Why: By now, you likely know that regularly exfoliating your skin leads to a smoother, brighter, and more even complexion. However, if you're anything like me, you might be too tired—too sensitive—at 7 a.m. to regularly scrub what feels like sandpaper on your face. That's why I love Citrus Skin Polisher from Intelligent Aesthetics. Its mini-exfoliating spheres definitely get the job done (the smoothness, etc.) but it also contains tea tree and willow herb extracts that provide anti-inflammatory action, plus citrus fruit extracts and soothing aloe vera leaf juice to counteract the red, blotchy appearance that can form after a wash with a typical facial scrub. Besides that, it smells divine: like a delicious cup of lemon tea. I'd recommend this to anyone with an exfoliating phobia. It certainly cured mine.
Why: There’s not always time (or money) for a full in-spa facial. Now there’s a great new line called “Soft” on the market from skincare giant Clean & Clear, and we particularly love the “Steam” In-Shower Facial. The new and affordable product makes use of the humidity from your hot shower to give you a one-minute in-shower facial that will leave your pores clear and your skin super…soft. (Yes, it lives up to its name!)
While you’re rub-a-dub-dubbing, spread a healthy amount of the sweet-smelling stuff on your face and leave it on for one minute while you go about your business and the shower steam works its detoxifying magic. Then gently massage it into your skin to exfoliate and you’ll be left with a remarkably smooth mug. But use sparingly – due to the potentially-irritating alpha hydroxy acid in the scrub, it’s only recommended that you use it one to three times a week.
“Biodynamic” might not be the first word that comes to mind when you think about skin care. But it’s one you’ll want to get acquainted with, as it’s the driving force behind the dynamite skin care offerings from Jurlique.
The brand uses high quality, organically grown ingredients (such as black elder and daisy) in its products, with the goal of improving clients’ skin in the most natural manner possible. Jurlique’s philosophy? “Nature trumps chemistry every time”, and it’s so true. I found this out for myself when I tried the company’s line of citrus products.
I’ll admit to being a little apprehensive about trying the Citrus Purifying Mist ($21). My skin, while mostly clear, is super-sensitive. But one spray was all it took to get addicted. Its marshmallow, witch hazel, and aloe vera extracts work to tone, calm (yes, calm!), and clarify the skin. The scent (lemon and tangerine) is so energizing and delicious that it’s become a morning staple.
Bookending my morning skin care ritual is the Citrus Silk Finishing Powder ($36). Designed to control oiliness and rebalance the skin, I can feel it tightening my face after I dust it on, and my skin feels smoother and more primed for makeup after I use it. (I prefer using a powder brush to the puff, and it’s translucent enough to use as a setting powder, too.) One caveat: I can’t speak to its oil control properties, as my skin tends to be drier.
Rounding out the collection is the Citrus Hand Cream ($25). It’s thick and rich – so thick and rich that, when I laced my fingers together and stretched my arms over my head a couple minutes after applying it, I couldn’t keep my hands from slipping apart. It’s sitting on my desk at work – I handle a lot of documents, and a good hand cream is essential for avoiding paper cuts. Plus, the signature citrus scent is the perfect sharp-smelling pick-me-up during midday slumps.
Move over, liposuction. See you later, chin transplants. There’s a new procedure in town: fat transfer to the hands. Now we at SheFinds are no longer shocked by bizarre beauty treatments. Only recently did we discover that leech therapy was all the rage as a celeb detox treatment. And we knew that a bunch of stars were into de-veining their hands for fear of -gasp - looking their age, so this new treatment doesn't necessarily throw us for a loop. We consider it an organic lip plumper for the hands. And if shooting Botox into your face is now as fast and accessible as a quick run to the Duane Reade for some anti-wrinkle cream, then why not start hitting up mini-surgical procedures for other parts of the body? Small price to pay for beauty, right?
What happens is supposedly 'simple': fat is transferred into hands, giving them a plumper, more youthful appearance. Sounds brilliant, but, like many cosmetic surgical procedures, it’ll set you back more than a few pennies, and let's not forget - it is surgery. What do you think? Would you shell out the dough just to have your hands maintain that youthful, smooth appearance? Or are the only wrinkles that bother you on your face?
If the hands are not your primary concern, but you'd still like to keep them looking youthful, here are fabulous options for anti-aging hand treatments.
Fresh offers a Sugar Blossom Hand Treatment ($38), packed with such goodies as evening primrose extract and hibiscus flower acids to ease sun damage and fine wrinkles. It also smells so good, you won’t be able to stop applying it.
Finally, skincare great Clarins offers their Hand & Nail Treatment Cream ($29.50), which works to keep hands smooth and supple.
Recently, I've settled on the fact that I'll just have to live the rest of my life with erratic skin. My mom still has acne in her mid-fifties and has convinced me that she's tried everything, it's genetic, and basically, I'm screwed for life. Thanks Mom!
One positive note from mother – apparently I can look forward to clear skin when I'm pregnant. If you could only hear the sarcasm.
I've tried everything. From dermatologist prescribed creams like Retin A, to Acutane and other oral medications, to every over-the-counter face wash, toner, scrubber, exfoliator, cream, lotion, serum you can imagine. Even the 3-step celebrity-guaranteed system that need-not-be-named didn't work for me. So what's a gal to do?
I've always seen Clinique's 3-Step System in friends' medicine cabinets, but thought, how can something so generic work for my complicated skin? Turns out, Clinique has turned with the tides and created different 3-Step System products for every skin type from oily to dry. Their website has this great questionnaire that helped me figure out which products I needed. Turns out, I needed all three products in the "you have acne" strength. Big surprise.
The Acne Solutions clarifying lotion ($13.50) - or exfoliating toner as I know it - cleans off all that extra makep that my face-washing regime missed. It really gets rid of all the excess oil on my face and neck.
The Acne Solutions clearing moisturizer ($16) has that amazing acne zapper we know as benzoyl peroxide that helps control oil throughout my day. It's lightly hydrating so it is great for my dry cheeks and oily forehead and nose.
This three step system is bound to last me about two to three months – absolutely worth the price for the beautiful skin it's giving me. All 3 products add up to $47. Or get the 4-week starter kit for just $32. Smaller sizes, but at least they'll let you try it out.
We're not all blessed with the perfect bone structure (I, for one, rarely get mistaken for Angelina Jolie - not quite sure about any of you), so some of us look to other means to obtain a chiseled result - extreme means. Chiseled cheekbones are all the rage these days - at least among those who don't have them - and are causing women to hit the needle for their chisel fix. An alternative to plastic surgery, injectables like Radiesse give the illusion of more defined cheekbones. Radiesse is a water-based gel that's supposed to stimulate the growth of new collagen around the cheekbones. The effects of injectables can last a year, which is why women are opting to stick needles into their faces to get the Angelina aesthetic.
But SheFinds wonders, is it worth a syringe inches from your eyeball just to appear a little more feline and/or emaciated (depending on how you look at it)?
If you're really itching for pronounced cheekbones, the easiest way is through good, old-fashioned makeup. This approach is the most cost effective and least painful - but could require some practice to get just right. The first time I attempted the blush trick, I ended up looking like Baby Jane, but after a couple more tries, my cheeks turned out perfectly, and subtly, more pronounced.
TracelessSkin Responsive Tint by Prescriptives ($32.50) is the perfect foundation for non-foundation users, and a useful tool for high cheekbone seekers. Choose a shade darker than your normal shade, and blend this color into the hollow of your cheeks to achieve the illusion of pronounced cheekbones.
If you're really not a fan of foundation, then using a darker color blush like Smashbox's powder blush ($24) can achieve the same hollowed effect. Apply a deeper rose color under your cheekbones - but make sure to blend to keep your look natural.
Lastly, apply a highlighter onto the apples of your cheeks. We prefer Benefit's High Beam ($24) for the natural, shimmery glow it gives your skin.
The question is, are chiseled cheekbones that important? Would you modify the shape of your face and allow a doctor to stick needles in you just to achieve a beauty trend?
Nobody wants to get old - well, at least nobody wants to look old. We shell out money, time, and energy into anti-aging, wrinkle-fighting, youth re-capturing products that usually don't do a darn thing. But why don't they? According to Dr. Nicholas Perricone and his latest book, Ageless Face, Ageless Mind, there are hidden causes of aging called AGEs (Advanced Glycation End Products) that are both detrimental to our health and our appearance. But it's not all bad news: Dr. Perricone offers tips and products to help fight these nasty buggers and help you get back on track towards a healthier more beneficial lifestyle. And he's helping our SheFinds readers too! Below are Dr. Perricone's top 5 products to keep your skin looking its best. And along with his expert advice, we are giving away copies of Ageless Face, Ageless Mind to 5 lucky readers. In order to be considered, you have to write to us in the comments section and share with us your favorite anti-aging miracle product. The winners will receive a copy of Ageless Face, Ageless Mind.
1. Get plenty of sleep - or look like you did with Ceramic Eye Smoother ($50). This new formula for the eye area is a combination of new and signature sciences such as Fullerenes- a new powerful antioxidant, microspheres to fill in fine lines, and an invisible tint to create the appearance of youth and rest. This topical will provide immediate results so the concealer step may now become optional.
2. Do your eyes need their own intensive care unit? Then take care of them with Advanced Eye Area Therapy ($95). Stress and constant strain to the eyes creates a loss of firmness, elasticity, and radiance which makes itself apparent in the way of sagging, discolorations, and fine lines from squinting. An innovative collection of natural compounds and vitamins creates a circulation in the skin around the eyes to reduce darkness and discoloration., while Alpha Lipoic Acid deduces puffiness. Patented DMAE will continue to provide that youthful instant lift to the eyes.
3. Your personal patch kit for large pores can be found in the Ceramic Skin Smoother ($75). Ceramic microspheres will immediately fill in pores so the powerful antioxidant-Fullerenes can comfort and protect stressed skin while an advanced hydrating system attracts and locks in moisture which adds more density to the skin. We then added DMAE for an immediate lifting effect so the skin appears much more finished and therefore can look great with less foundation.
4. Keep wrinkles away with StimulCell ($155), a new booster treatment that uses youth generating signals filtered from skin stem cells to communicate rejuvenation to all other skin cells, thereby extending their productive efficiency and lifespan. We no longer need to age as our parents did. Prevention from daily damage is now available and effective in maintaining one's youthful appearance.
5. Anti-aging must begin from withing. Skin and Total Body supplements ($130) now offer us the intrinsic method of fighting damage from where it begins, from within. What we eat, and how we live dicate how our skin will look. 2 packets of Skin and Total body a day provide your system with all the necessary nutrients, antioxidants, and vitamins to keep energy naturally high, thinking more clear, and the look of skin, hair, and body firm, flexible, and radiant.
To learn more about fighting Father Time from Dr. Perricone, buy his book on amazon.com. Or win a copy from SheFinds!
We are giving away copies to 5 lucky readers. In order to be considered, you have to write to us in the comments section and share with us your favorite anti-aging miracle product.
You remember spring, right? The sun shines hotter, the days get longer, hemlines grow higher, and your legs...stays pale. But don't worry--if you don't have the tan to match the season yet, you can still feel good about sloughing your shell and showing a little skin. Tanning is of course one option, but I prefer a subtler, healthier approach.
What: Creams and powders to make you glisten and glow.
Why: Dove's Energy Glow lotion ($7.99) declares itself a self-tanner but I don't think there's any actual staining going on here--it's more like glossing or shining. Use the body lotion on your arms, legs, back, and anywhere else you want to create the impression of sun-kissed skin. I used it every day this winter, and while it's no substitute for a day at the beach, my noticeably more luminous skin did once inspire a friend to ask me how I managed to stay tan in December. So clearly this product works miracles! The body lotion comes in two different tones to match your skin, as does the facial moisturizer ($7.99).
For my face, though, I actually prefer a shimmery powder, like Laura Mercier's Shimmer Bloc ($38). Sweep a bit of any color--or a combination of all--across your nose and cheeks for that fresh-from-the-picnic look, or brush more liberally on forehead and chin as well to create an all-over facial glow. The bloc comes in two "mosaics," pink-ish and brown-ish, so you can choose your look. Personally, I like the darker colors for creating a tanned look, but the pinky palette makes a great blush, in addition to giving you that certain shimmer.
