Beat the Heat with Neil Gogoi, Shen's Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Extraordinaire [1784 COMMENTS]

Author: Shen Beauty

No one needs to be told how brutal the heat and humidity have been this summer. Exhibit A: last week’s three consecutive days over 90 degrees. But just because you feel like you’re melting doesn’t mean you have to look it. Shen’s Neil Gogoi shares his top picks to keep you looking cool, protected from the sun, and frizz free. We’ve even got something to keep the bugs away on that up-coming camping trip at the lake. Throw it all in your overnight bag, skip town, and stay fabulous!

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First and foremost, everybody needs a good sunblock to protect their skin. Elta MD’s UV Aero is my top pick. It’s got a high SPF (45) and broad spectrum protection, it’s oil free and water resistant, and it’s the first aerosol sunblock with 10% zinc. Bonus: It sprays at all angles, so it’s great for kids.

I also love Suntegrity’s BB Cream, which is a great 5-in-1 makeup. It’s SPF 30, broad spectrum. It’s great for evening out skin tone while hydrating, and its blending technology means that it looks really natural on your skin.

If you’re looking for a little color on your face, By Terry’s Soleil Terrybly Hydra-Bronzing Tinted Serum provides a gradual sunny glow -- without DHA. It intensifies your skin’s own tanning process while smoothing, hydrating, and lightening dark spots. We don’t know how they do it, but we love it!

For those ultra-humid days that make your hair stand on end, I love using a little Argan oil from Kahina. It’s a wonderful all-purpose oil with great healing properties for the skin, but it’s especially great for calming frizzies.

After you come off the beach, Tangle Teaser is the best all around brush for getting tangles out. It’s super compact, and gentle on hair—no tugging or yanking. I always recommend it for my clients. And it’s great for kids’ knotty hair after they come out of the water.

When you need something more intense than your daily conditioner after the beach, the sun, or whatever, I use Percy and Reed’s Totally TLC Hydrating mask. It’ll bring stressed hair back to life.

Similarly, if your lips are feeling chapped or flaky, grab some of Sara Happ’s sugar lip scrub. It’ll exfoliate and soften your lips.

I also love Ilia for their lip products. They’re all natural and organic, and contain shea butter for soft lips. Even better, their multi sticks are an all in one makeup for lips, cheeks, and eyes. Go straight from the beach to dinner with one makeup item.

And last but not least, summer wouldn’t be complete without bug spray. Skip the DEET and go all natural with Mrs. White’s Unstung Hero—it keeps bugs off with citronella oil and smells like refreshing lemon tea. It’s great for the whole family, including kids over 3.

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Be sure to visit Neil’s site to see some of his amazing work! www.neilgogoi.com

Satisfy Your Sense of Adventure with Scent of Departure [16632 COMMENTS]

Author: Harriet Baskas, NBC News Contributor

New fragrance line offers whiff of a city in a bottle

I smell London, I smell France. And, if I shell out $45 per bottle, I can get a whiff of Miami, Munich, Tokyo and 14 other cities.

A new line of city-centric scents, identified by their airport city codes — CDG (Paris), LHR (London), DXB (Dubai) — and packaged in slender bottles with labels that look like checked baggage tags, are available at some duty free shops in international airports and a few beyond-the-airport-boutiques.

Scent of Departure is advertised as “the essence of a city in a bottle.” Each 50-milliliter bottle (about 1.7 ounces, which means it won't be confiscated by TSA) is collectible, offbeat and wearable by men and women.

“The packaging is great and they each smell like that city in a weird way,” said Jessica Richards, co-owner of Shen Beauty, a boutique cosmetic and beauty shop in Brooklyn. Richards prefers the DPS scent (Bali), a city she’s not yet visited. Tourists are coming in to buy multiple bottles of the NYC fragrance as mementos of their trips, she said. The scent is designed to “recreate a walk in the middle of Central Park” and smell “crisp ... with sparkling and sourish notes of apple,” according promotional materials.

“You’re like, ‘Ew, New York City. What comes to mind are rats and the smell of nuts, hot dog stands and other street meat,” Richards said. “But the NYC scent doesn’t smell like trash at all. In fact, you’d never imagine that New York City smelled that good.”

Scent of Departure isn’t the first company to link scents to a city. “I definitely think of fragrances when I think of a place,” said David Klass, co-owner of Archipelago Botanicals which has an Excursion candles collection bearing the names and evocative scents of destinations such as Havana, Kashmir, Istanbul and Charleston.

“I like the association of the name of the airport with a fragrance,” he said. “I see CDG and I don’t think of just the airport. In my mind I’m in Paris, France. And that evokes very specific meanings in terms of what I will feel like when walking around that city. I think Scent of Departure will be successful, especially if the fragrances are true.”

 

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Original article here.

Scent of Departure available here.

Petal Power: By Terry Huile de Rose [182890 COMMENTS]

Author: The Zoe Report

Despite our tireless efforts, we have yet to pinpoint the fountain of youth’s exact location. That said, occasionally a product comes along that makes us forget we were even looking in the first place. An endlessly luxurious age-fighter worth halting the search for, we can’t get enough of By Terry’s new Huile de Rose Firming-Lift Oil.

Made from the nutrient-rich nectar of roses, this silky blend tightens pores, soothes complexion and works wonders nourishing our needy skin. With an intoxicating scent and a collagen-boosting formula that firms, treat your face to a few drops of featherweight oil twice a day and you’ll be hooked. Need a littlenext-level refreshment? Turn back the clock with petal power!

Availability: http://www.shen-beauty.com/index.php?product=BT-6140007050

Look 1: Big Hair [2320 COMMENTS]

Author: Serge Normant

LOOK 1: Big Hair

with Meta Lush Volumizer & Meta Luxe Hair Spray

Spray Meta Lush Volumizer from root to tips on wet hair.

Blow dry with a round brush middle size giving as much lift to the roots as possible.

Use a one inch barrel curling iron, curl section by section.

Wrap on its base, in an old fashion way.

Once all done, use Meta Luxe Hair Spray especially on roots.

Let it set for a few minutes, unwrap, brush as much as you can.  If hair feels too curly, use the round brush again and soften with blow dryer.

Tease the top where you want the volume to stay and overlap certain sections to give a looser feel to the overall look.

If needed, add Meta Revive Dry Shampoo to add texture, Meta Sheer Dry Oil Finishing Spray for shine and Meta Luxe Hair Spray to secure.

Look 2: Beach Hair [1795 COMMENTS]

Author: Serge Normant

LOOK 2: Beach Hair

with Meta Lush Volumizer, Meta Form Sculpting Pomade

& Meta Sheer Dry Oil Finishing Spray

Spray Meta Lush Volumizer from root to tips.

Create a middle part, pre dry to keep as much natural waves as possible.

Smooth out the top layer and unnecessary frizz.

Using a little Meta Form Sculpting Pomade giving some texture before using a one inch curling iron or smaller if you want a tighter wave, and start randomly giving a natural looking wave.  I always recommend to leave the ends straighter to give a more natural touch.

Finish with a little Meta Sheer Dry Oil Finishing Spray for extra shine.