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Teen Gift Ideas

*This post contains sponsored content and affiliate links*

For me, August is the month of Birthdays. Throw in some Back to School and end of Summer stuff and it’s just pure insanity! So, in honor of having my first official teenager this year, I put together a fun gift guide for my Girl.

Soo’AE

Skincare is super important for every teen girl. And what better way to kick off her teen beauty routine than with these awesome natural, vegan, cruelty-free, eco-friendly products from Soo’AE!

The face wash, face cream, and face masks are gentle and made with clean & green ingredients. So, they’re good for my daughter’s skin and good for the environment as well. I especially love that the masks are 95% natural!

We had a fun at home spa night with the masks and enjoyed hanging out with each other for a little while.

Spooky America

My kids LOVE ghost stories! Just as much as they love s’mores around a campfire.  And while I have no issues with them hearing / reading ghost stories, I do my best to make sure that these stories are age appropriate for them.

My daughter doesn’t know yet that there are 32 of these books and not just 2 – as soon as she figures that out, her Christmas list will be 30 books long…

My girls actually swiped these the minute they arrived and I had to go hunt them down just to photograph them (while the girls supervised so I didn’t “loose” any in my bedroom).

They told me that the stories aren’t really scary, but they’re very fun. And they want more of them. They’re also unwilling to let me borrow their books because they’re afraid I’ll keep them for myself!

These are definitely on my “need to buy the whole series” list!

Hogwarts Cookbook for Kids

I may or may not have been more excited about this cookbook than my daughter was. Though, my kids have been all about Harry Potter this summer! They had a friend at summer camp ask them about it and they all realized that they’ve never seen it.

So, our Summer family movie nights were all about Harry Potter. She was super excited about her new cookbook and has handed me a grocery shopping list a mile long!

So far, we’ve tried one of the sandwich recipes and everyone was thrilled with it.

 

Fidgets

My daughter was given an Amazon gift card for her birthday and guess what she rushed to buy? Fidgets! I had not idea that these things could come in this many different shapes, but there really is a lot of variety here.

And these days, when in doubt, a fidget for someone’s Birthday is the way to go!

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Valentia Pure Glow Brightening Moisturizer – Review


I received this product free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

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Valentia Pure Glow Brightening Moisturizer – A lightweight fast absorbing cream that illuminates skin while providing all-day hydration.

This Brightening Moisturizer Will:
– Lighten dark spots
– Restore skin radiance
– Even skin tone
– Diminish fine lines
– Provide all-day hydration

Specially selected ingredients work together to achieve optimum results.

KEY INGREDIENTS:

– Botanical Hyaluronic Acid: Floods skin with moisture, supports skin elasticity, and plumps skin from within.

– Kojic Acid: Controls melanin production and prevents dark spots.

– Ginseng: Boosts skin firming collagen, fights wrinkles, and gives the skin a brighter and more energized look.

– Safflower Oil: Repairs skin’s natural moisture barrier and provide superior skin protection.

– Shea Butter: Infuses skin with a myriad of vitamins and nutrients for superior skin hydration and nourishment.

MY RESULTS:

I just love Valentia! I’ve liked every product of theirs that I’ve tried and this one is no exception. It is lightweight, absorbs quickly, and is easy to rub on to my face. The bottle is easy to use, and I don’t have any trouble getting exactly the amount of moisturizer that I want to use.

I can apply makeup over this moisturizer without a problem and my face stays moisturized throughout the day.

It has practically no scent, which I just love in my facial moisturizer.

Valentia uses natural ingredients and the Valentia Pure Glow Brightning Moisturizer is working great on my skin. My face is moisturized, soft, clear, and bright. I’m loving this moisturizer.

For beauty tips and ideas you can check out Valentia on Instagram and Facebook.

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Valentia Clear Lift Revitalizing Serum – Review

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Valentia Clear Lift Revitalizing Serum – A potent and luxurious lactic acid serum that supports natural circulation for an all over youthful and refreshed complexion.

This Revitalizing Serum Will:
– Renew texture & tone
– Deeply moisturize
– Minimize fine lines
– Increase elasticity
– Brighten & Plumbs Fine Lines
– Evens Hyperpigmentation

All Valentia products are made with Natural & Organic Ingredients. They are specially selected to work together to achieve optimum results.

KEY INGREDIENTS:

– Wakame Bioferment (Seaweed): Increases skin oxygen consumption to detoxify and boost antioxidant defense.

– Gotu Kola: Lessens the appearance of scars and increases skin firmness.

– Lactic Acid: A natural Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA) that increases skin cell turnover, for healthier renewed skin.

– Licorice: Lightens unwanted pigmentation and corrects skin discoloration.

– Argan Oil: Naturally rich in Vitamin E, this oil reduced water loss and protects skin’s resiliency and elasticity.

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I followed the directions and applied this product in the evening.

  1. Wash and dry face
  2. Apply Serum
  3. Let serum dry (doesn’t take long)
  4. Use your favorite nighttime creme or lotion

Super easy. This serum does a great job of toning and moisturizing my face. And applying it right before my moisturizer helps my skin absorb more moisture.

Some nighttime products leave my skin feeling greasy in the morning, but this Valentia Clear Lift Revitalizing Serum was not a problem. In fact, my skin feels more moisturized and less greasy when I use this with my favorite nighttime moisturizer than it does if I use just the moisturizer without this serum.

The bottle has a pump that is easy to use and I love how the bottle is just the right size for storing in my bathroom cabinet.

I also love that this product is cruelty free, made in the USA, and includes organic and natural ingredients. Makes me feel like I’m doing something good for my skin.

Check out more Valentia products on their website, and follow them on Instagram and Facebook for updates and tips.

I received this product free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

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evian® Facial Spray Review


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The exquisitely fine mist produced by evian® Brumisateur® penetrates and rehydrates the upper layers of the skin. evian® water has a unique mineral balance along with exceptional purity which suits all skin types, even the most sensitive. Leaves skin looking healthy and feeling refreshed. Dermatologically tested. The leak-proof canister is the ideal product to take on-the-go in any purse or travel bag. Unlike other water sprays, Evian Spray is sealed at the source, so it can not be contaminated.

IMG_1111At first I was somewhat skeptical about spraying water on my face during a workout but after trying it, I’m quite impressed. The sprayer provides a gentle spray of mineral water mist that is instantly refreshing and cooling.

And, as you can see, my yoga usually involves the kids climbing under me during all the warrior and lunge poses. They also enjoy climbing ON me during poses such as down dog or when I’m doing push-ups. Definitely adds to the challenge!

I enjoyed the rejuvenating spray of the mineral water even while the kids were “aiding” my exercise.

I also dropped this in my gym bag and took it to the gym with me, but pictures at my gym aren’t really encouraged so no pictures from there. It was awesome to have along there. When I got back to my locker after my yoga class I sprayed some on before picking up the kids to go swimming, so nice!

The instructions say you can dab any excess off after a few seconds but it soaks in pretty quickly so I haven’t had to do this. I guess my skin needs lots of hydration while I’m working out!

I also tried it while doing yard work. I set it next to my water bottle and whenever I went and got a drink of water I would use some evian Facial Spray at the same time. Worked great and made my yard-work breaks doubly refreshing.

For more information check out their website Evianspray.com or visit their facebook page.

I received this product free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

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Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel

Thanks to Influenster for the awesome product to try and review!

First of all Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel is blue, and blue is my favorite color. I like to coordinate all my stuff in blue. My office supplies, bathroom supplies, etc. So I have blue sewing scissors, a blue tape measure, blue hairbrush, blue eyeshadow (actually, I just like this shade, but my blue is my favorite!), blue pens, etc. And now, I have blue face moisturizer!

IMG_20150227_085315200Enough of the blue. The only thing I don’t love about this product is it has a slight perfume smell. It goes away after I rub it all in and it’s really mild so it’s not really a reason I wouldn’t use this product. And it’s not a bad smell, I just don’t understand why it’s there. And it’s a bit different than the smell I’m used to from my olay face lotion so I wasn’t expecting it the first time.

As for the product itself, I love it! It rubs in quickly, and it feels a little cool (temperature) going on which is always nice in the morning – I need all the help I can get to wake up!. I have never used a face gel so I was very curious to see how this product differed from my usual face lotion. After just a week of using it, I don’t plan on going back to my lotion.

I have pretty clear, just slightly oily skin, so I don’t need anything special, but I am constantly fighting having oily skin by my nose and dry skin on my cheeks. If I use more lotion my cheeks are great my my nose just gets more oily. If I use less my nose is great and the rest of my skin dries out.

All that to say, I’m constantly looking for a product that will solve this problem, I just never thought to use a face gel. I’m so happy with this Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel. It give my entire face all the moisture I need without causing any oily skin! Just the combination I needed. After a week of using it, my face looks more moisturized and more healthy than it ever has.

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel is a great product, it works really well on my skin, and it’s blue! I would recommend this product to anyone who’s looking for a new facial moisturizer, especially if you have combination skin like I do.

I received this product free for purposes of my review, all opinions are my own. @Neutrogena, @Influenster, #BehindTheGlow, #Neutrogena, #contest

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Burt’s Bees Natural Skincare

My latest product test from BzzAgent has been Burt’s Bees Natural Skin Solutions for Sensitive Skin. They sent me two full sized products. A face cleanser and a face lotion. I was in the market for a new face lotion so I was really excited to try this out!

I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks and I’m really happy with it. After my second child I’d been having trouble with my face breaking out, and I’ve never had trouble with this before. And the Burt’s Bees Natural face cleanser and lotion haven’t given me any trouble. My face has completely cleared up. And it’s gentle enough that I even let my child try it out on her face when I’m doing mine.

At $15 a bottle they’re affordable and I plan to buy more when I use up my current bottles of product.

Want to discover more about Burt’s Bees®? Head to burtsbees.com/sensitive to find a complete product list (for your whole body), special offers, and information about Burt’s Beest.