Mada Hair Products

When my PR Guru Friend Piney told me about how a new hair product line tamed her self proclaimed “jew fro”, I had to see what it could do for my dry, naturally wavy hair. She sent me a slew of product, and since I know many of my readers peruse this blog during work hours, for the sake of their employers I am going to keep it to the greatest hits!

A little about the brand’s philosophy: Mada was created by a salon owner named Thad Grace focusing on the ideals that morning shower is an intensely personal time of renewal, and that we should take ownership in what the ritual brings about for us. Well, my showers aren’t generally TOO intense, but I will tell you that I liked the results I got from this line.

I have naturally curly/wavy hair which left unstyled can look a bit like a bird’s nest so for the ultimate test, I put the Mada regimen in my hair and slept on it. When I awoke I was pleasantly surprised to see that my hair felt totally clean but very healthy, shiny and hydrated -kind of like the second day after you wash. I had NO frizz and defined waves.  If you have damaged hair (Paging Ms. Glamlust!), this is a great line to help re-build.

HYDRATING SPRAY ON SHAMPOO: This is the standout Mada concept. The shampoo bottle is standard, but has a sprayer instead of a traditional cap that allows you to use less shampoo and more importantly give the perfect amount of evenly distributed product. It lathers and foams as much as any other shampoo, but doesn’t feel as goopy. Immediately after rinsing, my hair felt silky and hydrated. Added bonus: This shampoo has anti-flammatory, astringent and toning ingredients so it’s great for your scalp too and healthy scalp = better hair.

RESET SPRAY SHAMPOO: True, using build-up removing shampoos to get better results from your current reigmen isn’t a new idea, BUT the innovative sprayer is the most ideal way to deliver this type of product and I was also impressed to see that right at the top of the ingredient list are coconut derived ingredients. Why does this matter? Coconut is one of the only oils that hair cuticles can completely absorb, which is especially great for a deep cleansing shampoo because it means it won’t be drying.

CONDITIONERS: The spray leave in conditioner, hydrating conditioner and styling balm all impart shine, are great at de-tangling and give hair a nice bouncy softness without the weighing down you usually get with hydrating products. Naturally curly or wavy ladies: hydration is going to be your best friend so these products are definitely worth a try.

SPRAY SHINE: This gives the same high shine as Bumble and Bumble gloss spray, but it’s a little lighter weight.

HAIR SPRAY: I loved this for it’s light hold and flyaway taming -if you are looking for a little control without crunchiness, this is for you.

LIGHT CREAM POMADE: Don’t be scared of the name, this is not a traditional greasy, putty pomade. It was light , silky and gave great definition. I rubbed a little of this into ends when my hair was straight and through the entire thing when it was curly to separate and add shine.  If my boyfriend ever let his hair grow longer than 1/4 of an inch, I would definitely use this on him. Since he doesn’t I might finally have an excuse to pull a 19 year old full haired hottie into the bathroom at the local bar for testing.

THE SCENT:  Faintly reminiscent of “Breck”, and fading down to a nice lightness through the day,  I have a feeling it will be very polarizing in terms of response -you will LOVE it or umm…. NOT love it. Personally I find the scent a nice change from the signature smells of the Bumble and Bumble and Aveda in my collection about once a week but not enough to use it every day.

BUY IT: The best way to get some of this on your hair, is to go to www.madahair.com and use the “Mada for me” feature, where you enter info about your hair and recommended products pop up!

Keep Your Hands as Youthful as Your Face

Thin, veiny and busted looking hands can be as telling about your age as manly ones can giveaway a tranny.  When you think about how many lotions and oils we layer on our faces every day and night to keep it looking young, it seems crazy to neglect hands. Here are some simple tips to keep them looking lovely and youthful:

1. HYDRATION: Plump, moisturized hands look younger, thin, ashy ones look old. Body lotion is not enough -make sure you use a formulation specific to hands, keep it in your purse and apply it throughout the day.

One of my absolute favorite beauty products of all time is the Elizabeth Arden 8 hour protectant -this model’s secret can be used on lips, hands or face.

2. EXFOLIATION: Dead, discolored, flaky skin builds up on hand, just like it does on the face and needs to be exfoliated regularly (at least once a week). You will be really surprised at how much this helps, and just how soft your hands can feel. Try this awesome one that smells like a hawaiian vacation “True Blue Just a Minute 60 Second Manicure Hand Scrub”.

3. SPF: For how meticulous I am about putting SPF on my face and neck, I ashamed to say I have never considered it for my hands. Note to self: You drive around all day with your hands directly in the sun, DUMMY. Use a hand cream with a high SPF whenever you will be driving, or in the sun. There are tons of hand creams out there with 15 SPF, but if you are serious about preventing sun damage -go for the 30 SPF

4. AGING SPOTS: It is difficult to completely get rid of them without the help of lasers, so the best thing is to take anti-oxidizing vitamins and use SPF on our hands to prevent them. Other options to try are fade creams like Palmer’s Skin Success or try massaging a combo of rose water, glycerin and lemon into hands.

OTHER HAND FAVS:

• True Blue Self-Heating Mitts: For an at home spa treatment, use your favorite hand lotion with these amazing little mitts that heat up with water for an intense moisture treatment

• Lollia Rose Hand Cream: This beautifully packaged hand cream has lots of shea butter and smells like a dream. My Mom gave all of her bridal party these little creams upon my recommendation and they went gaga for them!

• Labatoire Remedie Biobright Handcream: Hailed for it’s age spot fading properties, this hand cream contains Vitamin C, Sunreflectors, and BioBright complex

Hope for Stila Cosmetics

I guess all of that good Karma I’ve saved up helping my friends pick make up and babysitting has finally  paid off and OPERATION: STOCKPILE can be put on hold! Stila has been purchased by Patriarch Partners -the terms of the deal are undisclosed, but here’s the full story: http://www.moodiereport.com/document.php?c_id=33&doc_id=20459 . More details as they come!!

HAIR POWDER: DON’T BE SCARED!

You may have seen hair powder / dry shampoo / etc and thought -WTF am I supposed to do with this shiz? I am here to

My #1 pick

de”mist”ify this phenomenon for you (there’s a pun in there sort of, right?). These powders absorb oil in your hair, especially at the roots and can definitely be a good thing to have on hand in a pinch.

HOW DO I USE IT? Lightly powder a little on the roots and shake or comb it through the ends

WHY WOULD I USE IT? A. Your hair is greasy, but needs a little break from shampooing with water, which is drying

B. Your hair doesn’t necessarily need a wash, but your smells smoky or like Tempan grill (some powders have hair perfume in them to freshen up)

C. You are hungover and don’t feel like washing your greasy hair before work

WHY WOULDN’T I USE IT? You just got laid off and realized that and cornstarch or baby powder will do the same thing. Also, sometimes these powders can leave a white residue behind and dry out your hair too much -proceed with caution!

MY FAVS:

• Stila Hair Refresher -if it’s the perfuming aspect your after, this is the bomb. It smells soooo nice and is available in 3 scents.

• Bumble and Bumble Hair Powder -With it’s smart spray can, this is definitely the easiest to use and is tinted so you don’t get that grey wig look. It’s also volume building, so it’s great for people with fine hair who want to work a little pomp in the back. *Hold the can far when you spray and don’t wear white!

• Frederic Fekkai Au Naturel Dry Shampoo -They had me at “plant based and chemical free”. It neutralizes odor and uses cotton fibers and rice starch, which sounds cool to me.

GLAMLUST Reader Recommendations!

I asked some of my most readers for their best products and tips and what came back was so amazing, that even a seasoned beauty junkie like me found some new gems!

• PLUS WHITE 5 minutes speed whitening gel for teeth -gets rid of wine party mouth STAT! -Nicole, Apparel Designer and frequent wine partier

• Eat SALMON and KALE and lay off the carbs the night before you need perfect skin -great for photo shoots! -Kelly Romero, Art Dept. Manager who literally looks 20 years younger than she is

• AQUAPHOR -it’s the greatest thing ever. I use it on my lips every day and over lipstick for gloss. It’s also great for dry hands and feet. -Kelly Cooper, Rock Band Manager

• I use BABY OIL when shaving my legs (and other things). It’s cheaper than shave gel, makes your skin super f-in soft and locks in moisture. I basically drench my self in it and get compliments on my soft skin all the time -Jennifer Jones, has a fancy job I can’t remember and very soft skin

• For super shiny smooth hair, KIEHLS DEEPLY REPAIRATIVE HAIR PAK and FREDERIC FEKKAI GLOSSING CREAM. A great baby-adult cross over is KIEHLS NURTURING BABY CREAM FOR FACE AND BODY -Karla, Web Analyst-Nerd and Supermom

• BUMBLE AND BUMBLE CURL CONSCIOUS -Lauren, Pro Skateboarder and woman of few words

• Simple, yet invaluable! Apply mascara to bottom lashes of both eyes first , and they won’t smear! -Barb Cannon-Wittwer, Entrepreneur, Real Estate Specialist and Second Mom to me ‘93-97

• I’m crazy for my CHANTECAILLE BIO LIFT CONCEALER stick. It makes my eyes look and feel so smooth and feel ultra nurtured. I sometimes use it alone as I’m running out the door with nothing else (the one and only makeup staple I use first). It’s great because you can use it as a concealer for dark bags or lines around eyes and if you flip it around to the other side of the stick it’s an awesome cover-up for acne.” Tenesha Gleason, VP of something, Amazon.com and high roller!

• Vaseline! Put some on your legs, sleep in leggings and wake up with the softest skin you could dream of! I’ve also used it to fade scars. Sharon Salmon, Unofficial Mayoress of Long Beach and Unicorn

• I bought that purple shampoo (for myself) that brightens blonde hair -and washed the kids hair with it. The results were to die for! Seriously! Erica Nathanson, Youth Marketing Guru

Neither Glam nor Lust: Acrylic Toenails

Upon trying on shoes with my friend the other day, I erupted in laughter when I noticed she had French Manicured toe nails. Besides the fact that I have never been able to understand why people feel inclined to make their toenails look longer and consequently more claw-like by accentuating the tips with a white stripe, it was so incredibly out of character for my famously au natural friend that it was just too much to bear without a giggle. She explained to me that she was taken to the salon by her boyfriend’s Mom who insisted that instead of her requested clear, she go for the French. She tried to talk her way out of it, but once the manicurist started shouting “You don’t argue with your Motha in Law! You get what your Motha in Law say!”, the deal was sealed.

My friend and I have been affectionately calling her feet the claws ever since, and it has begged the question: “Do people get acrylic toe nails?” the Answer: YES! *Disclaimer: I am not trying to put any of you on blast who have gotten acrylics because you lost a nail. I respectfully salute your fallen nails -I am only bringing to light the madness that is decorative toe acrylics.

Modest, yet still horrifying in my book

Who needs to shave when your toe nails look like this?

Um, I think your nails are peeking over the edge

De-Puff 101: You can’t afford to sleep on this, if you didn’t sleep last night!

Who me? Crying? Noooo!

Imagine this scenario: you have just been laid off from your job of nine years, and have only a couple of hours before you’re band has a show at a GREAT venue. That was my scenario -being a bit in shock, and saying good-bye to such a long chapter in my life, I had done my share of crying that day and I had two very puffy red panda eyes. Remembering an old beauty standby I ran to the fridge and rejoiced when I found a chilled cucumber. I sliced it, put it on my eyes for about 5-10 minutes and was delighted by my newly de-puffed peepers -after just a little brightening concealer I was ready to rock.

Here are a few other at home remedies for cried out, tired or hungover eyes

COLD SPOONS: Chill 4 spoons in a glass of ice water and then place one over each eye. When the spoons become warm, switch them with the others chilling in the glass of water. Keep switching until you see improvement.

TEA: Settle down for two to five minutes with a chilled, steeped chamomile, green or black tea bag over each eye. The natural properties of these herbal teas helps to bring puffy eyes back down to size.

CUCUMBER: This wonder veggies’ anti-inflammatory properties reduce redness and puffiness of eyes. Slice a large cucumber, reserve two slices to place over eyes. Peel and puree the remaining cucumber. This can be applied as a pack onto your face. Remove after fifteen minutes. Apply moisturiser thickly to seal in water.

The BEST Style Blog Ever

I want to hang out with THEM!

I know, I know -this is a beauty blog and while I promise to dedicate 99.9% of my posts to hair, skin, make-up, etc etc I have to use my one get-out-of-jail-free-card on www.bleachblack.com. This truly unique blog is laid out like a magazine with one side completely dedicated to Kristin (bleach) and one to Valerie (black) (although they are both blondies) and pulls from everywhere from high fashion to new designers to vintage and this week, even a swinger/biker/nudist site. Also setting this site apart from the vast sea of style blogs are the DIY projects which forgo the typical “make your own tote out of a vintage tee” and teach you how to easily create high fashion pieces, like this weeks’ DIY Betsey Johnson inspired babydoll.

Give it a looksie -it might just replace all of your other style blogs…

Finally! Naked Dudes and Lipgloss Unite

Urban Decay has raised the bar yet again with Pocket Rocket  -a lipgloss that’s as fun to use as it is beautifying.  This perfectly-

Preppy Timothy is my pick in a punchy pink!

shaped-for-pockets lipgloss features the front and back of a hot man who, with just one flick of the wrist gets undressed! Just like those awesome kitschy 70’s pens, but reinvented as a lipgloss -a million times more useful and featuring a whole spectrum of guys whether you have the hots for “Jesse, the Rocker” or “David, the Yuppie” -for those of you Bridezillas there is even “Julio, the Dad”.

And don’t call it a novelty only item -this slick, dreamy creme brulee flavored gloss stands on it’s own, packed with features like Hyaluronic Spheres to hydrate your lips and fill in lines and wrinkles, a nice selection of colors and finishes and an applicator brush for professional blending. If that wasn’t enough to make you rush out and buy one for your next girl’s night out or bachelorette -giving this tube a rub releases real pheromones into the air to make sure that you won’t just be looking at a hot guy on your lipgloss all night!

5 Skin Care Commandments from a VETERAN

Tea Tree Scrub: My ALL TIME favorite CSC Product

After working in a plastic surgeon’s office and medical facility specializing in skincare, owning her own treatment office and finally founding her own line of products called Corrective Skin Care, Gale Roberts definitely know skin! After doing some marketing consulting work for CSC and being set up with a full kit of products -I was HOOKED. One thing that always impressed me about Gale was her ever expanding knowledge of skin, garnered through years of hands on research and development and her truly unique approach. This lady knows all the tricks, so I asked her for her top 5 little known skin secrets -TRY THEM ALL!

1. SUNSCREEN: The absolute BEST weapon in the anti-aging fight. Even if you think you’re not in the sun much, one year of trips to the mailbox, driving in your car and sitting near windows is equal to one week of sitting on the beach. That 8 SPF in your makeup is not enough! For optimum results, use a lightweight sunblock with at least 25-30 SPF like CSC’s Dry Touch Sunscreen

2. SKINERCISE: Ever notice that the product that once gave you amazing results suddenly seems to stop working? Just like with your exercise routine, you have to change it up from time to time so your skin will keep responding.  Start out with a  minimal routine then every 3  months look for Alpha-Hydroxy acids or blends with higher percents of key ingredients (you can find this on the back of the bottles). Correct Skin’s website even offers an online skin advisor where you can get a personal skinercise routine from a pro for free.

3. BENZOYL PEROXIDE: While this powerful acne fighting ingredient has become a household name, most people don’t know how to use it correctly for real results. The key is using the right dosage for your skin, and to start slowly just leaving it on for a few hours and build up to leaving it on all night. Icing the acne lesions for 1-2  minutes at least once per day is very effective in  reducing inflammation and putting  the lesion into re-mission. Remember that it can take up to 3 months for an acne lesion to form, so don’t get discouraged if it takes a little time for your regimen to kick in.

4. CHIRALLY CORRECT INGREDIENTS: With all the current hype around organic and natural skin care , science based products have been shied away from. In the quest to be more “green” we many times feel we have to sacrifice results,  but in reality science and plant based technology can co-exist to truly utilize the best of both worlds. “Organic synthesis”is the  science of producing  ingredients made in the lab that are  exactly the same as those that  grow naturally outside the lab. There is no difference to the body if its from the ground or from the lab, if they are produced chirally-correct meaning science based and skin friendly.

5. START YOUNG: If you’re in your twenties and still enjoying youthful, wrinkle free skin, it’s the best time to get a head start in the race against aging by utilizing the amazing new ingredients to come from the last 20 years of a remarkable anti-aging revolution like Antioxidants, Alpha-Hydroxy acids (glycolic, lactic,  salicylic, azelaic), Retinol, Vitamin C to name a few. It is tough to decipher between hype and reality, so  look for these ingredients, ask your  friends and family what they are using on their  skin if you like  what you see, do some research and ask to try  samples. Even a few consultations with an experienced skincare consultant can give you a lifetime of education about your particular skin and results.