Q & A with Miss Bliss

Q: Dear Miss Bliss,

Thanks for the tips! If possible, can you elaborate on how long of a shelf life each type of product would have? I know generally the shelf lives of makeup, but wasn’t too sure about moisturizers, face washes, and the like. Thanks!

Sincerely,
Self Life Savy

A: Dear Shelf Life Savy,

Great question! This is an easy answer. The period after opening symbol or PAO symbol is a graphic symbol that identifies the useful lifetime of a cosmetics product after its package has been opened for the first time. It depicts an open cosmetics pot and is used together with a written number of months or years.

In the European Union, cosmetics products with a shelf-life of at least 30 months are not required to carry a “best used before end of …” date. Instead, there has to be “an indication of the period of time after opening for which the product can be used without any harm to the consumer”. The EU Cosmetics Directive defines in Annex VIIIa the language-neutral open-jar symbol, which manufacturers should use to indicate this period.

The time period is most often represented compactly as a number of months, followed by the letter “M”, as in “36M” for a period of three years, written either onto the front side of the depicted pot, or to the right of it. The letter “M” is the initial for the word month not only in English, but also in many other languages.

If you flip your lovely skin care around, you’ll see something that looks like this:
poa

This particular product would be good for 30 months after opening. So if you opened that product today 4/10/2009, it would be good until 10/10/11 *checking my mental math*

The POA (period after opening) varies by product, so I recommend checking it when you open it to ensure freshness. Hope this helps!

Bliss Kisses
Karen
mirror_girl4

Q & A With Miss Bliss

Q: Dear Miss Bliss,

I found this entry from searching for more information on Remede’s High Energy Eye Contour Creme being discontinued. Was this brought back in another form or is there a new alternative for that now?

I’m in my twenties and don’t have wrinkles. I just really liked the product because it was light enough to wear during the day or night and was great for moisture.

Could you please let me know?

Sincerely,
I scream for eye cream

A: Dear I scream for eye cream

I feel your pain! I loved the High Energy Eye Contour too and almost shed a tear when I found out it was being discontinued. Remede made this fantastic chart to help us navigate their new skin care line. So according to the chart, if you liked the High Energy Eye Contour, you’ll love Hydra Therapy Eye Creme. Hydra Therapy has a gorgeous exture and has a very similar finish to our beloved High Energy Eye Contour. What I love most about the Hydra Therapy Eye Creme is that it has no caffeine.

Does a caffeine-free eye cream really work?
Ab-so-lutely. Instead of caffeine, Hydra Therapy Eye Creme contains citrus peel and Sorb Tree bud extracts, which promote circulation and diminish dark circles and puffiness, while eyes are illuminated with soft focusing powders. If eye puff doesn’t particularly concern you, you’ll reap the benefits of:
Glasswort Extract: reduces water loss and provides visible and prolonged moisturizing benefits to dry and/or sensitive skin

Trehalose: improves skin’s ability to retain balanced moisture levels even in the harshest conditions; helps prevent dehydration and protects skin infrastructure

Cottonseed Oil Lipids: a combination of ceramides containing omegas 3, 6, and 9, helps nourish, soothe and calm irritated skin, reducing inflammation, easing dryness and tightness

All in all, a thumbs up!

Bliss Kisses
Karen
mirror_girl5

Spring Cleaning

I am a self-proclaimed beauty pack rat. I am currently moving from one apartment to anther and I keep finding beauty products from the dinosaur years that needed to go to beauty product heaven. Sad, but true. No use crying over spilled cleansing milk, right?

Have you ever opened up your beauty cabinet and thought to yourself “Hmmm…how old is THAT? I wonder if it’s still good?”

We all have (please tell me I’m not alone here!). Since I have acquired a *ahem* LARGE amount of beauty products in the past year and a half, I have devised a system to ensure freshness with my beauty products. Spring is coming and I highly recommend taking a peek in your medicine cabinet. Out with the old, in with the new!

Tips for keeping your skincare fresh!
1. When you open up a new product, take a permanent marker and write the date that you opened it. So if you opened up a Youth As We Know It Moisturizer today I would mark the jar 4/9/09. In case it gets buried in the depths of my medicine cabinet and I don’t see it again until ohhh….say 7/14/15 I know that it’s time to go buy a new one.

2. Keep your beauty products away from excess heat and light. Store them in a cool, dry place. Active ingredients can go bad if they’re exposed to extreme light and heat. I once left an eye cream on top of my heater (which doubles as a shelf for vases, folded laundry, and such) and forgot about it for a couple of days. My eye cream was totally cooked and had to go in the trash. Bummer!

3. Don’t buy more than you’ll ever use. This sounds like a no-brainer, but I have seen women at sample sales buying 15 of the same cream because it was “such a great deal.” The most expensive products are ones that don’t work! Find multi-purpose products that you *love*-you’ll get more bang for your buck.

My favorite multi-taskers:

Fabulous Foaming Face Wash a 2-in-2 gel cleanser + exfoliator

Intensive Double Serum Vitamin C helps brighten, lighten, tighten while Oxygen helps prevent blemish causing bacteria, energizes the skin and boosts clarity

Zo Skin Health Oclipse Sunscreen + Primer moisturize + protect in 1 easy step

Bliss Kisses!
Karen
mirror_girl17

Serious ‘Skin’-dulgences

You’ve skipped your triple grande vanilla skinny latte at Starbucks every day for six months. You’ve given up taking cabs (unless you’re wearing heels, of course). You’ve learned how to cook to make up for all of those luxurious five-course dinners. But a girl’s gotta live once in a while, right? Sometimes it just feels too good to ’spa’-lurge on a luxury beauty item.

When the economy is booming again, how is your skin going to feel? Stop watering a plant and it dies. Stop moisturizing and protecting your face and it, well….wrinkles. Protect your most important asset-YOU! If you’re going to splurge, do it wisely. We’d eat ramen for weeks just to keep these skin saviors in our regimens.

clar-06 If I were being sent on Survivor and they told me I could bring one beauty product, I’d bring the Clarisonic skin care brush system and I’d be a totally happy camper. I love it that much. It makes my face feel so super clean and it enhances the absorption of products used after cleansing. My favorite product to use it with is clog dissolving cleansing milk.

If you’re a slave to shaving and waxing, why not trade it in for the tria-01tria personal laser hair removal system. If you’ve been waxing for more than a year, this at-home device would have already paid for itself.

zel-055Plagued by puffines? I am! Zelens Intensive Triple-Action Eye Cream has 20 natural ingredients (including 14 antioxidants) and will help you put puff in its place. This eye cream is serious business when it comes to under eye puffiness and leaves the under eye area with a beautiful primer-like finish. I find that my concealer goes on super smooth whenever I use this eye cream.

‘Skin’-dulge and your skin will thank you!
Bliss Kisses!
Karen
mirror_girl22

Top 5 Best Beauty Bargains

Once in a while it’s nice to splurge on a pricey beauty buy (helloooooo creme de la mer 16.5oz!), but right now most of you beauties are pinching your pennies. Here are my top 5 favorite beauty bargains under $60.

1. Kate Somerville Anti Bacterial Clearing Lotion-perfect for breakout prone skin, it delivers the most advanced Benzoyl Peroxide formulation on the market (encapsulated and time-released so it’s not drying to the skin) $39

2. klein-becker instant deep wrinkle filler. Need an oil change-go to the mechanic. Need to fill in fine lines + wrinkles-go to StriVectin. ‘Nuff said!$59

3. re-93
Laboratoire Remede UV coat SPF30 is my can’t-live-without-it tinted moisturizer. This UV coat has been on vacation with me, to the beach, to weddings, under my foundation, as my foundation, and everything in between. If UV coat were my boyfriend, I’d propose. It comes in 3 shades and 1 untinted shade so even your man can partake in the SPF action without looking like he was sifting through your makeup drawer.$40

4. ren-06ren glycolactic skin renewal peel mask is my favorite mask for when I’m getting in touch with my high-tech natural side. Ren is synthetic and petrochemical free with high tech bioactives that stimulate improvement in the skin without any harsh ingredients. Recommended for congested and mature skin, and works well on post acne scarring, blemishes and blackheads plus sun damaged skin. After just 2 months out on the market, this mask won InStyle’s best beauty buy for 2008. A must-have for every medicine cabinet.$55

5.bliss-3172
Bliss Best of Skintentions, a daily moisturizer with vitamins, minerals, omegas and SPF15 with a pa++ rating to protect the skin against UVA and UVB damage. It’s got a light citrus scent and leaves the skin with a primer-like finish for easy makeup application.$35

BEAUTY BONUS!
While this item caps out my $60 price point, the value is just too hard to resist. Freeze 24/7 daily essentials skincare system includes Includes 2-in-1 skin glacé daily detoxifying cleanser and mask (3.3 oz), resurfacing icecrystals anti-aging prep and polish (2.5 oz) and nourishing icecream double scoop intensive anti-aging moisturizer (1.7 oz). A $235 value for only $150

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