Do you use BB creams? Do you know what BB creams are? BB creams are not quite foundations but more like tinted moisturizers and are fairly new to the market compared to foundations that have been around for decades.

They offer a more natural-looking complexion and moisturized skin. Typically, there are fewer shades to choose from if we compare them to foundations, but they are adaptive to skin tones.

More beauty brands and cosmetic producers are turning to more natural and sustainable ways of producing their products. This stems from the interest of consumers, like you and I, who are concerned about what we put on our skin and how we treat the environment.

BB creams often contain SPF to protect our skin from the sun and also other ingredients like vitamins and plant extracts that are good for aging skin.

We’ve rounded up our favorite natural BB creams for mature women.

What to Look for When Buying a Natural BB Cream

These are some of the words to look for when looking for a natural BB Cream to add to your makeup bag.

• 100% Natural
• Certified Organic
• Mineral Based
• Non-Toxic
• Preservative Free
• GMO-Free
• Non-Comedogenic
• No Parabens
• Silicone-Free
• Talc-Free
• No Phthalates
• Cruelty-Free
• Free of Synthetic Dyes
• No Synthetic Fragrances
• Gluten-Free
• Nickel Tested
• Vegan
• Eco or Recycled Packaging
• EWG Verified

Inika Certified Organic BB Cream Foundation

This innovative BB cream combines a moisturizer, a primer, and a foundation all in one. It offers a wide range of tints to cover most skin tones.

It contains organic oils that offer great hydration. Its silky and creamy texture melts into the skin to give you a flawless and natural finish.

Oyuna Natural Balance Probiotic BB Cream

This BB cream contains probiotics, plant oils, and butters that are from controlled organic agriculture and that smooth and moisturize the skin.

It also helps to condition the skin to reveal a glowing complexion. Your skin feels firmed while the plant extracts and antioxidant-rich properties moisturize to reveal a soft natural-looking finish.

Burt’s Bees BB Cream with SPF 15

We all know Burt’s Bees moisturizing and soothing lip balm. Burt’s Bees is now offering a BB Cream that combines a 15 SPF sunscreen protection.

It is a lightly tinted BB cream moisturizer that firms, conceals, smooths, and perfects.

COOLA Rosilliance Mineral BB+ Cream Tinted Organic Sunscreen SPF 30

COOLA Rosilliance Mineral tinted moisturizer is sheer and barely there for a luminous and makeup-free look.

This cream boosts your skin’s natural tone and is infused with a bouquet of antioxidant-rich plant extracts. This lightly hydrating formula helps combat free radicals while mineral actives and iron oxides help protect your skin – for a fresh-faced, you-but-glowier radiance.

Lily Lolo BB Cream

Lily Lolo BB cream contains sodium hyaluronate, organic aloe, and jojoba oil to moisturize while providing light coverage for your skin.

It offers natural anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial protection. This BB cream is packed with nourishing and anti-aging ingredients as well as mineral pigments to help blur imperfections and even skin tone.

Do you use BB cream every day? Will you try one from our list? Do you use BB cream under your foundation or alone? Is your favorite BB cream not on our list? Let us know in the comments below.

Amanda Batula’s Grey Graphic Sweatshirt

Winter House Season 1 Episode 3 Fashion

Okay Amanda Batula’s grey graphic sweatshirt is a total mood. At least for myself because I am alwaaaays overthinking. And if you’re like me in that way well I’m here to ease that over worked mind. Because there is no overthinking in deciding whether or not to buy a Style Stealer of this sweatshirt. The answer is clearly yes, but you’re on your own in deciding which one to get.*

*Hint: they’re all cute so don’t overthink it.

Sincerely Stylish,

Jess

Click Here to Shop Her Local Heroes Sweatshirt

Originally posted at: Amanda Batula’s Grey Graphic Sweatshirt

Have you ever wondered why some women are successful in their weight loss journeys, and why some are not? Or perhaps your friends rave over a program that they love, but you find yourself failing after the first 48 hours.

There is more to losing weight than simply following a program. Preparation, thyroid issues and your hormones are just some of the factors that need to be taken into account. Here are my top suggestions that you should read before you embark on any weight loss journey.

Make Changes Before You Start the Program

Do not wait until you sign up to a program to start making changes. You can make a start the minute you finish reading this article.

You can decide to get up off your seat and go for a walk. You could make yourself a cup of tea and instead of adding a teaspoon of sugar, add ½ teaspoon. Just do something that gets you started, and tell yourself that this time you mean business.

Have a Support System in Place

You may think you can do this alone, but research shows that people who have a support system in place are more successful in reaching their goals. You do not have to announce it to all the world.

Simply having a group you can go to, even an online group like the group of women that I give encouragement to, can make all the difference.

You will feel empowered and motivated and will know that you are not alone in your journey. Be sure to reach out and ask questions to get the most out of any group that you join.

Create Meal Plans

The saying, “Failure to plan is planning to fail,” is ever so true in this situation. This means taking the time out of your busy schedule to organize your meals for at least three days ahead.

It also means grocery shopping at least one day prior, to make sure you have all the ingredients you need. This leaves no room for error or hindering in your success.

Be Open to New Recipes

I know it can be quicker and easier to eat the same meals time after time, but you need to keep variety in your diet to stay motivated. Be adventurous and have fun with your food. There are so many wonderful recipes online, in magazines and in programs such as my 7-Day Program.

Do Not Focus on What You Cannot Eat

Do not dwell on what you cannot eat. You can still enjoy the occasional piece of chocolate or a piece of cake, but keep the portions smaller.

If you were used to eating a sandwich laden with fries and tomato sauce, this is not healthy by any stretch of the imagination. Once you start eating healthier foods, you will be amazed at the great buzz you get. Focus on what you can eat, and not on what you cannot.

Monitor Your Sleep Patterns

Are you going to bed late, or is stress keeping you awake at night? Stress can increase the levels of cortisol in your body. Cortisol is also known as the stress hormone.

It interferes with your weight loss success, increases appetite, often making you crave the wrong foods, and can make your body hold onto its fat stores. Try and keep to a routine, and get in bed before 11pm. Also, it would be helpful if you can find ways to decrease the stress in your life.

Focus on the Journey

This might sound strange, but there was a lot going on in your life when you were gaining weight. There will also be a lot going on now that you are starting your weight loss journey. You will feel more alive, have more energy in your day and you will sleep better.

Enjoy the journey of discovering what you are able to do each day that you could not do when you were overweight. For me, the biggest achievement was being able to go for a walk without having to collapse on the couch and rest for an hour afterward.

Is Your Thyroid Sluggish?

I have had a few clients who were not able to find success in their weight loss journey until they addressed an underlying low functioning thyroid. If your thyroid is sluggish, then following certain weight loss programs can do the opposite.

You may find yourself gaining weight as opposed to losing weight. This is why I have created a quick 5-minute quiz to help my clients. If you would like to see if your thyroid is sluggish click here to access the quiz.

Do you think your thyroid is sluggish? Do you have any tips that helped you in your weight loss journey that you would like to share with others? I would love to know what experience you have had. Let me know in the comments below.

We all have grief on some level at this stage of our lives. As we navigate the difficult, sad, and challenging journey of grief, Yoga for Living with Loss offers the perspective of how our chakras are both impacted and can relieve physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual congestion of grief.

While grief is certainly universal, our own personal grief is like no other and no one else’s. When I lost first my best friend of over 40 years and then my cherished big sister, my yoga practice gave me a place to breathe, cry, be present, and simply survive.

I have created Yoga for Living with Loss Video Series to share how I continue to navigate my losses through gentle yoga and studying the chakras. I hope you can find some comfort in joining me on this journey.

What Are Chakras

The Chakras are our seven main energy points of ‘wheels’ that relate to specific areas of our entire beings. Chakras are thought to be spinning disks of energy that should stay “open” and aligned, as they correspond to bundles of nerves, major organs, and areas of our energetic body that affect our emotional and physical well-being.

Grief, loss, and mourning shift our chakra energies both for the short- and long-term journey. Being aware of how our chakras are impacted by our grief can immediately bring us into more alignment and less chaos.

Our Fifth Chakra and Grief

Our fifth chakra is named Vishuddha which means purification. It is located in our throat and neck area. It is the center of our communication, and therefore, our creativity. It is our chakra of expression, whatever form that takes.

It is the gateway and translator, where we speak and express and where we listen and hear. How we communicate through words, art, music, cooking, walking, knitting, and everything we say and do is our creative expression.

Vishuddha, the space of communication, is the place from which we speak truth, declare love, express belief, proclaim opinion, expound philosophy, send forth prayer, sing love songs or lamentations, whisper deepest wishes and share the language of our hearts. It is both how we express and how we listen.

Grief and loss can settle right here, in our fifth chakra. In our grief, we cannot communicate the depth of our loss. In my own grief, I experienced a painful stiff neck, that was telling! This is where our grief lands as we speak of the death, the loss, the loneliness, the despair. We get a ‘lump’ in our throat. We can’t speak. “I swallowed my tears.” ”Her voice was choked with emotion.”

We cry and even wail, letting this chakra open to our grief. We need to clear our throat. Expressing our grief releases the energy that can be withheld. But it must be with safety, and trust.

The throat chakra is also about speaking about our loss to close friends, with support groups, therapists, and wherever we can find comfort. Many times, we don’t bring up our loss or the name of our loved one… like we forgot.

In truth, we honor our loved ones by saying their names, recalling times we spent together and celebrating all that person brought into our lives. In certain religions, we name children after the departed to keep the name alive and present.

Characteristics

The color is blue. Our throat chakra is located at the center of our throat and swirls around our neck to the upper cervical spine. It is the narrow passage to the most ethereal of the chakras, intuition (6th chakra) and wisdom (7th chakra.)

Vishuddha encompasses the shoulders, jaw, mouth, and thyroid. The element is sound. Sound is a connection to spirit. It is also important to remember that sound isn’t always heard physically. We feel the vibrations of sound waves throughout our being.

Balanced

When in alignment, you can speak and listen with compassion and feel confident when you speak because you know you are being true to yourself with your words.

Unbalanced

When out of balance, there can be deficiency and excess. A deficient Vishuddha is seen as one who has lost their voice, speaks so softly as to be unheard. Excessive Vishuddha is one who speaks gossip, talks excessively, and interrupts often.

People with an imbalance in their fifth chakra can have variety of health issues like thyroid problems, throat, dental or jaw problems as well as shoulder, arm and neck stiffness, arthritis etc. An unbalanced Vishuddha centers on the throat and neck area.

Shadow

The shadow side of Vishuddha is the lying, to ourselves and to others. Have you noticed how people change their tone when not telling the truth? When we neglect to tell the truth, we send negative energy to every cell.

Gentle Yoga Poses for the Throat Chakra

1. Child’s pose: Sit bum towards heels, head between extended arms
2. Full or half, very gentle neck rolls open the throat passage
3. Lion’s Breath: Inhale then a deep exhale with mouth wide open and tongue out
4. Sphinx: Lie on belly side on mat, bend elbows with forearms on the earth, lift chin

Fifth Chakra Affirmation

Affirmations are sayings that you speak to yourself silently or aloud to give you a space to shift away from negative thoughts and feelings. Affirmations are positive statements that can help us to challenge and overcome self-sabotaging and negative thoughts.

When you repeat them often, and believe in them, you can start to make positive changes. In our grieving process, affirmations allow us to say what we need to hear.

• I hear and speak the truth about myself and my beloved.
• I speak with compassion to myself.
• I listen with compassion to my inner voice and the voice of others.
• I speak my truth and wisdom freely to others.
• I express myself with love and truth.
• I can communicate easily.
• I give and receive communication in a balanced way.
• I can find solace in silence.
• I can receive and hear clearly the messages of the Universe.

Let’s Summarize

The seven main chakras are energy centers that can be like guideposts to navigating deep grief. By recognizing that our throat chakra is the key to expressing love, compassion, loss, sadness, and creativity, we can release the ‘lump in our throat’ and find a bit of ease in our journey of grief.

EXTRA: Visit Yoga for Living with Loss for opportunities for classes, workshops, and the Yoga for Living with Loss Video Series as we navigate our grief without getting lost.

Do you connect your throat with your emotions? Have you considered what stands behind common phrases, such as, “I have a lump in my throat,” or “I choke on my emotions”? What do you know about the throat chakra and how it can help you deal with grief?