Dedicated Posts

A good daily skincare routine helps keep your skin well maintained, moisturized and healthy, but it can’t perform miracles on its own.  As your body’s largest organ, your skin’s condition is closely tied to your lifestyle such as how you eat, drink, sleep and exercise. Below we share some tips on how you can keep your skin healthy by making good lifestyle choices.

1. DONT DRINK ALCOHOL EXCESSIVELY

According to some studies, excess alcohol consumption can deplete Vitamin A levels in our bodies. Vitamin A is responsible for promoting cell turnover which keeps our skin fresh, youthful and healthy. In addition, Vitamin A is also important to helping our skin defend against free radicals, molecules that cause aging and damage by breaking down collagen fibers. Thus the result is that when our Vitamin A level goes down, our skin is unable to fight the bad stuff or renew itself, making it dull and damaged. Too much drinking can actually lead to faster aging.

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Having been a beauty blogger for over six years now, I’ve been lucky enough to learn from many of the top minds in dermatology about how to keep your skin healthy. There are so many opinions (and myths) out there about the best ways to take care of your skin- but regardless of brand or product affiliation, doctors and scientists all agree on a few important things.

 1.     Wear SPF every day regardless of weather

Everybody knows (hopefully) that hitting the beach without your trusty tube of SPF is a no-no, but doctors advise wearing protection every day regardless of if it’s sunny or not. Lack of sun protection is the leading culprit of a myriad of skin problems for people of all races and skin colors. Even in cloudy weather, harmful rays penetrate your skin causing all kinds of damage from premature aging to spots and pigmentation. In fact, sun damage can happen even if you are indoors by windows or while driving. To be safe, all dermatologists agree that applying a daily SPF is one of the most important things you can do to prevent skin problems.

2. Be gentle with your skincare routine even if you have problematic or oily skin.

I know when I was battling teenage acne, all I wanted to do was strip my skin of any oil by using the harshest products I could find. As it turns out, you’re not doing yourself any favors Not only does overusing harsh products aggravate existing skin problems, it can also cause more issues like tightness, redness, peeling and irritating of healthy skin. Instead, my doctors always recommended offsetting a medicinal product with a gentle moisturizer to help keep the skin calm.

Simple Skincare, a sensitive skincare brand I was introduced to years ago just launched in the USA with a great lineup of gentle products that are perfect for sensitive skin. They are the UK’s No. 1 Facial Skincare brand & have tapped me to be a brand ambassador for them this year. I’m super excited because I really love the products and now my bathroom will always be fully stocked with all the goodies.

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Thanks everyone for participating in the American Express Savvy Shopper program and sharing your online tips for smart shopping! Below are some of our favorite tips to help guide you through your holiday shopping and be sure to check to see if you’re the winner after the cut!

Don’t buy shoes online that don’t fit right regardless of how gorgeous they are! (more…)

If you haven’t submitted your biggest online shopping mistakes yet on this post- do so here to be entered to win $250 of merchandise or giftcards through AMEX’s  Membership Rewards partners. We will be picking the winner on November 30 so you still have a couple days to enter.

In part 2 of the American Express Savvy Shopper Program, we’ll be providing our picks for our top 5 must haves for the season.  I think these are particularly relevant right now in the midst of the holiday shopping season- some things to give and some things for yourself!

1. Tumi ‘Zuse Continental’ Carry On: Do your holiday travel in style this season with this versatile bag from Tumi.  I only pack carry-on when I can to save time at the airport and this bag fits into all domestic and international flight restrictions.  The best part of this bag is that there’s an expander so you can pack up to 1.5 in more of extra stuff.  Also, it’s 30% off on sale right now which is one of my favorite ways to shop online!

2. Bobbi Brown ‘Party to Go’ Palette: We love Bobbi Brown here at TDO and we love it even more when you can get a whole face palette for $25- or the price of a lipstick! This eye and lip palette provides beautiful day-to evening looks and is small enough to pop into the tiniest clutch.

3. Ugg Josie Convertible Boots:  A pair of cold weather boots are a must-have every winter, and this pair from Uggs does double duty.  Not only is it super comfortable and warm, it can also be worn two ways: with a tall shaft or folded over for a shorter boot.  For $250, it’ll probably be one the best purchase you make this season especially if you factor in how many times you’ll wear it..with everything!

4. Kate Spade ‘Pearl Street Drop Earrings’:  Every holiday season I always find myself drawn to something pretty and sparkly from Kate Spade.  This year, I’m obsessed with these oversized pearl drop earrings from Kate Spade which feature 14k gold posts, and smokey glass crystal details.  These would make a pretty gift for anyone but it’ll be hard not to get a pair for yourself too!

5. Ray-Ban Cat Eye Sunglasses:  Ray-Bans (which never go out of style) and cat-eye sunglasses (flattering on a lot of people) aren’t just for the winter- they’re for every season.  Finishing off our top 5 must-haves of the season is our pick for a pair of perfect sunglasses that last you month to month and year to year.

Now that holiday shopping is kicking into full gear, we’ve been tasked by American Express to blog about our take on making smart online shopping choices. Throughout this week, we’ll be providing some of our trusty tips on making smart shopping decisions for the season. American Express is also extending an opportunity for TDO readers to win $250 of merchandise or giftcards through AMEX’s  Membership Rewards partners.  You don’t have to be an AMEX cardholder to win… but you will need to share with us your online shopping mistakes and favorite shopping tips!

Ready?

In the comments below, share with us your biggest online shopping mistake.  We will publish a list of “top ten” mistakes submitted by our readers in the next week and select a winner of the contest who can choose $250 worth of merchandise or gift cards.

To kick things off, I’ll share a shopping mistake of my own…

Buying “final sale” clothing items when said item costs more than $20.  For $20 or under, I could probably take the risk of committing to a deep markdown without ever having tried it on.  But truthfully, I’ve bought too many things that were “marked down 85% but still $200 because it’s designer” which ended up not fitting… with no recourse. They now sit in a pile in the back of my closet- and just to think, that aggregated together, my mistake purchases could’ve totaled into something investment-worthy and fantastic. Sigh. You live, shop, and learn.

Now be sure to share with us your mistakes to enter to win (and so I don’t make them this season) and stay tuned for more tips this week!

True story. In 2001, I splurged (for a high schooler) on a pair of camel colored wool trousers from GAP and they’ve been in my wardrobe rotation ever since. The long lean lines and classic tailored cut have never gone of the style- even a decade later. With a return on investment like that, it’s no wonder that I’ve always considered GAP to be a go-to source for a number of staple pieces in my closet.

Now Gap is running The Fall Preview Pant Sale event, which is live on both Gap.com as well as in stores. The current season of Fall pants are on sale for a limited time (throughout September 9) with select styles start from $35. The event will feature a number of new fits and new fabrics debuting for the season. High on my list are these wide legged pants which would look so good with a cropped cardigan or tucked in button down. So go in-store now to begin building your fall pants wardrobe!

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by GAP

Still working on your holiday shopping list?  Or, if you’re anything like us, you’re probably always compiling a permanent “to buy” list- maybe waiting for items to go on sale, or for your next big bonus, or just waiting a few days to see if you’re still obsessed.  And when you’re ready to purchase or reevaluate, you have to go through either a million bookmarks on your browser, or re-research the store to find the crucial item.  If you’re really hardcore like me, you might even put your mom on monitoring duty.  Once, when I was coveting an Armani leather jacket and waiting for the price to go down, I enlisted my mom to log on every morning and report back the second she saw it in my size, on sale.

Now, you can store all your favorite wish list items in a central location with Rightcliq by Visa- the new shopping tool created by, (who else?) Visa.  When you’re browsing online and something catches your eye, you can now directly save it into a central location via the searchbar add on tool.  Then, when you’re ready to revisit- all your wish list items from all different online retailers are saved in one place- so you can just quickly get to making the purchasing decision without wasting all your time trying to find everything again.  Need some help making the purchasing decision?  Well, Rughtcliq also lets you crowd source opinions via your Facebook account or email.  And when you are ready to purchase, Rightcliq will even show you all the available deals (so you can stop Googling coupon codes) so you are ensured to get the best price for your purchase.  Addicted to online shopping?  Now there’s an app for that!

For more information, visit Rightcliq.Visa.Com and check out the video below. (more…)

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Carmex. All opinions are 100% mine.

Ahh Carmex..that totally addictive, must-have, drugstore lip balm that got me through all those winters in high school and college.  There’s really not much negative you can say about Carmex- it’s reliable, it get’s the job done and it’s affordable for everyone. So when I was introduced to the NEW Carmex Healing Lotion and Carmex Healing Cream, I was down to try it.  These two new products were recently launched by Carmex and each retail for only $5.99.  They are formulated with Vitamin E and Aloe and ideal for hands and body. (more…)

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Bottega Verde. All opinions are 100% mine.

Honey is in- that’s the verdict that I’ve heard from all my sources- food critics, trend forecasters, and other influences.  So it’s fitting that when I was offered a set of  face and body products to try from Bottega Verde, Italy’s largest purveyor of cosmetic products, I gravitated towards their Honey set.  The brand, which originated in Tuscany in 1972 as a small herbalist shop, has just come stateside and US customers can now purchase through their new website BottegaVerde-USA.com. Today they have over 6 million customers and remain true to their roots of using natural active ingredients. (more…)

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Omega Watches. All opinions are 100% mine.

I’m still waiting for the right occasion to come along for me to make my lifetime watch investment (I’m thinking MBA graduation if that ever happens) but I’ve long had my eye on OMEGA.  Now I know exactly which model I’m lusting after- the new Ladymatic.   I absolutely love the rose and yellow gold hues of the watch which looks much warmer on me than silver.  And who can say no to all the diamonds that encrust the face plate and on the dial?  With so much bling, the watch has a lot of potential to look tacky- but instead comes across as dainty, ladylike and very very luxe!!  In fact, if I were a high powered businesswoman, I would definitely choose this very feminine watch to wear with my power suits and sky high heels. (more…)