Tuesday Tip: Summer manicure neutrals

Tuesday Tip:  Everytime I wear Amanda I am newly surprised at what a fun summer manicure color it is.  This perfectly peachy salmon blends to every skin tone – magically looking darker against darker skin and looking more pale against lighter skin.  (So fun to discover that our District Manager Erica was my manicare twin today).  http://www.julep.com/nail-color/Amanda

I believe in color as a path to happiness, and there’s no where I appreciate color more than against the slate grey of my keyboard that I spend so much time stroking everyday.  Amanda is the perfect manicure color – and such a delightful surprise that it’s perfect on both me AND Erica.

PS note Erica’s gorgeous new engagement ring.   Congratulations to you both – we’re so excited for you!!  And job VERY well done Tyson!

Tuesday Tip: Tofu, the new botox

Tuesday Tip:  Although I spend a lot of time searching for the most effective ingredients to treat hands and feet from the outside, I’m also very interested in how the food we eat impacts the way we look.  And it turns out that eating soy can significantly reduce your wrinkles.  YouBeauty, one of my favorite new beauty sites, says so.  And the site is backed by Dr. Oz, so it’s based on real research.

Which shows that isoflavones, found in abundance in soy, help reduce existing wrinkles and prevent wrinkles from forming by improving skin elasticity.  Dr. Oz suggests one or two servings of soy per day – through tofu, edamame, or soy lattes.  If the texture of soft soy bothers you, try looking for “Extra firm” soy.  An easy way to prepare it is pan fried or heated in the microwave – and drizzled with a mixture of soy sauce, garlic, scallions, and the secret ingredient:  a little vinegar (any kind).  YUM.  Even better if it’s reducing my crow’s feet . . .

http://www.youbeauty.com/nutrition/superfoods-for-beauty

Tuesday Tip: MacGyvering myself some hair conditioner

My Tuesday Tip this week is a true story that happened to yours truly just last week.

I had a breakfast meeting last Thursday morning with a beauty editor from Marie Claire, an elegant, lithe  former professional ballet dancer who is also smart, insightful, funny and engaging.  You know.  One of those.

Anyway, that morning I woke up in my economy hotel room (that I was so proud of myself for finding through Expedia’s new “blind deals” hotel offers) to find that there was no conditioner.  NO CONDITIONER!   Just shampoo.

And ever since Leah my brilliant hair designer convinced me to go all ombre on my hair color, my blondish hair ends have taken on that frizzy feel that I had only read about in magazines heretofore. I have Asian hair, which is SUPPOSED to not frizz, unless you bleach it blond, I guess.  Now it is acting all blonde.

So no conditioner is a disaster.  Of proportions only to be rivaled by my lack of hair styling implements, on account of my dropping my curling iron in the toilet.  (Darn that “deal” of a hotel room with no counter space!).

But since I am the self-proclaimed MacGyver of beauty (for those of you old enough to remember the show or the SNL spoof based on the show), I looked in my purse and dug out my secret weapon.  My Julep Essential Cuticle Oil.   At first I tried to roller ball the cuticle oil into my hair, but since that took WAY too long, I had to pop out the roller ball to get more action.  (FYI It turns out our cuticle oil tastes just like it smells, in case you ever have occasion to bite the end of a cuticle oil roller ball).

So I heated the cuticle oil in a little plastic cup of water, rubbed copious amounts into my hair, and then
rinsed and shampooed (remembering the directions from when I used to use V05 Hot Oil treatments WAAAAY back when I used to watch MacGyver).  As a bonus, I rubbed what remained in my hands on my elbows, arms and legs for a lovely soft sheen.

A quick hotel wall-blow dryer blowout later, and I was ready for Nina Garcia herself.   Julep Essential Cuticle Oil.  Don’t leave home without it.

http://www.julep.com/mani-care/julep-essential-cuticle-oil

Tuesday tip: Make Beautiful Dumplings

My mother always said that I had to make beautiful dumplings if I wanted beautiful children.  (What she ACTUALLY said was more threatening: “If you make ugly mandoo (Korean dumplings), you’ll have  ugly children).

I once read somewhere that the overwhelming majority of men believe that what they wear/say/do in front of the TV impacts the performance of the sports event they are watching.  So why wouldn’t my dumpling folding skills impact the pulchritude of my offspring?

Which leads me to the question, what else can we be doing to boost each other’s beauty?  Can my parallel parking reduce your hair frizz (in which case I’m sorry!).  Can your gardening impact my eyelash length (in which case, get to it!).

But doing something in the improbable hope that it will benefit someone else is one of the best definitions of beauty, isn’t it?

And in the end, you can always eat the dumplings (as we are tongiht).  Yum.

Tuesday Tip: Our new “Pippa” will make your rear look fabulous

Okay, not really.  But it’s ALMOST that transformative.  Our new Pippa Julep Nail Vernis is the neutral that Kate has always been waiting for.  A creamy camel, so elegant and hip and sporty and sexy all at the same time.  Upstages without even meaning to, caring or noticing.

So I try really hard not to use my blog as an advertising vehicle for Julep products – but I couldn’t restrain myself this time!  If you’re used to sheer neutrals, you’ve GOT to try Pippa.  It’s a whole new take on neutral.  Reminds me of sexy patent camel pumps.  Never mind more polished, I feel positively quasi-royal.  And I NEED the that boos most days.

On the more real side of “Pippa” – it’s so fun that we now have amazing summer interns like Ty to help us unload our nail polish shipment that FINALLY arrived today and Gabrielle to get it out to our blogger girlfriends.  Leaving me more time in the evenings to focus on the Voice, which I love because it’s so anti-American Idol.  Hooray girlfriend encouragement and supportive comments.  And I love Christina in a bandage dress.

TUESDAY TIP: The “So True So False” Guide to Waxing vs. Shaving

One of the most popular questions that I’m asked is the difference between shaving and waxing. Myths still abound in this space, so on this Tuesday Tip I’m setting the record straight with my “So True So False” to Waxing vs. Shaving.

Shaving makes your hair grow in thicker, darker, and grow faster. SO FALSE. Because shaving cuts the hair bluntly and uniformly at the skin’s surface, regrowth is more noticeable. Instead of the normal tapered end, a blunt end looks more coarse – and all the stubble grows in at the same rate, calling more attention to the growth. If you want to avoid the appearance of uniform stubble growing in, waxing is a better choice than shaving – especially for facial hair.
Hair grows more slowly when you wax. SO SEEMINGLY TRUE. Waxing is an effective way to pull the entire hair out of its follicle. Hair takes longer to become noticeable because it has to grow to the surface of the skin before you can see it. Also, since every hair grows in at a different rate, making hair growth much less noticeable. Most women who come to Julep wax legs every three to four weeks, instead of every 2 to 3 days with shaving.
Repeated waxing can eliminate hair over time. SO TRUE. Yanking hair out of its follicle oer and over can damage the follicle enough to keep it from producing more hair. But the number of waxing treatments it takes to achieve this effect varies with each person.