Good for You

When you use the amount of beauty products that I do, you find yourself wishing that they did a little more for you than just beautify on the outside. What if they could improve your health as well? Read on for two innovative products that promise to do just that.

LIPGLOSS

Did you know that the average woman consumes 6 pounds of lipstick in her lifetime? It's a disgusting statistic, but according to About.com, the ingredients in lipstick won’t harm you and are broken down by stomach acids. And if you're a lipgloss girl, stats say the average woman ingests between 2 to 4 pounds of lipgloss in her life. The folks at Tarte cosmetics decided not harming you wasn't good enough and teamed up with BORBA (of drinkable skincare fame) to fortify their glosses with ingredients that are actually good for you.

Tarte's Inside Out Vitamin Lip Gloss is the ultimate in double-duty beauty. The long-lasting, moisturizing lipgloss works to soothe and hydrate lips, while BORBA’s nutraceutical blend delivers powerful skin-caring ingredients. And it's great to know that you're doing your body some good with every application!

The potent cocktail includes:

• Acai & green tea extract help strengthen capillary walls, reduce epidermal irritation and enhance skin’s clarity and radiance
• Grape seed extract & Vitamin C help accelerate production of natural elastin, protecting skin against free-radical damage & restore skin’s clarity
• Vitamins A, E & K act as antioxidants to give you that healthy glow
• Lychee extract promotes long-term skin hydration and chamomile extract soothes skin and helps to counteract redness

The pomegranate-scented lipgloss is mouth-wateringly gorgeous with its hint of sexy sheen, plus it smells absolutely divine! Three shades are available (shown from left to right above):
om: sheer shimmery pale pink
apple-a-day: sheer shimmery hot pink
liquid sunshine: sheer shimmery nude

FRAGRANCE
Knowing that traditional fragrances are primarily complex mixtures of synthetic chemicals that can absorb into the bloodstream and irritate the senses, the cofounders of Lavanila Laboratories began thinking - what if fine fragrance, a staple in most people's daily beauty routine, not only scented your skin, but was actually good for your skin? Suppose fragrances weren't full of harsh synthetic ingredients that dry and damage skin, but instead, healthy ingredients that nurture and condition the body with each spray?

They've turned the basic act of spritizing yourself with perfume into a health-building experience by infusing pure essential oils with 100 percent active botanicals for natural fragrances that are fresh, clean, and nurturing. With each spray, proprietary natural technology wraps the skin with super antioxidants goji berry and kakadu plum, soothing willowherb, and hydrating olive leaf for a healthy dose of 30 essential vitamins and minerals and 19 amino acids.

Each scent is based on a vanilla note - Vanilla Grapefruit, Pure Vanilla and Vanilla Blossom. I tried Vanilla Blossom on a recent trip to Sephora (the scents are exclusive to Sephora) and it's just intoxicating. I couldn't stop sniffing my wrists. Now, if only the act of inhaling fragrance could be as healthy as applying it to your skin...

Let's hope more companies jump on the bandwagon and help us become more beautiful, inside and out. Here's to your health!