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 »

What, Canada doesn’t understand the concept of a 16-way tie?

I’m not so happy six “Canadian Idol” hopefuls are headed home today. I hope it’s not the last we hear from Martin, Gary, Marie-Pierre, Katelyn, Omar and Oliver, all of whom have such potential. It’s not going to be the last I hear anyway — I keep hitting the CTV “Canadian Idol” site to replay their strongest performances.

A big congrats to the Top 10, though — I’m excited for them and the next part of their professional and artistic growth as they get to work with industry pros to hone their skills all summer. I hope they take it all in, keep their confidence up and relax into who they truly are. If they can do that, they’ll be gold on stage.

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Enter to WIN a LUSH Retro Gift Box!

Omigoodness, Ben Mulroney was hilarious tonight. What was in that cookie?

I laughed out loud.

Hey! This post fits nicely into Made-in-Canada month, yes? Nice.

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Enter to WIN a LUSH Retro Gift Box!

Sheesh. I have 16 new crushes. By crushes, I mean a mix of admiration and awe for their focus, and damn, they’re all so lovely and talented. What crush doesn’t usually convey, however, is respect, and truly, respect is a huge part of what I feel for our “Canadian Idol” hopefuls. Read the rest of this entry »

For two days I’ve been trying to find a recipe to make crow a tad more enjoyable. (Young ’uns who don’t know “eating crow,” as my mum and dad would say: look it up. Here. *grin*) Read the rest of this entry »

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 didn’t ask her a single thing about her skincare and makeup regime. Not a thing.

Doesn’t mean I didn’t figure a few things out about Candace Bushnell and beauty, though. Here’s what I learned about the author of Sex & the City and Lipstick Jungle at a P&G Beauty cocktail gathering this week:

– Bushnell owns a pair of Crocs but wears them only at home. (We were at the Bata Shoe Museum; I had to start with shoes, yes?)

– she has a fresh perspective on female-driven programming: “We get romance or romantic comedy and men get action-adventure,” she said. “Sex & the City IS an action adventure! Our idea of action is emotional. Men want to blow things up, we want to have a really great conversation.”

– she characterizes Mr-Big types as men who make you feel smarter, prettier, sexier and more glamorous than you’ve ever felt on your own. “But it’s not about looking for Mr. Big,” she says. “It’s about being Mr. Big.” (It’s a be-all-that-you-can-be thing.)

– she thinks beauty is making the most of what you have: appearance, personality, work ethic and drive to succeed. (Hey, I only said I didn’t ask about beauty, not that Bushnell didn’t talk about it.)

I did ask Bushnell, though, whether she’s surprised to find herself the go-to expert on matters of women’s hearts, mating and dating rituals and shoes. “No,” she said. “This is just the way I’ve always thought about these things, how I’ve always talked about them.”

And it struck me that of course, in the face of following a passion toward success, reaching success and owning that success, lipstick is just icing on the cake.

My friend Krizia, editor of Beauty Match (www.mybeautymatch.com) also met Candace Bushnell at this cocktail party. She’s got lots more fun deets and dishing on makeup, style and “Lipstick Jungle” in her post, Meeting Candace Bushnell Author of Sex and the City.

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.