Recently in Body Category

Post by Michelle
With mother’s day coming up, the pressure is on to think of something special and great for the mother in your life! I highly recommend checking out Lush’s bath bombs! This package entitled “Anything but Ordinary” is a great variety of them. It’s 6 different types in a variety of scents that will be sure to please any woman you know. They get placed in bath and create a fizzy bubbly sensation along with some of the best scents I’ve ever smelled. For real, you watch the kids and let her relax in the bath with one of these bad boys and she’ll be more relaxed then you’ve ever seen her when she’s done. $36 lush.com

By now you probably think our fear of the sun has made us ghastly and pasty but that is sooo not true! We look sun kissed and dewy! I was happy to see that Elle's June Issue (on newsstands May 15th) of their top 5 picks has the best self tanners out there. Clarins Self Tanning Instant Gel is $29.50. Dove Energy Glow Daily Moisturizer with Subtle Self Tanners, For Medium Skin Tones, on sale for $7.43. Lancome FLASH BRONZER - Tinted Self-Tanning Moisturizing Mousse with Pure Vitamin E$29.50. St. Tropez Tanning Essentials Tinted Self Tanning Lotion, $37.50.
Shiseido Daily Bronzer, $35.

I've become a master at keeping bellies smooth. Thanks to tips gathered from friends around the world, I've developed a routine that kept my belly stretch mark free even though I gained 45 pounds with my son (which is almost 50% of my body weight as I weigh 96 pounds!). So here it is, I have shared this with dozens of friends and they all swear by it (even the ones who are genetically pre-disposed to stretch marks). It's highly coveted amongst my friends and family because no one is as obsessive or insane as I when it comes to skincare so they rely on me to do all the experimenting :)

Morning:
1. Mustela Stretch Marks Intensive Action $37- rub this on your belly BEFORE any other oils or lotions.
2. Mustela Specific Support Bust- did you know breasts get stretch marks too? Apply this twice twice a day to keep saggy away (or ask your hubby to do the honors, trust me, he won't complain!)
3. Dr. Hauschka Blackthorn Oil $26.95- THIS IS AWESOME. All the bikini models I know in Hollywood swear by this. Rub all over belly, hips, and thighs. (You can also buy this at Wholefoods)

Night:
1-3. Repeat morning routine and add the following:
4. Palmer's Cocoa Butter with vitamin E $4.99- this is only 5 bucks so buy it by the truckload! I'd lay in bed every night and massage this on my belly as I watched tv (again, hubbies are eager volunteers for this duty!)

The above steps are MANDATORY! Do not skip one single step! I know it sounds like a lot of work and it IS! But it beats laser surgery later on. I was a greasy mess the entire pregnancy but you should see my belly now :)

Optional:
For tired legs - Mustela Instant ComFort Legs 4.2 oz

All over body lotion (you can use the blackthorn oil or cocoa butter but this is less greasy) - Mustela Ultimate Hydration 6.7 oz
So I'm totally senile and it was Terry who got stretch marks and not Kelly, clarifying it cuz she's now all bent out of shape and sending me photos of her belly to prove it. Sorry Kel!

After a long day I regain my sanity with a nice soothing bath. But if I don't have time for a long hot bath, I have my plan B - a L'Occitane enriched shower. The Shower Cream will give you the most luxurious shower you will ever experience with the soft scent (I love the Milk), gentle lather and a moisture rich consistency. You will not know true indulgence in the shower until you try this, there is nothing as rich and moisturizing as this and it will leave your skin soft, hydrated and smelling so relaxed - there is no other way to describe the soft Milk scent. Follow this up with the Milk Body Lotion and you will feel like you just spent an hour at the spa and as cuddly as a baby. The Shower Cream is $20 and the Body Lotion is $30. I might be a Beauty Snob and a Bag Snob, but $50 on a shower set is still something I save for special occasions, if nothing else but to have a treat on bad days. This pair would make a fantastic Mother's Day Gift.

My sister brought back a jar of Santa Maria's body cream for me when she went to Italy and it was the first I've ever heard of this line. I used it and loved it, the smell, the consistency and the purity of the ingredients - the whole thing! I wanted more but couldn't really find it anywhere. Well, it is now being sold at eLuxury and let me tell you, you have to get your hands on some of this stuff. I love this travel gift set because it comes with everything I am looking for heading in to Summer but this is also the perfect Mother's Day gift for those with moms who have everything. And who wouldn't love getting a luxury beauty set? It comes with the Refreshing Tanning Water, Shower Gel, SPF 4 Body Lotion and Moisturizing Body Cream. Handmade in Italy from all natural ingredients. $158 at eLuxury.

Other than missing my family and close friends in LA, I really miss my longtime facialist Crystal Klug. Crystal has been taking care of my skin since I was a college student at USC! Even through my travels around the world and seeing other facialists, I'd always go straight to Crystal the minute I landed in LA. I've often shown up at her door jetlagged and dirty haired with suitcases. She used to work for Finer Skin Institute but is now working out of her apartment. If you live in LA, go see her, I promise you will get the best facial of your life (it's not the most glamorous of locations but who cares, your skin will be flawless)! (My other skin guru is Annie in Taipei, but that is another post all together).

One of the products Crystal turned me onto is the H2T pumpkin enzyme mask. I use the 5% on my face and the 20% on my body. It's really really messy so I usually stand in the shower while I do this and feel like a slimy creature from hell but it's so worth it! The pumpkin enzyme will sting for a few minutes or longer depending on your skin's sensitivity but enzyme is a bit less harsh than glycolic and the results on my face and body are stunning! My whole body literally glows afterwards and my skin is so soft! Celebs pay a fortune to have whole body enzyme peels but you can do it at home if you have time. You can buy it online here or Email Crystal to schedule a facial and buy it from her (although I am not sure she sells the higher strength one for the body). Tell her I said hi and I'll be seeing her in June :)

Can you really rid of cellulite without resorting to the knife? I have a few friends who seemed to think so (and trust me, they all have bikini perfect bodies). They swear by the Pre-shower cellulite scrub and Contouring cellulite cream from Arbonne. I was given a set but have yet to try it myself, there just isn't enough hours in a day for me to do all that I need to do to stay gorgeous! Has anyone tried this before? It's supposed to tone and tighten the skin, giving it a smoother appearance so cellulite is not as noticeable. The bottle says it visually improves the skin so it's not claiming to rid of cellulite completely but it does hide it. Which is way better than having it removed surgically. If you want to try it, call Connie Dieb at 972-345-0015 or email her! Tell her Beauty Snob sent you :) $85 for the set.

This is one of my favorite shower gels, it leaves you all tingly and clean plus it's made of all organic and natural ingredients. Dr. Bronner was a hippie who believed in love, peace, and happiness. I have spent many showers reading his many philosophies on life printed on the bottle label (30,000 words on each bottle!). It's quite entertaining if a bit ridiculous (stuff like earth is mother spaceship, etc hahahhaa)! I use the Baby mild on my son, there are no essential oils that may irritate his sensitive baby skin. I get mine at Wholefoods but check the website for a retailer near you. I have the 32 ounce size in my shower and buy the refills by the gallon. Less plastic used, more earth friendly :) Peace and love all
p.s.(I use the Peppermint!!!)

My husband and his friends call me LaRue as I always have a giant hat, a wrap, and SPF60 smeared all over my face and body on the beach. I love a warm glow to my skin but I am deathly afraid of the sun so I have not tanned since I was a teenager. I've been faking it with bronzers and self tanners for years and have tried just about everything out there. I even tried the tanning spray booths which gave me a natural and even tan within hours (I joined my husband for lunch after a session and literally turned brown right in front of him which totally freaked him out!) but standing in that dark booth is really scary so I went back to self applied lotions. Unfortunately I am impatient and always leave the house before it'd dry so I'd get sock lines and/or smears on my clothes. I finally discovered L'Oreal's Sublime Glow last summer and it is by far the easiest self tanner to apply and the least messy. It's more of a body lotion than a self tanner and the color is a lot more natural. It also gives you an instant subtle shimmer, which I like on my legs and shoulders in the summer. At most drugstores or Target for $9.99
FORGOT TO MENTION THERE ARE 3 SHADES, LIGHT MEDIUM AND DARK. I like the medium but choose accordingly to your skintone. As for the smell, you guys are going to think I'm weird but I like it! It's not as smelly as most self tanners, it's a soft scent that I barely notice. I use a pure gardenia oil with Creed's Millesime perfume so you don't really smell it.

Post by Michelle
I love taking baths. I love having wrinkly fingers and toes. I mostly love closing the bathroom door and soaking away my bad days. When I’ve had a particularly bad day I will treat myself to a Fairy Jasmine bath bomb. It’s a fizzy bomb that is filled with iridescent sparkles that float in the water and stick to your skin when your bath time is over. I find a lot of Lush’s products to be too smelly. I can hardly enter the store without getting a headache, but Fairy Jasmine’s got an amazing smell that relaxes you without being to overwhelming. I use it right before bed to relax myself (and it’s kind of fun to go to bed all sparkly!) But be warned, the sparkles to stick so don’t use it if you’re going anywhere that might not be sparkle appropriate. Your skin will be super smooth and soft after the bath though! The only disappointing thing about this bath bomb is that it will be gone soon! I just went to Lush’s website and apparently it’s a limited time only. Boo! Try one now. You won’t regret it, I promise!! $5.75 each. www.lush.com