CLEAN HANDS

Out East, the weather is brutal. Snow and wind and sleet and ice. Every part of my skin is chapped, especially my hands. And it's soooo cold, who wants to wash their hands in this sort of weather? But hands get dirty, that goes without saying - you slip and fall, touch subways, taxis, buses... what to do, what to do?

Well, Clean Perfume has the handiest anti-bacterial moisturizing hand cream. It kills 99.9 percent of germs while hydrating your hands with Vitamin E, avocado, jojoba and grape seed oil. It's non drying, made without alcohol, parabens or triclosan and it doesn't leave a sticky residue once applied.

In fact, it's like mixing your favorite hand moisturizer with Purell and poof! you've got CLEAN. It's travel size so it'll fit in your purse or pocket....and the unscented formula means your man will like it too!

A word (or several...) from the company:
"The formula features SafetyDerm® technology, which suspends germ-killing Benzethonium Chloride in airy-light layers of moisturizers to veils your hands like invisible germ-killing gloves for up to 4 hours"

Opportunities are endless. Protect your hands from harsh winter weather + germs!

PRICE TAG: $10..00 for 1 fl oz

Introducing JASMINE!

I just discovered that one of my favorite hand creams is available in yet another delicious flavor... Jasmine (it's harder to find but well worth the search)!

This is fabulous news, girlies, almost as exciting as finding out that Brad Pitt is single (wishful thinking..)!!!

L'annine European Hand and Body Cream (a weekly must-have back in June) is sooooo amazing! It's light, hydrating, refreshingly smooth, a little goes a long way, and all of the scents are incredibly pure and decadent. The Jasmine cream smells like I just got leid (not "laid", dirty minds) in Hawaii - like freshly-picked jasmine flowers strung together to create a gorgeous lei (the kind you wear around your neck!).

The tube is small and convenient enough to carry around in your purse (that's where mine is). Great for on-the-go moisture with a surge of scent! I love it for my hands, but it's suitable for your body too.

The cream is so brilliant because the ingredients are high-quality. Allantoin is an effective healing agent that helps to promote cellular renewal and has a soothing effect. Glycerin is a humectant ingredient which provides constant moisturizing. And the Silicone-Based Lubricant creates a protective barrier to prevent moisture loss.

I swear, try it and you'll become addicted... You'll want to buy in bulk! (Click HERE to purchase)

PRICE TAG: $15.99

**other scents are mango, avocado and lemon**

WEEKLY MUST-HAVE!

I am an avid user of hand creams... I always have a tube in my purse, my car, my bedside table, my desk... everywhere. I loathe the feeling of dry, cracked hands.... YUCK... like nails down a chalkboard.

My most recent find is absolutely fantastic: L'annine European Hand and Body Cream. It's rich and soothing without being greasy. The cream comes in 3 scents, mango, lemon, and avocado... the latter being my favorite. The avocado oil aids in hydrating chapped skin and the smell is SO fresh and clean, it's literally a treat for your senses (not overwhelming)! The handy tube fits anywhere and it's great for sensitive skin types as well!

A word (or several...) from the company:
"This non-greasy moisturizer is formulated to heal and protect dry, chapped skin. It is gentle enough for even the most sensitive of skin types, yet tough enough to be recommended for a diabetic's foot care plan. Allantoin soothes and heals as it promotes cellular renewal while Glycerin provides all-day, deeply penetrating moisture. Light, sweet scent."

PRICE TAG: $16.00 for a tube (a little goes a looooong way)

Travel Tips For Gorgeous Skin

I've been on five planes in the past eleven days and FINALLY I'm home (back in L.A.). Flying isn't exactly the best for your skin... or your health. Not only is it terribly dehydrating, it's also dirty and the recycled air in the cabin of the plane actually recycles the germs and bacteria. YUCK.

So here are my radiant skin travel tips:

• ALWAYS use a MAJOR moisturizer prior to boarding the plane (and keep the moisturizer in your purse for periodic retouches). I like my new Weleda Wild Rose Cream - it's great for normal to oil skin (like moi) - very soothing and hydrating, and it's completely free of synthetic fragrances, colors, preservatives and raw materials, thus I'm feeding my skin exactly what I would feed my body - health and love! (And for those inquiring minds, this cream is very similiar to the Jurlique's Balancing Day Cream (which includes rose and is ideal for maintaining balance) yet half the price!)

• Slather a soothing eye cream on your eyes prior to flight. I like MAC's new Moisturelush Eye Cream. It helps to reduce puffiness (an effect of flying) and balances the skin's moisture levels.

• NEVER wear make-up on a flight. Not even concealer. Make-up only clogs pours, especially with unnatural, recycled air!
  

• ALWAYS stick at Q-tip dip of Neosporin up your nose prior to boarding. This is a trick that I learned ages ago and it really works - Neosporin is an antibiotic - it fights the germs from recycled air and protects your nasal pasages, plain and simple.

• Continuously load your lips with tons of lip ointment. My pick: Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Protectant - it lasts for hours and truly hydrates (apparently, now it comes in a stick with SPF as well.... gotta try that asap!)

• To ward off bacteria that can cause acne, take an antiseptic stick on the plane. I use Desert Essence Blemish Touch Stick with Eco-Harvest Tea Tree Oil (it's only $9.00 and lasts forever!). Tea tree oil is a natural antiseptic that leaves the skin clean and blemish free. I apply this constantly throughout my flight!

• ALWAYS carry a heavy-duty hand cream. As I just posted, Frilly Lilly is my new fave! When I fly, I am constantly washing my hands so that I keep the germs at bay, and well, soap dehydrates even more, thus I apply hand cream on an hourly basis (at least)!

• Before the flight, try a cuticle oil or cream to moisturize and hydrate your nails. Flying can cause weak and brittle nails as well. Frilly Lilly also makes an outstanding Cuticle Oil - a drop on each nail, massage into the nail bed and you're good to go (***bonus*** it smells fresh and delicious!)
• During the flight, constantly spray some sort of tonic or mist onto your face. This also aids in keeping skin hydrated. I adore the Pangea Organics Argentinian Tangerine & Thyme Facial Toner. Thyme is a natural antiseptic to ward off bacteria while tangerine heals, detox's and calms. It's all natural and incredibly soothing. I use it before, during and after the flight. And sometimes, I spray it on a cotton pad and wipe it on my face to get off the excess oil and grime.
  

• Load up on Vitamin C prior to flight. Try EMERGEN-C (I love the Raspberry flavor) and/ or AIRBOURNE. I take both. And drink TONS OF WATER. Fluids keep the insides hydrated!
  

• And the final tip, when you return home, use a moisture-intensive, vitamin-induced mask to replenish your skin! My pick: Mario Bedescu Enzyme Revitalizing Mask. Vitamin's A & E are antioxidants while Alpha Hydrox aids in refreshing tired and dull skin!
  

Have any special flying tips? Let us know! Leave a comment below!

WEEKLY MUST-HAVE

I've just stumbled upon a new hand cream (thanks to my friends at the Silver Spoon Beauty Buffet) and it is phenominal!

I've spent the past 4 out of 8 days on planes, thus my hands are cracked and severely dehydrated. But my magical tube of Frilly Lilly Lemongrass Sage Hand Cream saved the day (and salvaged my poor hands)!

I love the entire product from the packaging (girly and pink... so purrrty) to the smell (clean and fresh like lemongrass). And the actual lotion is tres tres emollient, yet not greasy or sticky. It lasts for hours and truly hydrates the dehydrated.

Like 8 glasses of water a day, Frilly Lilly's Hand Cream is a MUST (especially in brutal winter conditions)!!!

WEEKLY MUST-HAVE

There are some products that you use - for a couple of weeks or months at a time - and then you throw them into a drawer and never think of them again. Soon, said product is replaced by the newer, perkier, more colorful version.

Okay, okay. Yes, I too, am responsible for fleeting product love... Love today, not tomorrow.

But then there are those very few, special products that become cult staples in your beauty routine.

May I introduce Elizabeth Arden's Eight Hour Cream, the creme de la creme of creams! I've been a fan of this product for years now... ever since traveling to Europe and discovering the balm in a duty free shop.

It is the end all to all things chapped - lips, knuckles, cuticles, feet, you name it! It's been a beauty insider's secret for years - models use it on their legs and tummies during swim suit shoots to add a very believable and gorgeous slimming sheen to their hot bods! Also great on cheekbones to add a little glimmer of shine - accentuating the bone, making cheeks look chiseled.

And the cream really does stay on for hours - make that, 8 hours. I use it when I fly prior to boarding the plane - and by the time I land in NYC, my lips are still soft and kissable!

AND, thanks to the genius minds over at Elizabeth Arden, we can now get the Eight Hour Cream in a hand treatment AND a body treatment... both equally as divine as the original!

This is one product you will ALWAYS want on you!

A Helping Hand...

Jackie O reportedly commisioned New York apothecary, Cambridge Chemists, to order 100 tubes of this British hand cream. After importing the cream for the American heiress, Cambride Chemists decided to carry the lotion and sell it (for a pricey $17.50 for 70ml) to the average folk. They are the only store in the United States (sans online vendors) to distribute the self-proclaimed "One and All" complete treatment for hand and nails(somebody correct me if I'm wrong here...). Innoxa Hand Cream is a unique product in that it isn't oily and greasy like most lotions, yet it still effectively moisturizes, protects and softens the skin (and it's said that it actually promotes nail growth!).
A word (or several...) from the company:
"One and all hand cream is a major advance in hand and nail treatment. It's unique moisturising ingredients and rich nourishing proteins strengthen nails, improve cuticles and soften hands. Not tested on animals and hypoallergenic."
So I've tested this product and here are my results:
The fragrance is non-obtrusive.
The cream definitely works to moisturize without leaving a greasy film behind.
With continued use, it did in fact improve the horrific state of my nails.
It's absolutely not neccesary to re-apply a gazillion times a day (like other hand creams).
Product Rating: 8 out of 10.
I suggest that you walk - make that run - to your nearest online vendor and purchase a tube. Your hands will thank you...

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Tonight I am returning to California (Los Angeles) after a three month jaunt on the East Coast (New York City). I'm a pretty low-maintenance flyer - give me a seat next to a window, my own TV and a Klonopin and I'm good. If I allow my mind to wander to those frightening places, I do think about the fact that I am breathing recycled air for five in a half hours - this can't be good for the immune system or the skin....
So this is how I ready myself pre-flight:
I ALWAYS carry hand lotion in my bag. Current Choice: C. O. Bigelow Dr. Hiosous Quince Hand Lotion - non-greasy and effective. I don't need to apply a million times - once does the trick!
I ALWAYS bring my own liter-size bottle of Evian water.
I ALWAYS take Airborne (I prefer the lemon-lime flavor) an hour before the flight is slated to depart.
I ALWAYS use an astringent, face moisturizer and eye cream before I leave my house. Current Choices: Kiehl's Blue Astringent Herbal Lotion; Ole Henriksen Herbal Day Creme Anti-Oxidant Formula SPF 15; Shiseido Benefiance Revitalizing Eye Cream - sooooo moisturizing it's like candy for your eyes... yummy!
I ALWAYS carry my Labello Cherry Lip Balm - it moisturizes without any goo or shine and adds a dab of red color to your pout (just because your traveling doesn't mean that you have to look insipid!)
And a great tip from my hair fanatic friend, Jenny Cohen, slather your nose with Neosporin - I know, it sounds a little suspect, but it actually aids in fighting off infections from the dry, reprocessed airplane air.
And lastly, I ALWAYS bring my oversized Dolce & Gabbana Sunglasses to ward off wandering eyes (and to shield my own eyes from those nasty fluorescent lights!)
So farewell for now - see you back on the West Coast....
What's your pre-travel beauty regimen? email us!