Welcome to the fourth edition of the Beauty Smarts Blog Carnival! There’s lots of news in the beauty world these days and I’m here to break it down for you and guide you in the right direction throughout the blogosphere. This month, you’ll be getting a beauty grab bag, full of a little bit of everything in the way of tips and tricks.

Earth-Friendly
It’s Earth Week so naturally we need to tell you about some organic products and beauty methods you might be interested in introducing to your daily beauty regimen. Whether you’re already into organic products or just beginning to fulfill your curiosity, there are many who have already become experts in the organic beauty realm.

Free Organic News has a lot of advice to offer us in organic news. “There is really no excuse for you to neglect any part of your body,” says the website. “Cosmetics companies offer a potion or lotion for every nook and cranny. But how much thought do we put into buying them?” See more in Nourish And Protect Your Skin And Body.

Don’t forget that “the things that you put on your skin enter your bloodstream,” says Free Organic News. In Organic Skin Care – The Nice And Simple Way, we learn about different organic products for aging skin, vegetarians, men, teens, and more!

Finally, Free Organic News presents Nourish Your Skin Organically saying, “The simpler your skincare regimen, the better. Conventional skin creams and lotions can contain mixtures of 20 or more synthetic ingredients, many of which are of no direct benefit to your skin. Instead, they are necessary to hold mixtures of incompatible ingredients, such as oil and water, together and to extend the product.”

For those of us who work on our own organic skin care lines, Julena has some advice in Packaging Organic Cosmetics posted at Organic Makeup and Skin Care. “Pay attention to your beauty product packaging,” she says. “It’s trickier than it seems, especially for natural products.”

Tried and True
It’s always nice to have a concrete product review before you go out there and spend the money on something you’ve never tried before. Here, you’ll find a few beauty bloggers who tried out a product and then shared their thoughts with their readers.

To continue the organic and Earth-friendly theme of this carnival, Jen Mathews presents Product Review – Wild Rose Facial Oil by Mountain Rose posted at MyBeautyBunny.com. This product not only contains rosehip seed oil, but it also has a few organic elements that may make it more attractive to some. See what Jen thought about it.

Heather’s curiosity of Frownies got her to try out and review the product on Star Fashion Addict in Hollywood’s Wrinkle Treatment?. She says, “Celebrity wrinkle treatment? Or complete waste of money? We tested it out…”

Anti-Aging and Skin Care
Your skin is the largest organ in your body and I really believe it’s so important to treat it properly. What you put on your skin can highly affect what it looks like down the line. Here, we cannot use the quick fix, but rather we should look to find products that have long-lasting and healthy results. Below, you’ll find some skin care tricks of the beauty trade.

Frownies may not be the way to go, but Kyle Richey presents How to Help Your Anti Aging Wrinkle Cream Do Its Job posted at NoYu. “If you use your anti aging wrinkle cream only every other day or just a few times a week, it’s just like brushing your teeth that frequently — you won’t do as much good as you will with proper application. Any product will only work when you use it the right way. This applies to anti aging wrinkle cream as much as to toothpaste. Help your product do its job – use it right.”

There are lots of skin types out there. Julie breaks it down for all you dry skin types in Dry Skin Care Tips posted at Healthtrition Beauty and Health. From moisturizers to lip balms to humidifiers, you can certainly learn a few things from this blog.

No one likes acne, but it may pop up at any age — even when you’ve far surpassed those teenage years. Arnel presents The Importance of Getting Acne treatment posted at Your Skin Care Blog, saying, “Acne treatment for this skin condition may be varied depending on the intensity of the case. Acne is manifested when the sebaceous glands overproduce sebum thus resulting to greasy skin which will then catch more dirt and shed skin. The dirt and shed skin, which accumulates in the pores, will block these and result to inflamed pores.”

Holly presents NEW Mineral Makeup Beauty Secrets !! posted at Funny Chix, saying, “Mineral Makeup Beauty Secrets Mineral makeup products are an interesting development in the world of beauty. Makeup is always an individual choice. Sometimes we are looking for anti-aging makeup for more youthful skin in both texture and appearance. The best makeup makes us feel great about the way we look. Mineral makeup is often a 100% pure, natural makeup. Many women prefer its airy, light-weight feel and the look of mineral makeup.”

In this economic downturn, you may feel that it’s tough to splurge on such luxuries as beauty for yourself. Well no worries, because Camille Kruse gives us Free Things You Can Do For Your Skin! at Skincarelogic’s Blog. You’d be surprised what you could do for your beauty regimen with products you already have in your home!

Miscellaneous Beauty
Beauty does come in all shapes and sizes. There are so many different things to keep in mind when you look to improve your appearance or change your beauty regimen. Here are some miscellaneous tips that are certainly important to keep in mind, especially in this time of recession.

Speaking of the recession, “A” of Makeup Lovers Anonymous gives us insight on some products she thinks are perfect to buy from the drugstore. But does a recession mean she should forego her fabulous finds from Sephora? Find out in CVS or Sephora in a Recession?

Are you looking for a career change? If so, you may want to consider the life of a makeup artist. In our very own A Minute With SpaBeautySchools I talk about a variety of events that call for a makeup artist. Check them out in The MUA.

Lately I’ve had such a problem with flat hair. Maybe HairBoutique can help me give a little more life to my locks. In Flat Irons Can Leave Hair Limp, Karen Marie Shelton gives us some great tips and tricks of the trade. She says, “Flat irons, when used properly can help to instantly smooth unruly hair, leaving it bone straight, sleek and super shiny. When used improperly a flat iron can flatten newly styled strands leaving them limp.” Read more on HairBoutique.

Did you know that you have the ability to make beauty products at home with some products you have right in your very own kitchen? Aparna presents 12 beauty uses of baking soda posted at Beauty and Personality Grooming. “Though it’s a known fact that baking soda is widely used in baking, deodorizing refrigerators, microwaves and in household cleaning, let’s look into some common as well as uncommon health and beauty uses of this household ingredient.”

This concludes our fourth edition of the Beauty Smarts Blog Carnival. Thanks for reading! Happy Earth Week!

-Amanda Fornecker

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