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Guys, did you know that this is the summer of love for oils in the beauty world? You can’t flip through a magazine these days without talk of oils everywhere for your hair, body, and shower. In accordance, move your lotions and gels to the side, because the newest/Euro-hip way to moisturize and get that gleamy “I just stepped off a yacht in Croatia” look are with these super-duper fragrant oils. Your face is the only place oil doesn’t belong this summer (which I’ll address in a separate post), but for everywhere else, lather up and enjoy the hassle-free ways to tame flyaway hairs, add subtle shimmer, and look sun-kissed and dewy all over.

1. Nuxe Huile Prodigeuse – The French are so chic that their across-the-pond counterpart to our Johnson & Johnson Baby Lotion is this beautifully scented, all-over body oil. It’s the kind of thing you find in high quality, utilitarian French pharmacies, and stocked in the medicine cabinets of je ne sais quoi women. Aliza Jabes, the original founder, was a young mother looking for a multipurpose skincare solution, and created a line of natural, luxury products. The dry oil is their top seller and has a lightly perfumed scent that comes from the six precious plant oils (borage, St. John’s Wort, sweet almond, camellia, hazelnut, macadamia) that make up 98.9% of the ingredients. I use it after stepping out of the shower to moisturize my legs and the combination of heat and the dry oil texture practically melts it into my skin. It leaves behind a light glossy sheen that calls to mind less Miami bodybuilder, more Beyonce music video glam (even with my non-caramel Twilight pallor), with a airbrushed, seamless look. I also love putting a few drops in a hot bath and sitting back to luxuriate in the heady, musky scent. It comes in two types, the original and a golden shimmer, which Space NK associates tell me they regularly sell out of in the summertime. It’s also supposed to work miracles on stretch marks with clinical trials showing improvement up to 33%. All in all, it’s a wonder oil. (more…)

For a beauty writer, I go an embarrassingly long time between hair salon appointments. I literally get my hair cut once a year. Highlights are a bi-yearly occurrence. Terrible, I know. Last year, I tried to pretend my highlight roots were the newest ombre hair trend. But my four inches of pitch-black roots weren’t fooling anyone–this was no intentional ombre or attempt to be trendy. The final sign that I had to get the situation under control was when a guy I was dating commented about “how I was going back to my natural hair color.” This was a dude that was oblivious to any kind of sartorial change and could tell zero difference between five pairs of Warby Parkers I once modeled for him. So, clearly–a problem that needed to be addressed ASAP.

If you’re a faithful What Not to Wear watcher, you’re already familiar with the name Nick Arrojo and his gentle, practically Hippocratic manner.He’s probably never sworn an official oath, but you know he would never do harm to your hair, and that’s the attitude you feel from his fellow stylists and colorists at his signature salon. (more…)

Dear TDO,

I’m a have-it-all kind of girl. When I go out, I like to have my kale and my truffle macaroni and cheese. I like learning about Hermes Birkin dimensions as much as I like reading about Warren Buffett. I find David Einhorn and David Beckham equally fascinating. But the problem is, I haven’t been able to have-it-all with my shampoo. Despite a terrible stint with Tony the Tiger highlights, I’m addicted to coloring my hair. But all the shampoos I see are single service, they’re volumnizing, clarifying, hydrating, anti-frizz, pro-shine, OR they’re sulfate-free and meant for color treated hair. How do I get the “and”? Can’t my hair be protected against color fading, brassiness, and look like it could go on to star in a JLo music video? Help me! And no, washing my hair twice with two different separate shampoos is not an acceptable option.

Sincerely,

Me

Dear Me. Of course there is a solution! You didn’t think the beauty gods would let you down, right? They talked to the genius people at L’Oreal to found Pureology, serious color care. They can help you have-it-all in all all aspects of your life, including haircare. Each of their seven shampoo lines contain zero sulfates, their exclusive anti-Fade formula, and are dual benefit with volumnizing, hydrating, repair, smoothing, anti-aging, purifying, or protectionist (against extremely lifted hair) actions. They’re like a friends with benefits that actually works without the messy repercussions. I particularly like the Pure Volume line. A little known secret about shampooing is that most people over shampoo their hair. Color treated hair already has a tendency to be drier than untreated hair, so you need at most a pea-sized amount to wash your whole head. A tiny dab of Pure Volume shampoo produces enough lather for my long hair and the formula is gentle enough that I don’t feel guilty washing my hair in consecutive days following gym workouts. If anything, I like to spend more time on conditioner, combing it through the ends, an area that doesn’t benefit from natural moisture. And after towel-drying, my hair has enough bounce, softness, and oomph that I can see all the layers and dimension of my haircut from four months ago. And the color? Still non-brassy. In a consumer shampoo test, 86% of clients agreed that Pureology helped maximize color retention. And if you’re not satisfied? Pureology offers a money back guarantee, within four weeks of purchase.

You’re welcome.

Neon. Is there any other color range getting more play this season? You don’t have to be a trend forecaster to know that it will be all over spring break, the streets, and Coachella style slideshows. Smart retailers like Victoria’s Secret have clearly picked up on it and the super saturated hues are featured prominently all over their Spring offerings for PINK. Last month, I visited their design headquarters in midtown to check out the new line and meet Elsa Hosk, former professional basketball player turned Victoria’s Secret model. We talked about her favorites for the new line, what Spring Break is like in her native Sweden, and her thoughts on Knicks phenomenon, Jeremy Lin. And this being an interview with a Victoria’ Secret model, I naturally had to ask her about her workout/diet regimen too. Read on:

The Daily Obsession: I know exactly one word in Swedish. One of my friends had a Swedish pen pal in high school, who is now her husband.

Really? What is it!

TDO: tack så mycket(means thank you)

That’s a good one to know! You should also know hej (means hello.) My favorite word is bageri, which means bakery.

What’s Spring Break like in Sweden? Is there an equivalent? (more…)

In an age where pink slime, arsenic, and ammonia abound in our nation’s meat, the last thing I want to do is knowingly put any additional gross chemicals into my body. Recently, I’ve made a concerted effort to use only natural and eco-friendly products, starting with La Vanila’s Healthy Deodorant. It’s a simple but easy step to take in the right direction, as it’s an all natural deodorant that’s aluminum free, allergy tested, dermatologist approved, and formulated without parabens, synthetic dyes, or sulfates. Irrespective of the health benefits, the scents are so beautiful and fresh, you’ll barely want to wear anything else.  I find a pure vanilla scent to be too sweet and cloying on an actual person (although I love the smell in baking), but when cut with the citrus highlights of grapefruit, passionfruit, lavender, or coconut, it’s relegated to instant sophistication and becomes the perfect blend of girlishness and femininity. The formula is dispensed through a roller ball, that quickly dries to a dry, satiny finish. The LaVanila Deodorant retails for $18.

If I had to pick one product that’s completely revolutionized my makeup routine, it’d be Laura Geller’s Baked Highlighter. No small feat, considering the bounty of technology and science-infused products on the market, but learning how to use her highlighter effectively has changed my life (and face contours.) From reporting backstage at New York Fashion Week, I’ve long observed makeup artists brandishing highlighters for final touch-ups before pushing models out on the runway, but never knew how to use it effectively on my own face. I was scared. I have a young looking face to begin with (both a blessing and a curse) and like 99% of the population, don’t have the model-like cheekbone definition. Would highlighter even look good? Would it even look different? Would I look like a young Asian gymnast competing in her first Olympics match or a child who stumbled through some glitter rave? (more…)

Jennifer Aniston is not one of those celebrity fragrances. By that, I mean the kind you suspect you smell when you are crammed on the 6 train, sardine-style, next to someone whose eau is so repellent that you assume she must be wearing Mermaid’s Fatal Kiss or something similarly named from Paris Hilton. Jennifer Aniston is the kind of scent that is so warm, summery, and subtle (a word you rarely hear attached to any celebrity), that people act genuinely surprised when you tell them it’s the Jennifer Aniston perfume (cue similar reactions with Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely and Gwen Stefani L.A.M.B.)

True to Aniston’s image, the fragrance is total beach girl. It’s the perfume equivalent of that trick of being able to hear the ocean through a seashell, except in smell. My favorite thing about it is the strong jasmine top note. Jasmine was a strong scent memory for Aniston, who grew up smelling blooming night jasmine on warm summer evenings in California. Despite not growing up in California (cough, New Jersey), my mom and I had a mini jasmine tree of our own, and I spent two summers trying to make jasmine flower pressed bookmarks a thing (remember when pressing flowers was a blatant girl hobby?), before I finally gave up. The jasmine flowers never stayed pressed or completely came apart, but the essential oils and the scent are the one thing that did linger.

Mixed in with the jasmine are robust notes of amber and sandalwood, which add a touch of musky saltiness to cut through the sweetness of the jasmine.  This is the kind of scent I want wafting through my room on a night so breezily warm you can sleep without the air conditioner on and the windows open (Jennifer, please start working on a scented candle for this–stat!)  The fragrance retails starting at $39 and you can find it here.

Yes, I like MUD on my lashes. That is Mud Cream Mascara from Make-up Designory. If you’re looking for a new fangled mascara invention that vibrates, combs, and dyes your lashes blue using the genius of MIT engineers, this isn’t it. But if you are looking for a simple mascara formula that works, you’ve come to the right place. Something about this mascara is very 50s glam (my favorite era of glam) and I think it’s because unlike current day liquid formulas which are on the liquid, goop-y (not related to Gwyneth) side, MUD’s formulation is creamier and drier, like the cake mascara used by MGM starlets in the days of yore. Remember in black-and-white movies when Joan Crawford and Marilyn (no last name needed) would apply mascara by swiping a fan-shaped brush through a tin of black “cake”?  This is like a grandchild of that original formulation, retaining all the original benefits of its grandmother, with 21st century convenience in packaging and ease of application.

Lashes by MUD are full, super pliable, smudge-proof, non-sticky, and so buildable that you can easily apply three to four coats without them feeling like a dried out, crinkled mess.  You know how the cardinal rule of mascara-ing and curling is that you are supposed to curl before and not after to minimize lash breakage?  Well, sometimes a girl with stick straight lashes (me) needs a little more oomph in their lashes and breaks this rule sometimes (often.) MUD’s non-sticky formula  is an especial blessing in this case because individual lashes don’t stick to the curler or get glomped up together, and I can breathe a silent prayer to the beauty gods for allowing me to enjoy my intact lashes for another day.

The old-fashioned nylon full bristled brush that comes with each tube (squeezable!) separates and evenly coats each lash from root to tip.  The unique squeeze tube also minimizes air exposure and prevents the formula from drying out.  The mascara retails for $14 and can be found here.