Curious to try cleansing your skin with oil? The Budget Beauty Babe says new St. Ives Elements olive scrub and cleanser are a good place to start. —BB




by The Budget Beauty Babe
Harsh winter weather and going in and out of heated buildings will really take a toll on your complexion, so I decided to pick up two olive oil-based products from St. Ives' new Elements product line: St. Ives Elements Olive Face Scrub and St. Ives Elements Olive Face Cleanser.

Hydrating from the inside is important (and eating healthy fats like olive oil), but ensuring your facial cleanser won't strip your skin of its protective oils is essential as well. Olive oil has been used for centuries as a beauty treatment, and although many balk at the idea of putting oil onto their faces it makes sense; like removes like, without being drying.

These two products do just the trick. After using my skin felt clean and fresh, but remained supple, soft and moisturized. Continued use showed no signs of irritation or breaking out, and my skin seemed more resilient against the elements. Both products work equally well in my opinion, however, I favor the scrub since I enjoy exfoliating on a regular basis. It has a nice creamy texture and a fresh clean scent (don't worry, you won't smell like a salad!).

The best part is that the scrub and cleanser cost $7.99 each at your local drugstore or grocery store. So the next time you need a break from winter skin, think olive oil, inside and out.

Shop it: St. Ives Elements Olive Cleanser, $7.99 at Drugstore.com
St. Ives Elements Olive Scrub, $7.99 at Drugstore.com

My makeup-savvy friend Shelle always raves about Beautycrunch.com, and with good reason: Beauty Crunch offers overrun and discontinued (but still top quality) artistry brand beauty products from names like Stila, DuWop, Too Faced and more—all at drastically reduced prices! If you're looking for one-stop shopping for all the girly girls and makeup lovers on your list, this is it. Since Shelle is quite possibly their biggest fan and super enthusiastic about her bargain-beauty finds, I've asked her to reveal her Beautycrunch Top 5 picks for holiday gifts (thanks Shelle!):

Top 5 Gifts at Beautycrunch.com
"Ranked for value and 'I want that!' excitement:"

5. Gift of Glaze
Give the set to one lucky gal, or split them up as stocking stuffers.
by: Stila Cosmetics, Was $28 Now $15

4. Holiday Brush Set 2005
by: Stila Cosmetics, Was $75 Now $20
"If this is the 2005 brush set why is Stila's own site selling it in 2008 for $10 more?"

3. Naturally Popette
by: Pop Beauty, Was $28 Now $10
"Awesome gift set value! Ordered this for my [removed]. Very nice (I like the green and blue, too, though haven't ordered.)"

2. The New Romantic Make-up Collection (BLACK)
by: Too Faced, Was $27.50 Now $11
"Awesome gift set value! Too Faced kits are very nice!"

1. Beauty Cabinet, available in Pink/Cassie or Green/Sara
by: Pop Beauty, Was $38 Now $15.20
"WOW! Haven't seen this one up close but if the quality is as with their other kits, I WANT! Note that the colors of the cabinet names don't necessarily reflect the color inside."

It's Clinique Bonus time at Lord & Taylor now through December 21, yours free with any Clinique purchase of $25 or more. Shop it here.

Your Clinique Bonus includes:
Lash Doubling Mascara in Black | 7-Day Scrub Cream Rinse Off Formula | Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion | Repairwear Intensive Night Cream | Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo in Pink Slate | Different Lipstick in Shy | Cosmetics Bag

OK, so I know I'm a weirdo for posting this but check it out: A couple weeks ago, I purchased a bottle of L.A. Girl Flare Bright Delights Nail Laquer in Blazin' from Urban Outfitters (really crappy quality, I might add, but it had a retro charm that kept me using it.) Flash forward to yesterday, when I'm shopping at Forever 21 and spot the exact same nail polish--but what's this? The price is drastically lower! At Urban, I paid $5 for my bottle of L.A. Flare. At Forever 21, the more maligned fast-fashion retailer, I paid just $2.80 (see pics).

If my college thesis adviser were to see this post, he'd probably pass out, because this fact is trivial at best. But I think I might be on to something bigger here, I'm just not sure what it is. What makes Urban mark up the same exact product so much more than Forever 21? Why do they think they can get away with it? Apparently, it's all marketing. And if they can do it with nail polish, you better believe they're doing this with other products too.

My sister-in-law turned me on to these amazing handmade organic soaps by Abbey Brown, a Chicago-based soap artisan, and I guarantee they will make a great gift or stocking stuffer for anyone on your holiday shopping list—especially friends who are passionate about being green. My sis tells me that when Abbey became a mom, she had trouble finding natural soaps that didn't severely irritate her young child's skin. So she took matters into her own hands and began experimenting with her own homemade soaps, which turned out to be a huge success.


I've tried Fields of Lavender, a smooth fragrant soap handcrafted with pure, unrefined and organic saponified oils of olive, coconut, palm kernel, shea butter, castor bean and apricot. Distilled water, and a natural blend of essential oils of lavender, lemon and rosemary round out this recipe, which results in a soap that's great for the face, hands, body—even hair. My other favorite is Chamomile Babe, which is actually intended for babies but I figure my skin can use some TLC, too. Freshly dried chamomile, macadamia nut, and Vitamin E star in this soap.

You can buy Abbey Brown soaps at my sister-in-law's amazing online store, bebybaby.com for $5.95 each or 3 for $15.