Clean Freaks!!

Could this be the end of your searching?

Alright, I figured there is definitely a lack of Mark product reviews on my blog, so I figured I should buy some mark products and give you the scoop on their quality.

First off, for those who don’t know what “Mark” is.

Mark. is the daughter company of Avon featuring, for young woman and woman that still feel or want to feel young—in my experience more people order from Mark than anything else.

The Mark website says, “mark is a network of young women who sell first-to-market, exclusive products-a stylish mix of makeup, skin and body care, unique fragrances and a trend-setting array of accessories. mark is a unique and unprecedented earnings opportunity.“

Notice they don’t mention Avon—they never once mention Avon in any of the web copy either... yeah, i know it says“ Copyright © 2009 Avon Products, Inc.“ At the bottom of the page, but that’s not really the same thing. I find it weird... in like a secretive misleading way, But anyway...

I opened the Mark catalogue and immediately wanted everything I saw!

The catalogue is thin. There aren’t a lot of products but the little amount of products that they offer are totally awesome--I want it all. The fashion looks so much cooler than what you would expect from Avon. A friend bought a dark blue dress the other day and it’s so adorable!

I ended up buying a cleanser for my skin and some other products that I will review another time—hehe.

The cleanser I bought was the “That’s Deep – Purifying Gel Cleanser“: with sugar maple and black willow bark” from the “Super Fruits and Super Foods” line.

When I got the cleanser two-weeks ago I was very happy about the appearance—I’m a sucker for packaging and the whole packaging looks simple and clean—Very modern. It looks very girly, like something you would see in a beauty salon--I don’t have to hide it. Finally something I can leave right with my other pretty looking packages on the sink. That’s an honor! hehe. (my husband really appreciates that— hey, it looks better than his shaving cream!)

Quick product Info:

The “That’s Deep – Purifying Gel Cleanser” is a fresh, soap free cleanser that washes away pore clogging make-up, dirt and oil without stripping away moisture.

I’ll be the Judge of That!

I’ve used the cleanser for almost two weeks now and I have to say that I am satisfied with it--not blown away, but it is a pretty good product.

Its smell isn’t too intense--not as strong as most of its competition. I actually felt safe that it was not going to burn when I applied it.

Sometimes the strong smell of cleansers makes me scared—like when they smell like poison, they can sometimes burn my skin.

It made my skin soft, but after a week and a half, I broke out and I was not very happy about it. One thing that I love about my skin is that I really rarely get pimples, I think I could even count the amount of pimples I had in my life. It must be under 10. So it was kinda weird when I found this pimple right there over my lip (very attractive). It could be a coincidence, I heard that sometimes when you use a new cleanser you can like get pimples, so I’m gonna let that slide for now.

Anyway besides that I am happy with this product and I will keep using it as long as I don’t continue to break out. Because I really like the other side effects of this product--It didn’t dry my skin out and It was all soft and just seemed full of energy.

Which of the “Super Fruits and Super Foods” is Good For You?

If… Your skin needs a PICK-ME-UP and your makeup needs a touch up

Try…

“Mist Opportunity”- Multi-Task Refresher - Kiwi + Grapefruit for $8

If… You are a total Clean Freak (Like me)

Try…

“That’s Deep” – Purifying Gel Cleanser – Sugar Maple + Black Willow Bark for $7

If… you are looking for your COMFORT zone

Try…

“Calming effect” – Comforting Milk Cleanser – Banana + Oat for $7

If…You want a plan of attack for tackling the rough spots

Try…

“Berry Grand” – Super exfoliating Beads – Cranberry + Pomegranate for $9

If… You crave a polished approach for combating dryness

Try…

“Go with the Grain” – Exfoliating Beads – Adzuki bean + Rice bran for $9

If… You are getting the blues because your skin has the blahs

Try…

“See things clearly” – Brightening Moisturizer – Lemon + Orange + Lotus Flower for $15

Well that’s it for now.

Have a wonderful evening

See ya

Lara

MY BIG FAT UGLY WATCH PART II

What’s up with these Avon watches?

After writing my last watch review, I really wanted to say something nice, I’m sitting here trying my best to twist my head around this watch and come up with some witty and unique comment that wraps up its essence and remarks upon it’s good qualities without completely destroying its reptilian reputation—but I can’t.

My Mother-in-law—who obviously thinks she is the lizard king or perhaps the reincarnation of Medusa--ordered this watch, the Gruen snake print watch in natural, with a friend, because they were buy one get one free. So for $34.99, she and her friend can both wear garish and chunky, oversized and badly-painted fake snakeskin watches with glitter numbers so large the golden girls don’t need their reading glasses to see them.

In fact, the dashes in-between the numbers are so large that they interfere with reading it because the dashes look like number 1’s.
Ok but why am I doing a review for something that my mother in-law purchased? Because yesterday she gave me a present… But then I realized, wait a minute I know this packaging!
And there it was… Snakes on a Watch! The watch she wanted soooooo bad. Given to me!

Honestly, I think I would rather wear this snakeskin watch band.

Why does Avon have to make those watch faces so big? Just like my last big fat ugly watch, and even my fellow Avon saleswoman, Kristen Mcilrath agreed—The watch faces are too BIG!

I almost broke my wrist trying to lift this watch off the table.

The result is that it doesn’t look like a woman’s watch more like one for men. It’s accentuated by the “fancy” snake print band that looks like a 3rd grader drew it while stuck in the house on a rainy Sunday afternoon. And it looks even funnier because the band is thin and delicate and then it attaches to this gi-normous watch face--there is no balance at all.

Place your eyes on the intricate and painstaking quality of this snakeskin… wow…

Not only does the face look like a man’s watch, but it also has those weird plastic bumps, all around the face—like it’s a dial or something. I don’t even know why they would do that, it’s not changing anything and you can’t turn it.

But one last thing, there is something good about this watch-- it came with directions.

The sticker said remove, and that’s exactly what I did.

Well overall this watch is odd looking cause of its girly but yet manly look, but it is still acceptable. Let’s see how the next watch will look like.

How do they say? All good things are 3, right?

Have a great night,
Let me know what you guys think.

All That Glitters is not Gold

I ordered some cute sandals for my mother-in-law-- The gold faux lizard sandals to be exact. They looked beautiful in the catalogue and my mother in law just had to have them. And as much as I’m not really into the whole “gold” thing—too gaudy & too flashy for me—when she tried them on they did look pretty adorable on her feet.

They’re pretty in a “I-just-stepped-on-a-gold-snake” kinda way, and they have a cute strap with rhinestones across the ankle that’s super cute. The sole is made with a great skid-resistant rubber crepe that you don’t usually see on a sandal.

But after she put them on she went to clasp them and realized they were broken. The tongue that sticks into the hole on the strap and holds the shoe tight was defective—it wasn’t like it was

broken, it was never there to begin with—here’s a picture.

So now I have to ship them back. I set it up to receive a replacement because my mother-in-law loves them so much. I put them back into the Avon box that they came in and printed out the Shipping list--once for me and once to put in the box. So far it says that the shipping will be for free-- it better be! I did nothing wrong, the product came defective. It would be pretty messed up if they force me to pay the postage for this replacement. I just brought the package over to the UPS store—I’ll let you know what happens.

Testing on Animals? Not at AVON

Help Find Someone’s

Missing Pet

If you asked anyone that knows me, the first thing they’d say is that I love all kinds of animals.

I grew up with many different animals because my father had a soft heart and whenever I wanted one I got one—hehe. But I would have to say that my favorite pet is a dog.

I have been researching recently to see what I can do to help unfortunate animals—I’ve considered volunteering at an animal shelter or trying to become an agent for the SPCA. Although I like to think about helping the animals, I’m not so sure that I would be able to handle the cruelty to animals that I would witness on a daily basis.

Yesterday I was looking for some information about how to help animals and I found a website I would like to share:

http://www.missingpetads.com

It broke my heart when I read what those people are going thru. This is about lost pets and people that search for their loved ones. Please check this website out, maybe you’ll recognize someone’s pet and be able to reunite them. I can only imagine how horrible it must feel like to lose your pet and not know where it is—or if it’s ok.

Donate a Click, Save a Life

This is for people that want to help out, but don’t have the money to donate.

Check out: http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3

This has an advertisement button that earns them money every time you click it—All the money used to feed animals in need—I’ve been clicking it every day for months.

I subscribed to it, so I get an email reminder every day--this can be pretty annoying, but I try to remember that I’m helping animals that need it.

To Make things easier and to show my support, I added the button to my blog so anyone who reads this and wants to, can donate food by clicking; it costs you nothing and can make a real difference in an animal’s life. It’s located on the right hand site.

Avon and Animals

I am proud to sell Mark and Avon make-up because they do not test their products on animals. If they did I would never consider promoting their products.

Here is a picture of my cutie puppy. Her name is Heidi and she’s a Border collie mix.

I plan on having some projects to help animals in the near future and I hope that you are willing to help some animals in need.

Have a wonderful day.

New Feature: Avon Forum

Hey Everybody,

I was thinking about how I could make reps lives easier and decided to start a Forum. I created the forum “Cosmetics Corner” and added the link on the right site under the “Avon Websites” Section. I hope it will be a success and that you are going to enjoy posting on it.

Have fun :-D

Lara

Here is a link to an awesome Online-Store that has the best deals on Business Cards and other Business tools.

NATURALS Banana & Coconut Milk Shower Gel

In case you haven’t noticed, this time I didn’t make my own photo. This time I’m not actually writing about the product, instead I have more to say about this type of product packaging.

I mean seriously, what the hell is this?

A fancy pirate’s hand?

When I saw my first Avon brochure it had a product with this kind of packaging right on the front cover and my first thought was, “what am I supposed to do with that?” What exactly is that packagings suppose to do? The only possible thing that I can think of is that you hang it on your shower curtain. But, why would you do that? It would look so ugly in your bathroom, and does it even stay on? It looks like it would fall off every time you even thought about touching it. If you’re not supposed to put it on the shower curtain rod, then where should I put it? On the shower knobs? There’s only one kind of knob it would even work on (not the kind I have) and even then, it would get in the way when you tried to turn the water on and off, and more than likely fall off every time you adjusted the water.

Such an ugly packaging for what I am sure is a fine product. Just for the record, I didn’t even order this product because it’s so ugly. To tell you the truth, I don’t even want to buy it. Its just so horrific looking—it looks like something that an Avon serial killer would hunt you down with after they saw what you did last summer…

Eh, I just wanted to ramble my opinion about the packaging. Maybe I will try it out someday and be blown away at its amazing functionality—we’ll see. I’d probably hide it under the sink and only take it out when I showered.

I’m not sure if I’m missing something, does anyone out there actually hang these bottles? I don’t know, I’d like it to be a pretty looking bottle more than a multi-function Swiss army knife shower gel hang bottle; they might as well make the bottle with a built-in fold-out scrub brush or a flashlight on the side.

Anyway what do you guys think? I know this review was short, I’ll write more next time.

Have a great night,

Lara

7 Lipsticks for $9.50, Sounds great right?

Well, now you can have it.

The SpectraColor Lipstick new from Avon has 7 lip colors in one lipstick

When I saw it, I had to have it. I bought the colors called, “The Roses “. They have 10 different color sets, but for my Skin tone “The Roses” looked like it would be the best choice.

The actual lipstick design is prettier than you’d think a 7-in-1 lipstick would be—However it’s also bigger than I expected it to be. I understood it was 7 colors, but I didn’t realize it was 7 pounds of plastic too—at least it looks nice—enormously nice!

But enough about the outside, it’s what’s on the inside that matters, right? Well, this lipstick feels very smooth on my lips, it feels great. And it’s very shiny--I love shiny lipstick. The one negative thing about the smoothness is that it almost seems like water. It felt as if it would drip off of my lips as I put it on. But it dried quickly, but it still felt nice and smooth on my lips. The colors are great but don’t expect them to be as bright and popping as in the photos from the Avon catalogue—but maybe it was just my color choice.

It smells good and it tasted good when I accidently pushed it in my mouth.

A big problem I had with this lipstick is the applicator. It’s hard plastic and makes it hard to blend the two different colors coming out of it to get one of the 7 shades. I recommend using a lip brush to apply this lipstick so that you are able to mix and blend the colors better. The plastic feels cold and uncomfortable on my lips and it got really messy because the hard plastic tip is pushing the lipstick around, and you end up having to clean the applicator after every use--It’s pretty ridiculous actually.

Oh yeah one last thing, I was shopping at Walgreens recently and I saw that there’s a similar lipstick from

L'Oreal the HiP (High Intensity Pigments) Color Presso—I’ve included a picture of the very cheap and very ugly looking competition. Not only is it uglier than the Avon one, It’s also 3 dollars more. I don’t know if L’Oreal had this product first or Avon, but at least Avon put some more thought into it.

Overall the Avon SpectraColor Lipstick is ok and all things considered, worth the money--7 colors for less than 10 bucks is a good price. The colors are decent and the lipstick is smooth and really glossy. But the design still needs some thought. But I’d still recommend it to try out some colors you might not buy otherwise.

Hope this helps,

Have a wonderful day

Lara