Lancome special

For those of you who love Lancome, www.lancome-usa.com is having a promo right now...free shipping & a free 5 pc. travel set with a $50 purchase (just one skin care product will usually do the trick...try their Renergie products which I blogged about a couple of days ago as being the 2nd most effective). There are 2 different travel sets to choose from, so pick your coupon code based on which set you would like here: http://www.lancome-usa.com/landing/TRAVEL7.aspx?cm_mmc=SendTec-_-CPA-_-Banner468x60-_-TRAVEL71 . Both look great to me! I'd probably go with the one with the High Resolution products in it though. Oh, and Juicy Tubes (lipgloss) are great no matter what color you've got. They are sometimes a little sticky, but Lancome makes the best colors, and they are pocket/purse/travel friendly!

Calling All Ministers...

Yes, I'm sure I have a huge percentage of ministers reading my blog...not. But just in case, O Holy Clergy check out this blog I found when I searched Google for for "Extremely Wrinkled Face Photo": www.beautytipsforministers.com . Now I know there is a website for everything out there!

I love their byline: "Because you are in the public eye & God knows you need to look good."

Here's my question though...does Beauty Tips for Ministers not conflict with the vanity commandment? ;) (please note I realize that my blog is about beauty tips/vanity also, but I'm, thankfully, not a minister ). Or do ministers need to look good to reflect the beauty of God?

Food for thought...and prayer ;).

Scrub, Baby, Scrub

I love sugar & salt scrubs but am very particular on which ones I love. I hate the type of sugar scrub that leaves a ring of grease in my tub. I want the oils on my body, not the tub (my tub does not need moisturizing 1/2 as much as I do).



I came across this formula for a Homemade Scrub. I can't wait to make it (once my 24 other scrubs are used up). However, I thought I'd spare you the waiting for me to use up all my scrubs before I shared the recipe. It sounds absolutely delightful! (and, of course, if anyone makes it and feels obliged to send me some, you'll have my eternal gratitude).



BODY SCRUB

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

½ cup coarse salt

2 tablespoons of avocado oil

¼ cup of your favorite liquid soap

Any ONE of the following:

- Juice from ½ of a grapefruit

- Juice from a lemon

- Grated peel from a lemon or lime

- ½ cup of chopped cranberries

- ¼ cup of rose salt

- 2 tablespoons from of an essential oil (Lavender is the author's favorite)



(Nancy's note: I personally want to add cranberries & grapefruit w/ a little bit of lime & lavender...yes, as always, I want it all. I also suggest Dead Sea Salts for the required salt, but regular salt will do just fine. I just bought some fine grain European Spa salts at Wholesale Supplies Plus, www.WholesaleSuppliesPlus.com , which I plan to substitute in to my scrub when I make it. )



Mix together in a bowl. When in the shower, rub all over from head to toes. Rinse with cold water – as cold as you can stand it. Use once a week.


I found this recipe at http://www.robinmcgraw.com/. Check out this website for more skincare recipes. (I'll be posting more homemade recipes from time to time as well.)



Bon apetite..umm, I mean Happy Scrubbing!

The #1 Product for Anti-Aging...

Sunscreen!

Yes, sunscreen is the #1 product for anti-aging.

Last week my step-father had some minor surgery. While Mom & I were in the waiting room, I picked up a copy of WebMD Magazine. Lo & behold, there was an article on my favorite topic...anti-aging.

The article was based on a Consumer Reports study (you know they always have all the answers). They tested all of the anti-aging products out there & found, as I've always known, that price has nothing to do with the effectiveness of anti-aging products. They determined that most of those anti-aging products have little to no effect on reversing signs of aging. However, the line that showed the best performance was none other than Olay's Regenerist. Yes, folks, the drugstore line wins... more proof that you don't need to spend $250 on the proclaimed Creme de la Creme to have the best skin you possibly can. I've noticed over the last few months that Regenerist has won several awards (SAGA Best Moisturizer, NACDS for best facial peel & best night moisturizer, Fashion Magazine, Shape, Allure Reader's Choice Awards, Beauty Awards, etc etc...even their most recent eye derma-pods, which are very cool & I just bought last week, have won packaging awards) now I understand why. My mother, who's used everything from the cheapest to the most expensive skin care lines, even pointed out Regenerist eye serum when we were recently at Sam's Club. She exclaimed, "if you ever need a great eye product, you should use that stuff!" Mom is apparently unaware that I'm always in search of the perfect eye cream/serum. Thanks, Mom!

For those of you interested in trying Regenerist, you can go to www.olay.com/samplesandoffers to sign up for a couple of free samples. You can also find more product info on Regenerist at www.olay.com .

According to the Consumer Reports report, Regenerist is followed by Lancome Renergie & Roc Retin Ox in terms of effectiveness.

However, despite these being the best, Sandra Ronnif of Consumer Reports states it like it is, saying that there is no such thing as a face lift in a jar. The best way to prevent wrinkles is to stay out of the sun.

If you can't do that (which many of us that need to walk down the street cannot) please make sure you use sunscreen. I suggest using no less than SPF30..and remember, if your moisturizer has SPF15 & your foundation has SPF25, your maximum SPF protection is 25, not 40. Also, in facial moisturizers & foundations, you don't really get the full SPF coverage it advertises (I'll get in to why this is on another day), so using a sunscreen product made for faces is really the best way to protect your face.

Shiseido makes a great facial & body sunscreens with SPF55 which protects against both UVA & UVB rays & are sweat resistant & very water resistant. These are the products I took to Ghana when I knew I'd be spending hours in the sun building homes, and they actually worked. Neutrogena & Skinceuticals also make great sunscreen products. If you want to spend alot of money, I particularly love Natura Bisse's suncare line, but Neutrogena is my cheaper fill in ;). Oh, and as a reminder, please don't use sunscreen meant for your body on your face..the molecules for body lotion are bigger than your facial skin cells & they will not be absorbed properly & can also clog your skin. They also sometimes have ingredients you don't really want to put on your face.

Oh, and please don't forget to eyecream..there are eye creams with SPF in them as well..actual sunscreen products. Shiseido also makes one of these w/ an SPF32. Please please use a sun protection product on your eyes... you know this is the most fragile skin on your body & it has no moisture glands...therefore, the sun can do more damage in this area. Just be careful not to get this in your eyes.

For those of you who love to soak up the sun & love that bronzed tan look, I wish I could show you photos of my mother's body. She probably spent years out of her life in the sun. At 74, she is gorgeous, but her body (& face) is covered with sun spots, and she's had more 'spots' removed than I can count on hands & feet. While I love the sun, I've learned from my mom...it's just not worth it. I plan to live a long time & I plan to look like I'm 80 when I'm 100.. shouldn't we all?

Well, as the summer "season" arrived this past weekend with the advent of Memorial Day, I'll leave you reminding you to take your hats & umbrellas to the beach...and your SPF70 sunscreen... or be prepared bear the deeply lined consequences (in about 5-20 years from now).

(By the way, Regenerist plans on expanding their product line this summer. Could they possibly be launching a sunscreen line as well?)

Regenerist pictures courtesy & property of www.Olay.com . Shiseido pictures courtesy & property of www.shop.nordstrom.com

Sweaty Palms & Feet? A solution just in time for Summer!

I don't know about you, but I dread the hot days of summer. I live in NYC, and get everywhere I go by either subway or walking. Therefore, I find myself a bit 'wet' during most of the summer. Not to mention that NYC heat is heavy, hot air. The bends of my arms & knees get sweaty, as do my palm, feet, and so on.

I just found out about a product (thanks, Rachel Ray) called Moisture AbSorb by By142 (http://www.by142.com/ For those of you who live near a Nordstrom, it is available there also).

This baby has molecules which absorb 110 times their own weight, keeping you (& me) nice & dry. They say it leaves you smooth & not sticky. It's $30.00 for 1.7 fl. oz, which is quite a bit more than the usual baby powder many of us use for the same purpose. However, I'd willing trade in my baby powder for AbSorb as I'm a bit messy with powder & somehow more of it seems to end up on my bathroom floor or on my clothes (although black & white is very hot this season ;-) ).

Here's to a hot, dry summer!!

Bizarre skin treatment

First of all, I must apologize for not blogging for the last 6 weeks or so. I've been so concentrated on getting my new business (http://www.wholesaleproductrep.com/) up and running, I've not had time for much else. It is still that way, but I realize I have other responsibilities as well.

So, without further ado, let me tell you about the 2 wildest skin/hair treatments I've ever heard of...

Hari's Salon in London (http://www.harissalon.com/) offers Bull Semen Hair Treatment. According to Daily Candy (http://www.dailycandy.com/), " A new, intense conditioning treatment at Hari’s uses organic pedigree Angus bull semen, fresh from Brooklet Farm in Cheshire. The substance’s pure protein, combined with katera, a protein-rich plant root, penetrates each shaft and deeply nourishes the hair." Apparently hair is super soft, silky, thick & bouncy. I couldn't find this on Hari's menu to find out how much it is....probably uber expensive. Anyone know? I just keep wondering how they get the bull semen.

So, last week Daily Candy emailed me (and thousands of others) that Hari's also now offers a Nightingale Poo Facial. Yes, bird poop. I know that in Chinese culture, bird spit soup is a delicacy which is hundreds of dollars per bowl (I always picture little Chinese men climbing trees to wipe birds tongues with a cotton swab for this), but I had no idea that bird feces was now being used to beautify our faces. Does this mean it qualifies as a 'green' product?
Daily Candy reports, "Due to the enzyme guanine (in the bird poop), an amino acid which purports to heal and bleach the skin, the substance has been used for millennia in Japan by geishas and Kabuki actors to remove make-up and by monks to polish their shaved heads.
The biggies aren’t scraped off any old windscreen; they’re completely purified before going anywhere near your face. And when they do — alongside gold leaf soap, adzuki bean scrub and green tea shea butter — they soften and brighten the skin." They say it's a deeply nourishing facial. Question...don't all of us (animals & humans) usually excrete toxins, not the stuff that that's good for us? And purified bird poop? What's left after it's purified?

So, to my friends & readers in London (or those visiting), I challenge you to one of these treatments. We all want to hear all about it! I want to know if these are worth it, or are just a bunch of, well, crap. I do have to say I'm intrigued, but not sure I could stomach the treatments.
Anyone else have any bizarre skincare treatments for us? Please do tell...