Sothys New Youth Serums

New for the summer, la Maison Sothys, Paris has a set of 6 new Youth Serums.  They’re called Youth Serums because they’re made especially to combat signs of aging.

The serums are:

Wrinkle-Specific: Helps visibly fill existing wrinkles, smooth the skin surface and limit signs of ageing.

Detoxifying anti-free radical: Protect the skin against free radicals and optimise cell renewal.

Reconstructive: Envelopes the skin and intensely nourishes it, bringing greater density and vitality and improving all the signs of ageing.

Firming-Specific: Helps to limit skin slackening to tone, firm and visibly lift the features.

Unifying: Helps to reduce the appearance of colour imperfections and all types of pores, and to visibly smooth wrinkles on the skin surface.

Perfect Shape: To reshapes and protects the facial contours, and smoothes the décolleté.

I have the Detoxifying and Reconstructing Serums – chosen for me so that I could have a serum with antioxidants, and one that could intensely nourish and hydrate my skin. Sothys says that it’s best to use the serums with their moisturizers, and that may be the case for people with dry skin, but I find it more useful to use them on their own because my skin tends to be so oily.

The serums are light and fresh – they absorb into your skin and work well with makeup and susncreen.

The Detoxifying Serum have dandelion, green tea, and prickly pear extracts and a more glowy texture for refreshed skin.  It has more of a gel-serum texture and is super light on skin.

The Reconstructing Serum has hyaluronic acid, Ellagic acid, and omegas 3,6,9  to nourish and plump skin.  It looks and feels like a lotion and feels more moisturizing.

The serums can also be used together, of course, to gain multiple benefits.

All the serums actually have different ingredients to help the skin in different ways. The best thing to do is to head to a Sothys salon to find out which serum is the best for your own skin type.

$132.50 at Sothys Institutes and spas across the country.

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Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream

Summer moisturizer has to be just so – it needs to be light enough to work under sunscreen and makeup, but heavy enough to actually be able to take care of dry skin.

The light summery gels is what I’ve been turning to lately, but when I need something that’s a bit more heavy duty, I’ve been turning to this cream.  It’s heavier than a gel, but it still absorbs into skin super quickly and relieves any dryness.  Let it sink in – and it will – and then go ahead with face oils, sunscreen, or foundation.  There’s no greasiness or pilling, but just nice smooth skin that doesn’t have any more dryness.
Like the rest of Fresh’s Youth Preserve line, it smells like fresh cut cucumbers which makes it refreshing to use.
Available at Sephora in 2 sizes: $20 for 15mL or $56 for 50mL.
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AERIN ROSE COLOGNE COLLECTION

I’ve been a huge fan of the Aerin brand for a whle now – I love the simplicity of her concepts and the entire obsession with florals in all things really speaks to me.  The gold packaging is classic and chic, and missed in a time when so much is black and very trendy.

The latest launch from the brand is a Rose Cologne Collection, feature the beautiful scent of roses in three different incarnations.  Obviously, if you’re not a Rose fan, then this isn’t for you, but I’ve loved the smell of roses since I was a little girl and saw my mom and grandma cultivate various varieties in their own gardens.
There are three scents in the Rose Cologne Collection: Garden Rose, Linen Rose, and Bamboo Rose.  The collection is available in huge bottles of cologne, meant to be spritzed generously because it’s so light, but the collection also includes rollerballs, and tinted lip conditioners in three shades.
I have the Garden Rose cologne, which is abright sunny floral that’s got a hint of amber which makes it a little sweet, and a powdery musk that grounds it.  The scent really reminds me of Stella McCartney’s Stella perfume, which I wore for many many years because of its rose heart, but this is more light, fleeting, because it’s a cologne.  I can’t wear it as a body mist or excessively because I’m just not that kind of perfume wearer, but I like this sprayed lightly on clothes to refresh or on hair where it’s less likely to warm up the way that it would on my body.
The big bottles of the Eau de Cologne are $215, Lip Conditioners are $34, and Rollerballs are $36.

 

 

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New, Nars Orgasm Collection

Nars has just dropped their new Orgasm collection.  It’s in celebration of the iconic brush which is a golden coral colour that works well on almost every skin tone.  The original blush is now in limited edition packaging but the shimmery colour inside is exactly the same ($38).

This collection also introduces us to a liquid blush ($38) (available in 4 colours, including the original Orgasm) and a satin lipstick in the Orgasm colour ($35).  It’s a frosty golden coral hue that gives a look which verges on the metallic lip trend that’s so in right now.
The liquid blush is so pretty.  It comes with a wand that lets you tap a tiny amount of blush on to your cheeks.  Blend quickly with your fingers or with a sponge and it sets to a matte finish that lasts all day.
Truthfully, the colour Orgasm is very shimmery for me in all its incarnations, and the liquid blush also comes in Torrid (warm coral with golden shimmer), Luster (sheer golden apricot), and Dolce Vita (matte dusty rose), so if you’re like me and prefer blush to be matte, then go for the Dolce Vita.
Available this June.
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A Great Sunscreen That’s Now SPF 50!

Last year, I wrote about Coppertone’s Clearly Sheer sunscreen, which goes on completely clear, and even has a matte feel to it, making sure that your skin isn’t greasy after you apply it. 

This year, Clearly Sheer sunscreen is available in SPF 50, in face, body, and spray formulations.  Truly, the face and body formulas feel the same, and if you’re packing and need to cut down on how much product you have, I’d just back the body one and use it all over.  The face bottle is nice and small and good to have on your vanity, but I love the body one and it works just as well!

Available at drugstores everywhere or online.

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Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Lip Booster

I feel like when some brands come out with a lip balm, they can’t just call it a lip balm, because that’s just… not interesting enough.

That’s definitely the case with Make Up For Ever’s Ultra HD Lip Booster.  This gel-gloss  hydrates and preps lips for more makeup.  You can put it on while you do the rest of your makeup and then wipe it off, or just wear it with regular lip balm.

I like the tinted version of this: it’s a light pink but because my lips are already pretty dark, it doesn’t really show up but does even things out. It’s totally not sticky and just slowly absorbs into your lips so it keeps everything nice and smooth.

Available at Sephora for $29.

 

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How to Smell Really Really Good

Warning: if you have any kind of scent allergy or you’re sensitive to scents, then maybe this post isn’t for you because it’s all about products that smell really good – if a little on the strong side.  They’re great at getting rid of smells that are distasteful, and they stick around for a while so that you actually smell good.

First up, Avalon Organics skin and hair products. I have the Peppermint Glycerin Liquid Hand Soap ($7.99), which my kids love because it smells like candy canes to them, the lavender hand and body lotion ($11.99), but the most useful product of all is the Lemon Clarifying Shampoo ($9.99).  It really does smell like lemon peel, and it totally makes your hair smell fresh and clean.  It washes away any residue, grease or product, and the natural lemon oil is actually good at doing this.  The shampoo is made with coconut and palm kernel cleansers, so it really works to gently yet effectively clean your hair.

Second is Province Apothecary’s Boreal Forest Soap ($14), which smells so good that I couldn’t let go of it.  It’s also in a super moisturizing base so that it feels slippery on the skin and doesn’t dry it out.  The scent is a blend of woody oils – cedar and balsam – and it smells fresh but not too masculine either.

Pick up these amazing-smelling products at your local natural food or beauty store.

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New Vichy Normaderm Skin Balance

Wearing makeup in the sun is a pain – there’s always sunscreen to layer with it, and on top of that it seems that skin usually gets oilier, especially in the presence of humidity and heat.  With that can come breakouts which make layering any kind of face makeup on top a real pain.

Now, there’s the Vichy Normaderm Skin Balance gel that can help you with that.

The entire Vichy Normaderm system is formulated with acne-prone skin in mind.  It cleans, moisturizes, mattifies, and treats skin so that it’s less prone to break outs. The collection includes two different cleansers, a matte treatment moisturizer, a toner, mask, BB Creams,  and a matte gel, both of which hydrate skin but keep it mostly matte and prepped for sunscreen or makeup.

The products are great for using day or night, and I actually like using them at night time because that’s when I really like using any kind of treatment products on my skin.  My skin is at rest and the active ingredients can do their job without anything else getting in the way.  The active ingredient in the treatment products is salicylic acid which helps prevent acne by cutting through the oil inside your pores.  That way it doesn’t have a chance to clog pores and cause breakouts.

Skin Balance is a gel that’s gives an instant matte look to your face, like your favourite primer, but without feeling slick or greasy because there are no silicones in it.  It feels fresh and matte and really preps your skin for foundation.  I use this in the morning after sunscreen and before foundation.  That way the sunscreen stays on my skin, and this just glides on top making everything nice and matte before I go in with my foundation – which also happens to be Vichy’s Teint Ideal Fluid Foundation right now.

You can pick up Vichy Normaderm Skin Balance online or in drugstores. $19.95.

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New Vita Liberata 10 Minute Tan

I love self-tanner in the summer time.  I don’t bother with it in the winter, but when the weather is warmer, a tan just is a little more forgiving.  It makes everything look toned and skin imperfections just seem to be less obvious.

A great way to apply self-tanner is to use one that is tinted, but the problem ends up being that the tint can rub off on your clothes (even when it’s not supposed to).

Now, Vita Liberata has a tanner that you wash off, but it still keeps working. They call it 10 Minute Tan, because it’s a tinted gel that you leave on for just 10 minutes and then wash off, but the tanner still takes 5-6 hours to develop just like a regular self-tanning product.  The only difference is that since you’ve already washed if off, you don’t have to worry about the tint coming off on your clothes and looking super obvious.  That said, the tint has already done its job of helping you see where you’ve applied your self-tanner so that you can apply it evenly. 

The instructions say to leave it on for 10 minutes for a light tan, and for 15-20 minutes for a darker tan.  I’ve tried both, and I definitely like the effect after 20 minutes a bit better.  The tan is just a little nicer and still not too dark.

Just like regular tanner, the self-tan lasts about 5 days depending on how often you shower, exfoliate, or how long you tend to spend in the water.  It tends to come off on me after one or two swims, so that’s not very long.  I do find that the results are best if you exfoliate on a regular basis and reapply right afterwards – even up to twice or three times a week.

I have to admit that waiting the 10 or 20 minutes while the tan sets can be a little annoying, but the effect is so good, that I’m not complaining.  I apply it with a mitt, and the gel just sets perfectly.  I spend the rest of the time reading, or putting a mask on.  I put leftover tanner on my face, my feet, and on the back of my hands.  The mitt is awesome because it doesn’t make your palms orange, which has happened to me all too often.  Because this develops slowly over time, there’s little to no self-tanner smell.  I could detect it now and then but not too often.  And I actually like the scent of self-tanner, so this wasn’t a bother to me.

Pick this up at Sephora stores.  $49.

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Nivea 2-in-1 Moisturizing Primer

For the last little while, Nivea Men’s Aftershave has been a cult product that women have used as primer for their foundation.  Apparently, it absorbed easily and left skin matte and ready for foundation.  Because it was made for men, it was moisturizing but with a finish that was impossible to see in the mirror.

Now, Nivea has come out with two versions of the same moisturizer for women.  They’ve tweaked the formula, so it’s not the same as the aftershave, but the concept is the same.  It’s a moisturizer that absorbs exceptionally quickly and leaves skin smooth and matte, just like an aftershave.

 It’s Nivea’s new 2-in-1 Moisturizing Primer ($10.95).  In case you’re wondering, the 2-in-1 part means that it moisturizes and primes.  This primer smells nice and fresh, and a light layer absorbs into your skin almost instantly leaving behind matte skin that’s ready for foundation.  There are two versions available – one for sensitive skin, and another for normal.  I’ve got the one for normal skin and it truly is very light.  It’s not going to result in more oiliness nor cause any greasiness, ensuring that your skin will look fresh longer.

Available at drugstores and mass retailers for $10.95.

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