September 21, 2016September 20, 2016 Shell and Shine1 Comment 8653 views

Shell & Shine! One Year Old!

One Year Old!

Holy Cow Time Flies! We are just about to celebrate our one year anniversary here at Shell & Shine! I’m so exstatic! I am also very grateful to all of you who have been reading, commenting, and reaching out.

I have been busy making some skin-care packages for a few besties (eeehum… like people who live on remote Alaskan islands! You know how you are!). But I haven’t forgotten you!

Goodie Goodie!

In honor of how completely kick-ass you all are, I have a skin-care goodie bag for one lucky winner, to be picked at random on October 3rd (2016). It is jam-packed with samples of all of my favorite products and some things I’ve made myself.

How To Enter?

How do you enter? Great question! Go to my website (shellandshine.com) OR my Facebook page and subscribe or follow and you will be entered for the drawing. Do both? And you get entered twice! Whaaaaat?!? Two chances to win!! That’s right 🙂 That’s how much I love you.

So subscribe on the site and follow me on facebook. I want to give this goody bag to you!

I am so sincerely thankful to have shared my online journey with you thus far. Here is to another year 🙂

February 23, 2016 Shell and ShineLeave a comment 2344 views

J&J must pay $72 million for cancer death linked to talcum powder

J&J must pay $72 million for cancer death linked to talcum powder. Yikes! If you weren’t already convinced that you should pay attention to the chemicals in your skin/beauty products, than maybe this will be interesting for you.

Besides the specifics of this case, Reuters reports:

Johnson & Johnson faces several hundred lawsuits claiming that it, in an effort to boost sales, failed for decades to warn consumers that its talc-based products could cause cancer.

Read the full article on Reuters.com.

November 6, 2015November 3, 2015 Shell and ShineLeave a comment 4171 views

Weekend Inspiration ~ Make-up Mastery

Love these make-up looks from Refinery29’s slideshow! Putting this on the weekend to-do list 🙂

More make-up looks here on their website.

October 22, 2015October 27, 2015 Shell and Shine1 Comment 2716 views

GoodGuide.com tells you what’s what.

How Healthy Are My Beauty Products?

I love trying new products but like to be conscious of the ingredients before I put something on my skin. Truth be told, sometimes it feels tedious to read all of the ingredients and keep all of the information straight on what to avoid in your products when you’re excited about a new lipstick color. For this reason, I love, love, love, the GoodGuide website.

GoodGuide.com was started in 2007 by one of the world’s leading academic experts on global supply chains, Dara O’Rourke. Dara is a professor of environmental and labor policy at the University of California at Berkeley and tracks product lifecycles from extraction to disposal. Aside from the toxic aspects of many products on the market, some of them have other hidden and often disturbing costs such as unfair labor practices or poor working conditions in the manufacturing process. This site tries to take all of these factors into account.

Rate My Products

The database is set up to help you search through products before you purchase them and know what you are getting. GoodGuide.com is a great way to make sure what you buy is healthy, green and socially responsible. Their rating system is 0-10 (with 10 being the best score for a product) and is based on a comprehensive set of health, social and environmental issues.

Good-Guide-Ratings

This website is a fantastic resource and I use it frequently. You can find it at GoodGuide.com and start researching your favorite products right now. With over 200,000 cataloged items, I’m sure you’ll find your products and maybe some healthy alternatives!

October 19, 2015October 27, 2015 Shell and ShineLeave a comment 2266 views

Make-up by An

Wow. Just a quick note here about Make-up by An YouTuber. I have been mezmerized for a couple of hours just watching her eye makeup tutorials. Specifically this one using the Toofaced Stardust eyepallette. I would love to try and give these looks a go with an organic line.

Also worth checking out- An’s Snapchat Q&A. Sometimes these tutorials can start to feel pretty ‘faceless’ if you will. I really enjoyed watching this video and it made her that much more endearing.

October 19, 2015October 27, 2015 Shell and Shine2 Comments 2625 views

A Real Healthy Glow – Living Luminizer

Living Luminizer from RMS Beauty

I love finding great beauty products and what’s more, I love finding natural beauty products that really deliver. I try to stay away from some chemical products and excess packaging, but let’s face it, sometimes a gal wants to get dolled-up! One of my make-up bag staples that I can use when getting dressed to the nines or just add a little pizazz to that au’ natural look is living luminizer from RMS Beauty. I first learned of this company on Lauren Singer’s ‘Trash is for Tossers’ website (You’ve got to check it out if you are into that sorta thing. She’s got great ideas for living a zero waste lifestyle).

Rose-Marie-Swift-RMS-Beauty RMS-Beauty-Products

About RMS Beauty

The RMS beauty collection is fantastic. Most of their ingredients are organic and have packaging that is 100% recyclable/reusable. The company, started by Rose Marie Swift a few years ago, developed as a response to the toxic chemicals found in most beauty products. After 20 years as a make-up artist, Swift began to develop health problems due to the toxic levels of heavy metals contained in the products we slather on our skin every day!

Get that Glow!

I tried several products from the RMS arsenal and have quite a few favorites. The front-runner by far is the Living Luminizer. I can’t go through an entire day wearing this without having someone remark on how healthy my skin looks. It gives you the dewy glow of a highlighter without looking heavy or powdery. This highlighter also feels light and moisturizing.

Where do I buy Living Luminizer?

Depending on where you live, it can be a bit of a challenge to find a local store. This makes it a little tough to try colors and products before you purchase. Have no fear! There are real people working behind this website and are very helpful and responsive to requests. Along with my first order, I wrote them a little email asking for a few small samples of other things I wanted to try and VOLIA! There they were with my order.

You can find the Living Luminizer here on the RMS website for $38. It is a little on the pricey side, but after having this in my stable of products for more than 6 months, I can assure you, this satiny-pearl highlighter will last you for years. Works great with all skin tones, easy to apply and feels great all day.