Beauty Question of the Day

I'm Back! It's been a while, I know...My apologies.
Anywho, I decided to start a series of posts called "Beauty Question of the Day" where I address some of the questions I get from clients, friends and anyone else who may share my obsession.

Disclaimer: I AM NOT A DOCTOR! However, I am a licensed professional (Esthetician and Makeup Artist) with an obsession for beauty and passion for helping people fall in love with themselves. My advice is based strictly on my education and training, my skills and abilities, personal experience and the experiences of my clients.
Now that we have that out of the way, here your first BQOTD and my advice:

Q:Do I have to use skin care products from the same range/product line?

A:You don't have to use products from the same line. However, many ranges are formulated with ingredients that work together. This ensures that you are getting enough of the good ingredients and not doubling-up on those that are potentially irritating. If mixing and matching works for you, I say, go with that.

I hope you find this segment of my blog useful. TTFN.

Broccoli City Presents: Iwi Fresh

Happy New Year!
For my first post of the year I wanted to share with my readers something new and fresh. So fresh, you need a refrigerator to store it (literally).

What is it? Broccoli City's newest client, iwi fresh: an all-natural line of products for the body, face, feet and hair that are all-fresh, gourmet, natural, pure, and simple. Each product is hand made from scratch with real fresh organic fruits and vegetables, natural preservatives and no chemicals.
Founder, Yolanda Owens embraces the environment, by using ingredients straight from the earth & kitchen. Her passion is to empower and educate the community on connecting wellness and beauty. Owens believes that “Without wellness there can not be beauty.”

Simply Stated, the iwi fresh Motto is ‘natural.gourmet.skin.love’
Explore a world of fresh food for the skin with iwi fresh. www.iwifresh.com Follow on twitter at www.twitter.com/iwifresh (@iwifresh)

Got Juice?

Took another trip to Sephora (my playground) this past Friday. I was looking for a new skin care line to test out and had heard rave reviews about Juice Beauty so I decided to give it a try.
If you've never heard of Juice Beauty, it's a skincare line of products that are 95% certified organic in a 100% organic juice base. The creators of JB, believe that a healthy, organic lifestyle not only applies to what we eat but also, what we put on our face and bodies.
I have combination/oily skin so the Organics to Clear Skin 30 day kit was the regimen of choice. The kit includes Cleansing Gel (for am & pm use), Sensitive Green Apple Peel (for use once a week), Blemish Clearing Serum (for am & pm use) and an Oil-Free Moisturzer (am use)(Oh, and an eco-bamboo headband).



It's important to remember that because these are organic pproducts that most will be more potent that your normal products and can affect everyone differently.
I used the kit for the first time last night and when I woke in the am, my skin looked refreshed. I am excited to see how JB will work for me. I'll do a check-in in 30 days to let you guys know how things turn out with me and JB.

My Makeup Bag Must-Haves

I've received several requests from folks wondering exactly what's in my makeup bag. So, here are my essentials...

My daily skin care regimen consists of cleansing with Intuit Set Me Free Gel Cleanser (or Aura Oxygen Foaming Gel Cleanser) and Clarisonic (which also exfoliates) , followed by Intuit Stripper toner and Anytime, Anywhere moistuizer (or Yes to Carrots, C thru the Night Cream at night to combat dryness).
After moisturizing, I use Murad 2% salicylic acid Acne Treatment Concealer to heal and conceal those "hormonal" nuisances.
Smashbox Halo Hydrating Perfecting Powder foundation provides a breathable, natural everyday look.

I curl my lashes with Sephora's lash curler and add some pop with MAC zoom lash. This combo works wonders, especially on those days when I'm not wearing eyeshadow.

Covergirl Brow and Eye Makers in midnight brown allow me to add natural-looking definition in my brows. An added bonus is that the pencil is CHEAP and comes in a pack of 2.

I tweeze my brows in between waxes with my pink (of course) tweezerman slanted tweezers.



MAC Lip Conditioner spf 15 and Bliss High Intensity hand cream keep my lips and hands moisturized.

Share with me and other readers your makeup bag must-haves.

Clarisonic

This month’s featured product is the Clarisonic Skin Care Brush.

I’ve used the brush for nearly 3 years and swear by it. The bristles rotate to gently massage and exfoliate your skin removing excess dirt, makeup and dry skin that clog pores and create blemishes. It’s a little pricey, but in my opinion, an investment well worth it.

The Clarisonic Skin Care Brush is a system that uses frequency of more than 300 movements per second to clean, soften and smooth your skin. In just 60 seconds a day, the Clarisonic micro-massage action cleans more than twice as effectively as manual cleansing.

Benefits include:
• 6X more makeup removal
• Skin is soft and smooth
• Cleanses so well that products absorb better
• Gentle for use twice daily
• Reduces oily areas, dry skin patches and blemishes
• Reduces the appearance of visible pores
• Reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles

Dear John

Winter weather can do a number on your skin, so I decided to let you all in on one (i've got others) of our best winter beauty secrets...

Dear John facial cream/moisturizer by Benefit cosmetics. Dear John is ultra rich and will infuse your skin with ingredients that moisturize and revive dry skin. Good for use day or night.

PYS #2- Say "Goodbye" to Razor Bumps

Gentlemen, have unsightly razor bumps or irritation from shaving?

MiN New York's Solution2 Rollerball may be your answer.
Formulated with aspirin and organic spearmint, Solution2 claims to "Preserve Your Sexy" by reducing irritation from hair removal and eliminating razor bumps and ingrown hairs.

PS- Can't forget my ladies...You can also use Solution2
after waxing or shaving.

Try it and let us know what you think.

Preserve Your Sexy Pt. 1- Skin Like Butter

I received a request from fellow blogger, Hustle Crowe. That request? "Teach me how to preserve my sexy".

At that point, I promised Hustle I'd pay more attention to the needs of the guys. How so? Well, I've decided to do a series of posts for men called "Preserve Your Sexy" (or PYS).
Naturally, when I hear that phrase, I think of the man who made it famous, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and decided to do some research on how Diddy preserves his sexy.
In Diddy's 2007 appearance on the Conan O'Brien show he claimed that his skin care regimen gave him the "softest skin in the world" and insisted O'Brien see for himself. Shocked, O'Brien touched Diddy's arm and proclaimed "Oh my God, it's like butter".
Diddy's skin care regimen consists of a hot shower. Then he allows his skin to "air dry" by dancing around in a little less than many of us would care to imagine. Unfortunately, Diddy's dance won't yield butter-soft skin, for most, but at least your lady will like it!
If you aren't as fortunate as my man, Diddy and your goal is to have skin like "butter", you first have to commit to a regimen that consists of more than washing with bar soap.
So here are the basics: Wash, exfoliate & tone and moisturize
Wash
If you have dry skin, find a cream-based cleanser that won't strip your skin of it's essential oils. If your skin is oily, you want a gel cleanser with salicylic or alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) that will help clear your pores. hypo-allergenic, fragrance free cleansers work well for sensitive skin.
Exfoliate/Tone
Exfoliating adds a few minutes to this process but its well worth it. What is it? Exfoliation is a method that sloughs off dead skin cells that clog pores to reveal fresh, new skin underneath. You can use a scrub or other exfoliator about once a week.
A toner is used to finish the cleaning process by removing excess dead skin, oils and product that may be left on the skin.
Moisturize
Moisturizing is key. You may wonder why you use a toner to get rid of oil and then you go piling it back on? Well, look at it like this, the toner gets rid of the bad and the moisturizer gives your skin the good. The right moisturizer contains nutrients that are delivered right into the skin.
Here are some skin care lines to get you started
Jack Black, www.sephora.com
a/MEN/ity, www.getamenity.com
Anthony Logistics, www.sephora.com

P.S. ladies should use the "basics" too