Summertime Blues -- I mean, Hues!

I REALLY need to start getting on the ball with keeping this blog updated. I find that I get so insanely busy at home, I end up neglecting something really important to me; namely, this blog and all those who read it!

Now that that's out of the way, we can get down to business. I've got a wonderful product to review! It's been quite some time since I've given a product review, so here goes.

Logona Herbal Hair Color

Yes, I went back and tried henna once again. You think I would have learned from the first time, but you know what? You fall off a horse and yadda yadda yadda. So I decided to try this brand I found online called Logona, a German-based cosmetics company that specializes in all things natural. It's a smaller company that only has about 150 employees, which really only helps things in my view. Sometimes the smaller the company, the more involved personnel are in the making of products; not to mention all that extra attention to detail!

Not only does Logona have a ginormous selection of products in general, it also has a superb selection of henna. Brown Umber, Flame Red and Golden Blonde are just to name a few. The other neat thing is that they actually have a super helpful color chart that gives you direction on the best shade for your natural hair color. Naturally, I decided to go with Flame Red, but when I consulted the color chart, it wasn't exactly recommended for my hair color. The regular Henna Red, however, was. So I went ahead and purchased it.

Yeah, it was the same smelly pile as before. On the other hand, I was prepared this time. Let me tell you a little secret about applying henna to your hair: use Vaseline around your hairline and cotton piping. Last time I only used the Vaseline, and boy, what a disaster. The cotton piping makes a huge difference. If you don't have cotton piping lying around, simple unroll a few regular cotton balls and stick them on top of the Vaseline.

I will say that the Logona seemed to have a less pungent odor than the Light Mountain Natural henna that I used last time. It was still green and it still had a slight manure-ish smell to it, but it was not nearly as strong. One of the other qualms I had with LMN was that it left very little color in my hair; meaning, practically none at all. Logona, on the other hand, left quite a nice red hue and left my hair shining. I was really happy with the results, and I even have enough left over for another application when the color begins to fade.

Logona Liquid Foundation

One thing I thought I'd show you are the liquid foundations Logona offers. I myself use my tried and true mineral foundation from Noella Beauty Works, since liquid foundation has been putting me off for years with my oily skin. But for all you dry-skinned gals out there who are looking for natural liquid foundation, Logona gets pretty good reviews online (from what I've seen) and it might be something to try out. It's kind of pricey, but you can find deals on Amazon that will shave off a few bucks here and there.

That's all for now, cookies. Have a great weekend!

xo

Piękny Cookie

Time For a Vacation

That's right, cookies. VACATION TIME for yours truly. On Sunday, I'm leaving for Florida to visit my mom for her combination birthday/Mother's Day gift. Plus, my birthday was on Cinco de Mayo, so it's sort of a dual celebration! Anyway, the shop will be CLOSED from Sunday, June 3 to Sunday, June 10th. I'll have it back up and running by Monday. If you'd like to make a purchase while I'm away, I will be checking my emails occasionally, so feel free to send me a convo on Etsy shop or a message through my Facebook page.

Thanks, ladies, and enjoy your week! I know I will!

xo
Piękny Cookie

Spring Craft Fair

I have some more exciting springtime news! Piękny Cookie will be sold at the Spring Craft and Vendor Show hosted by Aurora Rose. I'm so excited to be a part of this show! There are so many amazing vendors at Aurora Rose and I can't wait to meet everyone. I will be offering an array of items (some not even in my Etsy shop yet!), so come on over and buy some stuff without worrying about shipping fees. Also, be sure to check out all the other great vendors. Oh, and if you're interested, there will also be a tarot card reader there! How fun. Hope to see you all there!

xo
Piękny Cookie

April Showers Bring SALES!

Okay, so I know it's mid-April, and not like, a milestone day or anything. But I decided to give my little cookies a present and offer some tasty SALE items, some up to 50% off!

Lately I've been craving citrus, whether it be in my food, perfume or body products, and I've decided that I absolutely looooove LEMON! Lemon is such a tart-sweet, invigorating scent that everyone should be able to enjoy this spring, which is why all of my lemony-delicious items are on sale -- including the popular CITRUSH Dry Shampoo!

CITRUSH Dry Shampoo

Sale items also include the Lemonade Stand 5-gram lip balm tub, Lemony Lassie Refreshing Facial Spray (um, a NEW item, so grab it while it's hot!) and Lemony Lavenderp Brown Sugar Scrub.

Lemony Lavenderp Sugar Scrub

So if you would like to prance around this spring with the light, sweet aroma of sugary lemon, take a gander at my SALE ITEMS available until the end of April. Thanks, darlings!

xo

Piękny

Oh, We Love Moisture!

 Lemony Lassie Refreshing Facial Spray

As much as cookies love milk. I've added five new moisturizing facial sprays to my shop; Lavenderp, Lemony Lassie, Chamomile, Geranium and Jazzmin. For a quick moisture fix in the morning, just close your eyes and spray it on your freshly washed face, then let it air dry. My skin is combination/oily, so I find this stuff perfect. It's light and great for summertime, especially when it's super humid outside. I live in Illinois, and there are times when I swear to jeeves it's a damn rainforest here. At least, the mosquitoes make me feel like it, anyhow. Ugh.

Zit Zappa Acne Spot Treatment

So, I got myself a pimple the other day and decided to take it out with my own acne spot treatment creation. With concentrated tea tree oil and witch hazel -- a great astringent -- I made my own blemish blaster I like to call Zit Zappa! I love it. Tea tree oil is great for zits, but I find that when you dab it on full force it gets a little too burny and stinky for my liking. Pair this with the Geranium facial spray (awesome for oily skin) and you've got your acne issues sussed.

Bare Naked Flavor-Free Beeswax Lip Balm

Also, for all you au naturale gals out there, I decided to offer a flavor-free version of my beeswax lip balm. Just the bare necessities in this baby, without the sweetness. Well, there's sweetness of course, but a different KIND of sweetness -- soft, moisturized lips! Enjoy all the new products, cookies, and have a great week.

xo

Piękny

NEW Lip Balms & Toners

 Strawberry Nilla Beeswax Lip Balm

So the other day I busted my butt and posted a whole bunch of new lip balms to my Etsy! I've added delicious flavors like strawberry vanilla, pear, peach, mango and chocolate ... mmm, CHOCOLATE! I mean, really, who doesn't want to have the taste of sweet chocolate clinging to their lips all day long?

 

Very Cherry Beeswax Lip Balm

I've also added a new toner - in honor of St. Patrick's Day, of course - called Green Tease. It's totally awesome. Okay, so I might just be saying that because I made it, but no -- seriously, it's awesome. The combination of green tea extract and tea tree and geranium essential oils are not only great for oily skin, but will also help keep acne-prone skin clear. PLUS don't forget that any item that comes in a glass bottle (um, toners!) can be sent back to me to be refilled. Hey, I love to recycle. Why should I make you pay more money for another bottle when you have a perfectly good one right in your hand?

 

Green Tease Facial Toner

I will also be adding a few more toners in the very near future, most likely this weekend, so stay tuned.

One other note: I've been a photographer for several years and, until this year, I hadn't had a professional SLR camera to shoot with. Well, thanks to my gorgeous new Canon Rebel T3i (whoo whoo!) I can now upload awesome, great resolution photos of my products with little to no color correction. So that, darlings, saves me editing time, which in turn gives me more time to make more products! 

Everyone have a wonderful and safe St. Paddy's Day weekend!

xo

Piękny

Perfume Oil Ingredient Change

Monkey Farts Perfume Oil

I just wanted to let all my cookies know that perfume oils will now be made with fractionated coconut oil rather than grapeseed oil. Fractionated coconut oil is not only an excellent carrier oil when used with essential oils, it is also lighter, less greasy and penetrates the skin deeper. It's also super stable, which means it has a longer shelf life than most other carrier oils ... and who doesn't want their tasty-smelling perfumes to last as long as possible? Enjoy!

xo
Piękny

Big News!

First off I'd like to apologize for the lax in posts. I've been busy, busy, busy! Besides my full-time job, I've been busting my patootie making Piękny Cookie products to stock at a store! Yes, that's right. An honest-to-peanut-butter, real live store.

The store is called Aurora Rose and it's located in Willow Springs, IL, right next to this adorable little coffee shop. The store is fab. Called simply a "unique boutique," Aurora Rose carries handmade products ranging from tutus to glassware to parasols to meatball mix to -- well, I could go on and on. I'm very excited to be a part of this group of creative vendors and I can't wait to see where this goes!

 

I even added a few new special items that you can only get at Aurora Rose for the time being! Those include two delicious-smelling moisturizing body sprays (great for after showering!), Lavenderp facial spray (with moisturizing aloe and jojoba!) and Aphrodisiac Attack perfume oil, a special concoction of my own that will instill much staring and perhaps even drooling by the opposite sex. (These claims are not substantiated, teehee)

So here's the store. Awesome, right? Totally cute, but totally spacious and full of amazing stuff. If you need a skull and crossbones baby romper or some super-cute handmade greeting cards, Aurora Rose is the place to go. Oh, yeah, and if you want to buy Piękny Cookie products, of course!

Please check out my stuff if you're in the Willow Springs area! I'd really appreciate it, cookies.

Aurora Rose

8695 Archer Ave, Suite 4

Willow Springs, IL 60480
708-330-5085
LoveAuroraRose@gmail.com

xo

Piękny

New Yummy Perfumes Up on Etsy!

I just posted a bunch of new perfumes and colognes on my Etsy shop, plus a delicious-smelling sparkle body powder. Check them out!

ORANGE NILLA Perfume Oil

MANLY NILLA Cologne Oil

CUKES & MELON Perfume Oil

BERRY, BERRY WILD Perfume Oil

LITTLE BLACK DRESS Perfume Oil

CUKES & MELON Shimmer Dusting Powder

xo
Piękny

It's Makeup Time

Photo Source

So, I'm excited and I just wanted to let you all know that I've just tagged off one of my New Year's resolutions: finding a natural mascara to replace my Covergirl Lash Blast, which I love, but is loaded with crap I can't believe I put so close to my eyes. I found a mascara through Erzulie Cosmetics in intense black that I can't wait to try. If I've never told you about my absolute obsession with Etsy, I'm telling you now. Etsy is brilliant, especially when it comes to finding natural beauty products (um, hello, Piekny Cookie is on Etsy). Most stores list their ingredients in full, which is a really nice little perk. Plus, you'll find some great sales and unique product; Erzulie Cosmetics, for example, has Black Cherry mascara on sale right now for $7. Sounds so yummy I could eat it.

Black Cherry Natural Mascara by Erzulie Cosmetics

I also went all out and purchased some more makeup from Noella Beauty Works. Eyeshadows in Snowflake and Sugared Plum, both weekly steals. I also went ahead and bought a deep espresso eyebrow powder, which triples as a matte eyeshadow AND eyeliner. How can you go wrong?

Sugared Plum Mineral Eyeshadow by Noella Beauty Works

I'll let you all know how it goes when I get my goodies. I can't wait!

xo
Piękny

New Year's Resolutions

Photo Source

Happy 2012, cookies! I'm sure you all had a wonderful weekend bringing in the New Year. I myself watched movies, ate some delicious pizza from Palermo's and watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; a perfect film to celebrate new beginnings.

Every year, I hear tons of people announcing their New Year's resolutions. Some will keep them, and others will forget them after a few weeks (let's not forget the age-old "I'm gonna lose 20 pounds" resolution!). One of the things I'm striving for this year is to work on filtering out icky chemical products and replacing them with wonderful, natural, non-harmful products. I've already started over the past couple of years. Here are some of the products I love to make my life healthier:

Renpure Organics shampoo, conditioner and hairspray; Piekny Cookie (that's me!) facial toner & moisturizer, lip balms, hand salve, body oil; Noella Beauty Works foundation, eyeshadow and blush; Burt's Bees lip balm (I'm obsessed with lip balm and have TONS of different brands); LUSH bath bombs; and soaps by Heavenly Scent Soaps by local Spring Grove, IL crafter Erin Whalen.

Kiss Me Klimt Bath Bomb by LUSH

That's not to say I don't have higher goals! What I'd like to achieve in 2012 is total natural beauty; a removal of all beauty products harmful for my skin and bodily health. There are things that I use every single day that I need to make adjustments to, including: mascara, hand soap, nail polish (Willow Tree Minerals actually makes non-toxic mail polish, which means I can finally start painting my nails again!), concealer and of course, the dreaded HAIR DYE. I'm still on a quest to find the perfect non-toxic dye, so stay tuned for that.

Caterpillar Non-Toxic Nail Polish by Willow Tree Minerals

And here's the big, big, BIG one: incorporate my love of natural beauty products into my diet! Don't get me wrong, I might still want a few slices of pizza every now and then, but you know what -- I want my entire body to be nourished and feeling sassy my not only changing what I slather on my skin, but also what I put into my belly! About a year ago I purchased The Diet Solution by nutritionist Isabel de los Rios. The website looks a little scammy, but I can assure you, the information you get from her book is excellent. When I started eating organic, natural and healthy foods (and she provies recipes, too; yum!) I started losing the weight. Of course, I fell off the wagon, but my goal is to start again and make a total lifestyle change. We'll see how that works out ... no, no, no ... must. Stay. Optimistic. !

What are your New Year's resolutions? Do you strive to make your life more natural and healthy? Or maybe you want to incorporate the natural life into your diet as well? Lemme know!

xo
Piękny