Monday, January 31, 2011

From The Creator of Hello Kitty.. Rebecca Bonbon!


I love Hello Kitty, so I was very excited when I heard about Yuko Shimizu's new character creation.

Rebecca Bonbon is a pretty little puppy from Paris, who got adopted by Americans and now lives in a fancy apartment in New York, overlooking Central Park. She loves all the finer things in life, including traveling, fashion, and bonbons!

Although created in 2005, Rebecca's debut to the United States was in 2010, and has been gaining popularity among Hello Kitty fans and new fans alike ever since!

See her face on shirts of celebrities including Ashley Tisdale and Kim Kardashian.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Sculpt Your Face!





It Cosmetics has come out with the "My Sculpted Face" Palette $38.00, claiming to make you look 5-10 lbs thinner and "sculpting" your features to create the perfect and most attractive contrast.

By using the different shades and shadowing, you can effectively contour all your features- slim your nose, widen your eyes, reduce your double chin, and highlight your cheekbones, among other things.

While I don't know if I'll actually be investing in the Palette they offer, the picture shown is worth a thousand words! Using this photo as a guideline, I can easily use what I've got in my own makeup bag to help create all the right contours for my own face.

My "Who Is... Kandee Johnson?" post discussed her "Plastic Surgery With Makeup" tutorials, and if you are comfortable enough with your own makeup knowledge, this guide is a summed up, do-it-yourself version of the techniques the pros use!

See: Instructional guide, including Before & Afters, here.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Who Is... Kandee Johnson?



Only one of the best YouTube makeup advisors around.

As an actual makeup artist to the celebrities, she offers professional advice for making up your face to be the best it can be. Her product recommendations for skincare and makeup include drugstore buys for those who can't afford to drop $80 on a Dior eyeshadow palette- and her personality makes the tutorials and even vlogs fun to watch.

The information she provides are more than just the cliche tricks and tips, and include how to create the perfect blowout or fake fuller lips. (I personally recommend checking out her "Plastic Surgery With Makeup" posts).

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Product Review: Clarisonic!




My all time favorite Christmas gift this year was my pink Clarisonic Pro from my husband. After bringing it to his attention earlier in the year, he spent some time looking into it. As an engineer, he was able to conclude that this was definitely something that could be just what it's cracked up to be. (He helps me weed through the products and lets me know what's just hype... a helpful quality AND money saver!)

If you haven't heard any of the hype yet, here's the claim about this system from Clarisonic.com:

"Clarisonic developed the sonic technology proven to gently yet effectively loosen dirt and oil to clear your pores. The Sonic Skin Cleansing System uses a patented sonic frequency of more than 300 movements per second to clean, soften and smooth your skin. In just 60 seconds a day, the micro-massage action cleans more than twice as effectively as manual cleansing.

Clarisonic Sonic Cleansing Benefits

-Removes 6x more makeup than manual cleansing
-Leaves skin feeling and looking smoother
-Cleanses so well that products absorb better
-Gentle enough for twice daily use
-Helps reduce oily areas, dry skin patches and blemishes
-Helps reduce the appearance of visible pores"

I was so excited to finally be able to try it out and see if what they say about it is really true. I kept track of my impression after the first 2+ weeks for you to share with me as well:

Day one-
My skin feels way smoother and very clean. No noticable difference in the look of my skin yet.

Day five-
My skin has never taken to daily exfoiliation well and it hasn't gotten red or irritated yet- it feels and looks great. Breakouts have subsided, possibly due to the Clarisonic, but partially due to the fact that I'm washing my face as often as I'm supposed to now :)

Day seven-
My skin maintains the smooth feeling all the time now. I've started noticing that the serum and moisturizer I put on my face after I wash gets soaked up really quickly now- there's not as much left on my face as there used to be. The products are really getting into my skin and doing what they're supposed to do!

Day fourteen-
Pores are looking smaller and less noticable. After extraction, they maintain cleaner and clearer for much longer than they used to. Overall I'm wearing less makeup- redness, spots, discoloration, and pores are all looking better as time goes on.

Conclusion-
I'm going to continue! Soo happy with this product, and for me, it was well worth the money. Regular cleansing just won't do it for me after this!

More helpful info on my experience with the Clarisonic-

the model we purchased was called the Pink Clarisonic Pro. On the Clarisonic site you will see that they also offer the Mia, the Classic, and the Plus. (They do not offer the Pro there yet; we found ours on Amazon). The Mia is the mini/travel version and has one speed, the Classic is the regular version with two speeds, the Plus is the advanced one with two speeds and a body brush head so you can use it in the shower, and finally, the Pro is the newest and most advanced version with four speeds and the body brush.

I have used the body brush and exfoliated with the Clarisonic in the shower, and have been just as happy with the results there as well! My skin is smoother and cleaner than it has been with just a regular scrub or loofah. If you have the choice, the Pro version is definitely the one I'd pick.

Since the price is a bit high, ($225 for the Plus on Clarisonic.com), there are cheaper at home versions that do similar job for a fraction of the cost. Although I haven't used them myself, I've heard great things about the Olay Professional Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System ($29.99) as well as the Pretika Sonic Dermabrasion Facial Brush ($41.50), as a wonderful alternative.


**In no way is my review or my recommendation associated with the products or brands mentioned, just a happy customer wanting to recommend some great products in hopes that they make you as happy as they made me!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

7 Skincare Resolutions For The New Year


1. Wash your face every night before bed.

Skipping this step is a lead cause in premature aging of the skin, clogging of the pores, and most of your bad breakouts. While you sleep, your skin rejuvenates itself. Whatever is on the surface of your skin will be absorbed much more efficiently than it would be during the day- meaning if you didn't cleanse, it's absorbing whatever dirt, grime, and oils are left there. This is especially bad if you didn't remove your makeup! The less your skin and pores can breathe, the faster your skin is aging itself, aside from the breakouts and clogged pores you'll get along with it.


2. Wear sunscreen!

Truly the most effective and most inexpensive way to prevent aging. Aging skin has a few distinct features, including fine lines and wrinkles, sun spots, and sagging. All of these things are a result of collagen breakdown in your skin. Your skin will produce less collagen naturally as you age, but the sun's rays break it down too. The more tan you are, the more you've damaged these components in your skin. Sunburn is the worst of them all, and getting up to 10 bad sunburns in your life can lead to skin that will age 10 years ahead of time. Protect yourself!

3. Throw away old skincare products.

They ALL have expiration dates. After a certain amount of time and after a certain amount of exposure to the air, bacteria starts growing and chemicals start breaking down. Putting these on your skin will do more harm than good. Sorry if that face cream was super expensive, but having it for that many years won't make it worth the money. Using it on time will. Toss it.

4. Stop popping pimples or picking at your skin.

One of the worst habits you could have. Nothing good can come of it. First of all- you may not believe me, but the pimple will actually go away faster if you leave it alone. I can tell you I've experienced it firsthand. Yes, it may be bigger and more obvious a little longer than you want it to be, but by popping it, the redness and the smaller size of it WILL stay on your face longer. When you pop, you are squeezing the top half of the pimple out of your skin and the bottom half deeper into it. This is the opposite of what you want to happen and the reason why it sticks around so long. Picking at a zit is like picking a scab- you're opening the wound so it has to re-seal itself, and setting back the healing process. If you leave it alone, your body will heal on its own. Not to mention it can cause bleeding and scarring.

5. See a dermatologist.

This is actually a really important thing to do! By consulting with a dermatologist, you're getting your skin ID'd. This is important is because the best thing you can do to get good skin is buy the right product for YOUR skin. There are hundreds of products out there offering all sorts of wonderful results, but you need to know what's going to make your skin wonderful- not someone else's. You don't have to need prescription medications to go to a dermatologist. And you don't need to walk away with one either. The type of knowledge an expert can offer you is irreplaceable- and worth getting, at least once.

6. Stay hydrated.

Dehydration in the body leads to dehydration of the skin. It will be duller, dryer, flakier, and look older. Staying hydrated allows it to keep that healthy, glowy look that everyone wants.

7. Get enough sleep.

The rate of cell renewal and skin cell nourishment hits a peak as you hit the hay. So that means if you're not getting enough sleep, your skin doesn't have enough time to rejuvenate itself, and it'll show! Your eyes get dark and puffy, your face looks dull and sallow. Combat it by putting some time aside to get enough rest.