SKIN COUNSEL Beauty skewl By Catherine Berlin Pore Pevonia De-Aging Mist Black Opal Exfoliator & Lamas Hydrating Shampoo Rebagz Half The Sky Bag Goody’s full bloom bands YeloMöd long sleeve top Balmain Hair Xpression Bumpits hair inserts Tiny Tillia bath products Lavera Sun-Spray & California Baby sunscreen Colorscience products I blame all my skin conditions on youth—my own, and then my children and the commotion they cause—so it is ironic that I’m surrounded by products promising to youthify me. No thanks. But in the process of trying to at least revitalize a body-surface damaged by sun, pregnancy, hormones, and “why are you asking me if the roof outside your bedroom window will support your weight?”-type stress, I’ve learned that the best way to avoid disappointment with anything “anti-aging” is to (a) be realistic and (b) start young. At some point the skin needs prescription-strength treatment options for certain results, but OTCs can help maintain. The real miracle with respect to skin care products is that consumers are evaluating what works, concerned over ingredients and production methods, and passing skin protection info across generations. The body is not a Google Earth map I’m not sure when, but at some point my legs and upper torso looked like a relief map of the nation’s interstates and major cities. I’m tired of the expense and look of stockings during the summer, but a fishnet-look incorporating spider, superficial, and varicose veins is a bad alternative. For me, sclerotherapy is safe and affordable, and the team of angels at Southtowns Radiology uses needles small enough to make the treatment totally tolerable (and Sally Hansen’s Airbrush Legs all the coverage you’ll need). For targeting freckles and age spots on forearms, shoulders, and chest, Dr. Buscaglia at the Cosmetic Vein & Laser Center has an ablative laser I call “The Magic Eraser.” Sure, for a week you’ll look like chicken pox, but the skin bounces back. The age spots do not. And thirty is hardly too soon to consider an Obagi prescription-strength skin care system. Available at Beauty-Quest (5483 Sheridan Drive, Williamsville, 633-7546), Cosmetic Vein & Laser Center WNY (4600 Main Street, Williamsville), Southtowns Radiology (Amsdell Road, Hamburg, 649-9000). Exotic tropicals Forget Gidget Goes Hawaiian; to go native, try the woodsy-moss scent of Alba Botanica goji berry wash. It’s more the island of Kauai and the forest-lined bays of the northern coast at dawn: absolute nature, power, and serenity. Seriously, when it comes to butters, a strong nut odor usually means that potent nut qualities have not been processed away, so by the scent, I trust Alba’s Kukui Nut Body Crème to help my thirsty skin. But if you must have fruit before your morning coffee or tea, snap open the top of Black Opal’s Gentle Body Exfoliator and wait for the rush of intense papaya, with grains gentle enough for everyday. Once a week, switch to Pevonia Botanica’s De-Aging Saltmousse. It packs a hard-working sea salt, and it is sophisticated enough to gift. Travel pro Pour Pevonia’s De-Aging Mist or Laveré’s Naturkosmetik Relax Splash into an airline-friendly spray bottle and soak into a cotton ball for an in-your-seat grime-away swipe. (Laveré’s Splash isn’t topical, but it is part of an organic care kit for dry and sensitive skin types, and ten percent of the purchase goes to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.) Then massage your sandally feet and totally exposed elbows in VB Cosmetics Be Silky Callus Spray with Tea Tree Oil. Once you’ve found your faves, load your travel must-haves in a TSA-friendly ziplock and pop it into a Rebagz Half the Sky Pop Top Bag. Small, smart, recycled, and right there where you need it. Black Opal at major drugstores, Pevonia at spas from Lockport to Ellicottville (visit pevonia.com’s spa finder), Alba products at Wegmans and Lexington Co-Op, Laveré products at Wegmans; vbcosmetics.com, Rebagz at rebagz.com, Sissy Lala, Depew, 998 9196; Alexandra, Williamsville, 632-6074. Hair help Lamas’s Professional Soy Hydrating Shampoo for damaged hair is vegan and makes my hair look like there is more of it. “You have twenty kinds of shampoo in here,” my husband complains. Yep, and this one has moved into the favored position. I plump it up with my latest love, Aveda’s Pure Abundance Volumizing Clay Conditioner. (I think Aveda’s got a fix for everything.) But perhaps my biggest smile came from finding Goody’s Full Bloom collection. A full step away from elastics and clips, these headbands and barrettes are dreamy soft boho to Soho, that pop fresh in colors that invite introductions. And for a hair boost? Add some. Hair, I mean. We’ve put the Balmain Paris Hair Xpression through all our tests, and it is an easy clip-in extension that provides immediate, amazingly natural, integrated-looking results. Finally, if you’re dying for poof—a real fifties lift—but can’t figure the lift, explore Bumpits, hair volume inserts, and bring the movie Hairspray into your bathroom. See more on Xpression and Bumpits at www.spreeblog.com. Full Bloom exclusively at Target, lamasbeauty.com, profoundbeauty.com, balmainhairxpression.com. bighippiehair.com. Sunscreens and lighteners Powerhouse favorites continue to be the Colorescience line of SunForgettables (roll Rock and Roller Ball minerals on your forearms and hands and dare the sun) and La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL 50+, SPF Fluide Extreme, with Euro-strength Mexoryl, baby. Speaking of which, if you want your child to remind you of your favorite Thai take-out, California Baby comes in lemongrass. German-based Lavera Sun-Spray for Baby and Children is 100 percent mineral and vegan, and effective immediately. Lindi creates skin care products for those in cancer treatment and has a screen perfect for anyone with supersensitive skin. For big-girl back-up, keep Neutragena Ultra Sheer 55 handy, and splurge on Lancôme’s rich Soleil Ultra Expert Sun Care SPF 50. What I like about Aubrey Organics is the moderate level SPF (18 to 25 for sun-loving teens), broad-spectrum coverage, and a decent rating for safety at the cosmeticsdatabase.com. As for nonprescription lighteners, I say start the Perricone’s Pigment Corrective System with DMAE or Olay’s ProX Professional already in your mid-twenties. Perricone’s system contains a hydroquionone-free cream and a DMAE supplement—a compound that helps prevent sagging skin. As for Olay, it is hard to find a skin care professional not excited about the company’s products, and the ProX line contains niacinamide (vitamin B3) to fight hyperpigmented spots and rosacea symptoms. I can’t wait to test drive my YeloMöd top this summer. Treated to turn the sun’s rays into a skin-improving, low intensity laser, the shirt is programmed to do more than just cover you up (from TherapeuticSunwear.com). Colorescience products available at Smooth Solutions, and You’re So Vain Medical Aesthetic Boutique, Depew, 536-5402, LaRoche Posay at amazon.com, Neutragena and Olay at Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS, Lancome at Lord & Taylor and Macy’s, Aubrey at Wegmens, Perricone at Pine Pharmacy, Main Street Williamsville, and Sephora at Walden Galleria. Tiny Tillia mini bath set Some product divas are born that way; others are made. These all-natural bath and hand sanitizer products come in the faintest of tropical, citrus, and floral scents, with bath mitts, water-proof story books, and Boo-Boo kits made to match. The foaming wash pump can be used by tiny hands and delivers enough of a dose to keep hands and fingernails clean. We even picked up a collection of 2-oz. bottles for our youngest’s carry-on. Used by the Pitt-Jolie gang, and those of us shopping at shoptillia.com or Target. Spree style editor Catherine Berlin is a writer, photographer, and lawyer raising children and a husband in Buffalo. SUBSCRIBE NOW Back to the Table of Contents Back to Top