Perfect Tanning Oil for the Summer

Memorial weekend just passed - and I've started bronzing my beautiful skin. While most blogs will tell you to slap on the sunscreen, no less than SPF 25 or 30, I find that going for a little less protection is pretty beneficial.

For someone light skinned, like myself, every little thing shows through. Red pock marks from acne scars, bug bites, even bruises from walking into furniture (I tend to do that pretty often). A nice, golden tan camoflages any mishap I may stumble upon.

It's hard to find a good tanning cream or oil that won't clog your pores, cause a rash, or make you look greasy. However, I've found the most amazing little bottle of magic: Hawaiian Tropic Tanning Dry Oil, SPF 12. I've never been so in love with a sun product before!

This tanning oil comes in a spray bottle, perfect for easy application. Although you shouldn't have to do anything but spray, I often rub this product into my skin, just so it gets absorbed a bit before you get your tan on. Unlike other tanning oils, however, this oil is dry, and will not leave you greasy.

Enriched with antioxidants, aloe and botanicals, this tanning oil is good for your skin. It makes you glow (even with your fresh color from sitting in the sun) and leaves your skin feeling soft. Pores are left clog free, and your skin is left in better condition than it was before.

My favorite thing about this dry oil is it's smell. When you spray this, it doesn't have the classic sunscreen smell - it smells like a bit of coconut heaven. And the smell stays! As you sit outside and relax, the smell continues to linger, which makes me feel a bit more luxurious.

The SPF 12 in this is just enough protection to keep you from burning when you sit out for shorter periods of time. Leave this product for your lazy days. Switch off from being in the sun to sitting in the shade for a bit, and make sure you re-apply. If you feel yourself getting burnt, cover up.

If you are planning on being outside all day, you may want to go with a higher SPF. Good thing Hawaiian Tropic makes SPF 30 and 50. They've even come out with a new SPF 20 lotion that has mica flecks in it, giving your skin a beautiful glow in the sunlight.

I find Hawaiian Tropic products at Walgreens, Target and Walmart. The oil goes for about $10, and lasts for quite a while.

Next time you're looking for a natural glow, give this product a whirl! You won't be disappointed!

Photo courtesy of http://www.hawaiiantropic.com

3rd Day of Beauty - Exfoliate Your Lips!

The key to perfectly pouty, soft lips is not only moisturizing, but to also slough off those dead skin cells. Think about it: no matter how much lip gloss you put on, if your lips aren’t smooth the gloss will just coat your flakes. Soft, plumpy lips are one of the most alluring features a woman can flaunt, but exfoliating your lips is something most women never think to do. It will change how your lips look in more ways than one.


There are three great reasons to exfoliate lips:

1. Ridding your lips of dead skin cells

2. Making your lips more susceptible to moisturizers

3. Giving your lips a great, natural color

There are some products out there that are great for helping you to exfoliate your lips. The key to finding a great product is to feel it on your own skin and make sure it’s not too granulated. I’ve tried one lip product in the past (I can’t remember the name, unfortunately), that had pieces of pumice in it. It had rhyolite in it, which is pulverized volcanic rock that doesn’t disintegrate or lose any harshness as you rub. I rubbed very gently, but still came away with little cuts on the outside of my lips and a bright red mouth for days.

The best lip exfoliants are products that have gentle emollients, usually natural ingredients. I’ve had excellent experiences with Be Fine Lip Exfoliator, and since it’s available at Ulta and some Rite Aids for only $20, it’s a great product to try. Pineapple, almond meal and sesame oil are some of the active ingredients in this product, and important ones at that. Pineapple has enzymes in it that help with exfoliation, almond meal soothes irritated skin (by exfoliating you’re actually irritating, on a small scale) and sesame oil acts as a deep moisturizer.

Another great lip exfoliator can be made by you! With some simple ingredients you can whip up a great treatment whenever you deem necessary. Take some olive oil and brown sugar, mix quickly until you see it become slightly pastey. Add in a tiny amount of cayenne pepper to the mixture, stir in and rub on your lips with your finger. It will taste a little weird, so don’t try to eat it, but it’ll be a great way for you to save some money.

I've also heard another method of exfoliating by using a toothbrush and a little lotion. Never tried this, but I think using a toothbrush would be a bit harsh on your lips. You never want to push too hard when exfoliating, and a toothbrush could definitely cause there to be more pressure on your lips than your finger would. Also, lotion might not be the best thing to ingest...

After exfoliating, always make sure to apply a lip moisturizer just to keep all of your skin hydrated. Try exfoliating your lips today and see how much better your lips look!

4th Day of Beauty - Moisturize to the Nines!

On a cold, blistery day like today, I'm reminded of how important it is to keep EVERYTHING moisturized: your body, lips, hands, hair, and even inside your body. My fourth day of beauty is for you to concentrate on moisturizing and hydrating yourself.

I've already discussed moisturizing your scalp and hair with a hot oil treatment, so that should all be in check. I've also told about my love for Carmex to keep your lips moisturized. Keeping your skin hydrated can be one of the most challenging objectives for anyone's beauty routine, mostly because there are so many products out there, it takes so much time out of your day, and it's a daily process that you need to keep up with to see long term results.

I'm sure you've all heard the talk about your skin being the biggest organ in (or on) the human body. Seriously, it's time to take care of your skin. I've made a pact to lather on the lotion every time I shower, and you should too. There are tons of body products out there, and tons of stores that claim they sell the best ones...but how do you pick something that's right for you?

Don't be fooled by price. Sometimes the most expensive products aren't the best, and there are cheaper alternatives that work just as well, if not better. My favorite budget body product has always been Vaseline. Vaseline petrolium jelly, Vaseline lotion...I haven't found something that treats your skin better.

I've been a fan of Johnson & Johnson baby lotions as well, but be wary: sometimes these baby lotions and oils don't benefit your skin as much as others can. They have no anti-aging ingredients, no ingredients to help tighten and tone skin, which is something you can definitely get from a Vaseline product. Try out Vaseline Firming for a great way to tighten and moisturize.

My hands are the driest part of my body, and since I'm constantly washing them throughout the day, it's hard to keep something on them at all times. I've bought tons of advanced and expensive This is where Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Lotion comes in handy.

It comes in a huge bottle at an inexpensive price ($9.99 for a 14 oz bottle, and perfect for your desk or over your kitchen sink) and stays on through a gentle handwashing. It comes in smaller bottles that you can carry around in your purse as well. Gold Bond has a wide array of products that are medicated, or not, and really improve the texture of your skin.

Lastly, make sure you moisturize yourself from the inside. Drinking water is the most improtant thing you can do for yourself. It helps your organs function better, eliminates toxins better from your system, and helps your skin glow. I know that they say you should drink 8 8 fluid ounce glasses a day, but for some people that is too much. Take your weight and divide it by two. This is how many ounces you should drink a day. Try to get as close to this number as you can! Drink! Lots of water! Cut down on the alcohol (I know it will be hard during the holiday season).

Make sure every day you think about hydrating yourself, and you will see the difference it makes in all aspects of your appearance and health!

6th Day of Beauty - Concentrate on Your Eyes!

Sunday- the perfect day to relax after a stressful week of pre-Christmas shopping and festivities. Yesterday I spent my day baking holiday cookies I could give away as gifts…definitely exhausted after six hours of baking! Today would be the perfect day to treat yourself and relax for a bit while your man watches football (you can join in if that’s your thing, I’ve always been a hockey girl myself).


One of the biggest complaints women have as skincare consumers is that they want their eye area to look better. Whether it be shedding themselves of wrinkles, making dark circles disappear, or draining puffiness around the eye contour area. The biggest giveaways of your age, no matter how old or young you are, is your eyes. Your eye area is the most sensitive and delicate skin on your entire body and face, reason being it’s so thin and you have little to no fat underneath that skin.

You can be as young as your teens when you first start showing signs of aging around your eyes, especially if you’re not careful when cleansing and don’t moisturize the area well. I’ll give you a couple of reasons you may start to see signs of aging around the eye area, and show you some ways you can stop or delay that process.

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever seen people make with their eye area comes with cleansing or rubbing. Cleansing is something we do every day, sometimes twice a day, but women don’t necessarily pay very good attention to how they remove their eye makeup. Buy a great eye makeup remover, I suggest Talika’s Gentle Eye Cleanser, which cleanses and conditions your eye area at the same time. NEVER use a washcloth and scrub that area of your face! It’s a recipe for disaster in more ways than one.

The hardest rule I ever gave myself is to never rub my eyes. Rubbing your eyes can do anything from breaking small blood vessels around the eye contour area (which leads to dark circles or broken veins) to breaking capillaries within your eye. The more you rub, the more you break down the skin around your eyes, which will make it harder for you to fix after the damage is already done.

Dry skin around the eyes is also a dangerous beauty predicament. Dehydrated skin around your eyes can advance the aging process and show wrinkles very early. Remember when I wrote about the dry patch on my eyelid, and told about how I had a double flap of skin over my eyelid? It’s not an uncommon problem for those who have dry skin in this area. Make it a habit of keeping your eye contour area moisturized and this won’t be a problem for you!

I think ladies as young as fifteen to sixteen should start using an eye cream. I’ve used anti-aging eye serums since I was seventeen years old, developing a deathly fear for crow’s feet and saggy eyelids at an early age. My eye cream when I was younger was Clinique’s All About Eyes, an inexpensive great eye treatment that kept my skin in great condition for years. I’ve always been prone to dark circles under my eyes, and this cream took care of that while adding brightness to my skin.

I started using an anti-aging product not too long ago, Payot’s Rides Relax Regard, a great serum that takes care of first signs of aging. I love how great my eye contour area has been looking since I’ve started using it, and I don’t want to change it until I find something better! It takes care of my usual dark circles, as well as keeping my lids in tip top shape. My skin around my eyes is tight and soft, well moisturized and handles all cosmetics well because of it.

One of the newest innovations in the eye care area is the roller ball technique of applying your eye treatment. Brands from all price brackets are taking part in this roller ball, from Garnier to Clinique and Sampar. How does it work? The steel ball at the tip of the eye product allows for drainage around the contour area while applying. The product comes out from around the ball, and you apply by gently circling your lower eye and lid area. If you put your product in the fridge, this can be a refreshing way to apply a routine skincare item.

I’ve heard great things about rollerball products, mostly because you don’t do damage when applying the product with your fingers. Most women add all skincare products to their faces using either their index or middle fingers. These fingers are too strong to apply and eye cream, and if using these two, it can actually damage the area as you apply (kind of redundant). The only finger that is weak enough to apply your eye cream without damaging that area is your ring finger. I apply my eye cream with my ring fingers every night.

Today you should concentrate on finding a great eye contour care product. If you don’t have an eye makeup remover, go to your local drugstore and purchase one- you will see a difference in the area right away. The best drugstore brands I know of are Pond’s and L’Oreal. Be consistent with removal, and use a soft cotton pad with your product.

Curious about the rollerball eye treatments? Pick up a Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Anti-Puff Eye Roller (only around $13). If you already have a trusty eye care product, start applying with your ring fingers to ensure yourself you won’t cause any additional damage!

Start treating your eyes well this week and you will see a huge difference by Christmas! Enjoy your Sunday and check back tomorrow for a very important step in Fatal Attraction Beauty’s 12 Days of Beauty!

8th Day of Beauty - Detox Your Skin

With the winter in full blast pretty much all across the country, chances are your skin is starting to get flakey, dry and dull. Even if your skin isn’t looking that bad, now is a great time to detox your skin, clear out those pores and really get glowing for Christmas. By detoxing a week before the holiday, you give your skin enough time to completely cleanse itself and clear up any zits that may arise from the cleansing. My favorite way to detox is to use a great masque.


The first step to any skin detox plan is to cleanse thoroughly with your usual cleanser. I wouldn’t suggest you try a new cleanser right now, your skin may have a negative reaction…no one wants to risk that. A great way to get deep into those pores and exfoliate well is to use some kind of scrubbie.

I know tons of people who are in love with the Clairsonic- I have this tool but never really got into it. I hate charging things, especially when I need to use them every day. My personal favorite (and a LOT cheaper at about $2) is a basic Buf Puf style exfoliating sponge. You can get these from any drug store and only need a small amount of your cleanser to make a great lather on it. Scrub your face really well with this and your skin will be in great condition for the next detox steps.

The most effective way to open your pores is with heat or steam. Open pores means the treatments you will be doing can work to their full potential. Take a nice, hot shower and use a scrub on your body. My favorite is Perlier’s Pomegranate Scrub; it’s great smelling and really works into your skin. Take some extra time on your elbows and anywhere else you may have some dry patches. Rinse off well.

My favorite masks to purify and cleanse are clay based. I’ve tried tons of different masks that claim they will clear your pores and smooth your skin, but nothing really happens. The mask I’ve had flawless results with time and time again is Payot’s Masque Purifiant. This masque is perfect for oily to combination skin, helping to tighten pores and eliminate imperfections. This is great as a spot treatment to use overnight as well! If you don’t have a clay masque you can use, visit your local Ulta or Sephora and speak to one of the skincare experts- they can set you up with a product that will work great with your skin type.

Don’t be stingy when applying! Put a nice, thick coat of whichever mask you choose to your entire face, avoiding the eye area. I apply all the way under my chin onto my neck, making sure to cover my jaw line completely. Take some time and let the masque do it’s magic. It may be hard, but try not to talk for the fifteen to twenty minutes it’s on (this way it doesn’t crack). I would take this time to put a great moisturizer on your body.

Try a body butter or something extra thick that can really seep into that freshly scrubbed skin. I switch up body lotions all the time, but one of my favorites to use is also by Perlier, Mediterraneum Super Nurturing Body Butter with Sea-extracts. Don’t feel like waiting that long for the body product to seep in? Try a light, non-greasy fluide that allows you to get dressed right away.

After your masque is completely dry, remove with a soft terry washcloth and warm water. Your skin will feel completely retexturized, smoothed and tight. I always use an astringent or toner to make sure I’ve gotten the entire product off before moisturizing. When you wash off your masque, you will need to apply a cream to rehydrate and restore some oils to your skin. Use your regular moisturizer on your face, neck and décolleté.

There are tons of other products you can use to detox your skin, including peels, foaming masques and serums. When I don’t feel like waiting for my masque to dry, I use Sampar’s Equalizing Foam Peel to detox my skin. It’s a two minute treatment that uses essential oils and probiotics to rid your face of dead skin cells.

Try out some different products and see what works best for you. While some products can cause a negative reaction at first, (afterall, you are trying to rid your pores of all that dirt and oil) clay masques are usually gentle but effective enough for all skin types. By giving your face and body great treatments, your skin will be radiant for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Winter Skin Problems...Starting Already!?

Hope everyone had a GREAT Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday! I spent all of my money on Black Friday, so I wasn't able to take advantage of the great online deals I was sent from E.L.F. Cosmetics and Tarte Cosmetics (boo no money!). Somehow, even though Thanksgiving was last Thursday, I'm finding it impossible to believe that it's already the end of November. Unfortunately, my skin has been reminding me for quite some time...

There are always the usual winter problems I have, which occur because I'm often too lazy or too cold when I get out of the shower to lather on the lotion: itchy skin all over, rough patches on my arms, and alligator skin on my legs. These don't usually start until January for me, and considering it's been an unseasonably warm November in New Jersey, I'm surprised at how itchy I am already!

I am making a conscious effort to use Vaseline's Cocoa Butter Deep Conditioning Lotion every day. This is a great cheap lotion that smells great and really leaves skin luminous! It doesn't leave your skin greasy or take long to seep into your skin, so you don't have to wait forever to get dressed after applying. This is my favorite all over body lotion to use, and is available at all drug stores so you can give it a try yourself!

One of my other big problems I have in the winter is probably 99% my fault. I'm all for flawless makeup- I love great looking skin, great eye makeup...and then the lips. Somehow I always forget the lips. If I apply lipstick or gloss at the beginning of the day (or night) it's usually the only time it makes it out of my purse. My worst habit in the WORLD is biting my lips when I'm nervous or bored.

The combination of these two flaws, along with freezing cold temperatures and wind lead me to the most horribly chapped lips for the majority of the winter. Lately I've been using a lip product before bed every night, Carmex's original stick balm. It's a great balm that doesn't have that 'medical balm' burn of menthol like most do. Best thing about it? When I wake up in the morning my lips still have the product on it. And if I have a slip up and chomp down on my lips during the day, this application of Carmex at night usually heals the damage that has been done.

Through all of the itching and flaking of winter, the thing that kills me about winter is the weird dry patches I get. Most recently, I've gotten a pretty bad dry patch on my left eyelid. What the hell...my eyelid? Worst part about it is I can't get it to go away! It's incredibly itchy and I've stopped using my eye gel because it burns when it hits that broken skin. I think I must have been scratching it while I sleep, because my eyelid was also slightly swollen.

What to do with this insatiable dry eyelid? The past three days I've been putting original Vaseline on the spot, thinking that's the only thing I've ever used for extremely dry patches everywhere else on my body. It's gotten so much better, and the swelling has gone down tremendously. I've also tried to leave all other irritants away from my eyes.
 
I feel the key to winterizing your skin is prevention before you start to get a problem. So slather on that lotion, moisturize your lips, and don't forget that the sun is still super strong in the winter, so SPF it up!

Product Review: Clinique Clinical Even Better Dark Spot Eraser

One of my biggest insecurities about my appearance has always been my acne scars. Although they have gotten increasingly better over the years, I dream of having skin that some of my friends have. Skin that needs no foundation, no concealer- a little powder and they're off. I thought trying out Clinique's Clinical Even Better Dark Spot Eraser might have been able to help me acheive this, but I was disappointed.

One of the things I thought was great about this Even Better serum was that it came with a really cute chart that you can mark your spot's progress throughout the use of this product. The one bottle is considered a 6-week treatment, and is supposed to offer over 50% improvement to your skin's uneven tone. It is scent-free and very light in texture, so I wasn't concerned about having a bad reaction while using it.

After two weeks, my skin broke out...horribly. I felt like I went back a step from pretty clear skin with a couple of scars to new blemishes and new red spots on their way. Not only did I have a fresh set of zits, they were PAINFUL! They felt like they were deep under my skin, and every drying lotion I put on top to get them to come to a head just left me with dry patches over my new zits.  

I tried to stick it out, and used this product for two more weeks, knowing that your skin doesn't fully adjust to a new regimen until after 6 weeks of use. My reaction didn't change. I continued to get blemishes that didn't dry up easily, and the scars I did have were joined by new red spots that were a product of this dark spot 'eraser'.

I hate writing horrible reviews for a product, so I will say that this is just not for me. My skin is sensitive, but I was told by the Clinique consultant that I purchased this from that my skin should not react since it's made for people who have sensitive skin. Clearly not mine.

I wish I didn't use this product at all. It did nothing for my current scarring, and made my skin look worse than it did when I started. The cute little spot chart was unnecessary, since nothing changed with the spots I had. Clinique Even Better Dark Spot Eraser is going way into the back of my skincare drawer, and I'll continue searching for a new method of lightening my scars.

All Over Care for Summer

Summer's right around the corner, and it's important to think of how this will effect your beauty routine. There are many different aspects of your winterized beauty routine that will need to be changed to survive the sweltering heat! Check these beauty tips out:

HAIR

Easy on the Sun-In!
- Although everyone wants those sun-kissed strands to shine throughout the summer, sprays like this can dramatically change your hair's health. Although there are hair lightening ingredients in these types of sprays, there are also agents that can dry out ends and create a ton of frizz. Also, be careful with salt water and chlorinated pool water. These can dry you out super fast! Want your hair's shine back after going overboard with any of these? Try a hot oil treatment like VO5's Moisturizing Hot Oil which you can get for under $5, or a hair mask like Perlier's Mediterranean Hair Mask for $18.50 if you want to splurge.

Don't forget your usual conditioning!
- While I am used to skipping a conditioning or two every time I wash my hair, it's important to keep your hair moisturized throughout the summer.

Hair Ties...
- These can become your worst enemy! It's a well known fact that hair ties lead to premature breaking and damage to the hair, and with the heat and humidity the summer brings, tying up your hair is often the only thing a woman can do to keep a little cooler. Try clips or headbands to keep the hair off of your face and ears (uncovering those ears will actually help drop your body temperature dramatically!) or go my route...chop it off!

SKIN

DON'T GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT SUNSCREEN!
- As I'm sure all of you know from every single beauty, health and skincare article ever written, sunscreen can be the most important thing you put into your beauty regimen, especially in the summer. The repercussions of just one sunburn can be severe enough to put you at risk for skin cancer, future age/brown spots, and premature aging. Not only is red skin damaging to your health, it's also painful...and very unattractive! Have acne prone skin and you're afraid to put sunblock on your face? Try a mineral foundation. These often have a minimum of SPF 15protection, and can make all the difference in your skin's defence against the sun's harmful rays. Had a bad sun experience? Don't forget how effective and repairing goold ol' aloe is- I never travel without it!

Switch out those heavy moisturizers.
- Winter calls for heavy moisturization and protection against the dry cold, but moisturization in the summer is often a little easier. Heavy creams in the summer can often lead to breakouts on your face and body. Know how you get super oily on a hot day? Think of that oil, sweat and thick cream all sitting on your skin festering...yuck! Try a fluide or emulsion to moisturize your face- this lighter moisturization can make all the difference between a beautiful skincare week and an oil slick on your face.
Want to moisturize your body? Try a dry oil or emulsion here as well. It won't leave you feeling sticky, and some leave your skin with a beautiful sheen that glistens in the summer sun. Want a body oil to try? Check out Payot's Huile Precieuse Minerale or Pevonia's Botanical Dry Oil.

Stay Hydrated...on the inside
- Drink plenty of water to stay breakout free. Frozen margaritas and strawberry daiquiris are delicious, but alcohol does NOTHING good for your skin! Plus, it dehydrates you and can make you look super bloated in your teeny weeny bikini...yuck!

Control your Shine
- Getting extra oily on your face and don't want your makeup to smudge? Try some rice paper or blotting paper. It works wonders and is usually pretty cheap!

MAKEUP

Prime, Prime, Prime
- Primer can be your best friend, especially in the summer. This can make all the difference in your makeup staying on your face on warm days. It's not just helpful with your foundation, but also your eyeshadow. Make sure you prime your whole face every day!

Try Something New!
- A good friend in the industry just told me about Urban Decay's new temperature sensitive line that keeps makeup set in the heat. Keep your eyes peeled for this one...it's going to be awesome!

Chill with the Powder
- Shine is sometimes hard to control, and powder seems to be the favorite weapon of choice against this demon. Try some shine control powder like Laura Mercier's Smooth Focus Pressed Setting Powder. It will work wonders!

Have any summer tips that can help readers? Let me hear 'em!

Exfoliation - The Key To Beautiful Skin

Hope everyone is having a great week!

I wanted to write today about one of the most under used and over used treatments for your skin - exfoliation. This process is one of the most important for healthy skin, but often people don't use it the right way.

Ever notice how men (who don't smoke) generally seem to have less wrinkles than women of the same age? Ever wonder why? Men don't frill around with expensive cleansers, exfoliants and moisturizers, they just shave, sometimes throw on some after shave, and head out the door. By shaving, they're gently exfoliating the dead skin off their face, allowing the healthy, fresh skin underneath to shine through.

There are many different products that can help with exfoliation...and I have had many favorites in my skincare obsessed days. Some of my favorites include Freeze 24/7's IceCrystals, which leaves your skin feeling velvety soft, and claims to lighten scars, age spots and oil, SAMPAR's Equalizing Foam Peel Mousse, which comes in a gel form and uses probiotics to eat away at dead skin cells.

While exfoliants come in both gel or cream textures, or contain itty bitty pieces of exfoliating particles, your skin texture and type will need to determine which you use. Since I have oily skin, I've tried to stick with gel forms, since I find they keep me less greasy throughout the day.

Along with great products designed to slough off dead skin, machines such as the Clairsonic and Pretika can help to get the deep clean you dream of. Most put their cleanser directly onto the machine's scrubbing head, and cleanse their face with it nightly. WARNING: Your face will probably break out for a week or two after starting this type of procedure - the deep cleansing will bring things out from way under the surface of the skin.

I, personally, have the Pretika but find it a hassle to use. The beeping and the charging and the cleaning of the head nightly gets slightly annoying for my low maintenance outlook on cleansing (this comes from sheer laziness...the machine works great). Instead, I use a regular Buf Puf style sponge, you can find these without any cleanser in it (just the exfoliating sponge) at a multiple of stores including Rite Aid and Walmart, and they usually cost $1-$2. The great thing about these is you can replace them every month, and not have to worry about things growing in them if they're rinsed properly each night.

I use this sponge with my cleanser directly on it (Payot's Mousse Nettoyant) after initially rinsing off my makeup. This can be used right in the shower, and I suggest you do this after conditioning your hair to ensure nothing can clog pores. Weekly, I place my scrubbing sponge into a bowl and pour hot water over it. This will ensure it's sterility.

I've been using this procedure on my skin for about 6 months, and can't explain how much better my skin looks. It feels softer, looks brighter, and doesn't have the flaking and caking that face makeup may bring. This $1 sponge was one of the best dollars I've ever spent!

What do you use to exfoliate? Have you had any good/bad experiences with products? Let me know!

being TRUE - Mineral Foundation That's Truly Amazing!

Foundation has always been something that was difficult for me to buy - a combination of very reactive, acne prone skin, being pale and having to worry about covering acne scars, makes it hard for me to find a foundation that is good for me.

Loose powder mineral foundation has also been something I tend to overlook, thinking that the coverage wouldn't work well enough for my spotty skin. When I received two different mineral foundations, a bronzer, foundation brush and sponge, and a mineral spray from Being TRUE in a great kit, cleverly named...'the kit'...I was skeptical of how well it would work for me.

I just recently tried this mineral powder over my regular foundation (I stick with Physician's Formula Talc Free Mineral Liquid Foundation as a base) I was quite surprised by how well it went on. Usually with mineral foundations, I've had problems with the application. The powder either comes out too strong, or on the other hand, looks like I put nothing on at all. Other times, it's so sparkly I look like I doused my face in really cheap bronzer. Not the case with Being TRUE's foundation.

The powder is velvet like, and coats the brush they give with the kit perfectly. After tapping on the cap, I was surprised to see how much of the powder still stayed in the brush. Reluctantly, I applied to my entire face and was astonished to see my skin mattified. I continued to apply foundation, and moved to the bronzer that came with the kit. This stuff made my skin look great!

I read up on the mineral mist, which is supposed to set makeup and leave a natural finish. I've never been a big fan of sprays that make you look 'natural', so I skipped this for now. I kind of wanted to see how well the foundations would stay on without it, anyway!

At the end of the day everything stayed on pretty well, and the minerals didn't cake or set in any smile spots or forehead scowls.

How do you feel about mineral foundations? Have you had any good or bad experiences?

Payot Mousse Nettoyant - The Cleanser from the Gods!

Acne: such a touchy subject for those who have to deal with this problem on a daily basis.

My ability to work with my oily/combination and problematic skin has been a long, painful and embarrassing ordeal I've prayed would end quickly. My prayers went unanswered for about ten years, but about three months ago I started using Payot's Mousse Nettoyant.

I've used everything from Clinique to Proactiv, but nothing seemed to help my skin. I think part of the reason is because my skin is very sensitive and these products were too strong. Payot Paris flaunts the fact that they are biologically created, uses natural ingredients and was founded by Europe's first female doctor (go feminism!).

I've been told by many friends that are estheticians that it takes up to six weeks for your skin to adjust when using a new product, with optimum results coming after those six weeks. When your problem is acne, and it gets increasingly worse with hormones and stress, you want instant gratification. Payot's products made me feel like I was doing something good for my skin, not just trying to kill it so nothing could grow!


Mousse Nettoyant is a gel antibacterial cleanser which is soluble in water. Lots of Payot's other cleansers from their Demaquillantes (cleanser) line are for women on the go, no water needed. They also have eleven other lines designed for specific skin types and problems!

From the first time I washed my face with Mousse Nettoyant, my skin felt smoother and more hydrated. Taking a small amount of the gel (dime sized) and lathering is enough to cleanse my entire face and neck. After towel drying, my skin didn't feel tight and dry like it has in the past. I couldn't stop touching my face!

I've been using this product for about three months, along with it's sister products from the Purifiantes (oily skin) line: Tonique Purifante, a toner containing green tea to soothe the skin and prepare it for treatment products, Fluide Matifiante, a lightweight antibacterial emulsion I use in the morning, and Creme Purifiante, a rich antibacterial cream which I use before bed. My face has improved more than I could even imagine. Now, even the occasional blemish which occurs around that time of the month is easily handled!

Payot Paris flaunts itself on bringing the spa experience home to you for your personal use. While they are mostly sold in spas and upscale resorts, you can also find them online. Definitely don't pass this one up!

All of the products mentioned in this article, along with tons of other Payot products made specifically for different needs, are available from sites such as Skin 1 and Ariva Skincare.

Have you ever tried or heard of Payot products?

Pictures courtesy of Payot.