I have loved pretty much every La Mer product I’ve had the chance to try and the new La Mer Body Refiner is no exception. There is something instantly spa like when you see the trademark soft green color and great La Mer scent.

What is great about it? Well La Mer seems to have perfected the consistency, not too thick or thin it was easy to work into my skin and didn’t wash away before I was done.  The buffing particles worked great on my skin and with no sharp edges it was a nice break from some of the overly coarse products out there. My skin felt amazing when I was done, on top of feeling fresh my legs and arms were as smooth as baby skin.

La Mer introduces The Body Refiner
Diamond Infused. Moisture Rich.

Ever since The Max Huber Research Labs began engineering their first body treatments, they have incorporated the most luxurious ingredients to care for skin all over the body. Now, they have poured a wealth of knowledge into the creation of La Mer’s latest innovation, The Body Refiner. True to La Mer’s heritage, this multi-faceted treatment utilizes precious ingredients—including 1.75 carats of pure diamond dust— to deliver a cushiony resurfacing treatment that both polishes and softens the skin.

Plush, creamy, and calming, The Body Refiner incorporates fermented acidic sea muds harvested from a natural marine source to detoxify and purify skin for a bright, healthy appearance. Their low pH level makes these muds extremely gentle and especially suitable for sensitive skin. This essential purification process clarifies the skin and helps to restore its smoothness.

Pure diamond powder and polished sea quartz act as physical exfoliants, as this precious treatment instantly lifts away dull cells, gently retexturizing skin to reveal a smooth and supple new surface. The Body Refiner’s cream base serves to cushion the skin and protect its moisture barrier.

“To create the most effective exfoliator on earth, we incorporated the hardest material on earth – diamonds. When diamonds are crushed and polished they provide an extremely thorough yet gentle exfoliation,” says Loretta Miraglia, Senior Vice President of Product Development and Innovation. “Each Body Refiner contains over one and a half carats of diamond dust to lavish the skin with extraordinary softness.”

As The Body Refiner is massaged into skin, La Mer’s piezoelectric (electrically-charged) minerals – tourmaline and sea quartz – convert the massage action into energy, helping to stimulate circulation and awaken skin. A new vitality appears to glow from within.

For best results, massage with circular motions until the large particles completely dissolve. Rinse well. Use once or twice a week followed by The Body Crème. Skin is left instantly smoother and brighter as its radiant fresh surface is revealed.

$110.00 La Mer The Body Refiner

Popularity: 5% [?]

The great sunny spring weather got me started on a spring cleaning project. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to clean out the kids rooms and playroom and try to get rid of a bunch of their toys. Now a few days in with 3 rooms in limbo and a few goodwill trips down I wonder why I thought this would be fun? While working on reorganizing and simplifying our house I wanted to get the house smelling great (anything to procrastinate finishing) and Slatkin & Co. has the perfect scents for spring.

With two young kids and one in diapers its easy for my house to have phantom smells, but since putting out my Fresh Linen diffuser my house has a soft, fresh scent. To complete the scent overhaul I light my Clean Mist candle and my house smells amazing! Now I just need to turn up my ipod and finish this project!

Slatkin & Co.
Reed Diffusers
Fresh Linen
Crisp and clean, reminiscent of linen sheets drying in the sun, with refreshing, light hints of apple, kiwi and violets.

* Created by world-renowned home fragrance expert, Harry Slatkin
* The fashionable way to scent your home
* Fragrance lasts 4 weeks
* Easy to use
* Place the reeds in the fragrance bottle – they absorb the fragranced oil, draw it to the top and diffuse it into your home

$19.50 Fresh Linen Reed Diffusers

Slatkin & Co.
14.5 oz Scented Candle
Clean Mist
A fresh scent, combining bergamot and mandarin with clean rose, lily of the valley and orange flower.

* Created by world-renowned home fragrance expert, Harry Slatkin
* Three-wick candle burns 40 to 65 hours
* 4™ x 3 1/2™ tall

$19.50 Clean Mist 3 wick candle

Popularity: 3% [?]

Here are some tips from renowned dermatologist Dr. Fran Cook-Bolden about protecting skin in the sun and preserving it for the future:

“When going out into the sun, always use a sunscreen formulated with SPF 30 or higher,” Dr. Cook-Bolden instructs. “For normal skin types with no tendency toward heat reactions, SPF 30 is sufficient; however, for those with pre-existing skin conditions or sun sensitivity, a higher SPF is preferable. I recommend Skin Medica Environmental Defense Sunscreen™ SPF 30—the formula protects against UV rays, environmental pollutants and free radical damage. Micronized zinc oxide provides maximum UVA and UVB protection in a single transparent ingredient, while Parsol® MCX provides superior UVB absorption to prevent sun damage. For those with sun sensitivity, Vanicream for Sensitive Skin SPF 60 is recommended. Vanicream™ Sunscreen SPF 60 is a broad spectrum sunscreen that protects your skin throughout the UVA and UVB rays. Vanicream™ Sunscreen SPF 60 contains zinc oxide, an ingredient that offers additional protection from the UVA rays which may contribute to skin damage and premature aging of the skin.

“To avoid a sunburn, don’t exfoliate skin before heading into the sun, as exfoliation speeds up cell turnover and makes sun damage more likely,” explains Dr. Cook-Bolden. “Be sure to avoid Alpha and Beta Hydroxy Acids (found in chemical peels) as well, as this will increase the severity of sunburns. Instead, exfoliate at night to reduce sunburn and inflammation, use an exfoliator formulated with Vitamin C or Retinoids to correct sun damage overnight.

“To treat a sunburn, use creams containing tea tree oil, chamomile or peppermint to help reduce inflammation,” Dr. Cook-Bolden recommends. “ For severe burns, visit a dermatologist for Biafine, a prescription-grade treatment that heals skin after sunburns and reduces scarring.”

“If you have existing signs of sun damage, use a Feruelic Acid treatment,” advises Dr. Cook-Bolden. “Feruelic Acid features antioxidant-rich coffeeberry, which helps break up pigment in sun spots.”

Popularity: 3% [?]

Remember last week how I was going on and on and on about the InStyler?  Well, I loved it soooooooooo much I wrote the company and asked them to send me some more! They did! So I have TWO InStyler’s to give away!

I’m not joking when I say this is a mircale tool! It completely transforms my hair! I’ve had the opportunity to try the InStyler, and it truly is amazing. I have very thick, frizzy hair, and it takes some serious work to get it to look nice. I often get frustrated, and just pull it back, but I might not have to any more! It’s so easy to use, anyone can get the hang of it! I am so excited to find a product that is easy to use, and makes such a dramatic difference! My hair looks so much healthier, and beautiful! I can’t wait to use it again tomorrow!

It’s not a brush. It’s not a flat iron. It’s not a curling iron. It’s the InStyler®!

The InStyler® is a totally new styling and straightening tool unlike any hair styling product ever invented!

The secret to the InStyler® lies in its rotating heated polishing cylinder, along with four rows of precision-aligned bristles.

Here’s how it works: when you run the InStyler® through your hair, the first set of bristles gently sort and separate your hair strands. Then the rotating heated polishing cylinder gently glides over your hair, smoothly polishing, straightening, and styling each strand. Finally, the second set of bristles puts the finishing touch on your hair, leaving you with shiny, silky, “In-Styled” hair! It’s truly amazing!

And the best part is, because of the InStyler®’s patent-pending design, your hair won’t get smashed and baked by the super-intense heat of a flat iron or other “hot” tools. In fact, the InStyler® uses less heat than traditional hot tools, and delivers better results. How? Because the InStyler®’s gentle heat in conjunction with the rotating motion of the polishing cylinder literally polishes your hair strands individually so it doesn’t need extreme heat to get amazing results.

Your hair will be shinier, bouncier and full of lift and life!

Plus, the InStyler® does so much more than any styling tool out there. Get lift and fullness – right from the root! Get a sexy flip in seconds. Straighten even the toughest, most coarse hair – and still get fullness and style without the stick-straight “flatness” of a flat iron. Do a full style in 8 minutes… and change it again in two minutes! Wrap your hair around the rotating polishing cylinder – and get an amazing curl that lasts all day!

If you can hold it, you can do it with the InStyler®!

CONTEST RULES:

• There will be 2 winners!
• Enter by leaving your name and email address in the comments!
• Contest runs Wednesday, 4/16/09 to Wednesday , 4/23/09
• US residents only
• Please only enter once
• After the winners have been announced, you will have 48 hours to respond.

GOOD LUCK!

**FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY, 30 DAY TRIAL OFFER, $14.99, BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!!**

Popularity: 7% [?]

You don’t have to be a king or queen to pamper yourself like one—the Kings & Queens Royal Favorites ($8) or Kings & Queens Bar Soaps ($6) lets you indulge like a prince and spend like a pauper. Filled with five favorite fragrant Showergels, the set gives you a new way to pamper every day. And at just $8.00, the set is a royal steal.

Work up a luxurious lather of royal bubbles in the following aristocratic varieties:
• Nefertiti Honey Showergel
• Chinese Princess Jasmine Showergel
• Queen Isabella Cinnamon Orange Showergel
• Emperor Akbar Mango Showergel
• Sultan of Granada Lemon Flower Showergel

Or try the Kings & Queens Bar Soaps in:
• Kings of Sumatra Pepper Bergamot
• Nefertiti Honey Showergel
• Queen Isabella Cinnamon Orange

All Kings & Queens products are mineral oil-and paraben-free and enriched with “The Royal Mix,” a blend of Pomegranate, Blue Egyptian Lotus and Malachite extracts containing Hazelnut, Grape, Sunflower and Avocado Oils. The purple fruit of Pomegranate, with benefits of Polyphenolic compounds and Vitamin C, has a crown-like top, which is why it is displayed on the coat of arms of many Royal Houses. The flower of the Blue Lotus was the most popular ancient Egyptian symbol of glory and eternal life for gods and mortals alike containing bioflavonoids, such as quercetin and rutin and antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. Malachite was used by Russian Tsars to decorate their palaces to lend extra energy and bring harmony by detoxification the body and healing skin tissue.

The line reflects the true decadence of royals past with an imaginative, modern twist. This fun, irreverent range of beauty products is for fashion, style and design conscious urbanites who are always on the lookout for an affordable statement choice. Get ready like a royal, start the day like a sovereign, make like a monarch.

WHERE TO FIND IT: Select Nordstrom locations

Popularity: 4% [?]

From giving aging, deflated lips a lift to adding sexy va-va-volume, lip plumpers are beauty’s secret weapon of mass seduction. These lip plumpers from Purple Lab, glōminerals and Dr. Kenneth Mark Skin Care will take your lips from average to poutrageous.

New from Purple Lab, Huge Lips, Skinny Hips is a collection of six chic-hued glosses that not only gives lips that extra umph with vitamin B3, but helps keep waistline snug in those skinny jeans with the all natural appetite suppressant hoodia.

MSRP: $20.00

Pucker up to glōminerals newest shades of glōLip plumpers in very cherry and perfect plum. Marine collagen spheres gives lips huge volume that you can “sea”—while lip stimulating capsicum extract and safflower oil soften and condition.

MSRP: $16.00

Forego fillers for this non-invasive treatment. Dr. Kenneth Mark Lip Plumper with Lipoic Acid fills in fine lines and wrinkles around the lips while adding fullness with collagen-inducing palmitoyl-oligopeptide.

MSRP: $62.00

Popularity: 2% [?]

The sun is finally peeking its head out,  and its supposed to be back in the 70′s this weekend. I am really excited for the sun but now its more important to get great sun protection so I can enjoy the weather without damaging my skin or getting a sun burn.

I just found a great sunscreen line from Innovative Skincare. It blends really easily and has a great fresh scent on top of the usual lotion sunscreen their is a really easy to use powder sunscreen which is great for applying over makeup. I used it on a recent beach trip and came back with my skin nourished and tan free a friend used a different product and came home with a nasty sunburn. 

Give yourself the gift of beautiful and healthy skin now and in the future, try some of Innovative Skincare’s great sunscreen products!

SPF 25 TREATMENT SUNSCREEN

The first sunscreen formula to offer complete protection and repair the damage caused by UV exposure. A ground breaking luxurious, daily wear lightweight cream, formulated using the latest micro-encapsulation technology. Also available in individual packets, which are convenient for packing or traveling.

Broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection
Microfine Zinc Oxide (2.94%)
Micro-encapsulated Octinoxate (4.45%)
Centella Asiatica
Pure Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol)
Olive Leaf Extract (Oleuropein)
Pure Aloe Vera.

$33.00 SPF 25 Treatment Sunscreen

SPF 20 Sunscreen Powder (Sun Medium)
$40.00
A tinted version of the SPF 20 Sunscreen Powder, this amazing product gives the face a healthy “tan” glow immediately upon application. The tinted coloration blend is excellent for all skin types and ethnicities, blending easily with your natural skin tone. (Sun Medium)

Innovative Skincare’s Sunscreen Powders are excellent even for the most sensitive skin. This unique formulation is a combination of Micronized Titanium Dioxide and Microfine Transparent Zinc Oxide, which are the two finest “physical” UV blockers. This “natural” daily wear mineral powder applies easily through a retractable brush, without creating a pale look often associated with most forms of Titanium Dioxide. Safe for all ages and skin types, this odorless sunscreen can be applied and reapplied quickly and easily. The SPF Sunscreen Powder is also excellent for post-procedure (light skin peels, microdermabrasion, etc.)

$40.00 SPF 20 Sunscreen Powder

Popularity: 2% [?]