At the “Green Music Event” last week I was introduced to the most amazing body buff and body scrub created by Nettie Davis a celebrity manicurist with a loyal list of followers. Her best friend Desiree pulled me aside and worked the magical body scrub into my hands. She used the grapefruit scented one and the smell was absolutely edible.  When she was done my hand looked 10 years younger and felt like a baby’s bottom.  She followed it with a body balm that I now can’t live without.  I keep it in my purse and just love they way it emphasizes my younger looking hands!

Nettiescrub which is made with lots of love by Nettie herself, contains the best elements of natural ingredients including vitamins, minerals, and oils with delicious fruit extracts. Her fabulous collection of products include exfoliants, body balms, soaps, and soy candles.

They make a wonderful Valentine’s Day gift so hurry up and get yours at nettiescrub before the 14th.  Below is a photo of Nettie (on the right) giving a manicure to Sue ( a journalist) at the Green Music Event for the Grammys.

Happy Valentine’s Day!  and remember to rock your world and others with Nettiescrub!

xo,

b

image credit:  beauty style watch

As our beautiful bodies begin to give way to the signs of aging, even though most of us feel just as fabulous, it’s our hands and necks that can give us away! I remember my mother always saying whenever we would see a celebrity on TV that you could tell their age by their hands and neck. Now that I am in my 47th year of life I am beginning to notice that what she said was on point, and that my own hands have fallen victim to the same.

Depending on where you live you can do the turtle neck thing for the neck, but what do we do with the hands? Well fret no more, the good news is there are products out there that can help diminish the signs of aging hands. Some of them are even making their way into the hands of some very big celebrities like Madonna who as you know turned 50 this year, and even she can’t escape this eventual fate.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on this amazing hand cream from Poshe called “Posh Potion of Youth” Hand and Nail Creme for younger, healthier looking hands and nails. My sister who was a model, and hand model in New York and moved out to Los Angeles, fast forward and 2 kids later swears by this creme and if anyone should know it’s her.

After using “Poshe Potion of Youth’s” fabulous hand creme for a solid week, she said she noticed the difference in how her hands looked and felt. They looked smoother, and the texture of her hands was softer. Well, that was all I needed to hear and I was sold. I was so tired of looking down at my hands and saying “are those my hands?” The sleek bottle fits nicely into any purse, or if you prefer you can leave in car so you’re never without.

This “Potion of Youth” was created to repair deep skin damage such as age spots and is formulated with age-defying Peptides that enhance and strengthen cell adhesion and actually promote the rebuilding of new organized collagen fibers in UV-damaged skin. All of these ingredients come together to promote younger, more youthful looking hands. Poshe Potion of Youth Hand Creme also includes Anti-aging Retinol and Shea Butter which keeps the hands feeling soft and looking beautiful all while promoting healthy nail growth.

This 1.7 fluid oz bottle of wonder creme costs about $40.00, but if you go to their site Poshe ASAP it may still be on sale.

Happy, healthy hands everyone!

xx,

B

image credit: Poshe

I have started my yearly battle with overly dry hands - ugh. They are not pretty, and I am always trying new products to help try to heal them.

 
Over at eBeautyDaily, I am filling in for Christina this week, and I explain my hand therapies over there a bit more today. You will definitely want to surf on over there right now to read my Help for Hands post to see what I am really liking about Retinol Correxion Hand Repair from ROC, St. Ives Oatmeal & Shea Butter Advanced Body Moisturizer, and the always reliable Aquaphor.

Apparently, if you are of a certain age (like 40-ish) and you do not have short, squared tip, french manicured nails, then you are looked at as “different”.

With dark blue nail shades one of the hottest trends this season, I decided to take the plunge and painted my fingernails with MAC’s Nail Lacquer in Whirlwind. I have worn darker shades on my toes before, but not on my fingernails, so it is definitely something new.

Whirlwind is a frosted metallic royal blue with green, blue and purple pearl. And I really like it more than I thought I would.

To those dozen or so of you who negatively commented on my blue nails over the last few days. Too bad - I like it! Keep your opinions to yourself. I like to try the trends, and do not need to be classically refined as you think that a 40 something mother of four should be. While trends are good, following the crowd that thinks they are all that when they are not, just to be considered “in” is not. Definitely, not!

What do you think?

Only 3 more days to get your pre-orders in for the Nordstrom Beauty Exclusives Event!

This two-piece set includes the best selling Glamour Gloves and a tube of Glamour Glove Gel from Bliss. Just spread the gel over the hand, slip on the gloves, and relax for ten minutes. Remove, and rinse your way to extremely soft hands. This $70 value is just $52 for the sale.

If you have never been to a Nordstrom Exclusives Beauty Event or shopped the website for the exclusives, you really must. The exclusive beauty products they get in are absolutely fabulous.

The Beauty Exclusives Pre-Sale is going on now, and I am constantly changing and adding more things to my shopping bag on Nordstrom.com. You see, you can pre-order the items now, before they go on sale on July 20th, which is when they will ship out.

Just take a look at some of the goodies:

From now until the main event of July 20th, I will bring you information on different sets that will be exclusive to Nordstrom just for this event. If you see something you like, add it to your shopping bag immediately and check-out before the 20th. Many of the exclusives do sell out.

As always, let me know what you can’t wait for or cave on!

Now that summer’s upon us, it’s time to show off our beautiful nails, both on the fingers and tootsies.

Unfortunately, many of us don’t have healthy, beautiful nails, and some summer bummers such as the sun’s harsh rays, salt water, and chlorine can zap moisture from nails, and gardening and sports can subject nails to a brutal beating, all of which can leave nails split, broken, and peeling.

I’ve found an easy fix, and it is not what you may typically think. I have been repairing the damage to my nails with Appearex. Appearex is the #1 dermatologist-recommended product for strengthening nails. It is a pill, in which you take one every day. This nail therapy contains 2.5mg of biotin, a B-complex vitamin clinically proven to improve nail quality.

In using Appearex over the last few months, I have noticed that my nails are noticeably stronger and healthier, and I am not so shy when showing them off. It really is an easy nail fix, unconventional that it may be.

Appearex can be found over the counter in the nail care aisles of major drugstores. A one month supply is about $15. More information and coupons for Appearex can be found on the website as well.

Oh dear, I have noticed a few. On my hands. Ugly, little brown, patchy spots. Age spots. I hate them. I want them gone, and better yet, I have been looking into how to prevent age spots in the first place.

The best way to prevent age spots is to protect your skin from the sun by using an effective sunscreen or sun block. Each and every day. I swear I have been lathering sunscreen on my hands throughout the day.

By putting on anti-aging sunscreen each and every day, like I have just started doing, you give your skin a barrier against any further damage as well as protection from the UV rays. These rays are essentially what cause age spots over time.

I am looking into some fade creams, and will report on those soon. I remember trying an anti-aging age spot fade cream from Joan Rivers before, and I will definitely be looking that one up again.

If you have any suggestions, please let me know before I hit the stores next week.

And if you think no one will notice, you couldn’t be more wrong. My husband’s Christmas party is coming up in a couple of weeks and the first thing I looked at was the length of my nails and the appearance of my hands.

I can get my hair done, have a facial and invest in a new dress, but what can you do about hands that look old and tired?? Well, you can start pampering them. Have you ever noticed that women on TV shows are often shown applying hand cream before climbing into bed. There’s lots you can do, but applying a good hand cream is a good place to start!!

And just in case you want to go really decadent… the dispensor up on your left heats your favorite hand cream. Now how cool is that??

*Conair HLD31 Heated Lotion Dispenser w/Chrome Accent

Have I ever mentioned the fact that I have years and years worth of magazines? I must be the only person who can walk into a mall looking for a pair of white socks and come out with a buggy full of magazines. Hey, it was a Mother’s Day fundraiser and they had groups of women’s magazines at a $1.00 a year. Can you imagine. So, I simply filled up a buggy with magazines from the sixties and on up.

Anyway, for this entry, I won’t be going back that far, but I did just pull a magazine off my shelf from a long ago December and they were talking about holiday colors for fingernails. At the time, colors like hot chocolate, eggnog, gingerbread and my favorite… sugar cookies were on the hot list. Apparently if the color mimicked anything Christmasy, you were on the right track.

So my question for you this morning, (yes, I’m wide awake at 3:30, so I thought that I might as well get up and work) What colour will you be painting your nails this holiday season?? Come on, give us some suggestions so that we can all hit the parties with dazzling nails!

More information on Avon INSTANT MANICURE Dry Nail Enamel Strips