Blog Posts by Carol Belanger

I have an obsession with hair care products. I have tried all manufacturers from drug store brands to salon quality. When you have a full head of naturally wavy, and thick hair taming the frizz can be challenging. While at the beauty salon my stylist told me to try Garnier Fructis a leave in conditioner. I just love it. I use it after washing my hair and even on my dry hair before I use my flat iron. Works wonders and actually tamed by frizzy hair! I also have John Frieda's Frizz-Ease Hair Serum, and Pantene Smooth and Shine Serum. Both of these seem to work but for now I am staying with Garnier Fructis.

My second must have is a good facial cleanser. Again, I have tried various brands and the Olay brands seem to work best for me. They are gentle enough without drying my skin out to much. My Olay product of the month is Olay Foaming Face Wash with Aloe.

I also use a facial toner after cleansing. I love my homemade recipe made with green tea and chamomile. Addtinally, I do

I was surfing the net and came across an article about expiration dates on cosmetics such as mascara, eye shadow, etc., and skin care products. The article automatically prompted me to look at my skin care products and cosmetics. My eye shadow I could not see an expiration date or on my blush or mascara. I also checked my night time moisturizers and neither of those had an expiration date but it could have been on packaging. My daytime moisturizer by Olay however had an expiration date.

Did you know that in the United States, there are no regulations or guidelines from the FDA about the expiration date for skin-care or makeup products? The only exceptions to this are for over-the-counter drugs sold as skin-care products, such as sunscreens and anti-acne medicines, but even those can have inconsistencies.

Typically expiration dates are generally a rule of thumb on the products safety after its expiration date. However this can be ambiguous too, because cosmetics that have

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When is the last time you took time for you and gave yourself a little pampering? A spa visit would be great but my budget doesn't allow it at this time. So the next best thing is a homemade facial mask. A mask is an easy way to pamper yourself without spending a lot of money and your skin will love you for it!

So below are a few recipes that you can easily make at home.

Honey Facial - we all know the benefits of honey in skin care, if you are unfamiliar about what honey can do for your skin then read this article Honey So Beneficial in Skin Care Products here on Shine


Recipe for dry skin
1 egg yolk
1 Teaspoon honey
1 Teaspoon olive oil
Vitamin E or Sweet Almond Oil

Mix all ingredients together and spread over face and neck. Leave on 15-20 minutes, rinse with tepid water. For extremely dry skin add more olive oil or almond oil. If allergic to nuts, do not use almond oil.

Mask for oily skin
1/2 Cucumber
1 Egg white
1 Tablespoon Lemon

It is such a privilege to be a Shine Beauty Guru and my girlfriends enjoy it too. When I received my three tubes of lip gloss I immediately shared two colors with my girlfriends' and kept one for myself.

I choose the color Ember; it is a light color and reminds me of an iridescent pearl shade. I found the lip gloss very soothing and easy to apply and I really liked the tapered applicator! The tappered applicator certainly helps keeping the lip gloss within the lip area.

Covergirl's Shineblast lip gloss provides high shine with a bit of color and goes on smoothly and flawlessly. Additionally, this lip gloss is light and not heavy and sticky like so many other lip glosses I have tried. Covergirl's new lip gloss will look good worn alone to add just a hint of color and super sexy shine or can be worn over lipstick.

In summary, it provided a very high shine to my lips with no sticky feeling. I did think it could of lasted a little longer, however, I must say, I really like

Did you know that your skin can tell a lot about how well you take care of yourself? Your skin can show how well hydrated you are, whether or not you are eating healthy and getting the nutrition and vitamins needed, and how much time you spend in the sun. Additionally a dull complexion can indicate a slowing down of the cell regeneration process and sluggish circulation.

This year make your resolution to take care of your skin. Below are simple steps to ward off aging and improve your overall complexion.

1: I will use sunscreen - I can not stress the importance of sunscreen everyday. As a woman over 50 the signs of sun damage are starting to show. I have to resort to home remedies or lightening creams to lighten age spots (brown spots). Had I used a sunscreen when I was younger I am sure that my skin would have far less age spots. I have read that the new recommendation for sunscreen is 30 SPF. So apply your sunscreen daily to avoid age spots later in life. You can read more

There are over 22,000 posts on Shine about under eye circles and under eye puffiness. I have even written a couple of posts titled: "Banish under Eye Circles" and "A Different Approach to Dark Circles under Eyes".

The majorities of the posts I have read are informative and offer viable solutions to eliminate or diminish under eye circles and/or puffiness. I personally enjoyed reading and trying the array of home remedies.

As a Shine Beauty Guru I got the opportunity to try the Oil of Olay Regenerist Anti-Aging Eye Roller and it did alleviate my under eye puffiness. You can read the Shine Beauty Guru reviews here

So what home remedies have you tried or did you find any special product that worked for you? I would love to hear whether you have conquered your under eye circles and/or puffiness. Or do you have a special home remedy you would like to share?

I have many posts here on Shine and below are just a few, hope you can stop by and visit!

Eliminate dry, dull

Winter weather can play havoc on the skin, especially your face. Dryness seems to be the culprit during the winter months because of the low humidity in the air and lower humidity in your home. Additionally the sebaceous glands produce less oil in cold weather adding insult to injury. We are also tempted to take long hot showers which also dries out the skin by stripping away its natural oils.

So how can we combat dry skin and keep a dewy complexion all winter long? Very easy with these fun, simple, and effective skin care recipes.

Step 1: Cleanse - Start with a gentle cleanser specific for your skin type.

Honey Cleanser
Dab of Castile soap
1 Teaspoon honey

Wet face. Pour a little castile soap into the palm of your hand and add honey. Mix honey and soap into a lather, wash face using gentle circular motions. Castile soap is made from vegetable oil as opposed to animal fat like other soaps. Oils used in castile soap include olive, coconut, almond, hemp, and