Created for the young and young-at-heart, the Herban Renewal Twinkle Toes Dancer Dust is delightful girly fun. It’s all natural and pink, pink, pink for prettiness.

The Good
I love the adorable Muffineer sugar shaker this powder arrives in. And the glistening pink bow with the star decals all wrapped around it. I love that it says “Twinkle Toes Dancer Dust” on a large tag for everyone to see. This goody is so cute that it absolutely MUST be displayed in the vanity or boudoir. The pink color is gentle and slightly earthy – this is no fuschia color bomb that only the under-ten set will appreciate. I have a certain minor lust for this cute and pretty pampering product and look for ways to use it constantly. And the all natural element appeals to my eco-friendly soul.

The Bad
I was expecting more glitter, more sparkle from a product touted as “All-Pink, All-Glitter to sprinkle in ballet shoes, dance bags, and all over your body…” Honestly, I don’t even see any glitter in my sample. As a grownup – so they say – I’m not going to cry over unspilt glitter. But still. Where’s the sparkle?

The Acid Test
I don’t dance in ballet slippers, but I hike regularly and do yoga daily. For hiking, I dust a tiny amount on the bottom of my hiking shoes and apply, by hand, a small amount to my feet. It smells fresh and minty. By using this sparingly, the powder keeps my feet dry. The scent helps overcome the foot odor that hiking shoes develop. It’s important to be sparing with the product, as overuse creates a messy “sweat” paste. One dusting in each shoe is sufficient for a typical day hike. I can remove my hiking shoes without embarrassment, even after a hike in the Grand Canyon.

For yoga, Twinkle Toes is a godsend. I rub a small amount into my feet and the talc-free powder does a fantastic job of keeping my bare feet cool and comfortable while still gripping my mat. The texture reminds me of rock climbers/gymnastic chalk, but with a cleaner feel.

The Upshot
This fun product is actually useful. The non-toxic formulation is safe for all ages and delightful to display and use. While I am wondering where the glitter went, ultimately I’m pleased with the performance of the dust. Twinkle Toes is talc-free, enviro-friendly, and created in west Texas by mentally and physically-challenged adults. What’s not to love?

Highly recommended!

Just $5 for 1 oz./$15 for 4 oz. at www.HerbanRenewalInc.com.

Note – CosmeticReviewJournal.com received this product as a media sample.

The Fragrance Free Moisture Mist comes in a 2 fluid ounce spray container that fits perfectly in my purse and is also compliant with airplane travel sizes. I brought the mist onto the plane for a recent Chicago to San Diego flight and found the spray VERY refreshing in the dry cabin air.

I keep the mist in my purse as I go about my errands. I appreciate that there are no irritating fragrances in the formulation – so I can simply close my eyes, spritz at my face, and lean into the mist.

With the glycerin the spray performs well as a light all-over body lotion for anytime (I like it after a shower), and the aloe vera content is especially helpful as an after-sun soothing product.

The Moisture Mist also comes in 4 ounces and 8 ounces. You can purchase the mist from EclecticLady.com – Fragrance Free Moisture Mist

Note – this product was provided free from Eclecticlady.com

In an effort to help people continue to enjoy traditional, organic, hand-crafted soaps from Africa, Jeanne Ukwendu, owner of Eclectic Lady, is doubling the size of her African Black Soap Balls for no extra charge, and halving the price of her large, one pound African Soap Blocks.

“Our current economic situation in this country is unfortunate,” said Ukwendu. “We wanted to set a precedent for giving more in bad times. In this case, we made the popular soap balls much larger and more luxurious in the hand, so everyone can enjoy more of this traditonal African product for zero extra money. The new size fits well in one’s hand for shower time. We feel the new size will be even more popular – and the African Black Soap is already our most popular Eclectic Lady line.”

Ukwendu continued, “We’ve doubled the size of the African Black Soap balls from 2.5 ounces to 5 ounces. This is effectively a 50% reduction in the price of the soap balls. In turn, the price on the one pound block of African Black Soap has been reduced from $40 to $20.”

Eclectic Lady imports African Black Soap through a fair trade company in the rural village of Dua Yaw Nkwanta, Ghana. Purchasing their authentic hand-crafted products help ensure African women in Ghana receive an equitable wage, and benefits such as maternity leave and vacation time. The African Black Soap Eclectic Lady stocks are also made to organic standards.

In addition to trading fairly across the globe, Eclectic Lady works hard to prove successful businesses can also be green ones, by only using recycled and recyclable packing with both products and shipping. Eclectic Lady Works to Reduce Carbon Footprint

According to Ukwendu, “The generous soap size increase and price drop is just another example of a green business doing something positive to help others in bad times.”

You can order Eclectic Lady’s African Black Soap – to get yourself a fantastic all natural product, help women in Ghana, and patronize an eco-conscious, woman-owned home business to boot!

In a home comparison of the Shea Body Butter and Grapeseed Body Butter, I spread the Shea on my left leg and arm and Grapeseed on my right limbs. Both felt rich and emollient. An hour later I still feel moisturized and comfortable. Unlike body lotions, butters are not made to soak in so much as provide a thick barrier between your epidermis and the air. For people who don’t like to have a waxy or thick feeling remaining on top of their skin, this could be uncomfortable used all over, and would be better served for rubbing into really dry patches as needed.

As I enjoy the soft smooth feeling of a thick body butter, I prefer to use this type of product all over.

The Grapeseed Body Butter is a light lime green color, goes on quite easily and has a “margarine” texture. There’s a strong fragrance, which I assume is their interpretation of white grapes. There is no beeswax in the ingredients list, unlike in the Shea Butter formulation. The scent might be overpowering to some people and delicious-smelling to others, depending on personal taste.

The Grapeseed Body Butter is labeled for “normal skin.”

The Shea Body Butter was a little harder to spread – it’s a thicker cream, like actual butter. There is a lot of beeswax in the mix, proportionately, which accounts for the thickness of the texture. I suspect this formula works great on dry cuticles, knees and elbows, and in fact, is labeled for “very dry skin.”

The scent is subtle but lovely: a nice, clean cocoa butter smell that won’t offend most scent-sensitive people. The color is a soft cream.

I am impressed with the Shea Body Butter. Ten minutes ago I rubbed an extra thick glop into a sunburned and peeling area of my upper left arm. The entire area is now quite soft, with no flakes to be seen. Very nice!

I also appreciate that the shea butter itself, according to Body Shop packaging and materials, is acquired from a Fair Trade process (a concept they pioneered in the field a few decades ago).

The Body Shop Body Butters, In General

These body butters come in a plastic screw-on tin in two sizes. I have the 6.9 oz sizes, the larger and more expensive of the two. These creams last a good long while in either size unless used daily (I use them when I feel especially dry in the winter or summer, and more often as a simple hand/cuticle cream).

The wide mouth makes it easy to dip one’s hands into, so you can get a nice amount out to spread around your body. On the less positive side, a wide mouth like that allows lots of air into the product, thereby decreasing the actual usefulness of any antioxidants in the ingredients list.

Thus, if buying a body butter with a known antioxidant, like grapeseed or Vitamin E, is appealing to you, realize that the antioxidant properties will immediately fade upon opening. You will still have a nice body butter, but don’t count on any particular healing effects.

As all Body Shop Body Butters contain lanolin, these butters are inappropriate as a facial moisturizer. Lanolin, for most people, results in facial blemishes – not a desirable reaction! People with no acne issues and with very dry skin patches may choose to experiment with these butters, however.

Overall, recommended as a luxurious, thick protectant for all-over dry skin on the torso and limbs, a spot treatment for dry scaly skin patches, or as a daily hand/cuticle cream.

Body Shop Shea Body Butter at Amazon
Body Shop Grapeseed Body Butter (limited edition) at Amazon

Sometimes you really need that extra bit of scrubbiness, however. If you wear layers of makeup (like moisturizer, sunscreen, primer and foundation) or any kind of ‘heavy’ matte makeup, you know it’s tough to get all the gunk off solely with water-based cleansers. A clean washcloth, moist with tepid water and a bit of your favorite gentle cleanser, will cut right through face paint to leave skin clean and soft.

It’s important to use a fresh, clean washcloth to keep your facial skin clear and blemish-free. You don’t want to clean your face with old, dirty makeup from the evening before! Keep enough washcloths in a basket by the sink so you can select a clean one each evening. Use your old one to wipe down your vanity and sink (two uses for one towel – why not?) on the way to the laundry hamper.

If you do use a washcloth to clean your face, do not use an facial scrub as well! Washcloths have a scrubby texture that more than accounts for any mechanical exfoliant action you might want. Adding a scrubbing cream to the mix is just overkill. Remember, you can’t scrub blemishes or wrinkles off your face. You need to treat your face gently at all times to be rewarded with clear, young-looking skin.

If you have sensitive skin, there are softer ‘washcloths’ on the market that feel very smooth and have no scrubby texture. Those might be better choices for you – and in fact, I consider them better for all skin types. I use special chamois-type cloths myself (The Body Shop sells them for under ten bucks).

Other gentle cleansing options include using facial sponges, disposable facial wipes, or using cotton balls to spread cleanser across your face before splashing water on with your hands to wipe it off.

Once clean, pat your skin dry with a face towel – don’t rub. Your towel is just as textured as a washcloth.

Amazon sells a lovely, basic skin chamois for only ten dollars – Skin Chamois, and another soft, reusable facial cloth by Dermalogica – Dermalogica The Sponge Cloth

Then run the hairs back under flowing tepid water. Use a gentle stream of water. Make sure all the shampoo is rinsed out.

Gentle is the main term used here – gentle rubbing action, gentle shampoo, water that is not at all hot….since this is not hair that will be growing back, you need to treat your brush as a fragile tool to get many years of worthy use out of it.

Then shape your brush head the way you want it to dry, and lay it flat on a towel or over the end of your sink to drip dry. No hairdryers needed – remember, we are being gentle.

Washing your makeup brushes this way is much better for the handle and hairs than the old school method of soaking your brushes in a sink overnight. Plus, it saves a ton of money – the brush cleaning products sold in the stores are often really just a very mild, very gentle shampoo that you can find on your own, and for far cheaper price points.

Really be careful to not let the handles get or stay wet. A warped handle will drop airs. High-quality brushes, properly cared for, can last many years.

It’s also helpful to keep brushes assigned to one use – liquid foundation on one, facial powder on another, powder blush, bronzer brush, lipstick…all on their own brushes. This keeps them all reasonably clean for longer periods of time. Then instead of having to wash your brushes too frequently (which will wear them out faster), you can just sort of run them dry over a clean cloth to get off most of the color. Microfiber cloths are great for this.

Only do a good water/shampoo washing when the hairs get a bit gunky, ie, when the brush doesn’t feel as silky across your skin as it used to.

Of course, this is really all about the GOOD brushes. I recommend the cosmetics brushes sold at Sephora, Origins, Bare Minerals, Aveda, Two Faced, Body Shop, Paula’s Choice and Trish McEvoy. Yes, there are other good brands out there, but when you get a cheap brush, you can tell the difference – hairs fall out, the brush texture isn’t really all that plush, and your colors don’t spread evenly.

A good brush sits firmly in the handle socket and doesn’t shed. It has a nice heft in your hand and feels delicious swept across the face. Color is spread evenly and you have a sense of control over where the makeup is being applied. A good brush should never need to be tossed – saving money overall – and is a joy to use.

To my pleasure, I saw products by Kiel’s for my hair and what looked like locally-made cucumber-sliced shaped face and body soaps. Keil’s, a heritage line of cosmetics from 1850s New York City, is sold at the counter in expensive department stores like Nordstrom’s. So this was a real step up from the usual hotel and conditioner, and even from the toiletries you might see at better hotels like the Radisson (repackaged Bath & Body Works products).

With 2.2 fluid ounce sizes, you even get a generous amount of Kiel’s (several uses per bottle).

The Shampoo: Protein Concentrate Herbal Shampoo for Normal to Dry (with conditioning ingredients and oils of Rosemary, Sage, Lavender and Panthenol)

• The scent was very faint for a shampoo boasting all those herbal oils. This was fine by me, but still surprising.
• As a concentrated shampoo (according to the bottle), very little needed to be used. I probably used more than a little, since there was not much lather. Lather is not an indicator of cleaning power, however, so for my next use, I will use a properly smaller amount.
• The shampoo felt gentle on my head, with the texture of a baby shampoo. This was nice.
• The shampoo easily rinsed clean and left no scent.

The Conditioner: Hair Conditioning and Grooming Aid Formula 133 (for all hair types)

• This was very nice. The scent is lovely – a great whiff of neroli, from my guess.
• The conditioner goes on smoothly and washes right out.
• My hair looked and felt silky afterwards.
• This conditioner can also be used as a hair serum/gel (ie, the “grooming aid” part).
• I was able to use this, in a pinch, as a hand lotion when mine ran out when traveling.

The Soaps: Cucumber and Lemon Grass, Locally-Made?

No name on the soap packing, but these round cucumber-scented face and body sized soaps have a creamy lather and a nice scrubby action from lemon grass leaves in the matrix. It was especially nice that these soaps did not leave me feeling tight or dry afterwards, although I do realize some people prefer that stretchy “clean” feeling.

Overall: As Austin Powers would say, “Oh, Behave!”

Cool square sink, bottles of Keils goodnessI felt very pampered by the hotel’s attention to providing unusually fine free cosmetic products to their guests. I suppose it goes with the hotel’s upscale James Bond/Secret Agent theme. The entire stay there I kept singing “Secret Agent Man” to my roommate, talking like Dr. Evil, swiveling in the Men In Black slash Austin Powers egg chairs, and saying goofy things like, “Florio, Jill Florio” when addressed by my friends.

While the rooms have NO BATHTUB, the snail-shell shower that you walk into is fabulous. The shower head is one of those large, flat panels that you can adjust for direction. As an added plus, you can see though the round plexiglass shower wall in the living/sleeping area – but only a silhouette, just like the title sequences in all those James Bond films. Oh, behave!

While the rooms are small, this hotel rates extremely high on the “cool meter” and is well-recommended for a stay in downtown DC.

As far as reducing bags and wrinkles, the mask works about as well as any under eye moisturizing product. Which is to say, it helps for a short while to plump out the skin and make one appear younger. Do not rely on this product to eliminate wrinkles or puffiness for a whole evening out; use it as a supplement to your normal moisturizing routine.

Where the stress pads really shine: for those stressed out afternoons when you need a relaxing mini-break.

Taking Stress Relief Breaks

I find myself often in need of a nap, with no time to take one, on my busier days. One technique I use to refresh myself through the day is to spritz my face with a refreshing toner. That’s nice when you have only an instant to take a breather.

These stress relief pads are best for those breaks when you can actually get away for ten minutes at a time. Place the pads under your eyes, lean back and relax. Sit in a yoga pose if you like. Open a window to get fresh air, put on a few songs you like, or just enjoy the silence. Ahhh.

Stress Relief Eye Mask Product Notes

* Each small, portable package contains two pre-moistened under eye shaped pads.

* You place the stress relief pads on your very upper cheekbones, as shown, to insure product reaches your eye ‘area’ and not actually get into the eye mucous membranes.

* The pads have a very mild scent that I can only describe as “elementary school glue.” It’s really quite non-offensive, however. Call it a neutral scent, with a hint of chamomile.

* The pads contain a clear liquid containing an elegant-feeling, non-sticky, non-greasy moisturizing serum.

* They really do the job of making my face and mind feel smoothed out and relaxed.

Overall, I found the eye pads do work well in easing the tension from my face and the stress from my mind. It’s the same principle as setting cucumber slices over your eyes, without the bother of toting produce in your purse for the day.

My old standby lip colors are the beachy nudes. When I was younger, I felt self-conscious about wearing makeup. I always went for colors that were only subtly more colorful than my own skin. To me, it looked like I was “made up.” But in reality, my makeup palette was almost invisible.

I am still attracted to beachy, bronzey, and barely there dusty nudes. But now I enjoy using a full range of color to suit my moods and styles.

Lip Colors Every Woman Should Own: Pales, Nudes, Bronzes

Pales

Pales include any color that is in actuality lighter than your own lip skin’s tone. This includes lighter pinks, light golds, whites, pearls and even shimmery novelty colors like blues and lavenders. These colors are pretty and festive for winter parties like Christmas, New Years and winter birthdays.

Besides reserving pales for festive winter looks, pales also come into their own on the beach. Hot summer days can carry off a pale pink or pearly white, emphasizing the contrast in darker skin, creating a “cooling” appearance for fun events on hot days.

Pales are a young look. Teens can get away with daily pales. In adult women, only *very* light skin tones can use pales for everyday color.

Nudes

Nudes come in many shades, from a light ’skin’ tone to a hint of red, peach, pink, or even deep brown.

Nudes offer a universally flattering light wash of color, and are considered very wearable. There are great nudes on the market for all ages and skin tones.

Nudes are useful for daily wear, but are not generally festive enough for special events, parties, and some professions. In addition, many women enjoy brighter, deeper colors and feel “naked” in a nude lipstick.

Even for women addicted to darker lips, however, a nude lip color should be a staple in everyone’s palette. A woman sporting red lipstick everyday deserves a clean, fresh look from time to time.

A nude look is pretty, classy, perfectly casual and often takes years off of a woman’s face.

Bronzes

Bronzes are a step up from nudes and the opposite of pales. While a pale is lighter than your own lip color, and nudes add a subtle wash of color, a bronze makes a statement. Bronzes offer shimmery looks in several metallic hues, from bronzey golds, through bronzey coppers and on to pure metallic browns. Even a light bronze is darker than most peoples’ natural lip skin.

While pales are a young look and can be worn most easily by women with the palest skins, bronzes are the opposite; offering a more mature look worn most easily by tanned and darker skin tones.

Bronzes offer a great anytime or party look for the summer, with their smoldering, sultry appeal. It’s a wearable vacation color – think of the bronze lipsticks often showcased on models photographing in the tropics. Bronzes also come into their own for evenings out.

For darker skin tones (through olives, browns and blacks) bronzes are the perfect daily lip color and should be a lip palette staple.

Since bronzes are a mature look, these hues can look strange on teenagers and are not a good choice for aging skin. Women with feathering lip lines might wish to dial down the metallics(shimmer emphasizes wrinkles)and look instead into the brighter nudes, clean browns, or deeper non-shimmery reds, pinks and corals.

My suggestion: This lip combo from DuWop is has several nudes that can be shimmered up or bronzed down, depending on what look you want to customize between daywear and an evening out. The lip colors also contain antioxidants, adding a “lip facial” element to lipstick that I especially like:

Lipstick

Lipsticks are packaged in (usually) stick form, although many creams are also considered lipsticks. The proof is in the texture – lipsticks offer thousands of colors from barely there tints to vivid hues – but all have a smooth, waxy, sealing-type lip feel. That said, lipsticks can be matte, satiny, glossy, glittery or even wet-looking.

Lip Gloss

Lip glosses range from clears to sheers and all the way up to full fledged color coverage. What makes a gloss unique from a lipstick is the (of course) glossier formula, decreased viscosity (ie – they are not packaged as solids) and very brief wear time. Most women wear gloss over lipsticks, lipstains or lipliners.

Some people, and especially younger women, wear lip gloss alone, and simply reapply as needed throughout the day.

Lip Balm

Most lip balms are color-free ways to add a waxy, moisturizing sealant to chapped or dry lips. Lip balms often contain soothing agents like Aloe Vera or Vitamin E, lip sunscreens, or even pain relievers like aspirin derivatives (as
found in Carmex).

Some lip balms include a hint of color, essentially edging those balms into lip gloss territory. In addition, even the most pedestrian balm – say, a swipe of petroleum jelly – adds an attractive hint of clear gloss to lips.

For some people (including most men) lip balm is the only cosmetic routinely applied to their lips.

Lip Exfoliants

This product is the only item on the list created to subtract something from your lips – in this case, peeling lip flesh! Lip exfoliants usually contain a waxy base and/or scrubby bits to actually exfoliate dry or cracked skin from the lip surface.

Lip Plumpers

Plumpers may or may not contain color, but all are intended to stimulate blood flow into the lips. This creates a fuller, more engorged appearance that is considered attractive and sensual.

Usually irritants are the active ingredients in plumping formulas, and some products do a better job than others to achieve the desired fullness.

Lip Stains

Invented to provide longer-lasting color to lips than a long-wear lipstick, lip stains can be added (by manufacturers) to lipsticks, or applied in liquid form directly to lips in stick form or with a brush. Lip stains do not wear off by talking or eating, as they actually stain the skin of the lips with color. Lip stain colors are usually very bold or deep, and are not a subtle look.

Lip Paint

Harder to find than lip stains, lip paints offer a compromise between the thin liquid feel of a lip stain and the comfortable coating of an actual lipstick. The wear-time is a compromise as well, but better colors are usually available in paint form than can usually be achieved via stains.

Lip Liners

This includes regular, thin pencils and chunky/fat pencils. Some need to be sharpened and some have a twist-up dial, but all are created to actually line the lip with color. Many people use lip liners to actually provide full lip color, or to provide a longer-lasting base color for lipsticks and glosses.

Lip Primer

Usually designed as a clean base for subsequent lip coloring, or to prevent lip color from “bleeding” past the lip line. Colors can be either clear or in various “foundation” shades, and may be waxy.

Permanent Lipstick

Some people take the permanent step of tattooing actual ink color into their lips, bringing tattooing into the realm of cosmetics.