Beauty Bites

Jennifer Aniston was the hair catalyst to my love affair with super straight-n-glossy hair. Over the years, her coveted locks have even rivaled her own celebrity status. Bu let’s get things straight, Friends. When it comes to flat irons, not all are created equal. I’ve owned my fair share, so I can say with certainty that recreated celebrity-inspired styles has not always been easy. Some have left my hair quasi-straight while others have left it looking dry and crispy. Luckily, flat irons and their results improved with time.

I was actually pretty content with my current flat iron, until I tried the ghd Limited Edition Silver Metallic 1″ inch Styler. While I was initially impressed with its eye-pleasing sleek shimmering metallic design, I sort of expected it to produce the same results as the one I had already been using for a couple of years. However, the ghd styler had a few stylish surprises in store for me:

• When turned on, the styler alerts you with a little start-up noise.
• It heats up super fast and beeps when ready. We’re talking under 10 seconds.
• Smooth black plates easily glide through hair, preventing snagging.
• It has contoured plates to easily create curls and waves
• Comes with a heat-resistant quilted storage case
• Rotating cord also easy styling
• Automatic sleep mode is activated if it isn’t used for 30 minutes – whew! One less thing to worry about.

Equally impressive were the celebrity-inspired results the light-weight hair tool produced. After having my naturally wavy hair up in a messy top knot, I was shockingly able to easily create straight tresses in minutes. Say what? It’s true. For me, that’s a big deal. My hair is super long and thick hair. So creating super straight hair usually takes a looooong time for me.

These days flat irons works overtime, not only creating sleek styles but waves and curls too. Up until the ghd, I was never really pleased with the curl technique a flat iron produced. I was happy when I was able to create soft bed head curls (a look I love when straightened hair starts to look a little limp and lifeless). Again, in 10 minutes I was able to transform my hair and easily create pretty curls:

• Take a 1-inch section of hair
• Clamp down about mid-length
• Rotate hair upward and around
• Slowly glide the styler downward (every 2-3 seconds)
• Use opposite hand to guide hair by holding the ends

Disclosure: A sample product was gifted from ghd. Opinions expressed here are my own.

Just like Tom Cruise had Renée Zellweger at “hello” in Jerry Maguire, AmorePacific had me at free sample. Friend, this girl l-i-v-e-s for a free sample. It’s the best way to date a product before you commit. A girl can act buy impulsively when the item is price tag friendly, but when it comes to shelling out the serious cash, I want to know a product and I are compatible before I profess my undying love. It’s so easy to fall head over heels for a beauty product that comes in a pretty package, but as the saying goes “it’s what’s on the inside that counts.” I’m sure many of us have gotten swept away in the moment and purchased something that we later very much regretted. That’s what’s so great about a free sample. You take it home. You try it for awhile and then you make a decision. No strings attached.

  I was absolutely delighted when I received a sample of AmorePacific Future Response Age Defense Creme, a cream that protects skin against pollution and free radicals, and also restores and reduces skin inflammation for younger-looking, healthy skin. From the moment we met, we had beauty chemistry. It’s golden-coral container was beautiful and its contents were equally lovely. The rich whipped cream and its pleasing perfumed scent felt completely luxurious from the moment I put it on my skin. The beautiful glow that it gave my skin (so noticeable that it caused a few people to inquire about what I was using) was just the sign I needed to know that AmorePacific and I were M.F.E.O. Needless to say, I said “I do” to a full size jar.

Available : Sephora    Nordstrom

Behold Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Intensive Exfoliating Treatment. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. It’s a skincare cult classic loved by celebrities and even this mere mortal. Unlike Lauren Conrad, I can’t afford to get my skin pampered at Kate’s spa clinic. Oh trust, I would. I’m not a hater, but my wallet is.

That doesn’t mean I don’t want the star skin treatment. So I decided to splurge on this much talked about product – it was worth it. The at-home facial treatment is Kate’s signature formula that works both physically and enzymatically to remove dead skin cells and bacteria with the goodness of fruit enzymes.

Why will you love it too? Because it’s effective and fast. If you want to clean out pores, help combat acne and blackheads, or replace the look of dull skin with a fresh, glowing complexion – this is for you. Plus, you only need 2 minutes for it to work it’s magic.

Although this product is not recommended for those with sensitive skin, I use it. And my skin can be quite finicky. It has a green goblin color, teeny-tiny exfoliating beads, and smells and tingles like a red hot candy. Weird, but surprisingly good, especially on cold days. I use it once or twice a week. Sometimes all-over and other times I just concentrate on my T-zone. I like to use it the shower (after cleansing my face) and let it do it’s thing while I’m washing my hair with WEN. My skin feels refreshed and looks renewed afterwards. Free of clogged pores. My skin will be slightly pink for a few minutes but that quickly fades.

This product is available in three sizes – 0.5, 2.0, 5.0.

Available at Sephora, Nordstrom, SkinStore

 Let me guess what you’re thinking: It’s a showerhead – big whoop. And you’d be right, minus the sarcasm, sassypants. I received the  T3 Source Showerhead as a gift during Christmas, and I must confess that it’s the gift that keeps on giving and keeps me singin’ fa-la-la-la in the shower.

Why do love it? Or better yet, why should you want it? Because besides featuring eight different spray settings (hello, at home spa), it also filters out that nasty chlorine that makes hair look dull and frizzy. Since I started using it, it has dramatically reduced my frizz, made my hair noticeably shiner and softer, and has helped me retain my salon hair color. Beauty snaps. Did I mention my skins lovin’ it too? Cause it is. My skin was incredibly soft after just the first use. I sort of refuse to wash my face at the sink now, instead preferring to keep things fresh and so clean-clean in the shower.

I don’t want to be dramatic or anything, but it has changed my life – at least in beauty grooming department. This showerhead along with my WEN is keeping my locks looking hair commercial pretty.

Available at Sephora

I don’t know about you, but I prefer my clothes to sparkle and my skin to shimmer. When it comes to makeup sparkle can seem a little desperate, while a tiny bit of of shimmer is pretty perfection. Although a shimmer is flattering any time of the year, I find that it’s more of a beauty necessity during this time of season when every girl wants to look like a beautiful Victoria Secret model under the twinkling lights of holiday parties.

My fave shimmer? NARS Illuminator in Copacabana. The glistening pearl color is makeup magic. The light-reflecting liquid creates a lovely shimmering incandescence to one’s skin. I use it on the upper part of my cheekbones to create that coveted Victoria Secret model look, and I also use it to highlight the tops of my shoulders and my collarbone. A little goes a very long way, so it lasts forever – wallet score. I need only about a dime-size for my cheekbones, collarbone, and shoulders. NARS Illuminator is available in other covet-worthy shades that are ideal for spring and summer, but Copacabana is the most universal. You can use it year round.