A New York City Health and Beauty Blog

3 Splurge-Worthy Beauty Products to Recommend

What is the latest and greatest in beauty? As an esthetician you probably get this question a lot — from friends, family and clients. What do you tell them? The beauty industry is constantly introducing new products, from luxury lashes to designer brushes, here are three splurge-worthy products totally worth recommending to everyone in your little black book.

Silk Lash Extensions

When you are in a rush, your morning makeup routine might entail grabbing your favorite mascara off of the vanity and applying in the car. Mascara is often a must for women, no matter the a.m. beauty routine. Now, women can take their lashes to the next level with silk lash extensions. Soft and silky, these beauties can create a bold yet natural look that can be worn all day, without messy application. Extensions are created to look like real lashes and are applied professionally with three different lengths to give the appearance of a real eyelashes’ natural growth cycle. And while we may have a serious love affair with mascara, we can tuck our trusted wands and tubes into our makeup pouches. They require no additional makeup application to look fabulous.

Luxury Sunscreen

Sunscreen should be an essential part of every woman’s daily beauty routine. No, not the white goopy varieties we slather on when we are at the beach, a sophisticated sunscreen. Today’s sun-protecting products often do more than just protect our skin against the sun’s harmful and damaging ultra-violet rays. In addition to protecting from sun damage, luxe products like Cle de Peau Beaute’s gel oil foundation tout further beauty benefits like moisturizing and blurring capabilities. With just five dabs of the foundation, applied to areas including the chin, forehead and cheeks, women can achieve medium coverage with a soft focus finish. Housed in an eye-catching chiseled glass container and infused with natural rose essence, this foundation provides SPF 21 and is available in 12 different skin tone shades. Cle de Peau Beaute Foundation is available for $250 and would no-doubt make a fabulous addition to your own retail area.

Designer Brushes

As an esthetician you already know the importance of cleaning your beauty brushes regularly. But do your clients? Bacteria could be lurking in those dirty makeup brushes. Regularly cleaning brushes is highly advised to keep skin looking its best and there are a variety of luxury brush cleaning products available today, ranging from designers like Dior to beauty brands like Trish McEvoy, MAC and Clinique. The right type of brush can also keep skin at its best. Forget bristly brushes, soft, smooth types are key. Designer brush sets provide an array of brushes for each area of the face and the beauty products used, so there’s no double-duty required. Check out Marc Jacobs brushes —a must for the stylish woman.

Now, when you are faced with the question “What’s the latest and greatest in beauty?” you can answer confidently with three answers: silk lashes, luxe sunscreen and designer brushes. So, which will you recommend first?

7 Simple Sunscreen Protection Tips for Healthy Skin

TOP 7 SUN PROTECTION TIPS for Healthy Skin

Sun protection is not always something that we think about on a regular basis. But we should because we’re exposed to the suns’ rays daily and we spend even more time out in the sun during the warm spring and summer months.

Personally, I love to spend summer weekends at Cherry Grove, Fire Island just sitting on the beach or eating gelato in a tiny quaint cafe. Summer, with it soaring temperatures brings me out of my hibernation and I just love basking in the sun just taking in all of the warm energy and beautiful skies. But one thing that I always carry with me in the summer is my sunscreen because I’ve experienced sunburn before and it’s not pretty. So now I make it a habit to protect my skin to keep it healthy. And I came across a few simple sunscreen tips that we all need to be reminded of before the heat wave hits, so I decided to share them with you!

  1. Use a sunscreen product with at least SPF 30, and make sure it blocks both UVA and UVB rays. When applying sunscreen on your face make sure that its noncomedogenic so that it won’t clog your pores.
  2. Apply your sunscreen every day, not just in the summer or on sunny days. Even if it is winter, cloudy, or hazy, use sunscreen.
  3. When you apply sunscreen, don’t forget hidden areas like your neck, the back of your hands, feet and the tips of your nose and ears, which are all areas that get a lot of sun exposure but are often overlooked. Especially vulnerable are the tops of the ears, where skin cancer loves to make a debut.
  4. Reapply your sunscreen every few hours and again after you’ve been in the pool or ocean.
  5. Use sun-protecting lip balm with SPF.
  6. Women are more susceptible to sun damage the week before a menstrual period, so apply extra sunscreen.
  7. The sun’s ultraviolet rays are most intense between 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. so try to avoid being outside during those hours. If you do have to be out, wear long sleeves and a hat with a wide bring and of course carry your sunscreen.

Review: Badger Damascus Rose SPF 16 Face Sunscreen Lotion

Badger Balm Damascus Rose SPF 16 Face Sunscreen Lotion

Although I know that sunscreen in a necessary evil in order to protect our skin from harmful UVA & UVB rays. but I just can’t stand the thick consistency. I have oily skin already and adding another product to my beauty regime is not something that I look forward to because I literally feel the product on my face. So I opt for a moisturizer that includes SPF so that I’m not adding another product on my face. But I just tried a sunscreen that changed my mind, Badger Damascus Rose SPF 16 Face Sunscreen Lotion.

Badger is a family run business in rural New Hampshire, they use natural and certified organic ingredients and none of their products are tested on animals. Their sunscreen contains antioxidants and nutrient-rich extracts like aloe, lavender oil, chamomile and rosehip extract.

This sunscreen lotion is a lightweight cream with a subtle scent of roses and lavender which smells wonderful. Another bonus is the rich blend of anti-aging compounds like Calendula and Seabuckthorn. The sunscreen applies smoothly like a moisturizer and doesn’t leave traces of white behind like some sunscreens do. It provides SPF 16 protection and can be used alone or under makeup. After applying the sunscreen I didn’t even feel it and it didn’t irritate my sensitive skin even after putting on my makeup.

Badger Damascus Rose SPF 16 Face Sunscreen Lotion, $17.99

Disclosure: The product featured in this review was provided for editorial consideration. Receipt of this product did not guarantee review and all opinions are my own.

Review: Avon Reversalist Day Renewal Cream

Avon Reversalist Day

As a part of my beauty routine, I always apply moisturizer to keep my skin supple and also as a smooth base for my makeup application. Even though I have oily skin moisturizer is still an essential part of my routine otherwise my skin would be even oilier! Another problem that I have are breakouts so it’s always a balancing act of making sure that I use all of the right products that work for my skin while keeping my pores clear and making sure that I’m doing all of the right things. So when I received Avon’s Reversalist Day Renewal Cream I was anxious to try it out because it helps to reverse the signs of aging while providing SPF 25 – score!

Avon claims that this formula can visibly reverses wrinkles with Activinol Technology and here is what they have to say about what their product can do:

What is Activinol Technology?
Activinol Technology is shown to increase the production of Activin to help boost skin’s ability to repair itself and recreate fresher, newer looking skin. Avon is the first to use this complex consisting of two exclusive Phytochemicals:
• Amorphophallus: Stimulates Activin production to help trigger skin’s surface repair process.
• Sesbania: To help deliver firmer, less wrinkled looking skin

I’ll admit that I was a bit hesitant because I thought that this cream would be a too heavy and therefore would clog my pores but on the first application my fears were alleviated. The cream was very light and not at all oily. This cream does have a perfume scent to it although it’s not too strong it’s definitely noticeable.

I used this product for approximately two weeks before reviewing it, just to make sure that it did not cause any breakouts and that it showed some improvement in the condition of my skin. On my initial trial of the product my skin was well moisturized but not oily. Over the weeks that I used the product I noticed that my face had a much smoother appearance.  I don’t have a huge problem with wrinkles but I do have some parentheses (aka laugh lines) on my face that are starting to show up. These little laugh lines appeared a bit plumped up, yay! If I keep this up I might just look 21 again!

I love that this formula also has sunscreen, which is great because we all know how important it is to protect our skin from the sun. Avon’s Reversalist Day Renewal Cream also states that it helps to reverse discoloration and although I do not have much of a problem in that area I will continue to use it to hopefully see an improvement in a light scar that I have on my cheek ~ I’ll keep you posted. Overall did this product do what it says it could do, I’d have to say yes. It’s a great moisturizer with SPF 25 and it helps give your skin a more youthful appearance so I will certainly continue to use this product.

Avon Reversalist Day Renewal Cream is available at Avon.com – 1.7oz retails for $27

Disclosure: The products featured in this review were provided for editorial consideration. Receipt of this product did not guarantee review and all opinions are my own

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