Friday Favorites: Beauty basics and a giveaway

When you’re a personal trainer in a gym, you only need a couple beauty essentials to get through the day. There are a few classic items that keep me (fairly) groomed, while walking the streets of San Francisco, moving around the gym floor with clients and climbing on and off stretching tables.

Welcome to today’s regularly scheduled “Friday Favorites” edition, in which I’m showing you two basics that are tried and true, as well as an awesome new product giveaway, that’s not so basic.

My favorite lip balm

Maybe it’s Maybelline. Baby Lips in the Cherry Me flavor is what you’ll find on my lips most days (save for the magenta lipstick from my most recent Birchbox, which I’ve been sporting on weekend nights). It’s smooth, lasts for quite a while, gives just a hint of color and a lot of moisture. Oh, and it’s incredibly price friendly. Even when I’m tired and pasty pale, one swipe of this lip balm seems to liven up my face.

My favorite hairspray

I think most of you could recognize the smell of Aussie. I’ve purchased other fancy hairsprays from time-to-time over the years, but I always go back to this one. I love the smell, the flexible hold and the fact that it keeps my in-between bangs out of my face for most of the day.

Another essential beauty basic in my book is feeling good, which leads me to our giveaway.

21 Drops Essential Oil Therapy giveaway

A few months ago, I received an invitation to attend a swanky event hosted by the 21 Drops Essential Oil Company, but I was teaching a group fitness class that night and couldn’t make it. However, the folks over at 21 Drops were kind enough to send me some samples of the product, as well as two full-size bottles to give to one of you.

This is one of those items that does not fall into the beauty basics category, because you don’t know you need it or want it until you give it a try.

What’s even cooler is that 21 Drops is based out of my home-state of Florida and was started by a botanist and aromatherapist who attended my alma matter, University of Florida. She raised her children without using antibiotics or medications and instead found there were true healing powers in plants. That’s a pretty cool concept, which made me very interested to try essentials oils for myself.

There are 21 different oil combinations, which are each designed to treat a particular concern, from sleep to stress, all the way to Immunity. Each 8 ml oil rollerball bottle retails for $29, but you can also find some starter mix sets on the website.

When given the choice, I selected “Equalize” for me, and for the giveaway, I chose two things that definitely encompass A Lady Goes West readers, including “Strength” and “Passion.” Here are the profiles:

• Strength – To bolster your confidence, rally your strength and achieve your goals, fused with rosemary, rose and cedarwood.
• Passion – To light your fire, release your inhibitions and heighten your sensuality, fused with jasmine, rose, sandalwood and cardamom.

I followed the easy-to-use directions to test out the “Equalize” mixture. All I had to do was roll the rollerball a few times in a circular motion on the inside of my wrists, temples and the back of my neck.

The first thing I noticed was the great smell, the second thing I noticed was the cooling feeling on my skin. I took a few deep breaths and definitely felt a little soothing, like I was sitting in a spa. The best part of the experience was the awareness it gave me. I stopped everything I was doing for a moment, slowed down, focused on my senses and began to feel a little more relaxed instantly. Was I equalized? I’d say so. I’m thinking I might need to bring this bottle to work with me for a quick pick-me-up/calm-me-down during one of my many 12-hour days.

I’d love for one of you to try two bottles of this healthy and invigorating product and add some extra “Strength” and “Passion” into your day.

How to enter the 21 Drops giveaway

There are two ways to win:

1. Like A Lady Goes West on Facebook and leave a comment on the link to this post.
2. Leave a comment on this post below saying you’d like to win.

I’ll randomly select the winner next Friday and announce it on Facebook.

Good luck!

As always, thanks Heather, for hosting “Friday Favorites.” For more, check out some of my previous editions:

1. A snack, a purse and a ritual
2. A delivery, a bra and a guy
3. A sweet, a wine and a read
4. A drink, a gadget and a plan 
5. A time, a bottle and a powder
6. San Francisco edition
7. Beauty edition
8. Beach vacation edition
9. Hidden meanings
10. Kicks, a book and a bowl
11. The very best sweatshirts
12. Party hosting and froyo
13. Fourth of July daytime activity

Questions of the day

What are you loving this Friday? Do you have any beauty basics you swear by?