Have You Thought About Lip Exfoliator?

I was getting horribly chapped winter lips and tend to carry 5 tubes of chapstick and some vaseline in my purse just stop them from cracking and bleeding. Then I remembered that I stop doing something that I used to do –  exfoliate my lips. It’s the solution to gross winter chappedness:

  I originally found The Body Shop’s Lip Scuff  when I was a teenager and fell in love with it. Over the course of more than a decade, they have changed the formula many times and I have to admit the current version has finer grain and doesn’t exfoliate the way the old one does, but at $11.50 the product is worth your money and does leave lips silky smooth.

 

   If you’re more indulgent or a product nut like myself, you might be interested in trying The Lip Scrub,  a line from Australian Sara Happ that features absolutely nothing but lip scrubs. She invented it in her kitchen and boasts yummy flavors such as brown sugar, peppermint, vanilla bean, and almond creme… but at $29.99 a box you might want to plan on only using it during the winter. 

  

Skin Saver: Dead Sea Products

    

 

 

I have gone in the Dead Sea at least 10 times in my life and I have to say it does have a profound effect on skin. For those of you not willing to make the pilgrimage, try treating yourself to a Dea Sea mineral water bath or mud pack every 6 months or so. At $5.95 from The Jerusalem Gift Shop  you can totally afford it. It amazingly relieves all kinds of skin problems included extreme dryness, breakouts, eczema, and psoriasis and gives skin an incredibly hydrated feel and unified tone. Dead Sea products are especially kind to angry winter city skin.

How To: Get Perfect Eyelashes

The main thing that professional make-up artists do that you most likely don’t is: take the time to comb eyelashes after applying mascara. This final step can make all of the difference between spider legs and fluffy lusciousness. If you want to be even more of a trickster:

 

Wash the mascara wand out of your old tube and use it as an eyelash comb. 

 

• It’s free. You were going to throw it away anyway.
• It works better than a metal comb to give you soft, fluffy, natural lashes. 

Root Lifter: Volume Where You Need It

I used to be in love with a product called  Sebastian Shape Root Lifter, that jet sprayed volume right where you needed it. But since I purchased it at a professional hair supplier called Delorme, I have never been able to find it again. 

I did, however find a similar product made by Kiehl’s called Super Thick Volumizer. It’s got the same pointed fire shot thingy to send the product straight to the roots and nowhere else and is great for adding volume around the crown of your head.

 

 

 

 Just a note: Plan on washing your hair the next day with this product, because greasy residue is an  unfortunate day-later side effect.

How To: Heal Winter Skin

 

 

 My skin is normally oily, but in winter time it seems like everything but my face gets totally dried out. I’ve tried heavy creams, medicated scrubs, even body oil… but nothing works quite like misusing this fab find from Lush: Soft Coeur – The Honeymooner is technically a massage bar… marketed towards couples. It does work great as a massage bar, but it works even better as a heavy duty moisturizer for parched winter skin. I like to apply after a hot bath and give it a little time to absorb before I go to bed. I also love to drench my feet and shove them in socks to try and save them from a callus takeover.  

 

So Sad To See It Go

  My most favorite foundation and overall favorite make-up line, Stephane Marais, is no longer for sale. This means I must begin another flawless foundation quest… In the meantime, you can snatch up what remains on ebay - while it lasts.

Best and Worst: Eye Make-Up Remover

If you’re love a smokey eye or blackest black mascara, then, like me, you know what hell it is to get it off at night… or sometimes the next morning. I have favorites and I guess what you would call “hateorits” in the eye make-up remover department. Starting with: 

• Best:

Klorane Soothing Eye Make-Up Remover With Cornflower Extract

Pros: Gets it off. Gets it all off. Gentle and completely non-oily. 

Cons: Currently not available in the US (you can order it on drugstore.com). Gets the “funny eye make-up remover” smell eventually

   

  

 

      

 Vichy Thermal Spa Water Eye-Make-Up Remover

Pros: Gets most of it off, gentle, non-oily, no funny smell, and totally available at CVS.   Cons: Gets most of it off.   

• Worst 

 M.A.C.  Pro Eye Make-Up Remover

Pros: If you are a stage performer or drag queen, this will take everything off… including glue.   Cons: Feels like you washed your face in an oil slick, and will continue to feel that way for days. Plus you’d have to be a pro to but this product at $17.00

   

 

And last, and unfortunately least, I must say something that pains me… because the absolute worst eye make-up remover award goes to my beloved: Neutrogena. Unfortunately their eye make-up remover doesn’t stand the test of time like their skin products. Oh well, no one can be perfect.  I don’t know how they can call this “oil-free” eye make-up remover when in fact it feels like “nothing but oil.”

(* In a pinch: use lotion or cream as eye make-up remover when you have none!)

 

Best Skin Care Line

I have wishy-washy skin… Sometimes it behaves and looks radiant and other times I feel like it’s a blackhead bonanza. When I was in puberty is was like whitehead heaven. But over the course of 15 years of unreliable and inconsistent skin problems, I have found that there is one brand I can always turn to to clear up the problem:

 

 

 That’s right. Look no further. For over 10 years I have religiously used Neutrogena products to keep my skin spazes in check. Breaking out? Try the RapidClear. Aging? Try the VisiblyFirm. Both? It’s HealthySkin you need. Personally, I’ve been using the latter for the last 5 years… and only when I deviate from my blessed Neutrogena regimen does my skin freak out.

 

 

 

 

Besides, who doesn’t love a reasonably priced

fabulous product? 

How To: Look Instantly Sun Kissed

I did a two-year professional make-up school and learned a trick or two about how the experts cheat. For a super natural sun kissed tan, start off by keeping a foundation that is at least 4 or 5 shades darker than your skin tone. If you are very dark skinned, try something with an orangey hue to it. I personally use a professional stage make-up stick foundation by Mehron.

 

While technically it’s supposed to only be available to professionals, you can order it online here. Trust me when I say the dark brown works on everybody, it’s just a question of how much you use. Otherwise any foundation that’s significantly darker will do. The key is to use less in the winter when you are pale and more in the summer when you are tan:

 

1. Rub two fingers across the top of the foundation stick (just put a tiny dob if you’re using a liquid) and lightly tap it across your cheekbones, starting at the top and moving in towards your nose.  
2. Tap the areas just above your temple on the right and left side of your forehead
3. Lightly tap the bridge of your nose. (This is to mimic the way the sun actually hits your face)You should look a little strange at this point, so don’t freak out. 
4. Wash any excess foundation off your hands and towel dry. 
5. Begin to blend the color from your cheeks up across your cheekbones, rubbing gently and dragging your fingers in an upward motion. If you feel like the color is way too dark, just use a sponge or foundation brush to wipe of the excess and blend at the same time. 
6. Be sure to blend “down” on the lower half of cheekbone and up on the “upper” half. 
7. Use your fingers to blend the two spots on your forehead down towards your temples. This should mimic the way the sun naturally tans your forehead.
8. Use your fingers to blend the color on your nose.
9. Dab a little blush on the apples of your cheek.
10. You’re done. 

There are many variations to how this can work, for example mix hydrating cream with the color before applying for an even more subtle and sheer effect. You can also use the same very dark foundation mixed with some face lotion or cream (about 70% lotion to 30% color, just mix it on your fingers) to give your face a little extra color, not unlike a self-tanner. If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that one make-up product has many many uses, so mix and blend in a way that works for your skin tone. 

In Need of Volume?

This particular product didn’t work for me because I have very thick hair, but for those of you in need of a serious volume boost, you may want to consider Kiehl’s Olive Fruit Oil Hair Care Collection: 

 

 I felt like it gave me too much of a “fluffy” texture, but my finer-haired friends were all very fired up about the instantaneous lock lift. With shampoo starting at $18 for 8.4 oz, Kielh’s is a more reasonable alternative to forementioned hairdresser favorite, Crede.