Bringing New Skin To The Surface With Chemical Peels

You've heard about them. You've had a couple yourself. Maybe. Or you know someone who has gone through many.

Chemical peels. Even those two words together sound complicated and frightening. And they can be. But chemical peels can also 'peel' away the many layers of tough, weathered, pimpled and sun-damaged skin. And what comes to surface, is a glowing complexion. Lines and wrinkles are less visible.

You can do a chemical peel yourself. Most dermatologists would call you crazy and foolish to mess around with ingredients that can burn your face. So most women and men head to a professional. At least there, you are carefully monitored for any adverse reaction that could pop up during the peel procedure. You are also having an expert apply the peel, one who would know exactly what peel strength to suit your individual needs. And you are given advice following your peel, and a professional to contact immediately, should you have problems later on.

Oh, by the way, peels can cost lots of money when done by a dermatologist. And that's what irks most people. A light peel could cost you $300-$600. A medium peel, $500-$1,000. And a deep peel, $2,000.

According to Dr. Eric F. Bernstein, at http://www.chemicalpeel.org/, a chemical peel is a beauty treatment that is designed to exfoliate and rejuvenate the skin. The results include a tightening of the skin and also an improvement with brown and pre-cancerous spots. Your facial surface is softer and smoother.

"Typically during a chemical peel nothing actually "peels" off. A chemical solution is applied to the skin, and works by dissolving the upper layers of the skin. As the tissue is dissolved, a wound is created on the skin which stimulates the body's healing response, causing new tissue to emerge. The depth and strength of the 'peel' varies based upon the strength of the chemicals used and the length of time the solution is applied."

But at-home peels are gaining in popularity. These treatments are usually lower in peel strength and are safe for your skin, if directions are followed precisely. And at-home peels are much cheaper. A 6-day treatment, for example, costs about $60. And yes, you can get great results with an at-home peel.

There are several kinds of chemical peels. AHAs or alpha hydroxy acid peels(most popular), TCA peels, and Phenol peels. Some peels are aggressive. Others are much milder and help clear up acne.

Just do your homework, should you decide on an at-home chemical peel. There are a number of things to consider. For example, if you are on Retin-A medication, you might have to stop using it a couple of weeks before a peel.

We like these 3 websites for an education on peels:

http://www.chemicalpeel.org/

http://www.platinumskincare.com/

http://www.skinculture.com/

5 Beach Bag Beauty Items You Must Have

There have been plenty of recent news items about the dangers of the sun. We, here at http://www.beautytip.com/, have had our say, too, warning younger women to cut down their hours of lying on the beach, so they can avoid developing melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. We have also given you the best and most effective sunscreens to wear. We have even warned you about the newest skin cancer threat---wearing lip gloss, which, believe it or not, attracts the sun's damaging rays. And so forth.

It's impossible to avoid the sun completely. And most folks are going to continue sitting in the sun and enjoying life. And yes, wearing lip gloss on a 95 degree day. So here are some fun items to bring along to the beach inside your beach bag:

Waterproof mascara. Cover Girl LashBlast. ($7.50, drustores). Love to swim or wipe away a few tears after reading a great summer novel, then this new mascara in the bright orange tube by Cover Girl will keep your lashes long, dry, and pretty. No raccoon eyes here. Won't irritate, either.

Hair Color Protection. Sunsilk Summer Spritz. ($4.00, drugstores). Full of coconut and UV filters. Think of this as a sunblock for your hair. Just spritz on before going out in the sun. Smells fresh and sweet. Keeps hair from burning and drying. Results: softer, healthier hair all summer long.

Light Summer Scent. 'Daisy' by Marc Jacobs (solid perfume, comes in a pretty daisy ring, $30, limited edition, dept. stores.) Described as a 'full-of-spirit' floral fragrance. Clean and natural. Top notes include fresh violet leaves and wild strawberries. Not over-powering.

Teeth Whitener. Celebrity Sexy Teeth. ($69.99, Free S&H, 30 day supply, celebritysexyteeth.com). Easy to use. Just paint on, and go 8 shades whiter in 14 days. Acccording to the website: "Simply apply a thin layer one tooth at a time to your teeth using an up and down motion with the included applicator brush. Allow several minutes for the formula to dissolve, and you're done!"

Beach Sand Remover. Surfer's Secrets Sand Eliminator ($7.00, 6 0z bottle, http://www.surferssecrets.com/). You LOVE the beach, but can't stand the wet, itchy sand all over you. This gets rid of it immediately. Just squeeze out a quarter-size amount, apply to sandy skin, and wipe away! Made of natural and soothing stuff like aloe vera and grapeseed oil.

Star Powered Shine By Sally Hershberger

Are your locks dull, dried out, and flat-looking? The hot summer rays, bleaching, coloring, perming, straightening, and all those harsh procedures can cause hair to lose its oopmh.

You can glaze your hair and boost its shine. John Freida has a new glaze line on store shelves. Or you can try a spritz of this.

You've heard of west coast legendary stylist Sally Hershberger. Yeah, and her 'legendary' haircut for $800. If that's hard to swallow, why not try Sally's new hair treatment for high-watt luster?! The beauty of this item, is its accessibility to non-celebs, like you and me. And you can find it, right at your neighborhood Walgreens.

It's called Sally Hershberger Star Shine ($13, 4.2 fl. oz) and it's part of her new signature line for Walgreens, Supreme Head. This little gray pump bottle with bright pink lettering does exactly what it says it will do: Adds star powered luminous shine. And Sally's magic shine treatment is okay for all hair types----fine, thick, curly, color-treated, damaged, delicate, straightened, braided, and so on.

Come on. You know the products have got to be pretty decent. Sally Hershberger wouldn't put her famous name on a bottle of gunk. And product is very important when it comes to beautiful hair. That and a good cut, of course.

Sally Hershberger told New York Sun.com reporter, Johanna Huden, in an interview last February, that 50% of what makes hair beautiful is product.

"With this line, you don't have to pay $800 for a haircut with me, but you get to have me show you how to achieve certain looks," she said, referring to the video demonstrations featured on her Web sites and in Walgreens stores. "Most women don't know how to use product. [They] just gob it on or slap it on top of their heads."

There are 13 hair treatments in the Supreme Head line, ranging from $9.50 to $13. Styling creams and gels, and shampoos and conditioners. The other really hot item that's been selling out in Manhattan Walgreens all year, is the Sally hershberger Shagg Spray. This hair product rocks, because it can be used for all hair types. Shagg Spray is used on dry hair to create the piece-y, windswept layers.

Ladies Watch Out! Skin Cancer Is On The Rise For You

Melanoma. Even the word sounds scary. And it should frighten you. Or at least, make you think twice before lying in the sun, over and over again.

No one needs a long lecture here, but the latest statistics for women aged 15-39 are alarming. Reasearchers have found that deadly skin cancer is on the rise for younger women, but not for younger men. Cases of melanoma among women have jumped some 50%, according to a study just published on July 10, 2008 by the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

It's worrying," said Mark Purdue, a research fellow at the National Cancer Institute, who led the analysis published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. "What we are seeing in young adults right now could foretell a much larger number of melanoma cases in older women."

What exactly is melanoma? Melanoma is the deadliest type of skin cancer. Melanoma can develop as a mole that's changed shape, or with the appearance of a new mole.

The research does not show why melanoma among women is fastly increasing. Some theories suggest that younger women are spending more time getting recreational sun exposure or using indoor tanning beds.

In the meantime, if you plan on being in the sun, please arm yourself with the right kind of sunscreen.

The number one best sunscreen for 2008, according to Consumer Reports:

Neutrogena UltraSheer Dry-Touch, 45 SPF. Score: 86/100.Excellent protection all the way around. Cost: $4.33 per fl. oz.

When applying sunscreen, the Food and Drug Administration says a sunscreen works most effectively when:

Applied about a half-hour before heading outside and applied liberally on all exposed skin (Many dermatologists suggest at least a teaspoon of sunscreen just for the face.) Reapplied at least every two hours or more often if you're sweating. Reapplied after swimming.

Kiss Me I'm Wearing Coral For 2008

Coral lips are hot for the summer of 2008! You don't have to go wild with bright orange. You can be subtle, and light, and pretty. Just a dab, will do ya.

If you are olive-skinned with dark hair and dark eyes, bingo! Coral can look quite appealing on you. Let's say, you aren't sure coral lips are right for your hair and skintone, then buy a cheaper brand. Forget the Chanels and Diors and Lancomes.

Coral always seems to work in summer. It looks so lovely against tanned skin, and it brightens your smile, and your teeth look whiter. Check out the photo of actress Sarah Michelle Gellar. The coral lipstick/gloss she has on is perfect. And look how beautifully coral complements her turquoise dress. Coral and turquoise look amazing together.

Here are 3 of our favorite and affordable coral shades and brands:

Maybelline Shinylicious Lip Gloss in Coral-Punch (pictured above, $5.99, drugstores).

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Crush ($3.79, drugstores.)

CoverGirl Wetslicks Fruit Spritzers Lipgloss in Papaya Splash ($8.00, drugstores).

Lose Weight With Fit Flops And Tone Legs

Oprah's been bragging about these sandals. And these flip flops, called Fit Flops. are all the rage in England. Fit Flops were designed in the United Kingdom. It seems like almost everyone has a pair there. And these 'gym in a sandal' creations are now catching fire here in the U.S.

Since it's summer, and we're all trying to stay healthy and sexy at the same time, why not try a pair of Fit Flops? These sandals ($49.99, amazon.com) are designed to give your leg a true workout or exercise. They're available for women and men. The bottom of your foot does all the work when you walk in these sandals. It's almost like walking barefoot.

The website that sells these 'gym in a sandal' flops (http://www.fitflopsandal.com/), explains the science behind this unique shoe, or performance athletic sandal:

"The main idea of the Fit Flops is to induce a bit of instability so when you are walking, you hit the ground as normally as possible. It then moves you, so you progress through this phase quite quickly and then you move into a softer area and as you move over this softer area, Fit Flop sandals produce instability so it activates your muscles to hold your posture so as you take more and more steps, the body is being stimulated more and more and working more. When it comes off this soft area, it tapers up back again to a firm area. With each step, you feel like it's a reward. It's done its soft work, you've done your hard work. Now you've hit a nice area you can push off and move to your next step."

Amazon.com describes the sandals like this:

"FitFlops™ improves your core muscle strength, absorbs shock on your joints and back and adds strength and tone to muscles in your feet, legs, buttocks, stomach and back. Improve muscle activity, circulation, balance and posture."

That all sounds so healthy. You could actually lose weight wearing these sandals, and at the same time, develop a lengthy walking routine, and really make some killer curves out of your legs and buttocks.

Remember Dr. Scholls wooden sandals, a huge hit in the 1970s, and still around today? Wearing those was like getting a mini workout, since the wooden outsole was inflexible and flat. You had to work hard just to move your feet long distances. Or so it seemed. And the Dr. Scholls company claims they are truly the original exercise sandal.

Anything that promotes long, lean and curvy legs, gets a thumbs up by all women. And the Fit Flop is kind of cute, in a thong way.

How To Stay Blonder With At Home Highlights

Even dark-haired sun worshippers try to go blonde in the summer. At one point, I began fooling around with Sun-In, senior year in high school, spraying it through my short dark hair, and ending up with golden red highlights. Actually, the highlights weren't that bad, considering my hair is very dark brown. And freshly squeezed lemons also played a role in my short-lived blonde fantasy moment.

Sun-In has been around for a number of decades. And at-home highlighting sprays are still very popular hair treatments for the summer sun. If you're trying to become platinum blonde through a spray-in highlight product, well, it's not going to work. But if you have light hair, and you're just trying to brighten your locks, then at-home highlights can make you blonder in a very subtle and pretty way.

Many women, and you know who you are ladies, have squeezed some lemons over their head and gone out into the blazing sun to brighten their hair. However, lemons can wreck up even the healthiest hair. Angelo David of the Angelo David Salon in New York City, told http://www.shape.com/, that you need plenty of conditioner when you play in the summer sun.

"Dried-out strands are a possible side effect any time you color your hair, and these sprays are no exception (which is also why you should never use undiluted lemon juice, straight from the lemon, to highlight your hair; because it's so acidic, the juice can strip moisture from your strands and leave them dry and brittle). In addition to a daily conditioner, use a deep conditioner once or twice weekly."

Angelo also suggests that you carefully map out exactly where you want to shine brighter. Don't just spray blindly all over your head.

"As a general rule, highlights toward the front of your head and around your face should be thinner and closer together than the ones in the back. If you're having trouble managing the spray, pull your hair back into a ponytail, separate the strands you want to highlight from the rest of your hair, and then dip a new toothbrush into the solution, using the brush to "paint" the highlights on."

It's always easy to add more highlights, than to spray on too many, and then try to take them away. So don't be too generous with the pump spray.

"Start small and do just a few highlights the first time (about one-third of the amount you imagine you want). Then, see what you think of the results (you should be able to see them as soon as your hair dries); you can add more if you want. Once you're happy with the look of your new streaks, you can use the spray as often as needed to maintain the highlights--and/or touch up the roots."

Excellent spray-on highlighting advice by expert stylist Angelo David.

Here are two blonde highlighting sprays we like:

Sun-In Super Hair Lightener Lemon (with marigold and flaxseed, $5, drugstores).
Clairol A Touch Of Sun Highlighting Spray with Lemon ($5, drugstores).

Shine on, and stay brighter, you blonde beauties.