Wonderful Wednesday: Stop Seeing Red with SkinMedica

No, not that kind of red. Check out the news about SkinMedica’s new Redness Relief CalmPlex…

Red is Just For Your Accessories

Achieve Calm, Even Skin With NEW SkinMedica Redness Relief CalmPlex™
Clinically proven to deliver visible results in only one week


Save the red for your soles - introducing Redness Relief CalmPlex™, a new, fast-acting anti-redness product from SkinMedica, with a patented anti-inflammatory ingredient clinically proven to reduce the appearance of visible redness, while calming and fortifying irritated complexions. The biggest innovation in redness relief in two decades, this over-the-counter solution offers immediate relief and results, and the non-comedogenic formula contains no added fragrance.

The addition of Vitamin B-3 increases collagen production, while Jojoba Oil and Squalane improve skin's moisture content. Ideal for sensitive skin types, consistent use of SkinMedica Redness Relief CalmPlex™ improves overall skin appearance by neutralizing unwanted redness.

Stand tall with skin that makes a statement.

Clinically Proven Results:
In multiple studies immediately following use of SkinMedica Redness Relief CalmPlex™:

- 100% of subjects reported irritated skin was calmed
- After one week, patients noticed an improvement in redness, scaling, and dryness
- After four weeks, patients showed a measurable improvement in visible redness and skin tone
- Patients continued to show improvements until week 12

"Different than other treatments on the market, Redness Relief CalmPlex does not cover-up the red; it helps reduce the underlying inflammation associated with many skin conditions such as rosacea, eczema, sun exposure and treatment induced irritation. It has been clinically proven in multiple studies to reduce the appearance of redness and improve skin tone and is comparable to the leading prescription medication in relieving redness." -SkinMedica Founder, Dr. Richard Fitzpatrick
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Wonderful Wednesday: Paul Mitchell Nature Inspired Tools

Earth Day is around the corner. Take a look at these gorgeous Nature-Inspired Tools from Paul Mitchell. I think these are just awesome!

Wonderful Wednesday: Strange Invisible Perfumes at Mandarin Oriental

Take a look…one of my faves is launching at The Spa at Mandarin Oriental…

Strange Invisible Perfumes Launches at The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, New York
Los Angeles-Based Perfume House Offering Organic, Botanical Fragrances Launches at World Class Spa


Strange Invisible Perfumes, the Venice, California-based botanical fragrance house, is pleased to announce its debut at The Spa at the Mandarin Oriental, New York. It seems especially fitting to pair the art of botanical fragrance design with the idyllic, wellness-centered atmosphere of the luxury spa.

“My fragrances seem especially in their element at The Mandarin Oriental. As scent is so much about association, perfume should be experienced while one is in a relaxed and delighted state. I am also happy that we offer a fragrance collection that aligns with The Mandarin’s vision of wellness and finery. It truly makes sense.”

Botanical perfumer Alexandra Balahoutis founded Strange Invisible Perfumes in 2000 with the conviction that high perfumery be made of authentic botanical
essences. Alexandra lives in Venice, California, close to the Strange Invisible Perfumes boutique and headquarters on Abbot Kinney Boulevard.

The entire collection of Strange Invisible Perfumes eaux de parfum as well as the limited edition pure perfume Essence of IX are available at the Mandarin Oriental New York’s Five-Star Spa.

Located on floor 35, The Spa at the Mandarin Oriental, New York provides the ultimate urban oasis. Enveloped in the Spa’s tranquil, meditative setting, guests embark on a sublime journey toward relaxation. The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, New York offers a harmonious place of well-being, reaching far beyond the traditional spa experience. The Five-Star Mandarin Oriental, New York redefines the luxury hotel experience in Manhattan. Its design and unique location in the Time Warner Center coupled with Mandarin Oriental’s legendary hospitality makes it one of the city’s most distinct and sophisticated hotels.

Strange Invisible Perfumes Boutique
1138 Abbot Kinney Boulevard Venice, CA 90291
Tues - Sat 11 am - 7 pm Sun 12 pm - 6 pm
Tel 310.314.1505 Fax 310.314.1508
www.siperfumes.com

Wonderful Wednesday: Great Giveaways on Facebook

I have a few giveaways coming up in April, but in the meantime – check out these fab giveaways on Facebook!

Conair “Sneak Peek” Sweepstakes

Want fabulous hair? During the month of March, Conair is offering a “Sneak Peek” giveaway for a chance to win a choice of three new Conair hair styling tools. One winner each Friday! Give your hair some love with Conair and “LIKE” the Facebook page (www.facebook.com/conairhair) for more details!

Certain Dri “All-Star Antiperspirant" Sweepstakes

Certain Dri wants to send you to the big leagues! From March 1, 2011- May 23, 2011, enter the Certain Dri “All-Star Antiperspirant” Sweepstakes for a chance to win our MLB All-Star baseball game prize package! One random winner will win a trip for two to the 2011 MLB All-Star game and the Homerun Derby (travel accommodations included) in Phoenix, Arizona along with a supply of Certain Dri connect with Certain Dri on Facebook (www.facebook.com/certaindri), for more details!

Anti Monkey Butt Powder Sponsor My Butt Sweepstakes

Athletes love AMBP and we love athletes! If you’re part of a team here's a chance to win your team a prize package! From March 1 - March 31, 2011, enter to win one of 10 team prizes! Ten teams will get an Anti Monkey Butt Powder Team Prize package (which will be enough to share with 10 team members!). Connect with Anti Monkey Butt on Facebook (www.facebook.com/antimonkeybutt) and tell the Monkey you "LIKE" him. Enter and tell your friends...help spread the monkey love!

At Last Naturals "Get Lucky" Sweepstakes

Test your luck this month and enter for chance to win the At Last Naturals, “Get Lucky” Sweepstakes! Each week during the month of March one lucky winner will be randomly selected to win the At Last Naturals gift set including a $50 Soft Surroundings gift card, the entire line of At Last Naturals and more! Connect with At Last Naturals on Facebook (www.facebook.com/atlastnaturals) for more details....we’re sure you’ll “LIKE” what you see! Plus, from March 4 - March 31, 2011 At Last Naturals is offering a 20% discount. Visit http://www.atlastnaturals.com and enter the code: LUCKY20.

"Catch the Wave" OCEAN Giveaway

Cold and flu season is upon us, and one of the best ways to fight back is with regular nasal irrigation! So, to help you in the fight, we’re giving away one random entrant per week a free OCEAN nasal care prize pack! Whether you’re suffering from sinus issues, or just looking to prevent illness with regular nasal irrigation, OCEAN nasal care products can help (available at Rite Aid, Walgreens, Walmart and drugstore.com). So, "LIKE" OCEAN on Facebook (www.facebook.com/oceannasalcare) to “Catch The Wave” and get more details!

Fragrant and Functional: Bath and Body Works PocketBac™ Hand Gels (review)

This is a shout out to three…count em!…three of my friends who are home with some yucky virus. Having just gotten over one myself (and being as thoroughly cranky and whiney about it as possible), I have nothing but sympathy for them. So in solidarity with my amigos; I’m using my blogging powers for good, and featuring a little something to slay a germ or two. From Bath and Body Works.

PocketBac™ Anti-Bacterial Hand Gel (in “Warm Vanilla Sugar” and “Dancing Waters”)

Blurb: Spread love, not germs. This pocket-sized bottle contains natural ingredients and powerful germ killers that, wherever you go, get hands clean and lightly scented. A powerful germ-killing gel enriched with Tahitian Palm Milk leaves hands feeling clean and virtually germ-free.

I’m crazy about these. They’re $1.50 each and there are over 30 scents to choose from. Bath and Body Works even comes out with little limited edition sets from time to time. They make great little “just because” gifts (and stocking stuffers), and they’re great personal pick-me-ups when I want to just get a little something without going on a full splurge. They also come in cute, highly portable little plastic bottles.

But most importantly – they kill germs. And they kill germs in a delightfully fragrant way. I’ve tried some of the other scents, but usually switch back and forth between these two (my favorites). “Warm Vanilla Sugar” smells exactly like it’s name. It’s Vanilla-ey, sweet and a little bit spicey. “Dancing Waters” is clean, fresh and slightly floral. When I first apply them, the initial smell of alcohol is a bit strong; but it fades almost right away. (And it does happen to be the ingredient that’s doing all the germ killing.)

Check out the whole bunch of them on the website (and visit the sales page). There’s even a Fresh Picked Bundle set available right now for $5.00. If you want to sniff for yourself; click on the store locator to find the nearest B&BW.

(ftc disclosure: purchased myself)

Lovely and Lavish! Estée Lauder New Pure Color Nail Lacquers (review)

Yay!!! Estée Lauder just launched a whole bunch of gorgeous treats. 39 shades of new Pure Color Lipstick, 16 new Nail Lacquers, and an awesome new limited edition Pure Color Orange Crush (two shadows and a gloss). I’ve been trying out a few things from the collection, and I’m starting today with…

Pure Color Nail Lacquer-Limited Collection (in “Perfect Storm” and “Wild Blue”) Blurb: Turn your fingertips into fashion statements with a wardrobe of sensational shades to add definition, polish, and style to your fingertips. Designed by Tom Pecheux, world-renowned makeup artist and Estée Lauder Creative Makeup Director. Tom combined today's top trends with timeless classics-all the colors he prefers for photo shoots and fashion shows. Formulated with True Vision™ technology to transform ordinary color and make it extraordinary. Rich, glossy with an intense, mirror-like high shine. Fast-drying. Long-wearing. High-pigment, high-impact brilliance in 3 effects: creme, pearl and shimmer. Resists chipping-even in water. High coverage that won't fade, dull or streak, even in strong sunlight. Specially designed brush shape makes application incredibly easy.

Sigh! These are just fantastic. I love them both, and I think I’ll probably be moseying over to the Estée counter at the mall for a couple more bottles. Both the shimmer and cream formulas go on beautifully, cover well and resist chipping and fading.

“Perfect Storm” is a stunning, dark, charcoal with a beautiful shimmer. At first glance, it looked quite a bit like “Wild Storm” (from a previous collection), but it’s absolutely not. “Perfect Storm” is smoldering, dramatic and very sophisticated (in some lighting, it almost looks like a shimmery black). I got a ton of compliments when I wore this, and I couldn’t stop looking at my hands.

“Wild Blue” on the other hand, is a vibrant, cornflower blue. It looks much brighter in the bottle, but dries to a cooler shade. It’s fun and edgy, but still very grown up – and surprisingly flattering. I can’t wait to sport a Wild Blue pedicure when sandal season comes!

If you’re pondering anything from this collection, now is the time to visit the website. There’s an awesome gift with purchase (photo below) available (as well as the monthly sweepstakes). Estée Lauder is also available at fine department stores.

Have a great week everyone!

(ftc disclosure: sample/product received from manufacturer or representative)

Spring Organizing: Cool Stuff to Hold All Your Cool Stuff

In the spirit of my Spring cleaning frenzy; I’m skipping Hair Care today, and posting a whole bunch of items and ideas for organizing your beauty stash. It all started early last week. I was home with a nasty virus and surfing the interwebs. Suddenly I came across…this:

Crayola 150-Count Telescoping Crayon Tower My mind reeled, and my heart raced faster as I got a sudden inspiration: lipgloss holder. Then I took another decongestant/cough suppressant, got back online, and ordered one from Walmart (Target carries these too). The result was… Ta Da! I’ve been using this for the last couple of days, and it’s awesome! All of my lipglosses are visible and accessible. Now, all that’s left is for me to glue a Lazy Susan to the bottom this weekend, and it will spin. Life is good. (I still haven’t found something similar for my tubes of lipstick, but I plan to keep looking.) Another incredibly useful product I found (thank you, Target) were these stackable plastic bins. They were perfect for my nail polish. Here’s a picture of two of them together… Okay…enough of my substandard cell-phone pictures. Here are a few more things I found that were reasonably priced, and incredibly useful. I haven’t tried them all (yet), but they are giving me tons of ideas. From CSNStores.com: Tiered Chrome Shelf Organizer - I bought 2 of these, and love them! They’re great for bottles, jars, boxes and tubes. They’re also well made, and look nice on the counter. From Acrylic Home Design: Makeup Organizer - I have this too – also love it. Up until a few days ago, it housed my lipglosses and lipsticks. Now I use it for my eye pencils, cosmetic brushes and liquid/gel eyeliners. More ideas from Target: Stackable Jars with Metal Lids – 3 shapes and sizes to choose from (each under $10) Itso Modular Stackables – These stackable plastic trays are cute, useful (and $4.99 for 2) Medicine Organizer Vanity Organizers Clear Drawers More drawers from Sterilite: Sterilite Mini Drawer Organizers From Walmart: Desk/Drawer Tray From Bed Bath & Beyond… Acrylic Drawer Organizers – I like these because they can also sit on top of a counter or shelf (one of these may end up holding my lipstick tubes) Cabinet Organizer – another option for storing and displaying bottles, jars, soaps (or maybe even your nail polish collection) Desktop organizer 3-cup plastic Tray Jewelry tree – Have this. Love it. Earing Keeper Foldable Earing Screen Whew! And that's just scratching the surface. There's more. Much, much more; but hopefully this will get you started with some ideas. I really love having all of my beauty items organized, visible and available all the time. I feel very pampered and soothed when I can see everything laid out before me all neat and pretty in the morning. It also helps me remember what I have – so that I don’t end up with 10 dark blue eyeliners (as opposed to…um…5). And since I made such a long post – it seems reasonable to include two helpful instructional films from way back when. Once you’re all snappy and organized; you may want some useful hints for when you either go out, or have people over. Have a great weekend!

Spring Things: Review Redux

Before I get too much further into all the cool new stuff for Spring; I thought I’d whip up some quick links to some great Spring products I’ve already reviewed. I couldn’t include everything I wanted; but here are a few really fabulous items. (I linked to my original review, and included product links where needed)

For when you finally venture outdoors for more than 5 minutes. (And because I'm an SPF nut, I'm featuring three products)...

DDF Organic Sun Protection (SPF 30)

La Mer The SPF 30 UV Protecting Fluid (SPF 30)

AMORE PACIFIC Natural Protector (SPF 30) (product link here)

And now that you’re showing some skin…

Salux Nylon Japanese Beauty Cloth

Schick Quattro for Women Trimstyle Razor

Trader Joe's Moisturizing Cream Shave

Liz Earle Foot Repair Moisturizer (product link here)

Per-fékt Body Perfection Gel

Hair care…

Privé Concept Vert Shampoo and Conditioner

Complexion care…

Origins GinZing™ Refreshing Eye Cream

Elemis Tri-Enzyme Resurfacing Facial Wash

And some pretty colors…

CG Smoothers SPF 15 Tinted Moisture (product link here) – There are tons of fabulous tinted moisturizers; but this one gives gorgeous sheer coverage, nice hydration and SPF protection…for about $7

Cellular Radiance Cream Blush (in "Peach Glow") (product link here) - the picture doesn't really capture the color. It's a very fresh, delicate peach.

Estée Lauder Pure Color Crystal Lipstick in "Ripe Papaya" (product link here)

FACE Stockholm Pot Glosses – all of the shades are awesome. The one pictured is a sheer Cherry. My all time favorite (“Amusing”) is a sparkly lavender.

Urban Decay Stardust Eyeshadow (in "Griffith") (product link here) – the original review was for “Retrograde” (a pretty lavender); but I liked the formula so much, that I bought “Griffith” (a perfect shimmery green for Springtime).

Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen (in "Black Cocoa" or "True Teal") – again, the original post was for a different shade; but (also again) I was so wowed by the formula that I bought more colors. "Black Cocoa" is great everyday neutral for Spring, and "True Teal" is bright and fun.
And now that we’ve revisited the past a bit; here’s what a few people thought the future of fashion looked like back in the 1930’s. This is pretty funny (the gender commentary is priceless bordering on scary).

Spring Continues (And So Does the Cleaning): Erno Laszlo Beta Mask (review)

I’ve spent most of the evening cleaning and organizing. And I’ve spent most of that time organizing my cosmetics. But I do plan on getting to the other parts of my apartment. Really. I do. But right now it’s time for a blogging break. I just tried an awesome mask from Erno Laszlo.

Beta Mask

Blurb: Blemish treatment for normal to oily skin. This targeted treatment is a multi-faced approach to combating acne. It contains one percent salicylic acid for mild exfoliation, willow bark extract to reduce sebum secretion and kaolin to absorb excess shine. Because blemished skin is sensitive, calendula, arnica and sage are added to tone and moisturize, while peppermint and eucalyptus provide antibacterial benefits.

I thoroughly loved this mask! It’s easy to apply, feels wonderful while it’s on, and rinses easily. The willow bark/kaolin combination is fabulous. It removed all of the oil and impurities; and my face was refreshed and super clean. My pores looked smaller, there was no irritation; and my skin felt smooth and refreshed.

Take a look at the wonderful website. Even if you don’t have oily or blemish-prone skin, you’ll still find something awesome. Check out the Laszlomatic for product recommendations. Erno Laszlo can also be found at fine stores like Nordstrom, Dillard's, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Neiman Marcus.

And now for some more helpful “how to” advice from previous decades. This time it’s all about glamour, poise and charm. (It ends a little bit abruptly, but it’s definitely worth watching.)



(ftc disclosure: sample/product received from manufacturer or representative)