Wear Organic: Monave Cosmetics Lip Gloss

*Five Fish always blog ethically and with transparency.
Ladies do you have a hard time finding the right cosmetics? I know I have. I always have. Just when I think I have found my right color, my right blend, my right ingredients, I find something horribly wrong with either the product, the way the product reacts with my skin, or the company is not as they seemed. I went on a quest to find a vegan, if not organic, cosmetics company. Because really what woman does not enjoy the gift of cosmetics, especially quality cosmetics.

Some of you may know I make my own soap. I love it. This way I know what is in my soap that is used on my family, not some fancy chemicals and perfumes. Honest to goodness vegan products. So I wanted a cosmetics company to do the same. Offer rich wholesome products that I knew the ingredients and I knew they were fabulous.

I found Monave and I researched everything they have in inventory as best as I could. What I saw I loved. The company is owned by a woman. PLUS! She formerly worked in cosmetics and knew what women loved in a mineral, vegan, and natural cosmetics line. PLUS! The owner also supports other women owned businesses and entrepreneurs. PLUS! The name is even derived as an acronym for “Modern,” “Natural,” “Versatile.” Needless to say I was head over heels when they told me I could begin by sampling and reviewing their liquid lip gloss line.

Who doesn’t love lip gloss. Girls and women of all ages love lip gloss. But as long as the lip gloss is not goopy, sticky, messy, all the troubles we run into with lip gloss. I personally used to be a HUGE, die hard fan of Victoria’s Secret Beauty Rush lip line. LOVED them. Until I tried Monave. From now on I will be shopping with Monave, I am brand loyal when I find a fabulous product. I mean Victoria has gone with me to San Francisco and back, so sad that I have to retire her.

I personally LOVE the way the glosses feel. They are smooth, silky, no sticky feeling, no build up, no curdling like some glosses do as they dry up and wear away, leaving those nasty chunks in the corners of your lips. Ladies you know what I am talking about. Often a result of a petroleum based product. Just ick!

The lip glosses are fabulous because they deposit a minimal amount of sheer color that enhance your lips without being a lipstick and without being too sheer for a standard gloss. Plus with the majority of the glosses are almost all vegan, I felt the product truly moisturized my lips as opposed to standard glosses that truly just glossed over and never moisturized. I say almost all vegan because some do have beeswax in them, however, I was assured by the ladies at Monave that the beeswax is from a fourth generation apiary that ethically harvests and sun bleaches as opposed to chemical bleaching which is HUGE considering most cosmetics are made of nasty fillers and chemicals.

I tried out these fabulous colors:

  • Merlot
  • Divine
  • Cool Maple
  • Neutral
  • Autumn Leaves

What I really enjoyed about all of these colors is that they are versatile enough for any skin tone, make-up blend, and of course they are smooth, silky, and long lasting. I want to be able to wear make-up without looking like I am wearing make-up, I want a fresh natural look, where my make-up enhances my beauty, not where I have to wear it to make me look beautiful.  As I said these glosses are silky, not sticky or drying like standard glosses because these have fabulous vegan products, not petroleum which causes stickiness and curdling and dryness.

Not to mention, not great for the environment.

Monave launched a fabulous holiday theme that every woman (and man for his wife or girlfriend) could appreciate! The theme is “Give the Gift of Healthy Beauty” where you my faithful and beautiful readers are able to enjoy. For every purchase that is made at Monave a matching sample product for a friend is delivered; their choice of color, FREE with any purchase of a full size product from our website. How fabulous is that. So if your husband is out shopping for you, he could kill two birds with one stone by buying for you and sending the full size free gift to say his mother or sister. Or ladies you could do the same if doing any personal shopping for yourself! So go now, go “Give the Gift of Healthy Beauty” with Monave.

Don’t forget to DOWNLOAD your Copy of the catalog HERE and all the fabulous participants, savings, and giveaways!

Gifts for Her: ScentCrafters

Nothing in the world is more unique to a woman than something that she made or something that was made out of love for her. While on my quest for fabulous gifts for women for the holidays I came across ScentCrafters and their superior service. Have you ever wanted to make your own fragrance like the stars? Maybe even name your fragrance, all your own, pick the bottle style, color, shape, the entire process?

scentcrafters.com, thefivefish.com, perfume

Make this wish come true for the woman in your life by visiting the ScentCrafters site and creating a very personalized fragrance for the special woman in your life and name the fragrance just for her. Or better yet, order a gift certificate and let her create her own scent, instigate her own name and choose from all the wonderful options for bottles.

thefivefish.com, Karie Herring, scentcrafters.comAs you can see this is my personal bottle. Lurve it don’t you? You want to touch it, spray it, hold it. I called it Atlantis to go with my “fishy” family theme. Plus I am a die hard romantic and geek for mythology. The scent I chose is actually based on the commercial perfumes. I love Chanel No. 5 (and I mean LOVE it) and I love anything Victoria’s Secret so I chose a beautiful blend of Victoria’s Secret Divine and Chanel No. 5 and let me tell you….wonderful, romantic, ultra feminine, and not overpowering or raunchy. Just absolutely heavenly. I love to spray some on after a shower.

You can also choose of up to five scents in your fragrance for a truly unique style and blend of perfume. The scents are described in their entirety so you really cannot go wrong, ScentCrafters also has a scents suggestion to tell you which scents will pair best together with your top, middle, and bottom notes.

Just imagine the woman in your life enjoying this wonderful luxury of her very own perfume, with satin bag, personalized name to her fragrance, and she can always order more!

But do not just take my word on this wonderful product. Go visit the Scent Crafters site, also be sure to check out the option to purchase multiple bottles. Prices start at $39.99 for an individual bottle and $18 for an order of 10 or more. That is equivalent to your standard commercial bottle if you think about the pricing for the bundle and still a steal for the price of a single bottle. Spoil the woman you love this year by gifting her a fragrance she will never forget.

Don’t forget to DOWNLOAD your Copy of the catalog HERE and all the fabulous participants, savings, and giveaways!
 *Five Fish always blog ethically and with transparency.

Give the Gift of Pearls of Joy

pearlsofjoy.com, thefivefish.com

People say diamonds are a girl’s best friend. But really, diamonds, in this economy? You probably would look more like a douchebag princess getting some major bling like that. I, however, have always loved the classic, timeless, elegant look of pearls. You have to admit, something has to be said about a woman in pearls, just completely classy and pearls can dress up any occasion.

The folks at Pearls of Joy contacted me* and I was overflowing with joy because I love pearls. I love to wear pearls and they are just absolutely gorgeous. I chose to review the earrings of all the choices. I do not wear earrings much but when I do, they are pearls. I actually had a beautiful set of black pearls DH bought for me in San Francisco but somehow the dear boy Big G got a hold of those earrings and broke them. Resulting in a black pearl lost in a sea of shag carpet which inevitably got sucked into the black hole of vacuums thus resulting in lost earrings and a new vacuum.

pearls, thefivefish.com

Regardless, I found the perfect and beautiful replacement of Black Akoya pearls. Magnificent aren’t they? They have an iridescent blue, peacock color that is absolutely stunning, gorgeous, eye catching. I love the darker pearls because they look mysterious, exotic, and again they are timeless. I was pleasantly surprised too at the quality, pearls are either good quality or garbage where they are basically costume jewelry. Pearls of Joy pearls are top notch! Equipped with a certified GIA in pearls appraisal. Beautiful, functional, and I love to wear them. I received many compliments, even from the hubs on how lovely they looked on me, with the white gold posts to offset the dark color of the beautiful stone pearl.

In general my ears are very sensitive to the posts of earrings which generally require me to wear gold in 14k or higher. Sometimes even 14k causes issues where my lobes and the piercing hole becomes inflamed. I did not have this issue which made me even more excited over these wonderful beauties.

So folks, if you are looking for that gift to surprise your mother, sister, daughter, or of course your lovely wife….try the timeless and classic choice of pearls. Or better yet, enter here to win a pair just in time for Christmas for that special woman in your life! You got it!

Win a choice of a strand of pearls or a piece of pearl jewelry (as seen above) from Pearls of Joy.com!

The Skinny entry info:

MANDATORY: Go check out PearlsofJoy.com and tell me what other beautiful bling you would love to add to your jewelry collection. (Please leave your email address or make your blogger profile public so I have your email address for your winnings…otherwise…no cool loot!)

EXTRA ENTRIES:

  • Blog about this giveaway (Minimum of 50-100 words…sorry…have to avoid spammers folks….I play fair!) with a track back to me and PearlsofJoy.com (3 entries)
  • Subscribe to the PearlsofJoy Newsletter (2 entries)
  • Follow my blog or tell me you do
  • Follow me on Twitter or tell me you do
  • Tweet this giveaway “Enter to Win timeless pearls from @KariewithaK valued @ over $200 (include the link to giveaway here!)”
  • Enter one of my many other giveaways (worth an extra entry for each giveaway you enter!)
  • Fan The Fish on Facebook
  • Technorati fave my blog
  • Stumble, Digg, Delicious the Pearls of Joy website
DOWNLOAD your Copy of the catalog HERE
 CONTEST ENDS NOVEMBER 13TH @ MIDNIGHT
Best of luck to you all!
 *Five Fish always blog ethically and with transparency.

Holiday Gift Guide

You have now entered the twilight zone…..seriously for the next few weeks….be prepared to lose your silly little shopping minds in preparation for the holiday and Christmas season as we….well I, who happens to have a mouse in her pocket, deliver to you the BEST in holiday gift ideas. From the everyday to the not so everyday to the unique to the extraordinary!

Moms, Dads, Kids, everyone in between and gift ideas for the whole family! Enjoy all the great reviews, discounts, and oh did I mention the BOAT LOAD of great giveaways for you to enter! If you want a sneak peek into who will be showcased, click HERE, download your VERY OWN catalog of all the great participants of the gift guide, where to find them and where to buy them!

Big thanks to all of those who participated in The Five Fish Holiday Gift Guide, seriously, you folks ROCK and I love you for your UBER coolness and thanks to you, my faithful readers who will have some really cool ideas to take with you for gift ideas. Enjoy everyone! Thanks again!

Karie, aka Mrs. Fish