This may be your last chance to relax before 2018 officially starts. Then it’s back to school…back to work…back to life…back to reality…

Still looking for inspiration to get the New Year off to a splendid start? Start with you! This is an excellent time to take care of yourself, even if you set aside 10 minutes to do so. You can multi-task to make the most of those minutes.

Relaxing Facial Masks When You Don’t Have Time To Relax

Start with a face mask—even if your skin is pitch perfect, any complexion can benefit from a reparative face mask once a week, especially during the winter months. Our skin requires an intensive reconstructive care product regularly to enable it to recover and reboot its cellular functions. For the severely time starved, Cosmetics 27 Plasma 27 Bio Lifting Cell Restoring Mask, is just the thing! This pre-soaked, pre-cut, single serve sheet mask is packed with high concentrations of Centella Asiatica and Proline to stimulate the skin’s ability to produce collagen. Just open the packet, pop it on your visage, have a cup of coffee and voila!

If you prefer a creamy mask format, try Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm. Yes, it’s a face cleanser, but it is so much more. Massage the balm into your face using downward strokes – this promotes lymphatic drainage. I store mine in the refrigerator: the cool temperature is refreshing and calms puffiness. Remember to apply it to the backs of your hands as well. When you embark upon 40, even if you take A+ care of your skin and have great genes, there is no place that is more revealing of age. The all-natural scent of moringa is also calming to the senses which is beneficial especially on hectic mornings. This multi-tasking treatment can also be used as a lip balm.

Hair & Scalp Treatments for Your Tresses

While your face mask is gelling, turn your attention to your hair and scalp. Christophe Robin’s line of hair treatment products is a must. Period. Especially if you highlight, bleach or chemically process your hair. You can sleep, workout and even golf in them. These intensive moisturizing treatments are magic!

For dry, damaged hair requiring some serious tender loving care, try his Regenerating Mask with Rare Prickly Pear Seed Oil. It contains powerful antioxidants and moisturizers sure to leave your hair frizz free, soft and radiant.

The holidays are stressful. Combine this with crisp, dry air and you’ll find yourself with a troublesome itchy, flaky scalp. If this sounds familiar, Christophe Robin’s scalp detox mask, Cleansing Purifying Scrub With Sea Salt, is calling your name.

Eye, Brow and Lash Treatments

Feeling a little bit of champ-shame about how much you drank (not to mention ate) this holiday season? Copious consumption could leave your eyes puffy and your skin sallow. No problem! Here are a couple of instant eye pick-me-ups that will get you going in the right direction:

Institut Esthederm Lift & Repair Eye Contour Lift Patches are fast penetrating under eye masks that target all concerns of the eye area: bags, shadows, fine lines, sagging skin and swelling. In as little as 6 minutes a few days a week, you can take years off your eye area. They also make the perfect travel companion – try them at the end of a flight, or the morning after a long night out to look “bright-eyed” (bushy-tailed is on you).

While you’re de-puffing your eyes, you can pump up your brows and lashes with Jessica Johnson Classic Beauty Brow and Lash Conditioning Serum. This conditioning treatment is the real deal! It is a two-in-one product for use on brows as well as lashes and contains additional treatment ingredients, including natural marine extract that not only boosts hair growth but conditions and hydrates for strong, lush brows and lashes.

We hope you take the time to indulge in a drop of self-care, not just this week, but all year long. For more tips, tricks and tools to perfect your look, find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

By: Travel Beauty Editors

Though we are still experiencing chilly weather in the northeast, summer is just around the corner. Many of us will be spending endless hours outdoors in the sun and heat. Whether we are running errands, sitting on the beach, barbecuing, hiking or just day dreaming, it is important to protect ourselves from the elements during the day, and then nourish our skin later in the evening. Here are some of our favorite products to keep you covered from head to toe all summer long.

For face

Whether you are hitting the golf course or preparing to worship the sun, a sunscreen that will protect your skin from the elements is a must. If the sun is out, sunscreen is in order. Sun tends to accelerate the skin’s aging process so for face, I love Institut Esthederm Bronz Repair Sunscreen For Face SPF 15. This French cult favorite is high tech, anti-aging sun care that enables you to enjoy the benefits of the sun without experiencing its harmful effects. There’s real science behind this line of bio-cosmetics that takes a completely different approach to sun care. It works with aging skin’s biology and the sun’s properties, instead of against these factors, enabling your skin to protect itself from the elements. Institut Esthederm’s sun care products are bar none — the best you can find on the market. And because of active ingredients like beeswax and rice bran oil that moisturize and nourish skin, containing anti-free radical properties, Bronz Repair can be used as your daily anti-aging moisturizer all summer long.

For body

Institut Esthederm Sun Care Oil Extreme Sun is the best sun care for body you can find and also doubles as a luxurious body care oil all year long. It ensures safe prolonged sun exposure in severe conditions, including the intense tropical sun. It allows a deep, intense natural tan to develop without any harmful UV damage. Sun Care Oil Extreme is formulated with UV in-Cellium Technology to protect the skin from the inside by strengthening its self-defense systems. This hi-tech sunscreen is extremely moisturizing and can be used to protect hair from the harmful rays of the sun as well, making it a multi-tasking sun care dynamo.

For eyes

During the summer months, our eye area is usually in need of a little more than just a great under eye cream. Consider Institut Esthederm Lift & Repair Eye Contour Lift Patches your mother’s little helper. This treatment contains caffeine, sodium hyaluronate (the same active ingredient found in injectables) and algae extract to wake up your eyes from the inside out. You won’t believe the difference ten minutes make. They are perfect for après airplane travel or for transitioning from work/beach activities to nighttime play. They are an instant eye opener!

For hair

If you plan on sitting out in the sun, playing outdoor sports or even hiking, Christophe Robin Moisturizing Hair Oil with Lavender is a must. Fact: Your hair and scalp can burn in the sun. This leave-in hair treatment contains SPF 6 to protect your crown from getting scorched and moisturizes your hair in the process. It even provides for a convenient way to style your hair while on the beach or by the pool that keeps it off your face. I apply it in sections and then braid my hair. For short hair just apply and slick hair back. Trés chick! When you wash it out at the end of the day, your hair will feel silky, smooth and nourished.

Après sun

Whether you finished your day a little crispier for the wear or not, remember to treat your skin to some extra added tender loving care. Cosmetics 27 Baume 27 is great as an après sun moisturizer. It is cooling and calming, especially after a day outdoors or in the sun. During the summer, this balm is particularly well suited as a restorative and reparative nighttime face cream. It quite literally slows down the oxidation or aging process as it protects against free radicals, one of the main causes of aging. Don’t forget to massage into your décolleté as well.

Not just lip service

Be sure to pick up B. Kamins Laboratories SPF 20 Lip Balm. In extreme cold, wind or sun, lips are usually the first place to suffer. Just a few minutes of exposure to extreme weather can lead to days of chapped, cracked lips. Reapply your lip balm frequently to keep your lips comfortable and protected all day and night.

By: Alyssa Barrie Weiss, Twitter: @AlyssaBarrie

I have sensitive skin that tends to be dry and have always had a difficult time finding anti-aging skin care that hydrates my skin enough without causing breakouts or irritation. Three years ago I stumbled upon an all natural, apothecary style line from France that made a huge difference in my complexion. Ever since, Cosmetics 27 by M.E. SkinLab has become an integral part of my regimen. During the cold winter months when the elements are particularly relentless and now that I am pregnant (pregnancy hormones can send sensitive skin over the edge), Baume 27, the line’s signature moisturizer, is my savior. Cosmetics 27 by M.E. SkinLab is the first of its kind, new generation of organic cosmeceuticals. It is the closest thing to a bespoke pharmacy preparation that can be commercially purchased.

Never heard of Cosmetics 27?

Michèle Evrard, the founder, studied pharmacology in Belgium and spent many years working, hands on, in a laboratory on product formulation and development. She has over 25 years experience and has worked for the likes of Max Factor, L’Oréal, Christian Dior Parfums, Boucheron Parfums and Matis Skin Care.

Michèle’s unique skin care philosophy is founded on the concept of homeostasis, the ability of an organism to maintain its own equilibrium. As we age, our skin loses its capacity to self-regulate. This leads to dehydrated, saggy, and irregularly pigmented skin. Cosmetics 27 is a line of rebalancing treatment products aimed at helping the skin to self-regulate, and consequently self-regenerate. An important part of this is stimulating the skin to produce increased collagen, which means bidding adieu to wrinkles and fine lines. It’s all natural, clinically tested and made in France.

Michèle Evrard on Cosmetics 27:

“I want to help women have healthier skin. If skin is healthy, it will look good. If you look good you feel beautiful. My products are unique in concept and formulae. It is not a conventional line, I create products that are useful and bring something different. Our products are organic and produce results. We validate the results by extensive testing.”

Michèle’s key piece of advice:

“Get to know your skin!  You will know how to treat it and maintain it better.  There is not one treatment solution for all –  we are all different. Too many women use and abuse products and treatments. Be good to your skin. Adopt a simple routine, clean your skin gently, don’t abuse the sun (that’s not to say stay away from it!). Massage skin as often as you can, it is a the first step to prevent skin aging. Drink water, a lot, don’t smoke and laugh a lot!”

A booster to revive cell generation

The line, which is built around the repairing virtues of Centella Asiatica, focuses primarily on skin regeneration. It enables the dermis to reset and rebalance itself. Though I have a consistent daily regimen, I’ve always been a little lax with respect to applying a weekly mask. When Cosmetics 27 relaunched the formula for its Plasma 27 Bio-Lifting Cell Repair Mask, I decided to give it a try.

The treatment mask for dummies and time starved

Like every product in the range, this mask is not merely another cosmetic but a treatment that enhances the skin’s wellbeing – making it look beautiful. It is a 15 minute facial in a single serve pouch. And all the work is already done for you – it’s presoaked with just the right concentration of ingredients and pre cut, so all you have to do is open the pouch and put it on. It even has hooks for your ears and has a bottom bit that covers and coats the neck. When time is up, there is no clean up. You just massage any excess ingredients right into your skin.

I use it first thing in the morning while I drink my coffee. It fits so well, you can do that! It’s like a second skin. I take that 10 – 15 minutes to be in the moment and set the tone for the day ahead. No television; no computer; just me, Plasma 27 and a delicious cup of coffee. It’s also great for travel and flight skin damage recovery, as well as a quick pick-me-up to transition into night activity mode. If that’s not enough, the mask is ideal to use immediately after harsh aesthetic treatments like laser, chemical peel or microdermabrasion, in fact, that is what it (and the entire range) was originally developed for. The goal was to create the first all natural product that would not only compliment these treatments but prolong the results of the procedures as well as maintain the skin’s homeostasis over time. It nourishes and hydrates the skin, calming inflammation and stimulating it to produce increased collagen and elastin on its own. It also happens to be a fantastic skin reboot for pregnant women. No matter what your skin type, the hormones that support the placenta tend to turn skin upside down. During this time skin requires a weekly reset. Plasma 27 gets the job done.

Bottom line:

Skin requires an intensive reconstructive care product regularly to enable it to recover and reboot its cellular functions. Plasma 27 is packed with high concentrations of Centella Asiatica and Proline to stimulate the skin’s ability to produce collagen. The immediate results? A bright complexion and firm, lifted skin. Also makes for a scary selfie!

By: Alyssa Barrie Weiss, Twitter: @AlyssaBarrie

Winter is upon us. It’s getting cold and with the drop in temperature our skin can become dehydrated and more sensitive than usual. This time of year it is important to modify our beauty ritual to protect ourselves from the cold, crisp elements that we suddenly find ourselves in the midst of.

Don’t Wash Your Face

Try using a face wash at night only. In fact, in the morning don’t use a cleanser at all. Face cleansers can be drying especially in the context of chilly weather. This time of year I use Heaven Skincare EllaJane Celebrity Skin Wipes. These babies exfoliate, cleanse, tone and keep blemishes at bay with apple pectin, honey and peppermint oil, all without drying out the skin! These are gentle enough for those in their teens and twenties as well.

Exfoliate

I also use Lavido Gentle Exfoliator Peeling Cream twice a week. It might sound counter intuitive but it is essential to exfoliate during the winter as dead skin cells accumulate faster during the colder months. This face scrub utilizes oyster shell powder and pomegranate peel grains to gently slough away dead cells and buildup.

Moisturize

When the temperature drops, I turn to one of my all time favorite skin care lines, Cosmetics 27. It is an apothecary style range tailor-made for YOUR skin. The idea is to mix the products together to produce a formula that is right for your skin today. The change in season, weather, pollution, stress levels and even physiological factors can alter the behavior of skin. Cosmetics 27 utilizes the Ayurvedic properties of Centella Asiatica to boost the skin’s ability to regenerate and heal itself. While experimenting and getting to know your skin requires a little more time and effort, you’re worth it and your skin will thank you. Cosmetics 27 Baume 27 is a rich, almost balm textured moisturizer packed with anti-aging skin healing nutrients. It contains a patented cocktail of all natural ingredients that feed the skin what it needs to work optimally and renew itself. Best of all you will see results. I am 40 and have sensitive, dry skin so Baume 27 is my savior this time of year. Apply while skin is still a bit damp and take at least a full minute to massage it into your skin.

Layer It On

Just like we begin to layer clothing as the temperatures drop, similarly, we need to layer on skin care to nourish and provide our skin with the extra protection it needs. I can’t stress enough how important it is, especially if you don’t all year round, to add a serum and even a face oil to your regimen. I mix Cosmetics 27 Essence 27 and Huile 27 with Baume 27 to give the moisturizer an extra added boost of nutrients. Essence 27 is an ultra fine hydrating, anti-aging emulsion that brightens the complexion and increases the skin’s density. If you don’t typically use a serum, this is an excellent entrée into the genre. Then there is Huile 27. This anti-aging elixir is a master multitasker that provides essential nutrients that help rebalance skin functions and restructure the epidermal tissue. A must for those with dry or more mature skin. I also use it as a lip balm, hair and cuticle oil.

Lips

During the winter my lips look so chapped, it appears as though a wild animal has been gnawing on them. I layer Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream and Cosmetics 27 Huile 27 under a Lancome Juicy Tube. It takes a village. Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream is enriched with vitamin E, vitamin B2, and camphor and has a uniquely high glycerin content and absorbability achieved through a special manufacturing process. It even helps heal cold sores.

By: Alyssa Barrie Weiss, Twitter: @AlyssaBarrie

Biafine, otherwise known as Trolamine, is one of the most basic staples that can be found in any French, German or Israeli pharmacy. Yasmine Djerradine, skin care authority and Travel Beauty expert recommended it to me to help prevent scarring when I had surgery 16 years ago. It is a multi-tasking wonder ointment that soothes redness, irritation, inflammation and sunburns.

In Europe Biafine is mostly used to prevent and soothe diaper rash in infants, but this topical wonder offers so much more. Over the years I have incorporated Biafine into my daily regimen.

Cure for Chapped Lips

I have excruciatingly dry lips. My husband often scolds me for biting them. The truth is I don’t, my lips are just so chapped that it appears as though I do. The Fall is the worst, as the cold, dry air starts to creep in pulling a double shift. I layer Biafine under my lip gloss or lipstick for an extra boost of moisture. It coats, smoothes and soothes lips sealing in a barrier between the lips and the outside world. In my experience products like Eucerin, Vaseline and Blistex seem to suck the moisture right out of my lips.

Apply Biafine before bed too. Skin repairs itself overnight when we are sleeping; the same is true for the skin on our lips. Biafine gives your lips the extra lift they need.

Body Care

Body oil is my body care product of choice, especially in colder months. Right now I’m using Mio Skincare The Activist Firming Active Body Oil. It’s rich and smells divine (and I am not a fan of scents.) Even if you apply body oil to damp skin, mixing body oil with a creamy agent helps it to penetrate the skin more deeply and dilute the oily texture of many rich body oils. Biafine comes in handy as I am usually in a rush and don’t have time to wait for body oil to dry before pulling on a pair of trousers or jeans. Biafine cuts just enough of the oily texture without being too creamy and because it’s scent free, it won’t interfere with the scent of your favorite body oil.

Soothing Rosacea

I am not a dermatologist, doctor or skin care expert by way of formal education and there is currently no cure for rosacea. That said, in many cases, Biafine has been able to help lessen the symptoms of this skin condition. Though food intake and stress are some of the factors that contribute to rosacea, the bottom line is that it causes red, reactive and in some cases inflamed skin. While using gentle skin care for sensitive, reactive skin, like Cosmetics 27 Baume 27 or Sapelo Skin Care Rejuvenating Cream, that soothe and cool is essential, layering a thin layer of Biafine under these types of moisturizers adds an extra cool and calming layer of care that, much like in the case of chapped lips, provides a buffer between irritated skin and your moisturizer. On more severe days when skin is particularly reactive, Biafine can be used alone. Please note that everyone is different so before applying Biafine on your entire face, conduct a small patch test.

After Dermatological Peels and Treatments

Though I am not a proponent of chemical peels (many are purported to cause harmful chemicals to seep into the bloodstream and dehydrate skin, stripping it of many essential nutrients) many people swear them. Biafine aids in soothing the dry, seemingly sunburned shape that you will find your skin in immediately following these treatments.

Biafine to Treat Radio Dermatitis

Biafine is often prescribed to cancer patients or others receiving radiation treatment. The anti-inflammatory and moisturizing properties of Biafine help bring down the inflammation and treat burned and painful irritation that can be caused by these treatments.

Biafine to Treat Cuts and Sunburn

Biafine can also be used as a wound dressing to heal minor cuts. It provides moisture to aid the skin in the healing process while protecting it from bacterial contamination. Biafine can also be applied directly to sunburns to soothe and lessen inflammation. As opposed to aloe-based sunburn ointments and gels, Biafine seeps into the skin quickly and doesn’t leave a wet gelatinous texture sitting on the surface of the skin.

By: Alyssa Barrie Weiss, Twitter: @AlyssaBarrie