Moonstruck in Jersey's Blog

March 9, 2013

African Black Soap

Filed under: Health,Skincare — moonstruckinjersey @ 8:59 AM
Tags: Nubian Heritage

Every winter, whether I lived in the Northeast or the South, I developed dry skin like everyone else. I have now probably spent a thousand dollars trying to sooth and stop the dryness.

Some of the products were sticky and smelly, but worked – I’d rather suffer – and others smelled wonderful and absorbed quickly, but did absolutely nothing to help the dryness.

Two months ago I was reading an article about how African Black Soap was helpful for eczema. I thought eczema or winter skin, dry is dry and feels and looks awful. So…………

Nubian Heritage makes a line of products that I use and enjoy – body washes, body lotions and soaps – all natural. I tried their African Black Soap about five weeks ago and had positive results with the first use forward. No more dry, itchy skin and the scent is clean with a hint of sandalwood.

It is so good and my husband is hooked as well.

Peace

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March 2, 2013

supersmile

Filed under: Beauty — moonstruckinjersey @ 3:12 PM
Tags: QVC

Everyone loves white teeth and we have so many options – professional whitening and many, many OTC configurations – but many of us cannot use most of these products because of sensitivity. I am certainly one of those people and I was so excited when I found a whitening pen that I could use and it worked. Now I have found something else.

For the last month I have used supersmile which is a whitening toothpaste and accelerator I saw presented on QVC. I purchased the icy mint flavor and I really like it, but the amazing part was that approximately 2 weeks+ later I had white teeth, many shades beyond where I started. I had thought my teeth were looking pretty good, and they were, but this certainly bumped it up.

The toothpaste is not meant for children under six as it has fluoride, but it tastes great and it is non abrasive and it works. Healthy teeth and gingiva, fresh breath and white teeth – you must brush your teeth a least twice daily so why not whiten at the same time?

More expensive then drug store toothpaste, but lasts months as you only need a pea size to brush with. A great product.

Peace

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February 18, 2013

Kate Somerville Quench Hydrating Mask

Filed under: Beauty,Skincare — moonstruckinjersey @ 6:46 PM
Tags: Kate Somerville, NuFace, Trump Soho

Find at: www.sephora.com (or Trump Soho) $45.00

Details:

A moisturizing and calming treatment that leaves skin soft and smooth. You will notice instant hydration and suppleness. The Advanced Moisture Complex, with hyaluronic acid, pulls moisture deep into skin cells, helping to soften and plump.

Use:

1-2 times per week
apply thin layer to clean, dry skin
leave on for 5-10 minutes
remove with warm water
follow with moisturizer

Bottom Line:

This is the second product recommended to me by the esthetician at the Trump Soho Spa. I use it 2x per week after using the Glycolic Polisher. Because I own and faithfully use NuFace, the esthetician told me to use Quench in place of the gel normally used with NuFace and it would enhance both treatments. The NuFace absolutely glided beautifully during the treatment and the current produced by the NuFace allowed the mask to penetrate the skin quickly and deeply as well as “lift” my face. It was wonderful!

If you all have a chance, please Google NuFace, and know that it delivers.

Back to Quench…another Kate Somerville product that I really like more and more as I continue to use it. My skin feels refreshed, hydrated and amazingly soft. It also looks beautiful.

Expensive, yes, but it works and a little goes a very long way.

Peace

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February 11, 2013

WWJD

Filed under: Musings — moonstruckinjersey @ 6:53 PM

When I started blogging, I mentioned that once in a while I might go in another direction and voice an opinion or two. I am now stepping onto the soap box for just a few paragraphs.

I am a non practicing Catholic and there are many reasons for this, way too many to discuss here, but Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and the Pope, who is very hard line, is resigning at the end of the month and it got me thinking about a quick conversation I had a few days ago.

I commented to someone about Wednesday being Ash Wednesday and I asked what they were doing for Lent as the tradition is to give up something that you wouldn’t want to live without. I thought that perhaps it would be a good idea to do something positive, but I was reminded that the whole idea was that you should suffer. I am 60 years young and apparently, nothing has changed in that time.

Why do we continue to crucify Christ? Wasn’t once enough? I think we should remember what He did for us and remember what He directed – love one another as I have loved you.

If you want to suffer and offer that suffering up, then you should try to love someone you don’t like or God forbid, hate. Try being kind to someone you would not give the time of day to. It is so hard to have only positive things come out of your mouth! Do it for forty days, it will be so difficult that you will suffer, but maybe we will also learn and at the end of that time perhaps we all won’t be so nasty to each other. Maybe, just maybe, we could learn that we are ALL EQUAL in the eyes of God who created us in His image and no one, not one single one of us, has the right to judge another person.

If we are busy trying to do what Jesus would do in our own lives, we couldn’t possibly have time to try to control someone else’s life. It is so difficult, but we have to keep trying and I invite you to join me. If we all give it our best shot everyday who knows what could happen, right?

Peace

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February 4, 2013

Smileactives Teeth Whitening Pens

Filed under: Beauty — moonstruckinjersey @ 5:48 PM

I am reposting this because I want to tell you about a fabulous Valentine Offer from Smileactives.com.

Smileactives is offering FOUR pens for 29.95 and free shipping – this is an $80.00 value and great gifts for individuals and couples. I hope that you all will check it out and take advantage of this great buy.

I first posted this last August……….and I still love and use these pens. So simple and they work. Try them!

Every once in a while I find a product that makes me want to smile! Smileactives Teeth Whitening Pen Duo does just that.

We all want white teeth and for heavy duty whitening you might want to see your dentist for custom made trays, but for an effective and convenient way to whiten, this pen is the way to go.

“ Some participants in the clinical trial saw results in as little as two days. Full results will take longer depending on the type of teeth staining you have. In a clinical trial, after just three weeks of use, the pen whitened teeth an average of five shades, with some participants seeing up to 10 shades of whitening.”

The gel dries onto the teeth so there is not need for strips or trays. Each pen lasts about 3 weeks when used twice daily. Nothing else required.

To use the pen: take of the cap and twist the opposite end until a drop of gel is visible, with a brand new pen, it will take several twists to see the gel. Apply a thin layer of gel on the upper and lower teeth and allow to dry for a few seconds. Recap the pen and you are done.

Do not eat or drink anything for at least 20 minutes.

I have been using Smileactives for the last 6 months and I love, love, love the system! Did I mention I love this pen?

I saw results using twice a day in just two days; so, I started using it the max of 4 times per day for the first pen only. This got me exactly where I wanted to be. I now use two pens approximately per month at 2 times daily and I love how my teeth look – white, but natural, which is exactly what I was looking for. Also, I had no sensitivity, which was always a problem for me with the OTC strips.

Another plus for me was that I could speak, which is almost impossible with whitening strips, so you absolutely can use the pen at your convenience and no one knows.

Love, love, love!

I hope you will too!

Peace

QVC.com – $27.50

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January 26, 2013

Kate Somerville Micro Glycolic Polisher

Filed under: Beauty,Skincare — moonstruckinjersey @ 9:48 AM
Tags: Kate Somerville, Trump Soho

Find at (or Trump Soho): www.sephora.com, $90.00

Details:

A treatment peel that resurfaces and restores skin. It uses lactic and glycolic acids to promote skin cell turnover without abrasion.

To Use

– 2-4 pumps (I use 2) on a cotton pad and apply to clean, dry skin

– leave on for 2-5 minute

– remove with warm water, follow with moisturizer ( if using in AM, also apply sunscreen as the product may increase skin sensitivity to the sun and possibility of sunburn)

The Bottom Line:

This product was one of two recommended to me by an esthetician at the Trump Soho Spa. I told her that I did not use this type of product as no matter which line I had tried, I always had sensitivity and sometimes real discomfort.

Kate Somerville is the line used at the spa and the esthetician said she had recommended the Glycolic Polisher to many of her clients with the same issue I was describing and that all of them had good results. I love using new product so I gave it a try and I love it. I have had no sensitivity and my skin is amazingly smooth. I have some very small, hardly noticeable (except by me) bumps on my forehead, well actually, I had because they are gone after three weeks. I am hoping that after continued use that the slight sun damage on my face will lighten. I also love the fact that my foundation goes on beautifully and just looks like dewy skin.

Expensive product, but worth it because it actually works.

I will be writing soon about the second product that was recommended and I purchased to use along with the Glycolic Polisher.

Peace

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January 18, 2013

Addiction

Filed under: Beauty — moonstruckinjersey @ 1:11 PM
Tags: New Beauty Magazine, QVC

I am sitting here working on our taxes to eventually send to the accountant – ugh – and I decided I needed a little back ground noise, so I turned on the television. Lucky me, QVC is having a 25 hour beauty event.

I want to try everything! This is my addiction – I love to try different products and I need to give kudos to the Q because not only do they delve into each product giving you all the details – what it is, what is in the product, how to use it and the clinicals, but you have thirty days, sometimes ninety days, to try and then return if the product is not for you. On top of all that, they have cutting edge products. If it is in New Beauty Magazine, it has probably launched on QVC. More and more companies are choosing to introduce new products on QVC.

This affords me, and thousands of others, to try so many more products then we would normally be able as most of us do not have discretionary income. No department store, no matter how high end, takes back an empty bottle within thirty days. This is a stand out opportunity for all of us that love to explore the beauty world from head to toe to do it.

Turn on your television or go to dot com and check it out.

Peace

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January 12, 2013

Nails, Nails, Nails

Filed under: Nails — moonstruckinjersey @ 8:06 AM
Tags: Gellish, OPI, Revlon

I have written a few blogs about nail polish, who hasn’t? We all love, love, love!

I wore acrylics for almost two decades and then went back to natural nails. Very rarely wore color on the natural nails because, in my opinion, there is nothing uglier then chipped nail polish.

When gels came into vogue, the salon where I am a client offered OPI gel polish. I tried it and liked the idea behind it, but I did not get the “at least two weeks” wear I was expecting. It was too expensive for me to do more then every two weeks and the removal was not exactly helping my already cracked and dry hands. Whether I soaked in acetone or wrapped the nails in acetone, the gels still took up to thirty minutes plus to remove. So, I stopped and went back to natural nails.

I then found a top coat by Revlon that extended my polish life to about five days without chips. This was perfect for me and much less expensive.

This past Fall, the salon added Gellish to its menu and, of course, I had to try. It is like wearing nail polish, but better. It goes on in thin coats and looks like regular polish and it does not add ugly thickness to your nails. It stays super shiny and best of all, I get a full two weeks without any lifting or chipping. It also comes off in ten minutes with nail wraps which uses minimal acetone. Colors are on trend with lots to choose.

I really like this product and I am still getting Gellish every two weeks. Give it a try, but remember whether you use regular polish, acrylics, gels, etc, give your nails a break once in a while and always use lots of oil no matter what you wear on your nails to nourish the nail and cuticles.

Peace

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January 9, 2013

Pretty Hands

Filed under: Beauty,Health — moonstruckinjersey @ 10:58 AM
Tags: Vaseline

I have hand eczema – I had never heard of it, but apparently I have been suffering with it all my life.

My hands crack and bleed from October through March. They have done this for my whole life. When I was a child, my mother used to slather my hands with butter and cover them with white cotton gloves and that is how I would sleep and heal – a little.

As an adult I have tried many prescriptions and OTC remedies and nothing worked. I have probably spent thousands of dollars by now, but spent months with ugly, painful hands. I have used gloves when doing dishes and they protected my hands from the hot water, but that was it.

When I searched the Internet I found out that I have hand eczema and the fix was super easy – petroleum jelly, cotton gloves and vinyl or latex ( if you don’t have an allergy ) examination gloves.

Cotton gloves with the petroleum jelly – I like tried and true Vaseline – overnight and the vinyl or latex gloves during the day as much as possible. They are very inexpensive so you can use multiple sets during the day for various tasks. Use them when preparing raw food so bacteria will not enter the tiny open wounds on the hands. I also found out that when handling foods like fish or onion they are perfect – trash the gloves and trash the smell!

I started doing this right after Thanksgiving as the holiday season is very difficult for me. Ugly and painful. This very simple solution worked beautifully with no cracks, no bleeding and my cuticles looked great.

I you suffer the same symptoms, give it a try. Simple, inexpensive and it works. Pretty hands, no pain.

Peace

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January 4, 2013

Gluten Free, Soy Free Apple Crumble

Filed under: Recipes — moonstruckinjersey @ 5:07 PM
Tags: thebestfoodblog.com

Fall is here, and if you live in the North East like I do then you know that Apples are in season. Apples, Pumpkins, Cinnamon, and Corn are all over the place, so naturally I started to crave the comfort of Apple Pie. Well not really the pie but those soft, cinnamon-y Apples inside the pie. So that being said, I am happier with a crumble than a pie. Not to mention I hate to bake, so a crumble is much more my speed.

I fell victim to my cravings today, and the picture above shows that I have no regrets!
In the spirit of health I cut out the bad stuff because the more I do that, the more I realize we don’t need it. Mind you, I still kept real sugar in there, but it was organic. Does that count?

What I did was follow this recipe, but switched out things to make it gluten, soy, and dairy free;
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dave-lieberman/apple-crumble-recipe/index.html.
Admittedly it is not the best recipe out there, but again, I do not bake, and it was real easy to follow.

I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour, and I used their Gluten Free Oats too. I also took the butter out and used Earth Balance dairy free and soy free “butter”.

Otherwise I followed it.
What I would change is that I would add more Cinnamon. And not only Cinnamon. I would also add Nutmeg and maybe even Clove.
The amount of Cinnamon that this recipe called for was not enough.
I also took the nuts out of the recipe and replaced them with shredded Coconut.

It was really quite perfect when all was said and done. I also added a big scoop of So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk Ice Cream.

So far out of the 4 ramekins I made, I have eaten 2. But today is not over! 🙂

Let me know if you make it and what you change along the way! Hey! Don;t forget to add the love too!

XOXO -P

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Moonstruck in Jersey's Blog

March 9, 2013

African Black Soap

March 2, 2013

supersmile

February 18, 2013

Kate Somerville Quench Hydrating Mask

February 11, 2013

WWJD

February 4, 2013

Smileactives Teeth Whitening Pens

January 26, 2013

Kate Somerville Micro Glycolic Polisher

January 18, 2013

Addiction

January 12, 2013

Nails, Nails, Nails

January 9, 2013

Pretty Hands

January 4, 2013

Gluten Free, Soy Free Apple Crumble

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