Recently in Body Category

I've written about Philip B before and now I'm excited to say that the whole Philip B Botanicals line has been reformulated to be environmentally friendly! The products are entirely paraben, phthalate and petrochemical-free, but they kept all the pure botanicals, so the line is truly better than ever. Plus they've got a bunch of delicious scents! Some personal picks include the Chai Latte Body Wash - it's inspired by the Starbucks Chai -- love Chai lattes..not Starbucks, but I'm still a fan of the product! It's formulated with honey (a natural alpha hydroxy acid and humectant that binds moisture to your skin, leaving it nice and soft), Milk Proteins for gentle exfoliation, Black Tea for tightening and toning, and a mix of pure Indian extracts (Cardamom, Cinnamon, Ginger, Black Pepper, and Nutmeg). I'm also a fan of the Thai Tea Body Wash which is enriched with fresh-cut lemongrass, ginger root, peppermint citronella, coconut, lime, pure herbal skin conditioners, and milk proteins. Both washes leave your skin soft (though I do have to put a bit of moisturizer on my legs after I shower). On a side note almost all of Philip's products come in travel-size -- perfect as we all plan our summer vacations!

In all my years of being obsessed with beauty products nothing comes even close to how much I LOVE Pangea. Seriously I can't think of a person who has come to my apartment that I haven't gone on and on about this line to! It's completely genius. The packaging is planteable! Soak the packaging of almost all of their products in water for one minute, plant it about 1" deep in soil, and voila! In just a few weeks you'll have flowering Amaranth (Bar Soaps), Genovese Sweet Basil (Facial Cream), even a spruce tree (Pangea Organics Pangea Gift Box -- buy and plant it now and maybe you'll have your very own Christmas tree by next winter!). They've got a ton of products to choose from. I personally love their Pangea Organics Lip Balm, Fennel with Grapefruit & Sweet Orange. I'm usually not a fan of fennel and previously have sworn by L'Occitane's Shea Butter one, but what can I say -- this one's better! Their Shower Gels are also nice and made entirely without synthetic preservatives, sulfates or detergents (so it's not a suddy mess!). Plus they're thick (ie concentrated to last longer and not watered down with water). I've also tried their bar soaps which smell and feel great only complaint is that they're not super long-lasting, but I love that the ingredients are chosen to have specific effects on the body and mind (ie Lavender with Damiana Tea clarifies the mind and soothes the body -- Lavender is antiseptic/relieves tension, while Damiana Tea is anti-inflammatory/aphrodisiac). The scents really do make them relaxing. They've also got great Hand & Body Lotions and about a million different face products as well as a nice selection of oils.

My boyfriend and I are in the middle of figuring-out our vacation plans for summer. We're deciding between traveling around the Provence-area or going to Prague/Budapest/Vienna/Berlin so I've been doing some research trying to decide between the two and came across a great article in the New York Times about all of the wonderful soap and body products in Marseille. I got very excited because one of the lines mentioned in the article was La Compagnie de Provence Marseille. The all-natural line has been around for ages, but I've recently seen it pop-up in a number of NYC's small beauty boutiques. I'm absolutely in love with the packaging. I often carry the hand cream in my purse (though mine is bigger than travel size, so people sometimes laugh when I bust out the 100 ml tube!). The products have clean, simple, but super-chic packaging (looove the french writing), and the quality is great. Everything is made from palm, olive and coprah, or coconut oils, is free of colorants and animals fats and is guaranteed to contain 72% oil, a percentage that is lovingly stamped on La Compagnie de Provence Marseille cube soaps. The line is unbelievably pure making all the soaps hypoallergenic, anti-bacterial, and mildly antiseptic. There's such a local authenticity to this line -- not overly fussy just simple and effective. Has anyone been to Marseille/tried any of the city's wonderful soaps?

Despite the schizo weather lately (it was 31 over the weekend and 71 yesterday) I'm going to go with the calendar and start preparing for summer. I use body scrubs in the wintery months but not as regularly as I do during bikini season! Some women say "who cares!  No one's looking and I'm a mom." Uh hello? I care, I'm looking at myself and I want to look as hot as I can for as long as I can. Oh, and the hubby is looking, too so it's good to keep him interested.

Anyhoo, I received samples of La Mer's "The Body Refiner" last week and gave it a whirl this weekend. The scrub is plushy, creamy and calming with a very light scent. While I was using it I didn't think it'd exfoliate as well as it actually did because it felt so gentle and creamy on my skin. I guess you don't need a heavy abrasive scrub to do the job (especially if you do a lot of waxing in the summer months) when you have pure diamond powder (each bottle has one and half carats of diamond dust!) and polished sea quartz as the physical exfoliants.  Even though it's made of fermented acidic sea muds it smells fresh and lemon-y.  Worth a try if you're looking for a luxurious body scrub that leaves the skin soft and glowing.  Seriously now, $110 for a carat and half of diamonds sounds reasonable to me.  At SAKS Beauty Place and La Mer.com

Jergens® Skincare is asking women to face the facts and change their bad habits through the "Glow in the Dark" Campaign--a crusade to encourage women to give up their harmful tanning routines in favor of safe alternatives that let you glow without the sun. For the second year in a row, Jergens® skincare team has partnered with The Skin Cancer Foundation to raise awareness about getting a glow without the sun.

To spread the word about the safe way to glow, starlet Rachel Bilson has pledged to "Glow in the Dark" this summer, not in the sun. The star of "Jumper," "The Last Kiss" and the upcoming film "New York I Love You," set to hit theaters in the fall, Bilson is committed to raising awareness about healthy ways to get glowing as well as protecting her own skin by eschewing the sun. To join her, log on to jergens.com and pledge to get your glow in the dark.  (jump for more details!)

$8.99 at your local drugstore.

Summer is coming and you know what that means, girls! The sun is coming and it is going to make you old!! Ahhh!! I don't want to be an alarmist but now that I am almost 40, I worry a lot about wrinkly skin and with good reason. I NEVER lay out in the sun anymore, when I go to the beach, I make my husband erect the largest beach umbrella ever. It requires heavy anchors so the wind doesn't blow it over. Well, all this stress and concern has lead me to Natura Bisse's C+C Vitamin Body Cream. The intense pure vitamin C repairs cells and helps to firm the skin. You know how the skin falls away from the muscle when you age? Just think Donatella Versace in her bikini. Yeah, we do not want that to happen. This helps take that slack off and prevents it if you are not there yet, which is where I want to stay! It also smells so wonderful and feels super luxurious when I'm slathering it on. I just can't get enough of this and I am glad it comes in this jar so I can get big scoops in my hand and apply generously. The 17oz jar is $147 and worth every penny. At Neiman Marcus.

Non-invasive and high tech plastic surgery is the hottest topic of late; these treatments are purportedly safe-- or are they?  I am a bit freaked out by the newest in the battle against bulge called Ultra Shape-- an ultra sound treatment that will melt fat permanently and painlessly invented by Tel Aviv plastic surgeon Ami Glicksman. According to Glicksman, the ultrasound shakes the fat cells to the point that they break down and are metabolized by the liver (What? is that safe for the liver? so you're devouring your own fat? is this what the obsession for perfection has come to? Self-cannibalism?)

This procedure is pending FDA approval and will cost roughly $2,500 per session. Ultra Shape will only work in small pockets of fat (don't expect it to remove 50 pounds of fat-- that will require actual exercise)-- best for belly bulges, saddlebags and knees. I don't know about this, sounds like a lot of money for very little in return and who knows what the risks are for your liver!? What about you-- would you risk your health to be thin?

Like everyone else these days, I'm trying to pare down on my monthly incidentals: taking the subway in lieu of a taxi; stretching my pedicures an extra week; waiting for sales instead of buying full price. Of course there are certain things I wouldn't dare scrimp on, and up until last week I thought bikini waxing was one of them.

Years ago I accompanied a girlfriend to a health food store (I need to stock up on my favorite granola) and noticed a pot of something that looked a lot like honey in her basket. In response to my quizzical expression, she told me that she "sugared" (a hair removal technique that's like waxing except a sugar-based substance is used instead of wax) and that once you got that hang of grooming your own bikini area, you wouldn't dream of spending money to have someone else do it.

Flash forward a decade. Shobha, my favorite place for eyebrow threading (again, one of the many things I refuse to go without) just introduced a sugaring kit and, recalling my college friend's advice, I had to give it a try. AT $30 a pop, it wasn't too much to spend on an experiment in economizing. At home I heated up the sugaring gel in the microwave, put my husband in charge of the kids, locked my bedroom door, laid my biggest bath sheet on the bed, and followed the instructions. After dusting my nether-regions with the enclosed talc-free powder, I tried to mimic an aesthetician's deliberate, quick movements, but it took a few tries to figure out the right technique. (Hint: you really do have to pull the fabric strip in the opposite direction that the hair grows.) Once I did, however, it was smooth sailing, and I liked the fact that I was in complete control of the perimeters of my bikini line. No more, "Can you just take a little more from here?" or post-wax "oh-my-goodness-she-left-nothing" shock. The best part? I'm going to save so much on bikini waxes that I can keep splurging on another indulgence--sports massage anyone?--I figured I'd have to write off for the time being.

Shobha Sugaring kit-- $30 at Shobha boutique online.

Clarins is to skincare what beauty is to Audrey Hepburn -- they just go hand-in-hand for me! Lucky for us Clarins has two very exciting launches coming-up for spring. First they have High Definition Body Lift ($65, officially launching in March). It's their 5th generation cellulite control cream. Like many us know from repeated experience cellulite creams don't really work in getting rid of cellulite -- as I found out when I had my bad experience with Shiseido Body Creator. What a good cellulite cream can do however is tighten and smooth your skin...well at least make it feel like it's tight and smooth for a little while after you apply it! That's exactly what Clarins High Definition Body Lift does. As far as cellulite fighters go this is the best I've tried and it's covered by three patents so there's definitely some new formulations going on (plus it has that wonderful signature Clarins fresh smell!). It's also non-sticky, lightweight, and non-oily so it's not only moisturizing, but quickly absorbs into your skin so there's no need to wait before dressing. Clarins is also coming-out with Bright Plus HP Intensive Brightening Botanical System ($155, officially launching in April). It's a 21 day system that you use at night. It has two parts, one for age control and one for brightening. It's a great way to kick-off a spring beauty routine and get rid of your winter skin...ahh can't wait for the warm weather to start-up again!

The beauty trend of late is definitely spiritual wellness and awareness. If you are on the coasts, especially the west, this is no longer a trend but a way of life. The Naturopathica line is all natural, all organic and formulated to lift your spirits in more ways than one. I am doing a juice fast that requires a detox of the skin and my go to product is the Naturopathica Bamboo Lemongrass Body Scrub. It will sluff away dead skin and renew your with nutrients and moisture. Even if you are not on a crazy fast or diet, exfoliating your skin is the quickest and easiest way to detox your entire system, after all, your skin is the biggest organ. Trust me, after a night of heavy drinking, doing something as simple as a body scrub will help the recovery much faster. Of course, it also makes your skin baby soft! Get it at Skin Botanica or at your favorite organic spa, $42.