Mia Mariu Skin Care and Cosmetics Review

I had the lovely opportunity to review some products from Mia Mariu's skin care line and cosmetic line.  I am always interested in great products that care for my skin without damaging it and enjoy using make-up from time to time when going out on a night on the town or for that special occassion.  Who doesn't?!  And even though my husband says I don't need make-up, I know that he secretly likes it when I get dolled up just for him...

Mia Mariu cosmetics is a Dallas based company that socially sells natural health and beauty products online and through independant advisors.  With the help of my lovely Mom, we reviewed 5 Mia Mariu products:

• Hydrating Stick Gloss in two shades, Beso and Encanto
• Luminous Lip gloss
• Anti-Aging Brightening Serum
• Hydrating Moisturizer with SPF 30+ sample
• Microdermabrasion set sample

And below is my review of the products:

 

Hydrating Stick Gloss

Product Description:
Our Hydrating Stick Gloss is a revolutionary hydrating product combining color and hydrating gloss in a stick form. Contains Vitamins A, C and E to nourish your lips as well as minerals and anti-oxidants to protect your lips.

I love this stick gloss for my lips.  The gloss goes on smooth and creamy without over doing it.  Typically stick gloss makes my lips feel dry but Mia Mariu's gloss left my lips feeling moisturized.  I also did not notice my lips dry after wearing the gloss for a few hours.  My choice color is the "encanto" since my lips already have a natural darker pigment to them.  Cost is $15. 

Luminous Lip Gloss

Product Description:
Sparkling shine in a vitamin rich hydrating formula gives your lips an irresistible look. Contains Vitamin A, C and E to nourish your lips. 

Again, I feel the same way about the Luminous Lip Gloss as I do about the Hydrating Stick Gloss.  It leaves my lips feeling moisturized without feeling sticky like many lip glosses do.  It's great for everyday use, which is what I use it for.  It sits in my car or in my purse so everytime I go anywhere I apply it for the day.  Cost is $13.  I'm not sure if I would pay this much for this product not because I don't think it's worth it but because there are comparable products out there that are cheaper.

Anti-Aging Brightening Serum

Product Description:
Bye-bye, dark spots and wrinkles! A must-have age-defying serum that targets sun spots and pigmentation while brightening overall skin clarity. This serum contains anti-aging peptides, skin-brightening botanicals, Aloe and Vitamin B5 Complex to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Suitable for all skin types, non-irritating, oil-free. Use AM and PM.

My beautiful mother reviewed Mia Mariu's Anti-Aging Brightening Serum for me.  She applied it under her makeup on a clean face and apreciated the effect it had on the appearance of her fine lines and sun spots.  It contains Aloe and Vitamin B5, two very important ingredients for maintaining healthy skin.  I've seen other products that claim to have the same results but that cost a bit more than Mia Mariu's cost of only $38.  My mother said this is a great product at a great price!

Hydrating Moisturizer with SPF 30+ Sample

Product Description:
Stop UV rays and free radicals in their tracks! Daily protection from the sun is critical to fighting the aging process. Our Hydrating Anti-Aging Moisturizer with SPF 30+ is a luxuriously rich age-fighting moisturizer. This revolutionary formula protects your skin by blocking damaging UVA and UVB rays while also stopping free radical damage. Infused with soothing Green Tea extract, White Birch Bark extract, Pomegranate extract and Vitamins A and E, this antioxidant powerhouse moisturizer helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, leaving your skin nourished and with a more youthful appearance. Suitable for all skin types, non-irritating, oil-free. Use AM.

This facial moisturizer is wonderful for my skin!  It kept my skin feeling hydrated without appearing oily and since I live in an arid environment, a great moisturizer is key!  I love the long list of natural ingredients and it's especially great for sun protection.  A 1.7 oz tub cost $44 which is a good price for such a great product.  I recommend this!

Restauracel-C Thermal Microdermabrasion Set Sample

Product Description:
Discover a new skin!. This fabulous set of two products is your gentle at home alternative to microdermabrasion. RestauraCel-C delivers dramatic skin restoration benefits with our powerful Vitamin C micro resurfacing spheres plus deep thermal action that warms the skin to help open, purify and minimize pores as well as remove dead skin cells aiding in the penetration of other products. Suitable for all skin types, non-irritating, oil-free.

This is the first time I've tried a skin care treatment such as this on my face.  To be honest, I'm not sure I'm the right candidate for such a product.  I have sensitive skin and although the ingredients that aid in the removal of dead skin cells are okay to use, it didn't sit well with my skin type.  I used the product and loved how my skin felt, especially the following day.  But I noticed some unusal breakouts a few days later and wonder if it didn't upset my skin a bit.  So I waited a few weeks and tried the product again but with the same results.  If you are interested and in the market for  an in home microdermabrasion set I recommend Mia Mariu's product a try.  Cost is $55.

None of the above products have been reviewed on the EWG Cosmetic's Database.

A big thank you to Mia Mariu for the opportunity to review some of their great skin care and cosmetic products.  Reviews like this are always so much fun as I get combine my expertise as a past model with being a mother looking for ways to care for my skin while looking and feeling good.

~Mommy Bridget

Disclaimer: Mia Mariu provided me with free samples of their producst to review, and I was under no obligation to review them if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for free product.

Labelling young Children Part III: Telling Our Story

I'm not sure if I have the time to write everything I want regarding labelling our children.  There may be a part IV to this so I can better explain our story.  As many of you already know, we had some struggles the first few years with our son Park's development and behavior.  Park didn't meet the important milestones of communication with us and socially grew distracted.  It was suggested he was autistic so we didn't waste anytime and began working diligently with communication as well as enrolled him in the Early Intervention Program.  He was subjected to rigorous testing but no one was able to find for sure any delays or disorders other than his speech.  Meanwhile, my husband and I reassessed his environment, took a better look at what he was eating and whether there was something else going on.  After many changes in Park's diet, we felt he was going to be okay and that there was nothing wrong with our son.   I was unhappy with his pediatrician and unhappy with a lot of aspects of our country's over willingness to label our children without first asking the most obvious questions: What does he eat?  Are there stresses at home?  Could Park's social behavior be caused from his inability to communicate?  Could his vaccines caused his odd behavior?  We were fortunate, really fortunate that Park continued to progress positively.  And Park is really fortunate that he has parents like us who aren't willing to accept a label without doing a little homework first.

I've blogged about our experience with Park quite a bit.  The whole reason I began my blog was to find an outlet for my struggles with Park and as a mother.  I'm not one of those sugar coated moms who pretends their kids are perfect and that I'm the perfect mother.  I definitely have made some choices as a parent I regret and my kids aren't perfect.  But as a mother, I'm not willing to let a pediatrician or a psychologist or another mommy friend tell me that my child is autistic because he likes to play with trains or that he is "just fine" when I've always known Park had an internal struggle going on that was causing his behaviors and inability to communicate like other children his age.  My husband and I have strong feelings about what we think caused Park's developmental delays but that's not the point I want to get into today.  What I want to say is that there is an epidemic going on in our country's youth and it's sickening and tragic.  While I don't disagree that some labels have tremendously helped some children, I firmly believe we are over-diagnosing, over-prescribing and over-compensating for the unhealthy environment we are bringing our children into.

I was contacted by a mother and writer this past summer about interviewing my family about the pros and cons of labelling children.  She asked many questions about our story and I was more than willing to divulge it all.  This is why I write my blog.  I want to tell others about our story not only to give a little hope to other struggling parents but to let them know there are other ways to help our children other than the usual doctor-diagnosis-prescibing meds route. 

While the story about the pros and cons of labelling children was good, I was disappointed in how our story was portrayed in the article that came out in the October issue of Parenting magazine.  I would post the link to the article but it still isn't up on their web site.  I will as soon as it's up.  Anyways, if you read the article you will think that all we did with Park was remove dairy from his diet and within 5 days he was healed.  Although we did remove dairy from his diet, it wasn't until 3 months after he was tested for autism that we did this.  We did many things to help Park, that being one of them but not the only thing.  I want to make that clear because I'd hate for other parents in the same situation to think that could be the magic cure because it wasn't.  Yes, we found Park had a strong dairy intolerance (the type of allergy that can affect behavior) but he was also eating a snack that had food coloring, I worked very hard with him at home, we did heavy metal cleanses with him and most of all, we had specialists work with him and his communication for an entire year. 

After the story came out, I was contacted by the Today Show who picked up the story which was aired today.  I was initially interviewed as a parent who is against labels.  They wanted to fly out to interview me but didn't because I didn't accept a label for Park and worked hard to cleanse his body and environment first.  We were fortunate that we were correct in our actions, I also know some children greatly benefit from the label.  And I guess you could also say that without Park's label as "speech delayed" he would have never qualified for services within the Early Intervention program so in a way, his label was a good thing.  Because I was on the mend about labels, they decided to drop my story.  I was disappointed that I didn't get to tell our whole story but at least I get to on here:)  If telling our story affects even one family positively then I'm satisfied!  Click on the link below to view the story that aired this morning on the Today Show:

http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/49372231#49372231

Thoughts?

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be interviewed and to share our story.  For me, this is the best thing that could have ever come out of my blog and truly my reason for doing it.  Thank you for following my blog and please message me if you have any more questions about our story.  I'm more than happy to share!


~Mommy Bridget

Labelling Young Children Part II: Are We Over Diagnosing?

My aunt passed this magazine article from WebMD along to me over the past summer.  As many of you know, we spent the last few years with doctors and specialists either trying to diagnose our 4 year old Park with autism/behavioral disorders/language delay (which he has).  I don't want to undermine the big strides Park made with the Early Intervention program but we were always skeptical that doctors were too quick to label Park based on what they felt was "normal" behavior. 

In Park's case, we have been quite fortunate in that he was never labelled and that we refused to allow it.  We found alternative approaches and succeeded in getting him the help he needed while nurturing his individuality.  Because of our approach, we were interviewed for an article on the pros and cons of labelling children that came out this month.  (Unfortunately, I have been unable to get the link to the article yet but will post it and discuss it in my next post.)

Back to the article in WebMB, it's a refreshing outlook on the phenomenon going on in our country of diagnosing young children with disorders.  Again, I want to make it clear that I am not against diagnosing children.  Some children's progress have depended on it.  I am, however, concerned at what I see as over-diagnosing young children.  My son was almost a statistic until proven incorrect.  Anyways, without further ado...I highly recommmend reading this great article found if you click on the link below.  When you get to the periodical, go to page 21.  The article is titled, "Oh, Boy: Is SPD The New ADHD?"

http://img.webmd.com/dtmcms/live/webmd/consumer_assets/site_images/magazine/digital_issues_pdf/webmd_ja12.pdf

Thoughts?

~Mommy Bridget