Skin Care

I’m constantly researching new products that might help soothe my winter skin blues. The winter just dries out my already dry skin, making it look dull and pallid, which my fellow dry skinned friend and I were commiserating over just the other day. My friend is a devout Kiehl’s fan and was raving to me about a new product that she sampled in the store–Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate, a serum meant to rejuvenate your skin overnight.

Clearly, I wanted to try this miracle serum, and Kiehl’s provided me with the same sample that my friend snagged. I’m happy to report the same results as she did–after applying before I went to bed, I woke up with my face feeling moisturized and so, so soft. All you need is 2 or 3 drops of the serum, so even my sample is lasting me a while. Plus, the formula is 99% natural and smells really relaxing. A small bottle of the Midnight Recovery Concentrate is $42 at kiehls.com, but will keep your skin soft and hydrated for a very long time.

When I hear someone talking about La Mer, I automatically think of luxury. Every product that I’ve ever tried from them has left me oohing and ahhing over it, so when I got the chance to test out their Body Refiner and Body Creme duo, I couldn’t say yes fast enough.  (Seriously, I think I hit “reply” before I even finished reading the e-mail!)  It’s a two part process that starts with the Body Refiner.  It’s a thick, creamy exfoliator that uses acidic sea muds to detoxify and purify your skin.  It’s light green in color, but the truly amazing part is that it contains polished sea quartz and pure diamond powder to carry out the exfoliation.  Loretta Miraglia, SVP of Produce Development and Innovation, explains that “to create the most effective exfoliator on earth, we incorporated the hardest material on earth – diamonds.   (more…)

Would you believe me if I told you I recently tried a new product that “lifts” my eyes without any sort of surgery? Hard to believe, but very true! Ultra Correction Lift Total Eye Lift is Chanel’s solution to help your eye area look younger, by smoothing and lifting the skin. The formula contains key ingredients which aim to lift the skin, while reducing puffiness and darkness under the eyes. While it didn’t completely eliminate puffiness, my undereye area seemed much less dark and my eyes looked so much more alert than usual. Chanel has done testing that shows that the Total Eye Lift can lift your eye area upwards of 3 mm.

Ultra Correction Lift Total Eye Lift will set you back a cool $100, but it’s a fraction of the cost of any injection or procedure and still produces results. There’s even a version of Ultra Correction Lift available for your lips and lip contour area! Definitely give it a shot if you have the right budget for some great anti-aging solutions.

It’s awards season, and with the Grammys and the Oscars around the corner, you know what that means — skin treatment specials galore!

Now I must confess, I love spas but I’m not a plastic surgery & medi-spa guru … at least not through firsthand experience. I’m still trying to stomach the idea of injecting a filler into my slowly hollowing face. Thankfully, I’ve been able to live vicariously through others by tagging along on their Botox visits, post-surgery checkups and laser treatments. And after visiting beautiful medi-spas all over L.A., I can tell you — if this magical courage were to come — where I would go: Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery, Inc., featuring the talented and very personable Dr. Gabriel Chiu.

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Lip balms are a dime a dozen, so when I say that La Mer’s The Lip Balm is the best. lip balm. EVER., I’m not kidding around. It’s the absolute best I’ve ever tried, and I’ve tried a lot. With the crazy Chicago winter, my lips are peeling and chapped almost everyday–to the point where I dread going outside in the subzero temperatures. I was actively looking for a new balm that would help with this, and tried a sample of The Lip Balm.

When I began using it, my lips felt soothed and protected instantly. It’s packed with the Miracle Broth that La Mer is renowned for, as well as a patented Lip Lipid Complex that helps insulate the delicate skin of your lips from extreme temperatures. Of course, it is more expensive than your average lip balm, but I believe it delivers. The Lip Balm is available for $45 at cremedelamer.com or nordstrom.com.

Those pesky blemishes can arise at the worst times – everything from an important business meeting to your best friend’s wedding. Getting rid of them in a flash can be difficult (unless you make a visit to a dermatologist); the key is finding a great spot treatment.  I thought I found some fabulous ones in the past, but the La Roche-Posay Effaclar AI Intensive Acne Spot Treatment may be the best that I’ve tried to date.

The Effaclar AI Intensive Acne Spot Treatment uses a combination of lipo-hydroxy peroxide (LHA) and a micronized form of benzoyl peroxide to fight off blemishes.  LHA is a derivitive of salicylic acid, so it helps exfoliate while benzoyl peroxide “releases active oxygen and targets acne deep in pores.”  It claims to reduce blemishes with minimal irritation in only three days.  It’s also an oil-free formula, which is incredibly important if you’re skin is prone to acne. I love that a little dot of this works for a blemish and didn’t leave any stickiness.  It zapped my blemish quickly; from the first application to totally gone, only took a couple days. I imagine for a more stubborn blemish, it may take an additional few days.  Overall, it healed without any dry spots or irritation, which hasn’t happened with any other product.  Simply, this is my go-to acne spot treatment from now on!

Available at Glow.com and La-Roche Posay website.

Looking for a lip balm that is creamy and moisturizing, without leaving your lips feeling waxy and weird? Look no further than the latest from ChapStick called Fresh Effects. Fresh Effects ChapSticks are formulated differently than the regular kind, resulting in a creamier, softer consistency. It actually contains 13 different moisturizing ingredients aimed at keeping lips completely hydrated.

It also leaves a subtle, minty tingling sensation on your lips as it moisturizes–which feels especially great in the harsher winter weather. It’s available in a Refreshing Mandarin or Invigorating Green Tea Mint flavor, and I’m partial to the former as it tastes like a yummy orange creamsicle. You can find ChapStick Fresh Effects at Walgreens or your local drugstore. Visit chapstick.com for more info!

Beta carotene and organic fruits and vegetables; sounds healthy, right? While healthy eats and taking our vitamins and minerals are important for our health and well-being, they’re also important to maintain our oh-so-healthy glow, good looks, and outward appearance. Combine these ingredients with dead sea minerals, and you’ve got Yes To Carrots, a natural and affordable line of hair and skin products. (more…)

Yesterday, December 1st was World AIDs Day, and continuing with its longstanding philanthropic support of charities, Kiehl’s created a Limited Edition version of its Ultimate Hand Salve, which donates 100% (yes, you read that right) of its net profits to amFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.

The word “salve” and not cream is apropos for this Kiehl’s product as it is truly a salvation.  I find that a lot of good hand creams do a great at temporarily fixing dry skin, and treat the problem more at the surface level.  True story:  during one of my first times skiing, I lost a ski glove somewhere on the mountain and had chapped, sandpaper type hands practically the rest of the weekend because freezing temperatures+bare skin=no good.  I went home and somewhere in the recesses of my mom’s beauty closet found this hand salve which was leftover from an old gift set.  I applied this salve overnight and religiously the rest of the day and poof, hands instantly restored.  I felt like the salve worked from the inside out, as my hands continued to stay moisturized despite frequent hand washing and some not so gentle violin practice.  This is also a great product for men since it has a clean scent, without a whiff of off putting femininity.  Since my original use, it’s become a favorite in my household, even by my dad who is a bare bones product user.

You can find Kiehl’s Hand Care for a Cure on their website, where it retails for $12.50.

I’ve suffered from chronic dry skin on my face ever since I can remember. No matter what I did and how much I moisturized, I was plagued with flakes around my nose and cheeks. A few weeks ago, I visited Boston’s only five-star spa, the Mandarin Oriental Spa for an aromatherapy facial (life changing, by the way), and while speaking with the aesthetician, she basically told me that moisturizing my skin was doing nothing because I wasn’t exfoliating. I’ve spent all the time moisturizing the flaking, dead skin on my face, and barely any of the moisturizer was actually making moisturizing! (more…)