Skin Savers: Carol's Daughter Body Products

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And for today's fun:

My ongoing battle against the cuir de crocodile has been very successful this winter. Carol's Daughter body products have been a great asset in this war, and it looks like I have another holy grail cream: their Shea Soufflé. While they offer several other good options, the soufflé is perfect in a Goldilocks way: not too thick, not too thin, just rich enough to feel satisfying and nurturing.

The regular lotion would probably work for everyone who needs good moisturizing without coating the skin too much. Be careful if you also use the hair milk: the bottles look exactly the same and I ended up with lotion in my hair on a couple of dark mornings when I was primping half asleep, not remembering that the hair products are the ones on the left side of my dresser.

The body butter in the flat tin is amazingly rich, but quite greasy. It forms an excellent protective barrier that would work great for those who spend longer periods of time outside than my regular dash from door to car. You need to be careful if you apply it before dressing up, because it would get on your clothes. This is why I prefer to use it for a quiet night at home, before putting on thick PJs. The next morning my skin feels extra soft. Another word of warning: the butters are chock full of natural ingredients, including the color of whatever fruit they are made of. The Mango Mélange has stained my sheets with its orange color. It washed off easily, but you should not use it around your white satins.

The shea soufflé was the most perfect of the three products I tested. Rich, creamy but very absorbent, feels luxurious, pampers the skin and leaves it in a very happy condition for the whole day. With 47% of natural butters and oils, no mineral oil or petroleum (two ingredients that always end up making my skin feel dry), it's fast becoming my favorite skin saver.

Curing a bad hair day- Carol's Daughter Hair Balm

Carol's Daughter hair products were originally created to answer the hair care needs of African American women , but they are excellent for anyone with thick, dry or unruly hair. The hair milk is one of my favorite leave-in treatments, so I was happy to try the hair balm.

I have a lot of hair. It's long, thick and you can't argue with it, just go along with whatever it's doing. Like a mythological beast, respect it, bring it an offering and it'll let you live. But sometimes I do have a bad hair day, which requires a little extra care. That's where the balm fits in.

All I need is a very small amount, not more than grape size, worked into the problem area. It moisturizes, smooths, detangles and takes care of any frizz. It took a few tries to figure out just how much my hair needs, because the balm is very rich, and while not really greasy, it can weigh my hair down too much.

The smell is very "hair salon" and almost nostalgic, but there's a whiff of patchouli that might bother some, which I actually thought was nice. It doesn't matter much, though, because you need to actually press your nose to my hair if you want to smell it. There's no sillage, thankfully, and it doesn't clash with my perfume.

Image: Rapunzel's Delight

Because we really need more lip gloss

Here's a challenge: How many tubes of lip gloss do you have, including the ones in your makeup drawer, cabinet, in the emergency stash in your office, in your car and in each and every purse, handbag and evening clutch? If you're me, you can't really tell. There's always another one hidden somewhere. You rarely get to actually finish a tube before purchasing another one and you're always (always!) in the market for something new.

Carol's Daughter Candy Paint glosses don't look like something new: The tubes are identical to Lancome's Juicy Tubes, and the concept of high-shine gloss with plenty of shimmer isn't a revelation, either. The exciting part about the product is the promise of being easy on the lips and providing extra nourishment through ingredients like shea butter and grape seed oil.

The glosses, although just a bit gritty from the shimmer particles, do deliver when it comes to comfort. They coat the lips lightly without being sticky or heavy, and feel very pleasant. I'm happy not having to report any incident of hair or food sticking to my lips.

I'm not too fond of the sugary candy smell, but it fades almost instantly, so I don't really mind. The shine and shimmer are very intense, to the point they'd appeal to a younger crowd. I'd still wear them happily for a night out and in the summer, just not for an elegant fall look. Another issue is the lasting power, which is quite poor. They fade within 90 minutes or a cup of tea, whichever comes first. However, they leave the lips feeling soft and healthy, so reapplying feels like you're doing yourself a nice favor.

The colors I tried are the ones you see in the picture above: Bossy (bright bronze shimmer) is less pigmented than it looks. Basically, it's an almost clear gloss with lots of gold particles. It looks great over other colors, but I'm keeping it in my evening bag. It's just too much for an autumn day. The second one, Grown and Sexy, is a light rose with gold shimmer. Somehow, the natural rose color tones down the golden flakes and make it much more wearable. It's pretty by itself and doesn't need a layer of color underneath. This one goes right into my day bag.

The glosses are available directly from the company's website or from Sephora (who have all the colors in stock, including the ones missing from Carol's Daughter current inventory, though as you can see, it's not really that exclusive). Speaking of Sephora, now until Sunday you can get free shipping on orders $25 and up, using the code FREESHIP25.

Nothing's Perfect

I've been using Carol's Daughter Hair Milk for the last three weeks, and my hair has never been happier. I needed to learn just how much product (how little, actually) should be used, because this stuff, despite it's milky consistency, is very rich and moisturizing. The old cliche- a little goes a long way- is very true in this case. I'm used to loading my hair with leave-in conditioners, but if I do the same thing here I'd get s super greasy and limp hair. It's amazing, but a dollop of this is all that my extremely long and thick hair needs to stay soft and frizz free.

Because of its weight, my hair is more wavy than curly. It needs lots of moisture. Hair Milk gives it exactly that, keeps it shiny, doesn't let it puff up, but still retains the shape of the long waves and ringlets, something that most products simply can't do.

It smells better than most creams and conditioners. I love the light lemongrass scent.

However, like many other hair products, I must keep it away from my hairline. Last week I wasn't paying attention and let a little lotion contact my skin. The result was a breakout along my hair line. Three unsightly pimples that required the return of my trusty pals- Laboratoire Remède Double Oxygenating Booster and Mario Badescu Healing Cream. As far as I'm concerned, those two are miracle workers. The former kills zits like nothing else I've ever come across, without the nasty drying and flaking that accompany most drugstore products. It might take more than a single application to eliminate a really bad one, but the first results are visible after one night.

The Healing Cream does exactly what it says. It takes care of the redness and heals the skin quickly, even after a really bad pimple. Results are quick and despite its sulfuric base it doesn't stink. While I replaced most of my Badescu cleansing products with a simpler routine, followed by my favorite moisturizer, the Healing Cream is something I must have on hand. It's a skin saver.

The bottom line is that I'm going to be much more careful from now on. Carol's Daughter Hair Milk is an excellent product and does exactly what it promises. It's a great solution for anyone with thick and curly hair, and a tiny amount would solve any dryness problem. However, its side effect for those of us with more sensitive skin can be unpleasant. Not a reason enough to give it up, just apply it v-e-r-y carefully.