Category: Wellness

Beauty /

Insecure Star Yvonne Orji’s Official Colgate Total “Totally Ready” Commercial

Colgate Total® has joined forces with popular actress and comedian, Yvonne Orji, to help consumers get and stay Totally Ready just in time for Valentine’s Day. This new “Totally Ready ®” campaign informs consumers that with their whole mouth health—healthy gums, teeth, cheeks, and tongue—they are “Totally Ready ®” for whatever life brings them. The multitalented comedic actress was one of the most talked about breakout stars in 2017.

“I am so excited about this partnership with Colgate Total,” shared Yvonne. “A healthy smile has always been important to me. My healthy smile makes me feel good and, when I feel good, I feel totally ready for whatever comes my way. Last year was a really good year for me. I want to take that and make it bigger and better for 2018. So, not only do I need to be totally ready, I know that I must stay ready.”

With the upcoming taping of the highly anticipated third season of the hit cable show in which she co-stars, writing and executive producing her own sitcom, and her role in an upcoming comedy film set to be released in the fall, Orji knows she must be Totally Ready ® in 2018.

As part of this new campaign, Orji will be sharing her “Totally Ready ®” moments on Instagram and will be featured in an upcoming “Totally Ready ®” video that will be featured on Essence.com, one of the leading online destinations for African-American women.

To catch some of Yvonne Orji’s Totally Ready moments, follow @Colgate and @YvonneOrji on Instagram, using #ColgateSmile.

About Colgate Total® Toothpaste

Colgate Total® toothpaste has a formula clinically proven to actively fight germs for 12 hours. It is the only FDA-approved1 and American Dental Association-accepted toothpaste2 to help prevent gingivitis. Colgate Total® toothpaste is also the number one toothpaste recommended most by dentists and hygienists. For more information about Colgate Total® toothpaste, visit www.ColgateTotal.com.

About Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive is a leading global consumer products company, tightly focused on Oral Care, Personal Care, Home Care and Pet Nutrition. Colgate sells its products in over 200 countries and territories around the world under such internationally recognized brand names as Colgate, Palmolive, Speed Stick, Lady Speed Stick, Softsoap, Irish Spring, Protex, Sorriso, Kolynos, Elmex, Tom’s of Maine, Sanex, Ajax, Axion, Fabuloso, Soupline and Suavitel, as well as Hill’s Science Diet, Hill’s Prescription Diet and Hill’s Ideal Balance. For more information about Colgate’s global business, visit the Company’s website at http://www.colgatepalmolive.com. To learn more about Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® oral health education program, please visit http://www.colgatebsbf.com.

About Yvonne Orji

Yvonne Orji is a Nigerian-American actress and comedienne who stars in HBO’s critically acclaimed comedy series Insecure. The show follows the friendship of two modern-day black women and all their uncomfortable experiences and racy tribulations. Yvonne is also a distinguished stand-up comedian. Most recently, she opened for Chris Rock in Atlanta and New York. Yvonne is also known for her inspiring TED Talk, “The Wait is Sexy,” in which she discusses her virginity and decision to wait until marriage. This fall, she will be making her feature film debut in Universal’s Night School alongside Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish.

She is also developing a half-hour sitcom based on her life entitled First Gen, that Oprah Winfrey and David Oyelowo are executive producing. The show is a comedy about a Nigerian girl who trades medical school for a career in stand-up comedy and the adventures that ensue after her strict African mother discovers her plans.

Beauty /

Colgate Total Regimen and Dental Hygiene: Product Review #ColgateSmile

Your smile is the best accessory that you will ever have! Due to this reason alone, it’s vitality important that you take care of your teeth and gums.

Use a product that creates a clean mouth and sparkling smile.

Colgate is a brand that’s stood the test of time in terms of preventing tooth decay and good dental health.

I had the opportunity to review their latest product line and received amazing results! The Advanced Powered Toothbrush has a dual action head for individual tooth reach.

For daily dental repair, the Total Advanced Toothpaste and Mouthwash left my mouth feeling fresh.

All of my dental hygiene products must remove surface stains because I drink coffee and eat foods that leave a residue.

Early Morning Routine: 

Wake Up

Floss & Brush Teeth

Drink a Cup of Coffee

Make Breakfast and Lunch

Take Kids to School

Additional preventative benefits from using Colgate include:

  • Cavities
  • Gingivitis
  • Plaque
  • Bad Breath

Purchase Colgate products to create a beautiful smile and start a good dental hygiene regimen.

Fashion /

Active Ego Plus-Size Athleisure Wear By Jennifer James

Jennifer James is a creative professional and successful entrepreneur who founded and is currently CEO of plus-size athleisure wear line Active Ego.  In December 2016, James earned her Master’s in Business degree from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.

After having her first child, James went into full gym mode to lose the baby weight, there she saw a void of quality activewear for plus-size women and decided to create cute and durable pieces for all curvy women to enjoy.

In 2014, James launched Active Ego and with the success and awareness of the Active Ego brand, the JJ (Jennifer James) collection was conceived and successfully launched in 2017.

James mission is to develop an exclusive line of active and leisure lifestyle apparel that serves and provides options for the plus-size/curvy women who have been underserved in the marketplace. Her vision is to pay attention to detail and be inventive for Active Ego, and successfully market the brand to plus-size/curvy women across the globe.

 

 

Beauty /

The Mane Choice Multicultural Hair and Body Brand: Founder Courtney Adeleye

In the last five years, there has been a 30% upswing in the number of minority- and female-owned brands presenting lines to retailers. Power players from Walmart to Sephora are taking notice and clearing shelf space for the upstart companies. One of the trailblazers in this growing category is the multicultural hair & body care brand, The Mane Choice – who has secured exclusive launch deals with both Walmart and Target in the last year alone! The five-year-old brand that grew from a home-based hobby to a multimillion dollar corporation in just 2 years is growing at a blistering pace.

About the brand and founder:

  • The business was created by founder Courtney Adeleye, who began her journey by mixing products in her kitchen and documenting her progress on YouTube. As her viewers watched her hair grow from chin length all the way down to her hip, they yearned for her help with their own tresses.
  • Courtney began the business out of her kitchen and grew The Mane Choice from a home-based hobby to a multimillion-dollar business in just two years. Last year, the brand garnered over 6.5 million in sales.
  • In less than three years The Mane Choice has been picked up by major retailers including Sally Beauty Supply, Rite Aid, Target, Walgreens, and CVS.
  • In 2017 Courtney debuted two exclusive product launches with Walmart and Target.
  • The Mane Choice has grown almost exclusively through word of mouth and social media. The brand has organically garnered 347K + Instagram followers and 362K + Facebook fans.
  • The Mane Choice made history in Target, being the first hair vitamin to be featured in the hair aisle (they’re usually reserved for the vitamin aisle).
  • The brand has already expanded abroad, with specific The Mane Choice e-commerce sites for Africa and Canada.

Amazon /

Belli Beauty Fresh Start Pre-Treatment Scrub: Beauty Product Review

Let’s start by saying I am a mom.  Like most women who have given birth, I have suffered from skin changes.  This ranges from dryness to a few unforeseen stretch marks.  Thank goodness we live in a new day and time that celebrates all facets of being a woman!

Belli Beauty is a company that specializes in providing luxurious skincare solutions for all ages.  The company creates a variety of products to help with tired eyes, tightening pores, and sunscreen.  I received the Fresh Start Pre-Treatment Scrub to share and provide a review.

If you’re an avid reader of this site (and viewer of lifestyle segments) you know that I adore multi-tasking products because they save time.  The Belli Beauty Fresh Start Pre-Treatment Scrub can be used on the face and body to prevent anti-aging.

Hello.  I am here for all of this!  I used the product during my shower and applied lotion immediately afterward.  My skin appeared brighter and more nourished.  I suggest this product to new moms or anyone that’s seeking healthy skin.

Visit the site to learn more:  belliskincare.com

Beauty /

Good Day Alabama Lifestyle Segment: 2018 Product of the Year Winners

On Friday, February 9, 2018 I had the opportunity to host a Lifestyle Segment with Good Day Alabama, WBRC Fox 6 News highlighting the 2018 Product of the Year Winners.

For those that don’t know, Product of the Year is the world’s largest consumer-voted award for product innovation. The 31 winners of the 2018 Product of the Year Award were announced at the annual awards show on February 8th at the Edison Ballroom in New York City.

A national study of 40,000 consumers conducted by Kantar TNS, a global leader in consumer research, helps determine the Product of the Year winners each year with the aim to help consumers best identify the top new products across multiple categories.

Beauty /

FLU RECOVERY FACIAL CREATED BY CELEBRITY ESTHETICIAN: THAI MORRISON

This season, flu has been rampant causing mass illness across 49 of the 50 U.S. states. Hundreds of deaths have been attributed to flu so far and many say the flu season hasn’t even peaked.

Flu causes major symptoms, like fever, chills and body aches and extreme fatigue that has most sufferers in the bed for five to seven days. Flu often leaves the havoc it’s wreaked “written all over your face” with darkness under your eyes, pale skin and sometimes facial swelling. While the bounce back process from flu is often slow, celebrity esthetician, Thai Morrison, has created a flu recovery facial that can help clients as they return to work and other normal activities.

The facial aims to reduce the darkness and puffiness under the eyes and restore moisture to dehydrated skin. The facial can be done in-house by Morrison or the products for the at-home facial can be ordered from the spa. The facial consists of an oil wash for hydration, like the Flower Power Oil Wash by Kanvas Skin Care; a cleansing scrub to exfoliated the dead skin cells like Polished by Kanvas md; a healing water like Avené­­­­­­ Thermal Spring Water to calm and soothe the skin; a hydrating mask like Glow Mask by Kanvas Skin Care to reduce facial puffiness and moisturize the skin and an eye treatment, like Plump Gold eye pads by Kanvas md to diminish dark circles and undereye puffiness. Morrison, who Is widely known as the “healthy skin care expert” developed the flu recovery facial after contracting the flu herself and is on a mission to help others as they recover from the flu.

“I was down with the flu for almost a week and I wasn’t looking or feeling my best,” said Morrison. “I started treating my skin aggressively with the flu recovery facial I developed and was able to return to work with revived, glowing skin.”

About Thai Morrison:

Thai Morrison is the founder and co-owner of Koffee Day Spa, a full-service day spa and med spa located in Dallas, Texas and Kanvas and Kanvas md skincare lines. Koffee Day Spa is known for offering affordable luxury through its line of celebrity service offerings, including its customized celebrity facial and celebrity massage. Koffee Day Spa is located in Dallas, Texas, and has received numerous awards and accolades, including a 2017 “People Love Us” Award from Yelp, 2016 Top 10 Day Spas in Dallas by Dallas City Voter and 10 Best Day Spas in Dallas by USA Today. Kanvas Skin Care Line provides high-quality products for all skin types at an affordable price and Kanvas md is the medical grade line created to treat specific skin conditions. Kanvas and Kanvas md are esthetician formulated products. From oily-to dry skin, fine lines and wrinkles, to age spots and hyperpigmentation, Kanvas and Kanvas md have the products to treat it.

 

Beauty /

Be The Best Version of You: Embrace Your Natural Beauty

It’s not easy being a woman. We’re bombarded with photoshopped images of beautiful models, we have strict beauty standards forced upon us and most of us receive criticism throughout our lives for one feature or another on our face or body. But it doesn’t have to be this way, instead of comparing ourselves to others it makes sense that we should embrace our own natural beauty. Accentuate our best features, look and feel our best in a way that’s true to us. Here are just a few of the ways you can go about doing that.

Photo from People Style.com

Choose a Hairstyle and Color That Works For You

By the time most of us reach our twenties, we’ve dyed our hair every color under the sun. You might have spent some time bleach blonde, jet black, bright red or any other weird and wonderful shade of the rainbow. But to embrace your natural beauty, why not go back to your roots? If you have natural auburn hair, why not make the most of this stunning rare color and show it off! If you’re beachy blonde, ditch the dark dyes and if you’re naturally darker than give up the bleaches. If you have grey hair, don’t feel as though you need to change it- the silver color can look beautiful. Toners can help to keep it the best shade of grey it can be without permanent damaging colors being added. Sticking with your natural shade will save you time and money, you won’t have to keep running to the hairdresser or using box dyes to cover your roots. Your hair will be in good condition where you won’t be constantly dying it, and when it comes down to it- your natural hair color is what will suit you best. It will complement both your eyes and skin tone and will make you feel like ‘you’- especially if you’ve been coloring for a while.

Stick To a Good Skincare Routine

These days there are all kinds of ‘lunch hour procedures’ that can keep you young from lip injections to fillers to Botox. They’re not too expensive and the recovery time is minimal, however, prevention is better than cure. If you treat your skin well you will reduce the signs of aging and naturally stay looking younger for longer. You should use SPF every day, even in winter as the sun’s UV rays are damaging all year round. Eat a healthy diet, drink plenty of water and avoid damaging habits such as smoking, excessively drinking or taking drugs. Look after your body as a whole, and your skin is one place you will really reap the rewards. If you do feel as though you want a procedure or a little nip/ tuck to rewind the years however then go for it. When it comes to surgery, have the aim in mind that you should look like the best version of yourself, not someone completely different!

Work on Your Physique

A strong and supple body is, of course, practical- it allows you to live your life without feeling easily fatigued and you feel fit and healthy. But maintaining a healthy weight and having toned muscles also looks good too, and can give you a huge confidence boost. If you’re overweight, shedding some pounds will be useful for both your health and your self-esteem. You could join a dieting group for support, and join a gym along with a friend or partner for motivation. Alternatively, you could find an activity you enjoy, whether it’s swimming, yoga, a dance class, a sport or just hiking with the dog and family. Aim to get to a BMI that’s healthy for you (there are lots of calculators to show you this online) and you will look how you are supposed to look and feel great too. You’ll slash your risk of all kinds of health issues that can come from weighing too much or too little. Healthy eating and exercise don’t have to be a chore, there are tones of delicious dishes out there and lots of fun activities to get you up and moving. Don’t see it as a diet, instead see it as a lifestyle change in pursuit of becoming your best self.

You don’t have to conform to unrealistic beauty standards, instead just work on making the best of yourself and highlighting your natural beauty. When you feel good on the outside it does affect the way you feel on the inside- plus many things that improve the way you look will also improve your health.

Collaborative Post

 

Beauty /

Get Award Show-Ready Skin and Transform Your Complexion

Award show season is here and the stars have begun preparing by undergoing extensive skincare treatments to be red carpet-ready. Luckily, you don’t have to be a celebrity to transform your complexion to get a picture-perfect look.

Here are some tried-and-true favorites to get that gleaming award show-ready skin.

• Korres Wild Rose Vitamin C Active Brightening Oil: A silky brightness booster that provides multi-tasking antioxidant action to deliver advanced brightening, tone repairing, and fine line reduction, while soothing & nourishing for a supple, radiant, youthful complexion that glows with health. This multi-tasking brightening booster can be worn alone, with serums and moisturizers, or mixed into your favorite moisturizer for a dewy glow. ($54; www.Sephora.com and www.KorresUSA.com)

• IMAGE Skincare’s ILUMA Intense Brightening Exfoliating Powder: A water-activated, micro-exfoliating cleansing powder that gently polishes and buffs away radiance-impairing dead skin cells to brighten and illuminate the skin. Gentle enough for daily use and perfect for all skin types, the powder is formulated with a new generation of natural botanicals, enzymes and antioxidants to repair uneven skin texture and tone. ($32; spas and salons nationwide and www.Imageskincare.com)

• Bioré Deep Cleansing Pore Strips: twice as effective as the leading pore cleanser, Bioré Deep Cleansing Pore Strips quickly bond to the dirt and oil buried in each pore and lift out pore-clogging agents while reducing the appearance of pores over time. Add this essential beauty favorite to your regular routine, which only takes 10 minutes, to reveal a fresher and healthier-looking complexion. ($7.49; select food, drug and mass merchant stores nationwide)

• LAVANILA’s The Healthy Deodorant: Completely free of Aluminum and Parabens, it’s a safe and effective way to fight odor. The multi-tasking formula uses a health-promoting beta-glucan technology packed with anti-oxidants, active botanicals and essential oils to not only fight odor, but condition, soothe and nourish the skin. ($14 each; Sephora, www.sephora.com orwww.lavanila.com)

• Curél Ultra Healing Lotion: Ideal for severely dry skin, this intensely moisturizing lotion has been clinically proven to repair and renew extra-dry skin two times better than the leading intensive lotion. Formulated with the Curél brand’s Advanced Ceramide Therapy, this extra strength moisturizer instantly hydrates leaving skin soft, supple, and restored and fortifies skin’s natural barrier to help prevent dry skin from reoccurring over time. ($8.99; Select food, drug and mass merchant stores)

Beauty /

Plump Up Your Beauty Routine This Holiday Season With dr. brandt

Look fabulous not frozen this holiday season with dr. brandt skincare. Fill your fine lines, plump up your lips and treat yourself to a volume-restoring face mask with the Needles No More Wrinkle Smoothing Cream, Needles No More 3-D Lip PlumpFIX and the Needles No More 3-D Volumizing Mask.

These products contain groundbreaking technology to regain volume in various areas of your face to make you look younger, fuller and more fabulous this holiday season.

Needles No More® 3-D LIP PLUMPfix ($39) – A breakthrough serum formulated with advanced lip-enhancing technology, dr. brandt® skincare’s Needles No More® 3-D LIP PLUMPfix instantly augments and primes during the day, creating luscious-looking lips that last for hours. At night, the restorative formula works to repair and replenish dryness and damage, so your lips remain healthy and feel soft and smooth from the moment you wake up.

Needles No More® Wrinkle Smoothing Cream ($89) – Formulated with revolutionary and exclusive tri-blend of wrinkle smoothers, this topical cream directly and powerfully targets expression lines in the upper half of the face. The cream visibly relaxes and smooths expression lines, softens and reduces wrinkles over time, providing powerful short-and long-term effects on the upper half of the face. The product also empowers the skin to defend against the future development of lines and wrinkles.

Needles No More® 3-D Volumizing Mask ($95) – This formula gives you the appearance of younger looking skin with hyaluronic acid, peptides and Adipofill’in Complex. Visually plumps and revoluminizes the sunken cheeks and laugh lines that give skin an older appearance, reshaping the natural facial contours over time.