We all know the benefits of using a facial scrub: it sloughs off dead skin cells letting your beautiful fresh face show through; and also gets really deep into your pores to get rid of oil, makeup and other gross build-up. I love all the good that a facial scrub can do, but I’m tired of rubbing my face with a sandy, painful scrub!

I have been looking high and low for a facial scrub that doesn’t feel like i just rubbed sandpaper all over my face. And I finally found it.

This is another Mario Badescu product (what can I say? Mario knows what he’s doing!) that works, smells great, and is affordable! Now we can all get the perfect skin without feeling like we’re scratching off our faces in the process.

When you’re trying to get in and out of the shower as quickly as you can to head on to bigger and better things, (a.k.a the beach), it can be easy to bypass seemingly unimportant tasks.  You probably wash your face, your body and your hair, but do you take the time for proper exfoliation?  I’m guilty of this myself, especially in the summertime when my skin doesn’t seem so dry and flakey.  But that all changed yesterday.

While walking in Trader Joe’s, I found myself in the beauty aisle (because it’s right by the wine) and fell in love with a sea salt exfoliating grapefruit scrub. It smelled delicious, so I threw it in my basket (along with TJ’s cookies, some cereal and the best dark chocolate covered pretzels on this planet). When I got home I ate a few pretzels, tore off my clothes and took my new salt scrub to the shower. And what a lovely shower it was. It took only one go with my new salt scrub to remember why exfoliating is so important. Read More »

Mmmm sperm!

So apparently all those frat guys during my last four years of university had it right all along – sperm really does have many health benefits.  A Norwegian company called Bioforskning (which sounds like the owner may have had a mouthful of something when she was asked to name the company) has developed a facial treatment to minimize wrinkles and smooth skin utilizing spermine, an element in human sperm.

Human. Sperm. WTF??

First of all, let’s just sit back and appreciate the thought process that had to have gone into this product.  Who came up with it?  Who was sitting around and thinking, “Oh you know what, I bet jizz is really good for your skin, let me test this out and then sell it for hundreds of dollars”??  I tell you what, when sperm is that close to my face, my skin care routine is usually the last thing on my mind.  The first thing?  “Argh, point that thing somewhere else!”

Secondly, this “treatment” can cost up to $250 per session.  Seriously? What happened to the days when jizz on your face was an unhappy accident after a night of too many free (and probably warm) beers in the basement of a fraternity house on the side of campus you usually avoid? And instead of thinking, “Oh hey, I should probably let this sink into my skin and give it a second to see if it does anything beneficial,” weren’t we all (those of us who were “blessed” enough to be in the beta stages of this beauty regimen) thinking, “Where’s my face wash??”

Although Botox and  plastic surgery get a lot of flack, I feel a bit more warm to the idea of someone injecting pig fat or whatever it is into my face now that I know a sperm facial (didn’t that use to be a euphemism for something?) is the alternative treatment.  At any rate, I hope this development doesn’t leak to those frat guys (or really, any sexually active male), otherwise this fall’s crop of freshman girls have a whole new thing coming to them (all puns intended).

I want to go to Italy with Jake Gyllenhaal.

Christina Aguilera goes “Burlesque.”

Afghanistan solves the swine flu problem.

Jessica Simpson on the cover of Vanity Fair.

Protecting yourself has never looked so chic!

The best and worst sunscreens for summer.

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 »

The Midwest is covered in snow that just won’ quit!

Deep Throat has died.

Is Oprah moving to D.C.?

Soothe that winter skin.

A refreshing holiday wish list that we should all consider.

Jeremy Piven needs to lay off the sushi.

Donald Trump: the richest re-gifter in the U.S.

Who knew snowmen could be so scary?

Fun little gift ideas to make everyone smile.

The perfect cold weather foods. Mmmm.

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 »

As soon as summer announces itself with its warm winds and bright, shiny mornings, I want to lay out and bake in the sun. Nothing feels quite like floating in a pool – book in one hand, ice cold beverage in the other – absorbing those delicious rays. And nothing looks quite as good with almost every article of summer clothing than some nice, tan legs.

I am fully aware that skin cancer is scary business and not worth the fake-baking/laying out for hours on end. I also have a pretty healthy fear of getting wrinkley in the future, so, to protect myself, I wear my sunscreen. But I recently realized that maybe sunscreen wasn’t enough, and getting my glow a different way may be a better option.

I started investigating.

My former roommate loved sprays, but I personally don’t trust myself with them. I am mildly OCD and need a lotion to ensure I’m not missing anything. I went on a quest to find the perfect lotion and came across a new product: Jergens Natural Glow Express. It looked just like the rest, except that it claimedto show results in 3 days. Conveniently, I was heading on vacation in 3 days, so I grabbed it. Read More »

Call me jaded or skeptical, but I firmly believe that being poor while young is a rite of passage. It is the seed that pushes us to grow in the future.

You know what else is a rite of passage while young? Wanting to be beautiful.

We don’t want to be beautiful in the way we wanted to in middle school. For example, I no longer believe that I will transform into Angelina Jolie one day. However, as you become older and more embracing of your natural features, you also become more interested in how exactly to highlight them and make what you were given work for you.

So lets talk skin. We all want clear and firm skin. Many of us already know that the answer to this is a regular face mask. However, did you know that you can make your own face masks with ingredients straight out of your kitchen?

That’s right. No wasting time at the drug store trying to figure out exactly what sort of classification of screwed up skin you have. And no wasting money on a mask you could make in a matter of minutes from crap you already have. On top of all of that…in my experience…I have found that these homemade masks actually work better than the ones I buy from the store. Go figure.

So here are some ideas for you: Read More »