I have been on the run around Manhattan checking out some great beauty brands–some new and some tried-and-true classics–and I picked out some of my faves in all price ranges that you can snap up in a pinch for Mom!
Twila True is a new luxury brand that reached out to me. The word on the street is that they make super long lasting nail color so I had to check out just how bad as they were. I also tested out their Hand Cream for the full luxe mani experience. They have a wonderful anti-aging face product called True Renewal Oil pictured here that I have also started to use and love. Anyway, my nail lacquer lasted a full six days and my cuticles stayed in good shape. All the products in this line contain a patented ingredient called True Power Complex which includes Plum Seed Oil and Vitamins A, C and E. For more info, go to www.twilatruebeauty.com.
If you have a mom who loves all-natural beauty serums, a new one we recently tried is Dr. Wang’s Herbal Infusion Nourishing Youth Serum. Dr. Wang is a physician who determines if new sunscreen products pass muster for the Food And Drug Administration (that is one of his day gigs) but he has developed his own line of herbal skincare with his dad who is an expert in Chinese medicine. All of his products take very little to work. Put a dime sized drop of this on your face every night and your skin will feel more taut plus be protected from UV rays and pollution. For more info, go to www.drwangskincare.com.
It is no secret that I adore It Cosmetics and when their most recent launch arrived at my doorstep, I went bonkers. It Cosmetics believes in serious coverage which has always been my number 1 priority and they are the first cosmetic company to come out with full coverage BB and CC creams and they have since expanded that to concealers and compact powders and foundations. The Bye Bye line released last fall has been expanding and the products that I just received a couple of weeks ago were Bye Bye Foundation (which has three shades of medium and not only has badass coverage but removes redness and had anti-aging properties), as well as their rockin’ Bye Bye Makeup Towelettes and It Brushes For Ulta’s Airbrush Full Coverage Complexion Brush. I think this is a killer gift set for any foundation and skincare obsessed mom. For more info, go to www.itcosmetics.com.
Caswell-Massey is a fragrance line that dates back over 100 years and confess addiction to their soaps and their Sandalwood Eau De Toilette. I like the way this company has kept their fragrance making methods the same after all these years and the way they grow many of their own herbs and flowers. They have created signature fragrances for royalty and are known for having staying power. One spray of Sandalwood on your wrist and you will notice that is is there a solid 10 or 12 hours. Like many of Casswell Massey fragrances, the Sandalwood EDT is unisex and you will find that a 1.7 ounce bottle will last almost a year with once per day use. If you are not up to paying $80 for a fragrance, I strongly suggest the $15 soaps that match all the different fragrances. The almond soap is their most popular one and I would venture to guess that Caswell Massey was the first ever commercial perfumer to use almond in a soap or fragrance. For more info, go to www.caswellmassey.com.
It goes without saying that everyone is trying to find the ultimate hair removal system where hair stays gone a long time and the process is not painful or expensive. I tried the No!No! Micro and will tell you that it really works. The “magic” is made via a wire conducting painless heat and you simply move the device over your skin. There are three settings and the real name of the magic is Pulsed Thermion Technology. I have felt absolutely no pain in the three weeks that I have used it and the hair on my arms has not returned. You can actually smell the hair burning away. I hear that it takes about 25 minutes to do both legs and they are what I am starting on next–but of course every other part of the body will take a shorter amount of time. You will see five star reviews for the No!No! Micro all over the internet and they are well deserved. I have all sorts of people asking to borrow my No!No! Micro but it’s not going to happen! They will have to invest in their own, LOL! I say that this is a million times better than investing in the expensive hair removal procedures like electrolysis. For more info, go to www.officialnono.com.
I recently started using the Dermawand Brilliance Cosmetic Skin Resurfacing Tool aka Dermabrilliance which is also by ICTV Brands, the makers of No!No! I have to say that it really lives up to its promise of giving you smooth, polished skin via 5,000 oscillations per minute of the resurfacing head and the real diamond resurfacing cream that comes with the kit. Some users also change over to the massaging head and just use the Derma Brilliance for a good facial massage, which is an underpublicized practice for keeping skin taut and less wrinkly. There is also a Deep Pore Cleansing Brush Head (there is a total of three in each kit) which is a blackhead’s biggest enemy. At $70, this slays the more expensive wireless electric skin resurfacing and cleansing products out there today. A full charge takes about 15 or slightly more hours but it keeps your unit charged for a full week. For more info, go to www.dermabrilliance.com.
I am now a veteran of the DermaWand having used it seven or eight months now. It’s strong suit as I have mentioned before in this blog is that it reduces undereye circles very rapidly (you will see results with daily use for two weeks or more) and gives killer brow lifts. If you use a high setting and put the DermaWand right under the arch of the brow for 60 seconds, you will see an immediate lift (you need to do this regularly for it to become a more permanent look). This company has great customer service and I love to go on the official DermaWand Facebook page to see real users’ comments on their results. There are also hundreds of videos on YouTube that are great for learning how to work on a particular area of the face and to compare notes with others (this device also works great on removing lines on hands). They make products to go with the DermaWand now but I have found great success using coconut oil. The DermaWand is well worth the approximate $130 cost and travels well as it weighs less than a half a pound. For more info, go to www.dermawand.com.
I took the above photo in front of a large Beautypress Day display but a lot of moms who love lip color with staying power simply LIVE for LipSense By SeneGence–and have a dresser that is crammed with LipSense just like this! The basic LipSense Liquid Lip Color is applied alone or with LinerSense and then topped with LipSense Gloss for a look that really stays put. That is really an understatement because I can’t think of anything that can remove the color–not even eating something greasy. You can literally put on your lip color in the morning and it stays on for as long as you want it to. SeneGence says in its official press materials that the color lasts from four to 18 hours but I think it is more like 24. You can remove it with coconut oil and a warm washcloth or use their Oops! Remover. This product is sold by independent distributors and for more info, check out www.seneweb.senegence.com.
