beautygeeks

I’m pretty sure everyone knows of the Marcelle brand of skincare and cosmetics. They’ve been a drugstore staple for as long as I remember, definitely since I was a teenager. Yes, that was only last month, but no matter Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

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.

Estella Warren loves rich, gourmet meals.

That was not in the beauty-secrets swag bag I got at my coming out party.

Warren, if you remember, is a Canadian National Champion synchronized swimmer-turned Chanel No. 5 model-turned Mark Wahlberg’s co-star in Planet of the Apes. In town for the launch of Nestea Vitao, a new line of preservative-free antioxidant-rich iced teas, Warren is operating on just a couple of hours of sleep. Again I must kvetch. Sleep deprivation wasn’t in my beauty-secrets bag either.

Tall, shiny and clearly naturally slender, Warren’s just under 30 according to the birthdate on her IMDB profile, and she’s back on the modelling circuit, she says. She’s also a little dorky, which helps me get over my natural resentment (hey, I’m not perfect). A bit non-plussed when I ask her about her beauty regimen, she stumbles over her words some and then confesses that she doesn’t really have one. “I’m not a cleansing freak,” she says. “I usually use whatever I have lying around. Sometimes it’s Dove soap, and sometimes it’s a basic Neutrogena cleanser.”

She thinks some more. “Oh, and I use a moisturizing cream from a line called Embryolisse; it’s cheap in France.”

She doesn’t exfoliate or use fancy anti-aging serums on her clear skin. Genetics. Huh.

Warren’s role at the event is of opening MC. She introduces celebrity trainer and fellow Canadian Harley Pasternak, who is here to introduce the iced tea (*shrug*), so I ask whether she’s a client. “I was,” she says. “Harley’s great. But I love my gourmet food, my foie gras, too much. He only lets me have my favourites once a week; I want them every night.” Did I mention naturally slender? Healthy slender, with curves.

Fair notsomuch.

I’m busy examining Warren’s makeup application. Light, natural, nice emphasis on her green eyes with a little golden-bronze shadow and lots of mascara. Real, like she did it herself. “[Makeup artist] Sue Devitt is a friend of mine,” she says. “I only wear her makeup. She makes the best foundation. It’s really light, like a tinted moisturizer.”

And then it comes out. “I like sleep,” she blurts. How much sleep? “Like 10 hours, every night if I can,” she admits. “I love sleeping. That’s really my beauty secret. As much asleep as I can get. I can’t wait to take a nap.”

She’s still under 30. And a winner in the good-genes pool. One substandard sleep-night isn’t gonna hurt her. Sheesh.

Well, at least I can try that 10-hour sleep thing.

G’nite.

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.

Olay Definity Refining Lotion with UV Protection (SPF 15) makes my skin look happy. Anything that makes my skin look happy makes me happy.

I must confess to a few very late nights since hitting the office-free lifestyle. In part it’s because I’m rather a night owl. And in part it’s because I can — tee hee! But late nights have an effect on this skin. It starts to make snide comments about my not being 20 any more. Sheesh.

Olay Definity Refining Lotion shuts my skin up in the nicest way: with compliments. Somehow the P&G Beauty folks have managed to produce a moisturizer with a light-reflecting finish that doesn’t scream for the spotlight. Read the rest of this entry »

Having super-sensitive skin is a tough thing. From what I hear from friends in the know, at times it feels like you have to be vewy, vewy quiet lest you somehow trigger a sudden epidermal eruption or angry reaction. How frustrating.

La Roche-Posay is one of the few skincare lines that works for people with truly sensitive and reactive skin. Most of the products contain pure spring water from a region in France with the same name. The region is also home to a La Roche-Posay spa that specializes in treating severe skin conditions that defy traditional treatment. Each year thousands of patients visit for medically supervised baths and showers with only that pure spring water, which has soothing, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The treatments provide such significant relief that they are covered by the French healthcare system. And when that water goes into La Roche-Posay skincare, it remains pure throughout the rigorously sterile manufacturing process so the effects are uncompromised.

New in the La Roche-Posay product lineup is Hydreane, a moisturizer that combines the thermal spring water with hydrolipids, which easily penetrate skin and deliver moisture at a deep level to hydrate and reduce sensitivity over time. Hydreane is paraben free and comes in a light formula for normal/combination skin, as well as a rich formula for dry/very dry skin. 40 mL, $25.50 at pharmacies and drug stores.

So who’s a dumbass?

Here I am, enjoying a beautiful Spring day at Niagara Falls last weekend. Now’s a gorgeous time to visit the area, by the way. The landscape is gloriously in bloom, bright with new green leaves, fuchsia and powder-pink blossoms and dewy tulips in every colour. The falls are pretty cool, too, of course… see that rushing blue-green water in the background? Stunning.

But I digress. 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?

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?