Beauty of a Site Blog

So here we are, the week after Memorial Day, enjoying the first warm days of summer (at least that's what's happening here in the Midwest!).  We all flocked to the lake or to barbecues on Monday, stayed out all day, and now are suffering from our very first sunburn of the summer.  Here's a refresher on sun care for your skin and hair during the summer months ahead: 1.  PREVENTION:  As your mother and health professionals everywhere can tell you, the best way to care for a sunburn is to prevent it from happening in the first place.  Especially with the prevalence of skin cancer among our generation, we must be careful to protect ourselves from the damaging sun.  Here are some of our favorite protective sun products: Coola (SPF 45) is one of our favorite classic sunscreens, providing powerful protection, custom made for those leading an active outdoor life.  Endorsed by the American Lifeguard Association, this sweat-proof formula is the best we've got! If you're looking for a mineral alternative to classic sunscreen, Alba Botanica's Natural Mineral Sunscreen (SPF 30) uses a chemical-free formula that provides excellent protection from the sun without compromise. Orly's Sunscreen for Nails is a must-have.  As you beach-babes know, after long hours in the sun, your manicure can become discolored and faded.  Sunscreen for Nails is a high-shine topcoat that protects the colors beneath it with its UV absorbent formula. Rene Furterer's Protective Summer Oil (KPF 90) uses sesame and castor oils with UV sunscreen to ensure protection for exposed hair while swimming and sunbathing.  It's waterproof formula is a must for any beach bag. 2.  TREATMENT:  We know that there will be days that we didn't plan ahead and didn't apply the sunscreen as much as we should have.  Here are some treatments to refresh skin and hair after long hours in the sun: The absolute best in the business, Hempz After Sun Gel soothes heat and pain from sun-burnt skin, prevents peeling and uses the nurturing qualities of hemp seed oil and tea tree oil to start repairing skin damage and even minimize the look of fine lines and wrinkles! Bed Head Some Like It Hot Heat & Humidity Resistant Serum is not only treatment oriented, but also for prevention.  It, along with the Some Like it Hot Shampoo and Conditioner provide a shield to help hair that will be in the sun and water constantly.  This product in particular, though, is essential after sun, taming frizz and re-moisturizing burnt-out hair. Rene Furterer Repairing After Sun Shampoo is specifically designed to combat the drying effects of sun, salt water and even chlorine, enriched with palm butter to restore shine and softness to your hair! Awesome. So, enjoy the sun, ladies, but care for yourself while you're doing it! Check out these products and more at www.beautyofasite.com to help you enjoy the summer in style!

Introducing: Juara Skincare and Spa Treatment products! We are happy to announce that we're now selling Juara, one of the world's most creative, mysterious and luxurious product lines, featuring an infusion of Indonesian herbal spices and the most advanced skin treatment research.  Each Juara product uses a powerful and pure set of active botanicals that is extremely effective while being gentle, safe and extremely nourishing for your skin. This "east meets west" skincare line was founded by four friends, dedicated to drawing upon the wisdom of ancient spa practices and combining those riches with everything that modern science has to offer.  The result of their hard work and passion: Juara Skincare & Treatments. Click here to browse all of Juara's unique and luxurious products!

CLEAN fragrance has released a brand new perfume that truly encapsulates all of the freshness of the outdoors after a summer rain. Shower Fresh has always been one of Beauty of a Site's most popular fragrances, so we are thrilled to introduce Clean Outdoor Shower Fresh, in stock and shipping! CLEAN describes their newest fragrance, saying:

Inspired by the exhilarating experience of al fresco showering, secluded by nature. Heady exuberance and feel-good freedom, captured and bottled in a crisp, clean, leafy-green scent. Extracts of Water Lily, Violet Leaves and Sparkling Bergamot with a hint of Tropical Rain Accord and Sandalwood for a refreshingly simple, outdoor soapy shower fresh scent.

Our Beauty of a Site customers can't get enough of it either! Check out this review from one of our first customers to give it a shot:

I was so excited to see that Clean had a new fragrance out. I actually saw it on HSN or QVC one night, but I had bought my EDP from you. So I was thrilled to see you had it on your site too... the scent of this spray is clean and crisp, and I love that it is not flowery or overpowering. It is truly different from any other Clean scent. I get compliments on it all the time!

Check out the newest Clean Outdoor Shower Fresh fragrance here, and browse all of CLEAN's popular fragrances here. Let us know what you think!

Happy Earth day to our fans and friends! Today reminded us about the importance of being green.  Saving the Earth and caring for nature is something that we can do one step at a time.  We have to remember that every step counts! Looking for ways to take care of our planet?  Here are just a few of our products who take caring for the Earth seriously: 1.  Tigi Love, Peace and the Planet is a range of superior quality hair care products that make earth friendly packaging their number one priority.  And not only does each eco-friendly bottle, tub or tube use only a minimal amount of synthetic material, but each product sports as many fresh and natural ingredients as possible.  Hug a tree with every style!  Click here to get started. 2.  Get Fresh Santa Monica Lifestyle Reusable Shoppers feature fabulously stylish designs on strong, market quality tote bags.  Save the earth using one less plastic bag at a time!  These are reasonably priced and HUGE!  Perfect for groceries.  Click here to see them! 3.  Organic Grooming is a men's product line featuring incredible organic products that carefully consider the earth when producing and packaging their products.  Many products, including their triple milled bar soap, uses completely biodegradable packaging, even printed in soy ink!  Click here to see all of their products.

Tigi's newest collection of revamped Catwalk products helps us achieve dramatic, controlled beautiful curls with products that prep, work and perfect your hair.  Designed by Tigi's creative team, the Curlesque Curl Collection is based on an aquatic formula designed specifically to moisturize and soothe natural curls and waves.  This remarkable new formula brings out the best of what is already in your hair, using advanced ingredients like kelp, algae, cucumber water, sea weed and sea fennel to define, hydrate and nourish curls.  These brand new products are all in stock at Beauty of a Site and ready to ship! Check out the new collection here!  As an introductory offer, Beauty of a Site is giving up to 20% off the entire collection.  It's truly the perfect time to try Curlesque!

With Valentine's Day around the corner, it's important to clean up your look for the lovely lady (or handsome man!) in your life. For many, this includes dealing with the frustrations of thinning hair or receding hairlines.  At Beauty of a Site, we've seen incredible results with one of our newest products- Clinicure, by Joico. This revolutionary line of products for thinning hair uses a completely botanical formula that combines proven natural ingredients along with cutting edge science.  Resulting in an extremely effective product (without harmful chemicals) Clinicure promises to help produce thicker hair- at different stages of hair loss! Part of the effectiveness of Clinicure's formula is its attention to individual needs, and the realization that at every stage of hair loss, different formulas are necessary.  Thus, Clinicure offers products for early stages of hair loss as well as advanced stages.  Have chemically processed hair?  Clinicure also divides its formulas up into natural hair & chemical processed hair, to make sure that the ingredients create the optimum hair growth in your individual hair situation. The easiest way to enjoy the immediate results of Clinicure is to try one of their four starter kits, which include all three products to nurture and strengthen your hair.  Choose either natural or chemically processed hair, and then whether your hair is in the early or later stages of thinning.  Use your starter kit daily and watch for incredible results! Click here to browse all of our Clinicure products! For tips on when and how to use each product, check the bottom of the description for each product at Beauty of a Site.

New for Fall 2009, Beauty of a Site announced our more recent product addition: IKove by Florestas.  This range of haircare, skincare and bath & body products is completely organic and natural, using a botanical base full of oils and extracts from the forests of the Amazon. We have to label IKove products as some of the most guilt free beauty products we've ever seen.  A socially responsible company, IKove is dedicated to growing the economy of the Amazon, allowing local villages to stop cutting down trees and protect the region's beautiful and rare rainforests.  The company uses certified organic ingredients, avoids synthetics and potentially harmful chemicals, while also avoiding any animal ingredients. IKove also strives to use as many certified fair trade ingredients as possible. The lush and luxurious ingredients in the IKove products are what truly set them apart as unique- as must-haves!  Acai Berry is one of IKove's favorite ingredients, an Amazonian palm berry harvested from the forests of Brazil.  Totally PACKED with antioxidants, fatty acids & omegas, Acai Berry is truly a miracle fruit, fighting premature aging and encouraging healthy skin. We're totally excited about these new products and hope that you are too!  If you've tried, please let us know what you think!  You can see all of the IKove products here.

[caption id="attachment_474" align="alignleft" width="107" caption="DermOrganic Oil Treatment"][/caption] As September starts us thinking about Fall, we have some brand new specials for our Beauty of a Site Shoppers. This month, we're offering six new promotions on some of our favorite stuff! Time to try DermOrganic! This incredible hair oil treatment, which also comes in a shampoo & conditioner form, uses organic Argan Oil from Morocco, which infuses hair with incredible managability, shine and a silky texture.  Similar to Moroccan Oil hair products, DermOrganic products are as instantly effective for your hair as they are safe for your body!  This month only, we'll include  a free trial size DermOrganic Argan Oil Treatment with any DermOrganic purchase! And because we loves these products so much we can't STAND it, we're offering $5 off selected colors of Blinc (Kiss Me) Mascara & Eyeliners!  These never-budge, never-run, wash-off eye makeup products are staff favorites.  We can't get enough of them! [caption id="attachment_475" align="alignright" width="112" caption="Blinc Mascara"][/caption] Our favorite cuticle oil to date- Creative Nail Solar Oil- comes in a super handy throw-in-your-purse balm style product that we never leave home without.  This month, we'll toss in this miracle worker ($10 value!) for free with any $40 CND purchase.  Now how about that!  Really... you can't pass this up. Get more information about these and our other monthly specials here!  For the month of September, you can find the following specials at Beauty of a Site:

• Selected Get Fresh Products 50% off
• Free Solar Balm with any $40 CND purchase
• Selected Urban Apothecary Cosmetics 50% off!
• Selected Qtica Gift Bags 20% off
• Free Oil Treatment with any DermOrganic Purchase

Click here to visit our monthly specials page!

Sun screen is something we've been smearing all over ourselves since the time we were infants. We feel good about protecting ourselves from sun damage, but rarely pause to consider what exactly we're putting on our skin; what exactly we're allowing our skin to absorb. [caption id="attachment_347" align="alignleft" width="92" caption="Azur Sunscreen, SPF 30 & 40"][/caption] Sunscreens include powerful sun-blocking ingredients that, while being extremely effective at protecting our skin, can be absorbed into our systems and cause some serious damage.  Ranging from free radical damage, disruption of hormone activity and potentially carcinogenic activity, chemicals like oxybenzone, avobenzone, octocrylene & octinoxate found in many sunscreens might hurt your skin worse than a sun burn! Don't worry... we have a solution!  We're really excited about Azur sunscreen, an all-natural, mineral based sunscreen that is 100% chemical free- and effective!  Loaded with important vitamins & moisturizing aloe vera, this luxurious sunscreen attributes its effectiveness to using a physical instead of a chemical barrier against UV radiation.  What a good idea. If you're interested in ordering some Azur sunscreen, click here.  We'd love to send you some.

I've always been told that eating an apple will wake you up much faster than a cup of coffee. Whether that's true or not, nothing's more of a pick me up than a fresh orange in the middle of the afternoon! What is it about fruit that's so exciting? We're not quite sure about the specifics, but we know that when we're suffering from mid-afternoon laziness, fruit is the perfect summer-y pick me up. Here's some tips for getting some fruit-y wonderfulness into your routine:

• Toss a lemon in with your water.  Not only will the little citrus improve taste, but your water bottle looks so much sunnier!
• Wear a bright fruity nail polish shade on your toes.  When you slip off your heels in the afternoon, you can enjoy your OPI Banana Bandana pedicure!
• Add a cherry red accessory to classic black clothes or the perfect orange accent.  Those bright, fruity shades can be truly chic- and so fun!
• Snack on grapes at your desk.  Easy clean-up, easy to eat and necessitates no quick swallowing when the phone rings!
• Throw on some fruity lip balm.  Agatha Ruiz' Tutti Fruity is the perfect pick-me-up.
• Wear a fruity lotion on your hands that is fun enough to give your cubicle, car or bathroom a little extra flavor, but not overpowering to your coworkers, dentist or students.  We suggest California Mango Natural Lotion.  Mmmm.

Check out Leonor Greyl this month for a free gift with purchase!

Although my favorite way to utilize coconuts involves Margarita mix and those cute little umbrellas, I have found an even better way to celebrate and treat myself to an extra special skincare treat. Essie’s new Naturally Clean Collection Purifying Hand Wash is infused with the ultra rich and uber healthy coconut oil. Did you know?

• Coconut oil is not only an anti-bacterial, its can be used as an anti-fungal and an anti-viral solution for problem areas on your skin. This is due to is unique properties that mimic the processes used by breast milk to protect babies from infection.
• Coconut oil stimulates your metabolism and aids in weight loss. Next time you’re at the grocery store pick up some macaroons, cream soups and crackers – they all contain a good amount of lauric acid (the good stuff found in coconut oil). If you’re feeling exceptionally frisky, try some coconut milk – it’s akin to the nuttier flavored soy milks but not sold in most supermarkets.
• Researchers are studying the beneficial effects of coconut oil in treating diseases such as HIV/AIDS, herpes, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, high cholesterol, influenza and certain types of cancer.
• Coconut oil based products are effortlessly perfect for any skin. They serve as a great moisturizer as well as aid in the treatment of psoriasis, dermatitis, and eczema. Finally, products containing coconut oil assist in your fight against aging, wrinkles, and sagging – the things we dread the most! Ah!

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="125" caption="Essie Naturally Clean Purifying Hand Wash"][/caption] Now that we know a little more about the advantages of coconut oil, it’s time to spring into action! Transitioning from winter to summer can dry skin out and cause unwanted, flaky irritations. We suggest trying Essie’s Naturally Clean Purifying Hand Wash – it’s new, it’s natural and it smells remarkable! Got any other splendid natural products made with coconut oil? Leave a comment and let us know what works for you!