The past 6 weeks we’ve hosted 5 different sets of overnight guests. Our guests use the guest bathroom, aka TBG’s bathroom. Other than checking to see that it’s clean and fully stocked, I pretty much never go in there. But after the 4th guest commented on the jars of salt scrub TBG has in there (the 5th guest was a 10 year old boy and I’m guessing not alot of scrubbing took place in there) I decided to actually go inspect his shower and sink.

I was with TBG this August in Charleston when we ate at Hyman’s Seafood Restaurant. As they don’t take reservations – and the food is worth the wait – we spent alot of time browsing the Hyman’s Gift Shop, and TBG found the wet bar and started sampling the Holy City Sea Salts. In the end, he purchased 2 jars of the sea salts: Eucalyptus and Lavender. Holy City Salt Scrub leaves your skin feeling clean and soft and moist and smelling wonderful!

Made with all natural ingredients:

• Dead Seas Salt
•  Other Sea Salts
• Coconut Oil
• Grape Seed Oil
• Other Essential Oils

Holy City Sea Salts come in a range of scents:

• coconut
• vanilla lavender
• Ed Hardy
• French Lavender
• chamomille

(I remember sampling something citrusy, but not sure which one that is.)

If you’re not in Charleston any time soon, you can purchase Holy City Sea Salts online at www.holycityskinproducts.com or at 888.456.0382. About $20. Each jar comes with a wooden spoon. Warning: the jars are glass, not my favorite for the shower.

Lucky for me my shower is broken and I’m showering everday in TBG’s bathroom…and using up his supply of Holy Sea Salt Scrub.

From the bed of…

Little Sister Mary is unexpectedly in town this week: she flew from Texas to Chicago for an unplanned surgery, so arrived with 1 suitcase and 1 daughter, 1 husband and 1 son to follow shortly. In all the rush and confusion of course things were forgotten, so from her hospital bed Mary started giving me lists of things she needed from Target, Gap, Bed Bath and Beyond, grocery store, etc:

• hot pink pillowcases
• pink eyemask
• cotton t-shirts
• bottled water and Crystal Light packets
• Monistat Chafing Powder

Monistat Chafing Powder? Wait: you’re in the hospital, shouldn’t we check with your Doctors before you order yeast infection ointments?

Mary looked at me like I’m crazy: Don’t you read the blogs? I use Monistat powder as a primer for my BareMinerals makeup.  Hunh?

Once home I spent an hour googling it: she’s right. Since being introduced, women have discovered that Monistat Chafing Powder has similar ingredients to much more expensive makeup primers: $7.99 for Monistat v $20, $30 or more for similar cosmetic primers. I just converted from wearing moisturizer and concealer to BareMinerals make-up, and living in very humid climates, had been trying to deal with makeup dripping down my face. That’s why I need a primer!

(What’s a makeup primer? I didn’t know either, so I looked it up: it’s a basecoat for your foundation, that leaves your skin smoother and helps the makeup adhere better. So on hot humid days, your expensive powder foundation isn’t running onto your white tank top! Apply after moisturizer, before foundation.)

Who knew? Monistat is now in my medicine cabinet…and happily not for a yeast infection.

Thanks Lil Sis!

We recently decided to split our time between Chicago and SoFlo, which led to all sorts of chaos, challenges and problems. But no problem was greater than the scourge of all women in South Florida: the humidity.

In the North and Midwest humidity is at a critical level only a few weeks each year: rain was the bigger problem. But on rainy days a chic ponytail, brimmed hat and sturdy umbrella could meet the challenge, and all women were equal.

But humidity? To moi eyes there is some secret that South Florida women know to keep their hair sleek and straight instead of the crinkly droopy hair that I was trying to contain with a growing collection of hairbands, elastics, decorative barrettes, and huge plastic clippies. I have thick coarse hair: and lots of it. Normally I just blow my hair dry with a round-brush styling dryer. Which looks fine in SoFlo. For about an hour.

I’ve been assured using a straightening iron would tame the jungle so I bought a Chi, read the instructions, found how-to videos online, and watched friends straighten their hair. Mine looks exactly the same as before I started, except my bangs become straw.

Lots of talk shows and magazine articles are advising against the hair straightening salon treatments using keratin because it contains potentially dangerous formaldehyde. And that many salon treatments advertising no formaldehyde do in fact contain formaldehyde. Nope, not for moi.Moroccan Oil. I’d read about Moroccan Oil in fashion magazines, but I had the idea it was a conditioner for dry hair, I had no idea it would help manage humidity-challenged hair! But I was in Chicago going to my usual stylist, and Pamela asked me how it was going in SoFlo, so of course I launched into my frizzy hair dilemma tirade. And Pamela immediately walked over to the display case and returned with a blue and orange bottle. Pamela used it in my hair, then I bought a small bottle. And left it in Chicago when I returned to SoFlo… merde!

So the hunt began. First stop, Ricky’s NYC SoBe : the only Ricky’s NYC store outside of NYC, and where I go to get my fix for everything from hair products to Havianas flip-flops to breath mints to funky fridge magnets. There was the Moroccan Oil display case: empty. The salesclerk said they were sold out. Next stop: Sephora. No luck. Then Ulta. Nope. Sally’s Beauty Supply. Nope, but information. Apparently you can only buy Moroccan Oil at hair salons.

Score!

$23-45 at a salon near you.

A few months back I was searching for a tinted moisturizer…I never found one I really liked, and resorted to mixing my SPF moisturizer with a few drops of liquid foundation. But my readers had some great ideas. Recently I was killing time at the mall (I hate malls, even the gorgeous Gardens Mall in Palm Gardens) while TBG was at Apple trouble-shooting a software problem. I wandered past Sephora…and remembered the advice of Toma T, who suggested I check out Bare Escentuals.

I admit: I was a skeptic. I’ve never worn liquid makeup. And I’ve never worn powder: this did not look promising. I’d managed to ignore the Bare Escentuals bareMineral Original SPF 15 Foundation hype the past couple years. Yes, I’d vaguely heard InStyle, Teen Vogue, Allure, Seventeen, Glamour and Cosmopolitan Magazines repeatedly vote it the best foundation. That Sephora and QVC routinely vote it a top favorite. I’d even scrolled past the 2 hour (2 hour!) sales promos on QVC TV. But with time to kill, and still needing to find a better solution to my need for a little facial cover-up, I decided to do some personal research.

Easier said than done. At 2:00pm on a Tuesday afternoon, Sephora at Gardens Mall was deserted. Which meant the sales staff was talking to each other, but not to me. So I played around at the prominently displayed Bare Escentuals counter, picked a foundation color that seemed to match my skintone (I picked Light W15 out of the 20 colors, for all skin shades). I paid my $25 plus tax (No, no one helped me today, thank you very much!). And took my little pot of bareMinerals home to test.

Wednesday morning I applied my normal Olay moisturizer and fave YSL Touche Éclat concealer, then opened up the little jar. First, read the instructions to figure out how to open the new snap and click dispenser. Hmmm, powder. I had a make-up brush handy, so dipped it into the powder and puffed it onto my face. And onto the counter, and my shirt. Not a good start. Back to reading the directions: Swirl   Tap   Buff.  OK, less mess but still doesn’t seem right. Next stop, the internet.

The Bare Escentuals website had instructions and demos, but also talked about QVC programs and sales, so I decided to see if there was a sale coming up soon. Perfect: the next night there was a 2 hour Bare Escentuals demonstration and sale. 2 hours! To put on make-up? So I set the DVR so I could watch and fast-forward.

The product demonstration made all the difference: once I saw the models applying the make-up, I totally got the Swirl Tap Buff system: sort of like a friend (or a salesperson at Sephora???) showing me how to use it. But QVC also showed me another tip: for $29.99 plus tax and shipping, I could get a starter kit containing the foundation, an application brush, and a few other

goodies including a how-to DVD. Another jar of foundation, plus the brush and other products: sold! I received my kit a few days later, and tested out the new brush. They were right: the application face brush holds the powder foundation much better than mines does, so no more messy bathroom counters. I watched the DVD, yes it did provide a few more tips on applying, storing and transporting the bareMinerals foundation. Plus, I got another brush for the other products included (Mineral Veil Finish Powder and All-Over Face Color in travel sizes), a mascara, and some product samples.

Am I happy with my bareMinerals foundation? YES: I love it! It doesn’t look like I’m wearing any foundation, but it evens out my skin-tone and provides a little color to my fact. My skin feels dewy and clean, I look like me: only fresher.

My next Bare Escentuals purchase: the refillable travel brush, that lets you take bareMinerals foundation with you in a handy all-in-one brush and powder holder. $29.50.

Thanks for the tip Toma T!

Moi tip: you can’t beat the price for TV starter kit offered on the Bare Escentuals website or on QVC. Watch the video: application of the powder foundation is different, but the videos or product demonstrations on QVC make it simple. I’ll probably by refills at Sephora. When I get over being irritated at them.

I was born blonde…really! On lazy summer days in junior high we laid out in the yard slathered in baby oil, squeezing fresh lemons into our hair: for that natural sun-kissed look. By high school I’d graduated to spraying my hair with Sun-In. And by 16, I’d become a Clairol Girl with natural blonde hair straight from a box.

I'm the blonde

Advance forward a few years (well, decades) and I no longer know what my natural hair color is, and I don’t want to know. What I do know is my hair still grows really fast, and is too often in need of serious root attention. No amount of creative hair parting or sprinkling of baby powder can disguise the stripe that appears along my hair part a few week after a salon visit (no more DYI hair color for me: I leave my head in the hands of a professional!) We travel regularly, so its usually not convenient to drop everything and find a salon for my “blondies “ (as my sil K calls them).

I tried the root touch-up stick and mascara-type wands, they didn’t seem to cover anything…roots or gray. But recently I discover John Frieda Sheer Blonde Go Blonder Lightening Spray. Spray it on your roots after washing, then dry with a hairdryer: the heat activates the color. A minimum of 3 uses is recommended to see an affect, but I am convinced my landing strip was less noticeable after the 1st use. Go Blonder is also for adding hi-lites to your hair, or for all-over lightening with a complete spray cover. Since heat activates the color, I also spray a little into my hair part when in SoFlo running errands in the car…with the top down! A little breeze, sunshine, and a color boost while I’m shopping: efficient! $9.99 at CVS.

Note: Go Blonder only works for blondes, sorry brunettes and redheads! I guess blondes do have more fun, and more hair issues…

Moi Tip: I bought 1 bottle at CVS for $9.99. But on the box was a $2 coupon to use at check-out, so it was only $7.99. Then when I got home, inside the box was a $1 coupon for my next purchase. And a rebate for to submit for 1 free bottle! I’m shopping now!

Just like everyone else I know, one of my 2011 goals was better health: exercising more, eat healthier and sleeping better. A few days ago I saw a blurb online in the Wall Street Journal on NikeWomen’s updated online Training Club. Sounded promising: I travel a lot and having a free online personal trainer sounds like a deal to me!

So I quickly tapped into Nike.com and (with a good deal of effort that I’m saving you here) found the NikeWomen’s Training Club information. After reading through (an overcomplicated) series of information pages and sample workouts, I realized all I had to do was go to iTunes and download the app. Done.  (you must have an iPhone or iPad to use NTC).

Moi note: be warned: its a big app and takes up a lot of space and a while to download. You decide if it’s worth it. For moi, it’s worth it: I downloaded it to my iPhone and iPad. Just in case.

NTC is developed by a Nike trainer using information Nike gained from years of working with professional and amateur athletes.

I’ve been checking NTC out:

• there are different workout levels to choose: beginner, intermediate or advanced
• each workout has different fitness goals, ie ab burner, shape and sculpt, crunch and burn
• different workouts take different amounts of time, from 15 minutes to 45 minutes
• workouts are divided into steps, each with a specific amount of time from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Steps include recovery time.
• many steps also have video to demonstrate the exercise
• Coolest feature: you can add your iTunes music library to the workout!

Other features include:

• saving workouts to analyze and modify your progress
• the option to track and compare your workouts online with other users
• a “reward” system by Nike trainers to motivate your training: ie a power smoothie recipe or training tips

Moi note: it is not required to use the online monitoring system, you can use just your iPhone or iPod

Best of all, it’s all free!

Is the harsh winter weather affecting your skin?

Perfect for dry winter skin: Dove Deep Moisturizing Body Wash $8.99 at CVS, Walgreens or drugstore.com.

I prefer a pump bottle in the shower, so I decant the creamy soap into a plastic pump-style bottle (that I recycled from another soap):

I had coffee, cake and a chat with a friend and she shared her latest beauty tip with me. In town for her daughter’s wedding, the bridal party had manicures at a local day spa. The new discovery? OPI Avoplex Cuticle Oil To Go

What’s so special about Avoplex oil?

• leak-proof squeeze tube package
• no-drip thick gel with a paintbrush applicator
• purse size: only .25 oz
• lightly scented replenishing oils: vitamin E, avocado, sunflower, sesame, and kukui nut oils

I found Opi Avoplex Cuticle Oil To Go all over the internet for $3.50-$8.00. It was not at my local Walgreens or CVS or Ulta. I suggest a nail salon near you or buying online.

Moi tip: The small size is perfect in your carry-on bag for air travel. Give yourself a little hand treatment while you fly. That’s what my friend is doing right now!

I try to visit a day spa for a facial several times per year, for deep skin cleaning, moisturizing, mini-peels, and general skin maintenance. Often when I’m traveling or if a local spa advertises a special rate, I’ll schedule an appointment as a special treat, and try out a new product or procedure.

But what about at home maintenance? Recently I discovered Olay Regenerist Microdermbrasion and Peel System at my local CVS drugstore. I was shopping for tinted moisturizers, and saw the box, and decided to try it out: encouraged by a $5 off coupon from CVS: $22.99.I found it easiest to use on days I’m washing my hair, and use it weekly. 2 quick steps:

• first massage in the microdermbrasion crystals
• then add the serum on top.

The whole procedure only takes a few minutes, and I enjoy the warming sensation as I rub the serum into my face and neck. Then, rinse off in the shower!

The product has a pleasant citrusy smell, and is easy to use and store. One caution: I found its helpful to protect my manicure with gloves as one of the liquids, probably the peel serum, leaves my mani a little whitened and mottled.

Voila, my skin feels soft and smooth, and I’m convinced a little more even-toned.

fyi: on days I wash my hair but don’t use the Olay system, I like St. Ives Apricot Scrub: another inexpensive drugstore brand: $3.99. (Daily, I use Aveeno Positively Radiant Cleanser in the morning, and Olay Regenerist Cleansing Cloths at night.)

Moi Tip: Scheduling spa services when you travel are not only a special treat, but also a wallet savings! I visit bff Omaha J at least once per year, and every visit I schedule a trip to Té Bella Medspa. Whether I’m indulging in a hydrating facial or having my brows waxed, the prices are less than half what I pay in New York! It practically pays my airfare to schedule a full spa day at Té Bella.

I’m dedicated to slathering on moisturizer with SPF every morning, rain or shine, summer or winter. I’ve been addicted to the best-selling and highly rated Olay Complete SPF 15 for at least 15 years, at $8.69 for 6 oz. a bargain, and didn’t feel any need to change. Until.

I’ve never used a foundation, or at least not since high school. And I’m not sure why I used it then. I’m faithful to concealer, and particularly YSL Touche Éclat.

But lately I’ve been feeling the need for a little more coverage: I seem to be using a lot more concealer! But I didn’t want a heavy coverage, so I decided to investigate tinted moisturizers with SPF.

First stop CVS where I checked out Olay Total Effects Tinted Moisturizer. At twice the price and half the size, I decided to keep looking. Next stop Sephora, where I explained my need, sampled a few products, then purchased a small bottle of Lancôme Bienfait Multi-Vital Teinté SPF 30 in Sand 1.7 oz  for $45 (far more than the Olay Total Effects Tinted Moisturizer ). Back again the next morning: the coverage was way too heavy, and I felt like there was a clay mask on my face. A few days later I was jetting to Savannah for a girls tip with my sisters, sisters-in-law and The Queen Mum. Not so surprisingly, I ended up in a conversation with one sister about tinted moisturizers with SPF, and her search for the one. And she had a conversation with another sister about, you guessed it: tinted moisturizers with SPF. And this led to a post-weekend Facebook conversation with all the recommendations in writing.

All of this led me back again to Sephora and then to CVS to test the tinted moisturizers they had recommended:

• sister M: Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer with SPF 20 at Sephora. $42 for 1.5 oz, 10 shades. They have samples. So I first tried M’s color, bisque: too light. Next Sand: too dark. Then Nude: didn’t provide any coverage. At all. Next!
• sister S: Cover Girl Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 15. Not at CVS. Not at Walgreens. Not at Duane Read. Not at Sephora or anywhere else I could find in NYC. Target hadn’t yet opened in NYC. Sister S recommends Ulta, but they aren’t in NYC yet either. I found it online at drugstore.com for $6.59 for 1.35 oz. Good price, well-known brand.

But I wanted immediate gratification at a low price. I don’t have any problem ordering online, in fact I prefer it. But for cosmetics I’d like to sample the product before I buy it online, where it becomes a hassle to return it. And I’m willing to spend on my face, but without samples, I’m not willing to spend the big $$$ and end up throwing it away. As happens too often.

So what’s a girl to do? I ended up buying a bottle of Cover Girl Clean Liquid MakeUp in Beige, 1 oz for $6.99. I pour a blob of my Olay Moisturizer in my palm and add a drip of Cover Girl Clean, mix together and spread.

It actually works great: light coverage at a low price. I’ve been thinking of pre-mixing the combo in a little squeeze bottle, but so far I haven’t been quite motivated enough to do it.

Am I still looking for a tinted moisturizer with SPF? Yes! But until I find one, this works fine. When my new bottle of Olay runs out, I’ll probably search again. Drugstores. Department Stores. On-line. Cosmetics Stores. The Search continues…

Any tinted moisturizers with SPF that you’d like to recommend?

Moi Tip: I use the tinted moisturizer on my face, but not on my neck and chest. I don’t like the coverage there, and don’t need the mess on my clothing. So I’ll continue to be faithful to my Olay Complete for my neck and chest.