Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

You Are What You Eat: Be fine Skincare (I’m In Love)

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Today I want to tell you about a brand of skincare products that is approaching the pursuit of healthy skin in a slightly different way: by feeding our skin with food. Yes, food! You are curious to hear more, aren’t you? I know I was!

The company is called Be fine, and I’ve included a link to a really good (and quick) video that I want to encourage you to watch. It gives you a lot of insight into how this company got started and what it is really all about. When I see videos like this, where I can tell that it is heart behind a company, and not just a bottom line, I feel encouraged by their vision, and also more comfortable as a customer. Check it out and then pop back over to this post! http://www.befine.com/kind.html


There are 3 products that I want to highlight. Let’s start with the one that totally and completely blew my socks off, shall we? It’s the Be fine Exfoliating Cleanser, and I am madly in love with it. MADLY. As in, I’m telling anyone out there who is looking for a new cleanser and who is willing to spend a little bit more to get some serious quality to go buy this. I just can’t imagine anyone not loving it! It is made with sugar cane extract (which means it smells divine). But there’s a greater purpose beyond the smell for using this ingredient. From their site, “Sugar Cane Extract is a naturally appearing plant-based alpha hydoxyl acid. Long-term use of low concentration AHA’s increases collagen and elastin synthesis, and also boosts protein regeneration in the skin. Sugar is popular in hydrating formulas for the skin as it is known to have good moisture-binding properties.”
I love how this feels when I apply it…just like an exfoliator at first, but as you keep rubbing it in, it becomes this rich lather. Seriously, ladies, this is a WINNER.

Next up, check out the Firming Toner. which makes use of Ginger, Willow Bark and Aloe to help soothe your skin and close the pores. Once again, this is a product that smells so good you could almost eat it, and my experience was that it did not over-dry my skin, as toners sometimes do.

Finally, I tried their Night Cream, which is made with cocoa, millet and rice bran. Rice bran proteins help collagen form and they also help protect collagen and elasticity, which are two elements that we need if we want to look as young as we feel! 🙂 It also contains a high amount of Vitamin E, which softens our skin. Plain and simple, I loved this product. I use it at night and my skin still feels moisturized (but not at all greasy) in the morning.

This is just a sampling of the many products offered by Be fine. You’d better believe I’ve already made a list of the products I want to try next from this company. First on the list is their Eye Brightening Treatment, which contains avocado oil. I know from experience that this is a highly effective ingredient, and I’m happy to find it in a product on the market!

So where can you pick up Be fine products? Right on their website! While I know their price points are on the steep side (at least they are for my budget), I think you’ll also find that the quality far surpasses what you picked up on sale at Rite Aid last month. Give them a try; your skin will thank you!

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Nature, Luxury and Value Join Forces: Happy Me Skincare

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Today I’m going to introduce you to a skincare company that I had never even heard of until about a month ago, and whose tagline really caught my attention. The line is called Happy Me Skincare, and their motto is, “combining nature, luxury and value for happy results.” Those are definitely 3 words you don’t see together very often!

happy me skincare I had the opportunity to try out their anti-aging products. This is the first time I have ever used products that were specifically designed to make my neck, chest and hands look better. I was very excited to get started, because as I have turned the corner and am now in my 30s, I’m realizing that my skin is already getting tired, and it needs some help to restore its youthful glow!

Happy Me Skincare’s products seem to be working quite nicely. It is a bit of an adjustment to add 3 additional products to my morning regimen, but I think my efforts are going to pay off. My hands and my neck and chest do feel very smooth, and I like knowing that they have spf 30 protection on when I wear these products. That’s just another incentive for me to make them part of my daily routine.

I will say that I don’t find the smell of these products to be fabulous. They contain ingredients that sound divine: apple fruit extract, sweet almond extract and rosewood oil. But I find the end result to be borderline medicinal (like a very mild sports cream, almost). Fortunately, the smell doesn’t linger at all, and I don’t notice it after about 10 seconds.

The third product in their anti-aging line that I’ve been using is the Pore & Fine Line Protector and Primer. I’ve always wanted to use a primer for my makeup, but just never forked over the cash to buy any! My only point of comparison is using no primer, and my makeup definitely stays put much better with this product. It goes on very light and silky…it’s a strange sensation, really. This product does help create a smooth look, and that’s a very good thing!

So overall, I’d say that these are products worth trying out, especially if you are looking for a little help slowing down the clock for your skin but you don’t want to spend mega dollars. At 30, I already regret that I didn’t take better care of my skin in my twenties, so don’t put it off if you are like me and just assume that you will always be as cute as you are now! 😉

Buy it!: Happy Me Skincare products are available at Drugstore.com and will be available at CVS.com soon!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will get the same anti-aging kit that I received from Happy Me Skincare! That’s a $45 value! The contest will run until March 8th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me what you do now to care for your skin. Do you have a particular product that you use? Are you looking for something new and effective to try?

My answer: You’ve heard about all the new products that I’ve been trying. I’m really excited about finding greener options as that is something I had been seeking out but not having too much luck finding in the stores. The internet saves the day! 🙂

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: “Like” Happy Me Skincare on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the side bar of my home page.

Disclosure: I received complimentary products as a member of the Mom Bloggers Club for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Natural Beauty with Clairvoyant Beauty (Review)

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I have been on the hunt, lately, for natural beauty skincare products that only contain ingredients that are needed. No extra chemicals, please! I found such a company, and I have a very interesting story about how using these products changed my mind about my least favorite vegetable on earth: the cucumber.

Clairvoyant Beauty is all about giving your skin the best. From their site, “We believe that what you feed your skin is just as important as what you feed your body so our products our 100% natural and organic, paraben-free, with no chemical preservatives and no synthetic fragrances.” I turned 30 several months ago, and I really had an epiphany that I needed to stop taking my skin for granted and get serious about taking good care of it. Basically, I realized that I wasn’t getting any younger!

When my package arrived from Clairvoyant Beauty, I was immediately struck by the beautiful packaging of the products. The bottles are beautiful and so are the boxes they come in! This makes them fabulous gift options for a girlfriend.

After opening everything up, I realized that two of the four products I was sent had cucumbers as a primary ingredients. I HATE cucumbers. I think they are completely foul. I remember thinking, “This is going to be interesting.”

clairvoyant beauty: natural beauty The first product I started testing was their Refreshing Cucumber Facial Toner. The scent, first of all, was very light and didn’t bother me. This was surprising, because in case I haven’t made it perfectly clear, I HATE CUCUMBERS. Toner has always been something that I have skipped over in my face care routine because I have really dry skin, and I assumed that it was meant for people with oily skin. WRONG! Its purpose is to restore the pH balance in your skin (cleansers tend to throw it off) and also to help remove any excess dirt left over from the cleanser. And by the way, your cleanser WILL leave some makeup/dirt behind. Promise! I was surprised to see evidence of it on my cotton pad, but it is true! So now I use this toner every day and I love it, cucumbers and all.

The second product is one I did battle with for a while. It is the Light & Refreshing Cucumber Cream. Any guesses about what my initial problem was with this? Could it be…..CUCUMBER???? Let me say this: if you like cucumbers, as many people do, this moisturizer smells exactly like fresh cucumbers. It doesn’t smell like a chemical version of cucumbers. It is the real deal, 100%! So I’ll be honest, when I first smelled it, I almost gagged. I then stopped breathing through my nose and applied the product. The smell of cucumbers was gone in about 20 seconds. Whew! Over the next several uses, I did notice that my skin, here in the dead of winter, was staying well-hydrated all day long. But it wasn’t greasy. It was quite nice, actually. So I just kept using the product and starting to “smell” the product a little more each time. I’ve been using it for several weeks now, and I actually don’t mind the smell now, nor do I hold my breath when applying it. To say I love the smell would not be true, but it definitely doesn’t make me gag. I think what I’m realizing is that cucumbers really do have their place…not on my plate, but on my face! I can’t believe it. Seriously, you guys, I can’t even put into words how much I used to hate cucumbers. This is major progress.

natural beauty products: clairvoyant beauty The third product I tried was the Skin Firming DMAE & MSM Serum. My first thought is that this product needs a new name. I have no idea what DMAE and MSM are! Here’s what their site says, “DMAE is a powerful nutrient that extends the life of cells. stimulates the facial muscles to contract. this gives it a toned appearance with less sagging. MSM feeds the formation of collagen and elastin.” Good stuff! I definitely have mornings where I look in the mirror and wonder if a train ran over my face while I was sleeping. That might be a bit extreme, but I think you know what I’m talking about! This product is great for those mornings, and can really help firm up your appearance and give you a brighter look. Basically, its that youthful glow in a bottle. Two thumbs up!

Finally, I tried the Gentle and Healing Rosewater Eye Cream. Doesn’t that just sound like a dream? The smell is delicious and the cream is very soothing. This is my very first eye cream (I’m kicking myself for not starting to use eye cream at 25) and I absolutely love this. The skin around my eyes feels very soft, just like a rose petal!

Clairvoyant Beautyproducts are a perfect choice for anyone who is ready to get serious about taking care of their skin, and who wants to nix harmful chemicals from their beauty routine. These products are organic and natural, and produce great results. They even got me to admit that cucumbers actually have a purpose in this world!
Buy it!: Are you on the lookout for something truly great for your face? Clairvoyant Beauty products have what you need! Products can be purchased on Amazon.
Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own. Affiliate links may be included at no cost to you. 

Ma Mi Skincare Review

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Today I’m bringing you a skincare line designed just for us moms, that has the following great features:

  • True anti-aging properties at an affordable price
  • Natural, high quality ingredients with no wasteful fillers
  • Uses a high percentage of active ingredients
  • Safe, toxin-free, and paraben-free
  • Clinically-formulated by doctors

Sounds pretty good, right? Well it IS pretty good, too! Introducing Ma Mi Skincare. I was really drawn to the approach this company has to creating products. From their site, “With Ma Mi, your skin receives everything it needs and nothing it doesn’t; our products contain pure, highly concentrated active ingredients that produce quick, visible results.”

Aren’t you always surprised by the ENORMOUS list of “inactive” ingredients in face care products? If you’ve never noticed, take a moment to read some of the boxes and labels. There’s a whole lot of stuff you can’t pronounce that is going on your skin, and for what?! Ma Mi Skincare keeps that list as small as possible, and what’s on that list is pronounceable!

I was sent two cleansers to review. I have been using the Reawaken Cleanser, which is for normal to dry skin. I LOVE the foam pump dispenser, which makes it perfect for use in the shower. I’m finding it to be a gentle but effective cleanser. I also really like that it has a built-in toner. I never really use toners, but I always feel kind of bad that I don’t. Problem solved here, folks! And the rose hip seed oil in the product gives it a really nice, but mild, fragrance.

The other cleanser I received is the Revitalize Cleanser, for normal to oily skin. I handed this over to Tim to use. You see, even though this skin care line is geared toward women, I’m sure it will do just as great of a job on a man’s skin. And in my book, a man who takes care of his skin is a smart one! He also happened to be running out of the face wash he was currently using, so the timing was great for him. His report back to me is that so far, he likes it, “just fine.” When I asked him to elaborate, he said that it worked, and he didn’t really know what else to say about it. So there you have it; perhaps this is some insight into why there aren’t very many men out there who write product reviews. 😉

Buy it!: Ma Mi Skincare products are more expensive than some of the stuff in the drugstores, but are far more affordable than what you typically find in department or specialty stores. The cleansers I reviewed are available for just $14.00. BONUS: SPN readers can score 25% off their total purchase using the code gomami at checkout! Sweet! That really gives you an opportunity to have specialty skincare at a drugstore price!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will be bringing home a the cleanser of your choice! The contest will run until January 18th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me one other product in the Ma Mi Skincare line that intrigues you. Also tell me if you would prefer the Reawaken (normal to dry) or Revitalize (normal to oily) cleanser if you win.

My answer: Would love to try the Nightshift Eye Serum!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: “Like” Ma Mi Skincare on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need by RSS or email

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my home page.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com.  I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveawayDisclosure.

Luxury Skincare at Drugstore Prices

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Picnic Basket Crafts is a business after my own heart. Tiffany Norton produces quality luxury skincare products, while striving to tread very lightly on both the environment and your wallet! What’s not to love about that?! Tiffany has a background in the sciences as a biology and chemistry teacher. Her potion making skills have helped her to create an incredible line of natural skincare products. Tiffany says of her small price tags, “I’ve pared down my recipes to just the essentials, and then use the highest quality oils I can get. Nothing fancy!” So basically she skips all the unnecessary stuff and passes along the savings to you. Awesome.

I received several samples of her products to try out for myself. Everything was beautifully yet sensibly packaged in a pretty stitched brown paper envelope. I spent several days trying out each sample, and really had fun doing so.

First I’d like to tell you about her handmade oatmeal & cocoa butter soap. This soap is absolutely ideal for brand new parents, and I’ll tell you why: it doesn’t have a scent! Still confused? Well, the most highly developed sense that babies have at birth, and for the first 6 weeks or so of life, is the sense of smell. Primary caregivers should avoid perfumed products during that period of time, as it could confuse or frustrate your baby when s/he is trying to memorize (and enjoy!) your scent, which smells absolutely heavenly to your baby. I also found the soap to lather quite well. And please note the price for a thick piece of this soap…$3.00! Score!

Next up is the night time eye serum. I used this eye serum for several nights in a row.The serum is something that needs to go on at night, because it takes it a long while to fully soak in, and you only need the tiniest amount, so a bottle will last forever. Tiffany says of the ingredients, “Each component of the formula is carefully chosen for it’s mildness, safety, and reputation for providing healing and therapeutic benefits to dry, aging, and sensitive skin. Included in this list of wonder oils is my very own brew of calendula-infused olive oil, along with carrot seed essential oil, rice bran oil, vitamin E, pomegranate essential oil, and jojoba oil, and other great gifts from nature.” She also noted that this serum can also help with other skin problems, such as stretch marks, scars, rashes, scrapes and burns. I really love a product that can multi-task. And once again, let me just point out the price tag for a small vial of this wonder elixir: $3.75! Unbelievable!

The third product I tried was the healing facial creme for seriously sensitive skin. The first thing I noticed when I opened the package was a light avocado smell. Avocado oil is actually one of the ingredients in this cream, and Tiffany says that it is “one of the most moisturizing of oils, and gentle enough to use in infant products.” There are also other amazing ingredients in this cream such as calendula infused olive oil, apricot kernel oil, chamomile essential oil and cucumber extract, which is actually the reason that the creme has a greenish tint! The price also can’t be beat: $12.00 for 2 ounces. I shudder to think about what I have forked over in the past for lotions that were full of synthetic junk and didn’t work half as well as this product.

Tiffany had two products geared towards babies for me to try out on Darah. The first product I tried was the oatmeal and calendula baby bath bag. Tiffany says, “This special formula is made for sensitive, damaged, or irritated skin of all ages. Whether you have a baby with diaper rash, a toddler with eczema, or a teenager with poison oak, this super gentle bath soak will ease symptoms, moisturize skin, and promote healing.” While Darah isn’t experiencing any skin problems at the moment, I thought I’d still try this out in her bath. It is made from such wonderful products that it is sure to be good and soothe her skin, regardless! The bath bag had a very light oatmeal scent. She ended up sitting on the bag in her baby bath, which is probably why it broke apart about 7 minutes into her bath. But it honestly wasn’t a big deal, as the stuff inside the bag was very fine. No residual bits were still on her skin when we pulled her out of the bath. She didn’t have any reaction to the ingredients. I have one more package that I’m going to save for her first diaper rash breakout. I’m confident that it will help her feel better. Tiffany offers 5 tea bags for $6.00. This is another great deal, and an excellent product to have on hand for breakouts.

I also tried the baby and boo boo balm. This is another multi-tasking product. It is great to help prevent and treat diaper rash, but is also handy to help with rashes, chapped cheeks, nipples and noses, burns, scrapes, bruises, bumps and other skin problems. The smell is light, and the product works just as well as other diaper rash creams I have used. One ounce is only $5.00, and this is another product that doesn’t need to be slathered on to get the effect you seek.

Finally, I got to try out Tiffany’s newest product, the therapeutic facial scrub. So as I was applying this scrub in the bath, some definitely got in my mouth. Oops! But I’m pleased to say that it didn’t taste gross and awful like other face care products do (What? You’ve never accidentally eaten your face cream like I have?) Actually, it tasted rather sweet, and that’s probably because it is made with organic cane sugar. This scrub was not messing around in terms of its exfoliating power. I was really impressed with that. I did get a little nervous when I started to rinse it off, because I quickly noticed that my skin felt like it had a whole lot of oil on it. I decided to just calm down and follow the directions, which were to rinse my face and then pat it dry. I’m so glad I didn’t freak out and try to wipe off the residue, because after I patted dry, my face felt seriously supple. I kept touching my face every 2 minutes for the next hour. Twelve hours later, when I got out of bed to start the next day, I felt my skin. Still soft! Wow!

Buy It!
Picnic Basket Crafts offers truly luxurious natural products for drugstore prices. Such a combo is extremely hard to find! Check out all the awesome products she makes! For the duration of this contest, Tiffany is offering Stuff Parents Need readers 10% off their purchase price (less shipping). The prices were already a bargain, but this makes them a steal!

Win It!
One lucky reader is going to win a $10 gift certificate from Picnic Basket Crafts. I am sooo jealous! The contest will run until Sunday, November 15th at 7:59pm CST, when the winner will be chosen at random and emailed. The winner will have 48 hours to reply or a new winner will be selected. You must include your email address in your comment or make sure it is listed in your profile! You must complete the mandatory entry in order for any subsequent entries to be counted. Open to residents of the United States.

How to Enter:
Mandatory entry: Go check out Picnic Basket Crafts. Come back here and tell me what product you covet the most (it will be hard to choose!)

Additional Entries:
1. Share this post via any of the venues at the bottom of this post (digg, stumbleupon, twitter etc.). Leave one comment with a link for each way that you shared or your username on these sites!
2. Subscribe to my blog via email or RSS. Leave a comment with your email address for the subscription (2 entries, so leave 2 comments)
3. Make a purchase at Picnic Basket Crafts (5 entries, so leave 5 comments!)

Disclosure: I received samples of the reviewed items for the purpose of writing the review. No additional compensation was received for this post.