Product of the week - June 11th, 2009

Today's product of the week is of the summer specific variety....

Clinique Moisture Surge - $34 or $46.50 (Clinique.com, Sephora and Clinique counters nationwide)

Now perhaps you all remember my post about the Moisture Surge Spray - a fab product. Today I want to talk about the original Moisture Surge. Or to describe it a different way - your best friend in the summer.

Now I know that when it gets hot and sticky outside the last thing I want to do is layer on some super ridiculous night cream. This product from Clinique has been the answer to my nighttime summer skin care prayers. I have been using it after my 3-step skin care as a moisture mask and have immediately noticed a difference in my skin's texture, feel and a reduction of all those fun, fine lines and wrinkles. It is perfect for delivering the amount of moisture your skin needs but not trapping it or causing it to feel suffocated in the summer heat. It is light, cooling and moisturizing. Definitely BGND approved!!!

Best of all you can use this anytime of day when you need a little extra boost- even over make-up. This is my new moisture/age fighting miracle.

Keep looking fabulous,
BGND

P.S. Clinique.com is having a great offer with purchase deal right now- $92 worth of skin care and make-up plus a Lilly Pulitzer-esque tote all for $32.50. Check it out here.

Friday Fun!!!

So today's blog post comes from my good friend and loyal reader Beth....

As you know Clinique has been having their usual "Gift with Purchase" the past few months. But as we all also know, sometimes you just can't get to the store and do we all really use the same color lipstick?

Well Clinique has finally caught on to the fact that they should do "GWP" in a more up-to-date way - ONLINE of course! On Clinique's website you not only get a GWP - you can customize it!! And for Mother's Day (you folks didn't forget that it is this Sunday did you?), they are throwing in FREE shipping with any Mother's Day gift purchase or any purchase over $40.

Sounds like the perfect excuse to either shop for yourself (yay treat!) or make that last minute Mom's day buy....

Thanks for the 411 Beth! (A fab Mom herself!)

Have a great weekend and keep looking fabulous,
BGND

Bonus Time!!

Hooray BGNDers!
Finally an excuse to get out and spend some money on beauty products and NOT feel bad about it!!

Clinique is having "Bonus Time" aka Gift with Purchase at many of their counters across the country. I know that here in the LA area at Macy's you get this super cute Spring themed flowery bag (florals- very trendy at the moment...) chock full of the usual free products but also including the new (and very intriguing) Youth Surge Age Decelerating Moisturizer SPF 15.
To find the Clinique counter nearest you offering up the free goodies - click here!!

Happy Monday!

Keep looking fabulous,
BGND

Update....

So in honor of the New Year, all you BGND readers know that I simplified. Often times when it comes to skin care we truly over do it..thinking more is better when really with skin that is not always the case. So in honor of trying to save money and simplify my routine and oh yeah- get better skin- I have been faithfully using the good old Clinique 3-Step skin care since the start of the year. Now mind you, I have still been using eye cream, serum and sunscreen and exfoliating every other day.

And lo and behold - my skin has been amazing. Seriously, less visible fine lines and wrinkles, almost NO breakouts of any kind- even around that certain time of the month. All in all - a wonderful routine that I am going to keep up with.

So try it- if your product cabinet is bursting at the seams is - give yourself some more time and money and cut back. You don't have to go with the Clinque 3-step like I did ( I simply chose the routine because I had great results in the past), but chose a simple cleansing regimen that fits your specific care needs and see what happens. No matter what you do try to incorporate all your products from one line- whether that be Clinique, Olay, Estee Lauder, Philosophy - whomever you love. Companies design their products to work together for a reason!

And remember - simple can be beautiful.

Keep looking fabulous,
BGND

Leavin' on a jet plane...

Hey all!
So I am off for a little R&R and my blog will be kind of quiet this week - sorry! I promise to resurface next week when I am sure I will have some sort of crazy Valentine's day commentary!

But for today I leave you with a note on something that is sadly too big to bring on a plane, but is the perfect moisture pick me up for your skin- in the air or just about town....

Clinique Moisture Surge Face Spray Thirsty Skin Relief - $20 (Clinique counters and Sephora nationwide, online at Clinique.com)

Okay - I am seriously in love with this spray. I have forever been looking for something that could deliver a shot of moisture to my sad winter skin (we have little bottles of hand lotion everywhere but try to apply your regular face moisturizer over your make-up and you have one hot mess!)

This spray has finally stepped up to the task of being my on-the-go face moisturizer. You can use it underneath or on top of make-up and you can use it as much as your little heart desires. It delivers just the right amount of moisture to help out when needed and it will not ruin or streak any make-up genius you have going on.

I love it and will definitely be fishing it out of my checked bag as soon as I get off the plane tomorrow!

Keep looking fabulous,
BGND

Runway to Reality...

There are always plenty of new make-up looks that come out of the fashion shows every year. Some are workable and some are just well...see below....


This year however, there have been some great looks on the runways. Two of my favorites? The delicious golden look and the fun purples. Either one of these looks is a great option and almost anyone can wear them. But every year it's seems hard to find a cosmetic that is easy to find and easy to implement. So today I bring you a lovely little package from our good friends at Clinique that combines the golden look and the purples look in an easy and accessible way.

Clinique Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo - $17.50 (Sephora, Clinique counters and online) Specific color- Beach Plum
(I have included both the general image for the Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo and the specific colors I am talking about.)

I love this eyeshadow. Not only is it amazing quality... it never creases, the color stays, it is a good bang for your buck and the colors are two of the trendy of the moment shades right off the runways but they also look amazing alone or together. The image from Clinique.com doesn't really give you a true idea of the colors but they are a sheer, shimmery gold and a deep, sparkly purple. I actually got this eye shadow set free in a gift with purchase and looked at it as one that would go to waste. Well last week I decided on a lark to try it out. It looks fantastic and it is unique and fresh. Anyone else tired of using the same 3-4 eye shadow colors?!

To complete your look, go with either black or purple eyeliner, or perhaps even a deep brown/bronze. My recommendations?
Avon Ultra Luxury Eye Liner - $5 (In Eggplant)
M.A.C. Eye Kohl - $14.50 (In Plushblack or Powersurge)

A few sweeps of your fave mascara and you are good to go.

Heidi Klum you have met your match!

Keep looking fabulous,
BGND

New President, New Year, New You!

So I think that while you should stick with what works, sometimes we all need to hit the reset button. Just like diet and exercise, sometimes we fall off the good skin care habits band wagon and we need a little help getting back into the groove of things.

So today, in honor of fresh starts, I have two product packages that might be just what you are needing if you have spent far too many nights going to sleep with make-up on, or far too many days washing with your bar soap since you ran out of your face cleanser. Both of these packages are meant for skin rehab and to get you back on the right track.

1) For those needing a new approach to anti-agers

Neutrogena 14-day skin rescue kit - $25.99 (Drugstore.com)
This kit may look small and insignificant but boy does it have kick. Armed with three different products (cleanser, day moisturizer, night moisturizer), this kit is designed to get you back on track in a serious way. This is the kit to go with if you need powerful anti-agers and results fast. If your goals are to look younger and more refreshed- this is the way to go.

For more info:

http://neutrogena.com/econsumer/ntg/productdetail.browse?segment=women&catId=1&subCatId=1&productId=460&target=/products/face/14-day-skin-rescue.jsp

#2) For those just looking for a fresh start

Clinique Mini Kit - $46 (Exclusively at Sephora and Sephora.com)
So at first glance this looks like nothing new. Everyone knows about Clinique and their "3-step skin care". Perhaps you have even tried it once in the past. Well, if you are having skin issues, this mini kit might just be the restart you need. It comes with the usual 3-step but it also has my favorite eye make-up remover, the best eye cream (although I use the "rich" version of this), great mascara (the very one I mentioned in my BGND cosmetic best of list), and most importantly City Block with SPF. My biggest issue with the 3-step is that the moisturizer has no SPF, but by including the City Block the folks at Clinique have fixed this issue. Of course all of these products are available in full size, this kit is just great if you need to try something new but don't want to commit to anything just yet. Use the minis and if it works for you, get the full size. Or just like a diet, use this program to get you back on track and then move onto something else.

Have a great weekend and keep looking fabulous!
BGND

Happy New Year!

Hello my faithful BGND readers! It is 2009 (wow!) and I am back and ready to attack any and all skin care and make-up issues anew. My apologies to the lack of posts for the end of December...between the holidays and a nasty little spyware virus that sunk it's teeth into my computer (and had it out of commission for roughly two weeks), I had no way to post. But I am back and I am here with something humbling for the new year.

What you ask? What new foot am I starting out on for 2009?

A retraction of sorts- gasp!

That's right ladies and gents, a product (or product type I should say) has worked it's way back into my good graces. And what is it?

Toner!

I don't know about all of you but I have been having some WEIRD winter skin woes. Isn't acne supposed to be worse in the summer and not in the winter? I mean by all general knowledge one would think that sweaty summer heat + gunky lotion + sunscreen would ultimately top cold outdoor wind + drying indoor heat when it comes to the clogging pores equation. Well the truth is- often times in winter our skin is worse. The reason? Exfoliation! We forget that even ravaged winter skin has dead skin cells that need to be cleared so our skin can breathe and regenerate just like our summer skin does. But because we are so afraid of over drying and stripping skin of any natural oil in the winter, we often do not exfoliate enough.

So in my current state I sought out some new advice for my newly minted skin exfoliation issues.

Little did I know that the product most derms recommend for fixing the winter exfoliation issue is toner! If you use the right toner, you will gently remove the excess skin that has built up but still baby your skin the way it needs to be babied in winter.

I set out to use my holiday time as a 7 day trial run - sort of my own toner test. The product? Good old reliable Clinique Toner #2. I used it religiously morning and night for one week, and continued with the rest of my skin care routine as usual. The results? Happy, glowing, less clogged skin! Not only that, I looked and felt smoother and my pesky forehead fine lines even seemed diminished.

So there you have it, I am back on the toner train - at least for the winter months. Perhaps when the weather gets better I will return to my old toner-free practices, but for now- I am loving it!!

Keep looking fabulous in 2009!

BGND

P.S. I still stand by my original post that toner is not for everyone. I only sought it out because I was having a particular issue. If your skin is fine and you already have an exfoliating treatment in your skin-care routine do not rush to add toner. You don't want to over -do anything and end up with a raw face. But if you are interested in trying toner, go gently and work your way up to the toner strength that works for you!