Stupid Ways To Ruin Your Skin---And We've Done Them

For those of you young enough to care about maintaining healthy, great skin, here are some
Stupid Ways to Ruin Your Skin:

TOO MUCH TIME IN THE SUN. Most of the sun damage done to our skin happens in childhood. However, the damage is cumulative and keeps on delivering year-after-year. We spent many a summer lying on the beach, ignoring the sunscreen and laughing at the world.

Remember this: Dermatologists say it takes 15 years for sun damage to show up as skin pigmentation + wrinkles.

SKIPPING THE EYE CREAM. Sure, we use an eye cream now. But we should have been applying one in our 20s. The eye area  is the first place to show aging. The skin around the eyes is thinner and more delicate  and thirsts for hydration. Plumpness + elasticity in the eye area tends to disappear quickly  as we age.

An eye cream is protective and nourishing.

IGNORING THE NECK SKIN + DECOLLETE. Necks DO age, along with the decollete, or the skin between the breasts + the neck. When we're young, we tend to concentrate on the face, the complexion. But there's a whole lot going on BELOW the chin. Just take your night cream and apply some also to the neck+decollete, because those 2 parts of the body also get older and sag + crease, etc.

STARTING AN ANTI-AGING ROUTINE LATE. It's wise to begin an anti-aging routine while you are young. Learn all you can about your skin type, its problems and how you can prevent damage down the road. Just because you can't find any major lines + wrinkles yet, trust us, these ugly signs will get to you at some point down the road. Your goal is to MINIMIZE the damage.

GETTING A DERMATOLOGIST AFTER 40.  Another dodo move. Don't see the expert after 40. That's late. Finding a good dermatologist is key. Don't wait until you see the skin problems developing, like we did. Go now! Ask for a prescription for Retin-A. It's the best thing out there for keeping good skin or repairing the damage.

It's never too late to develop healthy, glowing skin. But it is best to invest in your complexion at an early age.

We've had to learn the hard way.

Stacy Keibler Wows In Great Gatbsy Gown + George 'Accessory'

Stacy Keibler in a beaded Naeem Khan dress, Giuseppe Zanotti shoes and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry.

Wow! And her handsome accessory, George in Armani completes the picture quite nicely!

We know that Stacy isn't a movie star, but she looks amazing, and therefore, wins our humble choice for Best Dressed for the 2013 Academy Awards.

Why, you ask?

We don't even like 'prints.'. We always choose solid colors maybe 90% of the time. But, she blew us away. Maybe it's the super long body and her broad shoulders, but she just wears that Naeem Khan dresslike nobody's business. Of course, having George Clooney as attractive arm candy can't hurt, but we swear, that Clooney had nothing to do with our choice.

Look at the back of the gown, courtesy of JustJared.com.

We LOVE the whole Great Gatsby glam look. Sophisticated + classic! A modern take on old Hollywood style.

What do you think?

Are you lovin' this Naeem Khan dress on Stacy Keibler, too?

Want A Cool Smoky Eye: Think Winter Navy

Winter's smoky eye is quite the cool number!

Think navy instead of black, dark brown or steel gray. Wearing navy eyeliner can be a sophisticated show-stopper.

Makeup artists claim that navy liner is attractive on EVERY skin tone. Check out Emma Stone's peaches n' cream complexion. She looks dynamite with some sexy navy liner!

We found a great tube by Urban Decay--24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Radium ($19, at UrbanDecay.com).
As long as the rest of your makeup is subtle or low-key, you CAN pull of a little chic, navy eyeliner!!

Wonder if this will be a look at tonight's Academy Awards Show!

Gotta Love Casual Hip Hop JLo Tracksuit Style!

Oh, yeah. Even Jenny from the block likes looking casual + comfy when she's not doing the red carpet.

There was Jennifer Lopez out in L.A. yesterday with adorable Max + Emme and boy-toy Casper in tow, as they celebrated the twins' 5th birthday.

We like seeing the superstar out and about like this---having fun with family and friends, and not having to worry about getting glammed to the 9s like JLo often does for her many public events.

Let's face it...Jennifer LOVES her big, baggy tracksuits! And there's nothing wrong with that.

She's advertising LOVE, LIGHT and ANGEL on her casual duds. Plus we always like JLo's HUGE hoops! And she's got her signature, severe, pulled-back bun look to boot.

Jennifer loves her hoodie, velour and tracksuit chic. Check out this classic with JLo and Ja Rule in I'm Real. She's got on the mini version of the tracksuit in the video--YouTube.

LOVE  'I'm Real.' We believe you, Jennifer!

New Mama Amber Rose's Makeup + Skin Care Secrets

Okay, we know that some people don't like Amber Rose. There are some who figure she is only famous for doing nothing, or got her recognition only as  a piece of arm candy for Kanye West a few years ago.

Well, we like her. Congratulations to her and Wiz Khalifa on the birth of their baby boy, Sebastian!

Amber, at age 30, looks very happy with Wiz, and actually 'wore' her pregnancy well. She looks at peace to us.

Many blessings their way.

Meantime.....Amber is gorgeous with that platinum buzz cut---before, during + after baby.  Her skin is flawless and makeup always appears to be beautifully applied.

So, what are Amber Rose's beauty + skin care secrets?

 

Not easy to track down. But we did find some great beauty nuggets from the archives of Elle magazine, and here Amber does a little dishing in a 2009 interview:

 

You must be doing something, though. When I saw you at the Women in Hollywood Awards last month, your skin glowed like nothing else. What products do you use?

 

Thank you so much! I've always been good about moisturizing. Every morning and every night, everyday. What I do, and this sounds kind of weird, but I buy these pint-size containers of raw African shea butter from street vendors, I microwave it, and after I shower, I rub it everywhere. Even on my scalp and face. Nothing works better. And it's cheap!

 

What about your skincare regimen? What cleanser do you use?

 

Just Dove soap. I've never really tried anything else. I've always felt that when you use too many products or try too many new things, you're just piling a lot of unnatural, unnecessary stress on your face. I try to keep it simple.

 

As far as her makeup goes, Amber appears to prefer a light, penciled in brow, spikey faux lashes and  high-end foundation.' Read on:

 

My one regular splurge is YSL [Teint Resist] foundation. I love it, because it goes on so smooth and light, but still covers up everything I need it to cover up. I also love M.A.C Lip Glass in `Pink Lemonade', but my favorite lipstick is from Mona Lisa [shade `Hot Pink #14']. It's only $1.99!

 

Not even any retinoids or alpha hydroxy acids to re-build skin?

 

We are envious!

.

 Amber's complexion rocks!!

Could This Styling Product Change Your Life? Marie Claire Says Yes!

PANTENE AgeDefy Advanced Thickening Treatment $19. A blend of vitamins + caffeine that battles the 7 signs of hair aging, from  breakage to lackluster color.


Marie Claire featured this one in their Best New Beauty Products 2013 (Hottest Products for Hair and Body list).

We LOVE any styling product that FATTENS each strand of hair. A lot of times hair thickeners or volumizers plump up your mane, but can also leave your hair greasy if you apply too much. Pantene's Age Defy feels lightweight, which is a good thing.

The Pantene website says this about their new thickening treatment:

Thickens existing hair so it's like you have up to 6,500 more hair strands*. Works on the surface of each hair strand for natural-looking hair with fullness that lasts, adding thickness to existing hair fibers.

Plus---- the product claims that you will gain healthier hair with less breakage.

You can buy it at your neighborhood drugstore for $19.99 or online. We found a bottle at Amazon for only $12.99 at Shes Chic.

Amazon buyers gave the Pantene thickener 4 stars out of 5 stars. At least take a look at the customer reviews. That can give you more info before purchasing.

We like Pantene products, but is this treatment worth the $20 splurge? Sometimes, in the name of beauty, it is.

This Ain't Your Grammy's Pond's: New Luminous Line

We like experimenting with cleansers because these facial washes go deep and contain something that soaps often do not, and that is stronger ingredients.

That means you get better exfoliating action, and anti-aging formulations that fight----wrinkles, hyper-pigmentation, sun damage, dryness, and so on.

Pond's has been around for a LONG time. Just ask your grandmother or great-grandmother about the name Pond's. They know all about it as a cold cream.

Pond's has recently launched their Luminous line. And we found a decent cleanser:

Luminous Clean™ Daily Exfoliating Cleanser ($4.69, at Target). This one sounds interesting and effective because it is made with 2 wonderful things

Soft white Kaolin clay - a natural mineral known to act like a magnet to gently draw out deep-dwelling impurities.

Gentle Microbeads - help removing dull, lifeless skin.

 

Winter is really the time to battle away aging, thristy skin. Do yourself a favor and try a facial cleanser that brings back your radiant complexion.

 

The Pond's Luminous line also features a Daily Lotion with SPF 15, Clean Cream Cleanser( with nourishing glycerin), and Clean Wet Cleansing Towelettes.

There is also another Pond's line that you can buy on Ebay, but it is only found in Asia, and this one is a really great skin care cream, if you believe all the hype:

Pond's Age Miracle Cream. Read about it here in an old BeautyTipToday post.