Tips : Beauty and Fashion Tech

Tagged! My Beauty Favorites and Secrets

Awhile back, Teri over at Aging Fabulous tagged me, seeking my beauty favorites/secrets. After a bit of pondering, here they are!My Foundation: My skin is insane! It is dry in winter, oily in summer, and I have a bit of melasma to cover. So here are my favorites for each: When dry: Elizabeth Arden Intervene, Estee Lauder. When oily: Laura Mercier oil free and Neutrogena Mineral. I’m also loving the new Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Foundation, and a new one from RedPoint Cosmetics (review to come). Tip: Cover melasma with a bit of liquid foundation that is set with mineral makeup in that area instead translucent powder.

My Mascara: Lancome Hypnose. My favorite drugstore mascaras are CG Volume exact and Milani’s mascaras.

My Blush: My big Favorite of the moment is the new Sally Hansen Natural Beauty cream blush. I also love Krylon bronzer worn on my cheek bones.

My Eye Shadow: Anything Mac or Stila. Flirt Cosmetics also makes great quality eyeshadow at a good price.

My Day Cream: This constantly changes, but the one thing constant is a good sunscreen. I usually wear either DHC or Philosophy because each has melasma treatment built in. DHC also adds a physical blocker.

My Lipstick: I love them all! Need proof? Visit Girl Gloss! I guess if I have to narrow it down, My current favorites are Strawbaby from the MAC Fafi Collection, a wonderful pink from the New Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Line, and Stila Cherry Crush.

My Beauty Product Brand: For overall consistency and quality, I have to say MAC. Stila and Bobbie Brown are right up there as well. In the drugstore arena, L’Oreal and Revlon are consistently good, and I also can’t stop raving about the new Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Line.

My Essential Beauty Product: Sunscreen. I could live without just about everything else, but sunscreen is essential for good looking skin and future skin health!

My Favorite Makeup Product: Lip balm and gloss. I can’t live without it!

My Perfume: Right now, it is Marc Jacobs Grapefruit.

My Nails: Normally I wear a few favorite shades of Essie, which is consistently a great polish that is relatively affordable. Right now though, I have been repeatedly wearing the shade from the MAC Fafi collection. I probably should try to get some more before the collection becomes non-existent! I also love a new Maybelline shade. Watch for a post on that in the next few weeks!

My Feet: Pro foot heel cream is a must for me!

My Hands: Sunscreen and Soap and Glory Great Shakes hand cream. Love that stuff!

Three Products to bring on a deserted island: I’m just going to Parrot Teri on this one! Sunscreen, Lip Balm, and Moisturizer

Women I admire for their beauty: I admire those who whether or not they are physically beautiful are beautiful in more profound ways, such as through being particularly caring, generous, intellectual etc.

Woman with the Best Sense of Style: I’m going to go back in time for this on and say Audrey Hepburn.

How Do I Define Womanhood: Hmmm, hard question. I don’t define it, although it definitely defines me in ways that I find hard to describe.

My Favorite Fashion Publication: I adore Lucky Magazine. People Style Watch is also fun. For Makeup, Allure is the best, while Elle is always nice for the high end fashion ads.

So, now I tag Lilan, Kristen, Jennifer and Christine, and Kia

Popularity: 4% [?]

What is in my Bag? Check Product Girl and See!

Carla over at Product Girl has been running a series focusing on the contents of beauty blogger’s handbags. Today she features mine!

So if you want to see what is in my bag, you can view it here.

Popularity: 4% [?]

People Style Watch Special Beauty Secrets Issue

I love magazines. Yeah, I am an online media person, but something about holding a magazine and looking at the glossy pictures provides that extra something that just can’t compare to the Internet. For makeup and beauty addicts, People Magazine’s People Style Watch has a great special issue out for May.

People Style Watch May 08 Cover Katherine Heigl Carmen Electra

If you are not familiar with the magazine, People Style Watch normally provides celebrity style observations and tips. For example, check out page 20 for a great bag inspired by Vanessa Hudgens’ Louis Vuitton bag, or page 38 for fashion commentary from Brody Jenner of The Hills. A good amount of makeup, hair and beauty material is also always included.

The May issue of People Style Watch, featuring the beautiful Katherine Heigl on the cover, goes beyond its normal beauty coverage and provides a section of 100 beauty secrets. From top celebrity hair styles, to the best tools and tricks for makeup and hair–it is all in there. A few favorites of mine are the best mascara list, makeup artist must haves, and the interesting page featuring Beyonce on what it costs to look like a star (hint, it is a lot). There are also some great general tips in the section, some that were new to me, such as a way to use ivory soap as a hair stying item!

People Style Watch will be on the stands April 25 through May 26, 2008. At $3.99 US, it is one of the very reasonably priced magazines and is definitely a fun read.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Question and Answer With Chase Aston, Makeup Artist for The Body Shop

I love the Body Shop, it is one of my favorite mall stores, and I particularly love their Satsuma Body Wash. It has the best citrus scent that I have ever found!

So, when I recently had the opportunity to ask a question to Chase Aston, International Makeup Artist for The Body Shop, I jumped at the chance.

My question:

I am noticing lots of pinks in many of the Spring cosmetics lines and some of them are rather bright. How can a person pull off wearing some of these pretty pink shades, especially on the eyes, without looking too much like a made-up Barbie Doll?

Chase Aston’s answer:

If there is one color which looks great on everyone… it’s pink! The pink tones in our lips and the blushing rose of our cheeks, give us a natural beauty which you can enhance by wearing shades of pink in your makeup. You have probably tried on a pink lipstick before and sworn never to wear it again, but rest assured - there is a shade of pink to suit everyone.

If you want to be a little more daring for a night out on the town, use a bright fuchsia eyeshadow over the lid, taking it as high as the crease of the eyelid. This gives a striking look when you blink. Compliment with some black eyeliner and lashings of black mascara. Keep the look clean by toning down the blush and using clear lip gloss. If you aren’t quite ready for such a dramatic look, try using a soft baby pink eyeshadow across the entire eyelid, strengthened with smoky dark shadow across the upper lashline and at the corner of the lower lashline. This gives a gorgeous baby doll look that’s girlie but with attitude!

Want to see more questions and answers with Chase Aston? Coming soon will be a list of links to question from other other members of the Beauty Blog Network.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Top Five Kinds of Skin Care Products for any Skin Type

I like lists. So here is my list of the top five types of skin care products for every skin type. I have also included a non-exhaustive list of product suggestions with links to my reviews in those instances where I have reviewed the product. Do you have something you would add or substitute? Leave a comment!

Number 5: A chemical exfoliating product. Use of a product such as glycolic acid, retinol, or even salicylic acid (a common beta-hydroxy acid acne product), will help keep your skin blackhead and blemish free. These products break up the chemicals holding those dead skin cells together. This increases cell turnover and assists in dissolving black heads, keeping skin looking fresh and youthful. If you have hyperpigmentation or melasma, glycolic or retinol products can be particularly good used in combination with skin lightening products. Look at it this way, less dead skin cells in the way means more active product is getting to the cells that need it. Finally they can have anti-wrinkle effects, especially the retinol products. So these products have multiple benefits! A few favorites to try:

Glycolic products: Peter Thomas Roth Glycolic Acid 10% Clarifying Gel and B. Kamins Glycolic 10 are both quality products.

Retinol Products: Worth looking at is GreatSkin Retinol 10X Serum 1 oz.. One of my favorites and one with the highest concentration allowed over the counter (1%) is RoC Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Serum. ROC products are also a good value.

Salicylic: Neutrogena Clear Pore Oil-Controlling Astringent, Salicylic Acid Acne Medication is a good basic and affordable salicylic acid. Or check out these salicylic and glycolic mixes: For 5% glycolic and 1% salicylic, try MD Formulations Glycare Acne Gel. You can up it to 10% glycolic and 2% salicylic with Peter Thomas Roth AHA/BHA Acne Clearing Gel. I have used the Peter Thomas Roth product with good results.

Number 4: A vitamin C product. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that can help your skin recover from exposure to daily pollutants and stresses. It also can help lighten hyperpigmentation or melasma and generally even out skin tone. Some favorites to try:

High potency: GreatSkin® Vibran C Creme with Ceramides 1.25 oz. (pictured). This creme has 10% stable vitamin C with moisturizing ceramides. Want a higher concentrated serum (also better for oily skin)? Look at GreatSkin® C Serum 1 fl. oz. This takes the concentration up to 14%.

Good value: Lumene Radiant C Plus, or for an antioxidant combo try Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Serum.

Number 3: A good moisturizer for your skin type. All skin types can benefit from the regular use of a moisturizer, even oily skin. For those with acne prone skin who worry about moisturizer use, consider a light cream or gel product. Many acne products dry the skin and cause it to increase oil production as a rebound effect. The use of a moisturizing products can actually help prevent acne in the long run. Some items to try:

Oily Skin: GreatSkin® Oil-Free Moisturizer with Ginseng and Grape Seed Extract 5 oz. or GreatSkin® Oil Free Moisturizing Gel 1 oz.. A really good, but a bit expensive one, that I used years back when I had issues with adult acne is Murad Skin Perfecting Lotion (Acne).

Normal Skin: Murad Skin Perfecting Lotion or DHC Rich Moisture and Extra Night Time Moisture. There is also the favorite of many: Estee Lauder DayWear.

Dry skin: Vita Amazonia Matrixyl and DMAE 5% Creams are my current favorites. I also really love Prescriptives PX Intensive Rebuilding Moisturizer. Unfortunately both are expensive. For a good value, consider trying one of the Lumene products.

For really dry skin or as a specialty product. I think Creme de la Mer can’t be beat. It is expensive, but a little goes a long way and this stuff really can moisturize with no irritation. Tip: Try it under your nose when it gets chapped from a cold.

Number 2: Water. OK, so it isn’t necessarily a product, but drinking a lot of water is one of the best things you can do for your skin. You can also look fashionable carrying certain bottles. Want more info? I like this article from Free Beauty tips.

Number 1: Sunscreen. If you do nothing else, at least wear sunscreen. Aim for full spectrum coverage with a minimum of SPF 15, and SPF 30 being optimal. Regular use of sunscreen fulfills multiple functions. It prevents skin cancer, it delays wrinkling and hyperpigmentation, and for most people it also can double as a light moisturizer. Think that it is OK to skip sunscreen because you need vitamin D from the sun? Think again. You can get your dose of vitamin D from the sun in matter of a few minutes. Better yet, get it from a multi-vitamin or fortified milk. If you want a tan, try some of the many excellent self tanning products that are on the market. Don’t believe me? Take a look at this top 5 list from the Mayo Clinic. Or look at this article on the Myths and Facts About Vitamin D and Sun exposure.

Some good sunscreens to try: For full spectrum physical blockers with high SPF, my favorite is Total Block UVA/UVB SPF 65. This also comes with tint packages to make a heavy coverage high SPF makeup in Total Block Cover-Up/Make-Up SPF 60. This is full wavelength blocking and is great for people with melasma, skin cancer concerns, and hyperpigmentation. But it certainly is not limited to those people and is good for anyone concerned about the sun.

For a medium SPF full spectrum sunscreen Neutrogena and Aveeno make some good ones. Or try the much talked about full spectrum chemical blocker found in La Roche-Posay Anthelios SX Daily Moisturizer with SPF 15.

Also, don’t forget your lips. Banana Boat Sport Sunscreen Lip Balm, SPF 30 is my all time favorite SPF lip balm.

So there are my top 5 types of skin care products for any skin type. This post was made as part of a group writing project at Problogger.net. For a bunch of other top five lists on a huge variety of topics take a look at the list of submissions.

Comparison Shop for Sunscreens

Popularity: 6% [?]

Beauty in Beer!

Yes, there is beauty in beer. Beer can also help you be beautiful. No, I am not referring to beer goggles. I am talking about beer in beauty products.

The other day I ran across an article from Men’s Health entitled 33 Things You Can Do With Beer. I’m beer loving girl. Heck, I am the founder of the Brewpubs Category on Waymarking.com. So I was into that article like flies into beer! There were a couple of beauty tips in the article, including my favorite and easy beer shampoo recipe. It also got me thinking about other beer beauty possibilities.

The recipe for beer shampoo is quite simple: Reduce a cup of beer to 1/4 cup by simmering it on the stove. Add a cup of shampoo. The beer helps remove product buildup, adds body to the hair, and leaves it shiny.

Feel like cooking up a facial mask? From the Kegerators Company comes this recipe: Mix one cup of beer, an avocado, a splash of vinegar, and a spoonful of honey. Apply to the face for ten to fifteen minutes. According to the company, you will notice clear pores and a fresher complexion.

If you don’t want to make it yourself, you can always buy beer shampoos or soaps. For example, Dogfish Head, which makes a couple of very tasty IPAs (India Pale Ale), also makes a beer shampoo bar and beer soap. Or if you are a fan of Irish Stout, check out Lush’s Cynthia Silvia Stout Shampoo.

Looking into the topic further, I came across the Mi Spa Beer Shampoo Bar. I also was intrigued by Sacred Showers, which has a wide array of beer soap in various scents. I like raspberry beer, so I imagine that I would like their raspberry beer soap.

Finally, a good gift for a beer lover is this Star and Rose Beer Shampoo and Shower Gel Gift Setthat I found in the bath and shower products section at Amazon.com.

So remember, Guinness is good for you in many different ways!

Popularity: 5% [?]

Book Review: The Black Book of Hollywood Beauty Secrets

The Black Book of Hollywood Beauty Secrets, by Kym Douglas and Cindy Pearlman, is one of the most fun beauty books I have read. Advertising that it offers beauty tips from the stars, the book delivers this and more.

Written in a witty and amusing manner, the authors collect and categorize tips from celebrities, makeup artists, and other beauty and fashion industry professionals over twelve chapters. Also thrown in throughout the book are celebrity gossip blurbs.

The categories/chapters run from the expected such as hair care, skin care, and makeup tips, to the less expected such as tips from pole dancers and tips for those over forty or pregnant. A chapter on diet is also thrown in. Although some tips involve expensive products, for the most part, the focus is on inexpensive items.

Generally the book has gotten good reviews. I have seen a few reviews complaining that the tips are all well known and taken from beauty magazines, but I found the book to be a fun compilation. Yes, I knew some of the tips covered, but I also found plenty of creative tips that I was unfamiliar with, or things I had meant to try once and never did. On the later, the book served as a nice reminder. For example, I had heard about staining lips with Strawberry Jello, but never tried it. Now I have, with some amusing success. I will write something about that on a later date. The book also suggests a more intimate use for strawberry jello as well. I’m keeping quiet on whether I try that one! I also found the book to be particularly refreshing in the areas not often covered by the magazines, such as the tips from strippers and tips specifically for those over 40.

The writing style is fun, yet informative, making the book an enjoyable, easy read. I didn’t get much from the celebrity gossip blurbs, largely because they were not what interested me in the book and because they left out the names. Celebrity gossip loses quite a bit of luster without names. But that was in no way distracting. It just wasn’t necessary for me.

For anyone wanting a compilation of interesting tips, or simply a quick and fun read, I highly recommend this book.

Popularity: 6% [?]