Kerastase Oleo Curl Creme and Shu Uemura Liquid Fabric

This is with no product, using a Curlease towel, and then air drying it:

This is with Curlease towel, Kerastase Curl Oleo Creme, then dried with a diffuser:

This is with Curlease towel, Shu Uemura Liquid Fabric, and dried with a diffuser:

Panasonic ES246AC Bikini Shaper and Trimmer, Braun 5270 Silk-épil X’elle Body System Epilator, and the Emjoi AP-9L Epi Slim Cosmetic Hair Remover

Aside from the Emjoi, the other two hair removal devices in this post came purely from recommendations on Amazon. One of the reviews opens very philosophically:

Years ago, I read a French feminist writer who asked: “Why aren’t women allowed to keep their natural body hair, as men are?”
-from Amazon

After a couple of weeks of some pretty rigorous hair removal I have to agree. I’m Filipino and my hair isn’t thick but it’s coarse and dark. Until now, I haven’t been concerned with hair removal except for an obligatory upper lip routine. Once in awhile I’d get a brazilian at J Sisters or Completely Bare but it always had to be for some special occasion. The pain and cost was not worth any kind of consistency for a basically pragmatic girl.

Although it’s been terribly painful, I have to admit, having smooth underarms, legs, and a nicely trimmed bikini area is more satisfying than I thought it would be. Now that I’ve done it I’m pretty committed to doing it regularly.

The Panasonic ES246AC Bikini Shaper and Trimmer is a very solid, battery operated trimmer. It’s very easy to trim the bikini area without much thought. It’s safe and easy to operate. It has five positions to guide you in terms of hair length. If you don’t need to get totally bald this is a great device.

The Braun 5270 Silk-épil X’elle Body System Epilator is pretty intense. I think it’s really good at getting hair at the root and it does it pretty fast. It has two speeds and two attachments: one with rollers that allegedly help with the pain and a comb for people accustomed to the sensation and want to get it over fast.

I had better luck with the Emjoi AP-9L Epi Slim Cosmetic Hair Remover. I bought this one a few years ago for my upper lip. But while I was testing out the Braun epilator I decided to see how the Emoi would handle the same areas. Amazingly I found the Emjoi hurt less and seemed to work better on under arms and some of the bikini area. It’s also battery operated unlike the Braun which is a huge plus.

I’m still experimenting with all of these and I feel like the real test is in how the hair grows back in. We’ll see how it goes and I’ll update as I go on.

Dr. Julie Kenner’s Skincare Pyramids

I recently had a passing conversation with Dr. Julie Kenner of Kenner Dermatology in Hawaii. She’s a very interesting woman with alot of knowledge and curiosity about products and treatments. She told me about this tool she’s developed on her site aimed at educating consumers about the general ingredients in treatment products and how to best navigate a ‘diet’ for your skin. From her site kennerdermatology.com:

Topical Nutritional Pyramid ™
As an educational aide, Dr. Kenner has developed the “Topical Nutritional Pyramid” which is a simple framework to categorize and describe eight basic groupings of skin rejuvenation products. This framework is loosely fashioned after the “food pyramid” and is designed to educate and empower patients to make healthy choices for their “skin diet.”

Dr Kenner’s Acne Care Pyramid ™
A simple framework for understanding the medical basics of acne therapy. Despite being common, acne is complicated and sometimes unpredictable. This Acne Care Pyramid was developed to help you understand the most common acne medications.

Sonicare and Clarisonic

My parents bought me a Sonicare toothbrush over a decade ago as a Christmas present. I had asked them to buy it because my best friend at the time told me that her cousin, a dental hygienist, said that the Sonicare was so good that you could almost do away with flossing. This sounded very appealing to me. Over the next few years I used my Sonicare faithfully. The proof was in the pudding when my dentist visits took a turn in the right direction. Before Sonicare, my hygienist used to dog me endlessly about improving my brushing technique (tilting toward the gums) and flossing more. After Sonicare I got glowing reports. I often heard ‘good job!’ from my hygienist as well as my dentist.

After ten years my trusty Sonicare conked out and refused to recharge after years of charging abuse. K bought us the most current Sonicare and boy is it fancy! It’s smaller than the original, easier to maneuver and it comes with a UV sanitizing element. It also comes with several choices of brushing mode: sensitive, go care, and max care. My teeth and gums looked and felt better after one use.

FlexCare+ Rechargeable sonic toothbrush specs

The inventor of the Sonicare toothbrush also invented the Clarisonic Skin Cleansing System. Before I checked out the website, I didn’t realize there was a connection. But I kept seeing the Clarisonic brush being sold at legit retailers like Bendels. Recently I met a dermatologist committed to educating consumers about products and found that she carried the Clarisonic brush at her office shop. I thought it was worth a try.

Exfoliating my skin has always posed a problem. Most chemicals are too harsh for my sensitive rosacea prone skin. And manual exfoliants always create breakout issues for me on my jawline and cheeks. The clarisonic MIA (the least expensive option with only one speed) seems to be the answer for someone like me. I used it for the first time today and it’s gentle vibrating is non-irritating and feels very thorough. It’s also super easy and waterproof for use in the shower. I’ll post before and after pics in an update in a couple of weeks.

Clarisonic MIA specs

Sedu Revolution Pro Tourmaline Ionic TGR 4000i Hair Dryer

My last hairdryer was a Sedu and I was very very happy with it. This Sedu is even better and it’s smaller. I had read reviews that said it was very compact but it was still surprising. It feels like the hairdryer equivalent of tank or a bulldog: very solid and weighty while being more portable than it’s predecessor. There’s an option to dry with or without ions. It’s a really powerful dryer. I’ve only used it a couple of times but I already love it.

Got to folica.com to check out its specs.

Here’s a picture of my hair after only using Kerastase Bain Age Recharge with Masque Age Recharge then blow drying with the Sedu Revolution Pro Tourmaline Ionic TGR 4000i Hair Dryer using an Ibiza round brush. My hair is coarse and has alot of wave. I didn’t work so hard to straighten this or make it nice. I just wanted to give an idea:

Drew Barrymore in Marie Claire

Drew sounded off on her Whip It! costar: “Ellen has such a beautiful body, and I personally battled with my own body image for years. I used to tell myself, ;You can’t wear anything sleeveless or strapless.; And all of a sudden I was like, ;What if I just didn’t send such negative messages to my brain and said, wear it and enjoy it?; And now I’m more comfortable in clothes than ever.”

Read more: http://justjared.buzznet.com/2009/09/10/drew-barrymore-ellen-page-marie-claire-cover/#ixzz0R99wWLWR

Best Hairstylist: Kazunori Ueda

Kazunori has opened his first salon.  From our point of view it’s about time!  Kaz is so committed to using the best products and working with the best people.  He has strong opinions and he’s the ultimate combination of a poetic stylist with great technical skill.  He is my hairstylist soulmate.  Having to get my hair cut by other people while we’re here in Hawaii is a little stressful.   Lucky for us he came to visit recently.  And I got the dreamiest haircut:  Kuzunori cutting my hair in our home.

His new salon:

Kayrunn Hirsch
542 LaGuardia Pl.
212 375 8580

Very useful blowout tuorial from Eva Scrivo

more about "Very useful blowout tuorial from Eva …", posted with vodpod

Ibiza hair brushes

I decided to look into Ibiza brushes because I saw that it was the brand they sold and used at Warren Tricomi at The Plaza in Manhattan. I did some online research and didn’t find any brands that carried the variety that Ibiza had. I got their G4 round brush and their mahogany paddle brush LX 1 100% boar.

Testimonials on their site

I haven’t straightened my hair since getting the brushes but they do seem to be different from my cheapo drug store round brush. I don’t know if it’s psychological but they feel much more gentle on my hair. I’ll post an update and hair photos once I’ve used them to straighten.

Kerastase

I have a friend that’s developing his own line of hair products. He hired a top scientist/chemist to research shampoos and conditioners on the market. When it came to Kerastase his guy couldn’t figure out it’s components. That it’s so top secret and well developed that it would take years and years and years to develop something even close to as good as their shampoos and conditioners.

I didn’t think much of this but decided to try some anyway. I washed my hair with Kerastase Age Recharge shampoo and conditioner before we went to a Labor Day picnic. I let it air dry and didn’t really think about it. Later that day when we came home I glanced in a mirror and couldn’t believe how awesome my hair looked! It was shiny and much less frizzy. It looked like I had put some kind of styling product in when I hadn’t. I was so amazed.

Even K, who doesn’t notice such subtleties told me my hair looked really good. I’m totally won over.