Swell Savings: Free Gift With Purchase From Clinique

Ever since the day that I first heard the phrase,  I've loved the words, "Free Gift With Purchase." Ta-da!! Free stuff, especially free BEAUTY stuff, woohoo - count me in.


Clinique is one of the companies who does this regularly. Right now they've got a little one going on at Clinique.com where you make a $35 purchase and then you get a little High Impact Mascara in black and a Take the Day Off Cleansing Milk when you use the promo code KICKOFF at checkout.

If you shop at Nordstrom, then they have a much bigger offer. Inside a cute Trina Turk makeup bag you'll find $75 worth of Clinique favorites. All you have to do is make a $25 purchase. No code is required. Available online and in store, while supplies last.

Includes:

• 7 Day Scrub Cream Rinse-Off Formula (1 oz.)
• Sun Face Cream SPF 30 with keychain (0.24 oz.)
• Even Better Skin Tone Correcting Moisturizer SPF 20 (0.5 oz.)
• Travel-size Shimmering Stripes Powder Blusher in Peony
• High Impact Mascara in Black (0.14 oz.)
• Different Lipstick in Ice Bloom (0.14 oz.)
• Long Last Glosswear SPF 15 in Fire Berry (0.07 oz.)

Image credit: Clinique.com and Nordstrom.com

Swell Guys: Treat Your Man To A Timothy Jay Candle

I'm feeling much better today. Time to start catching up on some of the product reviews I have waiting for me. I have a number of sunblocks to review, but we've been short on sun around here. It's pouring rain (again!) and I want to give the formulas a real test in the heat. That's where it counts, right? Is it comfortable to use, to wear, does it work? I will get back to you with that as soon as I can.


In the time being, I wanted to tell you about these beautiful candles that I was sent for review. Timothy Jay Candles come in 16 fragrances, all but two of these fragrances are built like a fine perfume with base and top notes. The candles were developed by artisanal candle maker Timothy Jay Sullivan. Sullivan is a former ad executive who gained a knowledge of fragrance through his work with companies like AVON, Cosmair, and Airwick. He is a hands on, artisanal candle maker, working out of his West Hollywood studio/store.

Timothy Jay candles come in traditional floral fragrances, but they are also available in a large range of of fragrances that appeal to a more masculine nose. I love this! I'm a big fan of men's fragrance, with a number of men's colognes in my personal collection. I enjoy the notes used in men's fragrance including woody notes, mossy notes, and a fresh herbiness. These candles are perfect for creating a relaxing atmosphere in a man's home by using this same type of multi-note formulations.

For example, Havana, is made up of notes from Geranium leaves, mosses, and Tobacco flowers. It smells incredible. Another new favorite of mine is the Flax candle with notes of Rosemary and other herbs. The candles are divided into four fragrance families; the Florals, the Naturals, the Greens (Celadon, also gorgeous!), and the Fruits. All Timothy Jay candles are packaged in very stylish black and white boxes patterned with paisley. They would make such a lovely gift - something to keep in mind with Father's Day on the horizon.

I was able to try the Havana, the Flax, and a box of the Greens in votive size. I've burned the Havana candle, a travel-size, for about a week, and it lasts and lasts and lasts. I lit the Flax and burned it for a couple of hours and there's only a little dimple in the top of the 10 oz size candle. In my opinion, a candles needs to smell good, that's number one, of course, but if it can smell good for a long time, that's even better.

Click here for the Timothy Jay Candles website.

Image credit: Timothy Jay Candles

Swell Hair: Sarah's Letters To Juliet Look

My youngest daughter graduated from elementary school today. She picked a very grownup dress for her promotion ceremony, so she wanted a grownup hairstyle to go with it. She saw the movie, Letters to Juliet for her birthday and wanted something similar to a look the main character wore in a scene in that movie. Half up, half down, it turned out very cute and was easy to do. It works best on long, wavy hair, like Sarah's.

Here's what I did......

*Start with clean hair. Comb the tangles out, apply a combo of leave in conditioner and gel (mix half and half), then put it up in a towel to pull out the extra moisture. (When She took the towel off she said, "It's like Kate's hair when she comes out of the ocean." Oh, my little LOST fan.)

*Start drying with your blower set at low. Scrunch the ends up toward the roots, to encourage the curl. Blow until it's damp-dry, then use your fingers to twirl a 1 or 2 inch section into a spiral, lay that down, move on to the next section, and repeat the process. Do this all the way around.

*Let it air-dry the rest of the way. This allows the curls to dry into an organic sort of no-work look.

*When it's dry, part the top of the crown off and give it a light back-combing to produce a little height. Nothing huge, we are going for a sort of mermaid-y look. More romance than Jersey Girl (not that I have a problem with Jersey Girls - they are skillful back-combers, that's for sure).

*To section off the "up" portion, use your fingers to slice off a hunk of hair, leaving the front sections free. Slide your finger along, drawing a line about an inch above your ear to the back of your head. Use a pony holder, to make a small ponytail, then gently pull the crown loose-ish, so create a little height.

*Give it a quick spray with some hairspray and you are good to go.

Swell Makeup: Get The Look

I'm back! This morning, I went to the Dr where I received a boat-load of antibiotics, a breathing treatment, and a shot in the butt. By this afternoon, I started to feel a bit human again. Finally. Life is so much better when you can actually breath. Bronchitis sucks.


So, lets get to it....

Have you seen some of the latest It Looks at Sephora? They have a whole section called Get The Look where they give you the product info and the instructions to recreate looks that are sure to be hot this Summer.

Some of the looks are on the avant-garde side, (see Icy Blues), but with a slight bit of tweaking (as in, apply with a lighter hand), they all can be worn fairly easily, by a wide range of ages and skin tones.

For example, the Turquoise Liner look is a fresh Summer look that consists of bright, turquoise blue lined eyes and an orange lip.

It's perfect for a women in her 20s-30s, but a gal in her (early!) 40s, like me, would maybe remove or shorten the long tail of liner at the corners and thin out the bottom liner for a cleaner, more subtle pop of turquoise. (With knowledge and maturity comes the acceptance of that adage - Less Is More).

Now, on the other hand, Dinner in Paris, I'd leave it completely as-is. Smokey steel-gray eye, bold brow, sculpted cheek, barely pink lip - gorgeous!


You can find these Get The Look, looks here,  plus a whole lot more.


Image credit: Sephora

Swell Guys: Gap's Sunwashed Collection

There are a number of reasons why I like the Gap...

I like the affordability of the clothing which makes it easy to stock up on basics. I like the way the store is laid out which makes it easy to shop - I remember many trips with my friend Yuka, both of us pushing a stroller. If you are a mom, then you know what a plus being able to maneuver can be.

More than anything, I like the soft texture of the clothing. Smooth, comfy tees and shorts - like someone broke them in for you, turning them into instant old favorites.

I got an email today about the new Sunwashed Collection at the Gap for Men. The collection consists of shorts, tees, short sleeve buttoned shirts, shoes, belts, and hats, pretty much anything a guy could need. Take a look at the entire collection here.

Image credit: Gap

Swell Skin: Fight That Cellulite

Cellulite sucks. Those cottage-cheese looking dimples can show up on your thighs or your butt - yuck. I was lucky, I didn't get cellulite until my late 30s, but it can appear on any woman, of any age, be she thick or thin. One of those equal opportunity downers, like the Bad Hair Day or a huge zit. Bleech.


It's believed to be caused by a a breakdown in the elasticity of the skin. The fat bulges around the fiber compartments in the skin, which shows up in the form of bumpy, dimply, uneven skin. Factors that effect skin elasticity include the female hormone estrogen, bad diet, smoking, some medications, crash diets, lack of exercise, not enough fluid (water) intake, and aging.

How do we prevent it? Well, one article I read that other day mentioned drinking large amounts of green tea. Will that work? I don't know, but I do enjoy tea, so I'm going to give it a try.

St. Ives sent me their new 2-part Cellulite smoothing system. The system consists of St. Ives®Cellulite Shield Gel Crème and Advanced Body Moisturizer. The products are made with green tea, caffeine, citrus extracts, menthol, and shea butter. They are clinically proven to show a reduction in the appearance of cellulite in 2 weeks.

Two Step Program:

*Step one: Increase circulation with the Cellulite Shield Gel.

*Step two: Smooth and tone with the Advanced Body Moisturizer.

I'm currently on Day 3 of the 2 weeks and so far I can say that the products are easy to use and my skin feels soft and moisturized. I will give you a full report when the 2 weeks are up - hopefully the results will be good, because cellulite smooth products can be pricey and this system is not - each product retails for only $6.99.

Image credit: Michelle Hamor Smith

Not Swell At All

Sorry I've been MIA. My son has pneumonia and I've got a cold, or possibly the flu. I will be back with Swell Stuff very soon. Take care!