Category: Beauty/Skincare

The Beauty Witch’s Secrets

by Administrator, posted in Beauty/Skincare, Books, DIY, Magic/Occult, Reviews, Wiccan/Pagan

If you follow me on social media, it’s no secret that I love skincare and cosmetics. So you’ll understand that once I heard about “The Beauty Witch’s Secrets: Recipes & Rituals for the Modern Goddess” by Alise Marie I had to request a copy to review. Marie has created a book with a little bit of something for anyone interested in beauty.

Looking for some useful, practical advice? Want to learn to make your own skincare? Recipes for some beauty enhancing beverages? Ready to turn your skincare routine into ritual? Alise Marie has ALL that and more in “The Beauty Witch’s Secrets.” Even if you’re someone like me and settled in on a regular skincare routine, Marie offers plenty of tips and insights that you’ll want to try out and perhaps make your routine a little more magical.

Have you ever wished you could sit around and talk beauty with your fabulous witch girlfriend? Alise Marie is that girlfriend and “The Beauty Witch’s Secrets” is the start of that conversation.

You can learn more here.

Get your own copy here. (This is an affiliate link to my Bookshop, which supports independent bookstores throughout the United States. If you use this link to purchase the book, I will make a small commission at no additional cost to you.)

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Grab Your Wallet

by Administrator, posted in Beauty/Skincare, Food/Drink, Organizations, Politics

Are you frustrated? Angry? Feeling helpless? I know I am. As an individual, I wield extremely limited political power, and as an average American I have more debt than available funds to spend for political influence. That’s why, shortly after Donald Trump was elected, I started following the Grab Your Wallet campaign.

Given that in our country corporations are people, these corporations basically power everything that happens in the United States. Our laws, our regulations, and our elected officials are insanely influenced by what these “people” want. As you might suspect, what corporations want is to make money, as much as possible. What Grab Your Wallet does is keep a real-time, publicly accessible list suggesting companies to boycott until certain specified actions are taken to get removed from the list. That’s right fellow flat broke friends, you can make a difference by joining others in NOT SPENDING MONEY!

To learn more about the Grab Your Wallet Alliance, I encourage you to visit their website. I went to reacquaint myself with where I shouldn’t be spending money and had a few shocks. Let’s just say my makeup and skincare dollars will be getting spent in a different way for the foreseeable future. Here’s a glimpse at some of what I found.

Estee Lauder (and its subsidiaries: Aerin Beauty, Aramis, Aveda, Becca, Bobbi Brown, Bumble and Bumble, Clinique, Darphin, DKNY, Donna Karan, Dr. Jart, Estee Lauder, GlamGlow, Jo Malone, La Mer, Lab Series, La Labo, MAC, Michael Kors, Origins, Rodin olio lusso, Smashbox, Tom Ford Beauty, Too Faced): In 2017 Ron Lauder who sits on Estee Lauder’s board gave $100,000 to Trump Victory in 2017. Grab Your Wallet until they fire Ron Lauder and state that remaining EL execs do not have plans to contribute to any of Trump’s reelection-related efforts, including inauguration celebrations, should he win a 2nd term. Statement can also say “any presidential candidate.” Should it fail to make such a stmt., company will earn a permanent spot on the #GrabYourWallet list.

Louis Vitton (and other LVMH brands: Guerlain, Acqua Di Parma, Parfums Christian Dior, Givenchy Parfums, Benefit Cosmetics, Make Up For Ever, Fresh, KVD Vegan Beauty, Fenty Beauty, Cha Ling, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Ole Henriksen, Bite Beauty, and Kendo Brands…..also, Sephora!!!!!): French businessman and chairman of LVMH—Bernard Arnault—did a photo op with the Trump administration at a Louis Vuitton workshop in Texas. Grab Your Wallet until LVMH issue a statement indicating LVMH regrets the decision to participate in a photo opp w/ the Trump administration & will refrain from participating in photo opps with political candidates / politicians for the remainder of the 2020 election cycle.

Muy! Companies (which owns KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut): Muy! Companies CEO James Bodenstedt has donated more than $400,000 to Trump reelection efforts. Muy! is the franchiser of hundreds of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Wendy’s locations across the United States. Grab Your Wallet until they fire Muy! CEO James Bodenstedt.

Wendy’s: The billionaire chairman of Wendy’s, Nelson Peltz, held a $10 million dollar fundraiser for Trump in February. Grab Your Wallet until, given that Wendy’s Chairman of the Board has already participated significantly in Trump’s reelection efforts, the only way for Wendy’s to get off the boycott list is for any top executive who has assisted and/or donated to Trump to no longer be involved w/ the company.

Wegman’s: They carry Trump wine. Grab Your Wallet until they stop carrying Trump brand goods.

You can find the full, up to date list here. They also provide guidance as to how to reach out to this companies to respectfully express displeasure, and a point of contact for any suggestions of other companies that should go on the list.

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The Hearth Witch’s Kitchen Herbal

by Administrator, posted in Beauty/Skincare, Books, Food/Drink, Reviews

If you know me, you know I love food. Thusly, when I’m given the chance to review any book with the potential to end with food, I’m there! That brings us to today’s review of “The Hearth Witch’s Kitchen Herbal: Culinary Herbs, for Magic, Beauty, and Health” by Anna Franklin.

“The Hearth Witch’s Kitchen Herbal” is nice because it focuses on ingredients that most people already have in their kitchen. Franklin gives a nice overview of each herb including its planetary associations, elemental correspondences, magical virtues, and associated deities. She goes on to talk about how to use the herb for cooking, cosmetics, and healing. The best part is at the end of each entry is recipes! And why yes, I did try one.

The internet is all about turmeric these days, so I decided to try making “Golden Milk”. It didn’t require too many ingredients. (Sadly, the recipe called for cinnamon, which I didn’t have at the time.)

Warm coconut milk with spices. Steep. Strain. Stir in honey. Enjoy! It tasted pretty good. I bet it would have been better with the cinnamon…

You can learn more here.

Shop your local indie bookstore <---This is an affiliate link to IndieBound, which supports independent bookstores throughout the United States. If you use this link to purchase the book, I will make a small commission at no additional cost to you.

The Witch’s Book of Self-Care

by Administrator, posted in Beauty/Skincare, Books, DIY, Magic/Occult, Reviews, Wiccan/Pagan

Here in New York we’re still in the cold, dark, grip of winter. As I type this, I’m waiting to see what happens with the next winter storm rolling through. Piled under blankets while listening to the fireplace makes me feel this is the perfect time to share my review of “The Witch’s Book of Self-Care: Magical Ways to Pamper, Soothe, and Care for Your Body and Spirit” by Arin Murphy-Hiscock. You may remember the author from the interview I did with her not too long ago.

Murphy-Hiscock states the goals of self-care as “healthy mind, healthy body, and healthy spirit.” At the beginning of the book she offers the simple definition of self-care as “self-care is any activity you do deliberately to take care of your mental, emotional or physical health.” She goes on to explain that the concept of self-care is compatible with magic “because magic is about listening to what’s inside you and the messages the Divine and nature have for you.” “The Witch’s Book of Self-Care” is truly proof of this because I feel it would appeal to people who practice magic looking for ideas for self-care, AND people who practice self-care looking to explore magic.

She divides the book into mental and emotional self-care, physical self-care, spiritual self-care, and household self-care. Contained within those chapters you’ll find diverse ideas ranging from a recipe for pot roast to affirmations to directions for making your own body butter. Seriously, this book has a little something for everyone.

If you’re like me, looking out a window into a cold, stormy winter, could I suggest “The Witch’s Book of Self-Care” to help fill the rest of the season?

You can learn more here.

DIY Face Mist

by Administrator, posted in Beauty/Skincare, DIY

If you follow The Magical Buffet on Instagram (You do follow The Magical Buffet on Instagram, right?) you know that along with lots of photos of books, tarot cards, and booze, I really enjoy cosmetics and skincare. I have many strong feelings about the political and cultural issues that these items are mixed up in, but I won’t bore you with all of that today. For the moment, just know that mostly the onus is on us, the consumer, to try and buy effective AND safe products. That’s where this do it yourself facial mist comes in.

Just like with the food, the only way to be 100% certain what’s in something is to make it yourself. I can’t take credit for this idea. All credit goes to Renee and her YouTube channel Gothamista. If you have 5 minutes you should really watch her video about this mist.

At its core, this is super simple. It must be if I do it! Using Aloe Vera juice as a base you pour it into a little spray bottle and then add a blend of oils. Close the bottle, shake, and mist on your face, or body, or hair.

My personal blend is mixed to help with acne and signs of aging. Generally I mist it on after I wash my face. I let it soak in and then do the rest of my skincare. My DIY facial mist has the Aloe Vera juice base. I pour it so it mostly fills the spray bottle. Then I add a couple of droppers full of Tea Tree oil, Jojoba oil, Rosehip oil, and sometimes a dash of Argan oil. It has definitely helped tame my acne.

If you’re interested in what kind of oils would be good for you, you should take 12 minutes to watch yet another video from Renee outlining facial oils.

And if you’re interested in skincare you should just subscribe to her channel.

Think Before You Pink 2017

by Administrator, posted in Beauty/Skincare, Events, Messages from Rebecca, Organizations

Let’s get ready to rumble folks! It’s Think Before You Pink 2017 and this year is a great campaign. With this year’s campaign, “Knot Our Pink Ribbon”, Breast Cancer Action is taking the original pinkwasher Estee Lauder to task. And as a makeup and skincare enthusiast, I am all for it.

Estee Lauder, along with many other cosmetic/skincare companies, have profited on selling the idea of beauty and vitality, while not being forthcoming with consumers about the components of their products. America’s cosmetic industry is surprisingly under regulated putting the consumer in a position to try and understand exactly what it is they are putting on their skin.

Estee Lauder commandeered the pink ribbon from hard core, grassroots, activist Charlotte Haley to help bring more “awareness” to breast cancer, and yet today they create products that included ingredients suspected of increasing breast cancer risk, such as parabens and octinoxate.

I’m happy to participate in the “Knot Our Pink Ribbon” campaign. Hopefully it will be a signal not just to Estee Lauder, but to all cosmetic and skincare companies that it is time to consider the health of their consumers.

To learn more, and send message to Estee Lauder, visit: https://thinkbeforeyoupink.org/2017/10/join-us-in-putting-a-knot-in-the-pink-ribbon/