Skin Tight Toning Serum: Shrink Wrap For Your Arms

I have been a Personal Shopper for quite a number of years, and have listened with compassion, to all the womanly woes that drive clients to distraction about their perceived body flaws.

A beautifully cut dress or jacket can camouflage a multitude of sins, like a thick waist or a bit of tummy bulge, which is a blessing.  Designers, however, also have a penchant for dresses without sleeves.I get it... I do.  Stick a sleeve on a chic sheath and all you are missing is a string of gumball pearls to complete your ensemble Mrs. Bush .  Sleeveless is both tidy and timeless.  But what happens when time takes its toll on the delicate upper arm area??? Generally, a cardigan. Any other options???  Yes.

The Weekly Beauty Round Up

The summer is flittering away, so I am trying to cram as much fun as possible into every light filled minute...how about you???  Sometimes, you need a "Tornado Watch", like the one in my area tonight...I will catch up with our group's favorite picks for our Weekend Beauty Round Up as well as my absolute fave lifestyle blog Quintessence.  I think it may be Mother Nature's way of telling me to slow down a bit.  I hope you will enjoy it too.

Gouldylox Reviews shares with us her at-home foot smoothing find with Emjoi Micro Pedi. Perfect for summer sandal season.

BeautyXposé finds the latest jewelry trend while vacationing in Miami and brings the rose gold pieces home to rave reviews.

101 Ways to Clean with the Kiss My Face Peace Soap

I loved when my cyber worlds collide!  I received two inquiries from DivaDebbi subscribers today, requesting more reviews on "green" products as well as an unprompted conversation about the same, with my friend and colleague Linda Levy.  YES...the skin is the largest organ in our body and I should be more mindful about what I am slathering all over it.  About 60% of what I blog about, is sampled to me and I guess I just have not been on too many peoples "green" radar.  Then, lo and behold, a clever, eye opener from Kiss My Face arrived in my inbox, explaining the multitude of virtues for the use of Kiss My Face Peace Soap.  I rarely do verbatim and almost always sample first, but this time, I am making an exception for Liz, Lisa and Linda and the rest of my readers who may enjoy this with notes on my faves:

What do hardwood floors, soft skin and camping all have in common?  Kiss My Face Peace Soap!  This 100% natural castile soap offers 101 unbeatable uses (yes, 101!) from your body to the outdoors, making your cleaning dreams come true.  For starters:  1.  Daily hand wash  2. Manicure treatment 

        

3.       Foot Soak

4.       Bubble Bath

5.       Shower

6.       Basic Shampoo

7.       Shave

8.       Baby

9.       Teeth 

10.    Dishes

11.    Fruit/veggie wash (brilliant)

12.    Countertops

13.    Detailing appliances

14.    Ceramic servers 

15.    Pots

16.    Stove top

17.    Pans

18.    Vent hood (potentially genius)

19.    Sink

20.    Medicine Kit

21.    Delicate Porcelain

22.    Christmas Ornaments

23.    Glass Vases (would love to find something to leave them muckless)

24.    Window Treatments

25.    Desk Drawers (excellent)

26.    Home Entertainment Systems

27.    Floor boards

28.    Floor Mats

29.    Chandeliers

30.    Copper Cleaner (really)?

31.    Antique furniture

32.    Fine China

33.    Place mats

34.    Silverware

35.    Tile

36.    Grout cleaner

37.    Household phones

38.    Ceiling Fans

39.    Air Filters

40.    Baseboards

41.    Staircases

42.    Picture frames

43.    Hardcover books (good to know)

44.    Shower curtains

45.    Bathtub

46.    Mirror

47.    Bath facets and fixtures

48.    Cabinet Fronts

49.    Walls

50.    Doors

51.    Light switches

52.    Wicker furniture

53.    Vinyl Mattress

54.    Cribs

55.    Playpens

56.    Lingerie (good)

57.    Cashmere (better)

58.    Daily Laundry (in a pinch, thanks yes)

59.    Outerwear

60.    Mittens, Hats and Scarves

61.    Spot treating stains

62.    Diapers (no, Thank GOD)!

63.    Hand washables

64.    Jewelry (me likey)

65.    Baby Toys and Rattles

66.    Plush Animals

67.    Camping Essential 

68.    Gentle leather cleaner

69.    Wellingtons

70.    Exterior of boat/yacht

71.    Interior of boat/yacht

72.    Algae removal

73.    Giving your pets a bath

74.    Pet Cages

75.    Pet’s Toys

76.    Riding Tack 

77.    Car Detailing

78.    Patio Furniture

79.    Inflatable Pool Rafts

80.    Outdoor Umbrellas

81.    Beach Toys

82.    Lawn furniture

83.    Wool Sweaters

84.    Sex Toys (I like how they snuck this in)!

85.    Ice Hockey helmet

86.    Retainer

87.    SCUBA gear (not on your life)

88.    Children’s play set cleaner

89.    Athletic mouth guards

90.    Instrument Mouth Pieces

91.    Deck

92.    Plant Insecticide

93.    Garden Tools

94.    Travel Kit

95.    Luggage exterior and interior (good idea)

96.    Travel Mugs (Do they get stinky or what)???

97.    Lunchbox cleaner

98.    Re-usable plastic grocery  bags

99.    Laminated surfaces

100.Make-up bags (uh yeah)!!!

101.Yoga mats

This castile soap is a safe and gentle alternative to traditional soaps that often contain harsh ingredients.  Formulated with minimal natural ingredients including olive, coconut and jojoba oils, the soap is biodegradable and environmentally friendly and good for cleaning just about anything. 

Peace Soap is available in the following natural scents:

• Grassy Mint  (this is what I'm sampling)
• Lemongrass Clary Sage
• Lavender Mandarin
• Pomegranate Acai

Peace Soap is free of parabens, phthalates, and animal ingredients and was not tested on animals.  The packaging features peace written in languages from around the world and is made from 50% recycled plastic.

Peace Soap is available for $9.99 (17 oz) and $14.99 (34 oz) at Whole Foods Market and KissMyFace.com.

Here's to the beginning of a new chapter, if y'all are interested in my including more green,  let me know!!!

xox,

DD

Stop and Shop: Supermarket Beauty

The heat was so oppressive this past weekend, that I did something I have never done before: shop for beauty products in the supermarket.  Somehow I couldn't muster the energy for a Sephora or CVS run and I was desperate.

Quite surprisingly, because this was a super Stop & Shop, the offerings were much more substantial than the one I usually go to, ( 8 tidy aisles that I could shop blindfolded), but where I once spied a Coty lipstick from the 50's.  I needed two things: a gel formula eyeliner pencil and some type of oil or serum to calm the triangular puff that had become my head.  After the amount of time it might take baby to take his first steps, it was finally time to bid adieu to my pot of  Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Eyeliner Gel, so I parked my cart and perused the offerings...

Spot Remover: Lumixyl is a Clear Winner

One of the unexpected displeasure's that sometimes result from professional attempts to remove ages spots is "post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation".  What exactly does this mean???  In a nutshell, your treatment backfired and your worse off than when you started....big SIGH.  Ya.  That's what happened to me.

The Weekly Beauty Round Up

It appears to be the perfect weekend to hole up indoors in air-conditioned comfort (or at water's edge) and read blogs! Here's our weekly beauty roundup to tempt you.


Café Makeup had high praise for Burberry's new Fresh Glow Luminous Fluid Base, calling it a “best in class” primer.

Best Things in Beauty offered a sneak peek at Chanel's Aquillaries de Chanel Collection.

Beauty Tips to Beat the Heat; Not Your Budget

I received this timely email, from my clever P.R. contact Courtney at Tractenberg yesterday.  It all made perfect sense to me.  I would make a small investment in a few beauty heat beaters that wouldn't break the bank, wouldn't you?  I felt compelled to share:

If this week’s heat and humidity feel extreme even for summer, you’re not imagining things—more than two-dozen states are currently trapped under a heat “dome,” blanketing 141 million Americans from the Plains states to the East Coast in scorching heat. With the powerful heat-mass moving east and no end to soaring temperatures in sight, it’s time to stock your beauty arsenal with products that can take the heat. From proven frizz-fighters to makeup that stays put, these summer musts keep you looking cool in spite of the weather—and all for under $25:

TIP: Increased humidity in the air can cause frizz-prone hair to go haywire. Beat the summer heat with a silicon-based product specifically designed to control frizz.

John Frieda Frizz-Ease Hair Serum Original Formula
· Developed to repel humidity to prevent weather-related frizz, this serum instantly and dramatically takes hair from dry and frizzy to smooth and glossy hair. Formulated with Seaweed Extract to promote smoothing while a blend of silicones immediately smoothes texture while delivering a layer of clear gloss for frizz-resistant styles. With continued use, this formula helps to prevent future frizz from forming. Apply to soaking wet hair and style as usual.
· Price: $9.99 Where to buy: drugstores nationwide

TIP: Opt for a long-wear foundation specifically designed to provide round-the-clock sweat-proof coverage.

Avon Extra Lasting Liquid Foundation

· Get flawless, natural coverage for 18 hours with this long wearing liquid foundation. Pigments are coated with a protective shield to help protect them from water, sweat, and humidity that can break down color. Avon ’s Freshwear Complex helps maintain the quality of just-applied foundation as the formula’s stretchable, breathable network leaves skin feeling comfortable. The SPF 12 formula provides even, buildable coverage as it stands up to oil and surface shine, leaving skin feeling moisturized and balanced—never cakey, masky or heavy.
* Price: $12 · Where to Buy: Avon.com

TIP: Control shine with a light dusting of translucent powder across your t-zone for a fresh, flawless finish.

Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired By Carmindy Truly Translucent Loose Powder

· This ultra-fine loose powder is formulated with micronized color to provide skin-perfecting coverage with a seamless, naturally translucent finish. The unique sponge-in-tip applicator delivers unsurpassed powder-to-skin adherence with no mess. Emollient papaya extract helps restore suppleness while bamboo powder helps absorb oil. Available in 6 shades.


* Price: 12.99 - Available at drugstores nationwide

TIP: Keep eyes stunning and smudge-free with a waterproof long-wear liner.

Smashbox Limitless Eye Liner

· Formulated with vitamin E and oil to moisturize and protect, this waterproof long-wearing liner provides bold definition that won’t smudge or budge for up to eight hours. The cap houses a unique built-in sharpener for precise application.

· Price: $19.· Where to buy: http://www.smashbox.com/

TIP: Switch to waterproof mascara to prevent the raccoon effect on hot summer days.

Lancôme Hypnose Waterproof Mascara

· This waterproof version of the ultimate buildable volume mascara increases lash volume up to six times and stays put for 16 hours. The exclusive SoftShield™ waterproof formula wraps and seals lashes one luxurious layer at a time without smearing, smudging or clumping. Tiny, barely-there lashes are no match for the patented POWERFULL™ brush, which intensifies lashes from root to tip with custom volume you can control.
· Price: $ 25. · Where to Buy: Lancome.com

TIP: Kiss smeared, smudged lip color goodbye by switching to a lightweight, long-wear stain.

NYC New York Color Smooch Proof 16HR Lip Stain
· This lightweight, transfer-proof stain delivers irresistibly smooth, vivid lip color all day long. The precise felt-tipped pen applicator system lets you line lips and fill them in with one easy step. Available In 10 Stay-Put Shades.

· Price: $4.99. * Where to Buy: Drugstores Nationwide

TIP: Give your foundation staying power by starting with a lightweight primer

Rimmel London Fix & Perfect Pro Primer 002

(I blogged about this earlier in the week...it's a winnah)!

This perfecting primer smooths on evenly, leaving an impeccable surface in preparation for foundation application. The light yet effective formula delivers 5-in-1 results – smooths and resurfaces skin, hydrates and protects, mattifies to reduce shine, reduces the appearance of large pores and evens skin tone.

* Price:$8.99. Where to buy: drugstores nationwide

Keep cool!

xox,
DD

It's a 10...Definitely

Last summer, after reviewing and purging dozens of hair products from under my sink, I whined to all of you that I was looking for just one product to multi-task and address my hair care needs; volumizing roots, adding shine and controlling frizz without sticky build up.  Where for art thou???

When we have family get togethers, I always look forward to seeing my equally beauty obsessed cousin Karyn.   Karyn is a highly placed retail executive, with endless opportunities to sample high end beauty products.  We usually sit on the floor, cross legged,  emptying  the contents of our makeup bags, while we compare and critique their contents-- Then we move on to hair...

It was Karyn who told me about her new Holy Grail hair find: It's a 10 Miracle Styling Serum, and best of all it was the one and only product she needed.  Ahhh Brava!!!

Out of the Blue: Bliss Rubberizing Mask

I love masks.  No one in my house even raises an eyebrow if they see me perusing Facebook or dicing an onion in a Kabuki mask...just biz as usual... When Bliss emailed me about their new Fabulous Skin- Reviving Rubberizing Mask, with seaweed, bilberry and Vitamin C, I squealed with delight.  Rubberizing???  Yes please!!!

My box arrived equipped with 6 pre-mixed powdered masks, 6 wooden spatula, and a measuring cup for water. Igniting my inner chemist, I grabbed a metal bowl and got to work. I am a notorious directions skimmer., often leading to some dicey outcomes. I did catch the part about mixing it into a paste and applying it quickly, but missed the one about not disposing any remains down the sink. Ruh-roh!!! (I immediately had visions of a sweat soaked plumber, chisel in hand doing battle with my pipes, while I  feigned wide eyed innocence). It takes 15-20 minutes for the key elements--detoxifying seaweed and the powerful anti-oxidants to be absorbed into the skin while the mask hardens. Here's what I looked like in full blue regalia:

Primed to Perfection:Fit for a Pip or a Princess

I received a mod looking package of goodies from Rimmel London earlier this week. I am almost always blown away by just how good these products are for the price point.  It has a cheeky, young vibe and I can easily see Pippa and  Catherine mixing Rimmel London in with their  Edward Bess lippies,  much the way they mix their Top Shop  finds with Chanel.

My purple Plexiglas "Get Brit-Girl Summer Beauty"cube included several new products and an update of one of my favorite "cheap and cheerful" finds,  Fix and Perfect Foundation Primer. 001,  the original peachy, pink Calamine Lotion hued primer evens out the skin tone and  keeps your makeup flawless. Or for no makeup types, can be used alone.  Somewhere along the way, I stopped using it, though I still have an unused tube that I purchased from a buy one get the other at 50% off CVS sale. Maybe summer is when we need a primer the most, yet somehow, the thought of adding another layer appeals the least.   With the temperature soaring to close to ninety and my son's doubleheader on tap, yesterday seemed like the perfect day to see if the new 002 Fix & Perfect Pro Primer ($8.99), could hold its own against the elements...

The Weekly Beauty Round Up

Here's what got our beauty blood pulsing this week.  Half of us are still thinking of ways to be beautiful this summer, the other half is thinking about how beautiful we will look this fall:

Karla Sugar fell hard for Le Métier de Beauté's Rock 'n' Romance nail polish set (a Nordstrom Anniversary exclusive).

Café Makeup showed us Chanel's Joues Contraste in Rose Tourbillon, another Nordstrom Anniversary special.

HairArt

When my college BFF Lisa visited from San Diego last week, she lovingly hauled several photo albums with her for us to reminisce.  Here is an early Diva
shot in our dorm room, blow dryer in hand, big hair, potions on the dresser and what you can't see, a huge CVS bag on the bed.  In essence, despite the years, not much as changed...

We are both workout fiends, so a visit to Equinox was on our agenda.  I would probably cave and do more aerobic activity, but that would require more hair toil than I can handle, not to mention the dissipation of color with too frequent washing.  While Equinox nicely supplies top of the line Solaris blow dryers the rest of the haul is on you.  I forgot my flat iron so I naturally went for Lisa's.  Would it be an exaggeration to say that the results from her temperature controlled, ceramic tourmaline HairArt flat iron was astonishing???  No.  How do you spell  E-P-I-P-H-A-N-Y???  All flatirons are not created equal.

Alexander McQueen 1969-2010

Nothing can really prepare you for the savage beauty of Savage Beauty.  

This extraordinary retrospective of Alexander McQueen's unique, avant-garde genius on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute left me breathless.   Brilliantly curated by Andrew Bolten and Harold Koda, this exhibit of 100 ensembles and 70 accessories, is broken down into six themes that pervaded McQueen's work and mind; death and lightness, predator and prey, man and machine and always nature...

The Weekly Beauty Round Up

Hats off to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's creator.  I have spent a wonderful few days with my B.F.F. from college Lisa, having not seen each other in over 20 years!  Don't you just love when  bonds are so deep,  it feels like no time has passed between visits?  Here's to beautiful friendships and this week in beauty...

Lip Lock: Does Maybelline's 24 Hour Super Stay Stay?

I have tried several long lasting "liquid" lipsticks before.  Most are formulated as a three step process; apply, dry (embalm)? and the revive with a clear balm. They worked, technically, but always made by lips feel like sandpaper.  Still, the thought of not having to reapply my lipstick a few dozen times a day fills me with hope...

And The Most Improved Award goes to:

I measure the summer in thirds; Memorial Day to July 4th is one third, with the next two months, July and August (through Labor Day) making up the remainder.  For the first time in my life, I have sworn off tanning and to my surprise, I've stuck with it...  What I have learned however, is that self tanning, apart from moisturizing,  is practically a full time job.

In 2005 Jergen's introduced Natural Glow, a mass market moisturizer pre-mixed with self tanner, It  promised a gradual "tan" with continued use and was a breakthrough hit, that literally flew off the shelves. At the time, I was still using my beloved Clarin's Self Tanning Milk, which essentially did the same thing, except that at $9.99, Natural Glow was one third  of the price .  Naturally, I ran out and bought it.

The Weekly Beauty Round Up

I don't know about you, but I love fireworks!!!  They always fill me with joy and I think they bring out the kid in most of us. Happy Fourth to you! 

A long weekend for many of us, it's a perfect time to catch up with the latest in summer and fall beauty!



Daly Beauty suggested some gorgeous green fragrances - perfect summer scents.