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Sea Buckthorn Oil: What to Know and How to Best Use It

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Sea Buckthorn Oil is the “hostess with the mostest” of the StyleChicks Favorite Skincare Ingredients series, Sea Buckthorn Oil has over 200 nutrients to work wonders on delicate eye skin, wrinkles & stretch marks.

Sea Buckthorn Oil reduces wrinkles, fine lines and acne

Sea Buckthorn Oil comes from these tiny berries. Topical application reduces wrinkles, fine lines, and acne

WHAT SEA BUCKTHORN DOES

Sea Buckthorn Oil is an ingredient worthy of your skincare routine.

With over 200 nutrients to nourish the skin, it heals skin damage including scars, burns, and abrasions. It soothes eczema and treats acne.

But my favorite thing about Buckthorn Oil is it treats aging skin and sun-damaged skin as if it is an injury or wound. Sea Buckthorn thinks it must remedy the situation immediately. I feel ya, Sea Buckthorn. So it “calls the troops” together, making repairing cells “rescue” the aging skin by working overtime building as much collagen as possible.

That makes Sea Buckthorn a great ingredient in a vitamin C serum. C provides the building blocks for collagen while Sea Buckthorn tells the skin to make collagen. Go team!

WHAT IS SEA BUCKTHORN?

Sea Buckthorne Oil is called the “wonder oil,” Seaberry or Hippophae Rhamnoides.

Sea Buckthorn oil is extracted from small orange berries.

Sea Buckthorn Oil is like a who’s who of nutrients including:

  • vitamins A, B1, B2, D, K, and P
  • providing Vitamins C and E, and serving as a super-anti-oxidant
  • carotenoids; flavonoids;
  • amino acids;
  • phenols; folic acid; organic acids;
  • 20 mineral elements
  • essential fatty acids.
  • It uniquely contains all four omegas: omega-3, omega-6, omega-7, and omega-9.

SEA BUCKTHORN OIL Benefits

This cocktail of repairing nutrients is what makes Sea Buckthorn Oil so useful for general skincare and for:

  • the repair of eczema
  • wounds and scars
  • stretch marks
  • aging skin concerns including plumping wrinkles and fine lines
  • It works wonders on the undereye area
  • soothing the redness of sun damage
  • nourishing skin
  • gently but effectively treats acne and fades acne scars, including stubborn adult acne.

Organic Sea Buckthorn oil can immediately reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines because it plumps up the skin.

PRODUCTS CONTAINING SEA BUCKTHORN OIL

Sea Buckthorn is typically found in midrange to expensive skincare product lines.

We’ve located a few well-priced serums we like that contain Sea Buckthorn. They are:

  • InstaNatural Vitamin C Serum
  • Skin2Spirit Organic Caffeine Eye Whip Cream reduces puffy eyes
  • Supergoop Forever Young Hand Cream with Sea Buckthorn SPF 40 to make hands look younger.
  • Azure Naturals Vitamin C Skin Serum: Contains Hyaluronic Acid, helping that Sea Buckthorn sink deep into the skin
  • Valentia Skin Care Even Glow Serum really attacks forehead wrinkles

More Best Use Ingredient Guides

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Find more skincare ingredients in the Glossary.

ETHICAL OPTIONS IN GEMSTONE JEWELRY: Jeulia Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring

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Want an ethical gemstone choice? Jeulia is an artisan jewelry company who uses ethical gemstones of identical chemical, optical & physical composition to those mined.

Jeulia handcrafts each piece of jewelry using the traditional gemstone cuts, precious metals and other design elements most often seen on expensive jewelry pieces. Jeulia has both classic design and modern theme pieces. We selected a modern piece: The Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring.

Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring

Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring

JEULIA TOPAZ OWL RING APPEARANCE

The Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring appears like a traditional ring setting from an overhead view, but from the side views, an adorable owl face and body are visible. The body and face are highly detailed. I like the owl’s calm but expressive look. The ring is fully detailed on all sides, and the owl face appears on both sides of the ring.

Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring

Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring

Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring

Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring

JEULIA OWL RING DESIGN & MATERIALS

PRIMARY STONE

The primary stone is a 6.2 Carat prong-set yellow Topaz.

CUT: The Topaz in the Owl Ring has a 57 facet Round Cut. This cut is the most efficient in capturing a stone’s brilliance, fire, and sparkle, as it reflects light back to the viewer. The Round cut is a Brilliant cut variant typically used on more expensive diamonds.

COLOR AND CLARITY: The Topaz’s table has a mined gemstone appearance, with a variance of light and dark golden hues. I see subtle flecks of amber, green on the break facets and at times, flicks of orangey-red reflected in the star facets. This variance is far superior to the single tone look of some created gemstones; those are the kind that can appear too bright or over-saturated. The Jeulia Topaz has subtle and bright flecks of color, yet it is not TOO yellow compared to mined stones.

SIDE STONES

The side stones are eighty-five White Sapphires in prong and bezel settings. They are primarily in the owl’s eye and face design. These created Sapphires have a hardness of nine. For reference, diamonds have a hardness of ten and Cubic Zirconia is eight.  The eyes are created Topaz and have a fair amount of glint and sparkle, especially casts of dark gold and green.

Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring

Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring

RING METAL

The ring is Sterling Silver with Rhodium. Rhodium, a member of the Platinum metal family, and has a Platinum appearance. It enhances scratch resistance and gives off a brilliant reflective look to the Sterling Silver base. Rhodium is what makes a modern ring look shinier than vintage rings.

The Sterling design includes a feather pattern of the owl body along the sides of the ring, as well as design accents to enhance the White Sapphire stones, especially along the eyes.

ABOUT CREATED GEMSTONES

The Jeulia website indicates they use lab created stones that are “chemically, physically and optically identical to those mined” but with few to no natural imperfections which give the ability for an ideal cut creating maximum fire and sparkle. Some advantages to lab created stones include that they are an ethical choice, a lighter carbon footprint and more affordable than a mined stone.

Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring

Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring

CREATED AND MINED GEMSTONES: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

IDENTICAL CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

Jeulia uses created stones of the exact chemical composition as those mined. In scientific speak, Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminum and fluorine with a simple chemical formula that can be grown in a lab to crystallize just as a mined gemstone crystalized. The gem’s “ingredients” are the same, the crystallization result is identical, barring chemical impurities causing imperfections. The difference is a mined gemstone sustains scratches, cracks, and damage over time that reduce the available cut style options. That’s not an issue with created stones.

GEM APPEARANCE

I see little difference between my grandmother’s topaz and the created topaz in this Jeulia Owl Ring. The Owl Ring is slightly more saturated but within the scope of the natural color variances seen between mined Topaz stones. Under a jeweler’s loupe, the created stone doesn’t have the tiny blemishes found within mined stones.

RING CRAFTSMANSHIP

There are no loose pieces, fittings or stones. There are no uneven surfaces or detailing. There are no mismatched joints or uneven seams.

CUT: DISPLAYING THE OPTICAL BRILLIANCE & CLARITY OF CREATED STONE

Lab-created stones are ideal for cuts requiring clarity including the Round cut seen on this Topaz, and the White Sapphire’s “Hearts and Arrows” cut. Lab-created stones have the optical symmetry equivalent to a grade “Excellent” diamond. These cuts are typically seen on expensive pieces.

Both cuts give a traditional gemstone appearance to a created stone, by best displaying their optical superiority. The result’s a near perfect repeating pattern in the gemstone crown.

Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring

Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring

RING PRESENTATION

The Jeulia gift box is a high-end presentation. The ring comes in a two drawer black and white box with silver logo. The upper drawer securely holds the ring box, a black hinge top box, its’ hinge is stable and secure. The lower drawer holds a polishing cloth, a gift bag, the warranty information card and a gift card.

Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring

Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring

ABOUT JEULIA JEWELRY

Each piece is hand-crafted in the Jeulia studio, ships directly and comes with a One-year warranty guarantee.

CONCLUSION

Individually crafted with quality workmanship and materials, the Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring makes a lovely gift for an owl or bird lover, an academic, teacher, scholar or your favorite “bookworm.”

If you seek lab-created stones for their affordability, light carbon footprint, or as an ethical choice, finding an attractive, high-quality gemstone is a key factor in your selection. Jeulia’s created gemstones demonstrate identical chemical, optical and physical characteristics to mined gemstones, but without imperfections. The superior cut of Jeulia’s gemstones paired with artisan hand-crafted design and construction makes for a quality jewelry choice.

Find the truly stunning Jeulia Two Tone Feather Round Cut Created Topaz Owl Ring at Owl Ring

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chEiLCPNJeY[/embedyt]

Style Chicks received this product in exchange for our unbiased review and received compensation for our time and effort. However, our experience with the product and the opinions expressed in this review are 100% ours.

Pamper Your Bridesmaids with the Lovusion Blue Box Gift Set

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The Lovusion Blue Box

Are you a bride to be this Spring? Congratulations! Things are undoubtedly getting crazy busy in your wedding planning. They are getting busy for your bridesmaids as well, so it is time to start thinking about getting each of them an amazing, relaxing gift to thank them for their time, effort, and expense in celebration of your big day.

A luxe, relaxing gift that any bridesmaid-to-be would love is the Lovusion Blue Box.

Lovusion Blue Box

Lovusion Blue Box

ABOUT THE LOVUSION BLUE BOX GIFT SET

The Lovusion Blue Box is a decadent treat that comes with a fresh long-stem red rose, scented bath soaps, scented bath salts, scented bath bombs, scented candles, and chocolate! The eye-catching Tiffany-blue with red interior box comes with an embossed wax stamp red heart shape seal on a black envelope that lists all of the goodies inside. Inside the beautiful box are individual compartments to securely hold each gift item, and padding atop the gift items for safety in transit.

LOVUSION BOX CONTENTS

  • Four colorful, scented candles (two each of Cranberry Crush and Blueberry Pie) that come in reusable glass mini-mason jars with shiny brass tops.
Lovusion Blue Box Candle

Lovusion Blue Box Candle

  • The three scented bath soaps are Cotton Field Scrub (pink and green), Cherry Almond (a beautiful multi-color black, raspberry, white, orange), and Gobi Gold (golden hues). They smell and look heavenly! The lather is creamy, and the feel is luxe, as they are each highly moisturizing to the skin. Made with Shea Butter, Coconut Oil, Olive oil, oatmeal, and sea salt. They are double wrapped presentation style and are very generously sized. I love a high-quality soap and find this trio to be particularly moisturizing, and each has a lovely scent without being overbearing. My favorite is the Cherry Almond that looks like an oil painting and smells mouth-watering!
Lovusion Blue Box Bath Soap

Lovusion Blue Box Bath Soap

  • Three generously sized resealable bags of scented bath salts (Almond Coconut, Lavender, and Summer Citrus) and one Pina Colada bath milk powder.

BathSalts1

Lovusion Blue Box Bath Salts

Lovusion Blue Box Bath Salts

  • Three bath bombs (Mistletoe, Crazy Love and Snicker Doodle) in vibrant shades, notice the rose petals in the Crazy Love bath bomb (the pink one) and the lovely gradient of colors has all the makings for a beautiful bath.
Lovusion Blue Box Bath Bombs

Lovusion Blue Box Bath Bombs

  • Chocolate! There is three individually wrapped Ghiradelli heart shaped chocolates with a sentiment.
  • A long-stem red rose that comes with a green water tube to keep it fresh and hydrated in transit.
  • A black wax-sealed envelope that has a two-sided card, listing the box contents

SHOW APPRECIATION WITH THE GIFT OF A LUVUSION BLUE BOX

Your bridesmaids-to-be, new Mom’s, or any special someone can get several luxuriously decadent soaks in the tub by candlelight as they mix and matching scents. A thoughtful and fun gift that shows you appreciate them and wish to pamper someone you love, the Lovusion Blue Box makes for a go-to gift idea for brides-to-be who want to spoil the ladies in their bridal party.

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0igzBOX9qGg[/embedyt]

Why Love Treasured Locks SuperNatural Curl Tamer Gooseberry

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A review of Treasured Locks SuperNatural Curl Tamer.  Tame unruly hair with a lush, natural hair mask containing Amla (a.k.a. Indian Gooseberry Oil) & Shikakai

Nothing beats a good hair day

But what constitutes a good hair day is subjective.

It seems that many curly-haired gals envy the smooth, shiny, silky hair of straight-haired gals. And often those with straight hair wish they had a head full of curly ringlets!

And then there are those of us with hair that marches to its’ own drummer. It won’t stay straight OR form a soft, loose curl pattern.

Natural curly hair is beautiful. But sometimes, you want to look like yourself, just more polished. If your hair has too much natural curl or frizz to work it into the style you want, check out Treasured Locks SuperNatural Curl Tamer.

Treasured Locks SuperNatural Curl Tamer

Treasured Locks SuperNatural Curl Tamer

What is Treasured Locks SuperNatural Curl Tamer

Treasured Locks SuperNatural Curl Tamer is an herbal hair mask. It provides major conditioning, frizz reduction and it loosens too-curly curls. This mask allows curly head girls to create straight hairstyles that last. If you straighten your hair and it still looks too wavy or wiry, or your hair looks dry and brittle once straightened, SuperNatural Curl Tamer can help.

SuperNatural Curl Tamer, is foremost, natural.

It conditions and hydrates all hair types, but is especially effective on natural African-American hair, relaxed hair and biracial hair. It also works wonders on naturally wiry or coarse hair, as seen on our model. Her hair grows in several sections. There are cowlicks, with uneven waves. There is  both very curly and straight ends that will not be coaxed into a softer hot roller curl.

It is also resistant to hair straightening without LOTS of product combined with lots of flat ironing. Any straightening attempts to leave her hair dry and damaged. She was concerned that chemical straighteners would add to the frizzy and damaged appearance or potentially cause hair breakage. So our model was eager to try a natural mask that could both condition her hair and help tame her curls into a manageable style.

WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT TREASURED LOCKS SUPERNATURAL CURL TAMER HAIR MASK

If you try to battle too-curly hair into a straight style, you likely use hot tools that can cause hair breakage. This pulling motion is also harsh on the hair roots, as hair is being pulled and yanked straight.

Treasured Locks has you covered with a fantastic combination of ingredients that not only softens and conditions hair, but makes it stronger, both at the root and within the body of the hair.

Best of all, it enhances the curl patterns of hair to make them softer, pliable and workable. We love that it is natural and uses some of our favorite hair-friendly ingredients.

Treasured Locks SuperNatural Curl Tamer Ingredients:

Henna strengthens brittle hair cuticles and reduces breakage. It also can loosen a natural curl. The henna works more efficiently when combined with extracts like Amla (Indian gooseberry) and Shikakai (Acacia Concinna). Both extracts are ingredients in this SuperNatural Curl Tamer.

Amla is known as a wonder fruit. This is the famed Indian Gooseberry Oil. It is a non-greasy wonder oil that has been used in India for years to help grow long, silky and shiny hair. Indian Gooseberry is an ingredient I look for in hair care because it makes my hair soft, silky, and pliable. Amla nourishes both hair and scalp and is reputed to promote hair growth and prevent gray hair.

Acacia (Shikakai) improves hair texture as a conditioning agent, and it nourishes the scalp to promote hair growth.

Neem Oil is like a facial for your scalp, removing sebum, dandruff and dry skin flakes and eczema that can all impair hair growth. It promotes hair growth by improving the health of the scalp, giving it a soothing, protective barrier. It also makes hair soft. Of note, you cannot smell the Neem within this product.

Rose powder adds fragrance as well as softens hair.

Multani Mitti is better known as Fuller’s Earth. It removes toxins from hair and scalp. Multani Mitti also facilitates blood circulation, which helps hair growth. It is a conditioning cleanser that makes hair smooth and shiny.

Treasured Locks SuperNatural Curl Tamer

Treasured Locks SuperNatural Curl Tamer

OUR EXPERIENCE USING SUPERNATURAL CURL TAMER

Like a spa treatment for hair, allocate at least 30 minutes to one hour to relax with the treatment mask in your hair.

We also recommend using the Treasured Locks Hydracap or a processing cap and warm towel:

  • to keep the mask on your hair and off your neck
  • keeping the mask warm, which enhances the conditioning properties of several of the ingredients.

How to Use It

  1. MIX WITH WATER: Follow the directions and mix the contents in a bowl with water, slowly adding the water to keep the correct consistency. The directions don’t indicate how much water to use, for reference I used 200ml (5 3/4 ounces) but could have used a bit more for a liquid consistency. It made a full coloring bowls worth of product to apply to the hair, plenty even if you have long and thick hair.
  2. APPLICATION:  Apply it to the hair with a hair coloring brush or wide tooth comb. I stopped periodically during application to massage it into the hair from scalp to ends, ensuring all of the hair was coated. I expected it to smell different due to a few of the ingredients having naturally “notable” aromas, but I just detected the Fuller’s Earth, rose, and maybe a bit of the Amla.  Neither the model or me could smell the Neem.
  3. WRAP HAIR: Wrap hair with the Hydracap and blow-dry it onto your head. If you don’t have a Hydracap, pin your hair up into a disposable processing cap or saran wrap. Leave in for 30 minutes to one hour. We did the full hour.
  4. Rinse out the product and wash hair as directed on the package
Treasured Locks SuperNatural Curl Tamer

Treasured Locks SuperNatural Curl Tamer

RESULTS

We allowed the models’ hair to dry naturally, no leave-in treatments or product and without the use of a dryer or other hot tools.

The curls were much more manageable, the hair did not feel weighed down, and the hair felt soft and strong, there was no crunchy feel. It required no product in the hair for the curls to remain looser, which usually it takes lots of product to get any style to stick. The straight hairstyle lasted until the model washed it out. Much to her delight, frizz was reduced, even when she allowed her hair to dry naturally.

CONCLUSION:

Treasured Locks SuperNatural Curl Tamer uses hair-healthy, all natural ingredients to provide an all-natural remedy to reduces frizz, as well as condition and hydrate all hair types. Good for the scalp and the hair, it provides a healthy, natural remedy to relax curls and frizz, leaving hair healthier and stronger in the process.

Find Treasured Locks SuperNatural Curl Tamer at http://www.treasuredlocks.com/

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCUBc_bnDh0[/embedyt]

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Style Chicks received this product in exchange for our unbiased review and received compensation for our time and effort. However, our experience with the product and the opinions expressed in this review are 100% ours.

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