Who: Philosophy
What: Kiss Me Tonight Lip Balm
When: Every night, and sometimes in the morning
Where: My bedroom
Why: This rich but non-sticky lip balm is extremely hydrating and leaves lips instantly looking and feeling healthier. This balm kept my lips from cracking and peeling through bitterly cold winter weather conditions and through Covid. Plus, I like its cheeky name and tagline. Highly recommend.
We all have our favorite lip balms. Sure, I’m always down to try the newest lipsticks and tinted balms, but when it comes right down to it, you’re always going to find classic Burt’s Bees in my purse and a candy cane Chapstick in my medicine cabinet. However, come the first week of February with its dry indoor heat, biting outdoor winds, and a level of dehydration that I don’t quite understand, and I start looking for that holy grail of winter beauty products – something that will un-chap my poor lips.
Enter Manna Kadar Beauty Lip Bliss Lip Mask. It came in an Allure Beauty Box last fall, and aside from its cute pink and gold packaging, I didn’t think much of it. Then my lips started to get dry, cracked, and downright angry. My usual chapstick seemed to make them feel worse, so I swiped on some Lip Bliss. Instant relief! The tube said to apply before bed for maximum results, so I did. I woke up with smooth, soft, happy lips. I no longer go to bed without it.
I occasionally use Lip Bliss as a daily lip balm as well. It comes in a tube but isn’t sticky or overly glossy. It has a mild, pleasant, slightly sweet scent and is extremely hydrating. Pro tip: you can use it on cracked cuticles, too!
If you’re searching for a quick and easy fix for chapped winter lips, look no further. You can find Lip Bliss here.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that pomegranate is a magical super-food that’s basically the fountain of youth and a cure for whatever ails you, all rolled into one creepy looking fruit.
I enjoy the occasional pomegranate-flavored beverage, but my latest beauty obsessions are leading me to believe that slathering yourself in pomegranate is an even better way to reap the benefits of the magical fruit.
I’ve mentioned it before, but right now I just can’t get enough of Murad Energizing Pomegranate Lip Protector. A subtle light pink tint and smooth, not sticky, formula make it a perfect daily lip moisturizer. It goes on like a gloss but feels like a balm, very soothing to dry lips. It has a lot of staying power, so a morning application lasts through much of the day, and with SPF 15, it’s sure to be a year-round favorite.
Speaking of year-round favorites, Korres Pomegranate Cleansing & Makeup Removing Wipes will likely be by my bedside from now straight through December. These pre-moistened wipes have a light fruity scent and take off makeup better than anything I’ve ever tried. Unlike most other cleansing wipes, these are generously sized – there’s plenty of cloth to make sure you get nice and clean. These towelettes leave my skin feeling soft and refreshed, but not too dry. No wonder they were advertised as a best seller at my local Sephora.
The cold winter months can wreak havoc on a girl’s skin and beauty routine, but thanks to these products I’m feeling like I have a fighting chance in the ongoing winter beauty battle.
Maybe pomegranate really is magical.
As we head into Independence Day weekend, I know many of us are planning on hitting the beach, or lounging by the pool, or taking a dip in the lake… in other words, we all want to spend the weekend basking in the sun and playing in the surf.
I, for one, am lake-bound, off to a favorite family spot to celebrate the 4th and my brother’s birthday. And, just as I do every year, I will be toting some of my favorite beach beauty products:
1. Burt’s Bees – My favorite lip balm of all time is also my favorite beach balm, as it moisturizes dry lips better than anything else and its minty flavor helps keep me cool.
2. Sunscreen – I don’t really have a brand preference, but I use at least SPF 15 on my body and SPF 45 on my face – no need to add any unnecessary age spots or wrinkles!!
3. Lemon Lights – Summer after summer I get complimented on my amazing natural highlights. Little do those envious gals know that mother nature has a little help highlighting my hair. I swear by John Frieda Beach Blonde Lemon Lights highlighting gel. If, like me, you combed lemon juice through your hair every summer as a kid, you will love this lemon-scented wonder. It’s the same idea as lemon juice. You apply the gel on whichever strands you hope to highlight, and then hang out and let the sun do its thing. You end up with highlights that technically are natural, since you’re not dying them and they come from being outside, but it happens a lot faster this way – and you get a little say over where those highlights are. And even though this product is marketed towards blondes, my very brunette hair loves it!
Here we are, mid-January, smack dab in the middle of indoor heating season and sub-zero temperatures outside. Despite gulping down as much water as I can stomach each day, and even with diligent application of lip balms and glosses, I’m being plagued by a persistent case of chapped lips. Even my trusty ol’ standby Burt’s Bees isn’t solving the problem. Here, some helpful hints on how to heal (and prevent) chapped lips.
1. Exfoliate. There are many ways to do this, and you may want to vary your technique depending on the severity of your situation. You can gently brush a dry toothbrush over your lips, or rub a dry, rough wash cloth over them to loosen dead skin and create a smoother, less irritated surface. If your mouth is really dry and burning, you can get some relief from Laura Gellar Lip Strip, a cooling sugar scrub designed especially for exfoliating dry lips. After massaging the scrub over your mouth for 30 seconds, you will enjoy a pleasant cooling sensation and a noticeable reduction in any flakes of skin that might have formed on your mouth. It is not a permanent solution, though, and you will definitely want to follow up with a balm of some sort.
2. Moisturize. Keep adding balms and glosses to your mouth to ease the dryness and help create a barrier against elements that worsen the situation. Right now I’m alternating between Burt’s Bees, an Avon lip moisturizer, and Philosophy Red Velvet Cake gloss (see page Glosses & Balms for more info). When my lips are really dry, I find that layering vaseline or a thick lip gloss on top of Burt’s Bees before bed is an extremely effective way to heal and moisturize chapped lips. After a few nights of that treatment and you should be back on track.
3. Hydrate. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, drinking plenty of hydrating fluids can help boost your health and your beauty. It helps keep your immune system up, keeps skin (and lips!) from becoming overly dry, and really adds a nice glow to your overall appearance. Keep a water bottle on your desk. And to all of those water-haters out there, do your skin a favor and try Crystal Light or some other on-the-go water flavoring trick. For about 5 calories you can turn a bottle of plain water into a delicious fruity drink. All while saving yourself the trouble of having to repair your poor chapped lips.
The ice and snow that coated the roads today on my morning commute confirmed what I already suspected – winter is on its way. Another clear (and very unfortunate) sign that the dreaded cold season is rolling in is that, no matter what I do to remedy the situation, my hands are painfully dry.
Cold air and dry indoor heating can wreak havoc on would-be pretty hands, and the fact that frequent hand sanitization is a necessary part of my job does not help.
I’ve tried various lotions and creams, but nothing seems to keep my cuticles from cracking and little rough patches from forming on the palms of my hands.
Readers, I implore you, if you have a secret hand-saving weapon, please share it!
I recently tried Fresh Brown Sugar Body Cream, having heard great things about it and the accompanying scrub. I have to say, I was very disappointed. The cream itself wasn’t any more moisturizing than anything else I’ve tried, and the smell was just plain weird. Very lemony, in a cleaning product way.
On a more positive note, I recently received a sample of Murad Energizing Pomegranate Lip Protector, and I am definitely a fan. It’s not waxy or glossy, but a nice, light pink balm that smells fresh and feels nice on the lips.
If only I could find something like that for my hands…
I can safely say that it is officially cold and flu season, having spent the majority of the last week in bed with the worst cold/flu/allergy attack I can remember in recent history.
You might think that spending that much time in bed I’d be caught up on “beauty sleep” and would be positively glowing. Turns out, the only glow I’ve had is that of a fever, and I’ve been rockin’ the puffy-eyed, chapped lipped, dry skin look.
Not cute.
So, in light of my recent foolishness, here are some tips that I’ve found useful in escaping flu season without looking like a crocodile.
1. Stay hydrated. This will not only help speed along your recovery time, it will help keep you skin from becoming dry and cracked. I drank a lot of tea during my recent bout with dryness. Peppermint is my new favorite – it helps soothe a congested head!
2. Moisturize! Even if you can’t bear to drag yourself out of bed long enough to really spruce yourself up, do yourself a favor and always put on your moisturizer. My nose, cheeks and lips all became outrageously dry last week, to the point where the skin on my nose actually cracked and started bleeding. However, after just one application of Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisture Lotion, I was healed. I’ve been using it daily ever since.
3. Hand in hand with moisturizing your face is moisturizing your lips, and for that I say Burt’s Bees! I’ve been layering on various balms and glosses, but only Burt’s Bees was able to soothe and cure my chapped lips. And it’s fortunately available just about everywhere. Drug stores, grocery stores, health food stores, you name it. Get some!
4. Buy Puffs Plus. Totally worth the extra few cents.
5. If at all possible, drag your sick, tired butt out of bed and take a shower. It’ll make you feel like a human.
Following these steps will help ensure you make it out without scales. And these suggestions are all also guy-friendly, so feel free to pass them along to your boyfriend/husband/brother/whiney sick male friend.
I’m actually feeling much better and am mostly back on track, skin-wise. Although I’m currently sporting a volcanic pimple on my cheek.
Time for Queen Helene!
FOR THE LOVE OF GLOSS 