LuxeBudgetnistas

Livin' luxe on a budget

Gifts For Her: Skin Care Options

Hello, beauties! Are you looking for some good skin care options for the women in your life?  I have a few brands to go through that would be great options for different skin types and at different price points.  Like fragrances, purchasing skincare can be a bit intimate.  I recommend only purchasing skincare items for people you absolutely know or if you know the giftees skincare concerns.  Keep reading for some gifts for her: skin care options.

Schique

Schique is a brand that was created in 2014 by Board-Certified Medical Doctor Jacqueline Schaffer.  Dr. Jacqueline Schaffer was inspired to create a cosmetic that was as good for you in on the inside and outside.  This was brought about after watching her mother battle skin cancer twice.  Her main focus was to create a line that is naturally based, clinically backed, and scientifically proven.

With the holidays, Schique has some great gift sets available.  One, in particular, would be the Best of Schique.  This gift set has the best the brand has to offer and a great set for someone starting a skincare regime or perfect for someone who already has a detailed routine, but would love to try different products.  I, for one, am a huge skincare junkie and love testing out new items and new brands.  Schique is a brand that I have never heard of before, but I love the story behind the brand and the fact that the products actually work.

There are so many ways to gift this product, I would suggest getting a cute Christmas themed basket, throw in some stuffing, set up the products with a hand band to keep the products out of the way, and a cute candle and wrap it in a cellophane bag.  It will make a beautiful addition to under the tree.  The best part is this kit is originally $108 but is on sale for $49.00.  That is more than half off, making this gift a great value and affordable.

Intuitive Restoration Renewing Mask

Radiant Glow Daily Face Scrub

Brilliantly Firm Firming Serum

Lumistone Hydration Face Moisturizer

 

Queen Helene

Queen Helene is a brand that has been around since 1930 curating products for professional and personal use.  This is a brand that has been committed to creating a full beauty line ranging from skin, hair, foot, and bath and at an affordable price.  Fun fact:  they still create items that have been apart of their original products.  I think it’s safe to say with 80 years of experience under their belt, Queen Helene is a leading brand in the beauty industry.

Some favorites of the brand are their masques and scrubs.  Their newest product is the Volcanic Ash Masque.  This product is great at pulling out impurities from deep within our skin to allow for refreshed skin.  It’s perfect for all skin types- but as a recommendation, if you have super dry skin, I would suggest using it about twice a week at most.

Another great option for this brand will be the Mint Julep Mask or scrub. Mint Julep is great for someone with oily skin and/or acne-prone skin.  The masque, in particular, is original to the brand that will help absorb oil and minimize pores.

Items like this are perfect as stocking stuffers, co-worker gifts, and are an affordable gift to bring to “A few of my favorite things parties”.  If you have never been to one of these parties, I would highly suggest attending or throwing one.  What you do is get a bunch of girlfriends together for a party.  Everyone will bring enough of their favorite items to share at the party.   These masques and scrubs are around $3.50 a pop.  Super affordable and great quality!

 

YES TO

This brand is really innovative with another great story.  This brand started out as a dream for two soccer players to create a superfood natural brand.  YesTo’s products are at least 95% all natural and can be found at over 27,000 stores.  YesTo has over ten different collections for all skin types, but I am happy to announce that I have used products from all the lines and have had no issues with any of the products.   I say this because I have super sensitive skin with lots of allergies.  I’ve been extremely lucky these past few years to not have any episodes.  A constant in my skincare routine is YesTo’s face wipes and face masks.

Speaking of face masks, YesTo has some great holiday sets out right now that can be found exclusively at Target and Walmart.  They have smaller gift sets that would make great stocking stuffers or bigger kits that would make great gifts for under the tree.

The two I picked out is the Ultimate Masking kit and the Super Detox Skin Care Kit.  The Ultimate Masking kit comes with Single Use Charcoal Paper Mask, Tomatoes Paper Mask, Cucumbers Mud Mask, Coconut Mud Mask and Charcoal Mud Mask.  The mask gift set can be located at any Target location for $9.99.

*Target currently has a special.  Purchase one-holiday beauty gift set and get another for 50% off.  Also, don’t forget to sign up for a Target debit to get an extra 5% off.  I, personally, would recommend purchasing the items online for free in-store pickup and use Ebates for extra cashback*

The Super Detox Skin Care kit can be located at Walmart for $9.99 as well. Unfortunately, I was not able to locate via the Walmart website.  If you are able to locate it, you are able to order online for free in-store pickup as well.

Any of these kits would make great gifts under the tree.  I would suggest purchasing the mask kit and breaking it up into smaller gift sets for co-workers or girlfriends.  You a separate the masks, add in a bath bomb, candle, and a favorite drink- Perfect Spa night gift!  We all know that me time is super important.

Clarisonic Mia2 Kit with IT Cosmetics

The Clarisonic is a cult favorite in the beauty world.  Clarisonic is a two-speed facial cleansing device that can be used for cleansing and exfoliate your skin.  There are different models and different attachments that you can purchase with it.  It Cosmetics has partnered with Clarisonic this holiday season to bring you an amazing holiday set.

Benefits:

  • Mia 2 provides patented sonic oscillation technology with two cleansing speeds: “Delicate” and “Universal”
  • Clarisonic cleanses 6X better than hands alone in just 60 seconds

Confidence Boost Holiday Gift Set: Mia 2 and IT Cosmetics includes:

  • Mia 2 cleansing device
  •  Cleanser (0.67 oz.)
  • IT Cosmetics Confidence in a Cream (0.5 oz.)
  • IT Cosmetics Confidence in an Eye Cream (0.17 oz.)

This kit has a $207 value for $169. It will make a great gift for your mom, sister, sister-in-law, or teen daughter.  It is never too early to start your kids with a good skincare routine. That’s why this kit would be perfect!

Stocking Stuffers

Do you need a quick, but good gift idea?  Something that says, Yes, I did put a little thought into your gift?  Then check out this gift set from Philosophy Purity Party Double Duty Cleansing Duo.  Purity is a great face cleanser for every skin type.  Also, micellar water has been all the rage, so it doesn’t surprise me that  Philosophy wanted to create one as well.

 Party Double Duty Cleansing Duo includes:

  • Purity Made Simple One-Step Cleanser (3.0 oz.)
  • Purity Made Simple Micellar Cleansing Water (3.4 oz.)

This is the perfect little gift for a secret Santa, co-worker gift exchange, or as a stocking stuffer.  It gives them the opportunity to try a great skincare brand.  Did I mention that this gift is only $12.00?  Super affordable, right?

Well, loves I hope you enjoyed my top skincare gift guide items.  Be on the lookout for some great skincare stocking stuffer ideas next and some gift guide ideas for him.

 

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Skincare Routine with DermaE Ft Dr. Lauren Boudreaux

Happy Wednesday and second day of blogmas!  Last month I partnered with Dr. Lauren Boudreaux on how to keep your skin healthy and hydrated during the winter.  I am happy to announce that we have teamed up again to share my current skincare Routine with Dermae Ft Dr. Lauren Boudreaux.

For those of you who have not heard of DermaE, they are one of the largest natural skin care brands in the United States. They make everything from skincare,  body care, hair care, and topicals.  All their products are natural, cruelty-free, gluten-free and GMO-free.

Morning Routine:

Depending on the day, my routine can be really involved or super lazy.  This goes for both my morning routine and nighttime routine, but we are going to go over the items that I use the most.  Please take into account that I wake up at 2:40 AM, so lately my routine hasn’t too elaborate at this time- very simple, but it works for me!  When I wake up in the morning, I start out my routine by using a face wipe to freshen up my skin. Now, it’s time for the important stuff.  The next few items that I am about to mention have made a huge difference in my skin.

  • Derma e Essential Radiance Toner– I love that this toner is toner alcohol-free and contains glycolic acid.  It tightens and smooths my skin while providing a nice luminous glow.
Dr. Lauren’s opinion:  

Essentials Radiance Toner: This is an awesome product formulated with glycolic acid, which gently exfoliates the skin and gives you that glow! I love that it is formulated with botanicals like rosehip oils to soothe the skin. Rosehip oil is full of vitamins and antioxidants to keep skin healthy!

**This product is also a squad favorite and one of the top 10 selling products**

Dr. Lauren’s opinion:  
Hydrating Face Oil: I love using essential oils on my skin! It moisturizes the skin and given an immediate glow. You can apply directly after cleansing or add a few drops to your foundation. Jojoba oil and argan oil have been proven in studies to keep skin healthy and radiant!
Illuminating Rosehip and Cranberry Oil: Both rosehip oil and cranberry seed oil are packed with antioxidants and fatty acids to hydrate the skin and fight off damage. I would apply this after cleansing 1-2 times a day.

I also use the Firming DMAE Eye Lift in the morning and night.  This eye cream has been a holy grail for the past year and a half.  It firms and tightens the skin around my eyes.  I strongly believe this is why I do not have a lot of wrinkles around my eye area.

**Tip:  Check out local Marshall’s and TJMaxx’s to find discounted Derma E products (old packaging).  If you find and purchase any, be sure to snap a pic of the product and receipt to get $5 off a future purchase.  Good thru the month of December**

Nighttime Routine:

My nighttime routine doesn’t differ too much from my morning routine.  The main differences are that I add a serum and switch up the moisturizer to something more hydrating.  Also, about once or twice a week I implement in Overnight Peel.  The overnight peel is great for renewing skin overnight.

  • Hydrating Night Cream– I first tried this product out two or three years ago, since then I have been hooked.  This is the one product that has been the one constant in my routine ever since and will continue to be.
Dr. Lauren’s opinion:
Hydrating night cream: This moisturizer is formulated with hyaluronic acid which is like topical filler! It draws water into the skin, minimizing fine lines and wrinkles. It’s formulated with antioxidants and vitamins which protect your skin.
Dr. Lauren Boudreaux’s Top Picks:

Dr. Lauren Boudreaux is a dermatologist located here in Portland, Oregon.  She also has a great Instagram with amazing beauty tips and tricks.  I love how passionate she is about everything skincare and dermatology with a little bit of Portland thrown in.  Click her picture to check out her IG and don’t forget to follow her!

Keep reading to see her top picks and how she would use the products!

1. After cleansing, apply the Vitamin C Concentrated serum. This helps to reduce pigmentation and protect your skin from UV damage and environmental pollutants. I use mine daily! Follow this up with a sunscreen in the AM and you are covered!
2. Another amazing product they offer is the Overnight peel with Alpha-hydroxy Acids. This will help to accelerate skin turn over, get rid of any damaged skin cells and leave your skin with a  gorgeous glow. Everyone is different in how often they can use these products. I would start with once a week and increase use as tolerated.
3. At night, I would recommend using their Anti-wrinkle Vitamin A Retinyl Palmate creme. This is a gentle retinoid which works to turn skin cells over, reduce pore size, help decrease breakouts, and stimulate collagen production! Basically, it does everything! Apply a moisturizer on top to reduce irritation.
4. Lastly, their Purifying 2- in 1-Charcoal mask sounds awesome. Charcoal will help neutralize toxins from the skin, plus it is formulated with Kimarine® Wakame which is a plant-based antioxidant to help protect against free radicals produced by pollution and UV radiation.  Check out her review of this product here.
Overall a great line, excellent price point, and quality ingredients!
I hope you all enjoyed learning from Dr. Lauren Boudreaux and I.  What’s your favorite Derma E products?

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What’s New With Rimmel London?

Happy December 1st and the first day of blogmas!  We wanted to start with a What’s New With Rimmel London?  Rimmel London has instantly become one of my all-time favorite drugstore brands.  They have some great quality items at really affordable prices.  Depending on which retailer you purchase your items from, you can definitely find a great deal.

Rimmel has come out with a lot of new products. Some have been out for awhile and are new to me and also some that are new to the collection.  I had the opportunity to test out quite a few products.  Read on to see which ones are my favorites and the ones that didn’t make the cut.

The Products:
My Likes:

-Let’s start with the color correcting and concealer/contour palettes.  I prefer the color correcting palette over the cream contour.  Don’t get me wrong, it applied very well, but I just prefer their powder contour palettes.

-The primer is great!  I love the creamy texture and the way it applies.  I believe it does help my makeup stay on longer and apply more smoothly.

-#InstaFlawless- My absolute favorite light wear foundation.  It feels like a tinted moisturizer but provides coverage like a bb cream.  Nothing thick, very natural looking and it provides an instant glow.

-Oh, my gloss- is another staple of mine!  I must carry it in my purse always.  It applies so smoothly, no surprise with an oil based gloss.  It also applies a little bit a color.  Nothing too dramatic, but perfect for a limited makeup look or as a lip topper.

-Stay Matte liquid lip colors are very pigments, apply great, and are very comfortable on the lips.  I didn’t find them to be overly drying.  They do take a little bit to set though, so keep that in mind.

-Match perfection loose powder is a great affordable option for the drugstore.  It is nowhere comparable to cult faves like the one from Laura Mercier, but it will do the job on a budget.  I would suggest using more as a light dusting over the face to set rather than baking.

The Dislikes:

-Shake it fresh mascara is a very cool concept and mimics a martini shaker.  I could probably just sit there and play with it all day, lol.  If you are a fan of really mascara’s this one is for you.  It did great at lengthening, but I didn’t see much for volume and separation due to the formula being so wet.  Overall, it’s okay, not my favorite.  It does the job and is affordable.

-Brow this way gel with argan oil works pretty well as a topper.  One thing I do not like is the brush, it’s kind of rough and big for an eyebrow area.  I think if they tweaked the design of the brush, it would be a great product.

Alright, guys!  I hope you enjoyed this review and what’s new with Rimmel London.  Also, let me put it out there that although some of the products did not work for me, it doesn’t they might work for you.  I’d love to hear about your experience.  Have you tried any of these products out?  If so, which ones were your favorite?

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Marshall’s Beauty Haul

Happy Thursday, beauties!  We are back after a few crazy weeks of being gone.  I know, I know- we seriously have been struggling this year with the blog, but  Tia and I are trying to change and be more consistent with our posts.  If you have not seen our Facebook book or Instagram posts, we will be participating in blogmas.  We are aiming for five posts minimum a week!  We are starting off blogmas a little early with a Marshall’s beauty haul.  Read on to see what I found!

 Ole Henriksen: Truth on the glow cleansing cloths

These face wipes are $15.00 for a 30 count on the Ole Henriksen website.  I found these for $3.99.  My Marshall’s also had the green wipes, which are from the balance collection- perfect for oily, combination skin.

Even though I purchased these a month ago, my Marshall’s has still been stocking them.  Which I am super happy about.  You’re getting a high-end brand at an affordable price.

 

 

 

 

 

Marc Jacobs: Style Icon 3 Palette- The Shoe Gazer

At $42.00 bucks a pop, this palette was a steal for $12.99.  The palette comes with 0.14 oz. of product.  I, personally, would not have paid the full $42.00 full price- but this is a very luxe brand.  It comes in a sleek black compact and a dust bag to cover it.  Inside the dust bag, I found one of those cheap applicators.  In this area they could have splurged or left it out all together.

I was able to find a few different color combo’s, but I only picked up one.  I picked ‘The Shoe Gazer’ because it was the most wearable for me with a little pop of color.

Skinfix Hand Relief Cream

Skinfix is a Canada based skincare company.  I have tried quite a few products from them and have loved everything.  The hand relief cream retails for $15.99, but I was able to purchase these for $3.99 each.  However, I would pay the $15.99 price on this particular product, because they are that good.

The hand relief creams are free of fragrance, urea, soy, gluten, parabens & phthalates.

Check your Marshall’s!  I’ve been seeing more items from Skinfix.

 

Cargo Getaway Palette

I was able to locate the a few of these Cargo palettes.  Originally $34.00, but I picked up two of them for $5.99.  Yes, you read that correctly!  Great price, right?  You can create a variety of looks, ranging from an everyday neutral or a smokey glam for a night out on the town.

Cargo is an under rated brand in my opinion.  I usually don’t hear much about them, but they make some pretty great eye shadows and their swimmables line is great!  You can still locate this palette at certain Marshall’s store, but the pricing has changed to $9.99.

 

Well, I hope you all have enjoyed this Marshall’s haul.  If you would like full reviews on any of the products, let us know via the contact  form below.  Also, with tomorrow being December 1st, it’s the first day of blogmas for us.  So be on the look out and sign up for our newsletter!

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Party Pooper: White Elephant or Host Gift Idea

Poo-Pourri is that perfect gift this holiday. It may seem like the unconventional choice but, let’s really think about this. It’s holiday season, PARTY TIME! We all get invited to those wonderful holiday parties with friends or family, it’s last minute, “Oh crap!” you forgot to get the hostess a gift. What do you bring them, another bottle of wine? No time to bake cookies. I know! How about a bottle of Poo-Pourri!

It’s the perfect hostess gift. How many of you have friends who feel weird about going potty outside of their home? Imagine if you could give them a gift that could help them feel more comfortable going while they’re at your place. The perfect hostess is always concerned that everyone feels welcome and comfy in her home. What better way to help her than to give her a solution to a problem she probably hasn’t even thought about. Poo-Pourri is all natural and free of alcohol, parabens, aerosol, phthalates, formaldehyde, and synthetic fragrance.

 

How does it work? Before you go just spray the water into the toilet bowl with your Poo-Pourri. The mist will create a thin film on top of the water, this acts as a barrier for scents thus, trapping the smell under the film. This means you are able to prevent a smell rather than trying to cover it up, which is why I believe this product works so well!

Poo-Pourri is a company that is not only worried about your nose. They are a health-conscious company, they’re all natural product is safe for you to breathe in, as well as safe for the water supply.

 

This makes this the perfect gift for just about anyone. Even the most health aware organic crazy moms will like this gift because they know it’s safe for their family and home. It may sound strange but this stuff really works, test it out for yourself! It comes in a variety of scents so there’s something for everyone, also travel sizes! There are even cute gift sets for those party poopers!

Rootie the Rootlifter Review

Hi, loves! Long time no see, right? My apologies for being gone the past couple weeks. I was super busy being a taekwondo mom and basically living at the dojang. My youngest daughter, Jasmyn, was preparing for her final tournament for 2017. Hard work and dedication paid off, my baby won first place! Now that all that is out of the way, we are back to business and gearing up for our holiday season. But first, today I wanted to share a review on Rootie the Rootlifter.

The Deets

Rootie the Rootlifter was made by Voloom, the world’s first hair volumizing hair tool.  Voloom wanted to provide a way to get volume without having to tease your hair or use tons of product.

The Rootie does look like a straightener but does not function like one.  It mimics a crimper in a way to lift the under a layer of your hair and provide instant volume.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s easy to use with a power button and a way to turn up the heat or to turn it down.  With a temperature of 300 degrees, I would suggest at least going down to 200 degrees, while using a heat protectant.  I wanted to show how well this product worked, so I utilized my youngest daughters, straight/fine hair.

The picture on the left is a natural way her hair lays and on the right-it shows using the root lifter adding a little bit of volume to the top of her head.  I know it isn’t a huge difference, but it is subjective to how much volume you would want.  Keep in mind, I was simply testing this hot tool out and just wanted a basic idea of how the product used/worked.

The pictures above show how I used the product.  I sectioned off her hair to “crimp/volumnize.  Starting at the root, I crimped the area right at the root and moved little ways down to create a nice underlayer.    I can’t believe how well it worked.  My two girls were like, “whoa”.   I can’t wait to attempt some volumized ponytails with the Rootie because it said it would work well.  I hope you all enjoyed this review on the Rootie.  If you pick one up, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments down below.

**Received this product for free for review purposes.  All opinions are my won**