Check out our NEW website!

We are SO excited to bring you a newly designed website, complete with all new features! Go to http://www.ambreose.com to see the new site!

Rewards program:
Become a member of our website and earn points on every product that you buy! Accumulate points and redeem for FREE PRODUCTS! It can't get any better than that!!

Improved gift certificates:
Give the gift of ámbreöse collection to a friend with a gift certificate. Our gift certificates are available in $10, $20, $30, $40 and $50 denominations. Simply give us the name and email address of the recipient, and we'll do the rest!

Gift registry:
Getting married soon? Or expecting a bundle of joy? Create a gift registry with us and get exactly what you want! Once you create the registry, we will notify you when someone has purchased an item in your registry.

New blog website:
Our blog will now be directly on our website! Just click here to visit the blog. No more juggling around multiple sites.


Take a look around and tell us what you think!

Don't forget: the Fall Collection is here for a limited time. Don't miss out!

Skin Care Myths!

We’ve all heard it: French fries cause acne. What?! Nothing could be further from the truth! In this post, I debunk some of the common (and sometimes dangerous) skin care myths.


Myth #1:
You have oily skin, so you can’t use a moisturizer.
False! For our oily skinned sisters, balance is key. Our skin naturally produces oil for lubrication. But when you have oily skin, that production is always in overdrive. Trust me. I know! I used to always avoid the use of moisturizers because I thought, “I have enough moisture. I don’t need anymore!”. False again. Actually, when your skin is not adequately moisturized (meaning water content) or dehydrated, it will try to correct the problem itself and produce MORE oil! Ugh!

Something that I always tell oily-skinned people to remember is, your skin is oily. It was always oily, and it will always be oily. You will NEVER be able to change your skin type. However, you can help minimize some of the slickness by giving your skin what it craves – moisture. Stick with an oil-free, non-comedogenic formula and use it twice a day. You’re still going to have some shine, but over time, the total grease factor should decrease. Besides, we oily skinned beauties age beautifully!


Myth #2
You don’t wash your face enough. That is why you have acne.
Ummm, excuse me?! Did you just say I don’t clean myself enough? Now, we got beef! Acne is a skin disorder, mostly triggered by hormonal issues. Nothing more. Nothing less. It has very little to do with how often, or how vigorously, you wash your face. In fact, washing acne-prone skin too often will almost always lead to more breakouts (and oilier skin). The key to acne is keeping your pores clean and free of debris. When you have pores clogged with dirt, oil, old makeup and sweat, breakouts will follow. Try cleansing your skin with a mild cleanser morning and night and follow with a salicylic acid product at night. Salicylic acid is great for gentle, gradual exfoliation. It is also really good at cleaning out clogged pores. Benzoyl Peroxide is another favorite ingredient of mine. Use it on an active pimple to help kill the bacteria that has set up residence on your face. Be careful with this product though. It can be extremely drying. A moisturizer 


Myth #3
Sweets & fried foods cause breakouts.
There are two things a large order of curly fries, 20 piece wing dings, and a 20 oz Coke will not do:  help you win the Beyonce look-a-like contest and cause you to get a pimple. Pimples and acne are caused by bacteria and abnormal cell division, not Big Macs with extra Mac sauce. The idea behind this myth is that an overall healthy diet, full of fresh green vegetables, fruit and mega doses of clean water daily will help you to become a healthier person, period, thus making your skin, hair, nails, etc. healthier in the process.


Myth #4
Women of color don’t get sunburn or skin cancer.
Please, please, please stop spreading this dangerously untrue information. While it is true that people of color are less likely to get skin cancer, when we do, we are more likely to die from it. This is the same deadly disease that took the life of Reggae legend, Bob Marley. Many people don’t realize that it takes years (and I mean 20, 30 years) for sun damage to appear on anyone, and usually by the time it appears on us chocolate skinned beauties, it’s far too late. I could go on and on about the dangers of UVA and UVB rays but suffice it to say, a broad-spectrum (meaning it protection against UVA and UVB rays) is a daily necessity. Make it a habit now to begin examining your skin monthly for new spots or moles that maybe were not there the previous month.


Have you heard any skin care advice that you later found out to be a myth? Tell us below!

Cosmeceuticals vs. Natural skin care – “Should I feel guilty about using skin care products that contain non-natural ingredients?”

Skin care is a very expansive field. Walk down the health and beauty aisle at any drug or department store and you are likely to be bombarded with moisturizers, night creams, eye creams, butt creams, everything you can think of! The average lady (or gent) perusing the aisles is likely to become overwhelmed. I mean, exactly what is an AHA? Why does that foot cream have so many ingredients? You really need to be armed with a slew of information in order to get the most of your visit.

Lately, there has been a big shift in buying to natural products. Many people (including myself) have chosen to educate themselves about their skin care and decided to make some changes. Many of the traditional products found on the shelves at your local department store contain ingredients that could wash away battery corrosion (okay, that is an exaggeration, but you catch my drift). Because of this, thankfully, consumers are becoming more informed and letting cosmetic manufacturers know “We’re not gonna take it!”. 

Ok, so just what is a cosmetic? In the simplest of terms, a cosmetic is any product that cleanses or beautifies the skin, hair or nails. So then, what is a cosmeceutical? This funny looking word is a combination of “cosmetics” and “pharmaceuticals” (or drugs – legal ones). It’s used to describe products that both beautify (the cosmetic) and treat/prevent (the pharmaceutical). Some examples are dandruff shampoo, antiperspirant deodorants, or a moisturizer that contains alpha hydroxy acid (or AHA). These product both cleanse or beautify and provide a treatment as well. A cosmeceutical will always have an active ingredient. Think about a tube of toothpaste. It always says “Active ingredient: Fluoride”, then it lists the other ingredients.

Sample cosmeceutical ingredient list

In recent times, a big debate concerns the use of natural products versus using products formulated with synthetic ingredients. It took me a while to figure out my position on this topic. I mean I have a natural skin care line. So I should be all natural, all the time, right?

Wrong.

Anyone who follows me on YouTube or knows me knows of my struggle with my skin. They know all about my acne issues. And I mean serious acne issues – cystic acne – that can not be treated by applying Tea Tree Oil (trust me, I tired it all). I finally accepted what I knew as fact: cystic acne forms and lives in the dermis (2^nd layer of skin) and nothing that is not a drug is able to penetrate down to the dermis. Nothing. I came to the conclusion that I had to visit a dermatologist. I visited the derm, and was prescribed a retinol-based, topical gel called Ziana. I was at a crossroad because this product is chocked full of preservatives and fillers. The same preservatives and fillers I was trying to get away from. But, I took a good look in the mirror at the speckled face staring back at me and knew I had to use it.

I began applying the gel very lightly every night, then switched to every other night, using a Vitamin E cream on the nights I didn’t use the gel. Wow! What an improvement I saw in my skin in about 6-8 weeks. I still maintain my “as-natural-as-possible” routine and am very pleased with the results.

The moral of the story is: Don’t be so attached to one specific thing that you don’t get a chance to do what’s right for you. My philosophy has now become that some synthetic ingredients are possible to make a product do a specific thing. I, personally, do not believe that everything can be cured or treated the natural way. I am very thankful, however, that consumers are becoming more aware and expressing an opinion in their skin care formulations.

What do you think? Do you follow an all-natural skin care routine? How do you feel about some of the ingredients that are in your products? Let us know!