Why We Made the Change to #BetterBeauty

Last Fall we both made a conscience effort to change our up beauty routines. We chatted a little bit about our Fall and Winter skincare routines, but we mean beyond that. We've strived over the last few months to have a better beauty routine. One that is cleaner and will serve us in the long anti-aging haul.

As we've gotten older we've tried to really pay attention to what our skin needs, and what products serve us best. We realize we aren't getting any younger.  We aren't trying to turn back time and look 22 again (um, how awesome would that be?!), but we are trying to maintain a youthful glow and take care of our skin much better than we maybe did ten years ago.

What We've Learned...

After doing some research we both made the leap to switch to cleaner beauty products. We couldn't believe some of the facts we found.

• The United States hasn't passed a law since 1938 to regulate the safety of ingredients in personal care products. (Wrap your mind around that!)
• The fragrance industry isn't regulated at all. Because of trade secret laws they do not have to disclose the ingredients they use. 
• When some companies write "all natural" on their labels, it often doesn't mean "clean". (Again, not regulated.)
• The European Union has banned over 1,300 ingredients used in cosmetics. The United States - 30. 

Why We've Made the Change...

Our skin is our largest organ. We want to protect it!

And maintain that whole youthful glow we've been chatting about.

It takes only 30 seconds for something to absorb into your skin and enter your bloodstream. Thinking about it that way, we want to use the safest ingredients possible. We thought...Why not use beauty products that are proven to be good for you rather than ones that might or might not be harmful? Even though there are some beauty products we've used for years, have trust in, and hate to break up with - we know at least trying to find an alternative is better for our health and well being in the long run.

Our Favorite Better Beauty Products...

Transitioning to cleaner beauty products has taken some time. There has been lots of trial and error, and even after extensive testing on our parts, some items we are still on the hunt for.

The majority of our favorite better beauty products come from Beautycounter. We've always tried to steer clear of MLMs and not listen to the hype of certain brands. But Beautycounter is the real deal. Beautycounter is constantly in the news for advocating for a change to the beauty product industry (Go ahead and Google. We'll wait...). But aside from leading the way (and slaying while they do so because hello amazing lipglosses), they produce a seriously amazing product. Some of their products are now our favorites in both skincare and beauty, and we can't imagine not ever having them in our routines.

Aside from Beautycounter, some of our other favorite brands are DermaE, Coola, and Goop.

Here's a breakdown of both of our favorite clean beauty products.

Carrie Beth's Clean Beauty Picks

I am certainly no clean beauty expert, but I do have some products that I use on a daily or weekly basis and just love. I've been using most of theses for at least a year now and some for even longer. I've tried some other products that I didn't love as much so only sharing my very, very favorites!

1. Beautycounter Facial Oil - I love this stuff!  I started using it after Jen told me how much she loved her oil. I use it each night and it just feel like it makes my skin feel so soft.

2. Dearma-e Overnight Peel - I try to use this once a week and should probably do it at least twice a week, but I always forget!

3. Beautycounter Stick Sunscreen - Seriously THE BEST stick sunscreen there is. I love, love, love it and so do my kids. It goes on easy, makes application on their faces a breeze and most important to them, it goes on clean. No white sticky mess to have to try to rub in!  I love the size, too, and keep these stashed all over the place...in my car, in our baseball bag, in my daughter's soccer bag, etc.

4. Coconut Oil - I once read that using coconut oil was not only a good moisturizer, but something good to use to take off eye makeup and now it is all I use. I keep a jar in my bathroom and put a little on a washcloth to wipe make up off of my face and then I put some on the end of a q-tip to get my hard to wash off eye make up off. It works SO well.  I also use this to get my son's baseball eyeblack off. It's the only thing that takes it right off without having to scrub.

5. EVER Daylight Tinted Moisturizer - I use this as a foundation in the summer.  I love it because it is sheer with just a little coverage, light weight and it has an SPF built in.  It also smells amazing!!! It comes in several colors so you can match your skin tone and I use color Light.

6. Beautycounter Tint Skin - This is the foundation year round when I'm not using the EVER mentioned above. I wear color Linen. It is also pretty sheer and not to heavy, which is what I like about it.

7. Beautycounter Lipgloss - I love the Beauty Counter Lipgloss because it stays on, but doesn't feel too gloopy.

Jen's Clean Beauty Picks

Carrie Beth and I love so many of the same products. I've learned that of all make-up brands Beautycounter is also my favorite. Everything I've tried, I've loved. The eyeshadows and the lip glosses topping the list. But the following are my must-haves. Like the ones I couldn't live without if I was stuck on an island. All of the following products I just love! I use a rotation of them throughout the week and most daily. I tend to have dryer skin (especially in the cooler months), and each of these pack a hydrating punch while at the same time doing a seriously awesome job of keeping wrinkles at bay. 

1. Beautycounter Lip Glosses

2. DermaE Even Tone Brightening Night Cream

3. Beautycounter Lotion

4. Beautycounter Overnight Peel

5. Beautycounter CounterMatch Lotion

6. Beautycounter Radiance Serum

7. DermaE Age Defying Hand Cream

8. DermaE Radiant Glow Face Oil

We shared our favorite Fall and Winter lip colors, but these two are my favorite to use in the Spring and Summer. I also love love love the color Rosy Pink from the Color Intense line, but I need to order some more after a certain toddler got a hold of it. 

A few weeks ago Carrie Beth passed this Eye Cream along to me. I've only used it a couple of times so I can't give a full review, but so far seems to be doing a great job of making my tired eyes a little brighter. 

Slowly I've tried to transition to cleaner hair care too. I use a combo of shampoos depending on what I feel like my long hair needs the most. These are some of my favorites...

1. Briogeo Deep Conditioning Mask

2. Raw Sugar Bounce Back Shampoo

3. Moroccan Oil Volume Shampoo & Conditioner

I'm still on the hunt for a great deodorant and a mascara. Mascara seems to be the toughest. I tried the Beautycounter volume one and didn't love it. Please share if you've found an awesome one that I can try!  

Edited to add: After we created this post we realized Beautycounter is currently running a great deal. For every $125 spent you get a free travel size No. 1 Brightening Facial Oil Serum. The deal is good through 3/31. (We stocked up on sunscreen for Spring Break to snag some!) 

Have you made the switch to cleaner beauty products? What are some of your favorites?

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Friday Favorites

Happy Friday! Getting back into a groove after a week long break from school is always tough so this week has felt really long. So happy the weekend is here!  It's been a while since we've shared a Friday Favorites so that's exactly what I'm doing today! 

Linking up with some of our favorite bloggers for Friday Favorites to share some of my recent favorites.

I found my favorite bag for spring and summer.  This clutch is AMAZING!!!  As soon as I walked into Findlay Rowe earlier this week I spotted this beauty and knew it was coming home with me.  

When I checked the price and saw it was under $30 I loved it even more. Jen loved it, too, and got the blue version.  There is also a black and white one!  

I just feel like this clutch is going to take me all through spring and summer.  

It is such a fun pop of color and it's a really great size!  Usually I have a hard time fitting everything I need in a clutch, but this one has plenty of room for all my things! 

clutch//jacket//white jeans//top//shoes

I found my favorite shoes for spring and summer, too! 

I had originally bought this more expensive pair from Nordstrom and had high hopes for them.  I read lots of reviews and everyone said they were comfortable, but they did not feel great to me.  And for the price I wanted to just love them.  I took them back and continued my hunt for the perfect wedges. Jen texted me telling me she saw a great dupe at Target so I went to check them out and loved them.  They were so much more comfortable, looked just like the original ones and were less than half the price!  They come in several colors online and mine are actually called blush although they look more like a nude color to me.  They are sold out in some of the colors/sizes online, but hoping they restock, because they are so good!  If your size isn't online you might want to check your local store!  

Size tip: I went up 1/2 a size. 

When we were at the Super Bowl we had an opportunity to design our own running shoes.  WHAT?!?  I didn't even know that was a thing.  Apparently it is though and with Nike ID you can personalize tons of different shoes.  I got to pick the color of each part, the logo on the tongue, color of the laces and Nike logo...all of it! 

It was so much fun and my shoes arrived this week!  I decided to go with something I would never have purchased for myself in the store. I loved the red because I felt like it would be fun for summer with cheering for the Braves and for summer baseball or 4th of July and then fun for the fall for cheering on the Dawgs.  You can also add text to it so I put my initials!  

Fit tip: I think these run small and wish I would have gone up 1/2 to 1 full size.

I think I've shared this Moroccan Oil root boost before. It's one of my very favorite hair products to help give me some added volume.  I just spray it on my roots before blow drying and it does the trick!  I order mine from Amazon recently got the volume shampoo and conditioner from them, too.  I love all three of these products and for someone like me with very thin and fine hair, it really does help give me some extra volume! 

Spring sports start this weekend and I'm pumped!  

It's my favorite time of year!  I just love watching my kids do what they love. It might sound crazy, but I love spending Saturdays running from one game to the next so I'm happy that is what I'll be doing this weekend.  

Lastly wanted to share some of my favorite Beauty Counter products that I've been using for a while and loving.  

I got this lipgloss set before Christmas and since then I have worn one of them every single day!  I love them because they don't feel super goopy and the color stays on for a long time.  Some of the colors look super dark or bright, but they are really pretty on and I love them all.  

Some are good for fall and winter others are good for spring and summer and this one set give me all these colors! 

I also have been using this facial oil under my moisturizer for a few months and love the way it feels.  I use it every night and feel like makes my skin feel so silky and soft.  

The other thing I have used for years and just pulled out with the start of spring sports this weekend is this stick sunscreen.  My kids love it because it doesn't turn their faces white and I love it because a quick swipe keeps their sweet faces protected from the sun.  Plus, it's small enough to just keep in my purse so I always have it with me! 

Jen's new favorite Beauty Counter product is this overnight peel.  She swears by it and has had so many people commenting on her skin lately, which does look amazing. I'm thinking this is going to be the next thing on my order!  

I hope everyone has a fabulous Friday and a wonderful weekend!!!  See you back here next week! 

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How to Transition Your Beauty Routine for Fall & Winter

Fall is in full swing and Winter is just around the corner. Just like our wardrobes have changed, our beauty routines have changed too! It seems the minute the temps drop, and the heat gets turned out, our skin starts to crave a crazy amount of moisture. We tend to ramp up our skincare routines this time of year to counteract the harsh elements of cold and drying heat.

Otherwise we begin to look like a patchy alligator, and as we all know, that's a big no no on multiple levels.

This is Bulldog country.

We'll own at least our big smooth, moisturized wrinkles.

Today we thought it would be fun to dish like good girlfriends do, and share our beauty tips and tricks on how we transition our beauty routines in the Fall and Winter. We'll share ours and along the way we hope you share yours too! We are lacking in a few areas, and would love a few product suggestions if you have ones!

How to Transition Your Beauty Routine for Fall & Winter

Skincare

Cooler weather means drier skin so we are constantly trying to moisturize like crazy.  From our faces, bodies and even our lips!

We've shared this lip conditioner before, but it is the perfect alternative to a sticky chapstick and we love the sheer feel to it. Plus, the tiniest hint of peppermint scent is amazing and perfect for winter!

Another thing that we aren't always as good about in the cooler months is still remembering to apply sunscreen to ourselves and our kids!  Especially our sports loving kids that spend hours in the sun. Our favorite, hands down, is this Beautycounter stick sunscreen.  The kids love it because it goes on sheer and doesn't leave their faces all white. Plus, the stick makes it easy for a quick application on them and us! 

For everyday use though, we tend to lean towards the Protect All Over Sunscreen. Just a thin little layer before applying our make up and we've done what we can to protect our skin against the harsh rays of the sun. And let's be honest...we're doing everything we can these days to try to combat those pesky signs of aging.

Which brings us to our heavy hitting skincare line up...

This little combo is our current defense against aging. It's inevitable. We know it's going to happen, but until it does we are doing what we can to keep our skin rocking that youthful glow. Especially when stress, lack of sleep, and our love of cocktails are things that aren't going to go away anytime soon. #momlife

Without boring you with a ton of details, let's just say you need these in your life. We've gone through a ton of products, but these seem to be the best combo, especially at keeping moisture and a healthy glow through the Winter months.

• SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic Serum - Has tons of great reviews and can back them up. It does an excellent job of brightening and firming, and after a short period of use noticed right away finer lines looked minimized or non-existent. Pricy but worth it. 
• Derma E Radiant Glow Face Oil - Gives an amazing instant youthful glow. We were given the chance to try it last year, and fell in love. Use it during the day after serum and before moisturizing. (Bonus: super inexpensive and smells amazing!) 
• Rejuvenating Radiance Serum - Love, love, love! Give it a few weeks, but your skin is firmer and feels better after extended use. 
• Countermatch Adaptive Moisture Lotion - We were given a tube of this to try a few months ago and instantly fell in love. It adapts to your skins needs and it makes your skin feel like it just took in a huge drink of water. Use this as your last line of anti-aging defense before make-up and to seal in oils. 

The last winter skincare must have on our list is hand lotion! All that constant hand washing and drying with cold air makes our hands so chapped. This hand lotion by Derma E is the absolute best! You can use it on any part of your body for a good hit of moisture. But it isn't thick or sticky, smells great, and feels like instant relief.

Another great lotion that smells amazing is the body butter from EVER. We chatted a little bit about it here, but Lavish is still one of our favorite all time moisturizing products. 

Make-up

We are all about some sparkle and shine when it comes to make up this time of year...especially when we have holiday parties, events and get togethers to attend.  

This Velvet Eyeshadow Palette in Classic has tons of great shades for fall and we love how it goes on so effortlessly. We've been using a mix of Ivory, Copper and Sahara as everyday colors, and then for nighttime or when we want to ramp it up a little bit more we use the Cinnamon and the Penny. The Penny is ah-mazing!! It looks so good on! We have completely different skin tones and this palette looks fabulous on both of us. 

Because of dryer air and trying our best to keep our skin well moisturized, we tend to use creams vs. powders for a lot of our make-up products.

This cream blush in Pale Pink has been a long time favorite, and as long as Bobby Brown still makes it we will still be buying it. It will be a sad sad day if they ever discontinue it.

This cream highlighter is on our short list to buy. We love that it is a stick and have heard phenomenal things about it. If any of you have tried it we would love to hear your opinions about it!!

For lips we tend to go both bold and neutral in the cooler months. Our skin isn't rocking that summer tan anymore and we feel like a little pop of color goes a long way in brightening our faces.

Our favorite neutral colors are...

• Beauty Counter Sheer Lipsticks: Petal, Rose (see below) & Terra
• Beauty Counter Glosses: Blush Shimmer (shown above), Bare Shimmer, & Belini
• L'Oréal Paris Infallible Gloss: Blush & Bloom

Our favorite bold colors are...

• Milani in Desire: This is the color we are both wearing in the above pic! 
• Beauty Counter Intense Lipsticks: Garden Party, Little Black Dress & Girls Night
• Beauty Counter Gloss: Azalea & Poppy Shimmer

Hair

Summer in the south means tons of humidity, but as the temperatures drop in fall and winter so does the humidity...thank goodness!  Our hair LOVES the drier air and it makes styling it SO much easier. One product we both use and love is this Moroccan Oil Root Boost. It is AMAZING for helping give you a little extra umpf and volume. 

In the warmer months out of the year we tend to let our hair dry, or because we are at the pool/beach/lake a ton we rarely do much with it. In the Winter months we can't stand wet damp hair when it's freezing cold. So we are using more heat products. More heat products means more damage. In comes one of our magic hair secrets is...

Coconut Oil! This coconut oil has a crazy ton of uses in our homes (best eye makeup remover ever!), but it works as a great hair mask as well. Just a little dab on your damp ends over night and voilá - shinier, moisturized hair. 

Nails

As we move into the cooler months we like to change things up with our nails and go a little darker. Deep reds, dark blues, grays, purples, golds and even black! 

Some of our favorites are this iridescent shade called For the Twill of It. It's either gray, purple or sort of green depending on how the light hits it.

Also, this deep burgundy called Wicked is super shiny and so pretty!

And these are in constant rotation throughout the Fall and Winter too! 

From left to right...

• Good As Gold
• Penny Talk
• Mochacino
• Can't Hardly Wait (love this combo nail color! keep meaning to get more colors in it!)
• Seeing Stars
• Tribal Textiles

That wraps up our beauty favorites for Fall and Winter. Hopefully you found some of them helpful. And feel free to email us and ask any questions you might have about any of them!

Now share with us - what are some of your favorite Fall and Winter beauty tips and tricks? What is the number one product you use in Winter? Share with us!

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Better Beauty with Beautycounter

Happy Friday, friends!  If you follow along on Instagram you will know that my family has been on a winter break ski trip in Colorado.  We got home at 3:30 AM this morning and are all dragging a bit. I plan to share lots and lots about our trip next week, but today I wanted to share about some amazing beauty products that we recently tried from Beautycounter.  I'm sure most of you have heard of Beautycounter, but if you are like me, you might not really have known what they were all about.  My childhood best friend and the maid of honor in my wedding, Kristen, started working with Beautycounter a few years ago and since then I have learned a lot of information.  

Their company was started by woman who learned the truth about many of the toxic chemicals in beauty products...from shampoos to soaps to make up and even baby products.  There is little regulation in the United States when it comes to these products and she wanted to help develop products that were still just as effective, but that were safer for your health.  I absolute loved that and learned so much from this video HERE.  

I've tried a variety of products from Beautycounter and wanted to share some of my favorites with y'all!  Plus, make sure you read to the bottom of this post for a special discount offer from Kristen. 

I love make-up, especially lipstick and lip gloss, but I'm really picky about my lipgloss.  I don't want it to be too thick and sticky, but also, not to watery and runny.  Also, I can't stand when it gets all goopy around the edge when you twist the top back on. All of that to say that I just LOVE the Beautycounter lip gloss.  It is the perfect consistency and it has Vitamin E, which is a powerful antioxidant with hydrating ski and conditioning elements.  This one is Blossom, which is a perfect pearly pink!  Also, the applicator tip is at an angle, which makes putting it on that much easier. It's the little things people!  

While we are on the topic of lips, I have a confession to make. I am obsessed with chapstick. I can't stand to have my lips dry and I am constantly adding some sort of moisturizer to my lips.  About a year ago I started having all sorts of problems with my lips. At first I thought my lips had gotten sunburned at the lake so I kept applying more chapstick. The problem didn't get better and it became so painful that after a few months I finally went to the dermatologist and they confirmed what I had already been suspecting...I was having an allergic reaction to something in one of the many chapsticks/lipsticks I was using. Because I had them stashed everywhere...in my car, in my desk, in my purse, on my nightstand, everywhere...I had no idea which one was causing the problem. My dermatologist suggested that I stop using all products on my lips except one so that I could figure out what was causing the problem.

All of that to say, now I am VERY careful about what type of products I use on my lips and this lip conditioner has been wonderful. It soothes and softens my lips with peppermint and rosemary oils and I don't have to worry about having any awful allergic reactions.  I've really been putting this to use this winter when my lips are even more dry than normal.

Another thing that I have loved using this winter is this nourishing cream exfoliator.  I feel like my skin is always a little dry and blah this time of year and this exfoliator helps take away impurities with non-abrasive jojoba beads.  Doesn't that just sound luxurious?!  It's like a spa treatment in the comfort of my own shower.

I mentioned that we were skiing earlier this week and we had the best time!  We were lucky because it was actually really warm for skiing (like upper 40's warm) and very sunny most of the time we were there.

Those are always the times that the sun sneaks up on us and causes sunburn though. I made sure to bring the Beautycounter stick sunscreen with me on our trip so I could easily apply and reapply on the kids and myself.  I use this stick face sunscreen all year long.  It goes to the beach, pool and lake with us all summer and it was spotted on the ski slopes with me this winter.  I'm sure you have all read the articles about all of the unsafe sunscreens out there, but I have found the safe ones usually are very thick, white, and hard to rub in.  It drives my kids crazy, but actually this stick they love because it goes on CLEAR!!!  Yes, it is the best stick sunscreen I have found and it smells great, too! An added bonus is that it was small enough to keep in my ski jacket pocket all week long.

My vacation just ended as Jen's was beginning.  She was so happy to have this jet set travel pack to take with her so she knew she would have safe products to use for her family, even while away from home!

And one last product I am super excited about is this Lustro Shimmer Oil.  Here's the thing. We just got done with a cold winter vacation and next week we're going to be on a little warm weather weekend getaway.  I already dreaming of warm, sunny weather and I'm planning outfits with shorts, tank tops and sandals. BUT, my skin is pretty pale and plain after winter so I'm excited about getting a little hint of shimmer with this dry oil.  It creates sun-kissed radiance and a bronzing effect that can be used on the face and body.  My white legs and arms are going to NEED this. 

Side note...these sandals are a Jack Rogers look-alike from TARGET! I could never wear Jack Rogers because the soles are so hard, but these Sam and Libby ones are SO comfortable and I love that the gold color will match practically everything.  They always sell out so fast so I would order quickly if you want to find them in your size! 

If anyone is interested in ordering any of these or other Beautycounter products from my friend, Kristen, she is offering 15% cash back on all orders (pre tax and shipping) for our readers through the end of February.  No promo-code needed, but for all orders she will either PayPal or Venmo your cash back!  Can't beat that deal!

For anyone interested I would highly suggest you like Kristen's Beautycounter Facebook page.  She is always sharing lots of tid-bits and special offers.

Learn more about Beautycounter: 

Website || Facebook || Instagram 

Have you tried any Beautycounter products?  Which are your favorites?  I'm always on the hunt for more products to try!  

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