De-Frizzing your hair in dry weather

After talking to the owners and hair experts of Escape Uptown Salon and Spa, I asked about the common, but seemingly ignored problem  of the dry frizzies in COLD DRY weather, not just humid.... they said that frizzy hair can be difficult to manage in any weather, but dry air in cold weather can exacerbate the problem. Before you hide under a hat, follow these steps to tame and smooth your out-of-control, frizzy locks in dry weather.

 CONDITION YOUR HAIR EVERY DAY

Even if you aren't washing your hair every day, you need to condition it each day without fail, particularly in dry weather with a MOISTURE conditioner, not a protein one. You need one that ADDS moisture. That's what repairs in dry weather, something like Aquage Hydrating Balm in the shower and after conditioning in the shower, rinse your hair with cool water (to seal down the hair cuticle), and follow up with a leave-in condition on damp hair. Biomega Moisture Mist is a must have standby that yields amazing results on frizzy hair by sealing and smoothing the cuticle. 

Once a week, use an oil treatment or masque with Argan Oil or other heavy moisture ingredients to keep your hair shiny and reduce the frizzies or even smooth on a bit of Oil everyday (but just on the ends and lightly) I.C.O.N's India Oil is the bomb or for a really intensive moisture treatment Aquage Healing Conditioner as masque for as long as you like with a shower cap or plastic bag on your hair to heat the goodness in.

SKIP THE BLOW DRYER

Towel dry your hair by blotting it with a thick towel - don't rub it vigorously or just comb with a wide tooth comb after your leave in moisture or Oil and let air dry. Excessive rubbing can damage your hair and cause it to frizz out even more. If you absolutely don't have time to let your hair dry naturally, use a diffuser on your blow dryer to reduce any possible heat damage. If you long for straight hair, use a tourmaline or ceramic flat iron to get get silky straight locks for special occasions. However, you should avoid using any heated hair tools every day.

USE HAIR SERUM

Many hair serums are designed specifically to combat frizz and revive dry, damaged hair. I.C.O.N Anti-Age Therapy Serum is a high gloss, polishing serum that is enriched with vitamins and UV protection. It smooths away frizz, protects hair from the elements and leaves it incredibly shiny. You can also smooth a little oil and I mean little, like less than a pinky nail for long hair), rubbed between your hands to warm it, over the outer layer and ends of the hair, don't rub it into the scalp or roots, that's asking for droop !

FRIZZY HAIR STYLING TIPS

•  Don't cut your hair too short. Short, frizzy hair can make you look like a clown.
• Get your hair cut often. A trim every 6 weeks will reduce split ends, frizzies and flyaway hairs.
• Splurge on a salon conditioning treatment and shine glaze (colorless color, in other words) or a semi or demi permanent color. All of these help fill and smooth the cuticle of the hair shaft and tame frizzes down

All products mentioned and more are available at Escape Uptown Salon & Spa, where the experts really know their products and can give you great hair care tips.




Ciao!

from a
Bona Fide Glam Junkie

HCG Drops - Weight Loss or Money Loss

Ok, I had to weigh in on this one, because I am seeing a lot of Groupon type emails coming in about HCG DROPS (different to a Doctor administered Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) Hormone series of injections).

First, I am not going to say much about the whole HCG craze, except that it's yet another fad, that may or may not be proven harmful and I ain't gonna be a lab rat for it.

Second, I will say that my (and many Doctors and Nutritionists) common sense says it is harmful, if ONLY for the fact that you are on a 500 calories a day diet (yes, if you haven't looked into it, that's the rules), you will lose weight, even if you take drops of turtle piss.

You will lose weight because you are starving yourself. You will also lose vital nutrients, muscle mass and damage your kidneys, cause hair loss, constipation and gallstones.

AND fool your fat cells into thinking there is a medieval famine, after which, a little way down the track, your body will hoard those fat cells instead of burning them, to keep you padded and alive during the famine.
We are hardwired to do this. This is also why if you've ever done the too strict diet, you pack back on twice as many pounds when you resume normal eating.

That said.... many of you are going to see it as a magical diet solution anyway and not care about those things, so even if you don't care about that, care about this....

YOU ARE THROWING YOUR MONEY DOWN THE TOILET ON DROPS !
Would you throw $20 bills in the toilet on a daily basis in the normal course of a week ? No, of course not and you shouldn't throw it away on DROPS either.

I keep saying DROPS, because they are different, diluted, mixed with god-knows-what (usually alcohol or oil) than the actual real pure HCG Doctor injected synthesized hormone of the same name (naturally occuring in pregnant women and supposedly stimulates the hypothalmus to signal shedding of abnormal fat cells).

I watched Doctor Oz debunk this drops thing, along with some respected Doctors, I noted his research and took a good look at it myself as well as some other research I found

Then I asked a Doctor who offers the injection program locally. His words were "the drops are a money making scam and you don't know what's in them and because HCG is not readily digestable, stomach acid will kill it before the tiny diluted amount (if it's even in the so-called drops) gets anywhere near your bloodstream where it's needed. So drops are worthless on many levels. Injected actual symthetic hormone is the only way to get it usefully into your body"

Let it be noted that he's an advocate of HCG and the full injection program, but at least he was honest about it, unlike another Doctor I phoned with all these "trick questions", as he called them.. WHAT?),
However, the honest Doc, said it should be done only for a short period, under careful Doctor supervision (this and the injectable itself is expensive, hence the drops are attractive because they're so much cheaper) and if done again, a recovery break is required, however, he sadly admitted many actual MD's are also just on the money wagon after Reps come caling with "miracle drops" and they then shove the drops at people as a cheaper alternative... it's not an alternative, because IT DOESN'T WORK in DROPS.
There's actually little evidence it works in injected form either, but at least that whole package includes proper supervision.

The DROPS are bulls***, plain and simple. DO NOT waste your money on them even with a Groupon, Living Social Deal, Urban Deal-Light or even, sadly, from a "Doctor", seriously. Spend your Groupon money on a cleaner and give yourself the day off, or if you're going to go the really expensive injections route, skip it and hire a personal trainer.

If however, you must do this, do it free.
Go on a 500 calorie a day, balanced diet, go to Wholefoods and ask for a good, broad spectrum multi vitamin supplement AND some drops of either concentrated green tea (or better, drink 8 cups of brewed pure green tea a day to stay hydrated on the diet), hoodia, cayenne, seaweed or nettle drops or supplements (or all of them if you want, all have at least SOME data on weightloss assistance and are safely diluted and safe brands at wholefoods or good vitamin retailers) and call it a day.
You'll lose weight, I guarantee it, if you stick to it and for a lot less money.. free actually, other than a multi-vitamin and food scraps... then you'll pack it back on doubled, unless you have the discipline of a Monk and after a month start increasing your calories by 150 more per week back up to 1500 (for a woman) and maintain a good exercise routine and balanced diet thereafter.

So yeah, all hail Dr Oz or not, but the thing is, the man and his team are VERY cautious about what they put out there on TV and their website, because they can get SUED, just like a regular Doctor, only by millions, for giving harmful advice. Wrong information can kill this mans career both on TV and at Beth Israel Medical Center NY.
So instead of ONE Doctor or a Medi Spa seeing Dollar signs when some Rep comes toting a bag full of the newest tricks for the biggest money making sector of health (weight loss), Mehmet Oz has a huge TEAM of medical researchers looking at this stuff for you, so like his show or not, it behooves us to pay attention when he says something is crap.

Just my 2c and all advice in this post is my opinion only, I am not a medical professional, I will not disclose the Doctors I spoke to and you should seek the advice of your own doctor who can look at your medical history before taking any supplements or commencing a weightloss program of ANY kind.

If you have comments, drop me an email, comment below or drop me a facebook note

Ciao!

from a
Bona Fide Glam Junkie

Here's a money saving secret on good skincare

Not even a tip I found in a magazine or online, just started taking a close look at an unusual group of beauty products to see if they compared to my pricey stuff (or requirements in "stuff") in good ingredients that work.

First you should know that solid science tells us there's not many of ingredients in skin care that honestly "work" and the only one you should really be worried about getting in as many of your products as you can layer, is Retinol.. aka.. retinyl palmitate (most common in skin care ingredient lists) vitamin A, retin A, retinoic acid. All of these are topical retinol that is applied to the skin, safe and the only thing truly proven to help wrinkles with regular use, because it accelerates cell turnover, stimulates collagen and basically keeps renewing your skin as long as you use it, thus slows down the appearance of aging. It also kicks sun spots and uneven skin tone problems in the butt.. Again, because of the turnover and how it works. "Skin Correctors", the rage lately, are simply adding or boosting retins in their formulas, with some complimenting soothing and antioxidant ingredients. It's their particular mixes that hey patent.

There are indeed useful ingredients that can also helpfully go into skin care that help retin do it's job well or better... peptides deliver it deeper into the skin, other vitamins and fruit extracts can exfoliate or be antioxident making retins easier to absorb all in one step, other ingredients help with sensitivity or encapsulate the retin to release it in a controlled way to help with irritation, oils, butters and squalane soften skin and help seal it in and the unpronounceable ingredients, so long as they aren't parabens are usually fine and necessary to keep it all from stinging, or to keep it fresh, cohesive and emulsified, because retin breaks down fast & separates ( part of why it works), so never buy huge tubes or jars, they will have too much preservative and junk in them.

Confused? Don't be, just be sure you can find any of the aforementioned retin or Vit A derivative names in the list of ingredients and NOT as one of the the last ingredients. The higher an ingredient on a list, the more of it there is... This goes for all labels, so no excuses for too much salt, sugar and other crap in your food either....
But Ask if you're unsure, get the sales assistants to read those infernal microscopic labels for you.

But back on topic, have at least one (pref 2, a day and heavier night one) really good, high dose retin product and add as many others as you can sub in for your old stuff like, primer (Too Faced has brilliant one) foundation (many of them now), cleansers, night cream (philosophy's appropriately named, Help Me night cream is great), that also have at least a bit of retinyl palmitate, (don't pass up drug store brands, Neutrogena has a fabbo tinted moisturizer with sunscreen, I use on my neck and chest every day and it's faded all my sun spots, plus gives me a nice unwrinkled cleavage (bonus!) and it's cheap ! Don't forget sunscreen in your products, retin makes you more sun sensitive because it turns over your skin cell renewal so much faster, you burn easier.

One more tip for this wonder ingredient, it can take getting used to if you haven't used it much or at all, because it IS active and it DOES work so it CAN cause redness, peeling and breakouts to start with. Ease into it and bear the uglies... persist for a few weeks.. Start with one product twice a week, then every 2nd day when you skin is handling it, then to everyday, all the layers AND exfoliate to take off the dead skin cells layer so it can get right in there. A clarisonic is your best skin friend.

SO.. The secret ?

MEN'S skincare. I found a good brand serum today that was for men, that had identical ingredients, word for word, order for list order as the woman's version. The price difference. $95 and $36
Shocker... Of COURSE men Will Not spend big bucks on skin care, if you can even get them to use it, but for wrinkles and moisture delivery into the skin, there's no difference in composition and need (other than individual results) despite mens perceived tougher hides.

So for my money, even if it doesn't smell girly (and I don't want it clashing with my perfume anyway), I'm in !

I ordered today and I'll let you know what I observe initially and after 4 weeks, by which point you should see results for a product containing retins if it has more than a pin head drop in it.

This product below is the one I'm trying, versus Lancome Primordial, Murad, Perricone, PT Roth and other brands I looked at or have used. Clinique laser doesn't even compare because of the tiny amount of retin in it, which is the problem with most of those things, hence the emphasis on a good serum or treatment AND night cream, then layer the other incidental stuff like primers, foundation, eye creams, moisturizers with sunscreen, that have the same small amounts, etc for extra oomph.

I'll see how this goes.

Vitamin A Facial Treatment by Anthony Logistics - Powerful dose of vitamin A (10%) to help reduce signs of aging and improve elasticity and texture of the skin. Solution: Potent Vitamin A increases cellular turnover, renews, restores and replenishes. Carrot Root tones and firms, Squalane lubricates and softens. Shea Butter eases wrinkles, smoothes and moisturizes.

"This formula's infusion of vitamin A increases cellular turnover, and renews, restores, and replenishes the complexion. It works to tone, firm, lubricate, and soften the skin as it deeply moisturizes. Regular use of Vitamin A Treatment (over a three-week period) has been shown to significantly diminish existing lines and wrinkles, appearance of age spots, sun spots, freckles, and discolorations."

I'll keep you posted



Chez - The Glam Junkie



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