Mixology Monday

I know that all of you devoted readers are expecting a Makeover Monday today, but what can I say?  It just didn't happen.  Between weekend community activities, baseball season, working most evenings, and the school year wrapping up, my makeover calendar has gotten off-track.  But never fear, today's Mixology Monday is very interesting.  

I love how Eminence encourages us to "mix it up" and make their products even more amazing by blending them together to create custom blends.

For today's Mixology Monday, we've got another amazing spicy combination for you to try! This mix is an intense detoxification, brightening and revitalizing treatment for normal to oily skin types.

1. Use 1 part of the Lime Stimulating Masque -

2. Mix 1 part of our Sour Cherry Masque -

3. Finish with the Sour Cherry Whip Moisturizer -

Benefits:

Nettle: stimulating circulation and oxygen to the skin’s surface
Lime & lemon: impart rich antioxidants; source of vitamin C
Thermal Water: source of minerals; softens and nourishes the skin
Sour Cherry: high in Vitamin C and bioflavonoids for youthful looking skin
Honey: moisturizing

Enjoy!


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Mother's Day is right around the corner.  Pamper the mothers in your life with a gift certificate to Riversong Spa.

Keratosis Pilaris

I have several clients who have asked me about those small, red bumps that are often found on arms and legs, sometimes even on peoples' faces.  Here's what Eminence Organics has to say about keratosis pilaris:


Keratosis Pilaris is a formation of small rash-like, red bumps commonly found on the back of the arms, thighs, buttocks. Keratosis Pilaris is caused by the skin's inability to shed dead skin cells and in some cases hair follicles over produce keratin, a milky white protein forming the bumps on the skin.

By treating your skin to organic alternatives by Éminence with this delicious treatment:

1. Cleanse the area with our Blueberry Soy Exfoliating Cleanser -It contains naturally occurring Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA) to exfoliate and unclog pores.

2. Mix a nickle size amount of the Strawberry Rhubarb Dermafoliant - with water (or mix with the cleanser). The mixture of lactic acid, rice granules, oats, and thermal mud acts as a gentle exfoliant to remove surface dirt, impurities, and dead skin cells.

Your skin will feel and look smoother than it ever has before!

What Éminence anti-aging products work best for you?

Description: Daily Use Rice Based Exfoliant

Skin Type: All skin types

Key Ingredients:

• Strawberry: cleanser and astringent; contains Salicylic acid that gently exfoliates and removes impurities to brighten skin and shrink pores
• Rhubarb: astringent and disinfectant; healing and a good source of ascorbic acid and Vitamin C
• Rice: gentle exfoliant; buffs and smoothes skin texture
• Chickpea Flour: tightens pores; absorbs excess oil and helps to buff and smooth skin
• Thermal Mud: mineral-rich, volcanic origin mud; has deep cleansing, exfoliating, moisturizing and regenerative properties
• Oats: moisturizing and softening; help absorb and remove surface dirt and impurities while providing very gentle exfoliation
• Biocomplex™: an antioxidant booster of Vitamins A, Ester C, E, Coenzyme Q10, Alpha Lipoic Acid; delivers a balanced mix of essential antioxidants and effectively combats free radicals

 

I have featured information on the strawberry dermafoliant before, but this information was too good not to share.  It is and continues to be one of my favorite products!

Whole Living magazine features Eminence

So I know that Eminence Organic Skin Care is a great product, but it's so nice to see other people catching onto that.  I love Whole Living magazine, and it's exciting when I see Eminence products featured on their pages.  Check it out:

Lime Cleaning Masque featured in Whole Living

Many of you haven't tried the lime cleansing masque, but it's a great 2-in-1 product-cleanser & masque in one easy step.  My husband has been using it for over a year, and he loves it.  He keeps it in the shower, puts it on when he first gets in, leaves it on while he showers, and then washes it off when he's finished.  Some of the ingredients include: green tea, white tea, rooibos, colloidal silver, biocomplex, and bamboo extract.  

Cornflower Recovery Serum featured in Whole Living

Cornflower Recovery Serum is a new product.  I received it as a gift from my product trainer, and I LOVE it!!  With chamomile, clary sage, seabuckthorn, and cornflower, it smells amazing and leaves my skin feeling absolutely silky smooth.

Check out these  great magazine features, and come into Riversong Spa to try them for yourself!

Makeover Monday: a video tutorial

I have been wanting to do my own makeup video tutorial forever.  I didn't have any other makeovers lined up for today, so I decided to do my own on Sunday afternoon since it was a laid-back day, and I had time to do it.  Check it out, and please give me some feedback.  Do you like the video tutorials?  Do you want me to do my own from time-to-time?  Do you prefer when I do the photo-heavy makeovers on other people.  Let me know & enjoy!

Riversong Spa is Going Green!

In honor of Earth Day, I thought I'd do a post that told about some small things I'm trying to do around here that are green-friendly.  For starters, I started saving all of the natural cellulose sponges that I use during facials and treatments because they are compostable, and I happen to have a compost bin at home.  

Also, I have always made a point of not giving customers water bottles, because they just end up in the garbage, which ultimately ends up in landfills, etc.  So, I've always just used glasses. However, I did purchase a Keurig to add a little bit of comfort and coziness to my spa ambience.  Green tea sounds warm and delightful, right?  But, if you've ever had a treatment at my shop, it's only one room, which doesn't necessarily lend itself to lingering while someone else has an appoinment.  So, hence the need for a to-go hot cup.  I searched high and low until I found something that was also compostable.  

Yes, I know, not really a huge earth-friendly decision.  My point is, though, that it's something.  A small step in the general direction of good intentions toward the earth, using materials that will decompose quickly, and are earth-friendly.  The whole point of this message isn't that what I'm doing is so great, it's that I try to be mindful of what I am doing.  I try to be mindful of what I eat.  I try to eat as much organic food as possible because I believe that the farming practices are more sustainable and environment friendly, not to mention pesticide-free.  I use organic health & beauty products.  In small ways, I try to make mindful decisions about my lifestyle and how my choices affect the future.  And, if you're ever at my house and I don't have any paper towels or napkins, now you'll know why.

Happy Earth Day!

Mixology

I think everyone probably knows how much I love Eminence.  I have basically staked my business on the fact that I think Eminence can be life-changing.  For anyone who has ever had bad skin that embarrassed them, you know what I'm talking about.  Many of you know that I used to have pretty bad cystic acne, and I never had good skin, and I have tried more products than I care to mention.  However, from the very first time that an esthetician used Eminence on my skin, I could tell the difference immediately.

This company is so great to partner with.  They believe in continuing education and training, so much that they send a company product trainer down every quarter to my shop to give me the latest product training on the new lines.  So last week, Patty, my trainer drove from northern Virginia all of the way to Weston for our afternoon training session, and then back to VA.    

Now I have training on the new Age Corrective collection 

and the new Beyond Organic products, Cornflower Recovery Serum & Herbal Recovery Oil

All I can say is that they're absolutely amazing, and my skin is addicted to all of them.  I hope that you'll make an appointment to come in and try them.

As for the blog post title, Mixology, Eminence products are meant to be mixed and blending, kind of like when you're cooking.  I feel like I have my own apothecary in my backbar of products, and I can "whip up" just the right blend of products for your skin.

My current favorite combination is a treatment peel mixing the radish seed refining peel with the jalapeno stimulating booster.  The after-effects of this combination are amazing.  It's the perfect blend of stimulating, tightening, and overall skin refinement.  I can't wait for you to try it!

Makover Monday: A Tutorial

Today's Makeover Monday features Sharon Minigh, a technology integration specialist, and one of my best friends.  She works full-time and is a mom to a small toddler (who is adorable, by the way).  She can pull off a lot of looks, but today we went for a winged eye/red lip combination.  At the gloMinerals training I just attended, Kate McCarthy showed us this look as an evening/going-out look, and as an alternative to a smoky eye.

Today, I am going to show some step-by-step photos, so this post will be photo-heavy.

Her before...

I started out using some wild plum eye cream, citrus lip balm, and rosehip whip moisturizer.

Next, I used glo's eye primer,which is great to help shadow stay on all day, and golden undereye concealer.  A new tip that I learned is to apply these two products with the eye texture brush.  It goes on so light, it's an awesome way to gently apply and blend these creamy products.

 Here she is with just undereye concealer...

Golden medium is the most popular color of glo Pressed Base foundation, and it worked great with Sharon's color & skin tone.  Here she is with her undereye concealer, eye primer, and foundation...

Used the eye base brush to put diamond eyeshadow (shimmering white) all over the eyelid-you want to sort of press the shadow into the lid and then blend it across with the brush.

Used the creased brush to apply kona shadow (a dark, matte brown) into the crease of the eyelid, then blended is slightly into the bottom vee/outside corner of the lashline.

Started working on the winged black eyeliner.  Here's where patience is a virtue.  I started on the outside corner of the eye and used the black precision eyeliner pencil.  I tried to keep the line as thin as possible.  Then, I drew a thin line straight out from where the top of the eye and the bottom of the eye meet.  I continued working back across the eye to the inner corner of the top lid.  

Go back to the "winged-out" part and shape your curve up.  Again, patience is a good thing, because you may have to use a Q-tip with some eye makeup remove to help sculpt this winged look.  You also want to look at yourself square in the mirror and make sure that they are even.

For the undereye liner, try to line right up to the edge of the water line of the lash and actually blend a little up and onto the water line (the part of the inner rim of your eye)

I used nectar blush, a light shimmery neutral to keep the cheeks muted.  You'll see, the focus is definitely on the eyes and the lips.

 the look is starting to come together...

For the lips, I lined and filled them in with the lip filler pencil.  Then I used vixen lipstick, a rich, ruby red...

and topped it off with poppy lipgloss, a sheer, bright true red gloss.

Add some coats of mascara and Voila!  A very glammed up, superstar mommy!

For some special touches, I did do some highlighting/illuminating at the top of the cheekbones and again under the eyebrows/on the browbone.

All I can say is, "Wow!  She looks so awesome!"  She can totally pull off this look.  And, I had so much fun doing it.  Don't be surprised (or frightened) if you see me trying to pull this look off in the middle of the day and in front of small children ;)

Thank you Sharon!

April Product Spotlight

This month I am featuring a new-to-me product from gloMinerals called Eye Revitalize.  This product caught my attention when I read about the ingredients, and now that I understand more about what they do, I had to try it for myself.  It retails for $22.50.

description:

Cucumber, squalane and hyaluronic acid in glominerals eye revitalize cool and hydrate the skin while aloe and linoleic acids work to condition. Goldenseal and juniper offer a temporarily "lift" to the delicate eye areas, while light-reflecting minerals help diminish the appearance of fine lines and brighten the eyes. 

This colorless cream formulation can be worn by all skin tones.

expert tips & techniques:

Use Eye Revitalize under concealer to revitalize tired eyes prior to makeup application. Carry the tube in your purse to dab on eyes that need a little 'wake up'. For the brightest of eyes, use this under the Brightener Highlight Concealer.

Personal Review:  I love the cooling effect that this product has on my tired eyes.  I have been carrying it in my purse the last couple of weeks, and when I work long days, strain my eyes, and don't even have time to take a lunch break, I reach for this as a quick pick-me up. It definitely helps that dry, lined, dehydrated undereye problem that I have.

Stop by Riversong Spa and put Eye Revitalize to the test.

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And, don't forget to check out Riversong Spa's page on facebook.  I am currently trying to get more "likes" on my facebook page.  When I have 500 likes, I am going to give away multiple prizes totaling more than $500!!

Makeover Monday

Today's Makeover Monday features Stacy Jacobson, news reporter & anchor from WBOY Channel 12.  In today's photos, we decided to depart from the great bright, spring colors we had tried and do a dark, mysterious smoky eye with a nude lip, taking a cue from Kim Kardashian-who may not win an Academy Award any time soon, but who certainly has a great makeup artist and killer bone structure ;)

Here is Stacy's before...

And here are her afters...

I think this is a great alternative to her professional look, and it's perfect for going out!

Thank you, Stacy.  There are still many looks we can try out!