Now that a lot of us hold weekly office jobs, it makes perfect sense that we want to soak up as much sun as possible on the weekends. However, too many girls make the mistake of not wearing sunscreen while sitting in the sun to compensate for their pale bodies…and end up looking like a lobster instead. Not only is a red face less attractive than a pale one (and much easier to fix with a little bit of bronzer), but burning your skin opens you up to the dangers of melanoma and skin cancer.

About 60,000 people each year are diagnosed with some form of skin cancer, and we want to help you learn how to treat your red and itchy skin to avoid this! Well, that and show you some really easy ways to look cute despite being a different color than most members of the human race:

Keep skin hydrated: If your first shower after the beach left you with tears in your eyes because the water stung so bad, you need to keep your skin hydrated with lotion. The most soothing gels and lotions have aloe vera in them, and this will help soothe your skin and prevent itchiness (and therefore scratching and scarring). You can also use hydrocortisone if your burns are really bad.

Drink liquids with vitamins: Water helps to keep your skin hydrated, but is also really important to keep you hydrated after a long day in the sun. To get the most bang for your buck, be sure to drink things with vitamins C and E in them, as they are crucial in repairing damaged skin cells and ensuring that your body is healthy once your sunburn clears up.

Exfoliate: GENTLY buff away the dead skin. Don’t do this too roughly, as it will irritate your body, but just enough to make sure that the skin cells underneath are not trapped. And you’re not flaking off on your couch/bed/friends for the next two weeks. Read More »

[Post courtesy of out friends at StyleBakery.com. For more awesome fashion, style and beauty news, check them out!]

The dog days of summer are quickly approaching and you know what that means; muggy, steamy heat.  Whether you’re on the waterfront or completely landlocked, even those of you in the so-called “dry heat” states can’t avoid the boil of a mid-July day.  Do your best to stay cool, dry and sweat free with these products that bring on the chill.

Earth Therapeutics Clean + Cool Foot Wipes
At the end of the day when our dogs are barking, we kick off our sandals and revive our aching feet with these convenient, portable wipes.  Remove the day’s dirt and grime while tea tree oil and mint provide a pleasant cooling sensation. $7.00, drugstore.com Read More »

So yesterday I got my first sunburn of the year. (At least, I think it’s a sunburn – it may also be a result of my drunken face-plant…) Honestly, though, I’m not gonna complain ’cause Syracuse hasn’t seen the sun in months. I am, however, going to dust off the sun products that have been under my bed for the past 8 months.

If you want to prevent painful burns, wrinkles, sunspots and , most importantly, cancer, you really need to remember to preserve your skin. And preserving your skin means more than slopping on some SPF 4 when you lay at the beach. The sun can harm your skin at any time, so learn from my burned mistake (I was drinkin’ a beer outside) and protect yourself.

Below are some makeup products that include SPF built right in! I’m not suggesting this is a substitute for using sunscreen, but if you’re just going outside quickly, or want to add some extra protection you gotta try these great finds. Unless, of course, you want to look like this when you’re 30. Read More »

If you just got back from spring break and resemble a lobster, don’t  worry, while I was bitter about your tropical vacation I will not mock you.

I actually feel quite sorry for you; sunburns are the worst! They hurt, they peel, and as if the pain isn?t enough, well you also look like someone put you in a frying pan for 5 hours.  (I bet you wish you had listened to your mother and put on some SPF!)

But since that sunscreen will not help you now, here are some tips to take care of your toasted skin and cover it up (as much as possible, anyway!).

Basic Care Tips:

-Take cool showers and apply cool face cloths to your burned areas. This won’t help the healing much, but it will make you feel so. much. better.

-Don’t wear perfumes, or oily makeup/products. These will only irritate your skin more, making you even more uncomfortable.

-Keep yourself covered – loose clothing is best.

-If your burn is more serious or your skin is bubbling, you need to see a doctor to treat the burn!

The best thing for your skin now is aloe vera, a plant with sunburn healing powers.  You can find aloe in gels, toners and lotion.  Here are some aloe products that can help soothe, repair and reduce the redness of your burn. Read More »

Let’s talk about skin care. Go into any beauty retailer, find a sales person and ask them to recommend a skin care regimen. Then duck, because you are about to get hit with an avalanche of products your skin “needs.” They’re going to try to sell you a makeup remover, a cleanser, a scrub, a toner, a serum, a moisturizer, a spot treatment, an eye cream and a sunscreen. A really ambitious sales person will try to sell you two of each, a different one for day and night.

Now in a perfect world an elaborate skin care regimen can be very good for your skin, but let’s get real. When you’re coming back to the dorm at 4am and crashing, your makeup smearing off on the pillow is the closet thing you get to skin care.

It is a good idea to have a solid skin care system, especially if you have an issue like acne or dry patches that need treatment. But with so many steps, it’s all or nothing and you need a back up plan that you’ll actually use and that actually works!

So when time is tight or you are feeling lazy there are three very important steps to hit.

1. Remove makeup

2. Cleanse

3. Moisturize

Here are some products that can kill two (or three) birds with one stone. Read More »

So you are not going on spring break… I share your pain. I will be returning home, where it is also cold, to substitute teach bratty kids instead of drinking pina coladas in the sun. FML.

It sucks listening to everyone talk about their plans, but it will suck more when they all come back with sweet beach tans, and I, well, still glow in the dark. Seriously, the other day my best friend called me pasty (harsh, but true).

And this, my friends, is why I am looking for a bottled glow.

Tanning beds scare me with their cancerous connotations. Spray tans scare me too; I don’t want to look like I have a bad case of Lindsey Lohan. So I am going to suggest to you some of the best self tanners out there. I know – self-tanners sound pretty intimidating as well. I will admit I had a horror story experience with one in the 8th grade. Here’s me, so excited to wear my new green halter top, turned totally orange, passed my crush walking down the street. Ultimate humiliation. But, don’t let that turn you off of self tanners! That situation was caused by a serious lack of knowledge about what I was doing or what kind of product to use.

The great thing about the products below is that while they are not an instant bronze color, they will gradually give you a natural looking, healthy tanned glow. Hopefully this will help you keep up with your Spring Breakin’ roommates without coming back to campus looking like the orange eighth grade version of me. Read More »

By mid-February, the winter weather will have taken its toll on millions of hands across the country. Whether you suffer from brittle nails that are constantly breaking or hands that feel like sandpaper (and may even crack and bleed, they’re so dry- gross!), there’s no reason you should let Jack Frost win. Winter storms may be harsh, but with a little extra effort, you can keep your soft, delicate hands year round!

1. Drink enough water.

You’re giving the weather a head start if you don’t properly hydrate yourself. Just because you’re not sweating from the summer heat doesn’t mean you can cut down on your h20 intake. Continue to drink plenty of water, and limit your fizzy soft drinks and alcohol, which will dehydrate you faster than you can say “blizzard.”

2. Invite skin care into the shower.

One thing’s inevitable: you have to shower, right? So purchase soaps and body wash that won’t dry you out. According to About.com, bar soaps are more likely to dry out your skin, whereas emollient-rich cleansers will actually battle the effects of dry skin. Try Dove Delicate Cream Body Wash, or look for the word “butter,” as in “Shea Butter,” “Cocoa Butter,” or just plain “Body Butter” when you’re selecting your next lather. Your hands feel the cleansers you use the most, since they are slathering the stuff all over your bod. Read More »

It is FREAKING COLD outside. Now that all the fun of the holidays is over (not counting Valentine’s Day cause, let’s be real, that’s not fun for most of us) the warm joyous feelings towards winter are gone and we’re left with nothing but bitter, bitter cold.

Living on a college campus makes it even worse. There’s no hopping in your heated car and driving to your heated destination. You are forced to put on your boots and puffy coat then trudge through wind chills and snow drifts to get from class to class. The result is insatiably dry skin, cracked lips and peeling cuticles. But there is hope! Here are some strategies to fight the battle against Jack Frost.

Non-Medicated Nighttime Lip Balm

Bedtime is the best time to restore the moisture that the cold weather steals from you during the day. Talking, eating and licking your lips means that lip products only stay on for a matter of minutes. Not enough time to make any real change, it only offers temporary relief. But while you sleep products have more time to moisturize. Avoid products with menthol or camphor (Like Carmex or Medicated Chapstick). The tingling cooling sensation is nice, but these ingredients are actually very drying. Any moisture gained is immediately lost again and you are back at square one.

Try Rosebud Salve ($6 sephora.com)

Bonus Tip: You can use this balm on your cuticles too! Read More »

[Welcome to my Weekly Love List. A list, on all things I love. Because if I love them - well then obviously you may (and should) love them too. As the Backstreet Boys song says (and yes I am actually quoting them) "My Love is All I Have To Give." So with that throwback, here are this week's list-worthy things…]

1. My Dropbox – Does your friend have all the good pictures from last night on her camera? Did she just buy the new Britney album that you want but are too embarrassed to purchase? We all know how annoying it is to transfer files via email – that stuff takes forever – and now you don’t have to. My Dropbox is a program you and your friends download. Wanna share some pics with eachother? Just drag em into your box (that’s what she said) and – voila! – any friends who are linked up with you now have the files too. It’s technology at its finest.

2. Healthy Mac & Cheese? 18 grams of fiber in one serving, and it’s GOOD. My late night munching self is in LOVE with this idea.

3. Eco Friendly organization. We all know we are supposed to hold on to every exam all semester long, along with our bank statements, our shopping reciepts, and a plethora of other junk that just ends up splattered all over our desks, and floors, and cars… and the list goes on. So check out these great, eco friendly ways to divide up your important documents and tuck them away in a neat, safe place. I don’t really love these, but my roommates love seeing the kitchen table, so I guess that’s good enough.

4. Laura Mercier ‘Almond Coconut Milk’ Hand Crème - It fits in your purse, makes your hands baby soft, and makes you think you are sipping pina coladas on spring break instead of cramming for your econ final.

5. Frustration Free Packaging. How many times do you spend 25 mintues trying to open up your new phone/Bluetooth/Barbie Doll and you just end up with a missing tooth, a bloody lip and the urge to scream and stomp on the product? Whoever designed that hard plastic packaging should work for national security. But, thankfully, Amazon.com is ready to do away with “Wrap Rage”; they are introducing a line of “frustration free packaging,” in recyclable cardboard boxes. Perfect for those of us with a need for instant gratification. Easy to open AND eco-friendly? Now that I L-O-V-E.

You pry your eyes open as the blaring sound of your alarm clock echoes the throbbing in your head and wonder why your alarm is going off at such an ungodly hour on a Sunday when you suddenly realize, “Sh*t! Brunch with the ‘rents!”

You fling yourself out of bed as quickly as your hungover ass will let you, and as you glance at yourself in the mirror you realize that hangover is written all over your haggard face. You’ve got 10 minutes to pull yourself together and look fabulously fresh so that your folks don’t know the amount of liquor you consumed the night before (and don’t forget that greasy pizza at 2 a.m.). What do you do? Don’t fret – with a few products from Clinique, this feat is a lot easier than it sounds.

I’m personally a fan of Clinique because it’s non-comedogenic (which means it has ingredients that do not clog the pores or lead to breakouts), allergy tested and fragrance free. It’s the first skin care line developed by a dermatologist and has been using the same formulas since it was first released in 1968. I also love that it’s a more budget-friendly prestige line and offers up high-end products at much lower prices than many other upscale lines. Read More »