Scotch Naturals Water Based Nail Polish

Hello everyone!

Great news for the eco-friendly, self-friendly beauty people out there!

Last Tuesday FIDM hosted a trunk show held by Scotch Naturals: if you love your nails but are worried about all the chemicals contained in common nail polish, here the solution for you:

A non-toxic, water-based nail polish with a satisfying payoff and its soy-based oily polish remover. 


Now you are thinking: it sounds like a dream, where is the catch? Naturally, being the first of its kind, it still needs to perfected but let me tell you: it's off for a HUGE start! 


What are the CONS?
1. Well, let's be honest: the price! $ 14.99 for a single nail polish is more than expected, but obviously its innovative and safe formula couldn't be marketed for less. Just buy one at time: I am not sure whether the polish dries out like common polish but it's always better to be safe than sorry. 
2. Lighter shades needs multiple coats for a proper pay-off. I bought Heather Blush   and Kiltlifter  : the former needed at least 4 coats to reach its intensity. 


What are the PROS? 


1. It goes one extremely EASY - since it's  very low in viscosity, it facilitates the application even in the corners of your nails. 
2. It dries quickly even after the application of multiple coats: you can do whatever you want after 3 minutes. 
3. It doesn't cheap easily - I have been packing stuff and materials using tape and removing labels and it didn't chip! Obviously, you nails have to be healthy. Sometimes nail polish chips because are actually your nails that are chipping. 
4. It doesn't need top coat: it's very shiny on its own!


As you can see, the pros are more than the cons. Indoor manicures are about to become safer, easier, and less expensive too! 

Givaudan iPerfumer: technology and fragrance

Givaudan launched iPerfumer, a mobile app designed to provide the consumers with fragrance recommendations!

The application is currently available for iPhone, Android and Facebook.

I can't wait to try it!

If you wish to try it as well, log onto Givaudan and simply download the desired version. :)

Sounds fun...!

Padtech AS: new dispensing systems

Product Showcase - Beauty Packaging Magazine: "Padtech AS, a Norwegian based company has developed and patented a unique single use, packaging and dispensing system for actives including liquids, creams, lotions, gels to ointments and powders. Consumers can apply these actives onto their skin, without getting the active on their fingers"

The end of germophobic concerns or a new way to waste plastic and paper? 

I personally use a cotton swab to use the active creams in jars. On the other hand, the usefulness of this innovative packaging is undeniable: it would definitely add more sophistication and a professional demeanor to salons and SPA.

Song of the Week

Dj Tiesto RMX: Empty Streets 

The weather is strange in L.A. ... but even if it has been raining, I feel like rave partying on a beach during the summer...

Wheel of Nutrition Plate

Worried about portions and quantity? Tired of measuring with scales, cups and whatever? Here's the groundbreaking, forward-thinking solution! 

I just wonder what you have to do to be considered "Super Size" ... I want that, look at the proteins and sweets... SOUNDS GOOD!! 

(found on Rui Pereira Product Design)

A Tiny Apartment Transforms into 24 Rooms

I would love such a house!!! Can you imagine????

Lancôme Bi-Facil Make Up Remover

Lancôme used to be one of my favorite brand. I am not saying it isn't so anymore: their products are amazing, I love almost everything: their creams, their shadows (which are pigmented enough but not too much) and their mascaras. 

The problem is that they use the worst emollients and preservatives, still... and they are so expensive. I was left bewildered when I found that Lancôme uses paraffinum liquidum [mineral oil] in their facial cleanser. I was like: are you serious. 

There's one thing that I definitely love and I think it's worth despite the price and the bad ingredients: Lancôme Bi-Facil Make Up Remover.

I tend to alternate it with Almond Oil because it's reaaaally expensive: 4.2 oz for almost $ 30...!!

However, it is the gentlest and most effective thing I have ever used in my life for my eyes. I use tons of eye-liner and mascara, and it takes me just a little to take off everything without spreading the dirt all around my face. 

Let's begin our review: 

Song of the Week

Joe Hisaishi - Feel

Imagine vast fields of Cherry trees... imagine warm and sunny weather... at sunset...

The gentle wind fiddling through your hair... and then this piano playing... 

Pink Cherry Tree in Bloom by makdune

Wouldn't it be the perfect way to wake-up...?



[Still, what I hear is downtown L.A. work-in-progress drilling... ugh!]

Mama Mio Pregnancy Skincare: Boob Tube - no, thanks.

Mama Mio (what kind of name is Mama mio? It's either Mamma mia or ... mio doesn't make sense.) claim that their products are safe during pregnancy or nursing. On the "Boob Tube" it reads: "just avoid the nipples, your baby doesn't need Boob Tube!)
THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I THINK, thankyouverymuch.

As if I baby goes like "Oh yeah I am just targeting the very nipple over here mate."

On their website, they state:
"Safe and effective for the nine month s t r e t c h."

Effective, I don't know. I don't even have boobs.

Safe, I don't think so. Especially for your baby. So you might want to think twice before you use it.

L'Oreal MagicSmooth Souffle foundation

First of all, is L'Oreal Magic Smooth Souffle a foundation? A primer? A powder? All of them?

I can't tell, but I can tell you this: for $ 15.99 at Rite Aid, I love it! 

Let's begin our review:

Song of the week...

Patrick O'Hearn - Beyond This Moment 


Eerie and sad but really fascinating... It makes sense with a burning candle like this:

Archipelago Botanicals - Madgascar: "A blend of White Orchid, Vanilla, Freesia and Jasmine"

Tip of the Week: puffy eyes

Photo: courtesy of viZZZual.com

Puffy eyes?

I am sure many of you are acquainted with the most common remedies, such as massaging your eyelids very gently, using a cold spoon or putting cucumbers slices.

How to prevent them?

Firstly, be sure to get enough sleep. Usually if your sleep cycle is effective, you will only need from 6 to 8 hours. To do so, sleep in the dark avoiding sunlight and take melatonin. Melatonin is a natural supplement that helps regulating your sleep cycle. I don't use a particular brand - I take 5 mg pills everynight. I follow this routine for 3 months - pause for 2 months - and then begin again.

ProActive, Hamsters and Science

Photo: courtesy of Maarten Dirkse under the CC license. 

Now, I don't actually care about Chinese hamsters, although I am a very caring person and I love animals.


However, and sadly, Chinese hamsters were used to test the topic effects of benzoyl peroxide, and guess what? They were bad. 

"Benzoyl peroxide, a widely used free radical-generating compound, promoted both papillomas and carcinomas when it was topically applied to mice after 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene initiation. Benzoyl peroxide was inactive on the skin as a complete carcinogen or as a tumor initiator. A single topical application of benzoyl peroxide produced a marked epidermal hyperplasia and induced a large number of dark basal keratinocytes, effects similar to those produced by the potent tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate. Benzoyl peroxide, like other known tumor promoters, also inhibited metabolic cooperation (intercellular communication) in Chinese hamster cells. In view of these results caution should be recommended in the use of this and other free radical-generating compounds."

Source:  ScienceMag.org

Guess in which product you can find benzoyl peroxide. 

What's fashion?

I have never liked fashion: forecasting, colors that trend, color that don't. I don't care. Life is just as stressful without fashion. 

At the end of the day, it is the same old stuff, just ever changing.

Than I suddenly realized - we ARE fashion. 

We are born, we are raised, we evolve, change, our current obsession is different than the previous year's, our tastes can change dramatically. Aren't we ever changing? Aren't we trends that are showed on the crazy runway of life? 

This year I am the White Queen. No dark colors for me, except for brown. "Brown is the new black"

... and Armani Prive seems to think the same thing. 

Liz Earle Botanical Shampoo: if it impresses HIM... then...

[...

My lover always disrespected my fierce horde of hair care products by Joico, Paul Mitchell and organically niche brands. "I don't like 'em, I'd rather use Pantene, you know, I even use it as a body wash! It's convenient."

A BODY WASH?

You gotta be kidding me. 

I tried forcing him to use my organic clarifying shampoos but he would whine like a little child: "IT DOESN'T FOAM!" was his apologetic excuse when he literally threw down the drain $ 15 dollars in one single use.