foundation - A Girl's Gotta Spa! (sm) Top beauty blog, spa, hair care, makeup, beauty trends, skin care | A Girl's Gotta Spa! (sm) Top beauty blog, spa, hair care, makeup, beauty trends, skin care

EnvyDerm Lip Volumizing and Conditioning Plumper

As I get older I notice the collagen making a prompt exit from my lips leaving them looking lifeless and thin. The best way to combat thinning lips (or if you have thin lips to begin with) is to keep them hydrated and to use a lip plumper. When Read more

No3 Berry Face Oil Review

Can I use face oil if I have combination skin? Of course you can, simply avoid pore-clogging oils and use only the ones intended to moisturize your face. L.A. Christine's No3 Berry Face Oil is comprised of Lingonberry, raspberry and acai berry, yet smells of an herbally sweet concoction. High Read more

Need for Speed: New Quick Drying Nail Polishes

Today's modern polishes promise to dry faster than a speeding bullet, but which ones actually save the day? Top manicurists have known about pro top coats for years - those specially formulated clear coats that left lacquer intact for an extended wear manicure. Compatible with nearly every brand, topcoats like Read more

Verb Detangle+Defrizz Conditioning Leave-In Mist Review

To be completely up front about things, I hate washing my hair because it's a nightmare to comb afterwards.  It’s much like that of a 6 year old little girl. It tangles like nobody’s business and is a nightmare to comb after washing. It’s so bad that my hairdresser Read more

Delfin Spa Cellulite Reduction Apparel and Anti-Cellulite Lotion Review

Everyone deals with cellulite. And no one is a fan of it. We've written about coffee ground products like Gail's DIY Coffee Scrub or isola Jamaican Coffee & Sugar Scrub, that are said to help minimize the appearance of cellulite due to the caffeine. Now there is another product system Read more

anti-aging

A Girl’s Gotta Spa! Featured in Spry Living Mom Makeover


Don’t forget to enter our Mom: Get Glamorous Contest (entries taken until May 24th!)
Join our Twitter Party on May 15th from 1pm-2pm EST #momglamorous

When Spry Living Magazine asked me if myself and two A Girl’s Gotta Spa! bloggers would be interested in making over our moms, we didn’t hesitate to say yes. Myself, Ashley and Hillary all participated in Spry Living’s Take Year’s Off Your Looks Instantly (web and print) story and Making Over Mom with tips.

Each of our moms had challenges that prevented them from updating their look. My mom had hair loss/thinning hair, sagging skin, etc. all related to bariatric surgery she had two years ago. Ashley’s mom has nerve damage and a disability when it comes to the use of her arm. Hillary’s mom was nervous since losing all of her hair so long ago (but it has since grown back.)

From skin care to hair care to makeup, here’s the breakdown of the products used to transformed our moms.

mom-makeovers

Paula (my mom): Read more

Posted on by Shannon Nelson in anti-aging, beauty, blush, bronzer, brows, concealer, DIY Beauty, eye shadow, eyeliner, foundation, highlighter, lip gloss, lipstick, Makeup, makeup tips, mascara, Nail Polish, Primer, salon, skin care 1 Comment

Hard Candy CC Correction Creme Review



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Drugstore brand, Hard Candy, launched a new Correction Creme (CC) last month. CC creams are the next generation of BB creams that are an all-in-one product designed to moisturize, prime, color correct, brighten, and even the complexion. This multi-functional CC creme aims to provide better skin coverage to treat and cover uneven skin tone more effectively than a BB Cream – plus the benefit of daily skin protection of broad spectrum SPF 15.  Essentially, they are a merge of skin care and cosmetics.

Hard Candy CC Correction Creme ($8) has light optic pearls that neutralize the undertones of your skin. Hard Candy claims their CC cream:  Read more

Posted on by Cindy in anti-aging, beauty, concealer, foundation, Makeup, Primer, skin care Leave a comment

Make Up For Ever Pro Finish Powder Foundation Review

Make Up For Ever has a brand new foundation to ring in the New Year! Make Up For Ever Creator and Director, Dany Sanz tested more than 70 different formulas before finding one that she approved.

The result is Make Up For Ever Pro Finish Foundation. The innovative formula can be applied wet or dry for a sheer finish or a full matte finish. The new formula is ideal for women over 40 who thought they could not wear a traditional compact powder foundation because it would settle into lines and look cakey. Not. A. Problem.  Read more

Posted on by Cindy in beauty, foundation, Makeup 1 Comment

Rimmel Clean Finish Matte Foundation

So last weekend I decided to take a day off from EVERYTHING and not feel guilty about it. I managed the get the first part done, the guilt part was a little harder but I did it! Yes, that’s right I did absolutely NOTHING ALL DAY–I laid on the couch and watched TV most of the day.

As I was channel surfing, I came across a new (new to me anyway) reality show called Extreme Cheapskates. I do not have the slightest idea why I stopped at that show, I don’t throw money around (mostly because I don’t have it) but I could never be called a cheapskate either–I might count dollar bills but definitely not pennies! Anywho, I ended up watching two HOURS of this horrible show– I was mesmerized I tell you!

The first story was about a woman with 6 kids who had lost her job and therefore the family had to tighten up their budget–that’s how it started anyway. This woman makes her own cleaning supplies and shops at a grocery store where the inventory is expired. I thought that was gross but I have to give her credit, she fed 11 people on about $10. She cooked homemade pizza with expired cheese (I would never try this even if it wasn’t moldy), made beverages with expired drink mix, and “foraged” (picked greens from a park) for salad fixings.  If anyone got sick the cameras didn’t show that part. But wait…there’s more…she makes her own toilet paper…out of scraps of fabric and then washes and reuses it. OMG, BARF!!!!!!

By now you are probably wondering why I’m telling you this story!! Well, it’s because the following post is my version of Extreme Cheapskate, a foundation for $3.49 is WAY better than re-using toilet paper don’t you agree? On to the review!  Read more

Posted on by Cindy in beauty, foundation, Makeup Leave a comment

L’Oreal Paris New York Nudes Collection

Cooler weather is here and that can only mean one thing: Fall colors. This Fall it is all about the nude trend. From your nails to your skin to your lips, flesh-toned is in.

L’Oreal has just released their New York Nudes Collection, which is a limited edition collection of their Colour Riche Nail line ($5.99) and Colour Riche Le Gloss ($7.95). They also reformulated 5 shades of their True Match Super-Blendable Makeup ($10.95.)  Read more

Posted on by Shannon Nelson in beauty, Beauty Trends, foundation, lip gloss, Makeup, Nail Polish Leave a comment

DIY Tinted Moisturizer

I am not a huge fan of the feel of foundation.  No matter how lightweight a foundation claims to be, it always feels too heavy on my skin.  I definitely love how my skin looks on those rare occasions when I do choose to…or if it’s a booking…HAVE to wear foundation, but I can never wait until I can get home and thoroughly wash my face.  A few makeup artists have suggested that I try a tinted moisturizer instead, which I have done but never found one that won my loyalty so I decided to try creating my own very  tinted moisturizer.

For the moisturizer part of my tinted moisturizer, I decided to use Embroylisse Lait-Crème Concentrè, it seems to be in the kit of every makeup artist I’ve worked with and I love how moisturizing and soothing it is on my skin.  For the “tinted” portion of my tinted moisturizer I used Aveda Liquid Foundation, because it is one of the lightest feeling foundations I have found and I do not need to mix it with a different colored foundation to match my skin tone (which I tend to have to do with a lot of other brands), however I’m not sure that Aveda still carries this foundation.  Read more

Posted on by Gail Lewis in beauty, DIY Beauty, foundation, Makeup, skin care, Unlikely Pair Leave a comment

How to Get the Marchesa Bridal Spring 2013 Makeup Look

Spring and Summer always gives that feeling of new beginnings…maybe it’s seeing the world around you come to life, maybe because it is also crazy busy bridal season. I just attended my Uncle’s wedding last weekend, next month is my cousin’s and in the fall another Uncle is getting married. Mix that in with friends also taking the big step…and you’ve got a girl who is daydreaming of the day when her boyfriend will (finally) pop the question.

At A Girl’s Gotta Spa!, we love Laura Mercier makeup and it was recently used for the Marchesa Bridal Spring 2013 runway show. From their own mouths, here’s the inspiration, the product used and how to achieve the look yourself (whether a new bride to be, already settled in your marital bliss or anxiously awaiting walking down the aisle.)   Read more

Posted on by Shannon Nelson in beauty, blush, concealer, eye shadow, eyeliner, foundation, lip gloss, Makeup, makeup tips, mascara Leave a comment

Vegan Makeup Review: GlamNatural Hydrating Foundation

This past summer, Christine Holmgren and Brittany Norman attended my social media panel at Cosmoprof North America and approached me to tell me about a new cruelty-free, gluten-free, vegan makeup brand they were launching. It sounded interesting and soon enough they popped a sample in the mail of their initial product, Hydrating Foundation. It didn’t take long for me to fall in love, which says a lot considering I haven’t worn liquid foundation in forEVER.

Why? Well that’s the interesting part. In the fall/winter, my skin goes a little wack and will peel or have dry patches.  Wearing liquid foundation was like putting a magnifying glass on these problem areas and only made it more noticeable. So what makes GlamNatural’s Hydrating Foundation so different? It is shea butter based, therefore it’s actually moisturizing my face, not to mention its other skin conditioning ingredients like grape seed oil, sunflower oil and jojoba oil. I have combination skin and had been worried that the shea butter would be too much for my skin, but it is not at all.

Glamnatural’s Hydrating Foundation comes in a 30ml glass bottle with an airless pump. That means it contains no water and therefore, no preservatives. It also is only comprised of 6 BodySafe ingredients plus color. So no fillers and unnecessary add-ons. Due to the formulation and consistency of the shea butter in it, you apply this foundation slightly different than you would your typical liquid foundation. I think of it like La Mer where you can only pat the cream on to activate it. For the Hydrating Foundation, you have to either pump a pea sized amount onto the top of your hand and rub your index finger on it to “heat it up” or disperse a pea sized amount onto your index finger and then warm it up between your finger and your thumb. The bottom line is that you need to let your body heat warm it up a bit so that it glides on your skin smoothly. And a little goes a long way, as the saying goes. My face only needs about a pea and a half dollop of the foundation to give me the coverage I like. And what’s great is that I can ditch my daytime moisturizer since this foundation already contains one.

This is full coverage foundation that is buildable. I do use a concealer on the sides of my nose, under my eyes and on my lids still, but I know a concealer is in the pipeline for GlamNatural, so I look forward to using a concealer that will work great with my skin.

I can’t begin to tell you all of the compliments I have gotten on my skin since including it in my makeup regimen (I’m wearing Ivory 2 in the picture above.) Even my cousin ended up buying some and raved about it on GlamNatural’s Facebook fan page (and she has super fair skin, so I was thrilled it worked for her!)

GlamNatural’s Hydrating Foundation is available for $65 at www.glamnaturalmakeup.com. And in full disclosure, I work with this brand for their social media, but I wouldn’t have posted this review if I didn’t think it was absolutely amazing. If you’ve used their foundation or have questions, please leave a comment!

Posted on by Shannon Nelson in beauty, foundation, Makeup, skin care 1 Comment

Review: Miracle Skin Transformer SPF 20

I am not someone who enjoys wearing foundation or face powder. All of the brands that I have tried…or that have been applied to my skin on shoots by professional makeup artists, have left me feeling like I had a veil of some kind on my face, which is not an enjoyable sensation.  Even those foundations that have claimed to be invisible or weightless, still felt heavy to me.  So unless it is a working situation like a photoshoot, TV or video shoot, I normally forgo any and all foundation, concealer and face powder. This is unfortunate because there are times when I would like to look a bit more polished than normal, but even then having a veil of foundation on my face is not worth it to me.  I have tried a plethora of tinted moisturizers in the hopes that they would feel lighter on my skin but those have just ended up looking and feeling greasy, even the non-oily formulas.  What I would really love is a product that is not as heavy as a foundation, has a matte finish, but does not make my skin look dry and is actually weightless, especially in the summer.  Well I now have a product that does all of the above  and then some…

For the last two weeks I have been wearing Miracle Skin Transformer with SPF 20 and this stuff is absolute genius.  It’s like an uber performing tinted moisturizer, but is actually called a  Hydrating Tinted Skin Enhancer with UVA/UVB SPF 20. The Skin Enhancer has a great, velvety, matte texture.  It does not feel oily or greasy at all…in fact it felt like I had applied a very lightweight serum to my face.  In addition to feeling great, it performed magnificently.  The Miracle Skin Transformer covered my imperfections and evened out my skin tone.  My skin also looked and felt smoother and I loved that it still looked like skin and not skin plus a veil of makeup.  Even though it leaves a matte finish and has a matte, velvety feel, it still manages to hydrate my skin and leave it looking radiant.  A HUGE added bonus is that it also contains SPF 20 so that while it’s doing all that other stuff like making my skin look flawless while also hydrating and improving it, it’s also protecting it from UVA/UVB rays.  Oh and in case I forgot to mention, best of all…I can apply it with my fingertips and it literally takes about ten seconds max…talk about time saving.  I wore the Miracle Skin Transformer on a fourteen hour day move shoot as well as a twelve hour day commercial shoot and it definitely stood up to the test and kept right on performing.

The Miracle Skin Transformer SPF 20 is touted as a 3-in-1 formula…meaning it hydrates, enhances and protects the skin, but I think it should just say “everything you have ever wanted or needed in your makeup and skincare in this one lovely tube“…okay now I know that would be a mouthful but it really does seem to do EVERYTHING.  I’m not sure how founder Sarah McNamara managed to create a product that does so many amazing things for your skin simultaneously, while making you feel beautiful and comfortable in your own skin…I guess we will chalk it up to her being a miracle worker.

Posted on by Gail Lewis in beauty, foundation, Makeup, skin care 4 Comments

Review: Eyeko Makeup

I am so excited about this brand that I am just going to start off by saying I have found my new obsession and it is called Eyeko.  I have honestly not been this excited about makeup in a really long time…if ever.  Normally when it comes to makeup I am all about the lip glosses, but I am excited about EVERYTHING from Eyeko.  I have actually only tried their Fat Balm for lips and cheeks, the Liptastik Glossy Lip Pen and the Graffiti Eyeliner Pen, but if these three are any indication of how their makeup  perform then I want to try every single product from Eyeko.

In my experience, whenever a product is touted as a lip or cheek anything, it normally works best on either the lip or the cheek, but never both…not true of the Eyeko Fat Balm in Strawberry.  The balm looked great on my cheeks (it’s a sheer pink that gave my cheeks a really natural looking flush)and managed to stay put after a walk down Lincoln Road in South Beach, Miami on a 96 degree day.  When applied to my lips, it felt very moisturizing, not heavy and also stayed on my lips in the Miami heat and humidity.  The color on my lips was a natural shade of pink with just a touch of gloss…not super shiny at all, just very soft and pretty…I guess dewy and fresh would be good words to use.

I have been dying to try one of the brighter shades of pink glosses and lipsticks this summer but have not been able to find one that was flattering on my skin tone until I came across the Eyeko Liptastik Glossy Lip Pen in Loud Mouth.  The lip pen is a lip liner, color and gloss all in one.  Loud mouth is a vibrant pink that very weirdly manages to look both vibrant and soft on the lips.  It is a great blend of a gloss, liner and a lipstick…not as heavy as a lipstick, but also lasts much longer than a gloss.  I am sure it is not intended to be used as a blush, but I did use it as such and I loved it. I love that it functions as so many different things because I can definitely leave my entire makeup bag behind and just carry the lip pen around in a teeny clutch.

I normally shy away from liquid liner…or eye liner for the most part, unless a professional is doing it because it is such a pain for me to apply.  I can never seem to get both eyes to look the same and will normally remove everything and forgo the liner altogether, which is a huge bummer because I love the Sophia Loren/Eva Mendes bombshell/cat eye look, I just can never get it right with the liquid liners I’ve tried.  This struggle is all over now because the Eyeko Graffiti Eyeliner Pen in jet black was really easy for me to use. I managed to control the eyeliner pen during my entire eye lining application…a first.  The liner also stayed put (again in the Miami heat and humidity) until I used makeup remover.  I loved that on the Eyeko website they give tips on how to best apply the eye pen because I definitely needed it and it made things a lot easier for me.

On the Eyeko website it says that Eyeko means love in Japanese so here’s my stab at speaking Japanese…with a bit of English thrown in, I absolutely eyeko Eyeko! I forgot to mention how incredibly affordable every product from Eyeko is…so go forth and get the love, spread the love and maybe…big maybe, share the love.

Posted on by Gail Lewis in beauty, blush, eyeliner, foundation, lip gloss, lipstick, Makeup 2 Comments