Mineral makeup is all the rage right now, it’s beautiful flawless and breathable. That’s the real key, mineral makeup is light weight and doesn’t clog your pores. I recently discovered Providence & Grace, a shop on Etsy selling truly affordable mineral makeup and I couldn’t wait to take some for a test run.

I was sent several of their beautiful eye shadows to try out, they all come in adorable 5g makeup pots ($3.99 per color in their shop). Now 5grams might not seem like very much to you, but with this beautiful eyeshadow you don’t need as much as typical makeup – a little goes a long way. I couldn’t believe how saturated the color was, you could make it as intense as you want or blend it out for a softer look for everyday.

Application of mineral makeup is so easy, I would recommend using some decent makeup brushes to have the ability to blend to your hearts content. However, if you’re in a rush you can even apply it with your finger tips. I love that this eyeshadow doesn’t get that “creasy” look after a few hours, it stays beautifully and has me convinced that mineral makeup is for me. Best of all, you really don’t feel any heaviness while wearing it – I love that aspect with the Providence & Grace shadows.

You can try out several colors and other makeup options in their Etsy store for such great pricing. I highly recommend snagging some pretty shadows to treat yourself with no guilt whatsoever. I’m already making my list of colors I want to try next including: Baby, Polished Silver, Wink and Moor. For gorgeous and affordable cosmetics try Providence and Grace, I couldn’t believe my eyes! – Daria

*** Giveaway! Providence And Grace is kindly giving away one $25 Gift Certificate to their shop!***

Here’s how to enter. You can do as many of these as you’d like. Each one is worth one entry into our giveaway; please leave a comment for each one you do:

• Visit Providence & Grace on Etsy and leave a comment telling us what product you’d most like to try.
• LIKE Providence & Grace on Facebook and leave a comment that Boutique Cafe sent you, they would Love to hear your fave eyeshadow color too!
• Tweet about this giveaway (use @BoutiqueCafe in your tweet) and leave a comment with the URL of your tweet.
• Update your status on Facebook with a link to this giveaway and leave a comment telling us you did.

Include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: March 1, 2011 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

And yes, I totally intended for that to rhyme; I like exercising my poetic muscles once in a while less they atrophy like my long-term memory. But in all seriousness, how green is your morning shower routine? ecoTOOLS, a popular collection of eco-friendly cosmetic brushes, bath, brow and nail accessories, recently launched a new line of  bath and body products that is 98% from nature, paraben free, phthalate free and cruelty free. Can you say that about your body wash and body lotion?

I only recently discovered ecoTOOLS and now that I’ve sampled their product line I’m anxious to learn more—and try more. The company sent me their new Green, Clean, Go travel sampler kit to review on the Daily Dish, which includes the Clean Skin, Cleaner World body wash, Blooming Planet body mist, Sustainable Softness body lotion, One Hand Helps the Other hand cream and a bamboo nail brush. How cool is that—even the product names are earth friendly!

Because the ecoTOOLS Green, Clean, Go travel kit arrived post cruise I didn’t try everything in the kit but I did give the hand cream and body mist a thorough testing (and everything else a thorough smelling). Every product had a different smell and every smell was fantastic. My favorite is the Blooming Planet body mist. I first spritzed some in the air just to make sure an eco-friendly mist was also scent friendly and my first thought was, “Wow! That smells simply fabulous!” I immediately spritzed it all over and found myself sniffing my arms throughout the day, the scent was that yummy. And since that first use I’ve been alternating it with my favorite perfume, which is saying a lot because I love my So Pink from GAP! Just thinking about the ecoTOOLS’ Blooming Planet body mist makes me want to run upstairs and spritz a bit more on my body—YUM!

I was also impressed with their One Hand Helps the Other hand cream because it absorbed quickly, wasn’t greasy and had a fresh, clean scent as well. It seemed to moisturize really well, as I didn’t find myself needing to reapply any time soon…even in this dry Utah weather. I kind of wish they also had shampoo and conditioner; my hair routine could use some greening up for sure.

Of course there are the aforementioned cosmetic brushes and accessories. My makeup brushes are far from green (and far from new) and it’s about time to recycle them with some new ones from ecoTOOLS along with a new foot file. My current one would have you running scared if you saw it! And the kits from ecoTOOLS would make great stocking stuffers or teacher gifts this holiday season. Along with the travel one they have All Four the Cause hand & foot care set and Be Green, Live Clean body care set. Green up your morning routine with ecoTOOLS’ new line of bath and body products!—Emily

*** Giveaway ecoTOOLS is giving away one of their fabulous Green, Clean, Go travel kits! Here’s how to enter. You can do as many of these as you’d like. Each one is worth one entry into our giveaway (please leave a separate comment for each):

• Visit ecoTOOLS online and leave a comment telling us your favorite product.


• Become a fan of ecoTOOLS on Facebook and leave a comment telling us you joined.


• Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL of your tweet.


• Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL to your blog post.

Include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: October 27, 2009 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

• Congratulations to Allison, the winner of the ecoTOOLS giveaway! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the review and add a comment. Keep reading the Daily Dish for your chance to participate in more giveaways!

If I told you the lip gloss assortment I carry around in my purse isn’t my full collection, you’d probably think I have a problem and you’d probably put me in some sort of 12-step program. I love a good lip gloss and I’ll keep loving it long after even my most favorite lipstick loses its color. (Does lipstick ever lose its color? My grandma owned lipsticks that were eons old, but of the sake of this review let’s say they do eventually fade…)

My enjoyment of all things gloss, and yes, the occasional lipstick, came in handy when Avon wanted to send me samples from their new Summer Lip Sensations. The new collection includes Ultra Color Rich Extra Plump Lipstick; SpectraColor Lipstick (I’d call this one a lip gloss); and Pro 3-in-1 Lip Wand (a combo liner, lipstick and gloss). I tested all three and I have to say my favorite was the Pro 3-in-1 Lip Wand, but let me tell you briefly about all three.

The Ultra Color Rich Extra Plump Lipstick instantly plumps and like most plumping glosses and lipsticks, makes your lips feel tingly all over. This lipstick promises not to feather and it has a center core “packed with plumping power & hydrating moisturizers.” The only reason this is at the bottom of the list is because I don’t use lipstick that often…and the color they sent was so not for me! Of course, I’m not holding that against Avon, but it is hard to see past a pink that makes me look paler than my skin in February!

The SpectraColor Gloss Lipstick actually lets you customize your color. It contains two coordinating colors, a light and dark version. At the bottom you’ll find a dial where you can go from light to dark with a simple turn-and-click action. You actually get seven lip colors and sheer-to-medium coverage in one lipstick. While I totally love the concept—I’m all about more bang for your buck—I didn’t love the texture of the gloss or its staying power. It didn’t last as long as other lip glosses and again, the color they sent was way too pink for my taste. It was reminiscent of sixth grade: the pinker the lipstick the better.

I am a girl who’s all about multitasking and that’s why I love the Pro 3-in-1 Lip Wand the best. You get your liner, lipstick and gloss in one shot! Avon has already put together ten Lip Wands with pre-coordinated shades, which helps take out some of the guesswork for those of you still using liner three shades darker than your lipstick. Avon didn’t know I was more of a Vamp than a Rose, so I had to look past the color, but overall this was my favorite of the three. It has gloss and it has multitasking skills…need I say more?—Emily

“Red Lips. Green Conscience.” This is the mantra of PlantLove, the new cosmetics line from CARGO. More impressive than the tagline is PlantLove’s commitment to the environment:

[PlantLove is] the only prestige color brand to carry the globally recognized ECOCERT™ natural designation for its comprehensive environmental commitment … From natural and organic ingredients, to its environmentally award-winning compostable packaging, Cargo PlantLove lets us go green glamorously.

This ECOCERT designation means that all of PlantLove’s products, processes and packaging meet the strictest standards for natural, organic and environmentally friendly product. Talk about impressive! I thought mineral makeup was pretty cool since it’s all natural but PlantLove takes “all natural” to a whole new level! The line consists of foundation, blush, bronzer, lipstick, lip gloss, eyeshadow, eyeliner and luminzer.

CARGO sent me samples of PlantLove’s loose powder foundation, blush, lipstick and lip gloss. I have yet to figure out the whole loose-powder foundation thing and the color was a bit off, so I didn’t really test that product thoroughly, but I did give the blush a good run for its money and found it went on smoothly and evenly and blended nicely with my skin tone. It also wore really well and had more of a natural look than your typical store-bought blush. The lipstick was a great product too, and apparently many celebrities have designed their own colors for the line. (You can view the celebs and colors here.) Plus because the lipstick’s case is made from corn it’s compostable: “This revolutionary bio-plastic is not only made from a renewable resource, it’s also greenhouse-gas-neutral, which helps us fight global warming.”

I didn’t love the lip gloss, but I’m sort of a lip gloss junkie and prefer the less “natural” brands. PlantLove’s gloss didn’t go on as smoothly as I would’ve liked, nor did it have the coverage and staying power of my favorite glosses. Overall I am impressed that an eco-friendly, all natural, organic line of makeup has such an impressive collection of products and colors and wears as well as it does. I’m not sure I would restock my entire makeup bag with PlantLove as the prices are more along the lines of M.A.C. makeup, which is a treat for me rather than a necessity. But if you’re looking to go green when it comes to cosmetics, PlantLove is definitely worth a try! You can find PlantLove online at Sephora.com.—Emily

And now you can reap those benefits with wet n wild’s new cosmetics line, Beauty Benefits. This new line of skin healthy, dermatologist-tested makeup offers its wearers more than just a pretty face.

The benefits of Beauty Benefits include a lotus marine mineral complex, which offers powerful anti-aging properties with antioxidants two times stronger than green tea. This complex brightens the complexion, increases hydration by 25% and gives powerful age prevention. Beauty Benefits makeup also includes golden seaweed, which protects DNA against UV-induced damage, marine fennel, which improves skin’s radiance and restores its hydrolipidic barrier, and minerals, which provide smooth, flawless coverage and contain natural, mineral sunscreens. All those benefits are contained in sleek, black packaging.

I’ve been testing a few items from the Beauty Benefits line: Beauty Brilliance Illuminating Powder and Bronzing Powder, Sheer Luster Lip Gloss and Beyond Nourishing Mascara. I am definitely hooked on the lip gloss for its shimmery, beautiful non-sticky color and its surprising staying power, and I love how the illuminating powder highlights my cheeks (I have yet to try it on my eyes and decollete) while the bronzing powder makes it look like I returned from Kauai yesterday rather than a month ago (has it really been that long?). I’m not a big fan of the mascara as it just didn’t thicken and volumize like I would’ve liked. Plus it started to flake by the end of the day.

With holiday parties around the corner it will be easy to put your best face forward with wet n wild’s Beauty Benefits. Plus you’ll get powerful, skin healthy benefits without a powerful, budget-breaking price—great news for the holidays!—Emily

Today’s Daily Dish will wrap up a three-part series featuring Dr.Hauschka Skin Care. We’ve reviewed their Holistic Home Remedies (we’re still loving our Mercurialis Wound Rescue) and skin and sun care products (the sunscreen kept my kids sunburn free on Saturday; too bad my brother-in-law didn’t use it!) and today I am excited to share with you Dr.Hauschka’s line of Decorative Cosmetics and hair care products. Why? Because they’re natural, nurturing and better at enhancing outward beauty because they’re better for your skin than what you’re currently using.

Dr.Hauschka’s all-natural Decorative Cosmetics are made from pure mineral pigments and select nurturing botanicals. For example, their eyeshadow contains silk and talc powder to help it glide on smoothly and evenly and extracts of anthyllis and black tea to nurture delicate, sensitive skin. I don’t think I can even pronounce half of the ingredients on the back of my drugstore (and even Nordstrom-counter) eyeshadows and I’m pretty sure they don’t nurture the delicate skin around my eye.

Though I’m not a big fan of loose powder, the translucent face powder did an amazing job of keeping my makeup looking fresh all day with minimal shine, and even that little bit of shine seemed a healthier shine (I may have even looked radiant!) than what I usually see at the end of the day! I didn’t give the lipstick a thorough test as I’m not a big lipstick fan but the quick run I gave it tempted me to switch from gloss to lipstick. Perhaps it was the shea butter and carrot extract or rose and jojoba waxes, or maybe it was simply the colors taken straight from nature. Read the rest of this entry »

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