I will be honest with you and tell you outright that I am a fairly new beauty blogger. New to blogging, not to beauty. Beauty blogging can be a fairly complex world. You have those who have been around a while and are willing to show you the ropes, you have those who haven’t been around too long (like myself) who are willing to share what they know and introduce you to other Beauty Bloggers, you have the Beauty Bloggers who read each other’s blogs and comment and genuinely support their beauty blogging sister and you have the Beauty Bloggers you have a sincere friendship with.

Then there are those who thumb their nose at you. It happens to me and more frequently than I would like to admit. I’m the new girl on the block and so sometimes I am overlooked. It does hurt when I am not acknowledged by my sisters, because we all need to start somewhere after all.

I don’t want to focus on the negative. Really, I don’t. So let me tell you about the first beauty blog I found and started reading before I even began blogging myself: The Beauty Newsletter.

What’s funny, is that I had no idea that it was even a blog, because I didn’t understand blogging until my fellow wahm’s told me that blogs were the new website. I met Elke when I first joined Country Bunny Bath & Body. We were in the same online networking group and I remember thinking she had a unique name, so I clicked on her website link. After absorbing as much as I could through her blog and website, I noticed that she did product reviews. I got CB’s permission to send Elke some products and promptly mailed her some suncare products. However, even after she posted her review of Country Bunny’s products, I always went back to her blog for more. What came across in all of her posts and emails, was that she was down to earth. Also, quite honestly, I had no idea her “stature” in the beauty world. Why? Because she didn’t flaunt it. Obviously now I know WHO Elke is, but to me, it isn’t the only thing that defines her. If you read her blog posts, she reviews everyday beauty products. That’s what I can relate to. I’m a girl on a budget. I’m a mom whose 3 beautiful boys, that are my everything, come first and sometimes pricey beauty products have to wait. I also love that she isn’t afraid to say, “This product isn’t cracked up to what it’s supposed to be.” Honesty is everything to me.

So it was The Beauty Newsletter and Elke that opened my eyes to the Beauty Blogging world. In my naivity, I believed that all Beauty Bloggers would be as wonderful as Elke has been to me. But sometimes, I have not found that to be so. I think that’s sad really. We all have so much in common, I can’t really understand the whole snobbery of it all.

On a positive note, I am always surprised and humbled when I hear that another Beauty Blogger reads this blog. For that I thank you. I check Technorati often to see who links here and am sometimes surprised to see my blog listed in another Beauty Bloggers “favorite sites.” Wow and WOW. It gives me goosebumps. There are so many beauty blogs I love and you can always find them listed in my sidebar under, “Whose the fairest of them all?” I obviously titled it that for a reason.

My question is, why isn’t there more of a sisterhood among Beauty Bloggers? Are you a niche blogger and is there a fellowship/sisterhood amoung them?

What was the first beauty blog you ever read and what did you love about it?

Tags: beauty, beauty blogs

It’s done! I’ve made my first purchase with e.l.f. and cannot believe the amount of products I was able to purchase for such little cash! I also used their coupon elf10 to get 10% off my order!

I cannot wait to get my products so I can review them for you!

Here’s what I bought:

Eye Makeup Remover Pads
Shine Eraser (because my T-zone so needs it!)
Nail Polish Remover Pads
Tone Correcting Concealer
Hypershine Gloss
Earth & Water Mascara Duo
Lip Defining Brush
Smudge Eye Brush
Super Glossy Lip Shine Spf 15 box set
Non-feathering lip pencil

Don’t miss out on their free travel kit! It ends on July 1st at 12pm EST! See how you can beautify on a budget too!

Tags: eyes lips face, e.l.f. cosmetics, beauty

Please be sure to show love to the advertisers who call A Girl’s Gotta Spa! home this week:

Maddy Moo: Gorgeous, high quality and very affordable handbags.

Kenneth Cole Handbags: Kenneth Cole, need I say more?

Noah’s Ark Workshop: Great gifts for children!

The Makeup Course ebook: An ebook written by my favorite Makeup Artist, Elke von Freudenberg. If she can make celebrities look good, then she can make us non-celebrity types look fab-u-lous!

I also found a local Beauty Expert, go check her out:

Interested in advertising here? Be sure to check out my rates through Blogads and AdBrite.

~~Power~~

This is what I personally do each day. With three little ones running around; I absolutely need to re-energize myself each morning to be able to keep up with them all day!

Light a few Refreshing Candles in your bathroom. Citrus is a scent that will uplift your spirits.

Play upbeat music to awaken your system and get the blood pumping.

Turn the shower to warm and dispense Refresh Essential Oil Shower Gel/Bubble Bath onto a Bath Scrunchie. Breathe in the aromatic citrus scent as the essential oil shower gel softens your skin.

Think about all the wonderful things you are going to do today (…buy a new pair of shoes, add more cosmetics to my beauty collection, submerge myself in bath and body products…)

When you are done in the shower, pat yourself dry and apply Refresh Essential Oil Olive Butter to your skin.

Lightly spray our Refresh Body Spray all over your body.

Apply Refresh Essential Oil Lotion Bar to your hands and feet.

Why our Refresh Aromatherapy scent? Country Bunny Bath and Body‘s Refresh Life Song Aromatherapy is a combination of orange, lemon and lime essential oils.

Orange is considered the cheering oil and livens the mind and dispels depression. Lemon oil, which is expressed from the fresh peel, has many varied applications, making it invaluable in the home aromatherapy kit. On an emotional level, refreshing lemon dispels depression and indecision. Limes have a fairly wide application in modern aromatherapy. It has properties similar to those of lemon, and the two oils are often used interchangeably. The essential oil is expressed from the peel of the fruit, or steam-distilled from the whole fruit. Lime has a restorative, tonic effect on the whole person. It also has notable anti-rheumatic properties, and is known to increase mental alertness and assertiveness.

Our Life Song Aromatherapy uses no dyes and uses fragrances of only the best quality essential oils. Each of our Relaxing and Refreshing product lines are designed to give maximum benefit to your mind, body and spirit. When you purchase a Premier Set you will receive the 2oz. purse size in the corresponding fragrance FREE.Where to buy Life Song Aromatherapy: www.BigLakeSpa.com
Shipping method: Fed Ex and UPS (Fed Ex is faster)
Where to buy Citrus Candles: drugstore.com
Related posts: Half Hour of Peace and Power (Part 1), Life Song Aromatherapy Line

Tags: relaxation, aromatherapy, essential oils, aromatherapy oil, aromatherapy candle, aromatherapy skin care, citrus essential oil, Country Bunny Bath and Body