My Beauty Space : Product Reviews, Tips and Experiences

I was bent on getting endermologie treatments done for the longest time, and was seriously looking into cosmetic surgeons and dermatologists that were certified to perform it, when I came upon something else that intrigued me that was supposed to help smooth out cellulite naturally as well as even take inches off in some cases, like endermologie can many times do. 

It’s called “lypossage” and it’s an intensive, lymphatic drainage series of massages that you get in various “zones” where you have the most fat deposits and cellulite accumulation. 

The Lypossage Treatment

Lypossage is performed by massotherapists who are specially certified by a series of teachings to perform the art of lypossage.  It was the dream child of Charles Wiltsie, LMT who did a year long study on whether certain types of therapeutic massage, vigorously concentrated in areas where cellulite and excess bulges were, could actually cut down on the fatty areas, as well as reduce the look of cellulite.

What he found was that every patient responded well to the lypossage treatments, and that almost all patients actually lost girth and inches as well as gained a smoother appearance in the cellulite prone areas of their bodies such as the buttocks, thighs, and tummy.

The Lypossage “Zones”

Lypossage addresses treatment of various areas of the body in what they call “zones”.  Zone 1 covers the thighs, buttocks and abdomen.  Zone 2 covers the back, ribs, arms and chest.  Zone 3 covers the face and head.  The cost of your treatment depends on the extent to which you need treatment.  For example, if you want to help reduce circumference in zone 1 only, you will pay less than if you want to address all 3 at the same time. 

 The cost of lypossage usually is around $1800 for six weeks of treatment.  The treatment recommendation currently is to get three treatments a week, for six straight weeks.  Most people do go monthly thereafter to maintain results, and some customers go back once a year to get the full course treatment again.

I found this so intriguing that I actually booked a consultation with a nearby massage therapist to get lypossage.  I actually heard her ad on the radio, and that’s how I found out about the lypossage technique to getting rid of cellulite.

You will, of course get a full review of how this all turns out if I decide lypossage seems like the way to go.  The therapist said she will show me some of her before and after work, which I thought was great.

I think I’m in love.  I just found a “dry shampoo” by celebrity hairstylist to the stars (like Sandra Bullock and Ashley Judd) Oscar Blandi.  It’s a dry shampoo - well not completely of course - it just means you apply the stuff to your hair, it dries instantly and you don’t have to get in the shower to have a fresh, clean head of hair. 

The Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo is infused with a cool lime verbena smell, and is supposed to leave your scalp and hair smelling and feeling fresh, just like a real shampoo does (although I’m sure this cannot completely replace shampooing - unfortunately).  This is a great product for those that are like me, and absolutely loathe washing their hair, drying it and going through that whole rigamorole. 

I normally only wash my hair every other day, since my hair tends to be fairly dry, but I admit I do occasionally let it go a second day without washing if I’m just too busy or don’t feel like washing it and drying it. 

This product would be ideal for those situations, because on the second day, my scalp does start to feel kind of icky and it would be nice to have a temporary refresher between shampooings. 

The stuff costs about $19, and can actually be found at the Amazon beauty store (see to right), or at Sephora.com and Nordstrom.com, where Oscar Blandi hair care products are sold. 

I looked at some of his other products, and he likes to use naturally emollient and shine infusing ingredients like wheat oil and sea nutrients to give hair a nutrient boost and also to naturally infuse moisture and health, so I think his products are probably worth a look. 

Some stylists say that if you have wavy hair, you may want to opt for longer layers in your hair - nothing too drastic or too short, but just some nice, natural looking longer layers, to lift the hair more and give it a little more shape instead of one big cascading mountain of waves with no shape.

Wavy textured hair can tend to look a little too “big” and bushy if it is not shaped correctly, so the layers are an ideal solution to the overly “big” bouffant look that wavy hair can tend to get.  Don’t forget, you can also use the right products for wavy hair that will minimalize frizz and contour your waves into something more coiffed looking and manageable, rather than curls that have no rhyme or reason, going on in every direction.

Wavy hair must also be seriously hydrated at all times.  You may want to choose a deeply moisturizing treatment to go in your hair at least once a week, to be kept on for a total of about ten minutes, and preferably combined with heat - maybe a hair dryer for a little bit, then wrapped in a plastic cap to keep the heat in. 

Or, like me, you can choose to go get these treatments done in a salon - I don’t get them once a week, but I do get them every time I get my hair cut, and they do make a nice difference in the way my hair looks and feels, and they do hydrate better since the professionals put me under a heat blower for twenty minutes, allowing the moisturizing agents to fully penetrate the hair shaft and truly moisturize. 

There are also glossing treatments that are available in salons, and I believe John Frieda has one available as well.   Gloss treatments should last about 30 days, and they help the hair cuticle lay flatter temporarily so that you have a nicer, less frizzy look to your hair without the harsh chemicals of other straightening systems, plus you can still have wavy and curly hair.

One of the greatest advances in cosmetic dermatology today is a line of wrinkle and line fillers that are injected just underneath the skin so that they may smooth out deeper lines like crows feet, nasolabial folds (the area above your mouth, the line where the nose sort of “connects” to the lips) and other areas like the forehead that might have deeper lines.

Injectable line fillers such as hyaluronic acid run about $500 - $600 per injection and may last anywhere from six to nine months before they need to be redone.  The good thing about wrinkle fillers like this is that you don’t get the “paralyzed look” that often comes with botox, which actually freezes the muscles underneath the skin which cause wrinkles, and also takes a lot of expressiveness out of your face (can you think of a few actresses that don’t seem to be able to emote correctly?) 

How Injectable Line and Wrinkle Fillers Work

Typically, the dermatologist will numb the area where the hyaluronic line filler will be injected.  The area you desire to be “filled” will then be injected with a filler that will plump out and fill the wrinkle in for 6-9 months, depending on how quickly your body absorbs the material. 

Hyaluronic acid is actually harmless to your body when it is absorbed, because hyaluronic acid is actually made by your body.  It is the substance that keeps your skin firm and wrinkles at bay, and it naturally gradually deteriorates with age, which leads to sagging skin. 

Many topical skin care products that are geared toward anti aging and wrinkle filling contain hyaluronic acid, and it may also help your skin topically.  Hyaluronic acid is not only used for filling in wrinkles and lines, but it is also used as a lip plumper, much like collagen is. 

Side effects of injectable line and wrinkle fillers may include bruising, allergic reactions and swelling.  They also may empty your wallet, but that’s nothing you didn’t already know! 

Remember the days of serious eyebrow plucking and shaping?  While is not even arguable that a well defined and arched brow will always be the classical look and always frame your face better, the actual thickness and thinness of the brows has gone up and down over the years. 

When I first started plucking my eyebrows and shaping them, very thin was in.  Think a very young Pam Anderson in Baywatch type of thin.  They were no more than an eighth of an inch wide even in the widest areas. 

Now though, it appears that fuller eyebrows are making their way back.  Now, all you see on runway models are fuller, more generous looking eyebrows, without the super thin look that used to prevail.  They’re almost going back to a Brooke Shields look now, perhaps a bit thinner, where the thickest part is about 1/4 inch and the thinner parts do not taper so quickly at the end of the eye.

This is good news, since a lot of women (and men) really do look better with a more generous brow, since thicker brows do tend to be more flattering to more facial types because they are more versatile and can be shaped a lot of different ways, making it easier to taylor them to your specific face whether you have an oval face or a round or long face.

Also, if you overpluck, you can always just pencil in your brows where you have over plucked.  I pluck my own eyebrows, and I usually tend to over pluck where my eyebrow ends at the end of my eye, so this is where I usually have to use the pencil.  Be sure not to get a pencil that is too dark though.  This usually looks very obvious, and unnatural.

Avon’s got a brand new mascar out, and curvy latina actress Salma Hayek is promoting their new eyelash plumping product on the pages of women’s beauty magazines. 

It’s called superFULL mascara, and it claims to make your eyelashes up to five times fuller without the clumping that is so hard to avoid with these thickening and plumping mascaras. 

It comes in a sleek silver tube, with a brush very similar to my personal favorite mascara’s brush, L’Oreal Lash Out’s teddy bear brush.  I think the old brushes are pretty much gone, unless you want inferior coverage, since their bare minimalist look only provided clumpy and sparse coverage. 

The newer, finer mascara brushes are a definite must, as they distribute the mascara more evenly, and break up clumping before it happpens.  The Avon mascara comes with what they call a “revolutionary” Clean Build brush that prevents clumping and allows maximum lash building without looking like spider legs. 

Clumping is also avoided if the actual mascara is an anticlumping formula, which the superFULL mascara by Avon is.  In the customer testimonials shown, women liked the mascara a lot and claimed it separated better, as well as put just the right amount of mascara on their lashes.  Who knows, maybe I’ll eventually try it and give up my beloved L’Oreal…