At Home Haircolor: What are your questions?

18Aug09

Coloring your hair at home can be tricky, it can be ugly, it can be totally messy. However, sometimes it can be the most fun and the results can be stellar. What is your biggest at-home-haircolor query? We’ll be meeting with L’Oreal Haircolor experts next week and would love to give them reader Qs!

Filed under: Hair   |  15 Comments

Detox: Day 4 & 5

24Jul09

Oops. Well, in celebrating Ted Gibson’s foray into What Not To Wear, I chose to forego the cleanse and drink a little Moet. Which… well, it wasn’t as bad this morning as it usually is, first off, and secondly, I didn’t feel the effects nearly as much as my poor lunch decision…

Now I feel lethargic and un-detoxed. Looks like it’s back to the start.

Filed under: beauty, Body, Celebrities, Health, Skincare, Television   |  Leave a Comment

Detox: Day 3

22Jul09

Day 3 began with grogginess, as per the usual. It has progressed, however, into land of “drink as much water as possible.” The mood is up, the happy factor is pretty good – I feel smarter, for some reason. Maybe because most of the time, the champagne afterglow makes me quite a bit stupider. More stupid. Whatever.

While my mood has improved greatly, which was to be expected, what I started slacking on and feeling pain and cramping from is not drinking enough water. With the high content of fiber in everything I’m eating, my body is soaking up water like a dead fish being brought back to life. It is imperative to drink 8 – 12 glasses of water when you cleanse – it flushes out the toxins and gets the supplements in motion (gross).   Other than that, my skin is looking much less parched – almost rosy, even.

All in all, day 3 is kinda… meh. Good day so far, but couldn’t I see these results from not going out (read: drinking alcohol) and drinking more water?  Probably.

Filed under: beauty, Health, Skincare   |  Leave a Comment

Detox: Day 2

21Jul09

Nope, nope, nope. This is my breaking point. At about noon today, I gave up on cutting out coffee completely. Keeping in mind I’ve never detoxed before, well, one precious (and little known) side effect is one monster mood swing after mood swing. Besides my bad attitude and listless behavior, I just couldn’t even focus this morning. So, if you’re first-time-cleansing, keep in mind that giving up alcohol/vices = good, however giving up caffeine (and I only drink 1 cup a day) = possibly getting fired from your job. So I had some coffee.  And it was really, really good.

Also,  I’m rethinking the extent of this cleanse – my good friend and contributor Lara Eurdolian recommends cleansing only 3 days in the beginning, and working your way up to massive cleansing (she’s detoxed/cleansed in the past and knows her way around this stuff). Wanna know why? Because your body seriously can’t handle eliminating toxins and changing your entire lifestyle. You get massive hangovery symptoms. And if you live in the real world, you gotta keep those to a minimum.

That being said, 1 cup of coffee a day and shortening this thing to 5 days.  First timers – unite!

Filed under: beauty, Body, Health   |  1 Comment

Detox: Day 1

20Jul09

In an effort to clear my mind, body, and *ahem* soul, I have begun a dreaded (read: needed) detox, as supplied by Rainbow Light. The detox system has only 3 parts – a citrusy liver-energizing drink as soon as I wake up, a super fruit fiber drink midmorning, and then a deluxe liver cleaning crazy pill right before sleep – and lasts only 7 days. In addition, it’s important to not eat extra sugars, drink alcohol, or get extra caffeine (I’m sticking with green tea), and try to get more vegetables and organic proteins.

At $24.99 (available online or at Whole Foods), it is a pretty good deal.  It’s only 7 days, so it’s like the Beginner’s Detox, and there’s no way I’d starve myself in order to flush out the toxins.  But… I really want a pretzel right now. Did I mention it’s only a 7 day program? I can totally hang for 7 days. Right?

Filed under: beauty, Health   |  1 Comment

Gimme a sec…

06Jul09

While I have other projects going full steam ahead, I’ll be posting a bit infrequently here.   Meanwhile, please see what me and my friends are up to at Slowtimer.com.

Filed under: beauty, News, Web   |  Leave a Comment

Project Red: Julia Allison Goes Ginger!

30Jun09

(From Julia Allison’s Lifecast at Nonsociety.com)

As a ginger myself, I love chronicling the descent into carrot-topdom. Webutante Julia Allison recently went from chocolate brown to super red with the help of Jason Backe at Ted Gibson.   See her spicy progress as a redhead here.

Summer is the prime time to switch it up, people!  I want you all joining my Ginger Brigade!

Filed under: beauty, Hair, Web   |  Leave a Comment

Scott’s Pick: Aqua-D+ Multivitaminé by Lierac

29Jun09

I don’t use makeup, and find the trends of guys tweezing their eyebrows into points, wearing foundation, and applying lip gloss throughout the day more than a bit creepy. Of course there are mitigating circumstances, sunburn on the forehead, a savagely destroyed pore, or even a black eye, too distracting for black tie events.

The problem with make-up is that it smells and looks like make-up, and fumbling around with some borrowed product you’re not familiar with could end with rough splotches of mismatched flesh tones creating a spectacle far more disturbing than the original flaw. Luckily, there is a happy medium; tinted moisturizer, specifically Aqua-D+ Multivitaminé by Lierac.

Just a drop will soften the problem and blend with your natural color. The moisturizer currently comes in doré and sable hues, has a subtle scent, and doesn’t smother your skin the way foundation does. Best of all, the bottle looks similar to suntan lotion, so if you happen to be a guy, you don’t have to worry about anyone finding it in your medicine cabinet.

Available for purchase at beauty.com; $40.

By Scott Cavazos

(Previous reviews by Scott can be found here)

Filed under: beauty, Makeup, Man-Beauty, Skincare   |  Leave a Comment

Makeup Trick: ReNu

24Jun09

I received a tip in my inbox, stating:

To lock your eye shadow down and keep it from fading away: Dip your makeup brush into a drop of Bausch & Lomb ReNu Multiplus saline contact solution before applying eye shadow. The sodium chloride (aka salt) in the solution will make the shadow extra moist since salt retains water, giving the pigment staying power!

I approached this with as much skepticism, cynicism, hesitation, whatever you want to call it – and you know what? Totally works. And it’s something you probably have lying around anyway!

Filed under: beauty, Brands, eyes, Makeup   |  Leave a Comment

Crazylibellule and the Poppies: Les Garçonnes

24Jun09

One of my favorite brands, Crazylibellule and the Poppies, has just introduced a new collection of CrazySticks, “Les Garçonnes.” The brand (a highly giftable, package-driven brand – seriously, check out the other fragrances -  adorable) has been creating these little 0.17oz portable, solid fragrances called “CrazySticks” for a while, and now is introducing 7 scents: Josephine, Gabrielle, Louise, Tamara, Jeanne, Rose and Pompon. All paraben free, alcohol free and with no artificial coloring; and of course named after fiery, independent, positive femme-fatales.

My favorite, Rose à Saigon, is described on the site as:

Decidedly flowery-fruity… Passion Fruit for its effervescence, soft Rose for its bloom and Guaiacum Wood, with its slightly smoky undertones, to arouse the Garçonne in each and every one of us.

The Garçonne masculine feel of ‘Rose à Saigon’ is expressed with Guaiacum Wood and Vetiver.

Exotic and captivating, the scent of her dream on her skin.

Not for the faint of heart.  Check them out on BeautyHabit and B-Glowing.

Filed under: beauty, Brands, Fragrance   |  1 Comment