Tag: Beauty essentials

Traveling in beauty

Categories TravelLeave a Comment on Traveling in beauty

I travel. A lot. I crisscross the country every which way for work and I love it. I often am on four to five flights each week and I often change time zones and climates two to three times each week. And I still get compliments on my skin. Here are my best beauty travel tips.

  • I pack so many beauty products that I always have to check my bag. So if you are adamantly opposed to that, just stop reading right now.
  • I think of skin care like I do about clothes – in terms of changing climates: it’s all about layering. T-shirts + jackets = serums + moisturizers. I add and layer as need be and am equally prepared for Puerto Rico and Seattle weather.
  • Airplane air is drying, so many of those products are aimed at maintaining moisture – oils and heavier moisturizers that I would not necessarily use daily during a week in the office. Our Gentle cream cleanser. Our Kantic+® Intensely nourishing cream. My current favorite facial oil. Lots of serums.
  • Also because airplane air is drying, I always have a travel size of our Kantic® Brightening moisture mask in my purse and I apply some on any flight longer than 2.5 hours. (This also prevents me smelling like airplane all the time, which is a most lovely benefit).
  • Because of my line of work, I get a lot of samples and gifts of beauty products. I use travel as a way to test them. This morning, as part of my multi-step facial routine, I tried a sample of the new Elizabeth Arden vitamin C capsules (received as a gift on the road in Puerto Rico last week). I also take full-size gifts on the road (hence checked suitcase) and leave them in the hotel bathroom if I don’t fall in love with them and imagine that a lovely hotel attendant will find them and fall in love.
  • I have an amazing walk-in shower at home, but no bathtub. So hotel rooms with bathtubs are like a treasure. I pack bath oils (I love any Clarins body oil in my bath), bath salts (Kneipp and Aveda, always lavender, are my favorites), and take baths.
  • These baths are the perfect excuse for a mini facial “at home,” aka Gentle refining scrub and Kantic® Brightening moisture mask. Proper exfoliation is always important, but I feel it is particularly key on the road to keep my skin bright and glowing.
  • Because I am on the road so much, I maintain the same body care routine on the road as I do at home. Firming gel for neck and bust. Optimizing body contour gel. Soothing body lotion. (Are you starting to see the need to check my suitcase…?).
  • Flights are terrible for swelling in the lower extremities. So a leg and foot massage with our Dry skin balm is a must every day I fly.
  • One thing I do not travel with is my hairdryer, and hotel room hair dryers are not always amazing. A DryBar appointment on the road helps me look my best for important meetings.
  • And finally, every morning, a tall glass of water with EmergenC (Super Orange), and a shot (to drink not to inject) of Vitamin B12.

May your travels be safe – and beautiful!

Dr. Polla (aka Dad’s) top skin care tips

Categories Alchimie Forever, BeautyLeave a Comment on Dr. Polla (aka Dad’s) top skin care tips

Earlier this Summer, I had the chance to share my Dad’s (aka Dr. Luigi L. Polla, Switzerland’s leading dermatologist) favorite tips about how to age gracefully with consumers and influencers across the country. For those of you whom I did not have the chance to preach in person, I would like to preach in writing… thank you for humoring me.

Here are my Dad’s top dos and don’ts to age more gracefully:

  1. No smoking. Ever. It increases the presence of free radicals in your skin, accelerates aging, gives your skin a leather look, and creates terrible upper lip wrinkles.
  2. No straws. Just don’t do it. These are bad for the environment and bad for your upper lip wrinkles.
  3. Sleep on your back. And yes, you can teach yourself to do it. Even if you sleep half the night on your back, your face and décolleté wrinkles will thank you. (My Dad can always tell how a woman sleeps by looking at her facial wrinkles… deeper on the side you sleep on).
  4. SPF daily. From January 1st to December 31st. When it rains, When it snows. Every. Single. Day. No excuses, no exceptions.
  5. Don’t go to a tanning salon. Ever.
  6. If you’re old enough to drink, you’re old enough for a good anti-aging eye cream. Prevention is key, and the skin around the eyes is so thin it needs more help and earlier help than the rest of our face.
  7. Your face ends on your décolleté. Treat your neck and bust as you do your face, with effective anti-aging products and SPF every day. Nothing is worse than your face saying “I am 37” and your décolleté saying “I am 44.”
  8. Wear less “skin” makeup (ie foundation, powder, concealer, etc.). Take care of your skin and let your natural beauty show through.
  9. Leave your pimples alone. Don’t ever pick at them, don’t do your own extractions. All that will accomplish is scarring.
  10. Drink water. Your skin is as much a reflection of what you put on it as what you put in your body.
  11. Exercise. It’s great for your body, but also great for your skin.
  12. Choose to be happy. It shows on your skin.

Thanks Dad for everything you have taught me. About life, about love, and about skin. What tips would you add to these? I can’t wait to hear!

Winter Skin Strategies

Categories All, BeautyLeave a Comment on Winter Skin Strategies

I have had the privilege of spending the past few days at the Sundance Mountain Resort, in UT, for my favorite annual conference – Brigadoon. The days have involved skiing, incredibly stimulating conversations, new ideas, old friends, as well as snow and freezing temperatures. And my skin has been suffering!

If you are still in the midst of winter weather, here are some tips to keep your skin hydrated, comfortable, and glowing.

  1. Hydrate from the inside out. You can never drink too much water… it will help your skin and your body. (And here in Sundance, it also helps with altitude sickness!).
  2. Switch out your usual cleanser for a cream or oil-based cleanser. And use lukewarm water even when the temperatures are frigid.
  3. Layer moisturizers and oils. I recently bought the Vintner’s Daughter Active Botanical Serum and it has saved my skin. I apply it after my Pigment lightening serum, and under my Kantic+ intensely nourishing cream.
  4. Exfoliate. The most nourishing products won’t be able to penetrate and moisturize your skin if you have a layer of dead skin cells on top of your epidermis. But don’t overdo it – find a gentle scrub (like our Gentle refining scrub), and keep it to once a week.
  5. Give your skin the benefit of a hydrating treatment. I have been using our Kantic Brightening moisture mask twice weekly for the past couple of weeks, and it has saved my skin!
  6. Don’t forget your SPF. In particular in the mountains, and when enjoying winter sports, daily UV protection is a must. On top of my various creams and serums (see step #3), I layer our Daily defense SPF 23.

Enjoy the rest of the winter weather, even while dreaming of Spring!

10 beauty must-haves every woman needs at all times…

Categories All, Beauty, My life, TravelLeave a Comment on 10 beauty must-haves every woman needs at all times…

I was catching up on my reading last night and read the October issue of Allure cover to cover. They call themselves “The Beauty Expert,” I think of them as “The Beauty Bible.” One of my top 10 “BHAGs” (big hairy audacious goals, to borrow a term from Jim Collins” is to have Alchimie Forever featured in Allure.

One of my favorite features is their “Fashion Expert: 10 Things Every Woman Should Have.” This month’s column is by Michael Kors. His #4 is white roses, he calls them “the LBD of flowers.” I couldn’t agree more… Reading this feature reminded me that my girlfriend Severine asked me last week when I was in Geneva what beauty items I always had with me (aka in my purse). So here is a modified version of the “10 Things Every Woman Should Have.” My personal version, 10 beauty must-haves every woman needs at all times.”

1. Chapstick. Not having chapstick when my lips are chapped is like not having a bathroom when… well.. you get the point.

2. Lipstick. At least two shades, one that can take you through the day, and one for that unexpected date before which you don’t have time to stop by the house.

3. A tiny mirror. My mom knows how to apply lipstick without one. I don’t, and have stopped trying.

4. A small brush. I have a black small Mason Pearson that I love dearly. (I have had it for years, but wash it regularly with baby shampoo).

5. Small tweezers. Mine are purple (of course), by Tweezerman (of course).

6. Small samples of sunscreen. Who knows when you will find yourself for a long lunch on a sunny terrace. I cherish samples of LaRoche Posay Anthelios 50+.

7. A nail file. Never file your nails in public… but nail emergencies (to be dealt with in private) do arise.

8. Alchimie Forever samples. I carry Kantic calming evening cream samples everywhere. No matter what is going on with my skin, Kantic fixes it.

9. A travel toothbrush and toothpaste set. Enough said.

10. Herban Essentials Lavender Towelettes. For any of life’s small messes.