Tag Archives: R. L. Linden & Co

2014 Beauty is Coming up Roses

January 2, 2014

Happy 2014! How did everyone ring in the New Year? After a meat and potato-filled dinner date with my husband, we settled in at home. Partially because of the snow and cold – PJs sounded so cozy! – but also because we wanted to binge on the last few episodes of Breaking Bad. I watched entirely too many episodes over the holidays and it was heavy. I’m pretty sad it’s all over.

I spent much of New Year’s Day doing some much-needed organizing and spa-ing at home. Nothing like a detoxifying mask to kick start your year! And, I’m starting my 2014 beauty routine off on a rosy note. Literally.

If you were to sneak into my skin care shelf, you’d see that rose oil is a common ingredient in my favorites. Rose is the most valuable of all essential oils — it takes more than 5,000 petals to even produce a single drop! At the top of my list is Tammy Fender Quintessential Serum, a highly concentrated anti-aging serum that feeds skin and gives immediate radiance. This stuff is no joke! It is perfect for the winter months as it acts like a blanket for the skin (in a good way). The ingredients are powerful enough to undo many a skin care sins. I rarely use facial lotions these days, but really like Weleda Rose Smoothing Lotion. The texture is light and it layers well over serums and other treatments. The price is fantastic and it just smells so incredible that I just can’t help but breathe it in.

I’ve also been slathering my lips in R.L. Linden & Co’s La Balmba Rosa balm. The ingredient list is stellar — Bulgarian rose, meadowfoam, avocado and coconut oil, and more. I don’t wear lipstick without slathering this on first. Also, it’s thanks to the Linden Beauty ladies that I heard about this rose shampoo! I must try.

Sonia Kashuk did it again with this floral printed brush set. I can’t even believe the quality of each of the five brushes for under $15. The blush brush is the perfect density and size and I love the angled foundation brush with my Kjaer Weis foundation. Also, the perfect brightening lip color? Look no further than the rosy-hued Laqa & Co Lil’ Lip Duo. These chubby little lip crayons are the cutest things ever and super moisturizing on lips (shea butter, baby!

The Best of 2013

December 30, 2013

I’m not good with goodbyes, but I’m ready to give 2013 its final sendoff. The promise a brand new one holds is pretty thrilling, especially when this year has been so good to me. I hit publish on my very first 312 Beauty post in January, the start of a wild and crazy ride! There was the time Refinery29 included me in a list of bloggers “you need to be reading,” the reminiscing I did on wedding day beauty for POPSUGAR and the segment I did on Chicago’s FOX 32 on Memorial Day. I’m still awestruck from meeting so many incredible women at A Night for Green Beauty and honored I got to interview Butter LONDON’s global colour ambassador Katie Hughes, Space NK founder Nicky Kinniard and Illamasqua founder Julian Kynaston when they came to Chicago. Most of all, I’ve had the best time talking beauty and getting to know so many of you (on the internet and in real life!) Let’s do more of that next year, k?

I can’t wait to see what the next year in beauty will bring. It’s fitting that my last post of 2013 is all about the products I loved most this year. I give you, my top 10!

Deborah Lippmann Glitter and Be Gay is hands down, the best nail polish I bought all year. I wore this constantly! The sparkling yellow gold and bits of blue holographic glitter are killer.

I used to think that salt sprays were drying until I tried Davines This Is A Sea Salt Spray. It’s the best styling aid for my type of hair (stick straight). I spray on dry hair before I curl and get the softest waves that last all day. No small miracle.

Everything I thought about natural mascara changed thanks to Kjaer Weis. The 99.8% organic mascara is better than most others (natural or otherwise). Plus, it smells like roses!

I tried at least a dozen facial oils this year and Lina Hanson’s Global Face Serum was easily my fav. It plumps up my skin and makeup looks better when I apply this first. The scent, from a blend of 11+ exotic plant oils, is intoxicatingly good.

ILIA Cosmic Dancer is the most flattering gold highlighter. It’s soft and brightening and not the least bit brassy. Word is that it’s limited edition for the holidays, which I’m not ready to accept.

Katie Hughes herself introduced me to Butter London Cheeky Crème Blush in Pistol Pink. It’s a bright pop of color and you can dab it on your lips, too.

This year will go down as the year of MAC RiRi Woo. It was released several times with all of Rihanna’s MAC collections and it sold out quickly with each one. Worth the hype.

My mornings were greatly improved after discovering R.L. Linden & Co Thousand Petal Beautifying Mist, which is like a blast of floral adrenaline. Plus, I want to be friends with the owners. They seem like such cool chicks!

Washing my face will never be the same. Elizabeth Dehn for One Love Organics Vitamin B Cleansing Oil exfoliates with plant extracts as it breaks down all of your makeup. Two thumbs up.

I’ll never be Camilla Belle, but at least I have Benefit Gimme Brow to get me a little closer in the brow department. It’s part brow filler part volumizer and takes 2.5 seconds to apply. I’m already on my second tube!

Happy New Year!

R.L. Linden & Co Thousand Petal Beautifying Mist

October 2, 2013

photo via

I’m working on being a morning person. I so want to be able to make it to and from the gym before most even finish their last REM cycle. I’d even settle for squeezing in an at-home yoga DVD. But that might never be me. I’m more of a cup of coffee and laptop on the couch early riser. Lately, though? My pre-sunrise ambitions are fading. How am I supposed to get out of bed when it is absolutely pitch black in the morning? Tell me how you morning people do this! I’m almost a lost cause, especially with a snuggly Boston Terrier curled up next to me. She alone is like an Ambien. The only way I’ve been able to peel myself off the sheets is to literally awaken my senses. R.L. Linden & Co Thousand Petal Beautifying Mist is the face mist equivalent of a shot of adrenaline. It’s as if you are burying your face in a massive bouquet of freshly picked flowers. It hits you fast and man, is it ever effective. A blast of cool spring water blended with honeysuckle, neroli, rose, jasmine, morning glory, hibiscus and jojoba oil is equal parts awakening, refreshing and healing. Works best when you keep it next to your alarm clock.

R.L. Linden & Co cropped up on my radar this summer when they first launched. The founders, Robin and Lynn, respectively a Master Nutrition Therapist and award-winning tea blender and herbalist, mix up, in small batches, pure eco-beauty skin care and healing teas that are literally (quite so!) bursting with flowers. Each of the three inaugural products are beautifully packaged in weighty black glass (sample sizes available, too!)and I can tell these ladies have a sense of humor. La Balma Rosa healing lip balm anyone? For the record….it is phenom. And, yes, it earned its place here.