A bad habit I have is licking my lips – especially in winter. This makes them often painfully dry. Lipstick or lipgloss doesn’t always do the trick of moisturing them enough and most balms designed to help make lips softer often don’t (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to like Burts Bees and Rose Bud Salve!).

Fresh Sugar Advanced Therapy Lip Treatment is my lips new BFF. I’d tried their clear and color SPF versions (love the plum, was eh on the rose) and found they worked well for colour. But this treatment is exactly that – treatment.

The moisture is unbeatable and it gives my lips a nice sheen so I don’t have to wear gloss on top. Yes, it’s more than the average drugstore balm but I’ll save my pennies for this treatment every winter day.

BUY AT: Amazon or Sephora

I’m not a nail polish type girl. Clear polish, when I remember to use it, has been my go-to. I didn’t have a pedicure until this year. Part of it is because I’m too lazy to keep up nail colour the other part is because I’m someone who like a natural look and trendy metallic and bedazzled nails weren’t that.

But spending a lot of time at summer events where pretty toes seemed just as important as a designer gown, I had to do something. I had heard that Lady Like by Essie was a really great neutral and with a coat on my toes and a coat on my nails, I’m literally head over heels for it.

For me it lasts about a week on my fingers, more on my toes. It’s soft but done. It doesn’t ever seem to clash with any outfit and it’s just the perfect, well, lady like colour.

Perhaps one day I’ll get brave and try something darker or more daring. But for now (and the past three months), this is the one for me.

BUY AT: ESSIE

I’ve tried a lot of eye shadow primers for two reasons: the first being that I tend to have dark’ish lids (thank you genetics) and secondly my crease tends to eat eye shadow. But a lot of primers either didn’t last or didn’t actually cover the darkness on my lids. The latter being the biggest problem because I tend to wear very light eyeshadows, which don’t come out as light on my lids.

A celebrity makeup artist friend turned me onto Trish McEvoy’s eye base (in bare for me) a couple of years ago and I’ve been a loyalist ever since. In fact, I love this so much that I often just use it alone when I want the ‘no makeup makeup’ look.

It comes in a small tube, goes on smoothly, stays on and looks natural (especially because there are several shades available to match your skin tone). Using this allows your eye shadow colour to go on true, whether it’s a neutral or a virbrant colour. All shades just look better.

BUY AT: Amazon

I thought having the best hair stylist in the world is all that it would take to make my hair fabulous and manageable but the truth is, it’s only half the battle and a battle I was losing. Although my hair cut was amazing and my stylist could blow it out all smooth, I could not replicate the nice, soft, frizz-free fringe at home.

I kept hearing all the buzz about Sedu products and how they were the best but at their high price tag I thought it was some kind of gimmick and kept buying relatively inexpensive brands through beauty supply stores (Babyliss, Chi, Salano).

The problem with those brands was always weight and temperature. I thought I needed something hot and fast to blow out my fringe quickly but I always had frizzy hair with a kink from the round brush. Even after having lessons from my stylist I kept having the same issue. So I thought maybe the lower heat and speed of the Sedu would make a difference combined with the Tourmaline ionic generator.

And I hate to report it, but it really, really did. Continue reading »

Having fair, sensitive skin means that I’m constantly battling things such as a pimple or tiny scratch leave a red mark. And my red marks really show up and tend to take forever to heal. Using heavy retnoids and creams to make it disappear weren’t an option for me since my skin would often react to the very cream designed to heal!

Several years ago a dermatologist recommended SkinCeuticals Phyto+ to me because it’s a botanical green gel that contains Kojic acid, arbutin, and natural alternatives to hydroquinone that are designed to work synergistically to not only reduce and eliminate discoloration but also help heal your skin. The anti-imflamitory ingredients such as cucumber and thyme soothe skin and a hyaluronic acid base hydrates. What this means to me is that my skin is calmed almost instantly and what maybe took 6 moths to a year to heal (if at all) can usually heal within a month.

I use it at night under other creams, I find it a little too sticky to use during the day (but if you have the time to wait before applying creams and letting everything dry, then daytime might be fine for you). A little goes a long way so one bottle can last me about six months.

BUY AT: DermaDoctor

Character lines may all be well and good but I want to keep the crowes feet at bay for as long as I can. And since the under eye skin is the most delicate and for me, the hardest to find a good cream for, I have been trying everything under the sun in terms of finding an eye cream.

But the sun, as we know, is a huge ager. So I was happy to discover Murad’s Essential-C Eye Cream with an SPF 15. Since most regular face SPF creams are too heavy for my under eye area (causing millia or make-up to ball), it was nice to find an spf made just for the eyes and promised to help work on wrinkles.

It’s become a staple eye cream for me for day-use only; it hydrates, protects and I think it’s helped lighten dark circles. I love the pump bottle (less contamination + you can see how much product is left) and the size (perfect for travel but lasts about 2 months for me). What I don’t like is that if it gets directly into your eyes it stings like crazy. I haven’t had sensitivity issues with other creams the way I have with this but if I can avoid it getting into my eyes, it’s great.

BUY AT: DermaDoctor

It seems like everyone I know is always on the hunt for the perfect eye cream. The cream that will solve wrinkles, dry skin, dark circles, puffiness, millia and be non-irritating. I’m not sure if that cream exists (and I swear I’ve tried almost all of them) but this one is pretty close.

My issues are lines, dark circles, dryness and sensitivity and the SkinCueticals Eye Balm has helped me with this. It’s become my go-to eye night cream; when I wander to try something new, I almost always come back to this.

It goes on easily, is absorbed quickly, and doesn’t make my under eye concealor ball up or make my eyes water. It does hydrates and soothes really well. It doesn’t, however, do anything for dark circles or a lot of puffiness.

If you need a rich, soothing, hydrating without being sticky cream, this is a good one to try. Don’t take my word for it; reviews on countless other make review sites always list it at the top of the list, too.

BUY AT: DermaDoctor

It was a stressful time when I first moved to Los Angeles and it showed on my face; it was blotchy, red, terribly dry with not so nice pimples here and there. So I booked myself a spa package at the Ole Henriksen Spa for an afternoon of relaxation and pampering. I knew that a massage and scrub would help but had my suspicions about the facial since most facials always made my sensitive skin worse, not better.

But other spas did not have Maki.

In one hour she literally transformed my skin from blah to wow. Not only did she make my skin wonderful from the outside, but gave me so many tips about how to keep myself and skin healthy from the inside with vitamins and relaxation ideas. With her help, my skin has never looked better and that’s why I’ve been a devoted client for over three years.

So when she told me she was working on her own skincare line, Mambino Organics, I was thrilled; her passion for natural, organic, simple skincare was finally coming to fruition. And for me, it came at the perfect time.

Dry skin has always plagued me and, when I began to spend a lot of time in air conditioning, I couldn’t find anything that would help. Most body moisturizers were thick, goopy and greasy. They always seemed to have harsh, fake scents added that I just didn’t like. However, her Moisture Me After Shower Body Oil, with it’s amazing smell of orange and lavender, quickly absorbed into my skin leaving it super soft without being greasy or shiny looking. Just natural and hydrated.

Continue reading »

Every magazine and skincare expert agrees – exfoliation is good. The problem for me has been the products for exfoliating – the mitts, the scrubs, the brushes. The mitts almost always get gross or moldy from being left in the shower and they don’t travel well since they don’t dry fast. Scrubs are a mess and get expensive if you use them every day. And brushes, well the handles fly off or they hurt. So what’s a girl in need of exfoliating to do?

Pick up the Supracor Spacells Facial Sponge. I’ve heard people using it on their face but I reserve mine just for the body and it does a remarkable job which is what you need when more skin is starting to show for summer. What I love is that it’s a mitt shape so you put your hand in and start rubbing your skin in circular motions and you can actually feel a difference from the inside out.

It claims to help stimulate blood and lymph flow to eliminate toxins and promote skin regeneration. What I noticed is that it just really sloughed off the dead skin and made the new skin glow. Having sensitive skin I was concerned it might be too harsh but it’s so gentle, leaving no red marks behind. Perfect for before shaving!

It’s made from a special material that is naturally anti fungal, antibacterial and allergen free so you don’t have to worry about keep it in the shower. And because of the material it dries instantly – perfect for travel.-

BUY AT: Fred Segal

It’s true – I don’t own lipstick. Can’t stand it; the way it looks, the way it smells, the way it lasts. I’m a pretty natural makeup wearing kind of girl so it’s mostly clear lipbalms or gloss for me. But sometimes I want a little oomph and so I turn to coloured gloss. But finding one to love has been hard because I have criteria.

No parabens, no gluten (I’m allergic, don’t want to digest), must look natural (not too shiny and goopy) and must last longer than 10 minutes. Tall order that has been hard to fill, let me tell you. But when I saw a woman with the prettiest natural lips and complimented her she said, “Honey, nothing is natural in this town (LA), it’s Bare Escentuals new glosses. Needless to say, I high tailed it to Sephora.

The Buxom Lips gloss in Dolly is a perfect match for me – a neutral pinky shade that looks like my lips just better – glossed, full without being FULL and completely natural. With no parabens or gluten it’s safe to reapply often but you don’t have to – it lasts quite a long time. And my hair doesn’t get caught in it when the wind blows nor do people stare at my ULTRA SHINY HUGE LIPS. Because they’re just regular and pretty. Perfection in a tube!

BUY AT: Sephora