Category Archives: Beauty

Photograph: Miss Universe Organization

In case you missed last night’s Miss USA Pageant held at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, here’s a quick recap:

• Congrats go to winner Rima Fakih of Michigan – the first Arab-American and Muslim Miss USA.
• Miss Oklahoma drew the short straw last night when she received the controversial question about Arizona’s new immigration laws. (video)
• It’s now being reported that Fakih previously participated in a stripping contest for a local radio station. (Yawn. Certainly no more risque than the lingerie shoot for the actual pageant.)

And last but not least, here’s a quick video of the winner tripping during the evening gown portion of the show. It’s kind of like a NASCAR crash…makes things a little more exciting.

Did you know to get that pearly or sparkly shimmer in nail polish, fish scales  are often used? Yep. After learning more about SpaRitual nail lacquers, which are vegan and free of toluene, formaldehyde and DBP, I’m beginning to examine my beauty products more closely.

In fact, DBP, or dibutyl phthalate, is an ingredient that was recently banned in the European Union as it’s been linked to cancer in lab animals among other things. Although companies like OPI claim the level of DBP in their polishes is so low that it poses no health hazard, I have to ask myself if it’s really worth the risk? And polishes like SpaRitual’s “Hope Springs Eternal” below look great and last just as long (I’ve tried them) as other top-of-the-line polishes, so I’m making the switch.

Another brand I came across recently is Yes To, Inc whose tagline is, “Paraben Free—Cruelty Free—Natural, organic skin, hair and lip care.” While on the hunt at Target for a new nighttime moisturizer, these products caught my eye. I purchased the Yes To Carrots Night Moisturizing Cream and absolutely love it. I require any moisturizer I purchase to smell good, particularly one going on my face, and this one feels and smells amazing.

Want to learn more? Here are some green beauty blogs I found:

• Gorgeously Green – http://www.gorgeouslygreen.com/
• Clean Green Beauty – http://cleangreenbeauty.com/
• The Green Girls – http://www.thegreengirls.tv/

Tell me some of your favorite green beauty products below!

To celebrate its new Believe Collection for Spring 2010, SpaRitual is asking fans to unleash their creativity and imagination and answer the question, what do you believe?

They’ve started the ‘Believe’ video sweepstakes that runs until April 21st and asks people to upload a video or record a video response on the SpaRitual Believe sweepstakes page hosted on YouTube expressing their unique take on what matters, inspires, or stirs passion — in short, what they believe.

To get inspired, watch the SpaRitual Believe video below.

Winners will be selected by an incredible panel of judges, featuring:

• Stephanie Yaggy, Executive Editor, Nailpro
• Hannah Lee, Executive Editor, Nails
• Shel Pink, Founder and VP, SpaRitual

A weekly winner will be selected from entries submitted from Wednesday through Tuesday at 11:59pm PDT and will receive the SpaRitual Believe Collection and Multi-Tasker Base & Topcoat in One.

One final grand prize winner will be selected on April 21. The grand prize winner will receive $500 worth of SpaRitual Products including the new Believe Spring 2010 collection.

When you enter, be sure to also email your real name, age and birthday, mailing address, and name of YouTube account holder to: TheSpaRitual [at] http://gmail.com/

Disclosure: In addition to being a contributor to bub.blicio.us, I also work at FutureWorks where one of my clients is SpaRitual, but that doesn’t make this sweepstakes any less fabulous.

By Miiko Mentz (@miikomentz) and Alison McNeill (@alisonmcneill)

As we head on into the weekend we thought we’d get you in a weekend spa mood by sharing more interviews from the 2009 Face & Body Expo. So far we’ve shared our interviews with Danielle Farnan of GoSmile and Lisbeth Boger of Eminence Organic Skin Care. Next up are Sanitas Skincare and Sparitual.

Josie Dembikzak of Sanitas Skincare talked to us about the importance of having good skin and how it comes from the inside out. Sanitas skincare has both nutritional and topical skincare products. And we got to throw back a couple of shots (no, they didn’t contain alcohol) with Josie, check it out:

In the video below, Anya Whisenhunt of Sparitual shares with us the Sparitual philosophy of creating eco-friendly products, and she talks about a few of their vegan products from nail polish to bath salts. Sparitual nail care and spa product formulations are naturally colored and free of unhealthy ingredients such as synthetic dyes, formaldehyde and toluene, which are common ingredients found in most mainstream nail polish brands.

Sanitas has not jumped on the social media bandwagon and does not have a twitter handle or Facebook fan page (maybe after reading this they will engage). However, we did find an active Sparitual Facebook fan page and a Twitter handle (@SpaRitual), but no tweets. I suspect that the company didn’t create the Twitter handle. However, they should claim it because they have lots of customers and fans talking about them on Twitter.

The next time you’re at the spa, perhaps this weekend, ask about Sanitas Skincare and Sparitual.

Related Posts:

Face and Body Expo 2009: GoSmile

Face & Body Expo 2009: Eminence Organics

By Miiko Mentz (@miikomentz) and Alison McNeill (@alisonmcneill)

A few weeks ago we shared our interview with Danielle Farnan of GoSmile from the 2009 Face & Body Expo. Next up is Lisbeth Boger of Eminence Organic Skin Care. Boger shares with us the history of Eminence, how they make their organic skin care products and she shows us the Sour Cherry Whip Moisturizer, which is great for those who have large pores and want to reduce pore size.

Eminence is a Hungarian company that handpicks only the finest organic ingredients for its products. What sets it apart from mainstream skin care brands is that Eminence products are not mass-produced and are made by hand in small batches without any heating or hydrogenating processes. This keeps the integrity and efficacy of the ingredients.

Another unique aspect is that they take a farmers market approach in that they come out with new products every three months, which makes sense since fruits and vegetables are seasonal. If you’re going to eat seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables, why not also use seasonal fresh organic skin care, too. Because what you put on your body is just as important as what you put in your body.

Eminence is a very popular skin care line for those who want a higher end organic line that produces results. They have products for all skin types and have a wide range of products. Since it’s a professional skin care line it’s only sold in spas and salons. To find out where you can buy Eminence in your area, visit their site at http://eminenceorganics.com.

Sadly, they are not a brand that’s hip to social media and do not have a twitter handle, nor do they have much activity on Facebook or other social networking sites. Hopefully, they will soon engage in the social economy because they sure have a lot of fans (their booth was packed); but until then, check them out at the Eminence Web site and watch our interview with Lisbeth.

And lastly, we have to say that Eminence wins for cutest booth because the booth was an adorable fruit stand surrounded by great smelling cleansers, moisturizers and scrubs. The products smelled so good that we could almost taste the fruit in them.