The Best Beauty Products to Try this Fall

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I love trying new beauty products! I don't need a theme park with roller coasters for a thrill; just give me a bag of makeup. This summer, I tried a few products that I believe are must-haves in any beauty arsenal, regardless of your age: eye cream, skin exfoliator, a hair threader and pure, raw shea butter.

Eye Cream 

The skin around your eyes is thin and sensitive. At any age, you can experience dark circles, bags, dryness and puffiness. Using an eye cream twice a day -- in the morning and at night -- will help keep your eyes looking healthy and bright.

I recently tried the Age Defense Eye Cream by Body Merry. The cream has natural and organic ingredients, as well all peptides like Matrixyl-3000 and Tripeptide-5. In addition to helping prevent fine lines and wrinkles, it helps reduce their appearance.

The eye cream smells like Dr. Pepper. I liked that it contains natural ingredients and the formula was gentle enough that it didn't irritate my eyes. My skin absorbed the cream quickly, too.

Skin Exfoliator

I recently wrote about how and why to exfoliate your skin. Australian company Exfolimate brings you two exfoliators (one for your body and one for your face) that are unlike others offered on the market. Instead of scratchy sponges or lotions, the Exfolimate uses a thin piece of metal with micro-grooves that scrape away dead skin cells, dirt, oil and bacteria away from your skin. I use it in the shower, after I rinse off my soap and face wash.

Of all the exfoliators I've tried, the Exfolimate is the best. I use the larger exfoliator under my arms to remove deoderant and on my legs before shaving. The large exfoliator is also great on my feet!

The smaller exfoliator that comes in the Exfolimate kit is the best I've ever used on my face. It is the only exfoliator that has reduced the size of my pores and eliminated blackheads. The curves on the Exfolimate are small enough to fit along the tight spaces around my nose, making it better than a pore strip.

Hair Threader

Hair threader

One of the fastest ways to remove unwanted facial hair is with a hair threader, like the kind sold in the Facial Hair Remover Kit by Bella and Bear. The kit comes with a hair threader that's a tightly wound, flexible metallic spring and a set of tweezers.

To use the threader, you press the coil lightly against your skin and twist it. If you're not used to using such a contraption, it will hurt the first few time. But, just like your eyebrows and tweezers, your skin will get used to feeling. (You shouldn't try to use the hair threader on your eyebrows...unless you don't want any.)

The threader in the Bella and Bear kit works well, as do the tweezers. I like that the tweezers aren't dull, so they get some of the more stubborn hairs.

The only hesitation I have about the product is the "engrish" on the packaging: "People will stare, make it work [sic] their while." Just ignore it and you'll be fine.

Raw Shea Butter

Raw shea butter

I've always seen shea butter promoted on various products, but never appreciated its benefits until I tried the Raw Shea Butter from Cleopatra's Choice. Women in Ghana, Africa, produce this shea butter from the nuts of a shea tree.

Raw shea butter has similar benefits as coconut oil, but it is less likely to clog your pores. In my opinion, it feels less greasy. Shea butter's melting point is higher than coconut oil, so it stays hard until you rub it between your hands.

Raw Shea Butter is better than any other oil or lotion that I've tried on my feet. It absorbs into my skin quickly and lasts all day. My feet also don't feel slippery after I apply the shea butter, so they don't slide around in my sandals.

Stop buying lotions that have a tiny bit of shea butter. Go for the real thing and save money in the long-run with pure, raw shea butter.


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

This post contains affiliate links, meaning that I receive a small commission if you click on an Amazon.com link and make a purchase.  

How to Exfoliate and Get Smooth Skin

The following is an advertorial. I received the following products in exchange for my honest review.

This post contains affiliate links.

Whether you have sensitive skin or skin that's prone to breakouts, a simple skin care practice can help you achieve and maintain smooth skin and a healthy glow: exfoliating. There are hundreds of products on the market that will exfoliate your skin with ingredients like ground up peach pits, walnut shells, micro beads or salt, and they all serve a similar purpose.

Why You Should Exfoliate Your Skin

Exfoliating:

• Refines and smooths your skin's texture so it looks and feels soft. 
• Cleanses your skin while dislodging oil and dirt in your pores, breaks up white- and blackheads, and prevents acne.
• Increases blood flow to your face so your skin glows. 

How to Exfoliate Your Skin 

1. Wash your face with your favorite face scrub or cleanser. Washing your face before exfoliating helps get rid of excess bacteria on your face and prepares your skin.
2. Apply the exfoliating product to your skin. 
3. Rub the product onto your skin using a gentle, circular motion. You don't have to grind the product into your skin for it to be effective.
4. Rinse of the exfoliating product with warm water. 
5. Pat your face dry. 
6. Apply your favorite moisturizer. 

Since exfoliating can cause your face to have some normal temporary redness, I recommend that you exfoliate at night so you don't have to worry about applying makeup correctly. Plus, your face will look great in the morning.

If you have sensitive skin, exfoliate your skin once a week. Otherwise, exfoliate twice a week or as many times as the manufacturer recommends.

Natural Exfoliating Product

I like to exfoliate my skin. I like how the scratchy ingredients feel as they massage my skin. I swoon over how soft my skin feels afterward.

I recently tried the Adovia Exfoliating Facial Sea Salts. Unlike other exfoliating products, the jar only contains sea salt from the Dead Sea -- no cleanser or lotion to bind the salts together. This type of packaging ensures that the salts don't dissolve, I guess.

To apply the salts to my skin, I pressed my damp hands into the jar of salt and then rubbed the salt on my damp skin. The salts felt good on my skin and their smell reminded me of being at the beach. After I rinsed my skin, I felt (and smelled) like I just got out of the ocean.

You can mix a bit of the salts with a facial cleanser or coconut oil if you're afraid of the salt falling off your face. While I generally exfoliate my skin in the shower, I don't recommend bringing the jar of salt into the shower with you because they may get wet, which will ruin them.

After exfoliating, I moisturized my skin and applied Adovia's Mineral Eye Gel around my eyes. While I'm a big Adovia fan and like its skin care products, I can't say that I appreciate the eye cream. When I used it, the fumes or evaporating moisture from the cream greatly irritate my eyes for a few moments. A few moments is all it takes, however, to make me not use it around my eyes anymore, despite the benefits it offers. I guess my eyes are more sensitive than I thought.

So, I say "Yes"to the Exfoliating Facial Sea Salts and "Pass" to the eye cream. You can find both on Amazon.com.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. This post contains affiliate links, meaning that I receive a small commission if you click on an Amazon.com link and make a purchase.