Product of the week - November 6th, 2008

Well the election is over, there is a new man soon to be in office but sadly the economy isn't turning around anytime soon. We all still have to pinch a penny here and there, especially with the holidays coming up. And since it can feel majorly guilty to splurge on cosmetics at a time like this, today's POTW is a economy staple that works for all.

Cover Girl Eye Enhancers in Cafe au Lait - $3.94 (Drugstores and online nationwide)




This eyeshadow trio is the BOMB. It is three fantastic colors that work on ALL skin tones. You heard me right. These colors will work for everyone. They are shimmery but not too sparkly and they can be applied lightly for day or layered for a dramatic night time look. This shadow literally can be your natural and neutral daytime look and your smokey, shimmery and sexy night time eye. And all of that for $4!!! This is a steal, it is the one eyeshadow that I buy over and over again and use the whole palate till it is gone.

Keep looking fabulous!
BGND

Bed Time Blues

Dear BGND,

Whew! The election is finally over and I stayed up WAAY too late watching all the results coming in. Well, when I got up off the couch to wash my face and go to bed I once again lamented my late-night routine confusion! I never know exactly what I should be doing when it comes to my skin care before bed. What order should I apply things? Is serum really necessary? Do I use one eye cream in the morning and a different one at night? HELP! When I crawl into bed I want to drift off into blissful sleep, not toss and turn because I am not quite sure if I did things correctly!

Tired in Tennessee

Dear Tired in Tennessee,

Fear not my friend. Your night time routine should be something you look forward to, not something you cringe away from because you are lost and confused amongst row after row of product and cleanser. The best way to think of your night time routine is that you are getting (hopefully) a blissful 7-8 hours of uninterrupted time for your skin to breathe, recoup and absorb whatever you want it to. Think about the morning...you wash and prep your face and then bam! The minute you step outside the house you are faced with so many things trying to destroy all your hard work, from pesky weather and UVA/UVB rays to the nasty things that float around in our air that we don't even know about- and they all land on and in your pores! Well the lovely night holds no such barriers to skin success. What you put on your skin sinks in for hours and when you wake up you are infinitely better than when you hit the sack if you have done things correctly. So Tired in Tennessee, here is my step by step breakdown of what your nighttime skin care routine should be.

1) Remove Eye makeup

The skin around your eyes is the most delicate on the face and the easiest to wrinkle/show signs of age, so it is all the more important to take good care of it. The first step to that is to use a proper eye makeup remover that will gently cleanse the eye area and get you ready for your facial cleanser. Do not rely on your facial cleanser to clean the eye area. Nine times out of ten, your facial cleanser is NOT appropriate for your eye skin and you will do damage trying to wrestle eye makeup off with the wrong product (or even worse, you will go to bed with residual eye makeup on and that will do nothing but clog and damage your pores and delicate eye area).

2)Cleanse

This is of course very personal to your skin type. The one thing that is true for all is that you should use your "serious" cleanser at night. This is the time to use the heavy duty cleanser that is right for you, whether that be something to fight acne or to even skin tone. Either way, those good ingredients will continue to work all night long. Many people in fact do not need more than a gently cream cleanse in the am, so this is their one and only true deep clean.

3) Serum/Concentrate

This is the most skipped step and in BGND's humble opinion, one of the most vital. Serum is your one true chance to get all the active ingredients you want directly onto fresh skin when they will work their best and for their longest. There are many, many serums out there so you have plenty of chance to find exactly the anti-agers you want and what will work best for your skin. But whatever you do, go out and find a serum you like and stick with it. It will help with fine wrinkles, it will seal moisture in and it WILL make a difference in the health and glow of your skin.

4) Eye cream

Just like serum, there are many many eye creams out there and there is one that will work for you. It should go on after serum and before your moisturizer.

5) Night Cream

Don't think that the lotion you use during the day is the one you should use at night. Like I have said many times during this post...nighttime is your chance to get the heavy lifting done. Pick your serious arsenal and make it work for you. This includes an anti-aging, moisturizing night cream that will work for you while you rest.

Well Tired in Tennessee, hopefully this breakdown helps you.

Remove Eye makeup

Cleanse

Apply Serum (include neck and upper chest area)

Eye Cream

Night Cream (include neck and upper chest area)

5 steps and you are done!

No more restless nights for you and rock that new skin!!

Keep looking fabulous,
BGND

Vote your way to moisture!

Happy election day BGND readers! Hopefully you have all gone out there and done your civic duty (whether your blood runs blue or red). I have a feeling that some of you had to stand outside waiting in line or even more likely, walk a bit to your polling place? And I bet the weather at your polling place was one of three options depending on what part of the country you live in. 1)Cold and blustery, 2) cold and clear or 3) dry and clear. Now, just like that "I Voted" sticker is displaying your patriotic spirit, your skin is showing the effect of today's election and the weather you faced to cast your ballot. So in this post, I am finally going to address the TON of mail that I have received about the effects of winter weather on our poor faces. (I recently addressed dry skin on the body (see the post from 10/30/08) but today, the face is front and center.)

We all know winter skin is different from summer skin. And often times it seems like as soon as we get one skin care routine down pat, the seasons change and we are faced with a whole mess of new skin irritations to deal with. To clear up some of the confusion and help you survive the gray months, the following is my list of winter skin MUSTS...things that will not only help your skin during the dry and/or cold winter, but will allow you to come out ready to rock some glowing skin come spring.

1) Exfoliation is not just for summer

Just because your skin is dry and patchy, maybe even irritated, it does not mean you should stop exfoliating. Now, don't go crazy with super harsh scrubs because they can make things worse but use a creamy scrub that will allow for the cell turnover you need during this time of the year but won't cause any more redness than you already have thanks to the elements. If you don't exfoliate, all those sad, dull, dry skin cells will just sit on the surface of your face, making things worse than they already are.

2) Winter is not another term for "no sunscreen months"

NOPE. Don't even think it. Ever gotten burned on an overcast day? You always need sun protection and just because the sun isn't beating down doesn't mean those pesky UVA and UVB rays aren't sneaking through.

3) Winter clothes, winter moisturizer?

One common winter mistake is that people switch to a winter cream but do not go with the right one. I have seen 25 year old girls buying cream designed for mature skin just because they want something super thick and hydrating. You have to make sure that what you are using is right for your unique set of problems, and not just something that looks heavy duty. Always make sure it still has the ingredients you need but doesn't conflict with anything else you may be doing. So if for instance you are someone with dry winter skin that is noticeable flaky or irritated, look at what you have been using in the summer months - see what the ingredients are and they try to find a creamy or richer version of that. This will usually do the trick. You will be moisturized but not missing or conflicting with any of your other regimen steps. A good example of this kind of "step-up" would be the Clinique moisturizers. They offer many that come in different moisturizing strengths..so if you are someone who generally uses their Oily skin level, drop to the more hydrating combination skin level and see if that extra surge of moisture does the trick. It usually will and you will still be getting all the good things you need into your skin.

(A side note on this, if you are not using a serum- please start. It truly is the first step in getting nutrients into your skin and sealing in moisture. A good serum can make more difference than any different or new moisturizer could. That may be all the switch or winter upgrade you need. More on this in tomorrow's blog post.)

So all, whether or not your candidate wins today - at least your skin will look winning!

Keep looking fabulous!

BGND

Learning from the best...

Just like anything else in life, sometimes inspiration is hard to come by. No matter how hard we try, no matter how long we sit and brainstorm, sometimes the creative bug is just hiding for the day. For BGND, this causes a problem- what to do/what to write...Some days I have blogs for days, so many ideas bumping around in my head that I write 5-6 blog entries in one afternoon. And then sometimes.....crickets.

So today, a slow Monday, left me in the creative doldrums. As a result, I decided to look outside of myself and see what information was out there to inspire me. I wanted to talk about fall makeup colors but was having a hard time picking one favorite to write about.

Well, in my researching I found this fabulous article on www.ivillage.com.

http://beauty.ivillage.com/makeup/makeuptrends/0,,82mw8f1v,00.html

This entry is exactly what I was looking for today.....Not only did the people at ivillage lead me to the fall makeup information I was looking for, they provided the top 6 looks for fall from some industry leaders including Bobbi Brown, Stila and M.A.C. among others.

And the cherry on the sundae? A lovely 4 minute make-up video.....a quick easy time saver that will make your skin fab.

So enjoy what ivillage brought to me today. I know it inspired me to some new makeup ideas for fall and I hope it will do the same for you!

Keep looking fabulous!

BGND

Scary Steals!

Well, Halloween is here....the costumes, the candy, the deals! That's right...Halloween may really be for the kiddies but you can still trick or treat - for beauty items! Many many websites have deals at Halloween time....those lovely little secret discount codes that you enter to save you shipping costs, give you a free gift or even get some % off your purchase. So tonight, curl up with your laptop and in between answering the door for your neighborhood cuties, order yourself some treats online!!

But beware, all of these are ONLINE ONLY discounts and many of the codes expire before the end of the weekend and in some cases at the end of today so catch them before they disappear!! BOO!!

Sephora:

Givenchy - http://www.sephora.com/browse/section.jhtml?categoryId=C19802&cm_mmc=email+ret-_-news1+20081025+promo-_-modl+likebrd-_-giv&dicid=364742:14450575544:5258272

Smashbox -http://www.sephora.com/browse/section.jhtml?categoryId=C19806&cm_mmc=email+ret-_-news1+20081025+promo-_-modl+likebrd-_-smash&dicid=364742:14450575544:5258352

Marc Jacobs - http://www.sephora.com/browse/section.jhtml?categoryId=C19804&cm_mmc=email+ret-_-news1+20081025+promo-_-modl+likebrd-_-mj&dicid=364742:14450575544:5258354

Frederic Fekkai - http://www.sephora.com/browse/section.jhtml?categoryId=C19801&cm_mmc=email+ret-_-news1+20081025+promo-_-modl+likebrd-_-fekk&dicid=364742:14450575544:5258356

Bliss - http://www.sephora.com/browse/section.jhtml?categoryId=C19800&cm_mmc=email+ret-_-news1+20081025+promo-_-modl+likebrd-_-bliss&dicid=364742:14450575544:5258358

Jean Paul Gaultier - http://www.sephora.com/browse/section.jhtml?categoryId=C19803&cm_mmc=email+ret-_-news1+20081025+promo-_-modl+likebrd-_-jpg&dicid=364742:14450575544:5155818

Benefit Cosmetics:

FREE U.S. SHIPPING at http://newsletter.benefitcosmetics.com/W0RH00428479E17A7811A29B093E30!
Enter promo code SPOOKY08 at checkout.

FREE some of a kind Gorgeous Mini with a purchase of $35 or more, enter code LOVEMINI at checkout.

Bath & Body Works:

Add $10 of Bath & Body Works merchandise to your bag. Add your free True Blue® Spa or Aromatherapy item, up to a $15 value. At checkout, enter promo code FREESC.

Clinique.com:

FREE shipping and a FREE travel-size Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief with $35 or more, enter code MSURGE at checkout.

E.L.F. Cosmetics:

Buy one item, get the second for 50%, enter code GET50 at checkout.

Kiehl's:

Free ground shipping on all orders over $75, enter code KIEHL at checkout.

Prescriptives.com:

Free shipping on orders over $35, enter code FREESHIP2 at checkout.

ULTA Beauty:

$5 off $10 or more, enter code 96306 at checkout.

Keep looking fabulous,
BGND

Product of the week - October 30th, 2008

Boo! Halloween is scary and frightful...and so is your skin! Dry, patchy, tired, sad and scaly....In other words, your winter skin has arrived. So in honor of all of the very dry skin out there on legs, arms, feet and everywhere you can imagine...I present you with not one but two of my favorite affordable body lotions for the winter season. (Why two? - because lotion is personal and not everyone likes the texture or smell of certain lotions.) But have no fear, both of these lotions will fix all your dry patches and make you baby smooth.

Option #1:

Alba Botanica Very Emollient Body Lotion (Original/Regular) - $10.99 (Drugstores/Health food stores nationwide and online at Drugstore.com)

I found out about this lotion (amazingly) from a male friend of mine. He had a bottle of it in his bathroom and I tried it out and LOVED it. I quickly went out and bought some for myself (back in the day that it was only available at Whole Foods!) and was hooked. It smells fantastic and literally makes my skin softer and smoother than any other lotion out there. There are versions that are unscented or with SPF, so there really is something for everyone. This lotion is AMAZING. You will not be disappointed. Thanks Mike!!

Option #2:

Olay Quench Body Lotion for Extra Dry Skin - $9.99 (Drugstores nationwide and online at drugstore.com)

I am generally pleased with most Olay products. Some are not as great as others but this thick moisturizer I have found to be one of the best creamy lotions out there. It smells great, has amazing lasting power and you will notice the difference in your skin within one day. Best of all, you get a pretty decent sized bottle for $10 so you really feel like you are getting a luxe lotion for a steal.

Scary Scaly Skin officially gone!

Keep looking fabulous,
BGND

All for one and one for all...

Well, we can all feel it. The holidays are upon us. Now I know it is only Halloween time, but as November nears every one's schedules fill up and all free time magically disappears. So today I dedicate this BGND blog to those of us looking to streamline. Those of us wanting to find a few more minutes in our mere 24-hour day. Today I present you with the best skin care lines that do it all, are straight forward and will leave you with some time in your day that you can use for something other than fighting father time. So here they are ladies and gents- the product lines that work together to fight aging, provide exfoliation, clean with the best and soothe some moisture into your tired skin.

1 - The Classic

Clinique 3-step skin care - Nationwide at Clinique counters and Sephora, online at Clinique.com and Sephora.com

We all have seen it, if not tried it, and that is for good reason. Simply said, it works. You get personalized cleansing and exfoliation plus the best selling moisturizer out there.

2 - The Acne Fighting Affordable Combo

Clean and Clear Advantage Acne Control Kit - Nationwide at Drugstores and online at cleanandclear.com

Think of this as a more reasonable (and easier to buy and return) version of Proactive. You get a cleanser, a moisturizer and a spot treatment. Perfect for those of us who are more concerned with annoying acne than with reducing wrinkles. Best of all, this three step does so much work for you already but there are more products that go with the line including a toner and blackhead eraser.

3 - The Luxe Lotions Line

Kinerase Anti-Aging for Dry or Oily Skin - Nationwide at Sephora and Online at Drugstore.com

This line is pricey (cost for the products range from $30-$135) but it works. The product line has 7 total steps but if you are wanting to try this out and not spend the total amount of money for all seven items, you can make a good routine for yourself with the cleanser, the anti-oxidant mist or the peptide treatment, the day cream and the night cream. Now we all know she has had some botox, but Courtney Cox Arquette is the Kinerase woman and her skin is fantastic.

Enjoy some new routines to try out and keep looking fabulous!

BGND