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The best beauty products from around the globe

Monthly Archives : November 2014

Best Hair Routines for the Holiday Season

Best beauty products for spring

With holiday party season just around the corner, you may already be planning how to navigate through your jam-packed schedules and post-work event wardrobe. I know I certainly am! While wearing our favourite dress or something shiny and new may give us a confidence boost, nothing quite lifts the mood like great hair. Here are my top tips to getting your locks in great shape for the winter – whatever your hair texture.

Fine Hair Full of Body

For those with fine hair, bounce coupled with plenty of root volume is a most-wished for style. To achieve this look, shampoo and condition your hair with Philip Kingsley Body Building Shampoo and Conditioner. The shampoo plumps your strands and adds texture, while the lightweight conditioner increases shine and provides just the right amount of moisture without weight. After towel-drying, apply a small amount of Philip Kingsley Preen Cream through your mid-lengths and ends and then spray Maximizer into your roots. The trick to achieving maximum body is to blow dry gently at the root area against the direction in which your hair grows. Finish off by blow-drying your hair upside down for even more oomph. If your hair is fine and slightly dry or processed, use a pre-shampoo conditioner (Elasticizer) once every other week to restore hydration. If very damaged, this should be done once weekly.

Magnificent Medium Hair

Medium textured hair benefits from products that balance the needs of both the roots and dryer ends. Medium processed hair also tends to get dry quickly, so this should be addressed as well for best results! I recommend using a pre-shampoo conditioner (Elasticizer) once a week and shampooing with Philip Kingsley Soft & Shiny Jet Set. If your hair is medium textured and curly, detangling, heat-protective conditioning sprays like Daily Damage Defence will help to minimize breakage and shield your hair from environmental damage (think wind, cold climates and free radicals!) To avoid the dreaded frizz, use products that discourage the absorption of moisture back into the hair shaft. They will be labelled appropriately, but make sure silicone is not one of the first 2 ingredients listed on the back as these can dry your hair out.

Smooth & Shiny Coarse Hair

Thick coarse hair tends to get quite unmanageable, especially in the winter. To achieve a smooth and shiny style, apply Philip Kingsley Elasticizer Extreme 20 minutes to an hour before washing your hair. Use this once a week to really improve manageability and condition, and twice a week if your hair is in real need of some TLC. Follow with Philip Kingsley Re-Moisturizing shampoo and conditioner and then apply Philip Kingsley Smooth Cream to towel dried hair over your mid-lengths and ends. These products are specifically formulated for coarse hair, helping to hydrate each strand, reduce frizz, and also close the cuticle for lasting shine.

Soothe The Scalp

Flaky/itchy scalps are more common in the winter. This can be due to everything from central heating, heightened stress levels, eating dairy rich foods, increased alcohol consumption and washing the hair less frequently. Dandruff isn’t only uncomfortable, but research has shown that it can cause hair loss. To reduce its occurrence, or calm existing irritation, wash with an anti-microbial shampoo and then follow by daily use of a soothing scalp toner. Philip Kingsley Take Comfort Jet Set is a great little kit you can use as needed. If you are prone to dandruff, you should also avoid spicy foods, white wine, champagne and full fat diary, as these can all trigger and worsen it.

Embrace The Turkey

Hair grows its best when supported by a healthy diet rich in essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals, and complex carbohydrates – and luckily this season’s foods pack quite the vitamin punch! Turkey is an excellent source of lean protein, the building block of hair. Stews, roasts and beetroot provide the follicle with essential iron needed for hair cell division. Finally, sweet potato is a fabulous way to up your intake of Vitamins C, A, various B vitamins and fibre! Party nibbles such as nuts, devilled eggs and smoked salmon canapés are also great hair boosters – and as energy to form hair cells drops 4 hours after eating a meal, make sure to grab a few if it has been a few hours since you’ve last eaten.

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How I Beat My Daily Grind with Botox

botox for teeth grinding and jaw tension

Some people eat when they’re stressed. Some shop. Some shop for food that they then eat. Me? I clench my jaw. Aside from my knotted up shoulders, my masseter muscles are the greatest bearer of my bodily stress. If you suffer from teeth grinding,TMJ or any similar jaw-related tension condition, I know you feel my pain and frustration. To make matters worse, most of the clenching was happening at night, so I couldn’t even catch myself in the act and modify the behavior. I would wake up every morning with tightness and soreness along the side of my face that I would try – fruitlessly – to massage away. Before you could say “night guard’, I had cracked the filling on a molar and wore down another molar to a rounded stump. I wanted to find a real preventative solution that would help me avoid extra trips to the dentist – twice a year for my cleaning is more than enough, thank you.

Grinding Your Teeth? Botox to the Rescue

Botox, which is fast becoming a panacea for all sorts of health and beauty issues, is a very useful tool for dealing with jaw tension. Makes sense – Botox paralyzes muscles, and teeth grinding is caused by the masseter muscle going into nocturnal overdrive. Weaken the masseter muscle and you alleviate most, if not all, of this tension.

It’s Quick & Painless

I visited Dr. Dara Liotta for this unbelievably quick and painless procedure. We’re talking ten minutes and two tiny pinches. The first time she did the procedure she used 20 units of Botox on each side. When Botox is used to relax the facial muscles that cause fine lines, the maximum effect is seen in 7-10 days. When Botox is used on the masseter muscle, the maximum effect is not seen for 3 months…and results can last up to 9 months. Dr. Liotta recommended I get repeat injections every 6 months to maintain results. She also said that many people enjoy very long term results after three treatments. Within a month, I noticed a huge difference in the pain and tightness around my jaw. I no longer woke up every morning feeling like I’d been gnawing on a wad of Hubba Bubba all night. Now, nine months since my first injection, I’m happy to say I’ve not had to make a single extra dental visit!

Happy Side Effects

As if the reduction in pain and dental visits was not enough, the procedure has cosmetic benefits as well. I have always thanked my Russian ancestors for my chiseled cheekbones. Since the Botox reduced the size of my Masseter muscle, it also reduced and softened my jawline, creating a more dramatic angle from my cheek to my jaw.This allowed my cheekbones to “pop” even more than before. When Dr. Liotta showed me pictures taken before and then 2 months post-procedure, I was floored.

Using Botox to reduce the jawline is fast becoming a popular procedure as it is minimally invasive – traditional jaw reduction surgery involves breaking and removing part of the jaw bone. Ouch! Oh, Botox, what will you think of next?!

Dr. Liotta is fantastic. She is not only a Facial Plastic and Reconstructive surgeon, but also a Board Certified ENT surgeon, so she has an expert understanding of the face and neck. Want to talk to her about Botox, fillers or another cosmetic procedure? Visit her website for more information and to schedule a consultation.

By: Claire McCormack @clairemcmack

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The Best Global Beauty Products

This article was recently published on Fathom (fathomaway.com), Travel Beauty’s go-to resource for everything you’ll need while globetrotting - from the best places to stay, eat, visit and shop to the essentials you want with you on the road. Fathom is our insider’s guide for everything travel. In September, during its highly anticipated Beauty-in-Travel Week, Travel Beauty was asked to give our baker’s dozen (13, to be exact) of the very best beauty products from around the globe. Hope that you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it…

Global Beauty Finds: The 13 Best Products

We continue beauty-in-travel week with a look at the best beauty products from around the world. There’s no one more qualified to give us a baker’s dozen than a woman who spends her life looking for such potions: frequent flier and product junkie Alyssa Barrie Weiss, the founder of the website Travel Beauty.

best-global-beauty-productsAs a child, I traveled a great deal with my parents, mostly to Europe and the Middle East. When we arrived at our destination, the first thing my mother did was take my brother and me to the local pharmacy or pharmacie. Whether we were in Tel Aviv, Paris, Berlin, or Florence, she always knew which one was the best. These outings felt like an adventure: The pharmacies overseas were different from those in New York City. They were fancy and old-world, and I loved them.

As an adult, I developed a vast interest and knowledge of products, as well as an obsessive compulsion for them, and sought the foremost beauty industry experts to learn more. This led me to Yasmine Djerradine, a veteran skin care expert from Paris and owner of Yasmine Djerradine Institut de Beauté on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. And Ishi, of Salon Ishi, the guru leading the way in high-tech Japanese hair care. Yasmine and Ishi took me under their wings and educated me on the best products and treatments.

My love for travel took me to far-flung destinations, where I was able to feed my product addiction by scouring the places I visited for their best beauty finds. I have curated these products, with the help of our panel of industry experts, on my website,Travel Beauty, an online destination for the very best of all things beauty from around the globe.

There is so much great stuff to try, but Fathom asked me for a baker’s dozen of my favorite global beauty finds of all time:

1. Heaven Skincare Bee Venom Mask

Provenance: United Kingdom

Why I Love It: It multi-tasks as a moisturizer, and you can feel it tightening the skin and brightening the complexion. The bee venom literally paralyzes the muscles beneath the skin. It’s basically an organic alternative to Botox.

2. Lavido Hyaluronic Acid Eye Alert Cream

Provenance: Israel

Why I Love It: Formulated with plant-based hyaluronic acid, it brightens, moisturizes, and relieves puffiness around the eye area, and diminishes the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Bottom line: It shaves years off your eye area.

3. Vine Minus Ion Care Water

Provenance: Japan

Why I Love It: It does everything but walk the dog. Its negatively charged ions enable it to bond to hair and skin so that this multi-tasking miracle water:

- Strengthens fine hair, making it feel and look thicker.

- Boosts the strength of conditioners, treatments, or styling aids, allowing the products to penetrate deeper and work better.

- Enhances the efficacy of your skin care regimen if used before toner, serum, and moisturizer.

- Can be used as a makeup remover on face and eyes.

- Can be used to brush teeth when they feel especially hairy.

Click here to read about the remaining 10 best beauty products from around the globe on Fathom.

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Wooden Comb for Healthier, Anti-Static, Anti-Bacterial Hair

wooden comb healthier anti static

Before we got into the latest technology equipment or even sophisticated brushes like the S-HEART-S Scalp Brush and Du-Boa Ceramide 2 + Ion Scalp Massager, the best advice I could give in the way of hair and scalp care was to use a wooden comb.

Benfits of a Wooden Comb

  • You can take it into the shower to spread conditioner evenly throughout your hair.
  • Works great for just simply combing your hair.
  • The fibers in the wood help to spread the natural oils down the shaft for healthier hair.
  • It’s anti-static, anti-bacterial and less stressful for the hair than any other comb.
  • It helps increase circulation to your scalp.
  • The wide tooth comb doesn’t pull on the hair when you comb through it.
  • Used after showering when you have wet hair, it is the gentlest way to get through the tangles.

In Japan good wooden combs are the staple and are very expensive. In fact, many of the plastic combs on the market in Japan are actually made to look like wood.


Good News for Long Hair and Curly Locks

A wood comb is often the best choice for curly or long hair that may get caught in other combs because the teeth aren’t usually as thick. Wooden combs also don’t tend to pull and snag the hair. As a result locks appear shiny and lustrous.

How to Comb Your Hair

If you comb your hair and scalp front to back, back to front, and then to the right and left several times, you will feel refreshed. This also aids in blood circulation, excess sebum absorption and the removal of hair impurities. If you have a sensitive scalp a wooden comb can prevent bruising or scraping of the scalp. Wooden combs also prevent hair from drying out because it helps to distribute oil from your scalp to hair. The sebum that’s produced on the scalp is distributed throughout the length, which prevents your scalp from getting greasy.

How to Care for Your Comb

Clean your wooden comb regularly and it will last for a lifetime. Never use water to clean wooden combs. Use natural oils like jojoba.

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Winter Skin Care Tips: Keeping Your Face Fresh & Moisturized

winter skincare tips

Apparently we are in for another brutal winter. As the winter months descend upon us, the colder temperatures can dry out skin, causing flakey, cakey makeup and various other cosmetic complications. Maybe you will find that your foundation isn’t blending into your skin well; it just sits on top of it. I see it all too often in my makeup chair. So what is the solution?

Exfoliate

First of all, exfoliation is a must! I recommend keeping some kind of scrub (Lavido is a good choice) in your shower and using it daily with your Clarisonic skin brush, if you have one. I have 2 that I alternate between, one that has AHA/BHA and the other that is a Blueberry and Coffee Bean Exfoliator. If scrubs are not your thing, Juvena Pure Lifting Peeling Powder is a great exfoliating choice for sensitive skin, and Elemis Tri-Enzyme Resurfacing Gel Mask does all the work for you – just put it on for 10 minutes to exfoliate the dead skin cells and reveal a smoother more youthful appearance. This newer, fresher skin actually absorbs moisturizers better instead of sitting on top of the dead skin.

Moisturize

Now that you’ve revealed your new skin, it’s time to worry about what you put on that skin! Winter is a good time to switch from your oil free SPF summer moisturizer to something a little richer for daytime, (Travel Beauty loves Cosmetics 27 Baume 27) as well as switching to a moisturizing foundation formula. Applying your foundation with a sponge will help it to blend in and give you a natural looking finish. (For light sheer coverage that still provides mega-moisture, try B. Kamins BB Cream.)

Ditch your summer bronzer for something lighter with some pink tones instead of orange. When applying, make sure to use a big brush for a sheerer finish. The powder will set your foundation and keep your makeup from just absorbing into your skin. The touch of pink in your powder will keep you from looking pale and sallow.

Let’s Get Down to Business

My Beauty Ammo Kit for the under eye area will also solve the problem of your foundation, concealer, or powder creasing or caking up which is the #1 problem all women face! The Collagen Eye Mask hydrates all day with collagen and shea butter. The Line Putty fills in fine lines, calms and soothes skin with chamomile and the witch hazel helps with puffiness. Finally, the Camouflage Eye Disguise Concealer blends in perfectly giving you the coverage you need without making fine lines look worse! With these minor adjustments, you will look fresh and dewy no matter what the outside temperatures!

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