beautygeeks

Here I am beaming with L.A.-based personal trainer Harley Pasternak when he was in town recently to launch Nestea Vitao, a new line of natural, antioxidant-rich iced tea. A Canadian fella, he’s helped hone the physiques of Benjamin Bratt and Halle Berry.

Well, I used an interview for homemakers.com as an excuse to gush about how much I love Pasternak’s super-efficient 5-Factor workout — and a few weeks later, I fell off the fitness wagon again. Sheesh. Don’t tell.

That’s the “’fessing up”. I’ve slothed out for the last bit. Haven’t been to the gym, lost track of whether it’s two or three weeks… oops. It happens. Life, you know? And I feel the difference — my original title for this post was “F is for Flabbo.”

So it’s back to the 5-Factor workout routine for me on Monday. And here’s the “forecasting”: it’s going to be OWWWWW (yes, caps and italics). But it’ll be great, too. I’ve missed it.

And that’s no fib.

I should mention that Pasternak has two versions of this 5-Factor workout now. His more recent book, 5-Factor Diet, is chock-full of more sound advice and tasty, simple, five-ingredient recipies, plus an updated program which Pasternak promises is even more efficient than the original.

I’ve resisted trying the newer program because it takes me a while to push past 35-plus years of thinking my body can’t do something. Silly, really, because a) the workout isn’t crazy different from the first; b) I’m stronger now than I ever was; and c) the only exercise that gives me pause is a step-up set using a bench. Duh.

I’ll amend my earlier decree: I’m starting the updated 5-Factor routine on Monday. I’ll keep you posted.

If you’re new to my appreciation of Pasternak and 5-Factor, here’s why I’m a fan: Celebrity Body: Harley Pasternak’s 5-Factor Fitness and My Healthy Makeover.

I thought I made my wardrobe work hard, what with my unceasing demands that it make my Tweedledee figure-type look good. SunSoul ups the ante by promising to make skin look good, in a new-millennia having-your-colours-done* kind of way.

In basic terms, part of the theory behind SunSoul is that high-intensity blue light treats and prevents acne breakouts, and yellow light reduces skin damage. The company’s two lines of clothing, Blumöd for acne aid and Yelomöd for skin rejuvenation, use techno-geeky fluorescent microfibre fabric designed to block and convert the sun’s harmful rays as it magnifies good-for-skin sections of the light spectrum. Specific blue and yellow pigments filter UV waves as the density of the weave delivers an Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) of 50+. (Yes, you still need SPF on skin not covered by the clothes.) Just choose the colour to suit your needs: blue to improve breakouts or yellow to reduce signs of skin aging.

Lightweight and breathable, both lines of clothing are appropriately athletic in design and offer long- and short-sleeve tees as well as hats, caps and visors. Pricing ranges from $70 for a visor to $140 for a long-sleeve top.

Clothes that improve skin with just a few worn-in-the-sun hours per week? Sounds all science-fiction-y, doesn’t it? I thought so as well until I checked the website to find out who’s behind this. Turns out the chair of the management team is a Dr. Michael Kreindel, who is crediting as having invented some of today’s popular laser treatments, such as IPL (Intense Pulsed Light, which reduces sun damage) and ELOS (a radiofrequency-and-light technology). As well, high-profile Toronto-based dermatologist Dr. Stephen Mulholland is part of the SunSoul team.

Think about it. If SunSoul does as it promises, we can go into the light. I’ll have to work hard to get over one big problem, though: Fluorescent yellow is just not my colour.

SunSoul is available at www.sunsoul.com or via 1.866.414.7685.

* For you young’uns who don’t know what having your colours done means, it’s an ’80s craze with a good heart: a professional analyses your colouring — hair, skintone, eyes — to determine what makeup and clothing colours flatter you best.

Okay, so I’m not the quickest person in the bathroom in the morning — or ever for that matter. Good thing I don’t have to share. (Clive-O has his own place across the pond. Keeps the romance alive.) Still, I do appreciate a time saver in my A.M. routine. Dermalogica Age Smart Skin Resurfacing Cleanser hits the mark by cutting out my need for a separate exfoliant.

Exfoliation is key to keeping most skin types clear, bright and youthful. Got dry skin? Slough off the flakes and your skin will absorb moisturizer better. Prone to breakouts of uncomplicated acne? Regular gentle exfoliation to remove oily build-up and debris will help prevent eruptions. Dull complexion? Yup, it’s layers of dead cells lazing about on your face like teenagers sleeping in on a weekend, and it’ll get worse — the skin’s natural shedding process slows considerably as we age. Routine exfoliation picks up the slack and encourages faster cell renewal, which leads to a smoother, brighter complexion.

Dermalogica Age Smart Skin Resurfacing Cleanser ($45.50) gets rid of lollygagging dead cells as it cleanses thoroughly. Instead of scrubby beads or grains, lactic acid (an alpha-hydroxy acid) does the work in a non-drying formula gentle enough to use twice a day on my slightly sensitive skin. The product info promises a noticeable difference in smoothness and brightness after just one use, but I’m a regular-exfoliation geek, so my gauge was whether my skin would remain smooth if I swapped my usual face wash and exfoliant for Skin Resurfacing Cleanser. My skin actually feels smoother — whoa.

And of course because I exfoliate regularly, I use moisturizer with SPF 15 or higher every morning and stay out of the sun as much as possible. Removing dead layers from the skin gives a girl a fresh complexion, but also makes her more susceptible to sun damage if she doesn’t use protection.

If only I could figure out what to do with all that extra time I’m saving every morning.

Dermalogica Age Smart Skin Resurfacing Cleanser is available at select spas and salons; visit www.dermalogica.com to find a retailer near you.

I’ve decided Fridays should be for posts about things that start with F. Fun. Frivolous. Freaky. Fitness. Fashion. Fierce… well, you get the idea. Today it’s about LookFab. Or free! if you wanna get persnickety.

If you live in downtown Toronto or are planning on trekking in over the weekend, stop in at 144 Bloor St. W and take a little a tour of the LookFab space. You’ll meet four different beauty stations, each of which addresses specific beauty areas such as hair, face, cosmetics or body. Young, perky, pretty things will tell you all about shower gel, moisturizer, foundation and more; take no notice that they’re in fact a bit young for some of the skincare products. What does it matter when you’ll exit with a freebie-bag of stuff like Venus Divine shower gel, the new Venus Embrace razor (which rocks), and a Cover Girl Lash Blast mascara (the big orange one Drew Barrymore’s all about; it also rocks) to try out at home? In fact it’s a chance to see how it feels to be a beauty editor for a few minutes.

Get the feeling by 5:30 pm on Sunday, though — that’s the last day for the Toronto location. Calgary is the next stop, from May 22nd to June 5th.

And isn’t persnickety a fantastic word? Even if it doesn’t start with F?

Of course I don’t think everyone should go cut off their hair this minute. Giselle Bundchen? No way, uh-uh. Celeb stylist Sam McKnight, responsible for Princess Diana’s jaw-dropping Harper’s Bazaar-cover hair as well as many of Giselle’s cover looks, would weep. But some people should take the short cut. Maybe this checklist will help?

1) Your hair is nothing but long and you only ever wear it in a boring ponytail. C’mon, be honest.

2) Your hair is long and thin and straight — and stringy. And you only ever wear it in a boring ponytail. The right shorter cut will add body and swing to thin, straight hair.

3) A shorter, modern cut that works with your hair texture is a style update for your face and your wardrobe.

4) You’re 5′5″ or less. A shorter chic style will make you look taller. Really.

5) You have misbehavin’ hair. A good shorter cut that makes the most of your texture (like my cut does for me) will put you in charge, maybe for the very first time.

6) You have loads of split ends. Split ends travel up the hair shaft if left unchecked. Your hair will look much healthier and be much more manageable if you cut all your splits off.

Okay, now let’s go see someone about a little snip-snip.

I’m a copycat. I admit it. Also, I’m a little slow….

Way back in October 2007, P&G Beauty PR manager Lisa Festa, 47, had her long, straight hair chopped off for donation at the Pantene Beautiful Lengths kick-off in Toronto. Already a gorgeous woman, post-cut Lisa was unfairly more striking and modern in a just-below-chin-length, chic textured shag by Justin German, co-owner of Shagg Salon. In fact, that crop was a stadium-wave to the power of the right cut in making someone look (even) younger. I took note. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not a fan of suntanning. Not just because I’d rather buy a leather handbag than become one, but because my sensitive, burns-easily skin doesn’t much like the feel of direct sunlight. Too hot. So I have a bit of added incentive to slather on SPF (it seems to lessen the feeling of the heat on my skin).

Of course I am a fan of looking younger than my years. Genetics play a part, but staying out of the sun does, too. I love the shady side of the street.

And I’m a fan of not developing melanoma. So is Marcia Cross, the milky-skinned star of “Desperate Housewives” and spokesperson for Skin Cancer Takes Friends, an Olay-sponsored national awareness campaign to educate on the subject of sun protection. Two of her family members had melanoma; you can read more on that on the site.

I figure learning our young-uns about SPF is the route to take. I’ve told my friends, Kata, 12, and Marissa, 13, to visit the site. Sure there’s a pretty little bracelet bonus to be had if they send an e-card from skincancertakesfriends.ca to 10 of their friends, but they stand to learn something along the way, no?

It’s a strange thing to tell people that you look great now. Essentially, that’s what I’m doing here, and it sounds insufferably conceited, although I don’t mean it that way. You don’t tell folks you look great — you’re not supposed to know until you’re told, right? But we wear how we feel as if it were clothing, so the better you feel, the better you look. It’s truth.

Sometimes we don’t feel so great. We think all those fun, vibrant people around us were born that way, that we weren’t so lucky. The key is figuring out that a healthier attitude (stop feeling sorry for yourself) and a healthier lifestyle (get off the couch) changes everything (life) for the so-much-better.

For years I struggled with my weight and felt ugly and worthless because of it. I spent 10 years hiding in my apartment, avoiding a social life because of the way I felt about myself. I eventually figured out that I was being an idiot, that losing weight wasn’t going to guarantee happiness or a hot boyfriend, so I got off the couch and started a life. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a blog about receiving compliments. “Omigod, you have the most gorgeous skin,” or “I love your bag,” or “awesome shoes” – who doesn’t love hearing stuff like that? It makes you smile, even makes your day, doesn’t it? In fact, just having an opportunity to compliment someone else is a mood lift!

Superficial? Sure. But I’ve been saying for years (and celeb hairstylist Ted Gibson better back me up here on account he’s one of the people to whom I’ve said this): The first part of “superficial” is SUPER!, and damn if “super” isn’t just a great, feel-good word.

So this blog is going to help you get compliments. Lots and lots of great compliments, on your skin, your complexion, your hair, your makeup, your style, your clothes and your accessories.

Practice saying “thank you” gracefully. It’ll look good on you.