Tips + BeautyBlender = Perfect face

Seen a funny looking pink tear-dropped shaped sponge in the magazines, on TV, in your friend's makeup bag? It's a Beautyblender! Learn the myriad uses and get your own:

Celebrity makeup artist and Beautyblender founder Rea Ann Silva provides her blending tips and tricks that will leave you looking flawless!

Cover Up Dark Circles and Blemishes

Apply your favorite concealer to Beautyblender. Use the pointed side and the “stipple and twist” technique to work makeup into depressed areas of the face. The stippling and twisting actions feathers out the makeup’s edges, blending it with

out creating changes in the texture or tone of your skin, leaving a perfect finish. The pointed side is particularly great for hard-to-reach spots like around the nose and mouth, and under the eyes.

Ditch the Cakey Foundation Look

Use the round base for foundation on the larger areas of your face such as your forehead, cheeks and chin. It leaves just the right amount on the skin and will leave an airbrushed finish. Be sure to blend makeup all over, including the eye area, starting in the middle and working your way out.

Add Some Color to Get Your Glow On

Instantly brighten your skin with bronzer and blush. Use the round base and apply bronzer to the apples of your cheeks followed by blush. A fast way to find the apples of your cheeks is to smile. Be sure to blend the color up toward your temples. You can even add a highlighter to your cheek bones to really accentuate them and give a glow. Start at the inner corner of the eye, blend it over the brow bone and onto your cheekbone – then do the other side. Finish by blending a little down the bridge of your nose, chin and above the middle of your lips.

Make Your Eyes Pop

Using the pointed side of Beautyblender, apply eyeshadow in your creases and blend it down over the lids avoiding the brow bones. By using the Beautyblender, there won’t be any harsh lines or stripes of color. Instead, it will look blended and effortless. For more definition, rim your upper lashes with a liner pencil and smudge it upward with the pointed side. To get an extra bright-eyed effect, use the tip of the pointed end and dot shimmery eyeshadow onto the inner corners of your eyes. Celebs use this trick on the red carpet all the time!

Add Some Strategic Shimmer

Blend some shimmer on the top of your decolletage in a capital T shape. For an even bigger boost, blend bronzer with the round base of Beautyblender around the inside of each breast to enhance your cleavage. This little beauty magic trick works wonders!

Get your own Beautyblender at major retailers nationwide including Duane Reade, Look Boutique, CO Bigelow, Henri Bendel, Beauty.com and online at www.beautyblender.net

Protect Your Skin This Summer from the Most Extreme Elements

Thanks to Mother Nature, keeping our skin healthy during the summer months can be quite the challenge. Every day we face all forms of external aggressors that contribute to the signs of aging, skin damage, and even skin cancer. Celebrity esthetician and owner of LaBelle Day Spas & Salons, Bella Schneider, gives us her inside tips on shielding ourselves from the most severe skin damaging elements.

Environmental Pollution

Bella tells us, “Our bodies naturally produce free radicals when exposed to toxins like cigarette smoke, pesticides, and pollution. These free radicals are known to trigger aging, tissue damage, as well as cancer.” To counter the effects of free radicals, Bella recommends using a daily moisturizer that contains antioxidants.Antioxidants counteract free radicals by giving one of their own electrons, ending the electron "robbing" reaction. Because of this, antioxidants are known for being actively involved in the prevention of cellular damage.

Wind Burn

Windburn is typically caused when the top layer of skin is stripped of its natural oils, causing a red, chapped surface. Ideally this happens when we forget to cover or protect our skin during those summer days near the water, while exercising, or simply just enjoying a beautiful day in the sun. Bella tells us the best way to prevent wind burn is to cover your skin by using a scarf or floppy hat while also using a thick moisturizer to add a barrier between your skin and an aggressive breeze.

Sunburn

Sun damage is the leading cause of aging and skin cancer, and we are told time and time again that using sunscreen will ultimately prevent from exposing ourselves to harmful UVB and UVA rays. Bella tells her clients to make sure their sunscreen has a few different components including: SPF 45+, water-resistance, and antioxidants. All three essentials will provide you with the ultimate protection on the harshest summer days.

Lash Galore and tips from BeautyAddicts

Loving BeautyAddicts Lash Galore! Not super heavy, but defines and lengthens lashes. Goes on smoothly and wears very well!

Some quick and easy mascara how-tos from the BeautyAddicts pros:

- Contrary to popular belief, an eyelash curler is not necessary to achieve desirable

lashes and wide-open eyes. Instead, when you

brush your lashes up and get to the tips, roll the wand backwards. This will grab the lashes and effortlessly curl them.

- If you don’t like a lot of mascara on your bottom lashes, here’s another great eye-opener trick. Take your eyeliner brush and run it lightly across the LashGALORE wand. Lightly comb it on your bottom lashes to get just the perfect hint of color and definition!

- Mascara works at its best about 3-6 months once opened. Preservatives in mascara only work for so long, plus old mascara is a nonperformer. Be sure to keep track of its life span and purchase a new one once its shelf life has expired.

BOOMing Brows: Spring/Summer 2011 Brows are Big and Bold

January, 2011 (New York, NY) – Spring/Summer 2011 brows are big and bold – those who couldn’t pull it off last season, now have a chance! Boom Boom, owner of Boom Boom Brow Bar, offers tips for BOOMing, bold brows. YES, YES, YES!

“Big bold brows are always my fav – loved that Vera Wang used them in her spring show and I love seeing the smart cookies like Katy Perry, Natalie Portman and Lea Michele going bold,” explains Boom Boom who hinges the fate of big bold brows on four factors: color, length, width and arch.

Color: Go a little bolder (but not too dark, cookie) – tinting is a great option (match color to skin and hair undertones) and using a brow powder on a daily basis is great for adding definition and boldness. Try Boom Boom Brow Boostiers brow powders ($18.00 per jar: each comes with a brush. Colors: Aretha, Tina, Bette and Dolly).

Length: The space between brows should be equal to or a little wider than eyes. Take a long eye shadow brush or pencil and hold it parallel to the side of the nose. Where the brush meets the brow is where brows should begin. Extend the brush diagonally from nostril, following the outside edge of the eye toward the brow, where the inside edge of the brush hits is where brow should end.

Width: Work with natural width, just clean up strays along the top and bottom. If the damage has already been done and brows are too thin, apply castor oil to brows every night to help speed up the growth process - it’s one of the active ingredients in most brow and lash products. A brow gel can also help set and hold brows to make them look fuller. Try Boom Boom Brow-ssiere brow gel ($14.00).

Arch: Hold a brush parallel to the outside edge of the colored part of the eye (the iris). Where the brush meets the brow is where the highest part of the brow should be. To define the arch, use Boom Boom Push-Up brow highlighting pencil’s ($16.00) matte concealer side on the brow bone to create the illusion of lift.

Go bold with Boom Boom, you only live once! Boom Boom Brow Bar: 35 7th Avenue, The Big Apple: 212-229-2666. www.boomboombrowbar.com Boom Boom would never test on animals!

Dr. Sadick says...

Magazines are great for beauty advice/info, but I still have questions.

Three of my most pressing, often unanswered beauty questions:

1. What are the best Beauty products and treatments for the changing seasons?

2. What are the hottest new skincare ingredients and why?

3. Drinkable beauty products- which ones really work?

Dr. Sadick supplies answers:

1. Reservatol - Current research into resveratrol benefits points to resveratrol having amazing anti-aging properties, hence dubbed "The Fountain of Youth." In several medical arenas it is agreed that resveratrol provides many key health benefits for the people who include proper quantities of it in their diets. Additional resveratrol benefits include cancer fighting and weight loss. Also, it is believed that resveratrol works as an effective anti-aging ingredient. This is because resveratrol is thought to stimulate the SIRT1 gene. This gene is the one responsible for reducing fat stores during low calorie diets. However, stimulation of this gene also seems to help slow down the aging process.

2. Coffee Berry-TNS Hyperpigmentation System™ by SkinMedica

This system was created specifically to improve visable signs of aging-hyperpigmentation, sundamage, fine lines, wrinkles and sallowness. Get glowing, firm and youthful skin without any downtime, redness or peeling.

REVALE'SKIN
Science meets nature in the first and only anti-aging skin care line formulated with CoffeeBerry™. Grown in lush tropical regions CoffeeBerry is harvested and processed at peak antioxidant concentration. CoffeeBerry™ is the key ingredient in the REVALE'SKIN line and the most potent natural antioxidant available in skin care today. Scientific testing shows that CoffeeBerry™ has a higher antioxidant capacity than green tea, pomegranate and vitamins C and E.
CoffeeBerry topical antioxidant can:
* Rejuvenate skin damaged by daily exposure to free radicals-mollecules that cause an acceleration of the breakdown of collagen, which contributes to premature aging.
*Protect the skin against everyday environmental damage, such as sun, wind and temperature.
*Help reverse the signs of aging.

3. Niacinamide is a key ingredient in every Olay Pro-X product (Wrinkle Smoothing Cream, Deep Wrinkle Treatment, Age Repair Lotion SPF 30, Hydra Firming Cream, Eye Restoration Complex, and Discoloration Fighting Concentrate).

4. Nicotinamide - another B vitamin that has recently entered the skin care field. Although most studies of this vitamin have focused on the anti-inflammatory effects and in acne treatment, one possible role for nicotinamide as a potential anti-aging ingredient is in the biosynthesis of ceramides and other stratum corneum lipids. Unlike several other B Vitamin ingredients, there is a great deal of research that supports the use of topical niacinamide. Studies have shown its usefulness in increasing synthesis of collagen and lipids, inhibiting the transfer of melanosomes (this will treat hyperpigmentation), and decreasing inflammation. It may even play a role in preventing skin cancer. Niacinamide and niacin are not synthesized in the human body and therefore must be supplied externally, either through the diet or through topical application. Nicotinamide is another B vitamin that has recently entered the skin care field. Although most studies of this vitamin have focused on the anti-inflammatory effects and in acne treatment, one possible role for nicotinamide as a potential anti-aging ingredient is in the biosynthesis of ceramides and other stratum corneum lipids. Unlike several other B Vitamin ingredients, there is a great deal of research that supports the use of topical niacinamide. Studies have shown its usefulness in increasing synthesis of collagen and lipids, inhibiting the transfer of melanosomes (this will treat hyperpigmentation), and decreasing inflammation. It may even play a role in preventing skin cancer. Niacinamide and niacin are not synthesized in the human body and therefore must be supplied externally, either through the diet or through topical application.

5. PSP- Formulated with PSP®, the most complete protein blend of Human Growth Factors, Cytokines and Interleukins available to rejuvenate and soothe skin.

6. Shinso – drinkable Jap. Powder

Shinso Kazu is a dietary supplement that optimizes the body's health from skin to core. Starting at the cellular level, Shinso Kazu employs SOD, superoxide dismutase, to activate the body's production of its own naturally occurring enzymes to neutralize age-accelerating free radicals. Kazu also supplies your body with essential vitamins (vitamins B2, C, A, K and E) and minerals (iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, copper, and zinc).

Many thanks to Dr. Sadick and the great Jeanette Zinno!

When self tanners go bad...

Dr. Schultz’s Tip of the Week: How to Fix a Botched Self Tan

If you use self tanners to get your tan, I applaud your good judgment (it's the only safe tan!) But if on occasion it turns out less than perfect, don't worry; it can easily be fixed. Whether it's streaky, uneven or just too dark, daily exfoliation with a chemical exfoliant (glycolic is best) will do the trick. And if you already use a chemical exfoliant daily, then for a few days either consider using it twice a day or using a stronger strength once daily. However, don't use physical exfoliants (scrubs, microdermabraision), because they are more difficult to use evenly.