Pro Talk: Deborah Lippmann

Manicures are more than just polish changes.

This was an AMAZING read,because this is so relate-able to me. I grew up as a nail picker as well and went to cosmetology school and didn’t feel that great at nails. But look at how successful she is now! And she’s right, nail services (and skin services, I’d like to add) are extremely intimate services.

We can really ‘touch’ someone’s life.

Scalps Need Scrubbin’ Too

Yesterday I walked into work, except yesterday was different. I was the client, getting my hair done. The hair stylists were recreating some upcoming fall trends and needed a model. I haven’t been blonde since I was 15, but what the heck, I’ll try it again.

Unfortunately, blonde is not what was revealed under the towel of my freshly washed hair.

Instead, it was a strawberry blonde color. Actually, it was more like I put Sun-In in my hair.

No No No No No.

My hair ended up only taking the color slightly at the roots and main shaft of hair, but at the ends (where I had blonde ombre), the color didn’t take at all. My hair has been turning coppery for a couple of years now, and I thought maybe my hair has just changed, it WANTS to be ginger (I am a fair skinned Irish gal).

The Wella trainer came over to me and we started talking. She analyzed my hair and said that something internal was causing my hair to resist color. Not only that, but it was very, very fine, baby-fine, and not growing around my temples, and breaking at the ends. You know what she told me I needed?

To exfoliate my scalp.

I understand the importance of exfoliation, but I never thought about exfoliating my scalp. I don’t have dandruff, and yes it’s a little oily, but my hair is so thin that it shows up easier. Well that’s what I thought.

In reality, if you don’t exfoliate your scalp, sebum and dead skin cells will clog follicles (just like in acneic skins) and hair will not be able to grow. It can also have so much buildup of products that it can’t take color properly. I might have a whole head of hair and damn sebum and dead skin are blocking it?!

Don’t get me wrong, I know my fair share about hair: Hair, skin, and nails are all made of the same protein keratin, hair grows in three different cycles, it’s there to keep us warm and lubricate our skin, etc. But to give my scalp a ‘dermabrasion’?

Needless to say, right when I got out of the chair, I bought the salon scalp renewal ‘Dermabrasion’ treatment to do at home, as well as the Nioxin system in #3, and I am so excited to start giving my scalp a ‘facial’ and grow healthy, thicker hair.

I will report back in 30 days to review the products and how my hair has responded to them.

Tell me a secret…

Do you exfoliate your scalp? Do you suffer from any skin conditions on your scalp?

Updated Labels on Sunscreen

Sunscreen comes in many forms.

Even though we may be coming to a close on summer (I think everyone is ready to get fall on a roll), the FDA has implemented new labeling laws for sunscreens. To be honest, we should be wearing sunscreen every day, not just sunny days in the summer!

So what’s changing?

PANTONE Shades of Skin

Just wanted to post this link because I think it’s pretty sweet…

PANTONE humanæ

When we think of skin color, we usually think about 6 shades: Fair, Medium, Yellow- Beige, Brown-Beige, Deep, Dark Deep.

Okay, those aren’t really shades, but the point is, there are more than 6 shades of skin color. PANTONE has matched skin colors to their shades in a work in progress:

 “Humanae is a chromatic inventory, a project that reflects on the colors beyond the borders of our codes by referencing the PANTONE® color scheme. (PANTONE® Guides are one of the main classification systems of colors, which are represented by an alphanumeric code, allowing to accurately recreate any of them in any media. It is a technical industrial standard often called Real Color). The project development is based on a series of portraits whose background is dyed with the exact Pantone® tone extracted from a sample of 11×11 pixels of the portrayed’s face. The project’s objective is to record and catalog all possible human skin tones.”

The differences in skin color are amazing. I love looking at skin, I think it’s the most beautiful color(s) out there.

 

Tell me a secret…

Do you like the shade of your skin? Do you do anything to alter it?

The Wrath of Acne: Part 1

Acne sucks.

There I said it. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, although no one deserves to get acne, it’s genetic; inherited. So blame your parents. (Just kidding, they probably suffered it too.) Unfortunately, most of us have had some pimples, and a lot of us have probably had some form of full-blown acne (secret: I’m one of those people). So where the hell does it come from?

Well, you can thank your hair for acne, actually. Yes, hair grows all over your body, even if it’s not noticeable in places like your chest, back, and cheek area (if you’re female, to be specific). But really it’s the oil glands that are attached to the hair follicle deep below the skin surface. And in those aforementioned body areas, the hair has multiple oil glands attached to one hair follicle.

Hair Follicle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Secret Skin Code

So when it comes to skincare, where do you begin? Did you take a peek in your mother’s medicine cabinets and try her cold cream? Maybe you went to the drugstore down the street and bought just near damn everything because SOMETHING has to work.

Right?

Secret: It doesn’t have to be that complicated! I know, crazy… but I’ve written a little formula (don’t worry if you’re not a mathematician, I’m not either) so your skin care regime can have some structure.

Cleanser + AHA + Antioxidants + Hydrator + SPF

Beautiful, Balanced Skin

Okay, bear with me before you freak out. All of these components can be found in 2-4 products.