THE GO TO BROW GAL – TONYA CROOKS

March 12, 2010

I've been hearing a ton about eyebrow waxer extraordinaire TONYA CROOKS and was finally able to nail her down for an appointment. Not easy!  Her adorable new studio, all black and red boudoir glam is conveniently located in the same cute little courtyard as lash guru SANDI SHROEDER so if you're up for it, you could schedule an over-all eye make-over in an afternoon. Fun!

Tonya means business.  She had me in her shiny black chaise within a moment of meeting me and got to work muy pronto.  She took a pencil and drew in my brows to create a blueprint for what would be my job – NOT TOUCHING THEM – until they grew in to her specifications.  One was thinner than the other, one arch was mishapped, the were spotty in, well, spots…in other words they were a mess (I had no idea!). I have a ton of growing to do before I too can embrace my true inner Megan Foxiness. Her wax is light, her hand quick and the whole ten minute job was totally painless.  My brows looked fab when she was done but since mine are all about the growth that I don't have, I feel like I have a few sessions with Tonya before I can really reap the full on benefits of her brilliance. Obviously, I'm hiding my tweezers until then. 

Tonya's was trained as an artist first, then moved into make-up, studying at the Make Up Forever school in Paris – and then from San Fran to L.A. where she cut her beauty teeth even more doing editorial, fashion, runway, special effects, etc.  She also waxes all facial hair, btw, so if there are a few stray hairs here and there, she'll nab them for you.

And, speaking of Megan Fox, Tonya also does Fergie, Molly Sims, Gwyneth Paltrow, Britney Spears, America Ferrera, Eva Mendez, Vanessa Marcil, Chelsea Handler, Krista Allen, and Lance Bass.

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TONYA'S InSTYLE REVIEW 

TONYA'S MYSPACE PAGE


8217 BEVERLY BLVD

LA CA 90048

323. 279. 7465

PRODUCT OBSESSION – INTELLIGENT NUTRIENTS – CERTIFIED ORGANIC HEALTH AND BEAUTY

March 9, 2010

How excited am I about this line? 

INTELLIGENT NUTRIENTS is right up my alley!

First of all, check out the latest PRESS.  Their ANTI AGING SERUM made ALLURE MAGAZINE'S beauty editor top pick.  I can see why… 

Everything is certified organic, created by the founder of Aveda (WHO IS INTELLIGENT NUTRIENTS?) and the products all that ultra-pure-essential-oil-of the earth chemical free smell. I especially love going to sleep with this exact kind of product on my face.  

And you know I go nuts over a great packaging.  And the bottles are – hark! – real glass!

CERTIFIED ORGANIC ANTI-AGING MIST

Antioxidant spray prepares skin feeds, protects and restores with Intellimune® Seed Meal Complex. Made with nutritious food ingredients.
Free of silicone, parabens, petrochemicals and synthetic fragrances.

Intelligent Ingredients:
Aqueous Extracts of Certified Organic Intellimune® Seed Meal Complex (Black Cumin, Pumpkin, Red Raspberry, Red Grape, Cranberry), Certified Organic Alcohol Denatured with Certified Organic Bergamot Essential Oil, Intellimune® Seed Oil Complex (Black Cumin, Pumpkin, Red Raspberry, Red Grape, Cranberry), Certified Organic Orange Oil, Certified Organic Everlasting Oil, Certified Organic Carrot Oil, Certified Organic Ylang Ylang Oil, Certified Organic Bergamot Oil, Certified Organic Geranium Oil, Certified Organic Matricaria Oil, Vitamin E.

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CERTIFIED ORGANIC ANTI-AGING SERUM

Antioxidant restorative blend feeds all skin types with anti-aging Intellimune® Seed Oil Complex
Multi-functional, works synergistically with Anti-Aging Mist to prevent and correct signs of aging, feeds, protects and restores with Intellimune® Seed Oil Complex.
Instantly improves skin appearance and luminosity.
Made with nutritious food ingredients.
Free of silicone, parabens, petrochemicals and synthetic fragrances. 

Intelligent Ingredients:
Certified Organic Safflower Seed Oil, Certified Organic Argan Oil, Certified Organic Intellimune® Seed Oil Complex (Black Cumin, Pumpkin, Red Raspberry, Red Grape, Cranberry), Certified Organic Acai Oil, Certified Organic Orange Flower Oil, Certified Organic Everlasting Oil, Certified Organic Carrot Seed Oil, Certified Organic Ylang Ylang Oil, Certified Organic Rose Extract, Certified Organic Geranium Oil, Certified Organic Matricaria Oil, Certified Organic Chamomile Oil, Certified Organic Cistus Oil, Certified Organic Beeswax Honeycomb Extract, Vitamin E.

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They are soon launching an ANTI-AGING TOTAL BODY ELIXIR. It's phenomenal and compliments each of the 7 Mulitfunctional Aromas. It's retailing for $30. Should be avail on their website soon! 

BASQ SKIN CARE- HEAVENLY ‘STRETCH MARKS STAY AWAY FROM ME’ CREAMS/OILS

March 3, 2010

We all know I'm on a mission. I will not get stretch marks while pregnant. I will not get stretch marks while pregnant. And so on and so on…
Next up on my mission the conquer this lurking fear:

BASQ 

Every pregnancy magazine I've opened has their ads glaring out at me. They mean bizzness…So I went for it and got every single on of their magic potions…

RESILIENT BODY OIL : diivinnee….My only issue with oil is that I cannot get enough.  It's really hard for me to ration myself.  Espesh when they feel this good.  So, I'm saving this one for nighttime only! 

Rosehip Oil, Grapeseed oil, Hazelnut Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Sunflower Oil, Sesame Oil

Hazelnut, Sunflower and Sweet Almond Oil provide intense skin cell nourishment with Essential Fatty Acids and naturally occurring Vitamins that protect skin from damage. Sweet Almond oil also has natural antimicrobial properties which help prevent local bacterial infections in healing wounds, thereby minimizing the chances of scarring and ugly marks. This oil also has the natural property of tightening sagging skin.Rosehip Oil has a high content of essential fatty acids known specifically to heals scars and restore normal skin color. Grapeseed is plentiful in antioxidants and fatty acids to moisturize deeply to restructure of damaged and stressed skin tissue. Due to its nourishing and detoxifying effects, Sesame Oil reinforces the body for skin regeneration and smoothes the skin.

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ILLIPE BODY BUTTER: another yummy mummy cream. Super rich. 

Ilipe Butter, Shea butter, Jojoba Butter, Borage seed Oil, Rosehip Oil, Grapeseed Oil

Shea Butter is particularly high in essential fatty acids Vitamin A, E and F and widely used for moisturizing and rejuvenating the skin to prevent premature aging and to cure damaged skin. Jojoba butter is an excellent moisturizer that supports skin regeneration. Borage Seed Oil has the highest concentration of gamma linolenic acid an Omega-6 essential fatty acid for skin nourishment and strengthening. Rosehip Oil has a high content of essential fatty acids known specifically to heals scars and restore normal skin color. Grape seed oil is abundant in fatty acid linoleic acid, that critically helps maintain the health of cell membranes, supports regeneration and restructuring of damaged, stressed skin tissue. 

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 CITRUS SUGAR BODY POLISH: Haven't cracked this one open yet, but I'm a scrub-freak, so I'm sure to go ga-ga over it. 

Sugar, Shea Butter, Jojoba Buter, Hazelnut Oil, Grapeseed oil, Rosehip Oil, Wheatgerm Oil

Sugar exfoliation keeps skin in a constant state of renewal and rejuvenation, sloughing away dull layers that leaves skin dry and dull. Rosehip Oil has great skin rejuvenating properties due trans-retinoic acid, the component responsible for its remarkable cell healing and fortification capabilities. It also contains essential fatty acids Oomega-6 and Omega 3 which renew damaged skin. Grapeseed Oil contains a high amount of linoleic acid, which nourishes skin to keep it smooth and hydrated. The nutrients in Grapeseed Oil absorb deeply to fight free radicals and stop some of the enzymes that destroy skin functioning which leads to drying. Hazelnut oil is rich in essential fatty acids that deeply hydrate and repair. Wheatgerm Oil has a high content of linoleic acid, oleic palmitic and stearic fatty acids that help in healthy cell regeneration for skin repair. Shea Butter is particularly high in essential fatty acids plus Vitamins A, E and F skin nourishment and moisturizing.

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“Mom injects her 16 year old daughter with Botox.” Someone shoot me. Please!

March 2, 2010

ARE YOU FRICKEN KIDDING ME???

Most depressing story ever. Gotta love those Brit tabloids…

Her mother has turned herself into a ‘human Barbie’ with more than 150 cosmetic procedures costing £500,000.

Now teenager Hannah Burge has become Britain’s youngest user of Botox. She had her first injection of the toxin at 15 because she ‘didn’t want to look haggard’ by 25.
Her mother Sarah, who gives Hannah the injections herself, said she was ‘thrilled’ when her daughter asked for them. Sarah’s daughter was too young to have botox, especially as she is still growing! If her daughter was of the right age and decided that she would visit a place like the Victorian Cosmetic Institute Botox Melbourne when she got older, then that’s her own choice. But right now, this whole story just seems very wrong.

Hannah, now 16, had her first dose while on a family holiday in Marbella, Spain, last May, with her mother’s consent. Since then the schoolgirl has had two more Botox injections at home with Miss Burge, 49, who is a trained aesthetic practitioner.

She uses the same Botox on her daughter that she uses on herself. The only concession she makes for Hannah’s age is to give her half the usual dosage given to adults.

Hannah believes the toxin – which she calls “B” – will stop her developing wrinkles in the future.

She said: ‘I wanted to have Botox for two reasons: It prevents wrinkles and everyone at my school was talking about having B.
‘I had a couple of lines on my forehead and around my mouth, which I was unhappy about.

Appearance is important to me and I don’t want to look haggard and ugly by the time I’m 25.
‘Some of my friends told me that the earlier you start to have B, the fewer wrinkles you’ll have as an adult.’

Hannah, of St Neots, Cambridgeshire, has heard of girls having Botox at 16 but believes she is the youngest to start. She now wants her mother to give her lip fillers for a fuller pout.

She said: ‘I’ve met plenty of girls my age who are having these procedures behind their parents’ backs, which I think is pretty dangerous.

‘With (my mother’s) help, I won’t get that frozen-face look when I’m older and will never have a line or wrinkle on my face.’

Her mother, who has been married three times, regularly uses Botox herself, and has had her nose made smaller, her cheekbones made bigger, her breasts lifted, and the fat sucked from her face among other procedures.

She said: ‘I was thrilled Hannah was open and honest with me about having Botox.
‘I’d much rather know about it than have her do it behind my back.
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PRODUCT OBSESSION – LA ROCCA 24K GOLD SKINCARE

This line is VERY VERY VERY COOL. LA ROCCA.

Created by Laura DeLuisa, the force behind the $10 million dollar company DuWop, (can you say, “I created LIP VENOM” …? Yah, me neither…), LA ROCCA was born when both of Laura’s kidney’s went into total failure.  This life-altering event launched her quest for natural healing via 24K gold.  She made it her mission to create a collection of age-defying potions that utilize the power of gold while promoting a better environment.  

I’m just now getting into the stuff.  I’m loving the 24K GOLD EXFOLIATING CLEANSER.  And I’m looking foward to trying the 24K C GOLD GEL cuz I love me some gels.

Just take a look at what’s inside this yum cleanser…

Cellular Gold Complex an exclusive formula made with 24K Colloidal Gold which is known to promote electron transfer with the metal ions found in the skin to stimulate anti-aging cell turnover.

Diatomaceous Earth gently and quickly exfoliates to smooth and soften skin texture.

Orange Peel Oil gently moisturizes and energizes the skin.

Green Tea Extract, a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, defends against free radicals, leaving your skin hydrated, smooth and radiant.

Fulvic Acid, a natural source of approximately 60 bio-available minerals and nutrients, restores electrical balance to damaged cells and neutralizes toxins, resulting in optimum skin health.

Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-6 stimulates collagen growth, improving firmness and elasticity.

Aloe contains 8 of the 13 recognized vitamins, including important antioxidants A, C and F and provides 20 of the 22 necessary amino acids required by the human body.

Chamomile Extract conditions the skin and helps retain moisture. It contains phenolic derivatives, which have antiseptic and healing qualities, azulene, which helps in reducing puffiness and cleans the clogged pores of the skin.

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