Who's been keeping me company in my shower lately? My BFF Burt. My latest shower obsession is Burt's Bee's Cranberry & Pomegranate Sugar Scrub. It's 100% natural and it exfoliates my skin with its natural sugar crystals.  There are also cranberry seeds and pomegranate seed oils, which are packed with beneficial antioxidants. 

The smell is intoxicating. Yummmmmmm. Plus, I know that all Burt's products are always free of petrochemicals and synthetic ingredients like Phthalates, Parabens and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate.

Pick up yourself a tub of this delightful scrub at your local drug, grocery store or at Burt's Bees online.

So, after years basically of hype over the Clarisonic and whether I could bear to part with $150 for it I finally got to try it.  Since the hefty pricetag didn’t exactly have me shouting from the rooftops I was tickled pink when the Clarisonic people agreed to send me a product for review free of charge.  Now as my loyal readers know, my skin can be at sometimes, shall we say, problematic.  In fact somedays I stomp around declaring that I have adult acne. But I digress.  I have very large pores and after several fruitless conversations with facialists and dermatologists alike I have finally accepted that there is no way I’m going to shrink them. My best bet is to keep them clean. Well, try as I might, facial after facial, I just could not rid my pores of icky build up from makeup and grime. Until now…

I am obsessed with the Clarisonic. So much so that I think I’m an abuser. I use it nightly even though I know you’re only supposed to exfoliate a couple times a week. I just can’t help myself. I mean, I think I’m being good by not using it twice a day. My skin just feels so soft after I use it and my breakouts have diminished seriously. Now I still do get blemishes but they have really decreased significantly. My pores are noticeably (to me who stares at them in a magnifying mirror) cleaner and seem to keep getting better each week. Plus, I find that I need far less makeup than I once did to cover up my dirty, filthy little potholes. Eww. Yes, that’s what I felt like they were before. Gross. I hope that as the months go on they’ll get even better, especially with the reduction in foundation I’ve been able to make.

I feel like I had really been overlooking the cleansing part of my skincare regiment. I would spend loads on lotions and treatments to reduce blemishes and blackheads but I was never getting to the source.  Clarisonic is said to remove six times more makeup than regular washing and I absolutely believe that after I’ve had a chance to use this.  Its micro-massage is an ideal way to slough off dead skin and impurities that settle in during the day. There is a reason that this product has a cult following. It’s a game changer. I only wish I had had this puppy in Junior high.

The Clarisonic Mia One Speed brush in pink is available right now in a limited-edition set which contains: the charger, sensitive brush head, Clarisonic Gentle Hydro Cleanser and the Go Clear Clarifying cleanser.  All this for $149, or in NYC the price of one decent facial. I give myself a facial now every night!

Available exclusively at Sephora.

New York Fashion Week is just around the corner! Kick off the week at Fashion’s Night Out on September 10, 2010 at the C.O. Bigelow Apothecary store from 6-10 pm. The downtown landmark Apothecary store, located at 414 6th Avenue, is a neighborhood favorite to New Yorkers and celebrities alike and will have specials during the event from some of their top-selling brands.

Vinny Guadagnino of MTV’s hit show The Jersey Shore will be at the store from 7pm to 8pm to meet and greet with C.O. Bigelow consumers. He will also showcase his essential grooming products and favorite beauty products for the ladies in his life that are all sold at C.O. Bigelow. Bring your cameras!

Learn how to boost body confidence and feel great in your skin with the experts from Mama Mio Skincare. Mama Mio will be serving complimentary mocktails while sampling its Get Waisted Body Shaper to reduce fat cells, tighten and firm tummy flab. Come on girls! Let's Get Waisted!  

In addition to body treats and beverages, C.O. Bigelow will also have a makeup artist from Jane Iredale giving consultations and tips to stay fresh-faced all week long, a manicurist from Barielle for a quick polish changes and a skincare specialist with Rilastil sampling the latest eye cream. Additionally, Soap & Paper will be giving away a free shea butter soap with any purchase in the store!

I'm totally into the tousled look these days. In fact I straighten my hair before curling with my Amika styling irons. I loved Kyra Sedgwick's hair at the Emmy's this past Sunday. Check out what the creative stylist from Rusk has to say:

For Kyra’s tousled look:
“Start this look of with healthy, shiny hair. Apply a few drops of RUSK’s Deepshine Oil to soaking wet hair as a smoothing product. This will seal down your cuticle, providing shine, while simultaneously protecting your color.  Next, distribute an egg-sized amount of volumizing foam throughout damp hair. Tightly twist your hair into a high bun on the top of your head and secure with a holder. Allow your hair to air dry and then release the bun to reveal amazing texture and soft waves!” – Rusk Creative Stylist Sherri Jessee

I am going to quote my good friend, we'll call her D and say that typically, I feel like I'm my little pony when I wear pastel shadows but these happen to be amazing for the summer. The swatches picture did not do them justice but I'm all about this awesome quad. It's so great for the summer. Especially summer nights when you're wearing white. I mix them all together or sometimes I just do the green and grey. I love the texture of Givenchy products, they're extremely soft and have great adherance unlike cheap drugstore brands that you keep rubbing all over and end up mostly under your little peepers.

Available on Sephora.com

The Tanda Clear Acne Light Therapy device boasts to help you achieve healthy, acne-free skin in only minutes a day in the comfort of your home. It claims to be scientifically proven to kill the propionibacterium acne bacteria that causes mild to moderate acne by accelerating the skin's natural healing process. I have only used the product two times so far but I will keep you posted on my results. Although I don't have severe acne (thank the lord, I mean I am almost 30!) but I definitely have small breakouts pretty regularly still (will they ever stop!??!) So stay posted while I run you through our review of our use with the product. After one evening and morning use I don't see a diff yet but you're not supposed to. I can tell you that I'm very anxious because I've heard great things and it'd be wonderful to get rid of some blemishes. My one critique so far is that while each treatment only takes 3 minutes you have to do about 6-8, which clearly runs you longer than the 3 minute claim. Nothing wrong with that, just sayin'

Stay tuned to watch my acne dissolve…

Hey now my little green princesses! Thank Green Its Friday!

Here are Five Simple ways to greenify your beautiful little lives! And did I mention that Green Gals don't get fat?

1. Walk instead of taking a cab. Save some money. Save some gas. And work your butt of a little. 15 city blocks is 1 mile. Walking one mile burns around 60 calories (obv diff for diff chickies). That'll work off those couple of extra bites of dessert you have at dinner with your girls.

2. Get tampons without Chlorine. Eww who wants that floating around inside ya anyway? Chlorine releases dioxins into your body. Seventh Generation and Natracare make them. Natracare even uses organic cotton!

3. Cook a vegetarian dinner once a week with organic vegetables. See green girls stay lean! Not only will you help detox yourself but American consume way too much meat.

4. Wash your clothes in cold water. Save electricity and save your skivvies. Your clothes will fade much slower in cold water peeps and you'd be surprised how much electricity it saves.!

5. Buy organic anything! Shirts, sheets, coffee, tea, wine, you name it. Organic products are grown sustainably, meaning usually the way that nature intended. When you invest in these companies you're taking money away from companies that are hurting the environment and polluting the products you wear. Did you know that there can be as much as 1/3 a cup of chemical in one conventionally grown t-shirt? And where does that t-shirt go? All over your most ingesting organ, your skin.