When people find out I'm a beauty editor the first question they ask me is what products I use and what my regimen is. So today I thought I'd share. This is my anti-aging regimen for my dry skin:

Cleanser: GlyDerm Gentle Cleanser 2% (best value!)
Exfoliator: Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion (weekly) and MDSkincare AlphaBeta Daily Face Peel skin pads (daily)
Serums: SkinMedica TNS Recovery Complex and SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic
Eyes: Caudalie Anti-Aging Serum Eyes and Lips
Moisturizers: Benev Hyaluronic Moisturizer (I use this before my moisturizer when I'm feeling exceptionally dry. It's also perfect for those oily times (to use alone) when you don't want a richer, heavier cream. Also it literally contains only two ingredients. Distilled water and hyaluronic acid.)
Caudalie Vinosource Riche Ultra Nourishing Cream (I use this for both my day and night cream)
Primer: Perricone MD Ceramic Skin Smoother (perfect primer and line filler)
Sunscreen: Jan Marini Daily Face SPF30 (Sunkissed Sand) 
Foundation: Colorescience Retractable Foundation Brush- California Girl (has an SPF of 20 if I'm in a hurry and don't have time for protectant step).

Lately I've noticed I've been asked a bunch of questions about oily skin. The common thread amongst these questions is that each of them have been asking for products that will "soak up or dry up" the oil. The problem is soaking up too much oil tends to dry out the skin; thus producing more oil. Still yet, getting an oily skinned person to change their ways is difficult to say the least. I don't blame them. We all have regimens and routines in which we are set in our ways. Plus in this instance, their logic seems to make sense. If you have too much oil, you want it alleviated, therefore you remove it. However, this is one area in skincare where you need to think outside the box. Look at oil reduction by possibly treating it another way. If it doesn't work, you can write me and let me know. Conversely if it does (and I bet it will ), I'd like to know as well.

My challenge to those of you with oily skin is to step away from drying out your skin with harsh clarifiers and pads. Try gently cleansing your skin and use a moisturizer! Don't shy away from moisturizers because again, dry skin will enable the skin to produce more oil. There are even companies who use this theory when formulating their products for oily skin types. Take Babor for instance. They have a cleansing system in which they use oil to remove oil. Their Hy-Ol & Phytoactive Combination Cleansing System is a fabulous pair to thoroughly yet gently cleanse the skin. The Hy-Ol it self has three different types of oil ingredients listed first on their ingredients list, and you pair it up with the Phytoactive base that suits your skin type. Europeans have figured this out a little better than those of us in the U.S. We tend to want instant gratification and the "burn." You may have even said something like this yourself. "I'd like the strongest percentage of glycolic acid I can buy over the counter." Or when buying an anti-aging treatment product how often have you said, "does it burn?" We tend to do more chemical and mechanical treatments to start over with a fresh new skin underneath (this may not work and may even be unsafe). In Europe they tend to nourish the skin they have. This is similar to feeding a healthy body good food. Picture how good a healthy person looks who eats well as opposed to a person who lives on junk food. Nourishing (whether body or skin) with vitamins, natural foods and natural topical preparations, drinking a lot of water, and getting plenty of sleep are proven beauty treatments.  So you see, try to look at oil absorption another way. Don't fight it, work with it! And don't forget…Oftentimes people with oily skin don't age (meaning less wrinkles) quite as readily as those of us with dry skin. The glass is always half full!
 

*Important note: Do not change any regimen prescribed to you by your doctor if you're under the care of a physician.  This article is meant for those of us who are not being treated by a medical practitioner. For optimum treatment and results always seek the advice of your dermatologist or medical practitioner before starting any new regimen.

Fill in the creases on your face just as you fill the cracks in a wall. It's all about priming the surface. I'm serious! One of the best new cosmetic preparations on the market are fillers and primers that bridge the gap between moisturizer and foundation. Some of these fill in lines and wrinkles so well, you'll make sure you never run out. A few good products to try are ColoreScience Line Tamer, Dr. Michelle Copeland Rewind Wrinkle Formula, and H2O Plus Sea Results Line Filler. Colorescience also has a sister product to Line Tamer (Mild to Wild) which has bronzing minerals and rice peptides as well.

Once you prime you'll wonder how you ever used foundation without it!

Do you consider applying sun protection to be a chore? A lot of us do which is why it’s so easy to just not do it. Of course we always regret it when we suffer the consequences. It’s that time of year where the warmer weather catches us by surprise. We’re so excited to get out and enjoy the sun that we forget to protect our skin.

It’s much easier to remember to protect your skin from the sun if you can find a sunscreen that you love. I was delighted to discover several fun products on the market that can turn an unpleasant chore into a real pleasure. You don’t have to settle for the smelly, chalky sunscreens of the past. There are some great choices out there today that will completely change the way you look at sun protection.

COOLA makes a couple of fantastic smelling sunscreens for the body with natural extracts and vitamins that also act as an overall body moisturizer. While I haven’t yet tried the Sport 45 Mango, I can tell you that the Total Body Plumeria smells delectable and really hydrates my skin. I had never heard of plumeria before trying COOLA but it smells so great that I can’t stop sniffing myself. Even if I didn’t plan to see the light of day, I would still wear it for the fragrance and moisture. That’s what’s so perfect about this sunscreen. I put it on without even considering the sun protection factor. Now I don’t even have to think about sunscreen when I leave the house since it’s already there in my moisturizer. How perfect is that?

If you’re tired of creams and lotions or have trouble with hard to reach spots, try Bliss The Big Screen Spf 30. The spray bottle is fun to use and it makes it easy to cover your entire body including your back and shoulders. The citrus smell is light and zesty. It sure makes for a nice change from traditional chemical-smelling sunscreens.

If the inconvenience of toting around bottles is what’s keeping you from protecting your skin while you’re out and about, check out MD Skincare Powerful Sun Protection SPF 30 Sunscreen Packettes. Just put a few packettes in your purse for easy sun protection away from home. You won’t have to worry about the nuisance and mess of bottles and tubes as the sunscreen is all contained in a pre-treated pad. What a novel idea!

For the face, COOLA has a product called Face 30 Cucumber that hydrates the skin with a nice fresh scent that really is like cucumbers. At first I found the idea of a cucumber scented product to be a little strange but it is absolutely refreshing.

If you’re like me and prefer a super light-weight, oil-free moisturizer for the face, be sure and check out Murad Energizing Pomegranate Moisture, SPF 15. It hydrates nicely but absorbs quickly so it won’t leave a heavy feel on your skin. You can also probably guess how great the pomegranate fragrance is. Delicious!

You don’t need another nag telling you to protect your skin from the sun. But trust me, if you find a product that’s a pleasure to use, you won’t give sunscreen a second thought.

Nothing shouts confidence and presence in an individual quite like good posture and holding your head up high. Whether you're desirous of instant respect, people hearing what you have to say, or just want to command an audience to not only listen, but act on your request; you simply need to walk into the room as if you're 7 feet tall and state your reason for being there assertively, yet graciously.

I'll never forget being in nursing school years ago, scared to death as we were doing our rotation in ICU that week. The nurses seemed grumpy and not at all interested in our input, not to mention our presence. As I think back we were terrified meek little girls just waiting to be yelled at for doing something wrong when in reality we had great insight and assessment skills because we were not only learning them in the practical setting but in the classroom as well. This meant our learning was fresh and retained in our minds due to the fact that we had only recently learned the material and needed to not only know it, but know it well in order to pass our exams.

One day while a few of us students were basically getting reprimanded (for no legitimate reason, in my opinion) by one of those dictator nurses a very interesting thing occurred. A paramedic walked right into the ICU to pick up her patient to transport him to a hospital that was adept in trauma and very serious cases such as this patient's injury required. The reason this was so interesting to me is because that paramedic was a 5ft. 90lb. petite little woman who had the presence, demeanor and confidence of a giant superhero. I stood there in awe as I watched every nurse at the nurse's station as well as those by the beds just stop and take notice. The command of the room that this little woman achieved was not a normal response that I had ever witnessed but something told me she got that same respect no matter the situation or scenario she was thrown into. This was a complete, deliberate act of self-respect, confidence, and the presence of mind to stand up straight, walk tall, shoulders back, head held high, and her uncanny ability to maintain eye contact with the person she was conversing with. She walked into the room and very clearly enunciated the words, "Who's in charge here?" Once she got the attention she deserved from the charge nurse, she instructed her as to exactly what she was going to do, and the charge nurse sheepishly obeyed. She got the job done and was out of there with the patient in less than ten minutes. It normally took me 15 minutes just to get up the nerve to ask that same nurse if I could go into room 3 to check the patient's intake and output chart.

Right then and there, all because of this tiny little dynamo with great posture, I turned my life around in just about every aspect that would apply. I now have the confidence to do everything whether it is to walk into an upscale party feeling fabulous, to approaching my boss for a raise. The fruit that good posture and self-confidence bears is infinite. The world became mine, or at least the parts that I wanted certainly did.

The moral of the story: Posture and self-assurance are every bit as important (if not more so) to the first impression that you exhibit as is our constant obsession with our looks. Having said that, imagine a woman with both attributes (self-confidence AND beauty). Now that's a head-turner!!!

The three keywords location, location, location is to real estate as circulation, circulation, circulation are to beauty. Let me explain. It seems to me virtually everything we do to enhance the vitality of our looks and health revolve around increasing circulation. Do we not get blood circulating when we exercise? We need those little hemoglobin guys to carry that oxygen on their cute little backs to oxygenate every cell in our body, perfusing the tissue. For instance, we need to be "in oxygen" to burn fat. We need to be aerobic, not anaerobic.  What about cellulite? Do you know that a huge part of why we get cellulite is because of lack of circulation to the area? This is why many skin firming products use ingredients that boost circulation. When we tan (which we shouldn't, but that's a separate issue) in a tanning parlor you will notice that for ultimate tanning you need to apply the "tingling" type of lotion. This is because the tingle makes blood come to the surface of the skin, which enhances the skin to take on a darker appearance. You may have been told if tanning in a stand-up bed to wiggle your legs or to dance to the music while in there. This is to increase circulation to cause a kick in the tanning physiology, which in turn, makes you darker.

Have you ever noticed that a smoker often has the antithesis of a peaches and cream complexion? Well I can't help but wonder if the simple fact that smoking decreases circulation isn't a huge factor in this. Picture a non-smoker who has fleshy, apple like cheeks. Perhaps better circulation is why they do.

My mission, should I decide to accept it…and I do, is to find products that increase circulation and rate them in terms of results, customer ratings, and price.

I know that a lot of you out there are busy working mothers or over-worked career women who just don’t have much time for your beauty routine. You want to look good but you just cannot afford the luxury of tending to your beauty needs with the hectic schedule. I have always wanted to look high maintenance without actually being high maintenance. The truth is, there are days when I spend way too much time in the bathroom!

When I do have a busy work day, still want to work out and adhere to a beauty routine, I multi-task. If you’re like me and hit the gym after work, try this: After your evening work-out, apply a mask and while it’s working its magic, hop in the tub, shave your legs and exfoliate your calloused feet. See how much you can accomplish in just a few minutes? I’ve even been known to call my mom when I’m in the tub. The sound of splashing water always gives me away but while she may laugh, she’s still always glad I called. Just don’t drop the phone in the water!

If you think you don’t have time for a mask, think again. Try AHAVA Purifying Mud Mask. There’s one for oily skin and one for normal to dry. It only takes two minutes and makes a real difference. Don’t even think about telling me you don’t have two minutes. Nobody is that busy.

One of the best ways to save time is to find products that accomplish multiple purposes. One of my favorites is Colorescience Line Tamer. I use this product every morning to lock in moisture, absorb excess oil, protect my skin from the sun, calm redness and prime for makeup. What an amazing product. It’s a real life saver!

I was very impressed when I stumbled upon a web site called 15 Minute Beauty Fanatic. This site has a lot of great tips for women who want to look good but are strapped for time. Make sure you check out the piece on Christine’s manicure routine. I usually feel that I don’t have time to do my nails but this article has good ideas for making the process easier and faster.

As always, please continue to share your tips. We busy women are always looking for ways to shave time off of our beauty routines!

Have I ever got a hot anti-aging tip for you!

Beauty Research readers, you're going to love me for this. I was getting ready to go to lunch today when I took a second glance in the mirror after I was done applying my makeup when I noticed what appeared to be more wrinkles on my face. I looked good just yesterday for crying out loud. What could have happened over night to make me look like a leather sofa? It reminded me of when I was in my late twenties and I would look in the mirror and notice my first and second wrinkle only this time it was much worse.

I scrambled through all my anti-aging beauty serums and lifting products and I found a tube way in the back of the drawer that I had forgotten about. It was Dr. Michelle Copeland's Rewind Advanced Wrinkle Defense. I thought I'd give it a shot and I couldn't believe my eyes. I applied exactly as directed and the little cluster on my cheek of 5 or 6 lines truly disappeared. I was so impressed with what a punch this little tube packed. Being an avid Botox and Restylane user I was thrilled to find a topical product that will work as well as this product did, because I can't always afford injections, not to mention they hurt.

The tube is pricey but goes a long way. Just a little dab is all you need to work its magic. Look for it at a place that accepts returns, such as SkinStore.com, just in case it doesn't work as well for you. However, my hunch is that you're going to love it!

This afternoon I was mortified when I pulled into a restaurant for lunch with the bar full of men sitting in the outside cantina watching me try to park my car in a tiny little spot only to run over not one, but two parking curbs. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks and only imagined the blonde jokes that I had just set myself up for. They didn't let me down. Well, it turns out that after much research on the history of the color of hair, blonde women represent glamour and are considered angelic and the epitome of youth, not the ditsy air-heads they have been portrayed to be in the recent past.

I knew my blood was rare being AB Positive, but I had no idea my hair color was. Did you know that people with natural blonde hair color were only 2% of the world's population?  Even more startling there are geneticists who believe the natural redhead will be extinct within 100 years, according to an interesting article (Haircolor: A History of Follicle Hue Adjusting) written by Boston's Parsiri Audcharevorakul found on the uber cool website http://www.colourlovers.com/.

As horrible as it would be for the extinction of the natural redhead, there are still many hair color dyes to keep it around for a very long time. We can thank Clairol, L'oreal, and even Lucy Ricardo for that. The zany redhead made fallacious red hair famous and made us laugh and smile every time she'd accidentally mention dyeing her hair. It seems to me more people would rather tell others they had plastic surgery before they'd ever admit they dyed or bleached their hair. Thus, giving us cause to laugh when we would hear the phrase, "does she or doesn't she?"

All this hair color language got me to ponder about shampoos and conditioners specifically formulated for locks that have been dyed or bleached. I'm sure some aren't all that effective but most are indeed critical in maintaining healthy, luminous hair. The hair's cuticle is opened when bleach or permanent haircolor has been applied, giving way to the damage of porous, dehydrated, dull hair. This is one time not to skimp on quality because of cost. The color will only look beautiful if the strands themselves look healthy and shiny. I decided to put together a survey or graph of what customers are saying about hair products designed for bleached, or colored hair.

How many of you are eagerly awaiting the release of the Sex and the City movie? Is anyone contemplating standing in line for tickets to the first available showing? I may not be that die-hard but I was very excited to hear about the upcoming flick.

Many of us were crushed when the show was canceled. How were we to live without the fashion savvy Carrie and her quirky friends? I’m always amazed at how easily I and so many others attach to fictional characters. With all of the fans out there, it’s certainly no surprise that the release of the movie is causing quite a stir. We thought our favorite girls were dead but it turns out they are alive and well.

Sex and the City really got people talking about drinking cosmopolitans and wearing strappy sandals. It also put a positive light on the single, working 30-something woman. The show has had an incredible influence on fashions and fads and is now being viewed by fans all over the world.

Keep May 30th clear on your calendar. This is one movie you don’t want to miss!

Have you heard about Amatokin Emulsion?  It's currently the newest science in skincare that I'm aware of. The formulation uses stem-cell technology for achieving remarkable anti-aging results. The emulsion literally rejuvenates the skin making it smoother and tighter. Fine lines and wrinkles are impressively diminished, resulting in a more youthful, radiant skin. I like the application technique because you apply it first to the deeper wrinkles such as frown lines and naso-labial folds for comprehensive, cumulative results. Then of course finish off by applying to the rest to the entire face. Luckily a pea-sized dab is all you need because it's a tad expensive but worth its weight in gold.

For those of us who don't do injectibles, it's a great substitute, and for those of us who do use fillers, I've found that it maintains them much longer.

My thought is to use it in combination with daily use of the NuFace device. My feeling is by using both the emulsion and the NuFace daily they will work synergistically creating a dynamic duo. Can you imagine the results? I'm going to start the combination as soon as I get my NuFace shipped to me. As I mentioned in one of my last posts (NuFace...I'm a believer!), I gave the one I purchased to my Mom. This will be a pricey endeavor, but my feeling is it will not only be well worth it, but cost-effective as well as ultimately I will no longer be spending hundreds of dollars at medi-spas. Hasta la vista, baby!

I read a great article this week about skin cancer myths on a blog called Glam Blush. It's that season when we've all got sun on the mind and plan to spend extra time outdoors. So of course we all need to think about sunscreen. I am still amazed at some of the ideas that people have in regards to sun protection and skin cancer. This article does a great job at addressing some of these myths. You can read the article here.

I especially appreciate the paragraph that addresses the myth that people with darker skin cannot get skin cancer. While it's true that the pigments in darker skin help protect, anyone can get cancer and everyone needs to think about sun protection. I have a friend that doesn't believe in using sunscreen on the grounds that his ancestors all farmed outside all of their lives and never had a problem. That's really not a good reason to skip the sun protection. This generation is at a higher risk of skin cancer because of changes to our environment. My husband has Mediterranean and South American ancestry but he actually had two precancerous moles removed from his back and is finally religious about the sun protection.

 Karen can speak more personally about the risks of skin cancer since she has faced it herself.

After reading an article blasting mineral make-up, I had to keep an open mind on whether or not mineral make-up is really all that much better. I remember the first time I had heard about it I was selling medi-spa equipment and products to plastic surgeons and dermatologists and I thought to myself, I had better try this stuff out for myself if they all seem to want to use and retail it. I don't use much foundation (opting for a cleaner more natural skin) so when I applied it and felt as though I was wearing no foundation, I was highly impressed. I also wanted to be sure that it did indeed work well for sensitive skin and acneic skin because I kept hearing how it is ideal for those skin types. I decided to send some to my daughter who had acneic skin and some to my mother who has sensitive skin. They both fell in love with it. I also wondered about its claim to be a good sunscreen and since I live near the beach I thought I'd try it out. I used it instead of my sunscreen and went on a long walk on the boardwalk. Not only did it work, I looked good because instead of a greasy feeling naked skin with a typical sunscreen, I was actually sporting a sun-kissed bronzed look. Needless to say I was sold. Still I had one more hurdle to clear. There are quite a few on the market; so which do I choose and recommend? I don't take recommending product lightly so I wanted to do some research. I decided to take a closer look at the bigger named mineral make-up brands and do some comparisons. I looked at many websites for insight  (such as customer ratings, information, beauty editors comments, and so on) as well as asked many professionals in this field whom I've come to rely on after 25 years in the industry. Below is an easy to read chart of what I've learned:

Recently considered the most neglected area of a woman’s beauty routine, eyebrows have made a spectacular come-back. Today, we are no longer seeing the over-plucked, super arching eyebrows that were popular decades ago. Instead, the sparse and high arched look has been replaced with full and healthy but tidy and tamed brows.

With the cosmetic world focusing on eyebrows, consumers have benefitted from a considerable product selection geared towards achieving full and natural-looking brows. Many consumers are in search of tools and kits that allow them to easily groom and shape their brows. At the same time, those who have over plucked or are suffering from thinning and sparse brows now have the possibility of increased growth and thickness. Innovative cosmetics are also allowing consumers to create the illusion of fuller, ticker and darker brows.

Brow taming gels that tame unruly brows and hold them in place for hours have become a must-have item for many women. With so many new products on the market, it’s not easy to decide what to buy. We’ve put together this product comparison chart to make it easier for you to comparison shop.

My Mom has wanted a facelift for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately she's never had the money or nerve, for that matter, to do it. She's also allergic to so many foods and medications, which exacerbated her fear of going under the knife. I've pondered paying for her to get collagen or Botox injections a few times over the years but she was just too scared to try those as well. Therefore I would give her gifts of extremely hypoallergenic anti-aging creams and potions but nothing has ever worked quite as well like the little treasure I found at a recent esthetics conference.

Ladies and gents…I give you NuFace. It's a micro-current device that works by stimulating the cells which firms and rehabilitates the facial muscles. The gentle and safe hand-held FDA approved appliance diminishes fine lines and wrinkles and restores tone and muscle strength and is virtually painless to boot! And the best part, you can use it in the privacy of your own home. It's easy, fast, and effective not only cumulatively, but immediately as well. I tried it at the conference and the technician only applied it to one side of my face. My colleagues were not only intrigued after seeing the new firmness and lift on the treated side, they were impressed enough to purchase on the spot. I decided to follow suit. The only problem was, I wanted it for myself but knew that this would be the best Mother's day present ever given to my Mom, so I wrapped it up and drove it over the second I got off the plane. I was much too excited to wait another month to give it to her so I said, "Mom, this mother's day gift is early, but I think you'll be pleased." Well, the word "please" turned out to be the understatement of the year. She has been using it daily and the results are astonishing but the best part of all is seeing her beam with self-confidence and loving the way she looks. What a gift!!!