Mix a drop of illuminating moisturizer into your foundation for a Summer glow that will make heads turn!
Stay Cool & Stay Beautiful!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
The Magic of Primer.
Would you paint your walls without priming them first? No way! They'd be all crazy by the time you were finished. Not to mention, the color wouldn't be uniform once the paint dried. The same goes for our pretty faces, too! If you notice that your foundation is not staying uniform or your colors are turning a little funky---- it's time to try a primer!
Why should I wear one? Primers these days surpass the primers of the past. Most are now super lightweight, oil-free, and you really don't feel like you have anything extra on your skin. They fill in lines and wrinkles, help make our pores look smaller, and even out skin tone and discoloration. Some are customized to give extra luminosity to drier skin types or help mattify oilier skin types. In the end you'll use less foundation, because you start with a perfectly prepped canvas. Primer also gives your makeup better staying power and the hues will stay true to color.
How do you apply it? Cleanse, tone and moisturize your skin like you normally do. Give your moisturizer a few minutes to sink in. Take a pearl size amount of your foundation primer and pat all over your face and neck with your fingers. Once it's patted all over your face and neck, quickly smooth it out with your fingers. It's important to put primers on with your fingers, because your body heat will help it fill in the areas it needs to go. (Others may tell you to put your primers on with a foundation sponge, but you'll get better results with your fingers! The same is true for eye shadow primers!)
Which are the best? I can honestly say I don't have a "favorite" primer, because I really haven't come across any "bad" ones. I do strongly suggest using a primer and a foundation from the same brand! The ingredients are designed to be compatible. I've found that sometimes when you try a primer from one brand then a foundation from another brand, your skin might feel extra oily or the foundation may ball or cake up... then you're left thinking that one of those products you've just used is horrible. Which is probably not the case, just those particular formulas were not designed to work together.
If you're using cosmetics on your beautiful face, you deserve to have a perfect canvas to work on! Try something new-- add a primer to your routine! Be prepared: your flawlessness may stop traffic!!
xo, Browzilla
Why should I wear one? Primers these days surpass the primers of the past. Most are now super lightweight, oil-free, and you really don't feel like you have anything extra on your skin. They fill in lines and wrinkles, help make our pores look smaller, and even out skin tone and discoloration. Some are customized to give extra luminosity to drier skin types or help mattify oilier skin types. In the end you'll use less foundation, because you start with a perfectly prepped canvas. Primer also gives your makeup better staying power and the hues will stay true to color.
How do you apply it? Cleanse, tone and moisturize your skin like you normally do. Give your moisturizer a few minutes to sink in. Take a pearl size amount of your foundation primer and pat all over your face and neck with your fingers. Once it's patted all over your face and neck, quickly smooth it out with your fingers. It's important to put primers on with your fingers, because your body heat will help it fill in the areas it needs to go. (Others may tell you to put your primers on with a foundation sponge, but you'll get better results with your fingers! The same is true for eye shadow primers!)
Which are the best? I can honestly say I don't have a "favorite" primer, because I really haven't come across any "bad" ones. I do strongly suggest using a primer and a foundation from the same brand! The ingredients are designed to be compatible. I've found that sometimes when you try a primer from one brand then a foundation from another brand, your skin might feel extra oily or the foundation may ball or cake up... then you're left thinking that one of those products you've just used is horrible. Which is probably not the case, just those particular formulas were not designed to work together.
If you're using cosmetics on your beautiful face, you deserve to have a perfect canvas to work on! Try something new-- add a primer to your routine! Be prepared: your flawlessness may stop traffic!!
xo, Browzilla
Monday, May 16, 2011
Things We Love: Glop & Glam
Every time I wash my daughter's hair, I want to sing this company's praises and scream from the rooftops! So, here's my opportunity!
I LOVE GLOP & GLAM!!!!!!
These haircare and styling products are specifically designed for young, undamaged, untarnished fine hair. They are marketed for the under 13-year old crowd, but even adults with super sensitive noggins can use them! (A little secret: at the salon, our hairstylists use traditional baby shampoos to clarify box color from their clients hair.... yikes! And we're using those on our babies little virgin hairs?!)
Glop & Glam products are super-duper safe, they rinse clean (and quickly!!), and I fully believe they are part of the reason my daughter has long, healthy gorgeous hair. The bottles last a long time. Plus, they smell so yummy!
Candy Apple Shampoo
Cake Batter Conditioner
"Unlike most children’s detanglers and other finishing products, every Glop & Glam product is free of harmful alcohol, paraben and formaldehyde [hydantoin dmdm]. Glop & Glam combines organic ingredients like aspalathus linearis leaf extract, euterpeoleracea fruit extract, glycine soja (soybean) protein and punica grantatum extract with amazing natural nutrients such as aloe, camellia leaf extract [green tea] and echinacea derived from purpurea extract. These combinations protect kid’s hair from damaging environmental toxins. Beware!" (www.glopandglam.com)
Give it a whirl--- you'll be so glad you did!
xo, Browzilla
I LOVE GLOP & GLAM!!!!!!
These haircare and styling products are specifically designed for young, undamaged, untarnished fine hair. They are marketed for the under 13-year old crowd, but even adults with super sensitive noggins can use them! (A little secret: at the salon, our hairstylists use traditional baby shampoos to clarify box color from their clients hair.... yikes! And we're using those on our babies little virgin hairs?!)
Glop & Glam products are super-duper safe, they rinse clean (and quickly!!), and I fully believe they are part of the reason my daughter has long, healthy gorgeous hair. The bottles last a long time. Plus, they smell so yummy!
Candy Apple Shampoo
Cake Batter Conditioner"Unlike most children’s detanglers and other finishing products, every Glop & Glam product is free of harmful alcohol, paraben and formaldehyde [hydantoin dmdm]. Glop & Glam combines organic ingredients like aspalathus linearis leaf extract, euterpeoleracea fruit extract, glycine soja (soybean) protein and punica grantatum extract with amazing natural nutrients such as aloe, camellia leaf extract [green tea] and echinacea derived from purpurea extract. These combinations protect kid’s hair from damaging environmental toxins. Beware!" (www.glopandglam.com)
Give it a whirl--- you'll be so glad you did!
xo, Browzilla
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
The Nitty Gritty of Cleansing
How many of you use your facial cleanser to remove your makeup? Would it shock you to know your trusty cleanser may not actually be removing your makeup at all?! Brace yourself: ALL CLEANSERS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL... it's true!
Treatment cleansers are designed to cleanse the blank canvas of our skin. Treatment cleansers do the hard stuff: deep clean our pores, treat our lines and wrinkles, treat our discoloration, etc. Yet how can our treatment cleansers do their job if we still have layers of gunk on our skin?! (Yuk!) If treatment cleansers are put on skin that has a layer of primer and makeup on it already, we are just smooshing all of that makeup around on our skin and leaving all of that icky residue behind. (Double yuk!)
So what's the secret? It's simple: either use a makeup remover before cleansing your skin or use a cleanser that does double duty as a makeup remover. There are a few out there!
My favorite makeup remover; Dermalogica Pre-Cleanse: It dissolves oil-based makeup, sebum, sunscreen and pollutants while prepping the skin for your treatment cleanser. It "delivers a level of cleansing traditionally found in a professional treatment room." ---- www.dermalogica.com
Other makeup removers that get the job done:
Shu Uemura Cleansing Beauty Oil (which comes in 6 different formulas!)
MAC Cleanse Off Oil
Some facial cleansers that do double duty as makeup removers:
Peter Thomas Roth Gentle Foaming Cleanser
philosophy Purity
Bottom line: for truly healthy skin we have to get the makeup and gunk off first, then we'll be able to treat those pesky skin issues that lie beneath!
Healthy skin... here we come!
xo, Browzilla
Treatment cleansers are designed to cleanse the blank canvas of our skin. Treatment cleansers do the hard stuff: deep clean our pores, treat our lines and wrinkles, treat our discoloration, etc. Yet how can our treatment cleansers do their job if we still have layers of gunk on our skin?! (Yuk!) If treatment cleansers are put on skin that has a layer of primer and makeup on it already, we are just smooshing all of that makeup around on our skin and leaving all of that icky residue behind. (Double yuk!)
So what's the secret? It's simple: either use a makeup remover before cleansing your skin or use a cleanser that does double duty as a makeup remover. There are a few out there!
My favorite makeup remover; Dermalogica Pre-Cleanse: It dissolves oil-based makeup, sebum, sunscreen and pollutants while prepping the skin for your treatment cleanser. It "delivers a level of cleansing traditionally found in a professional treatment room." ---- www.dermalogica.com
Other makeup removers that get the job done:
Shu Uemura Cleansing Beauty Oil (which comes in 6 different formulas!)
MAC Cleanse Off Oil
Some facial cleansers that do double duty as makeup removers:
Peter Thomas Roth Gentle Foaming Cleanser
philosophy Purity
Bottom line: for truly healthy skin we have to get the makeup and gunk off first, then we'll be able to treat those pesky skin issues that lie beneath!
Healthy skin... here we come!
xo, Browzilla
The Re-Launch!
Whew.... what a crazy year it's been! Browzilla Beauty has been on hiatus...... but now we're back and better than ever! And I'm so excited for the information, tips and tricks we'll be bringing you! I decided to keep my old posts as our starting point instead of starting from scratch---- the basics are still our foundation. From here on out, I promise to hit hard with the tips, and not sound so much like stereo instructions! (I promise, I'll try my best!!)
Keep reading.... invite your friends to follow... and most of all: Stay Beautiful!
xo, Browzilla
Keep reading.... invite your friends to follow... and most of all: Stay Beautiful!
xo, Browzilla
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Skincare 101: The Basics
It may seem very elementary to start with skincare basics, but in my practice I often come across clients who are cleansing their beautiful faces with bar soap or body wash in the shower or simply splashing their face with water. I’m told all of these more often than you would think. It always takes me by surprise, but I am not here to judge, only to guide! (You’ll hear little tidbits over time about all of the beauty basics I was oblivious to growing up! Sometimes, I’m learning right along with you!)
Let's get down to the basics: I believe in a 3-step basic routine for at-home care: 1. Cleanse 2. Tone 3. Moisturize. (Rome was not built in a day, so if you are currently using water or bar soap as your cleanser, we will start with “baby steps”.) But first, let’s dive deeper…. Why are these 3 steps so important and how do we do it?!
Step 1: Cleansing - -
Why should I cleanse my skin?
Cleansing in the morning preps your skin for the day. Do you ever have those mornings where your makeup just won’t go on right? Or have those mornings where you feel like you need to plug yourself into an electrical outlet to give your skin a healthy glow? (Are you cleansing in the morning?)
Cleansing at night takes the day off. (How many of you sleep in your makeup more often than you take it off at night? Raise your hands. It has been said that sleeping in your makeup one night ages your skin 7 days! Do your math, then let’s get you back to your age-- or better yet, looking younger than your age! Your first mission if you choose to accept it: challenge yourself to remove your makeup every night!)
How do I do it?
Take a pea-size of your cleanser and gently smoosh it all over your face then use a luke-warm soft washcloth or cotton pad to remove. Creamy cleansers generally go on while skin is dry, then are rinsed off. Foaming cleansers need to be activated with water to “suds”, smoosh it gently all over your face, then rinse off with a luke-warm soft washcloth or cotton pad.
Step 2: Toning
Why should I use a toner?
Toners tend to get a bad rap in the beauty magazines, but as a skincare therapist I firmly believe this is an important step in anyone’s routine. Toners remove the residue that may be left behind from cleansing (ever notice your makeup disappearing halfway through the day? This could be caused from cleanser residue eating away at your fresh face of makeup.), they re-balance the skin’s pH level, and they prep the skin for your moisturizing step.
How do I do it?
The easiest way to tone is to use a toner that comes in a spray -- one or two spritzes misted over your face, and whammo = done! Toners can be transplanted into toiletry spray bottles if it doesn’t already come in a spray and you’ll have the same effect. You can also dampen a cotton ball or cotton round (ring it out, you don‘t want it soaking), and put a drop or two of your toner on the damp cotton then swipe once all around your face = still, totally easy! Now, while your skin is damp from the toner application it is prime time to put on moisturizer (your bottle of moisturizer will last longer, too!).
Step 3: Moisturizing
Why should I use moisturizer?
Moisturizer locks our own natural moisture into the skin and adds additional moisture if our skin type needs an extra boost. No matter what your skin type, moisturizer is a necessary step in keeping our skin supple and healthy.
How do I apply my moisturizer?
While your skin is damp from your toner, take ½ a pea-size to a pea-size (You may be thinking, “Browzilla, I usually use a quarter-size or more… ½ a pea-size, are you insane?!” but, have no fear… I assure you that if you are using the correct moisturizer for your skin type and putting it on right after your toner, this is plenty!) and quickly with feather-like strokes smooth it all over your face and down your neck and across your collarbone. It’s easy as pie!
There you have it - - the why and how of the 3-step basic skincare routine. I hope you find yourself thinking, “Wow, I can totally do that! I thought it’d be way more involved.” or, you may find yourself thinking, “Oh my gosh, that seems like too much for me to do!” or, you may find yourself thinking, “Cool, I’m already on top of it!” I’m here to tell you that no matter where you fall into the mix, we’ll get you on the right path! If you find yourself asking, “But, what cleanser/toner/moisturizer is right for MY skin?!” We’ll cover the differences between skin types and what each skin type needs in our next installment!
Feeling overwhelmed? Start with Baby Steps:
--If these basics seem too overwhelming at first, I challenge you to pick one or two steps and start mastering them first. There is no harm in starting slow!
-- If you don’t think you’ll have enough time morning and night, start with mastering it once a day. Once you have the once a day routine down for 14 consecutive days, try adding the other time of day to your routine. The 3-step basic routine only takes roughly 2 minutes. It’s super quick, and super easy!
-- And, no matter what - - challenge yourself to the nightly makeup removal! Your skin will thank you for it in the future! (And in those moments where you’re super-duper tired, or have been partying a little too late………… makeup removal wipes work wonders for those moments you need to take it off in a jiffy! There have even been moments I’ve removed my makeup with a baby wipe - - it doesn’t do the best job, but it gets it done in a pinch!)
Please email me if you have ANY questions! I'm always here!
Welcome to the glamorous life of healthy skin!
Let's get down to the basics: I believe in a 3-step basic routine for at-home care: 1. Cleanse 2. Tone 3. Moisturize. (Rome was not built in a day, so if you are currently using water or bar soap as your cleanser, we will start with “baby steps”.) But first, let’s dive deeper…. Why are these 3 steps so important and how do we do it?!
Step 1: Cleansing - -
Why should I cleanse my skin?
Cleansing in the morning preps your skin for the day. Do you ever have those mornings where your makeup just won’t go on right? Or have those mornings where you feel like you need to plug yourself into an electrical outlet to give your skin a healthy glow? (Are you cleansing in the morning?)
Cleansing at night takes the day off. (How many of you sleep in your makeup more often than you take it off at night? Raise your hands. It has been said that sleeping in your makeup one night ages your skin 7 days! Do your math, then let’s get you back to your age-- or better yet, looking younger than your age! Your first mission if you choose to accept it: challenge yourself to remove your makeup every night!)
How do I do it?
Take a pea-size of your cleanser and gently smoosh it all over your face then use a luke-warm soft washcloth or cotton pad to remove. Creamy cleansers generally go on while skin is dry, then are rinsed off. Foaming cleansers need to be activated with water to “suds”, smoosh it gently all over your face, then rinse off with a luke-warm soft washcloth or cotton pad.
Step 2: Toning
Why should I use a toner?
Toners tend to get a bad rap in the beauty magazines, but as a skincare therapist I firmly believe this is an important step in anyone’s routine. Toners remove the residue that may be left behind from cleansing (ever notice your makeup disappearing halfway through the day? This could be caused from cleanser residue eating away at your fresh face of makeup.), they re-balance the skin’s pH level, and they prep the skin for your moisturizing step.
How do I do it?
The easiest way to tone is to use a toner that comes in a spray -- one or two spritzes misted over your face, and whammo = done! Toners can be transplanted into toiletry spray bottles if it doesn’t already come in a spray and you’ll have the same effect. You can also dampen a cotton ball or cotton round (ring it out, you don‘t want it soaking), and put a drop or two of your toner on the damp cotton then swipe once all around your face = still, totally easy! Now, while your skin is damp from the toner application it is prime time to put on moisturizer (your bottle of moisturizer will last longer, too!).
Step 3: Moisturizing
Why should I use moisturizer?
Moisturizer locks our own natural moisture into the skin and adds additional moisture if our skin type needs an extra boost. No matter what your skin type, moisturizer is a necessary step in keeping our skin supple and healthy.
How do I apply my moisturizer?
While your skin is damp from your toner, take ½ a pea-size to a pea-size (You may be thinking, “Browzilla, I usually use a quarter-size or more… ½ a pea-size, are you insane?!” but, have no fear… I assure you that if you are using the correct moisturizer for your skin type and putting it on right after your toner, this is plenty!) and quickly with feather-like strokes smooth it all over your face and down your neck and across your collarbone. It’s easy as pie!
There you have it - - the why and how of the 3-step basic skincare routine. I hope you find yourself thinking, “Wow, I can totally do that! I thought it’d be way more involved.” or, you may find yourself thinking, “Oh my gosh, that seems like too much for me to do!” or, you may find yourself thinking, “Cool, I’m already on top of it!” I’m here to tell you that no matter where you fall into the mix, we’ll get you on the right path! If you find yourself asking, “But, what cleanser/toner/moisturizer is right for MY skin?!” We’ll cover the differences between skin types and what each skin type needs in our next installment!
Feeling overwhelmed? Start with Baby Steps:
--If these basics seem too overwhelming at first, I challenge you to pick one or two steps and start mastering them first. There is no harm in starting slow!
-- If you don’t think you’ll have enough time morning and night, start with mastering it once a day. Once you have the once a day routine down for 14 consecutive days, try adding the other time of day to your routine. The 3-step basic routine only takes roughly 2 minutes. It’s super quick, and super easy!
-- And, no matter what - - challenge yourself to the nightly makeup removal! Your skin will thank you for it in the future! (And in those moments where you’re super-duper tired, or have been partying a little too late………… makeup removal wipes work wonders for those moments you need to take it off in a jiffy! There have even been moments I’ve removed my makeup with a baby wipe - - it doesn’t do the best job, but it gets it done in a pinch!)
Please email me if you have ANY questions! I'm always here!
Welcome to the glamorous life of healthy skin!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Welcome!
Welcome, my beauties! I’m so happy to see you here! I’m so happy to finally launch my newest baby: browzilla beauty! (Check out my info tab for more information on me, if you want a quick sneak peek behind why I do what I do!)
Browzilla beauty is designed to be an all-inclusive informational tool to help navigate the world of skincare, makeup and all things glamorous. We’ll touch upon how to properly take care of your skin no matter what your age, break down and understand each step in a skincare routine, take an in-depth look at each skin type, learn how to highlight your best features with makeup, learn why common skin conditions happen and how to treat them, learn how to treat and conceal common issues, how to easily incorporate the latest trends into your beauty routine, and so much more!!
So, please make yourself at home! This is a place designed to bring out the best in you! I’m happy you’re here!
Enjoy!
*Browzilla
Browzilla beauty is designed to be an all-inclusive informational tool to help navigate the world of skincare, makeup and all things glamorous. We’ll touch upon how to properly take care of your skin no matter what your age, break down and understand each step in a skincare routine, take an in-depth look at each skin type, learn how to highlight your best features with makeup, learn why common skin conditions happen and how to treat them, learn how to treat and conceal common issues, how to easily incorporate the latest trends into your beauty routine, and so much more!!
So, please make yourself at home! This is a place designed to bring out the best in you! I’m happy you’re here!
Enjoy!
*Browzilla
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