First off, let me just congratulate you mom’s out there that are raising teens! What a difficult age, am I right? It’s like terrible two’s but you can’t pick them up and put them in time-out anymore! Plus, not only are their attitudes getting worse, but their skin is too! Thanks to the teenage raging hormones! UGH! I hated my teen years because the havoc my hormones played on my skin was a nightmare!

I knew when I had kids that I wanted to protect them from those harsh years of acne, and bullying! Sooo…we taught our daughters when they were young about the importance of cleansing, toning, and moisturizing ones’ face. It became part of their daily routine, just like brushing their teeth…and it has paid off!

Even though they were establishing good habits and keeping their skin clean, when those hormones went haywire…they started getting pimples…everywhere! We tried a lot of different products and brands and finally found the solution that worked for them.

Prana SpaCeuticals created a teen Acne line called, “BanAcne”. It’s formulated using banana extracts and oils to help rid the skin of infectious bacteria and create a healthy foundation that is protected from breakouts. It’s been life changing for my girls! The formula is gentle and safe for their young skin and it actually works! Hallelujah!

There are a lot of great products from Prana SpaCeuticals that I love for myself as well! Be sure to check out their entire line at PranaSpaCeuticals.com (My personal favorites are their hydration masques, my skin feels quenched and supple which is difficult to do when living in the high desert) Bravo!

Next up, let’s talk oily teenage hair! Gross! I don’t know how it can get so bad in only 24 hours! These girls wash their hair everyday and still somehow end up oily some days. Thank goodness we found COLAB Dry Shampoo!

COLAB is a multi award-winning dry shampoo that’s suitable for all hair types, colors and textures.

Their incredible formula effectively absorbs oil and instantly refreshes roots with an invisible, lightweight finish. Yes, I can even use it on my dark hair!

Hair feels clean, soft and beautifully fragranced in an instant.

What’s more, COLAB is totally vegan friendly, comes in a range of incredible fashion-forward fragrances and has been created by a team of beauty industry experts.

What more can I say? It’s everything you want from a dry shampoo and more…because it’s only $5.49 at Target, Wal-Mart and Rite-Aid. Uhhhmazing!

As a professional Makeup Artist, my daughters have been around glitter, glitz and glam their whole lives! So much so, that I thought they wouldn’t have an interest in makeup until they were much older….to my surprise they started asking when they could wear certain things like Mascara, or Lip gloss when they were around 10-11.

I never wanted them to feel they couldn’t wear makeup. (That backfired on my parents when I was teen…because I “couldn’t” wear it, only made me want to wear A LOT of it even more!) So..I’ve let my daughter’s slowly transition into wearing tinted chapsticks, or colored mascara’s.

Now that my Lillybug is almost 13, she’s been experimenting with eyeshadows and blushes….but thankfully she is still perceptive to what Mom has to say about properly applying it at her age. She can wear pretty much any color of the rainbow and it still looks age-appropriate because she knows HOW to wear it.

One of my biggest concerns about raising daughters in this delusional world of “Beauty” is that they will lose sight of themselves by trying to conform to someone else’s idea of beauty. I think as Mom’s we need to set examples of self-love and sharing positive vibes with our offspring.

I was delighted to find RealHer Makeup. A brand that stands for something amazing! Check out their Mission Statement…it says it all!

“We are a high quality, CERTIFIED CRUELTY-FREE and PARABEN FREE makeup brand featuring empowering and inspiring affirmations on our product. Our mission is to inspire and bring out the best in every individual, to know their worth, to feel proud of their individuality, to love each and every one of their flaws, and to not fear who they really are. Each of our products come with a self-affirmation to remind us everyday that we are enough.”

Boom! Need I say more? Well, I will, because I never know when to stop talking! haha As a professional Makeup Artist my level of standard for cosmetics is ridiculously high. I was over-the-moon with the formulations that RealHer Makeup created. So much so, that I can tell you….I USE THEM EVERYDAY!! (insert gasp here)

When I heard about their sister line – Love You First, I knew it would be perfect for my girls. Designed for the younger fashionistas, this line has everything for our girls to feel empowered and look fabulous! My daughters love their eyeshadow palettes as well as the sparkly lipglosses. You can never go wrong when glitter is involved.

I hope you love these teen-friendly products as much as we do!

xoxo,

Missy