Archive for July, 2006:
L’Oreal has one of the most popular lines of cellulite creams and treatments right now, and they actually have a pretty good and effective line of cellulite products right now, but I’m not so sure the new “day and night” cellulite gels are really necessary.
I haven’t tried them yet, but I’m anxious to see how these are reviewed, or if they are reviewed any better than the traditional once a day cellulite treatment products.
They are called Sublime Slim Day and Sublime Slim Night, part of the whole Sublime line of skin care, which includes the popular Sublime self tanners also. The ad campaign says that “Cellulite melts under the pressure of a regimen”, which I happen to agree with, but I also believe that if you use firm massage, which is a regimen, along with an effective cellulite treatment you will see results as well.
The claims are that you will see firmer and more toned areas of cellulite within about eight days, and after 4 weeks of treatment, you should see your thigh circumference (or might, I should say) decrease by about 1/2 inch, along with a reduction in dimpling and cellulite visibility.
Neutrogena probably has one of the best OTC skin care lines out there right now. They’ve long been known as extremely gentle and non irritating skin care products that even dermatologists sometimes recommend to patients with sensitive skin. The Neutrogena Pore Refining Toner is another fairly good product that Neutrogena puts out that I’ve tried, and actually currently have in my bevy of skin care products.
I’ll admit, I’m not a huge fan of toners, or astringents is what they used to be called, because they tend to be drying, and I have memories of those godawful toners in the eighties like Sea Breeze and the likes that would do nothing but irritate and redden your skin, and make it dry and flaky if you used it more than once every other day.
The Neutrogena Pore Refining Toner is a little different. Although I don’t use it every day, and sometimes will even go weeks without using it, I like to use if when I start to notice the pores on my nose standing out a lot. I will then use it once at night after I’ve washed my face, and if I do this a couple nights in a row, it seems to help my large pores out.
This is exactly what a toner is recommended for, is to help make the pores less noticeable, and the pore refining toner by Neutrogena does accomplish that over time without drying your skin out.
If you have larger pores, you may want to take a look at this reasonably priced skin care product. It’s ok for sensitive skin too, but I would not recommend using any toner more than once a day, or once every other day for that matter.
It looks like Neutrogena may have come up with a clone of Revlon’s popular Skinlights collection of skin illuminating foundations and highlighters in it’s new “Healthy Skin Enhancer” oil free makeup with Retinol, SPF 20 moisturizer, and a sheer tint. Revlon’s skinlights have all of the above as well, but Revlon puts more of a glowing spin on theirs, and has had great success at marketing it.
I know this, because every darn time I go to the store to restock my Skinlights Illuminator, the shade I like “Warm Light” is almost always sold out!
Neutrogena’s got a pretty solid reputation as a pure skin care provider, with quality ingredients and a long history of skin care and skin health products that sell like crazy, so this may be a great makeup to try if you’re looking for something to give you the dewy look, and want to try something different. It does also say that it is dermatologist reocmmended, which could be a bonus too, I suppose!
I have such a love/hate relationship with Aveda hair products. On one hand, I absolutely love the fact that they are all natural and have a woodsy, earthy scent to them, and on the other hand I hate how some of their products seem to dry my hair out worse than it was before, especially if the particular product is supposed to moisturize damaged hair!
Let me say first, before I bash Elixir and give it a bad review, that I absolutely love and cannot live without two Aveda hair care products. And those are Be Curly and the Shine Serum. Be Curly is awesome, and I wouldn’t use any other product when I want my naturally wavy hair to go curly some days.
Aveda Elixir is a leave-in conditioner which you put in your hair after shampooing it, and do not rinse off like you do with traditional conditioners. It, like Aveda’s other products, uses plant based technology with natural emollients to help smooth the hairs cuticle and replenish lost moisture as well as repair damaged ends.
This product did neither for my hair. While I had high hopes for it after slicking a generous amount on my freshly washed hair, after I blew my hair dry I saw only what looked like a fried head of hair, and almost felt like washing my hair again just so I could wash the stuff out immediately and start over.
It must just not be good for thicker, more wiry hair types, because one of my good friends who has thinner, less frizzy hair uses it and swears by it. So, maybe it would work on those of you with thinner, naturally “calmer” hair, but if you’ve been cursed with “big hair” that frizzes and dries easily, I’d advise to stay away.
Lancome’s got a newer moisturizer out with broad spectrum SPF 30 in it, which is excellent protection against the sun’s rays since it protects against both the UVA and UVB rays of the sun, something that not all sunscreens do well, according to dermatologists.
It’s basically a very potent daily moisturizing lotion, primarily to be used in the morning, since it’s got the SPF in it. It’s also vitamin enriched and has natural plant extracts in it, and I’m a huge fan of the use of herbs for skincare, so that’s a bonus in itself, since plant extracts are uber-gentle and caring to your skin, while also providing therapeutic properties against aging.
Lancome claims that over 77% of the women who used the product in trials saw a visibly healthier and smoother looking complexion within a 4 week period. Pretty good odds, I’d say. Hopefully you’re not one of the 23%…
I have to say, for an OTC hair care product, Pantene has some definitely decent offerings. Take for example their newer line of Restoratives hair care, including a shampoo and conditioner which can be formulated differently according to hair type. I used them about twice so far, and I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised.
Although I’m usually not a fan of heavily scented cosmetics or hair care products, and Pantene is known for heavily scenting their hair care line, I did like the Frizz Control Restoratives shampoo and conditioner.
The line claims to help repair rebellious hair damage which causes frizz and to also help lock in the hair’s natural moisture while sealing out humidity for those that live in Florida or the likes. Well, it certainly did seem to help calm my hair, although I think the protection against humidity is a bit of bunk, because my hair still expanded and looked frizzy when I was exposed to the damp, humid outdoors.
Still, I’d say that if you like OTC hair care products, you may want to take a look at the Pantene Restoratives line of hair care. It’s worth a look, and Target has some good deals on it now since it’s still a fairly new product.
I got this question from a reader about the thermal reconditioning permanent straightening hair process. They ask : “I HAVE READ ABOUT THE STRAIGHTANING VIEWS AND ETC BUT ONE QUESTION ARRIVES IS HOW LONG DOES STRAIGHTENED PROSESS LAST EG MONTHS , YEARS , WEEKS ? PLEASE LET ME KNOW”
Answer on Thermal Reconditioning : The chemical process known as thermal reconditioning does permanently straighten the hair that it treats. Your hair grows though, so the new growth will grow in as it’s old consistency, meaning curly, wavy, or whatever your natural hair texture is.
This usually means for most people that they have to get the process done again in 6 months to a year – usually closer to a year. It all depends on how fast your hair grows. I personally had to get it redone within about one year – probably about 10 months if you want to get specific, but I didn’t mind using the flat iron for those two months or so to make it straighter. That’s just me though. Hope this helps !
Anyone seen this one yet? It’s a citrus scented, invigorating body scrub that’s geared toward getting your whole body scrubbed, fresh looking and summer-hot for the guys to drool over you.
Actually, it’s based on a sugar exfoliation theory, which definitely works. I actually have a girlfriend who’s been scrubbing her face once a week with a sugar scrub (yep, straight from the cupboard), and she swears by it.
So, if you want the fancy schmancy citrus scent (and I’m sure it’s packed with other moisturizers too, don’t get me wrong), buy the Neutrogena stuff. If not, drag the old bag of sugar out of the cupboard, get the loofah, and start scrub a dub dubbing.
I bought some of this Nexxuss Color Ensure Replenishing conditioner and detangler and replenishing and color refreshing shampoo, and I’m not sure if I like it or not. What I usually do is switch shampoos and conditioners around a little to keep them fresh for my hair, since most people recommend that who do hair.
So I switched to this between my Purology washings and conditionings. I’m not too impressed so far, as the formula seems to be drying out my hair worse. But, here’s the thing with my hair.
Shampoos and conditioners that advertise themselves as “color extending” products usually do dry out my hair, which I don’t really understand because you’d think that hair care products that are advertised to not strip your hair of color would actually be gentler to your hair, and not strip any moisture or color from it. Opposite applies for my hair I guess!
They come in little 5 oz. tubes and are an orangish color. They are advertised as being fortified with a patented formula called “Nexxuspheres” which are an advanced microsphere technology which provides for the gradual release of hair strengthening ceramides. These ceramides, combined with replenishing nutrients are supposedly what makes the Nexxus color care shampoos and conditioners special.
The formula says to leave it in for at least 3 minutes and I left mine in for about 5.
I can’t help it. Every time I say I’m never trying another mascara other than my beloved L’Oreal Lash Out, I see an ad for another mascara that I suddenly think I “must have”. This time, it’s L’Oreal’s Fabulash, which shows model Halle Berry wearing the Fabulash mascara in the Blackest Black color, and of course she looks fabulous (no pun intended).
Well, then again, don’t they put fake eyelashes on these models to make it look better? Whatever, I was wondering if anyone out there has tried Fabulash who’d care to comment to the BeautySpace readers so we can figure out if it will really make us look like Halle Berry or not. Just kidding (sort of).
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