Favorite Beauty Products of the Month!

 

Michelle Informs Presents: Favorite Beauty Products of the Month!

What are some of my favorite beauty products that I can't get enough of?

November 26, 2023

by Michelle Danilczuk

**Some links are affiliate links. As an Amazon influencer, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases**

    As someone who enjoys trying new products, I am always on the hunt for new products in my collection. I enjoy testing and reviewing new products for those who are interested in this blog. The beauty products that I review include makeup, skincare, haircare, perfumes, and even beauty tools that I think are useful. Once a month, I select some of the products that have impressed me with their quality. I feature them on this blog because I feel that they deserve to be shown off and that they can benefit readers of this blog. Without further ado, here are some of my favorite products of the month!

Product #1: Moroccanoil Dry Shampoo Light Tones

This dry shampoo is by far one of the best dry shampoos that I have ever used. I like the smell of it, which is important to me as a customer. Some products perform well, but the perfume or fragrance that is added can throw people off. Moroccanoil is a prestigious brand that offers haircare products such as shampoo, conditioner, dry shampoo, and hair masks. The brand also sells bodycare products such as body oils and body washes. While this dry shampoo is specifically for people with lighter hair, Moroccanoil also makes the same product for darker toned hair colors. The product does not make my scalp itch and it immediatly removes the grease from my hair. 

    Price: $24.70 (Amazon)

Amazon.com: Moroccanoil Dry Shampoo Light Tones, 5.4 Fl. Oz. : Beauty & Personal Care 

Product #2: Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Universal Daily Peel

As someone who suffers from acne, this product has definitely helped my skin. It includes 5 AHAs/BHAs, which stands for Alpha Hydroxy Acid and Beta Hydroxy Acid. Anytime that my skin needs to feel exfloitated and refreshed, this is my go-to product! It is gentle enough for people with sensitive skin, and works instantly just after two minutes! This product comes in a variety of sizes. The one that I have comes with 5 treaments for $20. However, there are some treatments that can go up to $92! This product promises to help smooth fines lines, minimize the look of pores, and improve the appearance of uneven tone & texture. If you are struggling with dull skin, large pores, problematic skin, or acne in genearl, then I reccommend this product for you! For those of you that need extra exfoliation, Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare also sells Extra Strength Daily pads that do the trick! Don't forget to wear sunscreen after using this product!

    Price: $20 (Sephora)

Alpha Beta® Universal Daily Peel Pads - Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare | Sephora

Product #3: Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez- Soft Pinch Liquid Blush "Happy"

One of my absolute most favorite liquid blushes is Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush. Specifically, I love the shade "Happy." This color is very versatile, looks good on every skin tone, and it blends seamlessly. I enjoy using with any makeup look that I do and I reccomend using the smallest amount when first starting out. 

        Liquid blush can be tricky for beginners, especially when you are not used to liquid products. However, once you get the hang of it, you'll be looking flirty and cute in no time! The applicator absorbs the right amount of product and it is easy to use. There is plenty of product for the price point and this item can be bought online or in stores. 

Price: $23 (Sephora)

Soft Pinch Liquid Blush - Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez | Sephora

Product #4: Grande Cosemetics GrandeBROW Brow Enhancing Serum (4 month supply)

As someone who was born with very little brows, I would say that this product goes beyond a favorite product of the month. This brow growth serum is a holy grail product that I continue to buy over and over again. While the price point is high, I definitely believe that it is worth every penny. This size specifically is enough to last for four months and anyone can use this product. People with full eyebrows can use this product to touch up sparse areas. 

    If you're looking to grow your eyebrows from scratch, this product delivers fast results! I reccomend applying this product at least twice a day. The nighttime is the ideal time for this product because the serum can be absorbed into your brows while you sleep. The application is easy and straightforward; simply dip the applicator into the serum and paint it across your eyebrows. 

    You can also use this product to grow your eyelashes. For individuals who have sensitive eyes, please be mindful that this product can cause some slight irritation. I have used this product on my eyelashes before and I have woken up with red eyes. Don't say I didn't warn you! 

Price: $73 (Sephora)

GrandeBROW Brow Enhancing Serum - Grande Cosmetics | Sephora

Identifying Different Skin Types

 Michelle Informs Presents...

What are Some Different Skin Types?

The chart above shows the different skin types and skin conditions that people have

   If you're a skincare fan like myself, you absolutely must know the difference between various skin types. Because people have different skin types, it is important to differentiate between various skin types. You can use your skin type to determine what products will work best for you. There are a variety of factors that affect the condition of your skin. These include age, hormones, diet, genetics, the amount of sleep you get, whether or not you smoke, how often you wash your face, stress, weather conditions, pregnancy, and many others. 

    In addition, there are five main skin types that people can have: dry, oily, combination, aging, and sensitive. Keep in mind that people's skin types can fluctuate based on various circumstances. For example, someone may have oily skin in the summer, but in the winter, their skin can be dry and flaky. Another example is if someone experiences high stress levels, then he or she can have more acne breakouts due to heightened cortisol levels. No matter what your skin type is, it is important to understand it to best treat it!

Dry skin

    Dry skin occurs when your skin becomes dehydrated and loses water too quickly. It is usually accompanied with itching, scaling, and cracking. You may have dry patches on your face and you may experience discomfort if your skin is not properly moisturized. Your skin could be naturally dull. 

You know you have dry skin if you experience the following:

• Your face feels tight after washing it
• Your skin feels flaky and itchy
• You have small to invisble pores
• You are prone to fine lines and wrinkles
• You are prone to sensitivity

Some acids that can be used to improve your skin type includes hyaluronic acid, ceramides, glycerin, and lactic acid. 

Oily skin

    Oily skin can make you feel like your face is covered in grease. This "grease," however, is not actually grease; it is a waxy, oily substance called sebum. Too much sebum can cause acne breakouts on a person's face. Sebaceous glands are responsible for producing sebum. When your skin is too dry, these sebaceous glands produce more oils to compensate for the lack of moisture. Lack of moisture is not the only factor that contirbutes to oily skin.

    Oily skin is often connected to acne prone skin. Anyone, regardless of their age, can experience acne; however, it is more common with teenagers and young adults. Other factors that can exacerbate oily skin include weather conditions such as humidity, stress levels, and even genetics. 

    Washing your face twice a day, using a clay mask, using spot treatments, and avoid touching your face are some things that you can do to improve your skin's condition. 

You know you have oily skin if you experience the following:

• Visible, enlarged pores
• Skin looks greasy and shiny
• Skin secretes too much oil
• Your skin produces oils in the T-zone and cheek area
• Your pores are enlarged
• You are prone to blackheads and acne

Some acids that can help you reduce your oily skin include salicyclic acid, retinol, and glycolic acid. 

Combination skin

        Combination skin is when you experience both oily skin and dry skin simultaneously. Your T-zone may be oily, but your cheek area may be dry and flaky. Combination skin can be caused by genetics, using the wrong products, and daily habits can affect your skin's condition. 

       Having combination skin can be frustrating at times because certain products can help, while others hurt. For example, you may use a clay mask for the oily parts of your face, but it can cause excessive dryness in areas where you are dry. A moisturizer can be too moisturizing for the oily parts of your face, but can heal dry, flaky areas. 

You know you have combination skin if you experience the following:

• You're dry around the cheeks, but oily in T-zone
• You have enlarged pores around the nose area
• You have uneven skin texture
• You have rough or flaky spots

Some acids that you could use to improve your skin's conditon includes niacinamide, glycolic acid, retinol, or mandelic acid.

 

Sensitive skin

    People who have sensitive skin know how tight their face can feel, even after using a new product. They are prone to redness, rashes, and new products that they try can sting or burn. In addition, sensitive skin can be a subtype of another skin type; for example, you can have both sensitive skin and oily skin. 

       When healing sensitive skin, it is of the utmost importance to focus on products that do not irritate your skin. These include fragrance-free producs, products with antinflammatory properties, and calming ingredients. You should also avoid over-exfoliating your skin and use products with less than ten ingredients. Your skin care routine should be simple and you may be prone to breakouts as well. 

You know you have sensitive skin if you experience the following:

• Redness prone
• You have rough and uneven skin texture
• You are reactive to many ingredients
• You have delicate skin
• You have fine pores
• Your skin is easily irritated
• You may suffer from certain skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, or rosacea
• Your skin can feel dry and itchy

Products with azelaic acid, squalane, and PHAs can be beneficial for this skin type. 

Aging skin

       As you get older, you have experience various change to your body. Your joints may hurt more, you may gain more weight, and your vision may change in ways that you did not expect. Unfortunately, as people age, their skin also goes through these changes. 

       The skin becomes thinner, it loses fat, and skin becomes slack. There is a loss of fat in the face and a loss of elastic tissue. You may experience rough, dry, and itchy skin as you age; your face may be prone to bruising because there are thiiner blood vessel walls. On top of that, you may start to see wrinkles, fine lines, and sagging skin. 

You know you have aging skin if you experience the following:

•  You have slack skin
• You have rough, dry, and itchy skin
• You have fragile skin
• You are prone to developing skin lesions
• You have wrinkles and fine lines
• Your skin has decreased collagen
• There is reduced healing and skin repair 
• You have uneven skin tone

Products with peptides, vitamin c, and retinol can deliver the best results. 

Source: Difference Between a Blog and Facebook – Here’s the Guide (finityweb.com) 

Difference Between a Blog and Facebook – Here’s the Guide

Just in case you’ve fallen out of touch with technology over the last decade or more, I thought I’d clarify exactly what the differences were between the two.

So here’s the quick answer, then we’ll dive into some more detail…

The differences between a blog and facebook. Blogs offer total control and authority over the content, posts are permanent and visible. On the other hand, facebook limits your control and creativity. Facebook posts are not visible to everyone and its even difficult to view older posts. Blogs are more creative compared to Facebook posts.

Purpose Of a Blog And Facebook

To understand the difference between a blog and facebook, it’s important that we first learn the purpose for which they were both created. A blog is a short word for a “weblog”.

Blogs are more along the lines of periodicals – like magazines and newspapers. This is why much of the time, Blog Posts are also called ‘Articles’ based on old-world academic type articles.

They maintain a log of events and keep a record of thoughts, ideas, and opinions which you have shared on your blog. It generally consists of diary entries, facts and information, thoughts, personal opinions, and ideas.

While Facebook is one of the social media platforms where you have your own online account, which potentially reflects your social life.

The purpose of facebook is the social interaction between people. Due to its social nature, facebook is used for updating status and connecting with people.

Content ownership

Your blog is your platform, you can pour your heart out in words and all the content shared on this platform is yours.

Every single word and character posted on your blog belongs to you. since you own your blog and every piece of content in it, you are not bound by any limitations placed by any other platform.

You may think you own whatever content you share or post on facebook but it is not entirely true. When you post anything under the “public” setting, you are giving Facebook permission to use your content.

Facebook can use your content in any way, anywhere they deem fit. It also depends on the way facebook is operated, if any changes happen or new update comes, your content viability could be in danger.

Visibility of content

With over 3.5 billion searches per day and 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide, how often do you see a facebook page show up in top results? Also, your posts on Facebook could easily be viewed and scrolled down.

Bloggers use SEO marketing principles, tags, links, catchy titles to maximize the power of a search engine in order to deliver their content to the audience or market their product.

A blog allows your customers to know more about what product you have to offer in more detail. Unlike Facebook, blog posts even pop up in Google’s top results – if you start your blog correctly.

Theme

The blog has a purpose and follows a theme. There should be a specific reason for the audience to follow your blog and stay up to date. The theme can be anything whether informational, marketing or business-related, personal opinions, etc.

Facebook, on the other hand, can be totally random. Since Facebook is all about interacting and socializing, you don’t have to worry about following a theme and sticking to it.

Posts on Facebook can be spontaneous, mundane, and with no worries about attracting an audience or driving traffic.

Cost of content promotion

With millions of users using Facebook, it’s difficult to promote your content and get the desired personal attention that you deserve.

Facebook allows you to boost your post at the expense of some dollars. If you think your post should be promoted and should be getting more clicks, you can simply boost it. It also allows you to turn your posts into an advertisement, in fact, that is what boosting does.

It makes ads that look like posts in order to get more exposure and more views from people. You can even pay to get more likes, clicks, and shares on your content. Since all of these options require money, make sure you make the budget and don’t let your spending exceed your earnings.

Talking about blogs, they are much cheaper and easy to handle. Your blog content can easily be viewed by many. Blogs have global appeal to them, people come looking for your blog and your content rather than you taking your blog to people. Blogs do not require extra dollars to promote and expose your content.

Monetization of content

Means by which facebook can be monetized are extremely limited. Monetizing features in facebook include ad breaks, instant articles, linking directly to site. You can earn revenue from ads that run in your content by using features such as ad breaks or instant articles.

Bloggers can monetize their blog when a number of visitors increases. There are different ways to monetize your content, for example by affiliated marketing, advertisement and selling online courses, etc. Blogs allow you to understand your audience and their needs and choose the best monetizing method for your blog.

Indefinite existence

Everything you post on the blog all exists indefinitely. Even though the content will no longer be useful in the future, it can still get you valuable links.

Blogs sort your content and categorize it while facebook cannot categorize and sort out your content. It is nearly impossible to search for posts you shared a couple of years ago.

Tracking views

Facebook pages are more functional when it comes to tracking viewers on-page. Although Facebook does provide insight services to track the number of viewers, it fails to track the identity of people who visit your Facebook page.

Google analytics helps bloggers to track blog traffic and visitors who visit the site. Regardless of the platform, you’re using, it is imperative that you let google analytic website to help you track your audience.

Tracking can help you focus on those topics that people enjoy the most and stop focusing on those which does not attract an audience.

Ranking in google

With great SEO skills and creating content that people love, blog surely makes into the top list of google ranking. Using a well-written post with researched keywords will help you get the ranking and get on the first page of Google.

Once your blog is there, it can drive a continuous stream of traffic. This is better than posting on social media where you do not get the exposure as compared to what you are getting with the blog. A Facebook post can probably never compete with a blog post when it comes to ranking.

The Differences between Ulta and Sephora

 

Sephora vs. Ulta: Which One is Better?

by Michelle Danilczuk

    Sephora and Ulta are some of the largest retailers in the cosmetic industry. Both provide a variety of beauty products, ranging from makeup products and skincare to body care and perfume. Ulta has stores nationwide, while Sephora has stores worldwide and in the United States. In addition, both stores can be found in many other major stores. For example, many Target stores have Ulta stores in their building as well. Recently, Sephora partnered with Kohls to have their stores in Kohls. Many Sephora products can be found in Kohls and Ulta products can be found in Target locations. 

    While I am a fan of both stores, Ulta and Sephora have their pros and cons. There are a variety of factors that may influence a person's decision to shop at either store. These include price, quality, the type of brand that they are interested in, and shipping costs. Both Ulta and Sephora have e-commerce websites as well; these websites often have exclusive offers such as free shipping or online only products. They also have mobile apps for customers who wish to shop on their phone. If you are a beauty fan, you have definitely heard of Ulta or Sephora. If you are having trouble deciding which one you want to shop at, have no fear! I will outline the differences between the two stores to make the decision clearer for you. 

Price points: 

    Because Ulta has both high-end and inexpensive options, Ulta tends to be a better fit for someone who is shopping on a budget. This store sells luxury brands such as Chanel and Estee Lauder, but also sells products that can be found in a drugstore. Some drugstore brands include NYX, LA Girls, E.L.F, and many others; all of these can be found in any Ulta store nationwide. Drugstore brands tend to be within a price range of $2-$20. The price point depends on the drugstore brand and product. Ulta also offers travel-sized or mini sized products, which range from $5-$20. 

    Sephora, on the other hand, sells high-end, luxurious products. They offer brands such as Fenty Beauty, Hourglass, NARS, Peter Thomas Roth, and Glossier to name a few. Sephora also offers products from their Sephora Collection, which includes makeup, skincare, and haircare. When I shop at Sephora, I find that I pay over a hundred dollars for two or three items. Depending on the product, customers can expect to pay at least thirty dollars when shopping at Sephora. Travel-sized items tend to be anywhere from $5-$30. 

Loyalty programs: 

    Sephora uses a Beauty Inside Program as a loyalty system to attract and retain customers. It is a free rewards program in which people earn points on their purchases. Customers can redeem those points for rewards and for every dollar that someone spends, they receive 1 Beauty Insider point. Those who shop often at Sephora locations may achieve VIB status, which comes with more benefits and rewards. The highest level a loyal Sephora customer could achieve is Rouge status. They must spend at least a thousand dollars in a calendar year to achieve this status. 

Comparing the exterior of Sephora and Ulta stores

    Depending on the number of points a customer has, he or she can redeem those points for rewards. Rewards can be product samples, bundles, or experiences that can be redeeemed. When shopping online, there are codes that customers can type in to see their rewards on their order. Sephora's loyalty program includes three levels: Insider, VIB, and Rouge. Each level has certain benefits depending on how much a customer spends. For example, those who spend a thousand dollars or more during the year receive a hundred dollars off their order when they redeem two-thousand five-hundred points. Moreover, during seasonal savings events, Rouge members receive 20% off, compared to Insiders who receive only 10% off. Rouge members also receive first access to producst, where VIB and Insiders do not have such privileges. 

    Like Sephora, Ulta's loyalty program is completely free to join. Every dollar that is spent on products or services turn into points. Ulta offers exclusive bonus point offers when customers choose to receive emails or app notifications. Points can then be used on products and services. The more often a customer shops, the more points that he or she will receive. There are three levels in Ulta's loyalty program: member, platinum, and diamond. Every level has different benefits; for example, a customer with a Diamond membership (me!!) receivs free shipping on orders when someone spends twenty-five dollars or more. Diamond members receive free gifts, points never expire, and they receive free birthday gifts. Regular members do not receive free shipping and their points do expire at a certain point during the year. 

Makeup Services:

   In addition to selling products, both Sephora and Ulta provide services to their customers. These services include hair, makeup, skincare, and waxing services. Sephora’s makeup services include beauty lessons, full face, ultimate glam, feature focus, and lash application. These services vary in price; for example, lash application is fifteen dollars for fifteen minutes. A full face service is sixty dollars for an hour. On the other hand, Ulta has services for hair, waxing & brows, makeup & lashes, skin, and ear piercing as well. Hair services include balayage, hair cuts, express hair color, hair styling, hair extensions, and many more. Ulta.com does not provide pricing on their services.  

Both stores provide a variety of services for customers

    Personally, I have received beauty services from Ulta, but not from Sephora. I had makeup and hair services done prior to an event. Unfortunately, my experience at Ulta was not the best that it could be. The woman that did my hair and makeup took too long to do both services, which caused me to be late to my event. Not only that, but her services were mediocre at best. After I received the service, I felt that I could have done a better job at home for free. I had higher expectations when I booked the two services. On the other hand, Sephora provides better services for their customers. Because Sephora has more high-end products, people can expect to have a luxurious, exceptional experience at this store. Beauty representatives talk with clients throughout their makeup session, describing every step and which products they are using.