Snow Day

Maybe its because I'm from the Midwest, but I love a snow day.  Not because I still go sledding or drive my mother so crazy that she hides in the basement with a beer, but because it forces me to control my control-freak over-active-type-A tendencies and just hang around my apartment.  Which is a great opportunity to give myself a facial.

Disclaimer:  I've never had a spa facial, so no comments about how Bliss or whoever does a facial.  I've worked this routine out based on years of practice on myself, my mother, my sisters, and my entire dorm floor. 

Start with clean skin, and then exfoliate.  Use a scrub, a gommage, an enzymatic mask, or a mild peel.  (Heavy stress on 'mild' for that last one.)  Personally, I like an enzymatic mask for a facial, I feel like I'm accomplishing something.  If you're a regular retinol or glycolic acid user, make sure you read the labels and don't leave a peel or enzymatic mask on too long, particularly if you haven't taken any time off from retinol in a while.

Next, identify your issues, and pick step two.  Blackheads?  Periodic break-outs?  Nothing really beats a clay-type mask.  If you have combination skin, you can even just use it on your t-zone.  Tip:  steam between steps one and two if you have blackheads.  DON'T use boiling water, DO tent with a towel, and I love to throw fresh rosemary and mint into the water bath.  Stay under there for a few minutes, no more.  When done, leave your skin damp, and pile on the clay.  Downside of most clay-type masks is that they can take a long-ass time to dry.  But then again, who cares?  Its a snow day!  You've got Netflix, you've got a DVR! 

Step three (or two and a half, depending on your skin type) should probably be a firming mask, with an eye treatment done at the same time.  Don't forget your neck and the underside of your chin and jaw!  If you're a fan of electrocurrent or infrared, use these gadgets during this step.

Finally, finish with a hydrating mask, remove with a damp washcloth after ten minutes, moisturize, and then....go back to your Thai takeout.  Because its a snow day.

Make It All Better

I will readily admit that I am NOT the Hair Care Guru.  (That's my friend Kristan at Serafino Says.)  In fact, when they taught Basic Hair in sixth grade or whenever, I was definitely out sick.  On a good day, I look like Raggedy Ann.  On a bad day, I look like a roadie for an 80's hair band.  (Best line from 2012:  "Def Leppard called, they want their hair back.")

But I have to say that even without Kristan's interventions, my hair is looking better, despite my determined neglect and failure to get trims, blowouts, keratin treatments, and my very bad habit of covering my grays with beard & moustache color.  Less frizz.  Less likelihood of frightening small children.  More likely to stay semi-straight for more than ten minutes.  Shiny, even.

What predicated this miracle?  A mysterious leave-in conditioner called Pure NV BKT One-For-All.

Why mysterious?  Because I have no idea how it works so well, and why my ends don't look fried or dried out like they normally do when I use this spray.  Or how it causes curls to play together nicely, instead of looking like they came from eight different peoples' heads.  Or how it helps me to blow out my own hair, including stubborn cowlicks, previously impossible.  

Hopefully I won't find out in ten years that the price of easily fabulous hair is a hole in my scalp or something, because I am seriously addicted!

All Star - The Eyes Have It

I've pulled this bad boy out of my makeup bag more times than I can count.  At my desk, on the bus, on the subway, in front of the refrigerator.  My using it in the office causes a mass run on Duane Reade.

It de-puffs, hydrates, reduces dark circles.  It goes on over makeup.  Its gentle enough to use on eyelids.  Its paraben-free.

What is it??  Its Vichy's eye roller.  I've been asked about it so many times that it merits its own post.


And yes, you can put it in the refrigerator.  No, you don't have to, it remains magically cooling even stuffed into your makeup bag.

NB:  speaking of eyelids, there was another burned eyelid emergency issue this weekend.  People.  Really.  If the tube says, "Avoid Eye Area", then it means "Avoid Eye Area".  While it may include that warning because the product will irritate your actual eyes, many things (like enzyme peels, retinoids, salicylic acid....) are formulated for the thickness of skin on, say, your chin.  So read the label, and avoid being nominated for the Darwin Awards of Skin.

Out, Out Damn Spot! Act II

Yes, its true.  TSCG does get them too.  Blemishes.  Pimples.  Breakouts.  Zits.  Mostly, I suffer from the dread ClAcne (cleavage acne), resulting from sweating in a high-performance sports bra, which seems to be fiendishly difficult to eradicate, and fiendishly prone to scarring.  And lately, I've been getting the occasional pimple on my neck too, which are at least as difficult to get rid of, if not more so.

Barring rushing off to my beleaguered dermatologist and begging for cortisone shots, what to do, what to do??

The obvious answer is prevention (duh) but its sort of too late for that, and clearly, prevention didn't work this time.  So NOW what to do, what to do?  Two methods seem to work best:  1)  layer salicylic acid gel (try Neutrogena's if your skin is tolerant, or ph Advantage's if you're prone to dryness or redness) under benzoyl peroxide; or 2) overnight, use Mario Badescu's Drying Lotion, which looks like calamine lotion but works with lightning-fast speed, doesn't migrate, and magically works on the blemish only.  AND it seems to work on body acne too, when nothing else does.  During the day, use a concealer with salicylic acid in it.  Benefit used to make a fantastic product called Galactic Shield, but its been discontinued.  Grrr.  Clinique also made a pencil, but discontinued it in favor of an awkward tube that dispenses too much product and doesn't fit neatly into a cosmetic pouch.  Jane Iredale still makes a pencil, but its dual-ended (treatment on one side, concealer on the other.)


DON'T pick at it, DON'T go crazy exfoliating when you have an inflamed blemish, DON'T extract a whitehead yourself, DO gently disinfect the area with an alcohol swab prior to applying a treatment, and after washing your face.  DO continue to moisturize, but make sure your moisturizer is non-comedogenic.

Back to prevention for a second, DO try YonKa Creme PG.  Its gentle, and it does help.  Swear!

Random Thought Bubble

I just went away for a week.  Being the fanatic that I am, I will take off all of my nail polish and re-do it if I have one chip.  This is an annoying tic in the best of circumstances, and one that becomes almost paralyzing while on the road.  Particularly because packing nail polish remover wipes, mini base coat, color, and top coat weigh my bag down even more than it already was.  Which is hard to believe, I know.

What's a girl with beauty OCD to do?  Gels are the obvious answer.  EXCEPT that this girl with beauty OCD is constantly harping on the hazards of sun exposure, and gels are cured under UV lamps. Is that so bad, you ask?  After all, your hands are only under there for two minutes per cure, four rounds total, weighing in at eight minutes of UV exposure per gel application.  The answer:  yes, its that bad.

Consider this:  the offending lamp is about a half-inch from your unprotected (and very thin) skin.  Sun damage is cumulative, and even when getting a regular manicure, you probably use those tempting UV dryers to get out of the salon faster, right?  So how much damage are you really doing every year??  Answer:  a lot.

You can slather your hands with physical sunscreen, but your manicurist may have a herd of cows, since your nails must be 100% dry and oil free for the gel to adhere properly.  So instead, try wearing fingerless gloves (which are really fingerTIPless) during a gel manicure.  The best kind?  Gloves that have a high UPF rating, which fingertips you cut off yourself to ensure that they cover as much of your fingers as absolutely possible.

Yes, you'll look like a crazy lady.  But by your third manicure, you'll be surprised by how many other crazy ladies at your local mani-pedi place are doing the exact same thing.

Peak Oil

One of the most pressing issues on my mind today.  No, not because I'm worried about whether or not New Jersey-ites will be able to drive their Escalades into New York City and honk in ten years, but because of the proliferation of skin oils on the market, and what exactly they're good for.

Case study:  my beloved friend H, who is perhaps the most fickle of all skin obsessives.  Sephora loves her, because she'll spend hundreds based on whatever that month's facialist suggested, then dump it all and spend hundreds more the next month when some other facialist disagrees.  As a result, I recently inherited a full bottle of Shu Uemera cleansing oil and a nearly full bottle of Josie Maran Argan Oil (both of which I use, and suggested that she use) thanks to one of these very facialists.  The issue?  That H worries about breakouts, and the facialist insisted that anyone who has ever had a pimple should avoid oil like the plague, and absolutely should not put any on her face.  Ever.  Sounds logical, right?

If you consider that acne is like a chair with four legs, (oil, hormones, cell turnover, and bacteria) and that knocking out one leg  will cause the chair to fall over, then yes, it does sound logical.  BUT also consider that in the case of cleansing oil, oil breaks up oil, so removing your makeup with oil is highly efficient.  Sub-case study:  C is a pastry chef, and was horrified to find her teenage breakouts returning with her first job in a commercial kitchen.  The culprit?  Pam.  Its everywhere in a pastry kitchen, and her regular cleanser, an excellent workhorse in normal circumstances, just wasn't cutting through the layer of non-stick cooking spray that accumulated on her face over eight hours.  Ugh.  I suggested that she use a cleansing oil prior to washing with her normal cleanser and bingo, back to normal.  Cleansing oils not only break up oil, they do rinse off.  It isn't like waterproofing your face with Vaseline, trust me!

And what about oils that you leave on? Not all oils are comedogenic.  They're light.  They sink in quickly.  Some contain natural anti-inflammatories and bacteria inhibitors.  Some pack a powerful punch of anti-oxidants while hydrating and moisturizing, obviating the need to layer on products.  All pluses for the breakout prone.

For the drier-skinned, that they sink in quickly makes them fantastic for layering.  What's not to love?  I am looking forward to trying out two that are currently buring holes in my medicine cabinet shelves I'm such a huge fan.   So oil it up, and slide on.

Celebrity Skin

No, not Cate Blanchett without airbrushing or some weird stalker website. Rather, I bumped into uber famous dermatologist Dr. Frederic Brandt yesterday. Yes, dermatologists can be famous. Dr. B has a skincare line (duh) so of course I know who he is. He looked a bit frightened when I chased him down the street describing the items that are not currently on the market that I want....was that weird??

Anyway, I did refrain from mentioning that I'm in the midst of test driving an item from his line up, (review coming soon). Journalistic ethics and all!