Since writing about beauty, I tend to change out my skin care products about every 6 weeks because they take longer to test out. Two I’ve been delighted with is NEAL'S YARD REMEDIES Deliciously Ella Rose, Lime & Cucumber Facial Wash ($25/3.38oz @ us.nyrorganic.com ) and Deliciously Ella Rose, Lime & Cucumber Facial Moisturizer ($40/3.38oz @ us.nyrorganic.com).

Don’t the names of the products just sound good enough to eat? After being diagnosed with a rare condition called Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, Ella Woodward from deliciouslyella.com had to look seriously at everything – from what she put in her body to on her body.

Working closely with the team at NY Remedies, she created two skin care products that incorporated some of her favorite ingredients like rose, toning lime, cooling cucumber and antioxidant-rich blueberries and acai. All of which are inside her two products! Go figure.

And I really love that she put her money where her mouth is and put out a cookbook in addition to the products called Deliciously Ella Every Day ($15.63 @ amazon.com). It highlights plant-based and gluten-free meals, from breakfast to healthy eating on-the-go (including my favorite of the moment to make, smoothies) to easy weekday dinners and even simple sweets. I have a good friend who keeps her rheumatoid arthritis at bay with her diet and can’t wait to share this book with her!

Disclosure: Samples of these items were provided for review purposes.

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Still stumped on what to gift your bestie? Or yourself? Here are some more suggestions.

VOTIVO Boxed Glass Soy Wax Candle in Red Currant ($28/6.8oz=60 hr burn time @ dermstore.com) – I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love this Red Currant scent. And a quality candle is always a great gift to yourself or someone else.

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It seems like everyone is gaga over the Clarisonic. I like it but I’m part of that percentage where it didn’t really change the state of my skin like it has with some people. And that’s ok. So in looking at the phenom of using a tool of some sort to assist in the cleansing of the skin, I wanted to explore other vehicles, so to speak, that cleanse and exfoliate that won’t break the bank, and here are some I came up with that you may want to consider.

DEW PUFF Asian Clay ($7 @ walgreens.com) – made from the root of konjac (a plant native to Asia), this puff feels more like a rock than a soft puff through the packaging but not to fret, once it hits water, it soften up nicely.; almost to a jelly-like state. Use with or without cleanser and just replace it every 3 months.

WONDER CLOTH All Natural Make-Up Remover Cloth ($15 @ amazon.com) – seems to be modeled after the muslin a little bit. This one removes makeup and cleanses the skin nicely, not to mention it feels better running across my skin than a washcloth, and can be used over and over. And the biggest bonus is that the white cloth doesn’t stain! It says on the box that it, “removes makeup instantly with just water,” but I found I had to use some kind of cleanser/makeup remover. I love the cloth though. 

I’ve also discovered that there’s a whole underground dedication to the Muslin Cloth. The Muslin Cloth is a specially woven thin cloth made with 100% cotton that was introduced to Europe from the Middle East. It’s used in dress making, culinary, theater set backdrops (it holds dye well) and even medicine as a type of gauze. I’m not sure when people started using it in beauty but the trend seems to be gaining steam. And it’s funny because part of what I like about beauty is how things look i.e. packaging, design etc and these just look like thin pieces of white or beige cloth. So they are nothing really to look at as you can see from the below photo.

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Since my 20’s, I’ve been pretty good with making sure I take off all my makeup and wash my face at the end of the day. But lately I find myself reaching for a wipe to wash my face if I’m just too glued to a TV show that I can’t get up and do the whole process, so I've been keeping these close by. I've tried a LOT of wipes and these are the ones that have saved my skin!

OLE HENRIKSEN Truth To Go Wipes ($6/10 wipes, $15/30 wipes, $25/60 wipes @ sephora.com, amazon.com)

KOH GEN DO Cleansing Water Cloths ($39/3x10 packs of cloths @ dermstore.com)

NYR ORGANIC Organic Facial Wipes ($9/25 wipes @ nyremedies.com)

BOOTS No7 Quick Thinking 4-in-1 Wipes ($6.99/25 wipes @ target.com)

Disclosure: Some of these items were provided for review purposes. Some I bought.

Now that summer has wound down, so have the vacations. But we still want to go on those getaways, if only for a weekend but how many times have you forgotten something?

Here are some essentials you should pack before hitting the road next time:

Makeup Bag - SEPHORA COLLECTION The High Roller ($48 @ sephora.com) – this one had velcro’d in see-through makeup bags inside that you can store all your weekend items. Unroll it and hang it from the door with its built-in hanger to see all your items at one time.

Hair Volumizer - TAYA Amazon White Clay & Acacia Collagen Hair Plumper ($24/8oz @ tayabeauty.com) – no matter where I travel, I seem to bring my flat hair with me but this one seem to keep the case of the permanent flatsies at bay. The combo of a mousse and hairspray in one helps give hair volume and hold.

Nude Lippie - HOURGLASS COSMETICS Femme Nude Lip Stylo in Nude No. 5 ($30 @ violetgrey.com) – I love a lip balm when I’m traveling but I also need a little color or rather polish to my look, so what better way then with a nude lippie?

Sun Protection for Hair - L’OREAL Everpure UV Protect Spray in Rosemary Mint ($8.99/8.5oz @ amazon.com and drugstores nationwide) – since going full on red, as in redhead, I am super protective from keep it true as long as possible. The sun can wreak havoc on hair color, so do yourself a favor, if you’re not wearing a hat, spray on this protective “hat” of sunscreen. You spend good money on your hair color so shouldn’t you make it last?

Sun Protection for Skin - COPPERTONE Faces Sensitive Skin Sunscreen Lotion, SPF 50 ($9.89/2oz @ target.com) – no matter what time of year it is, You. Need. Sunscreen! Sometimes sunscreens can sting but this one is formulated for sensitive skins and doesn’t leave a white hue behind.

Deodorant/Antiperspirant - CERTAIN DRI Antiperspirant Roll-On for Excessive Perspiration ($6.29/1.2oz @ walgreens.com) – I’ve tried sooooo many out there and at the end of the day, this seems to be the only one that works and works consistently.

Cheek Color - NARS Multiple in Portofino ($39 @ sephora.com) – I find that a medium coral on cheeks looks swell any time of year and is unexpected in the fall to winter months. And it makes me look wide awake than I may be feeling.  

Face Mist - NEAL’S YARD REMEDIES White Tea Facial Mist ($19/1.52oz @ nyrorganic.com) - to soothe skin with the possible climate changes. No matter what time of year, I like to have a face mist on hand and this contains 92% organic ingredients. 

Disclosure: Some of these items were provided for review purposes. Some I bought.

I’m a huge fan of salves because they have so many uses: skin (both face and body), cuticles, feet, really anywhere. And this next one from UK’s NEAL’S YARD REMEDIES is called a balm and when I looked up the definition of each, they are the pretty much same thing! The only difference seems to be that a balm is fragrant and a salve is not.

So moving on, their Wild Rose Beauty Balm ($70/1.76oz @ nyorganics.com) can be used everywhere like a cleanser face mask, body balm or even a facial treatment. I tried it as a cleanser and then as a moisturizer and I think I’m liking it as a moisturizer best. While I’ve never used a salve or balm to remove makeup, I can see why I never did, it doesn’t really work, and as a cleanser … eh, again, I think it worked best as a moisturizing ointment.

Another great trait of these salves/balms is the ingredients inside. They are usually of high quality and this one is right up there: rosehip fruit oil, jojoba seed oil, beeswax, Shea Butter, hemp seed oil, borage seed oil and the list goes on with nothing to raise a flag at. However, if your nose is sensitive to patchouli or frankincense, you might want to pass on this one because the scent is kind of strong.

This one also comes with a muslin cloth, which is a very popular cloth to use for exfoliating. It’s used to gently exfoliate the skin without using another product. I think they are becoming quite popular amongst hardcore beauty aficionados, so you might want to look further into that too. I know the Liz Earle line is really into using the Muslin cloth with their cleansers.

I’m sure I will be trying out more of these Neal’s Yard Remedies products as their vision, mission, values and this product alone, have me very curious about the rest. 

Disclosure: A sample of this item was provided for review purposes.