What’s the scoop on Elizabeth Grant?

Her inspirational story starts in 1948 when her life changed forever. Being a victim of skin damage from World War II and embarrassed by her skin, she discovered a natural substance to treat her war wounds. The wonder ingredient behind Elizabeth Grant’s line is called Torricelumn, which is a form of kelp that can only be picked once a year for optimal results. It’s similar to human plasma and this natural ingredient is unmatched in its ability to delay aging, repair skin and infuse the skin with essential moisture. Each of Elizabeth Grant’s skin care products features this natural ingredient making it available for everyone to reap the benefits.

What I love about Biocallasis Complex Total Regeneration Ultimate Cellular Concentrate is how quickly it penetrates into your skin and its super moisturizing. I’ll be honest I’m a sucker for anything in a glass bottle with a dropper. I noticed an immediate different in my skin after applying the serum. After a few weeks of using it, I also noticed that skin look revived and my blemishes evened out. It genuinely repairs and works as a fantastic anti-aging treatment. If you picked it out in your kit, you’re in for a treat!

Source: flickr user lilith121

One thing that will never stop is the search for the best eye wrinkle cream. We’ve stressed this topic  so much but honestly, no one wants fine lines and wrinkles or sagging anywhere near their eyes. Because we’ve tried everything under the sun for eye wrinkles, it’s nice to find something like Exuviance Age Reverse Eye Contour, which really and truly does the job.  It’s never too early (or too late!) to start taking care of your skin and fight the signs of aging. A good way to start, if you haven’t already, is with a good eye cream to tackle the sagging, like this one.

This firming eye cream targets crow’s feet and fine lines around the eyes, in addition to helping to build collagen and nix sagging. It’s packed with peptides, vitamins and hydrating ingredients to alleviate the look of eye wrinkles, all the while helping to reduce puffiness of stressed, tired eyes.

What we love the most about this product is how soft and bright it leaves the skin around our eyes. It’s great for anyone in need of a good facial pick-me-up. It’s also really hydrating—you can instantly feel that it’s doing its job as an eye care product. This eye cream goes on very well underneath makeup and smoothes on lightly, yet it lasts throughout the day. Using this product for 4 weeks will have you seeing a generous improvement in expression lines, brightness and skin tone. With good reason, we’re very excited to have this amazing under eye cream in the latest season and can’t wait to see how this beauty product will continue to help our glowing skin.

stock.xchng user Patti

You can use all the best products in the world, but the real secret to great skin is what you put in your body. Priori has come out with the perfect skin supplement to go along with their Alpha Hydroxy Acid skin care line. Priori’s Advanced AHA Dietary Supplement is an advanced formulation of nutrients and vitamins for healthy skin, that when taken daily, give skin everything it needs to look top notch.

These once-a-day supplements contain Lactic Acid, which is the key to optimal Hyaluronic Acid production. Hyaluronic Acid is one of the most vital pieces of the perfect skin puzzle. This superior humectant can hold over a thousand times its own weight in water, and keeps skin cells lubricated so they can more easily absorb nutrients, and heal themselves more quickly. Learn about Hyaluronic Acid at Priori’s website.

The supplements also provide you with your daily dose of omega-3s, which are one of the most important foods for healthy skin. Omega 3s are full of polyunsaturated fats, which help repair dry or flakey skin, and also reduce inflammation that can cause redness and even eczema.

When taken in combination with a healthy diet, these supplements can really boost your skin’s overall health and appearance.

It’s no wonder that we can’t get enough of serums and eye creams—we’re not getting any younger. That’s why any time an innovative age-defying treatment comes our way, we’re the first to jump on it. Elemis happens to be one of the brands we’ve been dying to include in Beautyfix. It’s the leading British spa and skin care brand and is one of the most sought-after lines in the world. Their formulations were originally designed for professional use, using only the most effective anti-aging ingredients without synthetic preservatives. Inspired by the elegance of the French wine country, Elemis mixes antioxidants and grape seed polyphenols to protect against and reverse common signs of aging. Elemis’ Pro-Collagen Marine Cream exceeded our expectations with flying colors, swiftly making its way into the last Beautyfix selection.

As I’ve said before, I’m a total serum and moisturizer junkie. Therefore, give me one and I’ll try it out, analyze if I need to, hoard it and then stock up. The Pro-Collagen Marine Cream didn’t disappoint; it was very much impressive. Any product that has marine ingredients automatically gets points in my book.  This one is formulated with marine extract padina pavonica to help reduce wrinkle depth up to 78% while increasing skin hydration by up to 45%. These two benefits will help to smooth skin while promoting suppleness, firmness and softness. Antioxidants help protect your skin against future free radical damage after each use.

This is a definite must try for anyone, but for someone with deeper lines, I’d recommend shelling out the clams to get a big jar of it. A European favorite is now a Beautyfix favorite, and if you grabbed it in your last kit it’ll be tra:)nsforming your skin. Use after cleansing and applying your regular serum daily, and in just a few weeks you’ll start to notice a difference.

Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is right around the corner. We’ve already covered pumpkin, now it’s time to get the best anti-aging skin care from an age-old seasonal ingredient: the cranberry. At home skin care treatments cover many bases by hydrating, tightening and moisturizing. When it comes to natural skin care, cranberries are great because they’re chock-full of antioxidants and safe for any skin type. The best part about using cranberries in your at home skin recipes? You can make them work in anything from a cleanser to a masque to a gommage. Love them or hate them, these seasonal berries are a must to incorporate into your skin care routine.

Source: flickr user Muffet

Why do we need antioxidants in our skin care regimen? Every single day, our skin is under attack from pollutants, UV rays and more that cause free radicals. These free radical molecules are oxygen molecules that have lost an electron—and they’re out to steal yours to make up for it. Free radicals can cause skin damage including wrinkles, redness, pigmentation and lines. To combat free radicals, antioxidants come in and supply missing electrons, ultimately preventing damage and slowing down the aging process.  Cranberries will help rejuvenate your skin and are rich in Vitamins A, B3, B5 & C helping in collagen production. Because of the vitamin A and C content, cranberries will help increase cell turnover rate, while Vitamins B3 and B5 will provide moisture for your skin. Cranberries also are acidic, so they’re great for oily skin. This at home skin recipe for a cranberry cleanser is fabulous for any skin type and will leave you soft and glowing.

Cranberry Cleanser

1. Puree ½ cup of cranberries
2. Add ¼  teaspoon of honey or uncolored castile soap

Mix the blended cranberry, honey (or castile soap) together. It’ll be a little soupy, so make sure you have towels available. It helps to do this in the shower, because the mixture can get a little messy, plus the steam will help open up your pores before application. Rub into your skin in small, upward circles for about 2 minutes then rinse off with warm (not hot) water. Follow up with a moisturizer and you’re set for the day. Remember, cranberries are acidic, so they’ll also act as a toner for your skin, just don’t forget your moisturizer! If you don’t want the mess, you can always choose an already made creamy cranberry cleanser that’ll do the trick.

You have to love fall and Halloween time because of the exciting costume ideas, the colors of the season and the beginning of the holiday season. One of my favorite fruits of the year is the pumpkin. It’s the perfect fall symbol, an amazing color of orange, it’s tasty—and it’s fun to carve. Fall is one of the BEST times to make your own at home skin care treatments because of the tasty delights and seasonal goodies that come around. What’s better is that natural skin care is always a great choice for you. Clear your appointments and save some time to pamper your skin with the tasty treat of pumpkin with these easy at home skin care recipes.

Source: Flickr user Elana's pantry

There’s always that really icky part of carving a pumpkin, and it’s when you cut open the top and have to clean out the mucky insides. Naturally, you’ll throw it away or use it to make pie—totally justified, by the way. Before you decide to ditch the gross insides, stop, drop and save it! An at home skin treatment awaits! Pumpkin is rich in Vitamin A, C, E, Zinc and Beta-carotene, not to mention loaded with alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs). This makes it a very useful exfoliator that gets rid of dead skin cells naturally and, with some added extras, it becomes an antioxidant rich moisturizing masque. Take the pumpkin pulp and get your blender ready, that pumpkin puree is about to make your skin very happy.

Pumpkin Scrub

1. Take about 5-6 teaspoons of pumpkin pulp and throw it into your blender.
2. Push the button and get a puree-paste.
3. Mix in 3-4 teaspoons of brown sugar
4. Optional-add a teaspoon of pumpkin seed oil or lemon juice.

Mix ingredients together and apply it to your face and gently scrub in small, upward circles for a couple minutes. Rinse with water to remove. This at home skin treatment will slough off dead skin cells gently and naturally.

Pumpkin facial mask

1. Take 3 tablespoons of pumpkin puree and add 1-2 tablespoons of honey
2. Add 1 tablespoon of milk (regular for oily skin or buttermilk for dry skin)
3. Optional-add plain yogurt to mixture
4. Spread paste onto your face and keep on for 10-15 minutes.
5. Rinse off with water.

*Be sure to make your mask thick enough that it’s not dripping off your face.

Both of these at home skin care recipes using natural pumpkin will leave your skin smooth and glowing. It’s a festive way to help get the most out of the seasons with the nature around you. Have fun with it, let the kids carve away and just remember, the pumpkin guts are going to a good cause. J

Flickr.com user mark sebastian

It’s no secret that smoking is bad for our health, but many people fail to realize how smoking affects the skin. There are many factors that cause wrinkles, and smoking is definitely a culprit. Millions of well-informed people continue to smoke as the health risks they are faced with seem to be way off in the distant future. If you are looking for some motivation to quit smoking now (and the myriad health risks haven’t been enough incentive) think about how it affects your appearance. If you want to prevent wrinkles, put that cigarette down; not only will you look better, but your overall health will improve. Let your vanity help kick you into full-speed quitting gear.

Smoking effects on the skin and the aging process are very real. Even after a short time your skin can start to lose moisture and become chronically dry, as well as being depleted of vital nutrients and antioxidants that keep skin looking healthy and young. Smoking diminishes essential collagen and elastin in your skin too. There are skin care products that can improve collagen and elastin levels in the skin, but despite all of the efficacious beauty products that exist, nothing will reverse the severe damage that smoking causes. Ultimately, prevention is the best cure.

The constant pursing of the lips speeds up the formation of fine lines around the mouth, and the repetitive squinting and shutting of the eyes to avoid smoke exposure adds many more toes to those crow’s feet around them.

The only thing that speeds up aging of the skin more than smoking is sun damage. Smokers in their 30’s generally have as many wrinkles as non-smokers in their 50’s. This is because nicotine affects the way our blood vessels work and cause them to constrict, blocking a lot of the oxygen that is trying to reach your skin. The lack of oxygen on the skin’s surface is what causes the sallow, dull, smoker’s skin.

Quitting smoking is extremely hard, but so is waking up every day and being unsatisfied with your appearance. So if you want to stay looking young and beautiful for as long as possible it is in your best interest to nix the nicotine now!

Here are some helpful tools to help you quit smoking.

Flickr.com user Ninha Morandini

With age comes great wisdom, but unfortunately wisdom doesn’t come alone; and you might be considering a change in your skin care routine. Every year, another unwelcome candle finds its way to your birthday cake, and another even more unwelcome wrinkle appears on your smiling face. Anti aging skin care can make a huge difference in fighting the visible signs of aging. Cosmetic Surgeon Dr. Chip Cole shares his skin care advice on the best things you can do keep your skin looking as youthful as possible.

Dr. Chip Cole, a quadruple board certified Oculofacial Plastic Surgeon, who specializes in facial rejuvenation and eye and facial surgery, says the secret to slowing down the signs of aging is a three step process:

“Resurface, Rejuvenate and Protect.  Resurfacing your skin with a retinol will help to address and correct sun damaged skin, acne scarring and rough or coarse texture.  More than 90% off the sun damage we attribute to aging is the result of cumulative sun damage. Rejuvenate your skin by using a topical Vitamin C.  This will help reverse much of this sun damage and help protect your skin from further damage as well.  Protect your skin daily with a hydrating sunscreen.  I recommend a minimum of SPF30 (like Canyon Ranch Your Transformation  Protect UVA/UVB SPF 30 Facial Moisturizer) that protects against both UVA and UVB rays.” –Dr. Chip Cole.

There are other paths you can take when you suddenly stop looking forward to birthdays, and realize your youth is behind you. You can accept that you are growing older, and consider each new line on your face a sign of a happy smile-filled life, and stop caring about your appearance, as your best years have passed. Or, you can start caring for your skin in a way you know you should have been since the first time you noticed your lipstick was exploring those fun little lines around your lips. We recommend taking Dr. Cole’s advice on aging gracefully.

You’ve got the super thick moisturizer to cure that dry skin during this season, but you’ve noticed that something has been missing. Where are these new lines on my forehead coming from?! Settle down Sally, it’s not the end of the world. In fact there are quite a few things we can do to help stay a perfect beauty besides go under the knife or to the needles. (I know sometimes that seems like the best choice because it’s easy.) Using really good anti-aging serums along with your favorite moisturizer can work wonders for your skin tone, elasticity and those itsy-bitsy fine lines. Lucky for you, I’ve scoured the world for the best serums money can buy, so you don’t have to do all the hard work or spend a ridiculous amount of money. Your skin will thank me for it I promise.

flickr user: kanpeki yume

What is a serum? A serum usually consists of a thinner consistency than a cream but not completely liquid. It was created for the purpose of delivering ingredients to the skin that most often, a cream or other products cannot do. The molecules are made to be smaller and use different delivery system-methods to have the product penetrate deeper into the skin. Serums can help prevent, and repair wrinkles and is recommended to be applied under sunscreen or a moisturizer. Common ingredients in anti-aging serums are usually peptides, antioxidants, vitamin C and sometimes retinol. The effectiveness of the ingredients in the serum may vary and not all serums have been clinically proven. They can also boost collagen and elastin production, which can decrease the appearance of wrinkles. After trying a slew of them, which ones do I like the best?

Peter Thomas Roth’s Un-Wrinkle definitely does what it says. It UN-WRINKLES. This hasn’t been the first time using this product for me. When I was working back as an esthetician in the Stone Age, I’d add a few drops of this little bad boy in my facial treatments to give them the wow factor when they walked out and looked in the mirror. This serum can be used on all skin types and uses a 23% blend of neuropeptides and peptides. This can help reduce the appearance of deeper wrinkles, fine lines, expression lines etc. Not to mention your skin looks fantastic almost immediately after using it. They do tend to call it “Botox in a bottle” because of the unique ingredients it uses which is my favorite part. It uses 4% SYN-AKE and 10% SNAP-8 that are pain-free synthetic ingredients that mimic snake venom and injectibles to target wrinkle formation. This serum also helps boost collagen production, increase firmness and visibly reduce the appearance of wrinkles. I’ve loved this line of anti-aging products so much; I have also bought the Wrinkle Preventer and the Un-Wrinkle eye cream.

Since sometimes serums can have a lot of artificial ingredients and fillers in them, it’s good to try out something on the natural and organic side once in a while. One of my favorite hydrating serums is John Masters Organics Green Tea and Rose Hydrating Face Serum. This serum has a blend of nourishing certified organic ingredients that focus on the hydration of your skin. At the same time this serum encourages collagen production and stimulates cell turnover leaving your skin radiant and gorgeous after application. It’s also full of antioxidants to nourish your skin and help your complexion. What I love about this is how silky it is on application and it doesn’t interfere with your eye makeup. It leaves your skin dewy and supple. This is perfect for any skin care regimen.

Another that I’ve fallen in love with blindsided me because I personally thought it was too good to be true. At lunch one day talking about my mission of finding the fountain of youth, my friend had recommended I try iQ Derma’s SkinTensive xCel serum day and night to help me with my lovely fine lines. They offer a free trial and focus on anti-aging formulas made with “intelligent ingredients.” After using for about 3 days morning and night I was astonished to see the results even after the first day. It helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and it really shows. I feel like those lines of mine are diminishing faster and faster, not to mention my sun spots have been evened out quite a bit, which was an added bonus. Since using this, my wrinkles have improved and it’s more radiant than ever. When applying you don’t have to use much, so you don’t feel like you’re wasting product and it glides on evenly not interfering with makeup either. I’ll be using this one for a while.

When on your own search for that perfect anti-aging miracle serum, just remember that samples can be your best friend and don’t be afraid to branch out and try new brands! Not every product is meant for every skin type but I highly recommend using a serum under your moisturizer ever day. It’s great for reducing the appearance of wrinkles and it’s amazing for prevention. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Being that I exfoliate on a daily basis, I am always looking for new beauty products to help me in my effort and apparently Hawaiian women turn to Sugar when wanting to shed dead skin cells. Raw Sugar is their exfoliant of choice. It’s not only natural but it also has antiseptic properties and is a mild Hydroxy Acid that has been used in skin rejuvenation for centuries. Sugar is also much gentler on the skin than salt since it dissolves quicker. A Sugar body scrub you might want to consider using is the ME! Bath Shower Sherbet. It looks good enough to eat – but please resist the temptation! Our sisters in Brazil rub coarse sand on their bodies to help with cellulite reduction while those in Japan opt for dry brushing. Dry brushing not only exfoliates the skin but also helps with temporary cellulite reduction. (I’ll write more about dry brushing in an upcoming post).

White tea sprinkled with orange tea flowers. White tea has become a popular ingredient in beauty products. Photo by Chashitsu LaSere.

One ingredient that has really become popular (and for good reason) in beauty products is White Tea. White Tea is one of the strongest antioxidants in the world and a long-time anti-aging skin care secret for Chinese women – now I see why Chinese women seem to have the most beautiful skin! White Tea also reduces puffiness & increases firmness around the eyes. It is being added to many beauty products such as eye shadows, moisturizers, lip treatments, and many others. The Global Goddess iDivine Eye Shadow is infused with powerful antioxidants from White Tea so you not only get a satiny eye shadow but you also get anti-aging benefits. Another beauty line that is a fan of white tea is Pur-lisse. Jennifer Yen, the creator of Pur-lisse, combines French skincare technology with her grandmother’s Asian beauty recipes. The formulas used in her products feature white tea and blue lotus in order to reverse skin damage caused by every day exposure.

Here’s one for those of you that suffer from brittle nails. In the Dominican Republic women use Garlic to strengthen finger nails. They chop it up and add it to clear nail polish. They let it sit for a week in the bottle and then apply it to their nails as a top coat.

In Thailand Tamarind is used in many beauty routines. In addition to lightening and brightening, it purifies, exfoliates, and cleanses the skin for a radiant look. In many Asian countries, light skin is considered beautiful. The Juara Tamarind Tea Hydrating Toner is a must-try for those searching for a quick beauty fix (pun intended) for dull, tired skin.

Last but not least, the ladies in India use almond oil for just about everything! It softens and gets rid of dry skin. It is also used as massage oil for after a shower or bath.

These beauty secrets from around the world are definitely interesting and helpful. I love that in spite of our cultural differences, women in general are all in search of the same thing – beauty!

Do you have a beauty secret you like to share? If so, I’d love to hear it.