Recently in Beauty News Category

Wonder what cool smells like? You'll soon find out from Balenciaga's new fragrance launching in February next year. The face of the new scent is none other than Charlotte Gainsbourg (as in the daughter of icons Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg).

Via WWD: Gainsbourg says, "I have the feeling that the house of Balenciaga has become my second home." Ghesquière, who described Gainsbourg as "one of the most inspiring girls in the world" and "really representative of what France is today," declared she personifies his upcoming fragrance. "Her unique sense of style, her graceful and intense talent have always been very inspirational for me," he said. "This fruitful and long-standing relationship Charlotte has with me and the house of Balenciaga gives all its meaning to this project."

UPDATE: I was told this is not a peel even though you get the results of a peel. This facial resurfaces the skin without peeling! The 18% unbuffered glycolic combo is KEY. You must try this! You can thank me later ;)

I have been using my new beauty regimen from iS Clinical for weeks now and will have the complete 30 day review up next week. I'd wanted to try the masks, too but the iS Clinical rep told me I'd hurt myself if I used the masks at home as they are medical grade products and required the skills of a trained medical aesthetician.  I was referred to EpiCentre Legacy, a medi-spa directed by national and world-renowned local plastic surgeons, to receive the "Fire and Ice" facial.

Upon arrival I was given a complimentary skin care analysis using a Profect US camera (oh my god, so scary-- here I thought my skin was flawless but the camera caught sun damage dating back to my teenage years!).  The very knowledgeable Medical Aesthetician, Mickie Shelton, also spent 30 minutes educating me on the difference between IPL, Fraxel and Ablative laser treatments (I don't know if I'll ever have the guts to do any of these but will let you know if I do!) before getting me on the table for my facial.

Let me just start by saying that this is not your average frou frou facial with music, dark lighting and candles.  It's more like a medical treatment; the lights stay on and it's all very clinical.  After cleaning my face, Mickie applied the first part of the Fire and Ice Facial.  The "Fire" is a Intensive Resurfacing Masque clinically formulated with 18% unbuffered glycolic acid (no fillers means less irritants), lactic acid, citric acid, malic acid, retinol, vitamin B3 and potent antioxidants, including green tea extracts.  I won't lie, it stung and tingled but was bearable-- no screaming or hair pulling on my part.  I also got it on my neck and chest (so important!)-- a total of 3-5 minutes is all that is necessary for this peel to work its magic.  Next came the "Ice"-- the Rejuvenating Masque is a cool, soothing and intensively hydrating masque containing hyaluronic acid, aloe vera gel, Japanese green tea extracts, licorice extracts, grape seed extracts and rosemary extracts.  This part felt really good, especially since it was 106 degrees outside!  It also tingled but did not hurt, it just felt really really cold on my face. 

The entire treatment took about 20 minutes and my skin was amazingly tight and firm afterwords-- I felt like I had just gotten a face lift.  Three of my friends commented on my skin this week and they're all planning to try this facial, too.  I have never had a chemical peel before and I'm so glad I waited until I found the iS Clinical facial.  You must try this!  It's only $100 for the face and $150 for full face, neck and chest (recommended) at Epi Centre.  Go to the iS Clinical site and find a location near you!  (Jump to watch the treatment on video!)

What you eat can possibly save your life, or can it? There is a new study that claims eating a single mushroom a day may keep breast cancer at bay (any variety, including dried mushrooms). The International Journal of Cancer found that women who consumed the fungi were 64% less likely to develop cancer than those who didn't. Dr. Min Zhang, a research associate professor of epidermology at the University of Western Australia claims "Mushrooms contain compounds that may suppress the production of estrogen, a hormone that promotes breast tumor growth".  Next time you cook, considering a mushroom or two into your stir fry, soup or casserole. It can't hurt!

This is the most disturbing and grotesque fad I have EVER seen. The Japanese have outdone themselves by coming up with a way to look like you have bagels in your head. Why would you want that, you ask? Yeah, good question. I guess to be weird because it most certainly is not cool in any way. Or maybe they want sympathy. I mean, if I saw someone looking like this, I would think they have an untreatable condition. To achieve this, saline is injected into the skin, which causes swelling and then a shape can be molded. There is no comfort in the fact that you can pick a shape other than bagel. It is done at piercing and tattoo shops. (Via Manolith).

I have not personally tried this product but am very curious about it-- if you saw how much hair I lose each time I shampoo you'd understand. Yeah yeah, I know it's normal to shed and to grow back but I still want to know all of my options in case I wake up one day with a baldspot. The latest technology approved by the FDA is the HairMax Laser Comb (the French have been all over it for years!). It claims to stimulate the scalp and hair regrowth without pills, serums or surgery. A mere swipe of this miracle comb will ensure a full head of hair. Hair does not come cheap, however. This comb retails for (gulp) $495. Check it out here.

I just read that French courts finally ruled on the L'Oreal case (I wrote about it two years ago) and found the cosmetic giant GUILTY AS CHARGED! Yay! (note that in the US, L'Oreal oftens uses minority models though they were accused of 'lightening' Beyonce's skin) Read about it here.

It irritates me to no end to read about something, get excited, only to find out it's not available for another 2 months. So I'd like to apologize for featuring something that will not be available until August-- but I felt you should know about it so you can show off to your friends your knowledge on beauty collections. I'll post a reminder when it does come available, how's that?

Created by Lancôme artistic director for makeup Aaron De Mey, the Declaring Indigo collection celebrates Paris in all its vibrancy. Aaron chose shades that represent the glamour, the energy and the passion of Paris--indigo blue, bright red and luxurious gold.  Daria Werbowy is the face of the collection and I am obsessed with the Ink Art Liner in 'Indigo' (but of course!). They offered to send samples, I'll let you know how it works!

If you'd like to get your hands on something from the collection like, now, Declaring Indigo brush-and-makeup bag is currently available at Nordstrom!

Bobbi Brown and her team of make up artists are now on twitter!  Send your tweets and ask them all of your beauty questions, follow AskBobbiBrown here!   

And get free shipping (free tax for most states) when you shop at Bobbi Brown site today- enter BEACH6 at check out!

In honor of La Mer's sea heritage and continued support of Oceana, the world's leading international ocean advocacy organization, La Mer is proud to announce that as part of this partnership La Mer has designed a limited-edition 8 oz/250 ml "World Oceans Day" Crème, with 100% of net proceeds going to Oceana. With 2009 marking the first U.N. officially designated June 8th as World Oceans Day - the World Oceans Day limited edition Crème de la Mer will be sold in May and June at Saks Fifth Avenue and www.lamer.com for $745 (yes expensive but a 1 oz jar is $130 so you're actually saving money by buying in a bulk size). If you're running low on your La Mer-- why not pick up a jar of this limited edition cream-- at least you know all the net proceeds will go towards saving our precious oceans! And did you know pollution is not what's destroying our eco system in the ocean? It's overfishing, specifically a practice of bottom trawling; a fishing technique that uses weighted nets to clear-cut the ocean floor. Coral and other marine life, once destroyed, can take hundreds of years to regenerate. As there is so much that we don't understand about the ocean life, ocean preservation helps safeguard these habitats for future study. Buy Limited Edition La Mer here.

I can't drink caffeine (Truth is, I hate the way it tastes, smells and makes me feel.) but I've wondered about its beauty benefits recently as it's been seen in everything from eye cream to butt cream.

Some manufacturers claim their products can take away under-eye puffiness or dark circles; others promise to smooth away cellulite. Sounds good, but do they work? ShopSmart, from the publisher of Consumer Reports, got the lowdown on what caffeinated products can and can't do for you from a group of experts and researchers, including dermatologists and plastic surgeons in their July issue. 

Eye creams

• The claims: Products such as Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Eye Roller, $13, Kiehl's Eye Alert, $21, and Lancôme High Potency Daily Moisturizing Eye Treatment, $36, reduce dark circles and puffiness.
• Experts say: If puffiness is the result of water retention, a caffeinated eye cream might help dehydrate the area. As for those dark circles, the deeper they are, the less likely it is that they will disappear. Caffeine's ability to constrict blood vessels can help, but it only works on the skin's outermost layer.
• Bottom line: Don't expect miracles, but you will probably get an immediate tingling or cooling sensation, and you might notice that bags look less severe and under-eye circles might appear a bit lighter over time.

Face creams

• The claims: Products such as Murad Environmental Defense Kit, $82, and Topix Replenix Cream CF, $63, are supposed to protect skin against premature aging and reduce redness.
• Experts say: Caffeine might improve the look of your skin and protect it from sun damage, but you should still use sunscreen. Recent studies have found that caffeine might also help sunscreens and antioxidant ingredients in skin creams work longer and more effectively. And there are no known negative effects of applying caffeine to your skin.
• Bottom line: Applying a skin cream containing caffeine every morning before you head out into the sun might not be a bad idea--but those creams are super pricey!