We all know wearing sunscreen every day is great for preventing wrinkles and skin cancer (genetics notwithstanding), but with so many drugstore and high-end varieties full of crappy petrochemicals and preservatives, finding a great formula can quite the challenge. I should know — I’ve worn SPF on my face nearly every day since I was 15, and have tried more than my fair share of what’s out there. This week I tested Dr. Jart’s Water Fuse Beauty Balm with SPF 25, which claims to be “a one-step skin-perfecting balm that minimizes the need for foundation or concealer,” and includes “sunscreen ingredients that protect the skin from a broad range of UVA and UVB radiation.” READ MORE
Archive for the ‘Health’ Category
TESTING: DR. JART WATER FUSE BEAUTY BALMPosted by Anne Vickman on 7/27/2011 at 10:50AM | No Comments
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SUN VS SKIN: SUNBURN REMEDIESPosted by Maggie Brooks on 6/21/2011 at 7:48AM | 1 Comment
It’s that time of year when the sun beckons us outdoors for eating, relaxing, drinking, and all other basic living things. It is also the time that we have to wear specific clothing, sit funny, or sleep a certain way as to not the disturb the sunburn sprawled across our backs, shoulders, backs of knees, or anywhere else we didn’t slather sunblock. Handling a sunburn is much like dealing with a hangover: Everyone has a remedy they swear by. While we’re normally game for testing DIY beauty secrets (like foodie face masks), causing intentional damage to our skin didn’t seem like a worthwhile risk. Instead, we’ve done our research and compiled a list of our staffers’ best sunburn remedies.
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COUTURE THAT CARES: KELLEY FOR ELLIE FASHION SHOWPosted by bostonista on 6/1/2011 at 9:00AM | No Comments
The event was founded by the women from WCVB, namely news anchor Susan Wornick, in conjunction with the Ellie Fund. It’s named for fellow reporter and cancer survivor Kelley Tuthill, who was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in December 2006. “We are helping families in any way we can in the name of Kelley Tuthill until we can find a cure,” says Wornick, who will serve as the evening’s emcee. “This is the best night of the year.” “It’s a very joyful and hopeful event,” adds Julie Nations, executive director of the Ellie Fund. “We celebrate women who are fighting cancer and how we come together as a community to help.” The night will include a red-carpet runway fashion show where the women of the WCVB-TV5 News Team will model fashions from the store Ports & Company. There will also be a raffle and a live auction featuring deluxe prizes such as vacations to Bermuda and California wine country, and packages from the Red Sox, Celtics, and Patriots. Renowned chef Daniel Bruce will create the menu, and complimentary wine and specialty cocktails will be provided by 90+ Cellars and Double Cross Vodka. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Ellie Fund, a nonprofit that helps ease the burden of hundreds of women undergoing treatment for cancer and their families throughout Massachusetts each year. The program provides services such as transportation to medical appointments, childcare, and housekeeping, all for free through the help of donations and volunteers. “There’s a lot of sisterhood in that room,” says Nations. “We’re putting the ‘can’ in cancer.” For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit elliefund.org. $150, June 6, 6:30 p.m., Boston Harbor Hotel- Wharf Room, 70 Rowes Wharf, Boston, 617-439-7000. Caitlin Bueller contributes to Boston‘s online fashion and style coverage. |
TESTING: BLISS SPA’S CARROT-AND-SESAME BODY BUFFPosted by Tanya Pai on 5/3/2011 at 12:58PM | No Comments
By: Tanya Pai Now that spring has finally sprung, it’s time to slough off the dregs of winter – literally. Enter Bliss Spa’s carrot-and-sesame body buff, a 90-minute exfoliating treatment that’ll zap dry, flaky skin and leave you glowing from collarbones to toes. First you’re rubbed with a mixture of shredded carrots and essential oils, then drizzled with warm milk and honey. After, you’re wrapped up burrito-style in a foil-like sheet, and the technician gives you a scalp massage while the skin-softening wrap does its work. Then it’s on to the sesame-and-salt body scrub, followed by a rinse under the Vichy shower and a slathering of body butter. A word to the wise: You will be practically naked in front of a stranger, and salad ingredients might find their way to some strange places – but for a beach-vacation-ready bod, not to mention the pure indulgence factor, we think we can deal. $165 for a 90-minute treatment, Bliss Spa, W Hotel, 100 Stuart St., Boston, 617-261-8747, blissworld.com/spa. |
GOURMET SKINCARE FROM SABATINO & CO. ROMAPosted by Tanya Pai on 4/5/2011 at 11:26AM | No Comments
By: Hannah Sheinberg
 One of Newbury street’s newest shops, Sabatino & Co. Roma, specializes in gourmet Mediterranean ingredients with an emphasis on truffles. Not to be confused with the chocolate confectionaries, these rare underground mushrooms are imported from farms in Italy. Sabatino & Co. is hoping to bring the gourmet ingredient not just to your table, but to your toiletries as well.
Launched last month, the company’s skincare branch, Skin&Co., features extracts of rosemary, mint, almond, olive oil, lavender, Sicilian orange, and, of course, truffle. Besides the benefit of an organic product that isn’t mass-produced, truffles have an anti-aging element with tightening properties that’s sure to rival your old Olay.
“[Customers] have a right to have a product that’s good for them,” says Gabriel Balestra, CEO of Sabatino & Co. Balestra is focusing on expanding his family’s 100-year-old legacy while also trying to make truffle products more accessible. Products containing black truffle extract, like Bagnodoccia di Tarfuto ($35), an exfoliating shower gel, and Latte di Tartufo ($45), a body milk, are exclusive enough for the decadent but priced moderately enough for the curious.
Sabatino & Co. also sells all types of Mediterranean ingredients for your kitchen, such as olive oil (either plain or infused with fruits and spices), vinegars, pasta sauces, condiments, salts, and sugars. A major part of the company is still the prized truffles and truffle-infused products, such as honey, aged balsamic vinegar (infused with white truffles, the rarest of all the ‘shrooms), sea salt, butter, and honey mustard.
So maybe truffle skincare can’t guarantee a transformation into Venus herself ― but it couldn’t hurt to try, right?
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Q & A: FACIALIST MOLLY WALSHPosted by Anne Vickman on 3/14/2011 at 10:26AM | No Comments
By: Sarah Burns
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GET BACK YOUR NATURAL GLOWPosted by Tanya Pai on 2/28/2011 at 4:54PM | No Comments
By: Sarah Burns With the winter trifecta ― freezing temperatures, biting winds, and dry air ― in full effect, chances are your skin is screaming for a little TLC. Luckily for your pores, this Thursday, March 3, you can catch celebrity facialist Molly Walsh dispensing skincare secrets at the Body Shop’s Prudential and CambridgeSide locations. Schedule a private consultation with Walsh (whose clients include Brooke Shields and Amanda Peet) to learn which products are best suited to your skin type, as well as how to reverse fine lines and sun damage. While you’re there, browse the Body Shop’s newest collection of fair-trade, naturally purifying cleansers, and enter the raffle to win two tickets to L.A. for a weekend of pampering at Molly’s Skin Care Boutique in Hermosa Beach. Prudential Center, 2–4 p.m., 800 Boylston St., Boston, 617-375-0070; CambridgeSide Galleria, 5–7 p.m., 100 CambridgeSide Place, Cambridge, 617-621-0046, thebodyshop-usa.com. |
STUFF WE LOVE: SPACE NK’S FLORABELLE BODY WASHPosted by Anne Vickman on 1/28/2011 at 10:35AM | No Comments
By: Anne Vickman With winter snow storms comes bitter hatred for the heat-leaking windows in our apartment, and pure love for our tub, which provides respite in the form of hot, soothing baths. And we all know the pièce de résistance for a good bath are the bubbles ― preferably ones that smell divine. Hence our newfound devotion to Space NK’s Florabelle bath and shower gel ($20), a flowery but not overpowering concoction with hearts of rose and jasmine. We were especially impressed that it’s also free from chemicals with potential health hazards, such as sulfates, parabens, phthalates, mineral oil, and synthetic colors ― a feat that is, despite the wealth of products dubbed “natural” and “organic” filling shelves these days, actually quite rare. Available at the Space NK Apothecary Shop inside Bloomingdale’s, 225 Boylston St., Newton, 617-630-6000, spacenk.com. |
EDITORS’ PICKS: CRANBERRY SUGAR SCRUBPosted by A. J. Downey on 1/19/2011 at 3:50PM | No Comments
Many New Year’s resolutions revolve around eating better and exercising more. If you’re one of the few who’ve made it (almost) three weeks without reverting to old habits — excellent work! Now, how about you reward yourself a little? I mean, just because you’ve dutifully succumbed yourself to 100-calorie packs and sweaty lunchtime workouts doesn’t mean that you can’t indulge at all in 2011. This winter, The Spa at Equinox Fitness debuted a cranberry sugar rub that both exfoliates weathered skin and rejuvenates those tired muscles. The sugar granules and cranberry seeds go to work on the body’s surface, while the therapeutic oils seep deeper to moisturize and soften the skin layers beneath. Added bonus: The Equinox spa is adjacent to the locker rooms, so your treatments can be as regular as your time on the treadmill. (Spa services are open to the public.) Leave a comment below and tell us how are you inspiring — or rewarding! — your workouts these days! 131 Dartmouth St., Boston. 617-578-8918. 225 Franklin St., Boston. 617-426-2140. |
