I was browsing through Sephora’s "Cult Favorites" and this bottle of vitamins by Phyto caught my eye.  First of all, it’s $50 and I was like, really?  $50 for vitamins?  They are said to make your hair and nails the strongest, most beautiful they can be.  Phyto is known for their organic, good-for-you products, so I’m intrigued to know if these would actually work.  I know that it’s important your body has the right vitamins and nutrients for your overall health and appearance.  I’m going to be honest though:  I’m not spending $50 on vitamins anytime soon.  I’ll stick with my One-a-Day Women’s.  But I’m curious: 

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It’s official: Bold eyebrows are chic. Like most trends in fashion and beauty, the popularity of the thick brow seems to wax and wane. According to the latest issue of Elle, the time has come for strong eyebrows to launch a comeback. Don’t go tossing those tweezers just yet though: This look is more about super dark, meticulously groomed and carefully shaped brows, and less about overgrown "Brows Gone Wild." Elle recommends achieving the darker-than-normal look by using a soft pencil a few shades darker than your hair. Could be a particularly interesting look for blondes, if you have the panache to pull it off! Here are a few bold-browed celebs for inspiration:

Yes, little Lourdes (fruit of Madonna’s loins) may only be 11, but she’s already got that Frida Kahlo vibe happening, which I honestly think is rather becoming on her. What do you think of big brows having their moment?

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Check out this list of household products that can be used for any number of bizarre, not-intended-for-this tasks, many of them beauty related. While I may not be brave enough to actually try many of them (shaving with peanut butter? taking a mustard bath?!), I’m certainly intrigued.  Here are a few tips that actually make sense…more or less.

Baby powder as dry shampoo. All you have to do is work the powder into  your hair and then brush it out. (Take care not to sprinkle too much in to begin with, lest you end up rocking the old lady look with a head full of white hair.) The powder will absorb excess oil and add body to limp locks, just like the fancier (and costlier!) dry shampoos we’ve been hearing so much about. Possible drawback: Smelling like baby powder for the rest of the day.

Chapstick as skin soother. Another tip that makes complete sense: Dab on some Chapstick if you nick yourself while shaving. Since Chapstick is designed to soothe and heal dry, cracked lips, it follows that it could also work to heal skin elsewhere on the body. Probably best to use original, unscented (and certainly non-medicated!) Chapstick for this.

Cool Whip as an all-purpose skincare go-to. According to Mr. Wacky Uses, you can use Cool Whip to shave, soothe a sunburn, moisturize your face and remove your makeup. Just smooth it on and rinse it off. It even works as a hair conditioner! I’ll admit that I would be afraid to put Cool Whip on my face for fear of breaking out, but I might actually try the shaving and/or conditioner applications if I’m ever in a pinch. The only challenge would be not eating the Whip along the way.

Plain yogurt as a facial mask. Finally, one that I’ve actually heard of - and yes, it works! To tighten pores and cleanse skin, just spread some plain yogurt (no flavors or fruit-on-the-bottom!) on your face, wait 10-20 minutes, and rinse with lukewarm water. My mom taught me this trick when I was around 12 years old. We would put on our yogurt masks and watch movies together! Aw, happy memories. It really did seem to improve the overall look of my complexion, and if you choose a natural, organic yogurt it should be safe even for sensitive skin. (Now, that suggestion about using yogurt to treat a yeast infection on the other hand…hmm. I wouldn’t endorse that!)

Peruse the rest of the site and tell me what you think. Are you a Wacky Uses convert, or do you just find the whole thing too weird?

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We are in the dog days of summer, clinging to those last days before fall begins. There are still pool parties and beach bashes to be had. Keeping your bikini line pretty looking throughout all your summer swimsuit activities is a necessary evil and if you’re all about shaving and forgoing waxing or fancy hair removal kits, then here are some shaving tips from Self to make sure everything keeps smooth this summer.

1. It takes about three minutes for hairs to soften in the shower, so don’t rush into shaving. Take care of the rest of your bathing first.

2. Wash bikini-line skin with anti-bacterial soap: Razor blades can push bacteria into your skin through nicks.

3. Use shaving gel, not cream. Gel creates a thicker barrier.

4. Use a fresh razor with at least three blades.

5. Shave with the grain to reduce ingrown hairs.

6. Once you’re done and all dried off, apply an antibacterial ointment like Neosporin.

7. Then apply talcum powder to absorb moisture, which can cause rashes.

Following this advice, gathered from dermatologists and skin therapists, can really help reduce the amount of redness, bumps and ingrown hairs that shaving can cause. I would add to the list gently exfoliating your skin before shaving. This goes for shaving legs too!

I’m curious though: What is your preferred method of hair removal this time of year?

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Here’s the next deodorant I want to try:  Fresh Roll-On Sugar.  There is something about smelling like sugar that appeals to me.  And I seem to develop immunity to my deodorants - whether this phenomenon is real or imagined is certainly heavily debated online.   I can’t seem to find any scientific fact on it.  I just know that I can’t keep buying the same deodorants because eventually they just don’t work anymore.  I even used a crystal at one point.  Anyway, Fresh’s products haven’t let me down yet so I think this is definitely worth a-go.  I’m curious though…do YOU think you can become immune to deodorant?

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You may or may not be aware of the fact that Ralph Lauren’s daughter, Dylan (that’s her at left, looking sleek and lovely in yellow), owns a popular candy shop in NYC called Dylan’s Candy Bar. Didn’t exactly follow in her fashionable father’s footsteps, did she? Not so fast! Even if you can’t make it out to New York, you should still check out the awesome array of candy-inspired fashion and accessories designed by Dylan and available on the Candy Bar’s website. Everything from "I [HEART] CANDY" t-shirts to gumball bracelets to whirly pop earrings and colorful charm necklaces. The stuff can border on the childish, it’s true - but it’s also candy, which means everything is fun, happy and colorful! The pieces are actually surprisingly cute…or maybe it’s not so surprising, considering Dylan’s fashion pedigree and the fact that she was named one of the 25 Most Stylish New Yorkers by Us Weekly in 2007. Here are a few of my favorites:

The candy-print umbrella would be so much fun on a rainy day, and the charm key chains and gummi bear earrings are just adorable. I also love the vintage-look Jawbreakers t-shirt; I think it has an almost rock & roll appeal, and it would look great with a denim skirt and a light summer scarf. Make like Veruca Salt and snatch up a sweet shirt or accessory today.

These two have been dating for ages, but it looks like they’re finally getting married: Introducing the Clean Logic Soap Sponge, which wraps a moisturizing glycerin soap around an antimicrobial exfoliating sponge. This convenient combo has a number of advantages over the traditional soap-and-sponge-living-separately arrangement:

• Cuts down on the amount of product clutter in your shower.
• Reduces your need to replace your sponge, since "Clean Logic’s sponges don’t collect mold or bacteria like traditional sponges or loofahs."
• Comes in a cute little dish that helps preserve the soap and makes travel a snap! Traveling with bar soaps of any kind is usually an enormous headache, so I particularly love the Soap Sponge’s portability. 

The Soap Sponge is priced at $6.99 and is available in four different scents: Cucumber Melon, Lavender, Peach Berry and Warm Vanilla.

Beer, bread and strawberries…these are a few of my favorite things…yes, I was singing that as I typed. And while these lovely foods and drink are some of my favorite things to consume, it turns out there are other "beauty-ful" tricks they have up their sleeves. This month’s Cosmo (07/08) has an article (pgs. 174 - 77) of beauty tricks from around the world and my two favorite ones I read came from Russian tennis star, Anna Kournikova. Thought you’d might like to hear about these:

"Mix dark bread in a bowl with beer, and it will turn into a mask that you put on your hair. It’s great for fine hair." - Anna Kournikova

Cosmo’s recipe:

• Soak a slice of wheat bread in a bowl of beer.
• Slick on the mixture.
• Rinse after ten minutes.
• The protein concoction gives your hair lots of volume and the scent won’t stick to strands.

Just came across this tube of Lip and Nail Balm by Yves Saint Laurent. While I’m always a fan of products that have multiple uses, I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed by the idea of paying $24 for a few ounces of a moisturizing lip balm that can also be used as a glorified cuticle softener. I still think using a thick, emollient-rich lip product on your rough patches, from the nail area to feet to hands, is a good tip though, but there’s certainly a cheaper solution!

It’s called Smith’s Rosebud Salve, and for just $6 you get a whole tin of lightly rose-scented pink goo that you can slather wherever you see fit! I love my Rosebud Salve. It’s a great, non-sticky lip balm, a powerful moisturizer and a tremendously versatile tool for little tasks like grooming your eyebrows (brush your brows into place & top with a little salve to set). Plus, the pretty tin, virtually unchanged since the 19th century, makes me happy. Let’s hear it for affordable multitaskers!

Attention fellow perfume junkies: Check out Thierry Mugler’s Mirror Collection, a set of four pricey ($150 each) fragrances available at Saks Fifth Avenue. The descriptions are totally exotic and enticing!

First we have Mirror of Vanities: "Bubbly citrus accords enliven and mingle with the warm, subtle bitterness of cinchona bark and vetiver, heightened by the black intensity of licorice." Next, Mirror Image: "A lavish, nurturing floral fragrance melding Lily, Orange Blossom, and…milky notes for extreme sophistication." Third in line is Mirror of Desires: "Provocative notes of warm morning toast and sun-drenched skin become tasty partners with a sumptuous jasmine center." And, last but hardly least, Through the Looking Glass: "The opulent and utterly feminine tuberose…flirts with a warm, very masculine, woody accord and aromatic accents of absinthe. Subtle notes of wintergreen make the tuberose flower smells almost metallic."

What can I say? I’m a Thierry Mugler fragrance addict! Some of these notes sound downright crazy - absinthe, milk, toast - but I’m absolutely convinced that they will smell delicious. At that price, I probably won’t be able to afford a bottle anytime soon, but you can bet that I’ll be jetting over to Saks to catch a whiff right away. Sigh.

Here’s a surprising (yet totally obvious) solution for those of you plagued by the problem of sweaty/stinky feet, especially during the hot summer months:

Apply your underarm antiperspirant on your soles at night (when your skin will best absorb the ingredients) to reduce sweating the next day. (Cosmopolitan, July 2008, p.92)

My additional recommendation? If your sweaty feet are a serious and recurring issue, make sure you try something a little more powerful, like Secret’s Clinical Strength Antiperspirant/Deodorant. Your feet and shoes (and friends!) will thank you.

This Bliss Bikini Perfect Deluxe - Spa Edition, sold exclusively at Sephora, is at the top of my "Summer Must-Have" list.  Bliss and Philips came together to create the ultimate bikini hair removal kit, that has nothing to do with waxing.  The different sized razors and epilators and trimmers are all perfect for the level of hair removal you need and can be used wherever you need hairs tamed.  Don’t be fooled by the "bikini" marketing - you could totally trim your eyebrows with this kit.  I love that Bliss includes body scrubs, butter and ingrown hair eliminating pads.  And it all can fit in the travel bag that is included.  At $60, this is basically equivalent to a trip to the spa.  Check, please!

I really do. Smelling like you’re stranded on a tropical island (in a good way!) is pretty much the epitome of the season, and what better method of achieving coconutty bliss could there be than this adorable Tiki Hut Gift Set by Philosophy? You get a big bottle of 3-in-1 Shampoo, Shower Gel & Bubble Bath, a jar of Body Butter and tube of Lip Shine, all redolent of the "sweet, succulent scent of fresh coconut milk" and housed in a cute little thatched-roof tiki hut box. Those 3-in-1’s by Philosophy are always awesome (plus, their multitasking nature makes them ideal for traveling), and the packaging is so much fun. The tiki gods are pleased.

One glaring omission in my favorite perfumes blog: No mention of Lolita Lempicka’s namesake scent.

I love this perfume, from its gilded, fruit-shaped purple bottle to its sweet, powdery fragrance, a pretty-yet-chaotic hodgepodge of scents that range from ivy leaves to violet to vanilla and musk. It’s such an unusual fragrance, and immediately identifiable; every once in a while I’ll catch a whiff of a woman wearing it in public and I’ll think, "Oh, Lolita Lempicka!" I’ve been so busy obsessing over Anna Sui and Thierry Mugler, however, that I completely neglected to investigate whether Ms. Lempicka ever created any other perfumes. Fortunately, today I discovered that she has - not just one, but two! And, not surprisingly, I want.

Her second perfume, L de Lolita Lempicka, is sea-themed, from the translucent blue-green of the bottle with its golden netting to the mysterious fragrance it contains, which combines elements like bitter orange, cinnamon and vanilla. Absolutely perfect for summer!

Lempicka’s newest perfume is Forbidden Flower, which comes in a bottle not unlike that of the original fragrance, only this time the color is a bright gold rather than a rich purple. While the original Lolita Lempicka is a "woody oriental" scent, Forbidden Flower is a "soft floral" with completely out-of-the-ordinary notes like absinth flower, strawberry leaf, peony and morello cherry musk. I can’t wait to get my hands on either one (or, with any luck, both!) of these new scents.

On our neverending quest for soft, sandal-worthy feet, Meagan and I have come across quite a few products specifically designed with foot-softening in mind, but these Beauty Booties Moisturizing Gel Socks from Bath & Body Works have to be the absolutely easiest to use option yet. They are truly a lazy girl’s dream come true. Working on much the same principle as the old trick of slathering your feet with lotion and then putting on a pair of cotton socks before bed, these slippers are lined with a moisturizing gel that contains a blend of olive oil, jojoba oil and vitamin E so you can soothe and soften your tootsies while putting forth little to no actual effort. Just slip ‘em on and go to sleep and/or watch a movie and/or read the Sunday paper while sipping tea and eating scones - whatevs. Then, by the time you take them off, your feet will be super soft and ready to go. Sweet! Now who’s going to come up with a pair of socks that will paint and file my toenails for me, hmm?

Now here’s a fun little product that takes care of all your smile maintenance needs at once: Enbrightenment, a tube that has a brush-on tooth whitener by BriteSmile on one end and some snazzy Tarte lip gloss (choose from Pearly Pink or Radiant Red) on the other. This would be perfect for traveling, or simply tossing into your bag when you’re getting ready to go out for the day. Plus, I’ve been investigating at-home whitening kits, and I heard that brush-on whiteners are really good for getting at all the little nooks and crannies in your teeth that whitening strips can miss, so it’s probably a great supplementary product to have even if you’re using another whitener on the side!

Here’s another entry in my occasional series of Bizarre Beauty Products: I present you with Kik-N-its. These little babies are exfoliating discs with adhesive backing that you stick to the bottom of your tub in order to remove dead skin and other nastiness from the soles of your feet without using your hands, thereby saving you from a treacherous fall in the shower (I must admit that I have come close to toppling over while trying to apply some product to my feet a number of times - yeah, I could sit down to do it, but who sits in the shower?!). I mean, really, who wants to die with a pumice stone in their hand and their feet only half exfoliated?! Anyhow, with Kik-N-its, you can relax. According to their website, all you have to do is "apply Kik-N-iTs to your tub or shower floor and then while sitting down, gently, in a light kicking motion, move the soles of your feet across the KiK-N-iTs pads and wipe away dry, dead, unsightly skin. Next follow up with your favorite foot lotion or cream for even softer feet and in matter of minutes you’re on way to lovelier, more touchable feet!" They come in three different colors (yellow, white and black) so you can attempt to coordinate with your bathroom decor, and one set of 2 discs costs $9.99 + $2.99 in shipping. The FAQs say that one set will last anywhere from 1 to 6 months, depending on how much you use them; if they’re effective, sounds like a pretty fair price to me. I would recommend trying them in conjunction with a product like Olay’s Thermal Pedicure for extra sloughing power. (Meagan, are you listening? After the Ped Egg debacle, this sounds like a product you could actually use!)

As I was shaving yesterday I thought to myself, Self, why have you yet to extol the virtues of the Venus Breeze Razor to your readers?  I must take for granted my daily, easy shaving experience and that is a shame.  Shaving is such a chore and since I’m not springing for laser hair removal anytime soon, the best way to cut down on shaving time for me is to use the Venus Breeze.  Since the razor is surrounded by a shave gel bars, I just shave and go. And I have dry, sensitive skin so the fact that I have never experienced irritation or even a nick using this razor is a big feat.  I love traveling with the razor too - it is so easy to pack (each razor comes in its own sealed package), doesn’t violate any carry-on rules and one razor will last me at least a week.  Now my Self can quiet down.

Have you ever noticed that when you are happy you feel more beautiful? And what makes a person happy? Well, if I had the absolute answer to that I’d be a wealthy woman. It can be a combination of factors but one factor is being stress-free. Being rested. Being at peace. Our busy lives don’t always leave us feeling this way but there is a way to achieve that sense of inner peace and therefore increase our outer beauty: Yoga. I’ve been practicing yoga casually for nearly two years and while I still can not touch my toes (I blame my genetics) I do feel refreshed any time I do it. Yoga is our bodies natural way of being beautiful. What is one of the first things you do when you wake from a deep sleep? You stretch. You put your arms over your head and you make a weird squealing noise and then you go, "Ahhh." You are breathing and you are stretching and that is what you are doing with yoga. Your body craves yoga instinctually. And not only that, but there are actual internal health benefits to yoga that goes beyond the beautiful toning of your muscles. I just read in Shape magazine that Yale researchers have pronounced that "doing yoga regularly can be as effective as downing a prescription drug" for hypertension (high blood pressure). Heart disease is still one of the leading causes of death for men and women, so why not take preventive measures in your work out to combat that? Heart disease runs in my family and I am so thankful that my dad started doing yoga around the same time as I did. He still can’t touch his toes either. But hopefully the benefits are extending past our flexibilty into the parts of our body we can’t see. Happy, toned, beautiful. Just a few side effects from stretching and breathing.

If you can’t find a good yoga class in your area, that is no excuse! Most cable providers have a "fit channel" now that you can tune into. Or check out your on-demand service. There is usually a fit channel hiding behind the ten million HBOs. Do a little digging and you can learn yoga at your own pace, in your own place. Check out the multitude of DVDs available too - you can find them at Target or Blockbuster or Barnes and Noble. They are very accessible. There are even online classes you can take. Check out New York Yoga for a good place to start. Or type "on demand yoga" into google and you’ll see tons of options. You can also go to www.yoga.com for equipment, resources and more. Namaste.

One of the struggles in my adult life has been finding the perfect underwear that provides coverage, holds in the jiggle and doesn’t ride up. This is especially important when I wear dresses because the fabric on most of my dresses is not forgiving. I need some control! I’ve tried Spanx, boyshorts, grannie-panties: you name it, I’ve tried it. First off, thongs don’t cut it because the jiggle factor isn’t reduced. The Spanx I have cover the thigh as well, which is great for a long dress but that is about it. Plus they get hot. Everything else I’ve tried finds a way to ride up to uncomfortable heights. Until now. Hanes No Ride up Panties really work! They really stay in place, are invisible under unforgiving fabrics and make me feel covered and in control. I was skeptical - I’ve tried plenty of underpinnings that said they wouldn’t ride up and lied. And when I opened the package I literally laughed - the underwear looks like it is for a baby doll. It is so small!! And what is even funnier is that there is an insert that says: "These panties will fit!" I’m paraphrasing but they must get the laughing reaction a lot because it goes on to explain how they are designed to stretch four ways to perfectly fit your body. They frickin’ deliver. Not only did they fit, but they really felt like they were custom made for me. I’m stocking up and I’m not sure if I will ever wear a different kind of underwear again. Seriously, they are that good.

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