Hey Folks!
Summer got a little crazy for us, but now we’re back in the beauty saddle. I love this time of year – it’s 80 degrees out, but I’m cooing over cashmere suits I see in magazines and wondering which plum lipstick to pick up at Sephora…
Aug 242011
Are you a fan of joy? Then I have a haircare line for you – Neil George Salon products. It is simply impossible under the laws of the universe in which we live to not be happy when you use these products.
OK, let me back up. I’ve only tested three of their products so far, but I think the above statement holds up. I have a pantheon of fabulous hair products in my closet, and Neil George products still excite me this much.
Let’s start with Neil George Refresh Dry Shampoo Triple Botanical Complex. It’s really a fantastic dry shampoo. A lot of dry shampoos do a decent enough job refreshing your hair and scalp, but until now I haven’t found one that really makes my scalp feel like I washed my hair. Neil George Dry Shampoo leaves the scalp feeling like you just stepped out of the shower.
What really impresses me, though, is the styling power of this dry shampoo. As you know I’m always on the hunt for a great volumizer, and Refresh Dry Shampoo both freshens hair and volumizes it like crazy, in no time flat. I’m particularly impressed with how easy it is to create bombshell hair out of summer frizz with this dry shampoo – divide hair into a few sections, flip head over, spray at the root, wait 30 seconds, massage the scalp, flip hair over, put a little extra in the front sections and you are good to go. It’s kind of a polished version of bed head. And hair is left soooo shiny after use – definitely no product residue, even on really dark hair.
The scent is subtle, which I like. A lot of dry shampoos have a pretty heady (no pun intended) scent, which isn’t really what I’m looking for if I’m using a dry shampoo. Refresh Dry Shampoo just smells like, well, freshly shampooed hair.
The fantastic Neil George Refresh Dry Shampoo Triple Botanical Complex is available the Neil George Salon website for $18.
Eugenia Kim Eden Feathered Headband
We’ve previously spoken with slight nerdy enthusiasm about our love for the Eugenia Kim Eden Feathered Headband. Now is the time to get your hands on it – it is on sale at Lock & Mane for $29.99.
As much as I like the Fuschia option, I think the oatmeal one is fantastic for the universally flattering color – looks great on blondes, looks great on brunettes, and just enough orchre to set off red hair!
Beauty.com has a limited time offer of a Free Urban Decay Primer Potion in Greed with a $10 Beauty.com purchase. UDP in Greed is the gold shimmer one. Also get three free samples at checkout. Free shipping on $25 orders
LightFraxion is just a cool name, isn’t it?
Serious Skin Care LightFraxion
And it’s a cool name for a cool product. Serious Skin Care is launching a new product, LightFraxion, today on HSN. And I love the science of it.
The lotion contains an extract, Morinda Citrifolia (commonly known as noni), which contains a polyphenol to take icky UV light and filter it, if you will, into a wavelength that falls into the red light spectrum (it’s really amazing I don’t have a pocket protector for how excited I was writing that last sentence). Visible red light is commonly used in both derms’ offices and in at-home devices to improve elasticity and reduces wrinkles (such as the Tanda Regenerate Anti-Aging Device). Of course, with many devices, you have to wear goggles to protect your eyes when you are treating your skin, which is not the case with LightFraxion since it’s a lotion and it is simply converting the light that naturally hits your skin. No weird looking goggles required.
Of course, since LightFraxion doesn’t contain a sunscreen, you will have to wear a separate sunscreen. But no fear – LightFraxion still works with sunscreen on. (and wouldn’t it be counterintuitive to wear and anti-aging product but not wear sunscreen?????)
And I feel a little silly for saying this next part, this is a daytime treatment, not a night cream. Why? Because it’s dark at night, and the sun is out during the day….
Ready to try LightFraxion? Find it on HSN.com for $39.95 and on the HSN channel today at 10am, 3pm, and 11pm today (all EST) where you can learn more about the product and get some other anti-aging tips. Not going to be near a TV? Check out the new HSN Arcade, where you can play games while you watch HSN in real time in HD.
One of the best tweets I’ve seen in awhile came yesterday from @dkny – “Ok can we make a new rule? From now on the phrase ‘You look tired’ is forbidden. (No one asked & no one wants to hear it). Capeesh?”
It’s true. It’s so very, very true.
Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase Under Eye Recovery
Of course, people who are “YLT” offenders aren’t going to cease their obnoxiousness no matter what, but with the right products, you can confidently say “No, I don’t.” Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase Under Eye Recovery is one of those products in the fight against snarky perceived appearance comments.
Under Eye Recovery is another great product from the Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase line, and a fantastic daily eye cream on the whole. It targets puffiness, wrinkles, and dark circles. And yes, it makes your eyes look fresh, energized, and super awake after just a few days of use. Take that, rude appearance commenter!
Kinerase Under Eye Recovery works in two ways – it depuffs, smooths, and brightens the eye skin immediately, and it also works in the long term to prevent future eye skin sagging due to stretching caused by fluid under the eyes, future wrinkling, and gets rid of dark circles. As soon as you put it on, your eyes look brighter and within a couple of minutes puffiness dissipates. It’s pretty impressive – I’d say the depuffing effect is on level with MAC’s Fast Response Eye Cream, which I only use in beauty emergencies since the caffeine in it can irritate my skin if I use it for more than a couple of days. But Kinerase Under Eye Recovery depuffs without any irritation! I’m really happy to find a fast acting depuffing eye cream that is gentle and also hydrates.
Like all Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase products, Under Eye Recovery contains Kinetin in the same amount as the original Kinerase line, and it also contains “Eyeseryl” which works to keep collegen fibers intact, so your eye skin stays firm, as well as aids in lightening dark circles. It also contains a collagen stimulating ingredient.
I’m so thrilled to find a depuffing, brightening, firming eye cream that doesn’t dehydrate my eye skin. It’s fantastic for days that you need a quick skin pick me up, and it gives smoother, tighter eye skin with continued use. It’s also fantastic under makeup – hydrating enough to look dewy without looking greasy, and eye makeup stays in place.
So when people say you look tired, you can smile and put them in their place. 
Find Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase Under Eye Recovery at Walgreens for $22.39. (of note – all Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase products seem to be on sale on the Walgreens site right now – good time to try them out!)
Jul 042011
As we begin our “Low Blow Dry July“, it’s worth assessing the general starting condition of your hair. After all, one of the main reasons to lay off heat tools for awhile is to give your hair a rest and get it in fantastic shape. One of the things a lot of us will find is that we are probably due for a trim (or more).
Now, if you regularly keep up with trims, it will be business as usual. But if you are sporadic with trims (which can happen if you are trying to grow your hair out), you may have more to cut off than you’d like.
Here’s the thing – split ends won’t disappear on their own. Ends that are thinner than the rest of your mane won’t either. There are some fantastic products to revive hair, but sometimes your ends are just beyond repair and need to go. If it’s several inches, you may not want to do it. While it might seem like a small matter to part with a few inches, it does indeed become an emotional issue – hair is such a part of self-image. Last summer about three inches of my longest layer needed to come off, and when I did it all at once, it just didn’t feel like my look for a few weeks, despite my hair being long enough that three inches less doesn’t really make a difference.
If that describes you, and you have the knack for trimming your hair yourself, try this: trim off an inch. Wait a couple of days. Then trim about half of what still needs to come off. Wait a couple of days. As you notice your hair looking better, bouncier, flippier and flirtier, and all around healthier, getting rid of the last bit will be a snap. This sort of “week-long trim” takes away the shock factor of cutting it all at once.
Happy trimming!
Sephora has a new coupon code to choose a free deluxe mini product. Enter promotion code FREEDOM in the promotion code box during Sephora.com checkout to receive your choice of one of the following deluxe samples with your online merchandise order of $25 or more:
■Alterna Bamboo Luminous Shine Mist (0.85 oz)
■Jurlique Balancing Foaming Cleanser (1 oz)
■TARINA TARANTINO Sparklicity Gloss (0.2 oz)
■Versace Vanitas Eau de Parfum (0.16 oz)
■Bobbi Brown Extreme Party Mascara (0.10 oz)
■Cover FX BritePrep FX (0.10 oz).
