Showing posts with label ageless beauty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ageless beauty. Show all posts

Friday, July 18, 2008

Kate Moss Graces the Cover of Vogue

picture of August issue of Vogue with Kate Moss on the cover

In Vogue's August "age(less)" issue, supermodel and supermogul, Kate Moss, graces the cover. Kate and seven other women talk about looking and feeling phenomenal from your 20s to your 90s. This issue is your brains on beauty.

The complete story appears in the August 2008 issue of Vogue, but to read the edited "age(less)" article, click "read more."

Kate Moss, like all tycoons in the making, is deeply concerned with travel arrangements. She's over airports. She's saving up for a private jet. "I'm going to call it the 'Kate Express,' " she informs me, perched on a modernist white armchair in the black-lacquered sixth-floor London office suite of Topshop owner Sir Philip Green. She's sipping tea from a black Limoges teacup and helping herself to a pile of cookies arranged on a matching black china plate.

She is here for a meeting with Sir Philip to discuss her latest fashion collection for Kate Moss Topshop, which will be available at New York's new Topshop store in SoHo, as well as online, this fall. Kate is wearing a black jersey vintage Anne Buck minidress with black lizard-skin appliqués on the shoulders. She has black Topshop ballet flats on her feet, and a leopard-print cotton trench coat that Vogue editor "Candy Pratts Price gave me fifteen years ago" is thrown over the back of her chair. Sunglasses-wise, she is long finished with giant lenses, saying, "I'm doing a Ray-Ban at the moment. Just a normal Ray-Ban." Her unbrushed hair, a cool champagne shade of blonde, is choppy, with an eyelash-grazing fringe because "I'm into that Nico look." She speaks with the husky tones of a girl from Croydon who has smoked Marlboro Lights since she was fourteen. When asked if she has any intention of quitting, she replies, "No, because it's who I am. I don't want to create a phony facade. I think I just have to be myself; otherwise, I'd be a paranoid mess."

The antithesis of the airbrushed celebrity, Moss, now 34, has done nothing to disguise her age: Her kohl-lined, chestnut-brown eyes have tiny creases at the edges, and her makeup-free face is as natural as ever, with two little lines across the top of her nose: She has a tendency to wrinkle it when she giggles, which is frequently, because Kate, as the world knows, likes to have a laugh. The reason she won't do Botox is that if a photographer asked her to frown in a picture and she couldn't, she'd be "really embarrassed," she says. When I ask her how her style has changed from her 20s to her 30s, she says there is only one thing she wouldn't wear now—sneakers with a long evening dress.

As for her persona, in the years since she began turning heads with her expertly mixed hi-lo style, as well as her succession of supertrendy boyfriends, Kate has become one of the world's most famous women. The frenzied coverage of her failed relationship with rocker Pete Doherty, which the media promoted as a Mick Jagger-Marianne Faithfull-style sex, drugs, and rock-'n'-roll romance, put her on tabloid front pages around the world. Despite, or perhaps because of, an ensuing cocaine scandal, Kate has emerged as a more influential fashion icon than ever, the paradox being that while Moss on the one hand excites condemnation, those who disapprove of her still can't help being interested in her, or deny her talent with clothes. In an age of vanilla celebrities, where Us magazine notes that so-and-so was spotted sipping Evian on the weekend, Kate Moss is photographed tumbling out of a London nightclub looking extraordinarily glamorous in hot pants and red, spike-heeled boots. You can't keep your eyes off her.

In the past couple of years, Kate has cleverly capitalized on her style in a very real way: She has sold "20 million quid's worth," as she puts it, of clothes from her Topshop line since it launched in 2007; her perfume, Kate by Kate Moss for Coty, for whom she is also planning to develop makeup, has been number one in several countries and is launching in America this month; her hair-care line, in partnership with her old friend hairdresser James Brown, has been a huge success in Europe. "Kate has always been the heartbeat of fashion. She lives it as much as she embodies it, so it's no major surprise at her following," says John Galliano, who first used Kate for a show in 1989, when she was just fifteen. "I guess the thing that is more than you'd expect is how even Kate just stepping out to grab a pint of milk is headline news."

A few days before the Topshop meeting, I had arranged to visit Moss at the London house she shares with Lila Grace, her five-year-old daughter by magazine publisher Jefferson Hack, to discuss her new perfume. Her street was unassuming and leafy, the only indication that Moss lived there being three bored-looking paparazzi lolling against their motorbikes on the pavement. It was a very hot April afternoon, and Kate met me at the door, dressed in an $80 blue-and-white striped seersucker sundress from her own line, the hem of which she had shorn with a pair of scissors. In her ears were a pair of old diamond earrings from De Vera in New York, and on her fingers a giant Indian diamond ring that she bought for herself and a blue-topaz cocktail ring that her agent had given her.

Barefoot, she led me across the newly mown lawn of her immaculate garden. A fur rug and piles of leopard-print cushions were arranged for us to lounge on beneath the shade of an ancient chestnut tree. In the flesh, Kate looks almost too petite (she's only five foot seven) to bear the weight of the fame and expectation that has landed on her. But, kittenish and giggly, she appears undaunted by her situation and unchanged from her younger self. She has the same wicked glint in her eye, the same cheeky attitude to life. She has seized her moment and is genuinely enjoying it.

Sitting cross-legged on the rug, a glass of white wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other, Kate discussed her ambitions. "Modeling is a bit brain-damaging," she said. Launching her own brands was "what I needed to do.…It's the right time."

Her confidence in creating fashion was boosted when she realized the influence she has. "I would see things that I wore sometimes that designers had copied," she said, remembering in particular a yellow chiffon party dress that was promptly reincarnated on the runway. "So I thought, Listen, I could do that." Now, instead of being hired or dropped at the whim of designers, says Kate, "I go to business meetings and tell people what I want and how to do it." (Her preferred look for these meetings, she tells me, is a black or white Chanel power suit, "like Jackie O but with a T-shirt, a power watch from Rolex, and my Vivienne Westwood Sex shoes.")

After an assistant appeared with a pale-blue tray piled with egg-and-cucumber sandwiches, Kate rifled through a boxy white Chanel handbag lying on the rug, one of at least 100 Chanel purses she owns. She retrieved a heavy glass bottle filled with her pale-pink Kate perfume, which she sprayed on my wrist. It smelled sweet and girly, combining notes of peony, rose, forget-me-not, and magnolia. Kate says she loves the way "it feels fresh when you first spritz it on, but then it gets muskier and sexier as the day goes on. That's what I am into." She is already working on her second perfume, which she describes as "much sexier." "I said to her years ago," says Stella McCartney, whom Kate cites as her inspiration in business, "you've got to do a perfume: Then you'll really have a brand."

Quite how a minute model from Croydon has come this far is not at first apparent. Her image as a rock star-loving party girl on the one hand (she is currently dating the Kills' guitarist Jamie Hince) and sweet, vulnerable Kate on the other—with her quiet voice and eyes hidden beneath the fringe she's always flicking away—doesn't really tally with the idea of her as the backbone of a global empire. "I am still acting like a seventeen-year-old," admits Moss, biting into a sandwich. "I definitely haven't become middle-aged. I've got a house and a daughter and all that, but I still like to have fun. Even in my business we still have fun."

I believe her, however, when she says that her penchant for partying is exaggerated by the media. She doesn't deny that she likes the carefree English lifestyle—she loves driving her gang of friends to the local pub in her recently acquired hackney cab, and occasional nights out at a club called Punk in Soho, where she hangs out in a particular booth next to the deejays, who are close friends. "That's when you do feel old because there are, like, these seventeen-year-olds, and half their faces are painted blue and they're all in these crazy outfits. And they just stare at me as well." When it comes to Lila, Moss says, "I'm a mum. All the time. Every day. I put my daughter to bed." She often invites friends with children to the London house for playdates, saying, "We all have fun with the children—together." Weekends are spent at her old farmhouse in Gloucestershire. This is where she keeps most of her clothes, in "a massive room that's just rails." (She has been collecting fashion since she was fifteen and now has more than 1,000 pieces.) For trips to the village inn, the taxi is replaced by a neighbor's pony and trap. Moss has considered moving there full time so that Lila can have the idyllic rural childhood she herself didn't have.

Still, according to her friends, Kate is extremely focused when it comes to business. "She surrounds herself with clever people," says McCartney. "But you can have the greatest team around you, and if you don't work at it, it crumbles after six months. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry has a clothing line. But do they last?"

Besides attending to her burgeoning business interests, Kate still works as a model if "they are such good jobs that you don't want to say no," a category that includes fall campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent, Donna Karan, and Roberto Cavalli as well as being the face of Rimmel London. "I still enjoy modeling," she says, "and it inspires me for the other things as well. All that dressing up makes me say, What do I want to wear? and, What do I want to do with Topshop? It all kind of leads into the other things."

Alexander McQueen, who has worked with Kate since the early nineties, says, "In business and in fashion you've got to be strong-willed. You can get run over quite easily. She's been through the mill, and she is not roadkill. Does she work really hard? Yes. She's a workaholic. She works when she doesn't have to work. She doesn't need to do ads, but she does. She does stuff that doesn't pay because she likes to stay in touch. That keeps her one step ahead."

Of course, being ahead of absolutely everyone is Kate's gift, and the product she is now selling. She started wearing wide-legged, seventies-inspired jeans six months ago, once every girl in London had cottoned to her skinny-jeans-and-ballet-flats look. When the world appropriated her fifties-style prom dresses, she moved on to punky black-and-white-striped minidresses worn with opaque tights and high boots. "She makes things look new," says Galliano. "She is a chameleon who captures the now like no one else I know." In an effort to demystify Kate's fashion alchemy, we discuss a few of her best looks from the last couple of years. So, for a night out with Courtney Love in London she wore dark Marc Jacobs jeans, a studded Topshop belt, and an exquisite white silk Chanel blouse. For a rock festival on the Isle of Wight she mixed flared J Brand jeans with a beaded top that "I found in a secondhand shop in Spitalfields market." For the last two Met balls, she has worn a black chiffon thirties-style slip dress with two antique Cartier bracelets from the New Bond Street jeweler S. J. Phillips (her favorite store, which she visits every birthday), and a draped Stella McCartney gown with a vintage silver belt from Southpaw in New York. "Kate is someone with energy, passion, sophistication, and cool," says Donna Karan. "If you put those things together, you have taste."

Although Kate says, "I never said that everyone wants to look like me. I just thought, I like clothes," the success of her fashion line is of course based on women wishing for the Kate Moss look. She used model Irina Lazareanu for the first ad campaign but has now decided to model the clothes herself because "I just sell. It benefits me to be the model." When I ask her if she now minds a little less the paparazzi who are permanently parked outside her house, since any pictures of her help promote her own products, she says, "If I am going out at night, I know that I am going to be photographed. But if you're going on the school run and you have to think about looks for the world's paparazzi, it's not great." Still, she plays the game and has a uniform for the days she's in a rush: "Then I just do a jean, jacket, and sunglasses because you can't really go wrong. Never sweatpants. Ever." Sculptor Marc Quinn, one of Kate's many art-world friends, who has made Siren, a solid-gold sculpture of Moss in a yoga pose, which will be exhibited at the British Museum this fall, says, "Kate's real job is Kate the real person managing Kate the image. In real life she is a very down-to-earth, fun person, coping very well with what must be a tiresome situation. She does not buy into the Kate image. She is all about the Kate reality. That's what keeps her sane."

But back to the scene in Sir Philip's office for the Topshop meeting. Moss, I suspect, has a steely core and uses her girlishness to get exactly what she wants in business. According to Sir Philip, with whom Kate appears to have developed an endearing father-daughter relationship, "When she wants something, she calls me up and goes, 'Uncle Phil, Uncle Phil, please…' " he says, impersonating Kate in a squeaky, high voice. Kate giggles and asks Sir Philip for a light. He tells her she can't smoke in his office and then, smiling, pushes a crystal ashtray toward her. Kate and Sir Philip are cut from the same cloth—he was also born in Croydon—and share a no-nonsense attitude to work. "If you turn up thinking that you want some kind of special treatment, how are you going to achieve anything? You're not, are you, Kate?" asks Sir Philip. Kate shakes her head.

After a few puffs on the cigarette, Kate heads over to a rail of samples from her fall line. She shows me a slew of clothes that are extraordinarily desirable considering their price: She holds up a slightly Beatles-esque wool sweater with just the right amount of stripes to keep it punky (around $110); there's a charming black chiffon flapper dress that could easily wander into a cocktail party on Park Avenue ($240); most of all I want the skinny black sweater with sheer chiffon blouson sleeves ($100), which Sir Philip tells me is a basic that you would never find in another mass-market fashion store. What gives these inexpensive clothes an edge is that they have the authentic Kate Moss silhouette, which she creates by acting as the fit model for every single piece. "It's what I wear," says Kate, throwing on a little faux-fur gilet ($100). "And I think it's good that girls can wear it without paying thousands for it."

So well priced and well designed is Kate's line that in her first season with Topshop, some of the dresses were moving 5,000 or 6,000 units in a week. And nearly 10,000 of a white off-the-shoulder party dress were sold in nine days. "I like making money," she says, "but I don't call people up every day to see how much I've made. As long as I have what I need at the time; I mean, I can buy the house that I want. I am not completely money-oriented." In her 20s, she would spend her earnings on Hermès Kelly bags from the Paris store. "I would go and spend £3,000. That felt quite good." Now, she says, "I am looking for an old seventies Corniche. It's a Rolls-Royce. I want one for the country. That's what I'd like to buy now." For all her splurging, though, Kate is savvy about money. She invests because "I haven't got a trust fund. So I have to look after it."

Her meeting with Sir Philip done, Kate heads to her office on the fourth floor, where two young female designers are waiting. The room is bulging with vintage finds—thirties satin cocktail dresses, hippie-ish printed blouses, rock-'n'-roll T-shirts. Amelia, one of the designers, shows Kate a black silk-and-net dress that is the inspiration for the party dresses. Then she notices Kate's leopard-print trench. "Do you want it?" asks Kate with a grin. "Yes!" the two designers cry in unison. Kate takes the coat off, and it is hung on a sample rail, ready to be reincarnated for the masses. "See," says Kate, "they take the clothes off my back!"

As Kate collects her things to leave, Amelia tells her they need to go down to Devon next week to a special dealer to find more antique clothes to study. There is a discussion about how to get there. Should they go by train? How long will it take? Four hours! Four hours on the train, Kate concludes, is an intolerable torture. Her response, as ever, is very Kate: "Let me see if we can get the chopper."

—Plum Sykes

Sources: Vogue

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Monday, July 7, 2008

Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains-Blog Asks, "What is Beauty?"

picture of ash blonde woman thinking, with elbow in one arm and finger on chinGirl-Woman-Beauty-Brains-Blog was designed to not only inform women but to make women think. Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy -- the philosophy of art and beauty. But what is beauty?

In an effort to explore this question, we are going to offer a topic every week that will hopefully challenge you and entertain you. At times, you will get two diametrically opposed viewpoints from Girl-Woman: daughter versus mother, under 40 versus over 40.

Today's topic is Aristotle's quote: "Personal beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of reference."

Do you agree or disagree?

For our responses, click on read more.

Beckie: Although I totally disagree with the concept, there is much to support Aristotle's quote. In a recent Wall Street Journal article that inspired my post, Botox for the Resume, a 49-year-old woman took ten years off her resume and had youthful pictures taken in order to get a job. The article exposed many other educated women who were resorting to cosmetic procedures and lying about their age in order to gain employment.

Jamie: The stark reality of the job market and career building is that employers want vibrant, young, innovative people as part of their team.

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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

12 Ways to Protect Your Skin from the Sun


Sephora's Sun Safety Kit will raise your sun protection IQ by 11 points, ("How do you earn the bonus points," you ask? Keep reading. It's further down the page) but did you ever wonder what an SPF 15 ratings means? Take this quiz to test your sun prevention IQ. Just to let you in on a little secret, I failed abysmally!

A sunscreen with an SPF -- sun protection factor -- rating of 15:
  1. Lets you stay in the sun safely three hours without sunscreen.
  2. Filters 93 percent of the sun's UVB rays before they penetrate your skin.
  3. Prevents up to 15 years of sun-related skin aging.

Ding, ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!

You picked answer No. 2, and you're correct.

A SPF rating refers to a product's degree of protection from the sun's short-wave UVB rays. SPF 15 filters 93 percent of UVB rays, SPF 30 filters 97 percent and SPF 50 filters 98 percent.
Earn 2 Extra Credit Points:
  • Sunscreen is best used to protect your skin when you can't avoid the sun (not to extend your time in the sun).
  • How well sunscreen protects depends on how well you apply it. Apply 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) to cover your entire body 20 to 30 minutes before going outdoors.
Brains on Beauty: No matter what SPF you use, reapply every two hours (even when it's cloudy), or immediately after swimming or getting sweaty. Otherwise, you are unprotected!

Brains on Beauty Pick du jour:

One new product that I had the opportunity to sample added a few points to my Sun Prevention IQ: Sephora's Limited Edition Sun Safety Kit ($87 value for $25!) I am heading south this week, and I'm packing these 12 fabulous beauty products in my suitcase. (For tips on keeping your complexion fresh and moist while flying, click here.)

What it is: A collection of eleven travel-ready sizes of the best and brightest summer skincare products.

What it does: Lets the sun shine without a care this summer. Sephora prepares you for outdoor fun with the ample sun protection found in the Sephora Brand Sun Safety Kit.

It's packed with a travel-size sunscreen and skincare for the face and body.

What else you need to know: The kit contains the following products:

  1. 0.05 oz Korres Natural Products Watermelon Sunscreen Face Cream SPF 30
  2. 0.25 oz Peter Thomas Roth Max Sheer All Day Defense Moisture Lotion SPF 30
  3. 1 oz DDF Daily Protective Moisturizer SPF 15
  4. 0.35 oz Cosmedicine Medi-Matte Oil Control Lotion SPF 20
  5. 0.17 oz Juice Beauty Green Apple Moisturizer SPF 15
  6. 1 oz Murad Firming Bronzer SPF 15
  7. 0.08 oz Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Lotion SPF 55 PA + + +
  8. Six single-use packs of MD Skincare Powerful Sun Protection Pads SPF 30
  9. 0.17 oz Clarins Sun Wrinkle Control Cream Ultra Protection SPF 30
  10. 0.25 oz Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer SPF 15,
  11. 0.098 oz Tarte 24/7 Lip Sheer SPF 15, plus a UV indicator card.
Bonus Point:

a picture of sunscreen sitting on top of a purse
No. 12: My old-time fave is Peter Thomas Roth Instant Mineral SPF 30 (Sephora $30). It is truly brains on ageless beauty. It's the smartest thing I've added to my handbag, beach bag, and car since I bought my first Cover Girl Lipstick by Noxema in 1970. Every time I get in the car, I dust this on my face (over makeup) and my pitifully spotted hands. (I should have used a sunscreen on my hands years ago!)

a picture of sunscreen sitting in a car

What it is: A talc-free, transparent matte, SPF 30 mineral powder in a convenient brush applicator.

What it is formulated to do: Works immediately to block out the sun's harmful UVA/UVB infrared rays to help prevent sunburn, skin damage, freckling, and uneven discoloration as it creates the illusion of smooth, radiant skin.

Bad Science: There is no specific SPF-type measurement for UVA protection. To keep your skin protected, look for sunscreens that contain the following ingredients:
  • Avobenzone

  • Oxybenzone

  • Mexoryl

  • Zinc oxide

  • Titanium oxidide

Okay, girls. With 12 products, plus 2 extra credit points, plus one bonus point, you have just added 15 points to your overall sun protection IQ. I knew you were smart girls!

Love you and stay pale...or use self-tanner.


Beckie

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Monday, April 14, 2008

Ageless Beauty on Brains: 4 Suncreens To Have In Your Beach Bag

picture of sunscreens

Having visited my Dad and wife in Florida for the past couple of weeks in the Sanctuary, a 55-an-older community (I am "legally" not allowed to stay here unattended and considered a whippersnapper by the residents), I have learned many lessons from the women about ageless beauty, sunscreen being one of the most important ones.

I love these ladies of the Sanctuary, but unless things change quickly in the United States, on my 55th birthday, I am moving to Okinawa. Aging is actually celebrated by the Japanese. In Okinawa, Japan, you are considered a “child” until you turn 55. Studies have shown that when you maintain a positive outlook in your later years, your entire attitude, mind, and body will follow. Those who get crotchety with each birthday that passes only make it easier for the signs of aging to appear. Leading an uplifting lifestyle where you welcome the natural aging process has been shown to be so effective in aging women, that the symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes, can be drastically reduced.

Well, the women of the Sanctuary (aptly named) have not only welcomed the aging process, but live an uplifting lifestyle that includes golf, tennis, swimming, and surrounding themselves with friends, all contributing to their ageless beauty. That's not to say that the ladies wouldn't prescribe beauty products or cosmetic procedures in their ageless beauty prescription. One woman said with a twinkle in her eye, "A girl has to do what a girl has to do." I later discovered that the twinkle in her eye was the result of a Botox injection inserted over her eyelid. Other women remorsed about returning age spots. Many had tried laser or Fraxel to remove the "da*n" spots, but once back in the sun, the offenders returned.

All Sanctuary ladies wear sunscreen now and wished they did in their youth. Below are the four best sunscreens on the market today according to the latest research and my dermatologist. I carry all four of these in my beach bag:

Peter Thomas Roth Instant Mineral SPF 30 (Sephora $30)




Instant Mineral SPF 30 What it is? A talc-free, transparent matte, SPF 30 mineral powder in a convenient brush applicator. What it is formulated to do? Works immediately to block out the sun's harmful UVA/UVB infrared rays to help prevent sunburpicture of powder sunscreenn, skin damage, freckling, and uneven discoloration as it creates the illusion of smooth, radiant skin.

Containing titanium, zinc oxide, willow bark extract, and vitamins A, C, and E, I never leave home without Peter Thomas Roth's convenient and easy-to-apply mineral powder. It is transparent so it doesn't change the look of your makeup. I even apply it to my hands when I get in the car.




Lancome UV Expert 20 Sunscreen (Lancome $35)
FDA APPROVED FOR THE U.S. Extraordinary Protection from UVA rays. Fight the rays that cause 90% of skin aging.1- Minimizes the effects of daily UV exposure, the # 1 cause of wrinkles, age spots and loss of firmness.- UV Expert with MEXORYL™ SX helps protect skin from UV rays that cause premature aging.- This lightweight shield invisibly defends skin 365 days a year.


As discussed in Is Pale The New Tan, according to dermatologists, Mexoryl SX is the most effective UVA-blocking ingredient currently available. It has been used in Canada and Europe since 1993 but approved by the FDA for use in the U.S. in July 2006. Sunscreen products containing Mexoryl SX have been slow to enter the U.S. market.

picture of sunscreen on my armBoth Lancome and La Roche-Posay (see below) contain mexoryl and are ideal as a beach and pool sunscreen, but in my opinion, the cream is too thick and greasy to wear under makeup. (The larger glob is Lancome, the smaller glob is La Roche-Posay.)

La Roche-Posay Anthelios SX Daily Moisturizer and Sunscreen SPF 15 (SkinCareX $29

Anthelios Suncreen Cream is a light, non-greasy moisturizing cream with SPF 15. It's fragrance-free formula is allergy-tested, PABA-free, suitable for sensitive skin and offers 24 hour hydration. It has the most complete broad-spectrum protection available. The best way to fight fine lines and wrinkles is prevention. 3.4 fl. oz. Ideal for sensitive skin. Moisturizing and protecting skin from the sun.


Although La Roche-Posay reports that Anthelios is "ideal for sensitive skin" and causes no reaction on my skin, some of my friends have experienced a sensitivity to their eyes after application.

New: Journee Bio-Restorative Day Cream with PSP (Dermatologist RX $120)
JOURNÉE is the only Day Cream that combines PSP® technology with antioxidants and broad spectrum UVA/UVB sun protection. Elegantly formulated JOURNÉE revitalizes the skin while guarding against premature aging.Years of research enabled the bio-engineering of Processed Skin Proteins (PSP®). PSP® is a naturally balanced mixture of essential skin nutrients that nourish and revitalize the skin’s outer layer. This clinically-proven ingredient beautifully rejuvenates the appearance of aged and stressed skin.The light, non-greasy formulation is fast absorbing and fragrance free. Green tea extract and melanin provide optimal antioxidant protection.

Ah, you ask, "What is PSP"?
In a nutshell, processed skin cell proteins are obtained from fetal skin cells to create a balanced mixture of cytokines, growth factors, and antioxidants. Through years of research, physicians discovered fetal skin has a unique ability to heal wounds without scarring. Inspired by this, medical researchers at the University Hospital of Lausanne, Switzerland created a biotechnology process to extract the rich proteins responsible for scarless wound healing from cultured fetal skin cells. A dedicated cell bank was established for developing new skin treatments using a single biopsy of fetal skin. Originally established for wound healing and burn treatments, today this same cell bank also provides a lasting supply of cells for producing NEOCUTIS's PSP. PSP provides the most complete and balanced combination of human growth factors and cytokines currently available.


How Does PSP Work?

Recent studies suggest that aged or photoaged (sun-induced skin aging, the primary factor that causes fine and deep wrinkles and loss of elasticity) skin has the same needs as wounded skin, and PSP has been found in several clinical studies to initiate and coordinate the wound healing response.



Journee was recommended by my dermatologist at my appointment two weeks ago. There is no doubt that this a pricey beauty product, but with the combination of ingredients -- green tea extract, melanin, cytokines, growth factors, other antioxidants, and SPF of 30 -- it's the only product currently on the market that contains all the ingredients in one bottle. Although Neocutis hasn't discovered the fountain of youth, it's getting closer. It is also fragrance-free, thus phthalates-free, and safe for your skin.

picture of Journee on my armThe formula is lightweight and application feels like a primer. Although the color is that of a foundation, it quickly turns to clear. Having only used Journee for two weeks, I will continue to evaluate it and report the findings to you in a couple of months.

Since both Skin Medica TNS Recovery (Skin Store $141) and Journee contain cytokines and growth factors, my network partner at TotalBeauty.com, Future Derm, did an informative review comparing Skin Medica TNS Recovery to Journee. Future Derm chose TNS Recovery over Journee. Having used TNS Recovery for two years, at this juncture, I will continue using Journee and will compare the two beauty products again in a few months.

Brains on ageless beauty: So heed the sage advice of the beautiful and ageless women of the Sanctuary: Stay active, stay positive, keep laughing with girlfriends, and use sunscreen. "A girl has to do what a girl has to do."

Have a great Monday,

Beckie

P.S. What are your thoughts on ageless beauty? And say hello to my leetle friend, the pool lizard.
picture of lizard

Sources: Journal of Drugs in Dermatology , National Institutes of Health
Images: Girl-Woman








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