 a brush = not bad!) to $34 on the higher end (for two face brushes). The brushes are lightweight with medium-length handles, and they feel a lot like It Cosmetics brushes in my hand.

How do you choose which set to get? Well, they’re categorized by function. For example, the Eye Power Duo ($14) is all about smoky eyes and comes with two eye brushes for applying and blending cream or powder shadows for smoky looks.

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Fresh Friday: A Teen Runs This New Beauty Brand That Takes a Stand Against Bullying

December 21st, 2018 by Karen 9 Comments

MBB’s “Fresh Friday” series takes a look at new beauty brands (and venerable O.G. brands that are new to me). Let’s discover new makeup!

Guys, do you remember what you were doing at 15…? I’ll tell ya, I certainly wasn’t running my own makeup line, LOL! Say hi to Raazika Cosmetics, a new cruelty-free indie line founded by high school student Khadija Ikram, who started the brand fueled by her passion for makeup and her desire to help her community. The brand donates a portion of all proceeds to anti-bullying campaigns.

Yeah, at 15 years old, I was marching around a football field with a flute in a band uniform while simultaneously plotting ways to up my GPA… I wasn’t starting my own business (although I wish I had!).

In Arabic, Raazika means “one who provides for others,” and the line is cruelty-free, fragrance-free and Halal-certified, meaning that the ingredients are permitted within Islamic or sharia law (you can read more about it here if you’re curious), and they’re available now online. The brand is still quite small and very new.

Within the line, there are full-coverage foundations ($36 each), a couple of contour kits ($49 each), vegan brushes ($16-$30 each), a sprinkling of eye makeup (there’s a mascara and a liner), liquid lipsticks ($27 each) and lip pencils ($17 each), so it’s not Fenty big, but it’s not a teeny, tiny product range either.

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