Welcome to another installment of Bionic Beauty Homemade with Joycey Couture!

Looking for a way to maintain a radiant, healthy glow in the midst of winter? With no need to measure a thing, try this simple recipe!

Want skin as soft as this baby? Try this DIY Oat and Honey Facial Cream!

Ingredients:

• Oats
• Honey
• Yogurt (Plain)
• Ground Almonds

Directions:

Mix some of your oats and a few spoonfuls of honey together, sprinkling in additional oats to thicken the texture. Then add yogurt and the ground almonds. Continue to stir until creamy. Gently apply the mixture to your face and leave on for 5-10 minutes. Rinse with lukewarm water.

Hello gorgeous!

Stay Bionic,

Happy Sunday, Bionic Beauties! Here are the latest fabulous beauty-related free samples that I’ve rounded up.

My computer crashed this week, hence my offline-ness. I’m working on getting some sort of work-around set up. Man I tell ya, I would swear Mars was in retrograde from my luck with electronics and gadgets this month!

Anyhow, on to the freebies!!!

First, let’s get the tampon samples out of the way- Grab your trial pack of Playtex Sport tampons and another set from the new “trendy” U by Kotex.

Skin care fans, grab up a free sample of Miracle Skin Transformer skin care cream. I can’t say how it works, since I have not personally tried this brand, but I’d love to hear what you all think once you test your samples!

For the men, or even for those of us who like spicier scented hair, pick up the new Redken for Men Clean Spice 2-in-1 Conditioning Shampoo freebie!

Get a free sample of Head and Shoulders hair care. You’ll have to sign up for the P&G (Procter and Gamble) Brand Sampler website, but you can opt out at any time; but they always have super cool freebies!

By hitting the Like button on Eucerin’s Facebook page, you can get a free sample of Eucerin Daily Skin Balance body lotion,  then just click the red “Get Sample Now” button.

And finally, here are some more freebies of John Frieda’s Root Awakening hair care! I love the scent of these shampoos and conditioners; plus the packets are the perfect size for traveling and overnight trips. However, it’s only valid only for women between the ages of 18 and 49, that seems odd, right?!? (I bet you could just put in a different year though, but you didn’t hear that from me… shhhh…)

Enjoy!

Welcome to another installment of Bionic Beauty Homemade with Joycey Couture!

1 cup freshly ground dirt
4 cups chlorinated water
3 cups salt water
3 tbsp sunscreen

Add a dash of sweat and you’re set… for one harsh summer. Now of course we all know summer is coming to an end, but the heat is still raging in the majority of the USA.  Why not protect your skin and hair, and rejuvenate them for a beautiful fall!

Here are a few do-it-yourself beauty treatments that I’ve found and tested to help you do just this.  And like always, the ingredients are inexpensive and all-natural!

For the Mug

• Looking for a face mask designed for most skin types? Try this one~ Combine 1 egg yolk, 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 tablespoon of plain yogurt and 1/2 teaspoon of virgin olive oil.  Just leave the mixture on your face for 10 minutes and rinse it off.
• For oily or acne-prone skin~ Try a mask that will help soothe the skin.  Take 1 ripe banana and blend it with 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.  Leave on for 15 minutes.
• If you have dry skin~ Mix half of a mashed avocado with 1/4 cup of honey for a mask that will add tons of moisture to your face.  Leave on for 10 minutes.
• Fruit based facial toners~ Sliced strawberries, grapes and cucumbers act as natural toners to tighten skin and shrink pores.  Yum!  Just rub the slices over your skin after cleansing.  Got oily skin?  Use sliced lemons to reduce shine.

For the Locks

• To whip up a simple deep conditioner for hair~ Blend 1/4 cup of plain yogurt, 1/4 cup mayo and the whites from one egg.  Cover your hair with the mixture (using a comb to make sure it’s evenly distributed) and leave in for 30 minutes.  Then rinse!  This is a perfect solution for dry, damaged, overly beached hair.
• Clarify and get rid of product build-up~ Mix a small amount of baking soda in with your shampoo.  This will clarify your hair, making it more manageable over time. Hint: Add the baking soda into your palm, then squeeze a dollop of shampoo on top. And like Nenette from LifeCandy.net pointed out in the comments section a few weeks back, baking soda makes a great cleanser if you go with the no-shampoo routine!
• Want to lighten up your hair but don’t have the money for highlights? Who does!?  Dilute 1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice with 1/4 cup of water.  Spritz through your hair, and don’t forget your sunscreen!  Are red tones more your style?  Do the same thing, but use apple cider vinegar instead of lemon juice.

As you can see from the photograph above, Jami (aka ‘Bionic Beauty’) and I spent some great vacation time outdoors, but we also spent time testing and retesting these various recipes! I’d love to hear if you’ve tried any of the “Bionic Homemade” beauty recipes and how they are working for you.

Stay Bionic,

Don’t you just love finding a gem in the rough? I do! My “gem” finding is usually a great indie beauty find, or something for my skin that works SO well that I shout it from the rooftops.

Two months ago, I spotted a bright yellow jar in the herbals section during my weekly Walgreens haunting. There were actually a few jars there that looked intriguing, but the one I snagged is “De La Cruz’s Sulfur Ointment“.

It's awesome for acne, trust me!!

It was less than five bucks for a tub that will last me at least a few years. I’ve been dabbing it on potential breakouts and current pimples now for over six weeks and the stuff is a miracle. It feels a bit goopy at first, apply it sparingly – trust me… a little goes a LONG way. I notice a very, very slight sulfur smell at first, but I’ve had other friends and family do a sniff check and they can’t detect it after even a minute. It works great under makeup, or before bed. Plus if you’re like me and have super-sensitive skin (Benzoyl Peroxide and Salicylic Acid often make me break out even worse), this frugal find could be just the ticket to clear up your skin.

I’ve bought a few bottles for friends and family – everyone is having great results! Since I am majorly pinching pennies lately, but don’t want my face and skin reverting into a acne-laden nightmare, I’ll definitely keep my Sulfur Ointment on my bedside table. My breakouts have decreased significantly, and if I do get a pimple, it heals in a few days rather than over a week or more.

I’m giving this my full Bionic Buy status! De La Cruz Sulfur Ointment is only $4.99 for a 3 ounce tub online at Walgreens.com (or if you’re a Floridian, check your actual store aisles).

Ingredients: Sulfur USP 10%, plus a “mixture of polyethylene glycols”

Oxy is offering free samples of their new Clinical Acne Skin Care products.

You’ll get a trial size of each of the following products:

• Clinical Clearing Treatment – for quick clearing of blemishes and pimples;
• Clinical Hydrating Therapy – face lotion that provides hydration that’s essential when treating your skin with Benzoyl Peroxide or other harsh acne chemicals. If you don’t replace moisture, and use lotion, your face will end up over-producing oil which can lead to more breakouts.
• Clinical Advanced Face Wash – facial cleanser to remove makeup, cleanse skin. It also has acne fighting ingredients, so be sure to use lotion after each wash… and don’t wash your skin more than twice per day.

Enjoy!

Welcome to another installment of the Bionic Boondoggle! It’s basically a “best of” roundup from the perspective of moi.

My snake-bitten ankle is finally healed and I’m doing strengthening exercises daily. I’m still visiting north Florida and loving the area here more and more! For a little get-outta-the-house time, my friend and I headed to the Devil’s Millhopper park in Gainesville. We packed our cameras and a few of our Moleskine journals and sketchbooks. I also wore tall, heavy leather boots. I have vowed never to hike without leather boots on again. No more snake bites for me, thank you very much.

Devil's Millhopper - One really old sinkhole!

I love greenery, shade (as you can tell by my paleness), and humidity. The Devil’s Millhopper suited me perfectly. There were teeny waterfalls winding through limestone covered in liverworts, lichens, and mosses. The waters flow through the porous limestone, making its way into the Florida Aquifer, and finally… very very slowly flows towards the Gulf of Mexico.

A trickling stream through limestone rock covered with mosses and liverworts

On our trek, I spotted a few native orchids (unfortunately not in bloom), some really cool aquatic plants, tiny glossy mushrooms, and more ferns than I’ve ever witnessed in one locale. It was truly a fabulous day! The only mar on the day’s perfection… I seem to have dropped/left/lost my digital camera. So if anyone found a pewter and black Olympus digital camera at the Millhopper over the weekend, could ya please send it back to me? I’ll bake you brownies and my famous banana bread! I miss my super-macro mode already for taking makeup shots. Grrrr.

Writing in my journals + surrounded by greenery = Happiness in Bionic-land.

Anyhow, let’s get on Boondoggling, shall we?

Ever wondered what some of those big long tongue-tying names are in your hair care products? Beauty with Brains gives you a 101 course on Polyquaternium 11.

Beauty and Fashion Tech uses skin care products from Arcona and Peter Thomas Roth to help cure her adult acne.

My dog “The Amazing Woo” is holding giveaway for a pet goody bag from Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul. Y’all should enter if you’ve got any furry friends!

E.l.f. Cosmetics has some pretty fabulous discount codes that are available for a very limited time. Shop quickly, everyone!

• Get a free 3 piece back to school makeup set from e.l.f. cosmetics when you purchase $20 or more in their makeup goodies. Use code BTSAF. This coupon code expires August 31, 2010.
• Now through August 31, you can save 30% off elf’s Studio Makeup collection with a minimum $20 purchase. This offer is valid with coupon code STUD30.

Lastly, here is my favorite quote from the book I finished last week…

“Truth can never be defeated, Sarene. Even if people do forget about it occasionally.”
~King Eventeo in the book Elantris by Brandon Sanderson.

Have you spotted anything wonderful around this web this week? Feel free to share sales, favorite quotes, funny videos, or whatever strikes your fancy in the comments section below

This week’s Bionic Asks… What is your most worrisome skin issue?

Is it aging, wrinkles, skin discoloration, large pores, acne, or something else entirely? Are you constantly on-the-hunt for a new skin care product to help alleviate the problems?

My skin “issues” are basically sensitivity to certain ingredients, acne flare-ups, and some melasma (hyperpigmentation or skin darkening, usually due to a hormone shift or pregnancy). I use YBF Skincare’s Restore for melasma and it’s really helped! More than any other product I’ve tried (including a gazillion “skin lightening” creams).

For my acne, I use several products to control it, but it basically centers around the routine I outlined in this article. My favorite anti-acne battle products are Mario Badescu’s Buffering Lotion, Lexli’s Acne Cleanser, Aztec Secret Clay face mask, Tea Tree Oil, and YBF’s Boost.

As for the sensitivity- my skin will flare up and get rather angry with me if I use the wrong ingredients. I basically avoid glycerin, benzoyl peroxide, and salicylic acid. That’s why I use so many sulfur-based acne treatments. Sulfur is more gentle to your skin and seems to work more quickly at reducing breakouts.

This week’s Bionic Asks…
What hair and body care products are currently stashed in your shower?

To kick things off, here’s my list:

Hair Care

• Freeman Papaya & Lime Shine shampoo
• Freeman Papaya & Lime Shine conditioner
• Kiehl’s Sunflower Color Preserving Deep Recovery Pak deep conditioner
• Morrocan Oil Moisture Repair shampoo
• Morrocan Oil Moisture Repair conditioner
• Morrocan Oil Restorative Hair Mask deep conditioner
• Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Hair Masque

Body Care

• Elemental Herbology Beach Prep exfoliating body scrub
• Nature’s Gate Papaya body wash
• KO Denmark Jasmine & Neroli organic body wash
• Cactus & Ivy Citrus Mint Acai Body Glow (my body scrub review)
• ClarsSkin underarm cleanser
• Herbaria Soaps’ Lycopene Tomato all-natural bar soap
• Cactus & Ivy’s Spearcalyptus all-natural bar soap (my review)

Face Products

• Korres “Materia Herba” organic face wash
• Lexli Skincare Acne face cleanser
• YBF Skincare Prep – exfoliating facial scrub

As you can see, my shower is crammed full of things I am currently testing for future reviews!
Now, it’s your turn!

This may sound crazy, but it actually works! I’ve battled with back and chest acne my entire life.  This past week I noticed my acne had vanished from my chest.  I’m already aware of the ASSO gold soap working on acne, but I haven’t been using it recently. I also know from countless hours studying skin care ingredients that gold has beneficial healing properties.

What I have been doing is wearing an 18 karat gold necklace with a large gold pendant that my Mom gave me for Christmas.  The necklace is very special to me as it’s from Arabia, where I grew up. I’ve been wearing it since the holidays and haven’t taken it off.

A lightbulb popped on in my head “Wow! Could it be this gold necklace?” I was excited at this potential experiment, so I switched the pendant to hang on my back.  My upper-to-mid back is the seemingly most impossible place to apply product (as you all know, I’m sure!). The weight of my pendant causes a frequent “rubbing” action of the gold against my skin.

Sure enough, my back acne cleared up as well – this is just too awesome!

To take the experiment one-step further, I removed the necklace for a few days and did nothing to treat my acne.  It came back within two days. I put the necklace back on, and it was gone again within two days!

I make sure to keep the necklace clean; and I plan to buy a couple more 18 kt. gold chains of different lengths. What a fun way to get rid of the nasty acne! A quality gold necklace at first glance seems pricey (I found a great buy on this 18 inch 18kt gold chain necklace for $46.99 on Amazon); but if you have acne to the point that I do the up-front cost may actually save you money. I have spent a small fortune over the years trying every product on the planet to cure my acne.

I’d love to hear feedback from any of you who decide to join this experiment! I am curious if 14 karat gold works as well. Copper and silver also contain many healing properties and are also used in skincare products (such as copper peptides). I think I’ll try silver next!

So please adorn yourself and share feedback in this experiment. I thought what better way to research this than ask other Bionic Beauties to join in on the lab test! (Now you have a good reason to go buy a nice necklace too!)

Stay Bionic,

I thought it would be fun this week to take a little trip down Memory Lane…
This week’s Bionic Asks… How old were you when you started wearing makeup? And when did you actually become more interested in makeup, skincare and the like?

I’ll kick things off-
I started wearing makeup in my Freshman year of high school. Back then it was mostly a bit of CoverGirl’s Clear Complexion powder (the kind that smelled like, and contained, Noxema ingredients) and CoverGirl’s concealer in a lipgloss-wand-type tube. I was prone to acne, so concealer dotted on top was a must for me. My eyes usually just had CoverGirl mascara on my lashes; and I would occasionally wear some brown Revlon eyeshadow, or Wet n’ Wild’s black eyeliner pencil. I didn’t do much experimenting back then. Can you tell I was a CoverGirl fangirl? My mom was, and still is, a Clinique fan. She would usually give me some of the stuff from her Clinique Bonus Time bags. That was always an exciting time of the year for me, but I still kept things minimal. My mom tried and tried to get me to wear more eye makeup. She succeeded for one of my Proms, but before the night was through, I ended up using Qtips to wipe most of it off; I just didn’t feel like me.

I didn’t really start experimenting with color and different makeup looks until my mid-twenties. I found color! I took classes from local makeup artists and dermatologists whenever possible and started branching out to different brands: L’Oreal, Physician’s Formula, Sonia Kashuk and Milani became my favorite brands. I still struggle with occasional acne- mostly from testing so many different skin care regimens and makeup brands for Bionic Beauty. Thankfully now I have the knowledge to clear up my skin, detox it, know which ingredients I need to avoid, and what my skin actually needs to be healthy.

One thing that hasn’t changed in my makeup routine over the years… my love of nail polish. As far back as I can remember, I always kept my toes painted. I consider them my mini artistic canvases!

And now it is your turn, dear readers. Think back a bit, and share your makeup history!