We all know that smiling has many benefits. For one, it simply puts you in a better mood (try smiling and being unhappy–it DOESN’T work!), it conveys positive energy to others, it makes you feel less stressed and it makes you look younger (the best no-cost anti-aging product ever.) And when you’re in love, love someone or feel loved: you smile.

VITACARE, my favorite whitening, vitamin-infused oral care brand (and recent winner of Delicious Living’s 2012 Beauty & Body Awards), wants to see those healthy, happy smiles this Valentine’s Day.  SMILES YOU LOVE kicks off today and ends on Valentine’s Day. When you participate, you’ll be entering yourself AND your loved one to win a VITACARE Smile Makers gift pack worth $21 (each)…but honestly, isn’t a healthy smile priceless?

(1) VITACARE Multicare Toothpaste (Your choice of Acai Mint, Pomegranate Mint or Key Lime Mint)
(1) VITACARE Multicare Alcohol-free Mouthwash (in Key Lime Mint)
(3) VITACARE Whitening Gum (1 of each flavor)
(1) VITACARE Eco-Friendly Toothbrush

To be entered to win, you must Like VITACARE on Facebook and post a picture of the person whose SMILE YOU LOVE on VITACARE’s fan page wall (and don’t forget to tag your loved one in the photo!) Optional: Follow VITACARE on Twitter too! (On both Facebook and Twitter you can find them as @vitacareworld.) To enter you must be 18+ and live in the US. There are no cash substitutions and void where prohibited. Winner announced on February 15th. Like and follow via the entry form below and add the photo to VITACARE’s Facebook. Good luck!

*Disclosure

Shannon Nelson

Shannon Nelson launched A Girl's Gotta Spa! in 2005. She currently works with beauty brands as a social media consultant, freelance writes for magazines and is a public speaker at beauty industry conferences.

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Most of you, if not all, are probably very familiar with this scenario. You plan on having a great Saturday night out on the town with your girls.  Maybe dinner, followed by dancing.  You get all dolled up, the hair, the outfit, the makeup are flawless and you just know you’re going to look amazing in pictures.  At the beginning of the night you’re completely psyched because, you in fact do look pretty great, but as the night wears on you have to make it a point to approve anything before it gets posted to any one of the gazillion social networking sites because you’ve noticed your makeup has started to melt and wear off and you’re bordering on “hot mess” territory.  I’ve definitely been there and yes making multiple trips to the ladies room for touch ups is always an option, but unfortunately the only thing you can touch up is your powder and lip because that teeny clutch only has so much room. Besides, who wants to take a break from dancing to “Single Ladies”  to go touch up their makeup?

Well now, thanks to an awesome product from Skindinavia, you can continue tweaking out on the dance floor with your girls.

The product is called Makeup Finishing Spray and it is amazing.  It extends makeup wear, maintains color and prevents your makeup from slipping, melting and creasing and feels really refreshing on your skin.  I decided to test the spray out by applying my makeup then  hitting the gym (I know not good for my pores, but I wanted to see how it would hold up.)  The spray definitely held up to it’s claims. My workout sessions are pretty intense and I sweat like crazy but my makeup did not budge, it was pretty insane.

I know if it helped my makeup to stay put through an intense workout session it will definitely keep it flawless for a night out on the town.  I love this spray so much I use it even when I am not wearing any makeup because it prevents my skin from looking overly oily.  On my next night out, my friends will be free to snap and post to their hearts content and I won’t mind one bit because I know Skindinavia will have my back. Have you used this product?

Gail Lewis

Gail is at times a model, most of the time a blogger, but always a beauty junkie.

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By now you all know how much those of us here at A Girl’s Gotta Spa! adore spa treatments, we practically live for them.  But we can all agree that spa treatments are not always budget friendly, so I am always looking for ways to get the results of spa treatments without shelling out a fortune. Lately I’ve been experimenting with a few DIY at home (or in the sauna at the gym) spa treatments and I thought I would share two of my favorites with you.  I do have to warn you that you may get strange looks from a few people…just be prepared.

I love getting weekly deep conditioning treatments for my hair, but at about $50 per treatment and add in the  cost of haircuts and coloring–and I would be devoting a good portion of my monthly income to my hair. So instead of going to the salon for deep conditioning treatments, I cart my deep conditioning treatments  with me to the gym on the days I plan on using the sauna. While in the sauna I just apply whatever deep conditioning treatment I feel like my hair needs that week (a restructuring mask, hydrating treatment or nourishing oil) to my hair, wrap it in a towel and just sit there for 10-15 minutes and let the heat do its work.

Another treatment I do while in the sauna is a face mask (again either hydrating, deep cleansing or exfoliating.)  I wait until about 5-10 minutes before I plan on getting out of the sauna then apply the mask.  My favorite to apply while in the sauna is the Kate Somerville Exfolikate Intensive Exfoliating Treatment because I have noticed a big difference between using this in the sauna and just using it at home.  Yes, it tingles more because the heat loosens the debris in my pores a lot more than just using it at home. My skin also looks and feels cleaner and brighter after I use this treatment in the sauna.

Whenever I use the sauna at the gym I always leave feeling a lot more relaxed and cleansed…very similar to the feeling I get when I leave the spa.  So combine that feeling of relaxation with a few mini sauna beauty treatments and you’ve almost got yourself a bonafide spa experience…minus the plush robes, soothing music and so on, but you’ll have better looking hair and skin without the spa price tag.  Just don’t say I didn’t warn you about  the perplexed looks might receive from a few people.

Gail Lewis

Gail is at times a model, most of the time a blogger, but always a beauty junkie.

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From the time I was allowed to wear makeup…actually even before then, I have always longed to wear red lipstick.  I have always associated red lipstick with being a  grown up as well as as being sophisticated.  I have been experimenting with red lipsticks since I was sixteen years old and have never found a shade of red that I truly, madly, deeply loved and could not live without.  Either they were too light or dark, sometimes after a while the red would start looking bright pink on my lips or worse yet, orange. Sometimes they just had too much shine and I am not particularly keen on shiny red lips…my lips are not Angelina Jolie’s size, but they are still pretty full. Shiny red lips have a tendency to make me look cartoonish or worse yet, like the female Gremlin in Gremlins 2 (just Google it and you’ll see what I mean!)

So for about a decade into my makeup wearing stage I have tried numerous red lipsticks without success and had given up until just recently.  With red lipstick seemingly being the item du jour lately, my longing for that perfect shade of red returned, plus Valentine’s Day is right around the corner so visions of myself in a pink dress with red lips were swimming in my head. I decided to visit my happy place…also known to many as Sephora.

Before heading to Sephora I decided to do some research and Googled the best red lipsticks for my skin tone.  I had already tried a lot of the red lipsticks that came up in my search results, but for some reason had never given NARS a try. I wanted a matte red lipstick that would look great on my brown skin.It actually did not take me very long to find the lipstick I craved…OK actually it ended up being a lip pencil.  Once I tried NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella I knew my search was finally over.  The Velvet Matte Lip Pencil is a lip pencil and lipstick combined into one very easy to apply crayon.  The color is absolutely beautiful and I do not need to line my lips before applying it nor does it bleed.  I love that there is absolutely no shine to this lip pencil so my lips end up with a velvety look and texture…almost like a rose.

Since I bought the lip pencil I have been wearing it on a consistent basis…not just out at night, but also during the day with just jeans and a t-shirt and my red lips never manage to look out of place.  I cannot wait to wear this on Valentine’s Day…with or without the pink dress I had in mind.  Oh and did I mention that I have since returned to Sephora and purchased the Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Bahama and Dolce Vita…methinks I have finally been cured of my addiction to lip glosses! If you have been struggling with finding the perfect red lipstick, I highly suggest to head to your nearest Sephora and give any one of the NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencils in red a try.

Gail Lewis

Gail is at times a model, most of the time a blogger, but always a beauty junkie.

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I have mixed feelings about Bobbi Brown’s new ‘Neons & Nudes‘ collection. Mainly because I do love wearing nude makeup shades, but just about every beauty brand right now already has the same obsession (with Urban Decay knocking it out of the park with their 2-part Naked palette of course!) In other words, it’s hard for me to be impressed by yet another series of not-so-blah neutrals.

The neons, on the other hand, totally intrigue me. I’m not one to regularly incorporate many not-seen-in-nature colors into my daily beauty routine, but I’m always open to experiment, and the more “adventurous” side of Bobbi’s new collection is definitely inspiring me to dabble outside my comfort zone! Some of my favorite collection highlights include the three punched-up lip gloss additions – now in Citrus, Cosmic Pink, and Ultra Violet – which are fun and spring-festive but sheer enough to not appear costume-y or kitschy.

I also adore the new eyeshadows, in Ultra Violet Shimmer Wash and the stunning cobalt Blue Bell. Of course, I realize that these shades aren’t for everyone (and they require a very skilled hand to wear them chicly), so what do you think – gorgeous or gimmicky?

- Alexandra Gambardella

*Guest beauty post from my friends at TheFind.com.

Shannon Nelson

Shannon Nelson launched A Girl's Gotta Spa! in 2005. She currently works with beauty brands as a social media consultant, freelance writes for magazines and is a public speaker at beauty industry conferences.

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 It’s been said by passionate careerists time and time again – if you love your job, you’ll put your blood, sweat, and tears into it. Now, beauty lovers can apply the same mentality (well, maybe not literally) to their beauty regime thanks to Rain Cosmetics.

The Vegas-based beauty brand has a lot to live up to. The line was inspired by the city’s glamorous nightlife, and they even refer to themselves as “The Sexiest Makeup in the World”….so when I tested out their Blood, Sweat, and Tears lip trio, I was hoping to be nothing less than amazed.

Naturally, each product in the trio serves a different purpose. While you can definitely wear each of the shades alone, I prefer using the three together for the best effect.

Blood: Blood is a red lip stain. Stains can be tricky, but this one is an awesome product for first-time users because it isn’t too dark upon first application. I prefer a darker lip, so I put on about 2 or 3 coats. TIP – Make sure you exfoliate your lips before applying ANY lip stain! If your lips are dry, you’ll wind up with uneven color that is hard to remove.

Sweat: A shimmery champagne sparkle, Sweat adds some needed dimension to Blood. I found that when wearing alone, this product wears off pretty quickly…so for best results pair with Tears to lock the sparkle in.

 Tears: Tears is a standard, slick high gloss. The sheen lasted longer than other clear glosses and added the finishing touch to Blood and Sweat  that will make your lips pop.

Here I am testing out Blood, Sweat, and Tears lip trio from Rain Cosmetics.

I was very pleased with the collection and it has officially been added to my daily beauty routine – a girl can never have too many red lip stains! The set retails for $30.00. Check out  www.raincosmetics.com to learn more about other products in the collection.

Have you tried Rain Cosmetics products before? What was your experience?

Amanda Huggins

Amanda is a PR and communications girl living and working in the NYC area. She is a firm believer in the powers of a strong cup of coffee and fire-engine red lipstick.

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Just like me, you’ve probably thought that creating a ponytail is just about the easiest hairstyle to accomplish.  I mean how difficult could it be? You grab a hair tie, pull all your hair back and secure it with the hair tie and you have yourself a ponytail.  Well as I have learned (mostly from being on set and watching hairstylists) that way of creating a ponytail is just fine and dandy, but if you want to create the perfect ponytail you have to throw a few additional steps in there and I thought I would share those steps with you, our fabulous readers.  So here goes!

Step 1: Take a parting from ear to ear (from the back of the ear, across the top of the head to the back of the other ear).

Step 2: Clip the front part of the hair out of the way and tilt your head back slightly (to ensure that your ponytail does not end up saggy or buckles.)

Step 3: After deciding on placement of the ponytail (low, high or middle of the head), brush rear portion of hair into your hand loosely holding it, and with the other hand grab the ponytail tight against the head and secure with a hair tie.

Step 4: Release the top section with your head still tilted back slightly and brush front portion directly into the other ponytail (trying to avoid disruption of the other ponytail but don’t be afraid to brush the hair straight into and over the previously created ponytail) and secure with an elastic hair tie in the exact same way as above.

Step 5: Using hairspray for fly-aways, lightly smooth and spray fly-aways with hands or a fine tooth comb…only lightly skimming the top of the hair.

Bonus step: If you would like to make the ponytail sleeker or dress it up a bit, try grabbing a small section of the ponytail near the elastic hair tie and begin wrapping it around the elastic to hide the hair tie.  secure wrap with a hair pin and bobby pin making sure that the pin is not visible.

And there you have it, two versions of the perfect ponytail…thanks to amazing hairstylist Pearson Knight for walking us through creating the perfect ponytail!

Gail Lewis

Gail is at times a model, most of the time a blogger, but always a beauty junkie.

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That’s sarcasm of course. Normally I wouldn’t make fun of a PR pitch here on my blog (I use Twitter for that.) But the one I received this morning had me going both WTF? and is it April 1st today? I’m going to re-post it here (with my own commentary in bold), but since the girl I was pitched about is only 16 years old, I’m going to remove her name/YouTube name, et al.

Philadelphia, PA, January 31, 2012 – Vlogger’s  love affair with makeup and beauty products started long before she reached her teens. (Sign one from above that you are meant to be a guru.) One of her first words, spoken at 9 months, was “lipstick.” (Since that is practically impossible for a baby to pronounciate, why are we not calling her a freaking PRODIGY?)  By age 9, she had a critical eye. (Because she is the Tim Gunn of beauty.) Her mother, she confides, was not good at applying her lipstick. “I had to put it on her,” Vlogger says. “She didn’t know that it would last longer—and look better—with lip liner as a base.” (Insightful.)

Today, the 16-year-old is dispensing makeup advice via her video “channel,” on YouTube. (I love how the PR person puts channel in quotes. I can see her rolling her eyes and saying out loud “quote unquote channel” with a big sigh.)

A high school junior in the Philadelphia area, Vlogger started doing videos in 2010. “I knew kids in school who made great videos of themselves singing, but I wanted to teach people a skill,” she says.  She liked makeup, and since she also knew a few application tricks (that she likely learned from the beauty counter of her local department store) and do-it-yourself makeup recipes (Dr. Google is also good for this too), she decided to specialize in beauty application and products. (This is where I want to put specialize in quotes. She knew a handful of tricks so at 15 she wanted to “specialize” in beauty.)

In a single month, she gained more than 850 subscribers (i.e. everyone in her high school and their friends). To date, she has over 215,000 uploaded views and over 5,800 subscribers. Her goal is to top 10,000 subscribers. “When I reach 20,000, I want to open an online store with my own makeup line,” she says. (So knowing a handful of beauty tricks + reaching 20K subscribers = the ability to have the skill and know-how to launch a business. DUDE sign me up. If that’s all it takes, why didn’t I attempt that sooner?!)

Vlogger, who with other beauty gurus was featured in a Wall Street Journal article on teens who make makeup, initially faced some skepticism from schoolmates. “Some of them thought it was weird,” she says. But then a girl on the bus told her she loved the videos. “She said, ‘Keep doing it—don’t care what anyone says,’” she recalls. (Advice from A GIRL ON THE BUS = Lucy setting up shop to dish out advice for 5 cents to Charlie Brown.)

An attractive brunette with long, wavy locks and dark eyes, Vlogger has an easy conversational style. “Don’t mind my little frizzy hairs,” she says in a video made on vacation. “It’s, like, legit really hot here.” (Too legit to quit, in fact….Hammer time!)

Made with the camera she bought herself, the videos are fun to watch.  The camera zooms in to show the products and her expert application.  (As opposed to a camera her mom bought her that does not zoom. ) The action is quick and MTV-like (OMG I didn’t know MTV-like was a camera style now), often with a voiceover instruction. She frequently takes a whimsical approach. A video on New Year’s Eve makeup, for instance, begins with an eye-catching graphic:  a clock and then a countdown. (A creative genius!) It takes her three to five hours just to plan the tutorial and pinpoint the camera angles. (because that’s how it is for all gurus, dontchaknow?)

Her tutorial on how to tackle blackheads has landed more than 44,000 hits. “Every single teenager has blackheads,” she notes. Tips for making your eyelashes longer have garnered more than 21,500 views. Other topics include pumpkin masques, summer nails and “How to Make Press-on Eye Shadow.”

Her YouTube fans would approve. As one watcher commented: “i just want to say that you inspire me so much. you are amazing in everything you do and i love how much effort you put into your videos just to please us. thank you for being by FAR the best makeup guru on youtube. love, your greatest fan.” (like, omg, you are the bestest!)

Ok, before I die from laughter…this was a SERIOUS press release sent to me and a bunch of my fellow beauty bloggers. It also completely falls in line with how this generation seems to think that if you slap up a YouTube channel you are suddenly entitled to three things: 1. the title of guru, 2. free stuff  and 3. a PR-blitz on just how awesome you are. No, that comes from hard work, longevity and being truly amazing. I’m a veteran beauty blogger and have been doing it for 7 years now…and I am NOT a guru. I’m not sure why this was newsworthy enough for someone to pitch to me, but I think I am more appalled at the pitch itself.

Have your say…

Shannon Nelson

Shannon Nelson launched A Girl's Gotta Spa! in 2005. She currently works with beauty brands as a social media consultant, freelance writes for magazines and is a public speaker at beauty industry conferences.

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It has always been a part of A Girl’s Gotta Spa!’s  MO to highlight beauty brands that give back. We love philanthropy.

This week, we are loving Zolani Organics, a skincare brand dedicated to creating products that are not only high in quality, but help sustain economic income for needy families in Ghana, West Africa.

As someone whose full-time employment lies in nonprofit communications – a nonprofit dedicated to providing aid to Ghana, specifically – I felt an immediate connection to Zolani Organics.   Zolani is a company I like to call “Fair Trade Fabulous” as all products contain lush, locally-harvested ingredients and a portion of each sale goes towards sending books and school supplies to children in West Africa.

Zolani Organic products are heavily reliant shea butter, a nut extract from the locally-grown African tree. Shea butter is a luxurious moisturizer, is rich in vitamins A, E, and F, and the collagen-boosting properties have even been connected to fading unsightly stretch marks. If you haven’t treated yourself to a rich shea butter product yet, this is the product to try – you’ll feel fabulous inside and out, knowing you are helping a child continue his or her education.

Visit Zolani’s “About Us” page for more information on the brand’s mission, and be sure to check out their blog to learn more about current fundraising goals.

Amanda Huggins

Amanda is a PR and communications girl living and working in the NYC area. She is a firm believer in the powers of a strong cup of coffee and fire-engine red lipstick.

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Although I tend to be very loyal to the same fragrance and have been for a while, I always look forward to sampling new fragrances on the market.  My latest sampling was the Versace Yellow Diamond perfume, body lotion and shower gel.  Before getting into what I thought, I must first mention that I am drawn to really clean, fresh, light scents  and anything outside of that realm seems overpowering to me.

I found the Yellow Diamond perfume to be very  floral and fruity on my skin.  The top notes includes Citron, Pear, Neroli and Bergamot, the middle notes are Freesia, Orange Blossom and Mimosa and the bottom notes are Amber, Wood and Musk.

I applied very little, but the fragrance was still pretty intense, after a while I swear I could taste the fragrance in the back of my throat.  The perfumed body lotion was the same…much to intense for my liking.  I did however like the perfumed shower gel.  For some reason it did not seem as intense as the perfume and body lotion, it left a barely there, soft fragrance on my skin.  However, I would only use the shower gel if I were going out at night and did not plan on using any other fragrance.

If you’re into floral, fruity scents I would recommend giving this a try, what I would not recommend is using the shower gel, body lotion and perfume at the same time…not unless you enjoy being swarmed by bees or are intentionally trying to dissuade any form of human contact. If you’ve worn this perfume, I’d love to know what you thought of it.

*Disclosure

Gail Lewis

Gail is at times a model, most of the time a blogger, but always a beauty junkie.

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