Supernatural Botanicals

The beautiful chameleon that is Katy Perry turns 27 today.  Katy’s outrageous and gorgeous style makes her an icon.   She takes rock-starring to a whole new level with her over the top style…which she so rocks.  Check our her amazing style!

Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the Western post World War II baby boom ended. While there is no universally agreed upon time frame, the term generally includes people born in the 1960s through the late ’70s. Gen X’ers have proven to behave differently than any other generation in history in that almost half of them are opting to be childless. About 43% of Gen X women have no children.  This is largely attributed to women delving into their careers. One difference between the 1950s housewife and a 2011 career girl is that women don’t need to “couple up” in order to survive.  In many instances, women are earning far more than their male counterparts.  But this doesn’t come without a price.  Because of 60 hour work weeks and more often than not, crushing student loan debt, women barely have enough time to take care of themselves, let alone other human beings.  Families are certainly shrinking in size, and with 43% of our Gen X’ers without children, we shall surely see the effects of this in our society in 10 years.  Interesting!  Did you opt for career of children?  Or both?

One of our favorite makeup artists around here is Kandee Johnson.  She’s an amazing stylist that has a wildly successful YouTube channel…that you should check out here.   Kandee will show you how to do some incredible looks for Halloween.  Don’t be intimidated, she breaks it down.  You can do it…really, you can!  If you want to be over the top, in addition to having the coolest look at your next Halloween costume party, try these looks on for size.

httpv://youtu.be/slLZooklCp8

Do you obsess over your home’s design?  Are you constantly looking to books and magazines for great interior design ideas?  Is your DVR full of HGTV design shows?  Then you’ll love Design Sponge.   Design Sponge is one of the most popular design blogs in cyberspace, and has a celeb readership (Nate Berkus reads it regularly).   Design Sponge is packed full of great ideas to transform your home into your sanctuary.  Jump over and check out the blog here.

Sweetest Day 2011 is Saturday, October 15th.  Being that today is Monday, October 10th, you should make your dinner reservations today.  If you wait until Wednesday, you’ll never get the restaurant or the time slot you want.  Book today and you’ll more than likely get your favorite restaurant, the time slot you want, and even the spot in the restaurant you want.  A well-planned evening makes for a great Sweetest Day!

  Blake Lively always gets it right when it comes to fab hairstyles!  Steal this look from Blake in a matter of minutes.  It’s actually a very simple hairstyle.   This style works well with long hair.  Here’s how it works:  Flat iron hair straight.  Next, part hair on the side and create a very low, slick and sleek, ponytail.  If need be, use hair straightening product to slick down your bangs.  Your low ponytail should hit the nape of the neck.  Next, create a bun by simply twisting hair around itself and securing it at the nape of the neck.  Secure with another ponytail holder.  Next, pull pieces from the bun to create a messy look.  Pull a few long pieces to depth.  Use bobby pins to secure pieces in place.  Flat iron the tiny pieces of hair from the bun to make them pop.  It’s super simple and a great fix if you are having a bad hair day.  Once you get the hang of it, it will take you less than five minutes to achieve this look.  This hairstyle looks great with a gorgeous dress….or even in jeans or Juicy Couture’s.  Try it!

We were so excited to receive WEN’s Fall Ginger Pumpkin Cleanser!  This is the latest product created by Chaz Dean, founder of WEN.  Chaz’s concept is much different in that he eliminates harsh chemicals, SLS and parabens from his products…which we love!  His products are not traditional shampoos like we know shampoo to be (sudsy and bubbly).  Chaz’s approach is using a cleansing conditioner formulated with natural ingredients to cleanse the scalp and make the hair feel amazing.  So we dug right in and couldn’t wait to put the product to use.

It comes with a DVD which explains the way WEN should be used.  According to the instructional DVD, the cleansing conditioner should be put onto the scalp and hair, and massaged, even combed through with a wide toothed comb in the shower.  From our perspective, this seemed to require more time than we had in the shower.  It felt rather unrealistic and unprobable that we would massage our scalp for a good five minutes while in the shower.  However, if you have the time, certainly do so.  It stimulates the scalp and improves blood flow, not to mention feels great.

Spending at least a few minutes on massaging the product in, however, was doable.  The scent of the new Fall Ginger Pumpkin is amazing.  In fact, I smelled it hours later in my locks while I was doing yoga.  The cleansing conditioner is thick and rich, and makes your hair instantly tangle-less.

I have very long hair, and need a great conditioner that really works to make my hair soft and silky, and easy to get a comb through while wet.  WEN worked absolutely perfectly to do just that.  My hair felt incredibly soft and silky.  Another thing noticed was that it gives your hair that “just from the salon” look and feel.  It made blow drying my hair like a professional blow out from a salon.  Bouncy, full, and soft.  WEN scores huge points for conditioning, hands down.

We give WEN Fall Ginger Pumpkin two definite thumbs us.  While some things,  in our opinion, could be tweaked, it’s still a sensational product.  The cons are packaging…while the amber bottles are great, the pump should be a flip disk.  It requires too many pumps in order to get the right amount of product in your hand.  A simple flip disk would solve this in an instant.  Also not a huge fan of the excessive scalp-cleaning with fingertips the product requires in order to thoroughly cleanse your hair.

Pros, however, is that the conditioner is literally one of the best we’ve ever tried…and we are picky around here.  Works well as a leave in conditioner, too.  The smell is fantastic.  Love that it’s an eco-friendly product and contains no SLS or parabens.  Love that it is salon quality and gives your hair a perfect blow out.  This product goes on the “Love It” list!  Definitely give WEN a try and let us know what your thoughts are.  Check out their entire line of products here.

Need some inspiration to start that business or follow your dream?  If you take a chance and are successful, you could join the ranks of Forbes Magazine’s Highest Earning Women.  Take a look at their W2′s for the year and see if it inspires you to follow your dream!

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Miss Oprah, a longtime reigning breadwinner earned a cool $290 million.

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Second on the highest earners list is Lady Gaga.  For this female artist, going against the grain and being outrageous has proven mega success, and a $90 million dollar paycheck this year.

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Breakout reality TV star Bethenny Frankel surprises the masses with her genius brand marketing of Skinny Girl that padded her checking account with $55 million dollars this year.

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Throwing the notion, beauty is only skin deep, to the curb, Gisele Bundchen made $45 million dollars off of her appearance this year.

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Ellen DeGeneres tickled our funny bones to the tune of $45 million dollars.

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Sweetest Day is October 15th this year.  Plan ahead and make it a night to remember.  Supernatural Botanicals has everything you need to get your skin looking, feeling and smelling its best!  Shop now: www.SupernaturalBotanicals.com

It’s always a surprise to see how overlooked our makeup vanities are.  Women spend an exorbitant amount of time and money on makeup purchases, so their makeup vanities should have equal exceptional value.  Creating a beautiful and functional vanity to your home will not only make your home more beautiful, it will make you more beautiful!  A functional, well-lit, well-organized vanity will naturally provide a better end result…beautiful makeup application.   One of our former makeup vanity blog posts continually elicits comments and inquiries on where to purchase them.  The following makeup vanities can be found at Pottery Barn Teen, www.PBTeen.com.