Karen has been writing quite a bit about ingredients and it’s been so educational to hear about these helpful additions to skin care products that are readily available. I just had to jump in with an ingredient that is definitely underrated; Azelaic Acid.

When we talk about treating mild acne, we usually don’t say much about Azelaic Acid even though it can be quite helpful when added to products containing popular acne medications like salicylic acid.

Azelaic Acid is actually found to be naturally present in the skin and can help to reduce acne causing bacteria. Like salicylic acid, it can also help to clear dead skin cells which can block pores and cause pimples. It’s not usually used as a stand-alone acne treatment but can be found as a secondary ingredient to help boost effectiveness.

In addition to its benefit for acne, Azelaic Acid has been known to help with rosacea because it reduces inflammation and calms redness. In lower doses, it’s generally suitable for sensitive skin types. That’s why it makes for an ideal ingredient for those suffering from acne and also red, irritated skin who can’t tolerate strong acne fighters.

If you fall into the group of individuals who are battling both mild to moderate and redness, check out this not-so-well known ingredient. Here are some effective products containing Azelaic Acid:

PCA SKIN pHaze 35 Acne Gel

Jan Marini Bioglycolic Bioclear Lotion

DDF Blemish Foaming Cleanser 

being TRUE purifying blemish treatment 

DERMAdoctor Picture Porefect, Minimizing Solution

Since it’s the start of the summer I suppose we should start discussing diet, slimming and toning. Truth be known, we should have started weeks ago for bikini season but luckily I have a cheat sheet to looking great in your bathing suit…and quickly to boot!

Check out this amazing product for reducing the appearance of cellulite. I’ve tried it and I love it! There’s something to be said for hearing great things about products and sharing what I’ve heard but when it comes to body toning products I have to see it to believe it…and I did see it…oh how I did!

Rodial offers an incredible body toning product that’s nothing short of magic. Rodial Body Sculpture firms up and tones the butt and legs like no other product I’m aware of! It’s a slimming and cellulite reducing gel that seriously tightens and tones the skin of the hips and thighs. It breaks down fatty deposits and flushes them out of the area and even prevents them from re-entering the “normally balanced” cell. Dimples are reduced and skin becomes taut, smooth and ripple free. It’s even clinically tried and proven.

Get Rodial and put on your suit…summertime is here!

After writing about great summer travel sets the last couple of days it occurred to me that one of my favorite pre-summer beauty treatments is teeth whitening. There's nothing quite like flashing a big bright and white set of teeth to give you an amazing beautiful smile. And a smile like that looks incredible with bronzed glowing summer skin. So whether you're getting ready for an exciting vacation or just want to be a gorgeous summer babe, the best way to accomplish that is to whiten your teeth. When it comes to whitening I love easy to use effective products that don't make my teeth sensitive. And GoSmile products fulfill all those objectives brilliantly!

GoSmile brand offers many great products. My favorite for complete whitening satisfaction is GoSmile Go All Out Kit. It comes with the complete 7 day whitening system, FlashLites Smile Touch Ups for maintenance and a burst of minty flavor, AM and PM travel sized toothpastes, and a gorgeous carrying case to take a few Touch Up ampoules along with you in your purse.

I think you'll agree that GoSmile gets 5 enthusiastic big toothy smiles for sure!

Yesterday I wrote about great travel sets for your summer trips. However I realized I forgot to include cosmetic and hair tool kits. Check these great kits out!

Tool travel set for your hair:

Metropolis Technology Travel Case is convenient and easily portable. Includes a 6.5 inch Ti-Ion mini titanium iron, a 1000 watt Ti-Ion blow dryer, diffuser attachments and a great carrying case. This should be written about in those travel magazines!!!

Travel cosmetic kit:

Everything you need is in CARGO’s 7 in 7 Kit. It includes a “double-duty” concealer and foundation in one that matches skin tone beautifully. Also includes a “must-have” eye palette, eye-liner, and fabulous mascara! And if that’s not enough, you’ll also get BeachBlush, which is a “double-duty” combo of blush and bronzer, and an incredible reverse lip liner. This amazing lip liner adds definition, prevents feathering and produces a fuller looking lip. Oh and if you would like a lip gloss thrown in…they’ve done that too!

With Memorial weekend approaching it’s time to start thinking about packing your summer bag or train case! Whether planning a weekend trip or a two-week vacation the one thing you must keep in mind is to travel light!

There are a number of things I do. I pack lightweight sundresses and roll them up to keep them from wrinkling and then hang them the minute I get into my hotel room. I bring a couple pairs of sandals or flip-flops and and only one or two pairs of high heels. I like my patent leather sandals so that I can wear them from day to night and they don’t take up much space at all.

But here’s the ticket to the light and effective, yet amazing train case!

Hair:

Frederic Fekkai Advanced Brilliant Glossing Travel Faves Kit

Skin:

Somme Institute Mobile Travel Kit

Bath and Body:

Ahava Best of Beauty Travel Kit

Grooming:

Tweezerman Travel Size Beauty Kit in Pink Case

And don’t forget your sunscreen!!!

As promised…today I share with you my favorite high fashion hair and lip products. You’re going to love this amazing list of beauty gems that can take your outfit from ordinary to spectacular.

Let’s move cosmetically fashion forward right now…

DuWop Lip Venom Plumping Paste

An amazing all in one lip treatment masque that exfoliates, conditions and plumps!

Actifirm Lip Definer

Hydrates and prevents feathering and allows lip color to stay on longer. This is one fabulous product!

Fusion Beauty LipFusion Plump and Replump Liquid Lipstick Runway

This is available in 7 gorgeous shades. It reactivates the plumping action throughout the day simply by licking your lips or rubbing them together. Genius make-up!

Hair:

Fashionable hair means it must be extremely healthy, shiny, manageable and styled. In addition to great products, tools are the ticket! Here are the winning products to achieve these goals:

Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Hair Masque and Flexible Hold Hair Spray
This duo includes an incredible treatment masque along with a must-have hair spray for a beautiful do!

Frederic Fekkai Classic Brush
The best hair investment for the health and beauty of your hair and scalp ever.

Neil George Indian Gooseberry Oil
An amazing oil for silkening and imparting incredible shine!

Jonathan Product Beauty Water
Turn your shower into a hair washing experience that removes heavy metals and harsh chemicals. It softens your skin and hair and you’ll notice a transformation in the health and beauty of your hair. And its amazing for color treated hair!

Recently I realized I haven’t gone shopping in a very long time. For one thing, I have no money but for another I just don’t have the shopping gene I used to have. I used to love shopping so much that my kids would give me limits on how much time we could spend at the mall! And they were girls!

But one of my nieces visited me this week and started showing me all her clothes she got while studying abroad in Europe. The clothes were so incredible I made her do a complete fashion show for me. And not only that, she’s my size so I tried on everything including her shoes! Needless to say, I was re-hooked!

I knew I had to get back into some serious head to toe couture but needed to devise a plan (monetarily) on how I could do it. The plan didn’t take long! I shopped for my clothes at inexpensive stores where I could still get the “high-fashion” look without paying the price. I hit H&M, TJ Maxx and Marshalls. I only bought a few essential pieces (pencil skirt, black heels, a pair of great fitting jeans, a couple of tank tops and camisoles) with colors mostly consisting of pink, white and black.

To complete the look of my new mini wardrobe and make it much more than what it actually was I knew that the correct make-up would be just the ticket. In particular, eyes, nails, hair and lips!

Today I’ll share with you my prized possessions for eyes and nails. Tomorrow I’ll reveal my high fashion lip and hair products!

Eyes:

Bare Minerals Face Fashion The Look of Now Classic Glam
(This kit is a make-up must-have!!!)

Too Faced Brow Envy Kit
(My brows have never looked better!)

PTR Lashes to Die For Mascara
(Love this!!!)

Nails:

Dermelect Rejuvenail Fortifying Nail and Cuticle Treatment
(You’ve got to try this…it is absolutely amazing!)

Trind Professional Glass Nail File
(It truly works brilliantly…and is indeed life-long lasting!)

SpaRitual Nail Lacquer In the Buff
(Gorgeous neutral color that goes with every outfit and looks beautiful!)

Sexy Beauty!

They say sex sells…I think they’re right. Especially when it comes to beauty products. When you want to show the sexiest you, then you’ve got to use sexy products. Hot make-up, sensual fragrance, an outfit you can refer to as your “secret weapon,” gorgeous mesmerizing hair and clear, beautiful naked skin are the essentials.

Here’s my picks for an arsenal of hot sexy products!

From Beauty.com:

Nars Love Thrill Set (make-up)

DuWop Lip Venom Plumping Paste

From SpaLook.com:

Molton Brown Smoothing Lila Leaf Hair Gloss

From SkinStore.com:

Silkn SensEpil Hair Removal Device

Calvin Klein Euphoria Eau de Parfum

Now it’s time to go and strut your sexy, beautiful self!

Yesterday I told you I would share with you some great skin care products with some of these mighty foods (or nutrition within them) that may be used topically as opposed to the oral nutrition and benefits I spoke of yesterday.

Here are some of my favorite products that have ingredients from the healthy skin loving foods I mentioned in yesterday's entry.

Acai Berry:

Euoko P-10 Amazonian Berry Wash

Blueberries:

FarmHouse Fresh Blueberry Powder Milk Bath

Yogurt:

Korres Yogurt Velvety Moisturizing Mask

Sweet Potatoes:

Boscia Antioxidant Vegetable Therapy (supplement)

Tomatoes:

Alchimie Forever ND Yag Antioxidant Skin Repair Gel

Omega 3 Fatty Acids:

Sundari Omega 3 and Amalaki Night Cream

Zinc:

Philip B Anti-Flake Relief Shampoo

Pumpkin:

Peter Thomas Roth Pumpkin Enzyme Peel

Enjoy these delicious treatments for your skin. Beautiful!

We know proper foods and our diet can make us healthy...but they can also make us drop-dead gorgeous!

Nothing makes you look more gorgeous than the picture of health. I would even venture to say that a clean fresh face with little or no makeup is one of the best ways to look absolutely breathtaking. However, in order to walk around with this new naturally gorgeous radiant glowing skin it needs to have been fed and nourished from the inside out. This means eating fresh foods that are known to cleanse and feed your skin and exercise to chisel out some of your God given features, not to mention strengthen your heart and oxygenate your cells!

Some of the best foods for your skin are listed below:

Acai Berry recently touted as natures super food due to it’s abundance of antioxidants.

Salmon...the omega 3 fatty acids reduces inflammation.

Blueberries have antioxidant, antiaging, and anti-inflammatory properties that protect you from premature aging.

Yogurt has an abundant source of calcium for your bones, nails and teeth as well as zinc for your skin.

Oysters have an amazing supply of zinc that helps with hair and scalp, nails and eyes.

Sweet potatoes are beta carotene power packed age fighters! 

Spinach or Kale for your eyes!

Tomatoes for their lycopene are great for anti-aging!

Dark chocolate baby! It helps keep skin hydrated and protects against future sun damage. And it’s yummy!

And be sure to drink plenty of water daily!

Tomorrow I’ll give you a list of products that contain some of these mighty food sources that are formulated into skin care products that you can use topically for amazing effects as well.

Gimme pumpkin for an incredible exfoliating mask! Pretty please!

Gimme a head with hair, long beautiful hair…Shining, gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen! Flow it, Show it. Long as God can grow it, My Hair!

Ah, what words of wisdom. There is absolutely nothing like shining beautiful hair. And the only way to get it is to pay for it. Bottom line! This is one beauty category where it pays to dig deep in your pocketbook. We’ve all skimped on this so it’s basically easy to take my hair care challenge. Most of us know what our hair is like when we use cheap products so that can be our baseline for the test. Now just try quality products and see if you don’t see an enormous difference.

My favorite hair treatments are masks. Hair masks are virtually the only conditioners I use. Most say to use once or twice weekly and I’m sure many would agree that’s best as they may not like that much moisture or nourishment. I however, do. And when I find a really good one they rarely weigh my hair down. They only make it look better day after day.

I absolutely love Frederic Fekkai treatment masks. But I never wanted to pony up the dough for their top of the line mask. I’d been so happy with Frederic Fekkai Shea Butter Mask that I thought I might as well spend $22.50 for it instead of the $75 for the Frederic Fekkai Ageless Creme Luxe Hair Treatment. But when my daughter got me a SpaLook.com gift certificate I knew exactly what I’d use it on!

Frederic Fekkai Ageless Crème Luxe Hair Treatment uses a rare orchid extract within an amazing formulation that luxuriously and rapidly transforms the hair’s longevity, luster, elasticity, shine and manageability. It truly does for your hair what no other product has done before.

Hair! Hair! Hair!
Flow it, Show it; 
Long as I can grow it, My Frederic Fekkai Hair!

More great deals! The other day I wrote about great inexpensive products that are comparable to expensive ones. Then once I got started on it I realized how many I wanted to share with you and knew it would take more than one article. So today I’m excited about sharing a few more!

SkinCeuticals Advanced Brightening System is an amazing regimen for correcting and lightening up sun-damaged skin. It’s a five product regimen that not only corrects but also protects. It costs $295 but is a $392 value. If you can spend three hundred dollars you’ll absolutely love this system. However, if you can’t there are definitely some great alternatives for less.

Check out:

Kinerase Photofacial Sun Damage Reversal Kit  $100 ($143 value!)

 And/or

iS Clinical Hyperpigmentation Travel Kit $130 ($195 value)

Both kits are exceptional systems for treating sun damage, aging, texture and skin tone!

So I have to tell you about this fabulous product from Avene. It’s called Avene Cleanance K Oil-Control Lotion, a nighttime treatment that clears pores and blemishes while you sleep. It’s a balancing lotion that helps your skin regulate sebum while unclogging your pores and clearing up blemish-prone skin. I’m hooked!

I have found that it’s not the easiest thing to find products for blemish-prone skin that don’t dry you out. This one really creates a nice balance to control excess oil without dehydrating the skin. I wake up with softer, more balanced skin. According to the directions, you can also use it during the day but if you’re an especially oily type like me, you might find that it feels a bit too heavy under makeup.

All Avene Products contain the brand’s signature thermal spring water to soften skin and soothe irritation. If you haven’t heard of Avene, you should check it out. There are really helpful Avene Reviews from customers that can give you an idea of how beneficial these products can be for sensitive skin. This one is ideal for those with mild to moderate breakouts who find other acne products to be too drying or irritating.

I love when I’m reading my Cosmo and they do those little comparison spreads on “If you love this designer dress but can’t afford it; take a look at this comparable dress.” And they also do it for accessories, purses and jeans and more. Or for instance, they’ll have a pic of a celebrity in a dress but do a little insert of one that looks just like it for much less. I’ve seriously seen ‘close-to-identical’ clothes with savings of upwards to 300 bucks.

So today is your lucky day because I’m going to do basically the same thing for all of us, but with beauty products!

Well I just started choosing my products and I’ve realized this is going to have to be part of a series because there are so many I want to share with you. Therefore today I will do some anti-aging products; but I’d like to do some hair care, cosmetics and other regimens as well in the next few days.

Keep in mind I love the more expensive products too (oh how I do!!! LOL) but I know that it’s not always possible or the best possible choice for our budget to choose the more expensive products. I just want you to be aware that there are great alternatives that work exceptionally well. And in many cases within the beauty industry I would even venture to say work just as well or sometimes better. So in general, I’m pretty much a “you get what you pay for girl; but with age (and poverty…hehe) comes wisdom!

Euoko Y-30 Intense Lift Concentrate is an amazing anti-aging product that works brilliantly well. It is probably one of the best. However it costs $500 so if that’s just out of your price range check out these:

ZO Skin Health Synergy Kit $250
Pevonia Timeless Serum $171
Peter Thomas Roth Power Rescue Facial Firming Lift $150

Evis MD Platinum Red and Blue Duo is a powerful hand-held LED device that improves sun damaged aging skin and corrects acne with red and blue light respectively. Though it works incredibly well the cheapest I’ve found the duo is $442.50. After reading many reviews and doing a whole lot of research I’ve found this great alternative if you’re not willing or able to pony up close to 500 bucks.

So for a great alternative…Check out the amazing ANSR Beam. This unit also comes with LED high intensity red and blue light waves. Again, the red helps with anti-aging issues and the blue light with acne. However, this little number is a steal at $148!

Who doesn’t love quality and a bargain to boot?

Get vibrant gorgeous skin with the Vivite System. Vivite is a new glycolic acid line from Allergan the makers of MD Forte and Botox. Just imagine the strength and notability of an MD Forte Regimen but with the added boost of the best antioxidants available on the skin care market today!

Vivite System is a brilliant regimen that results in beautiful radiant skin. Tried and true glycolic acid along with the best antioxidants and cutting edge science are a winning combination for achieving amazing luminous younger looking skin. Priced at $249 but is a $296 value. It comes with Exfoliating Facial Cleanser, Daily Antioxidant Facial Serum, Night Renewal Facial Cream, and Revitalizing Eye Cream. These four essential Vivite products will transform your skin into the radiant youthful skin we all desire and strive for. Vivite for very extraordinary skin!