beautygeeks

Green Beaver, Green Beaver, Green Beaver. I know, it’s an innocuous name you’ll have trouble remembering. But try. If you’re into natural and organic beauty care, you’ll want to. Read the rest of this entry »

Live Clean is a Canadian line of eco-friendly shampoos and conditioners made without sulphates, phosphates, DEA or parabens. Available in formulations to invigorate, moisturize or volumize, the products contain certified-organic botanical extracts and are housed in fully recyclable plastic bottles. (Click here for more info.)

New to the Live Clean family is the Pink Fire duo for colour-treated hair. Read the rest of this entry »

C’mon, plant a tree with me. Plant a whole bunch. Seriously! You won’t even break a nail, I promise.

La Coupe Orgnx is a Canadian collection of shampoos, conditioners, treatments and styling products made without sulphates, parabens or diethanolamine (DEA). Certified organic botanical ingredients include avocado, fig, nettle, hibiscus and olive oil, as well as extracts from moringa seeds. And with every purchase of any Orgnx item, the company donates a portion of the proceeds toward planting moringa trees. Read the rest of this entry »

Hard water and styling products such as wax and gel sometimes gang up on hair to leave Build Up. Suddenly, curls aren’t so soft, the texture feels a bit waxy, the hair’s misbehaving and someone’s turned your shine factor way down. Time for an intervention: clarifying shampoo.

We haven’t heard much about clarifying shampoos over the last few years, probably not since the 1980s when hairspray held up the sky. But clarifying shampoos are still around: Neutrogena makes Anti-Residue Shampoo and Conditioner; Herbal Essences has Degunkify, the name of which makes me grin because inside I’m just 12 years old; and Lush offers Rehab, which also has a fun name — it’s so pop-culturally relevant at the moment (poor Lindsey Lohan and Brit Spears).

My thick, medium-coarse, frizzy hair needs a hefty amount of curl-enhancing cream or mousse each day to reduce the resemblance to a Beefeater topper. Throw in occasional curl-refreshing spray touch-ups, or spray wax in a pinch, and after a couple of weeks, despite regular use of my usual shampoo and conditioner, my ’do’s dialing a hotline for help. Lush Rehab answers the call with a zippy, rosemary-mint accent.

Hit the bottle once a week: that’s rehab anyone can live with, yes? That said, I don’t need to use Rehab quite so regularly, only after a stretch of time in which I use more product than usual in my hair. Once in a while I’ll hit Rehab just because I like the tingly freshness, especially on extra-groggy mornings. I always follow up with my usual conditioner, and after each use my hair looks and feels super clean and shiny, plus I get better results from my styling products.

Really, I like to think of Rehab as an invigorating clean slate without all the public judging. Unless you count compliments about your bright, bouncy hair.

Lush Rehab Shampoo, $11.95 CAN, $12.45 US, at Lush Boutiques or www.lush.com.

I’m wary of this green trend in beauty. Not that it isn’t a good idea — reducing the amount of chemicals we put on our skin or into the ground is smart. But how much of it is truly green (natural or organic)? Is it as effective as what we’re used to? How much is just marketing?

Live Clean haircare address those concerns head on. The shampoos and conditioners are, respectively, 99 and 96 percent plant based, formulated without sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS, a chemical cleanser), phosphates, diethanolamine (DEA, which boosts lather and texture) or parabens (chemical preservatives). Ingredients include ECOCERT-certified organic botanical extracts such as rosemary, chamomile, lavender, eucalyptus and white tea. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

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.