Amarte Skin Care: East Meets West Meets My Face

Shortly after Marie Claire declared that Korea is the new France of skin care, Seoul became the new Paris and Asian BB creams took part in a hostile takeover of tinted moisturizer. The next step in Korean skin care domination comes in a very pretty package. Amarte Skin Care launched in the USA late last year, bringing skin care advances from Korea by way of California. The Korean brand mirrors the literal East meets West marriage of American dermatologist Dr. Kraffert (and founder of DermStore.com) and his Korean wife, combining Korean skin care traditions with innovative science. Of course I have a few Amarte favorites from the line that you will want to check out. 

The range of Amarte skin care products are meant to meet your face cleansing, exfoliating, and hydrating needs while appealing to your feminine sensibilities with the pretty pale pink packaging. I'm usually not a pink type, but the packaging has an overall romantic, luxe feel. My personal favorites from the line have emerged via natural selection, aka they've found their way into my daily routine in the process of testing them out.  The Eyeconic eye cream and Amarte's BB cream came into my life this winter and they are definitely sticking around for the long haul.  

The Amarte Eyeconic eye cream has quite the interesting shape. Don't be fooled like I was, you can still apply it like any old eye cream with your fingers gently patting it under your eyes. The delivery of the eye cream through the long white tube is meant to provide the perfect amount of eye cream every time, not as an applicator. Eyeconic cream is made with 3.5% retinol which is delivered in nano-capsules, allowing higher levels of retinol to be incorporated into the eye cream. For someone who has been struggling with retinol-anxiety, making the switch to Eyeconic has been my (mildly addictive form of) Xanax. 

And then there is the Amarte BB cream. Ahh, a good BB cream. What a thing of beauty. I've been a BB convert for awhile now and before Amarte I'd been using Too Face and Dr. Jart BB cream. With a creamier consistency than most BB creams, a bit more color coverage and its intense hydration, the Amarte BB is easily making the transition into warmer weather with me since it has SPF 36 and looks glowy and natural on my skin, even covering up some redness I have.

All of the Amarte products are worth giving a go, especially with the Satisfaction Guaranteed policy on their website. A few of the other Amarte products you may want to check out are the Daily Wonder Cleansing Foam, the Daily ExfoliPowder, and the Wonder Cream. If you need a new face wash, a gentle exfoliating wash, or a retinol-packed face cream these are your gals. For now they are available only online, but will be in luxury retail stores soon. 

This product review features my opinion of products that were given as press samples. 

Bipolar Beauty: Millennial women's beauty spending habits



Photo from Eclectic Books and Movies.
Bradley Cooper wants to know why you spend so much money. He thinks you're pretty... without any makeup on. 



What's the most you've ever spent at once on beauty products? Buying an entire makeup collection was always a "when I grow up" fantasy I had when passing department store counters. One day I'd be rich enough, I thought. Someone had to be if they had all of these products lined up and ready to be wrapped all pretty and taken home in even prettier shopping bags. By the time I had a job and realized I would be using my entire budget on concealer and a lipstick color I'd rarely end up wearing, I went back to stealing Avon samples from my mom for awhile. 

Apparently the eyes being bigger than the budget phenomena is not unique to me. According to a presentation by Self Magazine's Vice President Laura McEwen at the Fashion Group International Beauty Symposium, millennial women spend an average of $748 per month on beauty products even though 94% of them are in debt. "Bipolar" is the term used to describe the mismatch between actual earning and spending, especially on the luxury items that millennial's are gaining a rep for handing over their credit cards for in droves. I'd prefer to use the term delusional because people misuse the term bipolar a lot. We can call it the Silver Linings Playbook effect, since both main characters were somewhat inaccurately diagnosed in the film as bipolar. Whatever you call it, these statistics are astounding.

Sure, I spent my lunch break today on MAC's website trying (and succeeding) to buy RiRi Woo, Rihanna's deep red matte lipstick color that sold out in four hours. I'm guilty of being caught up in the beauty world hype. It's sort of my job (hobby?) to be. But I think it is also my job to remind people to think about the $40 billion dollar beauty industry for the business it is, and not get too caught up in the "bright lips, big pretty" aspect of it. 

So now I'm going to feel a little bit like a hypocrite when I do my next beauty product review. Am I a part of the delusion that the beauty industry seems to have created for my generation? Here are my closing thoughts on the matter: Think twice about where that pressure you feel to buy comes from. The desire to fit in? Or the gentler version of that, to "be on trend"? Or do you genuinely want and need it? If you have to charge it and know you can't pay it off by the end of the month, get savvy and hunt down some free samples. I can see if my mom has any extras. Brains first, beauty second, fellow bipolar beauties.  

The important step you've been missing in your manicure

Bright pinks, sky blues, crisp greens, and natural nudes are just a few of the nail colors that are exciting me this spring. They look great in the bottle, but something has been bothering me for as long as I've been painting my nails. How do so many women (and a few men out there too) seem to always keep their nails so perfect? I have to literally plan my life around getting a manicure, and even then it seems to chip within a few days. Here's my checklist before embarking on a new manicure:

• Have you done the dishes recently? 
• Have you cleaned the bathroom?
• Do you have any difficult packages to open? 
• Any stickers to peel off of new clothing? 

Once those hurdles are cleared, I'll grant myself permission to attempt the illusive at home manicure or head to a nail salon. It seems I've been skipping an even more important part of my manicure -- the pre-mani prep. It's not as complicated as it seems, but actually has made my nails look a whole lot healthier. So what is involved in this process? 

There's actually just one step: the do everything, wonder product known as Aquaphor. Diaper rash? Check. Dry lips? Double check. Dry skin? Sunburn? Seriously Aquaphor treats it all. Aquaphor is one of those products I always keep in stock.

I recommend doing the whole nail polish removal process the night before so that your nails have a little break overnight from polishes, removers and other random things you're putting on them. Hey whatever you're into folks, no judgement here.

Before going to bed, dab a bit of Aquaphor on your cuticles. When I tried this myself, I was surprised at the difference I saw after just one night's use on my normally dry cuticles. Aquaphor can also be used after the nails are dry to add a little moisture back into the cuticles of your now perfectly manicured nails.

You can purchase Aquaphor pretty much anywhere you can buy personal goods. Grocery stores, drugstores, and your favorite giant retailer -- Walmart, Target, K-Mart, etc. Good luck keeping those mani's chip-free! 

Beauty Standby: Koh Gen Do Cleansing Spa Water

Standing in an impossibly long line at Sephora, you aimlessly pick up the strategically placed items that line the shelves. A red label with the words “cleansing spa water” catches your eye. It sounds fancy. You don’t believe it will really work though. Before you can question why anyone would pay $13 for a travel size container of water, you’ve added it to your purchase at check out. 

That night, after arguing with yourself on the couch over the fact that no matter how tired you are you still need to remove your makeup, you begrudgingly head to the bathroom and squeeze this ‘cleansing water’ onto a cotton pad. It immediately removes your mascara, your eyeliner, and your doubts. Your skin doesn’t feel oily or dry. You’re immediately hooked. You’re welcome. 

For more information on where to buy Koh Gen Do and similar produtcs, check out the original post on Style Bakery.

Tweak It Girl: Inside the April Birchbox

At times the fact that everyone receives a little something different based on their beauty profile in their monthly Birchbox leaves me wracked with jealousy as I scroll through peoples' Instagram, Twitter, and blog posts. This month, my box is likely to be the one evoking a little envy, so apologies in advance.

Birchbox joined with Women's Health Magazine to bring in spring with a "Tiny Tweaks, Big Results" themed box. After a brutal winter, I know I have a lot of tweaking needed to get my skin, hair, and eye area back in shape. I included my own little spring apartment tweak in the photo above -- check out my new ikat pillowcase!

Here's what was in my box:

• Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine Cologne Absolue: A fresh blend of blood orange, jasmine, and geranium notes. 
• Mirenesse Glossy Kiss Lipstick: User-friendly lip pencil in Starlet
• Ojon rare blend hair oil: Tricolored oil that combats dullness and frizz 
• Supergoop! SPF 40 Anti-Aging Eye Cream: An eye cream with serious sun protection and oat peptide complex
• Simple Revitalizing Eye Roll On: Cucumber extract and vitamin goodness to reduce puffiness and wake up tired eyes
• Bonus: Kusmi Tea bags in Detox and Be Cool. 

While general consensus seems to be a disdain for perfume samples, the citrus scented Atelier Cologne was one of my favorite products in the Tweak It Girl box, and this perfect postcard shared a little story on the back about the perfume:

 "It was the kind of moment you want to revisit. Everyone was here, gathered on the terrace for breakfast, and the scent of fresh oranges was diffusing in the yellow heat. A symphony of their laughter and waves hitting the cliffs played in the air." 

That about sums up the scent much more eloquently than I could. I've been layering it with my Prada Infusion d'Iris in hopes of the above scene suddenly appearing in my kitchen. The postcard on the fridge will have to do for now.

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