My eyes and neck are my aging troublespots… and since turning 40, I’ve been turning to eye treatments to work their miracles on my crow’s feet, circles, and drooping eyelids!  Top complaints with eye treatments are that they either feel and appear greasy and my makeup slides off, or that they aren’t moisturizing enough and the product actually exaggerates my fine lines and wrinkles – true story!

For a few years running, SkinMedica has been one of my favorite skin care lines and when their new SkinMedica Illuminating Eye Cream came out, I had to give it a try.  (more…)

Even if you don’t follow skin care, at some point or another you have probably heard of an AHA.  AHAs or Alpha Hydroxy Acids are often used in skin care to aid in the exfoliation of the skin.  Many moons ago (about 15 years ago I think), the Alpha Hydrox line was released and constant ads were touting its amazing skin rejuvenating powers.  I kept saying to myself, it sounds promising, but put acid on my skin – is that really safe?  This is also about the time that chemical peels were becoming popular and the tabloids would report about “deep peel horror stories” and women being scarred for life.

The pH level of the skin ideally should be slightly acidic (at about 5.5).  The skin is designed to create an Acid Mantle which protects the skin from the elements and other nasty intruders (like bacteria and fungus).  To learn more about the Acid Mantle, there is a very informative article on the SkinCareRx.com site about maintaining the proper pH balance of the skin, “Maintaining the Ideal pH:  Create beautiful skin that will last a lifetime.” (more…)

Sometime amid the chaos in our house today my previously written post was deleted by one of my darling little munchkins. I can’t say for sure which one of the monsters shut down my browser without hitting save first because they’ve banded together quite admirably and aren’t naming names. Oh well, it gave me the energy to whip up another batch of cookies and I have to love the fact that for once they aren’t falling all over themselves to tattle.

As I may have mentioned a time or twenty before, I have blemish prone skin, even in my 30’s. I’m also creeping into fine line territory and I believe I have definitely whined before about how unfair this is. The major problem is that there aren’t really many products for women in my position. There are scads of acne control products on the market, and an infinite number of wrinkle creams and treatments, but I’ve had trouble finding a product for that lucky woman who has need of both. Besides the expense of doubling up on products to treat both issues, I’m irritated by the difficulty I have finding just the right balance between acne and wrinkle treatments. Intense wrinkle creams can often exacerbate oily skin and many acne treatments are drying, so using both at once can sometimes be counterproductive. I need a lightweight moisturizer that will help prevent aging without breaking out my already finicky skin, is that so much to ask? (more…)

Begging Jen’s forgiveness, I’m posting a little late this week. Which is pretty much the way I’m doing everything this holiday season. Nobody else out there is late  prepping for the holidays are they? I’m sure you all have everything collected and neatly wrapped, stashed in a closet or under the tree, all ready for giving, right? Well, there’s bound to be a few of you who are like me and haven’t even begun to SHOP yet, much less start the wrapping. For you I have some quick tidbits from the one place you can always shop, the internet!

First, you only have 2 days left to take advantage of  the friends and family deal from tarte. 40% site wide AND a complimentary card case with purchases over $25? Um, heck yeah! Use code: FFDEC at checkout for this hot deal.

Fresh is offering free standard shipping on all orders through Dec 14th with the code HOLIDAY09. If you haven’t checked out their stuff yet you totally should. Who wouldn’t want a bar of Sugar Lychee soap in their stocking this year? Their selection isn’t limited to just soap either, with body and skin care products for any woman (or man) in your life.

Sephora has a whole section of nothing but value sets, including the much beloved Lash Stash. Or check out the Lancome Juicy Tubes set that gives you glosses for 8 of your favorite gal pals (or yourself!), for less than 40 bucks. There’s even a section of gifts that ship free, so you can “make up” for being a little late by having it shipped right to your loved ones door at no additional charge.

Skin Botanica has some really great stuff in their 2010 catalog, and even more on their site. The derma e products are very reasonably priced and I’ve been pleased with what I’ve tried from them so far. But what really caught my eye were the Eminence products right on the cover.  How could I look at something called “Blueberry Soy Sugar Scrub” and not instantly deem it drool worthy?! Their selection of masques is equally enticing and you’re sure to find one perfectly suited for your bestie or favorite beauty blogger (Cranberry Pomegranate or Sugar Plum? Hmmm…)

Finally though, a quick personal note after the jump… (more…)

The economy has been hurting and companies are getting creative with savings!  Besides the awesome 30% Friends & Family deal over at Urban Decay, I wanted to post about a great deal that is being offered at a favorite online skin care store, SkinCareRx.

Click on the this link, read through the President’s Letter to receive your GiftCard SkinCareRx code and save yourself a serious chunk of change! Right now you can receive a $40 GiftCard to be used with any purchase of $100 or more (yep, $40 received from $100 would equal a 40% savings)!   So any of those high-priced, high-tech cosmeceuticals that you have been drooling over but couldn’t afford are now at a more favorable price tag.

This week my 15 year old daughter Amanda came running to her momma for skin care advice.  She had developed a deep, painful zit on her mid-forehead and was feeling beyond frustrated.  Before coming to me, she tried to extract it, which resulted in more inflammation, redness, damage to the skin around the blemish, and morphed it into a monster zit that closely resembled a “third eye.”  Although it was Halloween, she did not want this new and enhanced feature to be a part of her costume.

After delivering my “do what I say, not what I do” lecture on not squeezing at a deep pimple, I sent her to my bathroom closet for a few of my favorite acne spot treatment remedies. (more…)

I’m sure you have all heard that getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night is optimal for your health. Sleep is our bodies’ way of renewing itself and recuperating from the stress and the daily wear and tear of life. I honestly try to get my full 7 to 8 hours, heck, and I’d love 9 if I could manage it, but realistically women have many responsibilities that don’t always stop when the lights go off.  Between pets, kids and toys that spontaneously start *bleeping* in the wee hours, we often don’t get what our bodies need.

I recently received a letter from a busy mother of four even busier children. Becky writes,

Dear Jen,

I have a question for my friend the beauty blogger….what can I do about these puffy, dark eyes that I have? (Thanks in large part, I am sure to my beautiful new daughter! ) Do you have any ideas? I am currently using a Bobbi Brown eye moisturizing cream, but it does not seem to be doing the trick. I’d love any ideas.

I completely understand Becky, the one place that really shows the lack of sleep (and our age) are our eyes. (more…)

As many would say – eye creams are just expensive specialty skin moisturizers that trick you into spending more money on another skin care product. And I understand this, I really do, NOT!  Mainly because most of my facial moisturizers don’t work well around my eyes, they are either too moisturizing, too tingly, don’t absorb well and leave my eyes feeling greasy, or maybe it is just my “wild imagination” believing that my eyes need their own special eye treatment. Anyway you slice this subject; I adore an excellent eye cream.

A few weeks ago I started using DDF Advanced Eye Firming Concentrate with its Turmeric Complex.  I love Turmeric and cook with it in many of my favorite veggie dishes (yum), and also heard of many of the health benefits of using Turmeric. (more…)

Okay, before you go dowsing yourself  with kamikazes and cosmopolitans hear me out and read the rest of the post… Then you can plan a night out with your girls if you want. I’ll have a Roy Rogers please!

So we all love Lush, that’s a given. But until recently I’d only loved it online since I don’t live anywhere near a brick and mortar location. Mr. Mo and went over to Seattle to catch a Pearl Jam concert (yes, it WAS flippin amazing, thanks for asking) and in order to burn some time we stopped by the Bellevue Square mall. Just so happens that Bellevue Square has a Lush location inside. Entering  Lush is like nothing you’ve ever experienced. It’s a lovely, soothing experience that even had Mr. Mo tweeting “What is this place? I feel so relaxed all of a sudden”. It was during my divine hand treatment that I discovered Ocean Salt Face and Body Scrub.

This scrub has fine and coarse sea salt that makes me love it as a facial exfoliator. It has a tangy earthy smell that comes from things like grapefruit and lime with vodka. Hold onto that thought, the vodka will show up again later. Some of the other awesome ingredients in this scrub: avocado butter, coconut fat, seaweed, violet leaf and lanolin.  These all help to smooth and soften skin, but they don’t leave a slick oily feeling like a lot of salt scrubs. There’s nothing worse than losing your footing on the bare floor because you’re all slippery from the scrub you used, or is that just me?

So why the vodka? As explained by the Lushociate (Lush associate), the vodka helps to brighten skin, and I’m sure the citrus juices help with that as well. Sure enough, my fair skin was practically glowing when she got through with me. The color was much more even and the alabaster tone made me feel like a roman sculpture. I fell in love instantly and scooped up a tub to add to my quickly growing pile of goodies. I would caution you not to use this if you have large blemishes or broken skin since cuts+salt=ouch, but otherwise it’s a refreshing experience. A big tub(8.8 oz for $32.95) is spendy if you plan to use it as an all over body scrub, so I try to limit it to mostly face and upper body. I like to follow it with my new glob of shower jelly, so fun. If you want a special luxe item to really pamper yourself and love a nice tough scrub then this is it!

Hyperpigmentation never became an issue for me until I hit my mid-30’s and Boom! – Larger, more prominent dark spots (and I am not taking about cute little freckles either) which started to appear around my cheeks and forehead.  At one point I made an appointment with my Dermatologist for solutions.  Over the next six months, I began a series of Glycolic Acid Peels that did help with the overall texture, clarity and evenness of my skin.  However, I did keep noticing that there were a few spots that just wouldn’t go away.  Earlier this year I started using a prescription strength Hydroquinone cream. (more…)