Beauty Blog

Spring is right around the corner.  The air will be warmer, and the sun will be brighter.  It will be a nice time to get our yards in order and spruce up our garden spaces.  That’s what we naturally think we spring rolls around…the season.  Your skin may also be in need of a little TLC, so don’t neglect it.  A new product has arrived to help you combat those skin problems that never seem to fade away.  Spruce up your skin with Bio-Oil.   Bio-Oil is a skincare product that helps improve the appearance of scars, stretch marks, uneven skin stone, aging skin, and dehydrated skin.  Now who of us doesn’t need help with at least one of these problems, if not two or three?  Bio-Oil is an advanced formula that contains PurCellin Oil, which aids in the highly effectiveness of the product. This spring,  don’t step into your bikini without first trying this great product!  Has anyone used this special formula?  If so, with what results? 

Find at Smarter.com: Shop for Bio-Oil 

Dearest Santa: I know that your Inbox may be quite full of unread messages, but, if you would kindly let one of your assistant elves know that I have a few wonderful items (suggestions, really, and any woman would LOVE to have these items since they are so fab) I would truly appreciate the following beauty items underneath my tree. Or, if you’d like to give some of these items to a well-deserved someone, please feel free since I have only the highest regard for the following beauty products:

1) Kai Perfume, Essential Oils.

This perfume boasts notes of lush gardenia and exotic white flowers and cool green undertones. It is musky without being overpowering and truly pretty. The boys go wild for this. In fact I have to beat them off with a stick. No joke: Traffic stops, birds break into song, grass grows…the whole deal. I am mad for this scent. And, if you haven’t heard, Jennifer Garner, Kate Bosworth, Jennifer Aniston, Pamela Anderson, Naomi Watts and most of Hollywood starletts luuuurrrve this stuff. So do I.

2) Amore Pacific Time Renewal Creme:

There was a time, when I first moved to NYC, that I didn’t pay rent. I spent $400 on being a believable blonde and I used Amore Pacific Skin Products. Heaven. Being a Korean girl, and having a mom who used such products around the house made experimenting with this amazing Korean line possible. I still, to this day, believe it is one of the best skin-care lines that is worth the price-tag. It delivers beautiful, buttery smooth skin.
It has high percentage of Green tea, Red Ginseng, and Meadowseed Oil.

3) Phytonectar Shampoo with Orange Blossom:

This is an oldie but a goodie. The smell is divine, like nectarines, and it makes my damaged hair baby soft. It leaves a halo of beautiful scent so that when you leave a room, a cloud follows you. Also contains soybean amino acids, pure Orange blossom wax extract to moisturize and revitalize, Vitamin E to protect, Witchhazel to tonel, wood cellulose to detangle and smooth. Hair regains strength suppleness and shine.

4) Freshface Foundation:

My personal favorite. I’ve blogged about this before. I wanted to find a foundation that was sheer for laid-back weekends but found tinted moisturizers a little lacking in coverage. This gives a pretty, natural finish just like a tinted moisturizer and provides buildable coverage without looking cakey. Perfect.

5) Skinceuticals C E Ferulic:

If you follow skin-care at all, you know that this is on everyone’s must have list. This powerhouse serum is chock full of antioxidants and is highly recommended by Dermatologists and aestheticians. The synergistic combo of Vitamin C and E protects and renews your skin, and gradually reverses sun damage . I’ve personally used it and it has truly made my skin more emollient and glowing. The thing is, you have to keep using it, or the effects go away. This product is as amazing as everyone makes it out to be.

Everytime a product works, I am amazed. Especially if it is after one use. It’s like being visited by a skin-fairy. I put down my tooth-deposit and wait for magic to happen. And when it does, it’s like fairy dust has just dispersed into my atmosphere and I am amazed.

I am going to raise two “Woo-Hoo” arms for Neostrata Ultra Smoothing Lotion. Exfoliation is really the ticket to fresh skin. Let me backtrack here. I’ve been experiencing a skin-care plateau. This is when all the products I have been using have been maintaining my skin at some level but not necessarily improving it. It’s not like my skin looks awful, but it was lacking a kind of glow you get from fresh skin. Part of it could be that I need to use a higher level of retinol. So I upped it slightly and purchased Green Cream .3%. And then I waited. My skin looked the same. Now mind you, my skin has recovered quite a bit from say, 8 months ago, all due to retinol. Retinol has changed the way my skin looks: plumper, firmer, even-toned and less lined. But at some point, my skin became used to the whole process. This is what I call “plateau-ing.” Now, I am not a dermatologist, so please take what I say with a grain of salt. Personally I’ve found that my skin becomes accustomed to treatments after continued use and needs variety in order to keep it in tip-top shape. That doesn’t mean I bounce from product to product week after week. It’s more like every 3 months that I switch up to an AHA product or use a new moisturizer or maybe a Vitamin C product to brighten. This works for me and my skin type (dry, sensitive, rosacea prone). Perhaps it will work for you. Or maybe it won’t. It works for me because I’ve researched my skin type and I pay attention to how my skin reacts. It takes time, some experimenting and consumer savvy. Educate yourself before you hit the cosmetics counter. Dermatologists like Leslie Baumman and skin care expert Paula Begoun are good resources to read.

So right now exfoliating creams work. The Neostrata Ultra Smoothing Lotion contains an 8% glycolic acid and 2% citric acid that really smooths my skin and evens tone. I love it. It has kick-started the glow. And you know, I’m all about the glow.

Details below:

“Description: Formulated with 8% glycolic acid and 2% citric acid, Neostrata Ultra Smoothing Lotion boosts cell renewal to revive dry, rough and environmentally damaged skin. “

If you are interested in purchasing or checking out the Neostrata Ultra Smoothing Lotion, click here.

Or if you want to shop for other discount body lotions, click here.

I have been hearing about this StriVectin SD cream for quite some time now. Reportedly it is the best selling stretch mark and anti-aging over the counter lotion available.

Well with claims like that, I can almost forgive the price tag. Almost. The only problem is I have been in this beauty business too long to fall for the advertising hype just yet, if it works then I don’t mind shelling out $63 dollars for 2 ounces of product. But given my gut to product ratio I am going to need some feedback before I invest.

On top of magically reducing stretch marks StriVectin also claims to reduce the length, depth and volume of wrinkles. Here’s a direct quote:

“StriVectin SD was originally developed to repair stretch marks but has grown in popularity as a wrinkle reducing cream and claims of being “Better than Botox.” “

To shop or purchase the StriVectin SD lotion, click here.

Well that pretty much seals the deal, if I was a cat I would be sitting here dead! My curiosity has reached it’s peak! Has anyone tried this stuff? Does it work?