STOCKING STUFFERS: Top 5 moisturizing moments from head to toe

Things that make you go mmmmmmm

It’s the little things that count, and if you fill those stockings with power-packed formulations that help combat winter dryness, you’ll be on the good list for good.  Check out these five hydration helpers:

Hair

Joico Reconstructing K-Pac

Everyone loves a good hair find, and if your giftees need some love for their locks, I have a powerhouse for you: Joico K-Pak Reconstruct.  The shampoo/conditioner set works wonders on damaged hair, but it is the Deep-Penetrating Reconstructor that gets sucked in through straw-like hair as if it was nectar from the gods.   A professional grade product, use this once a week or so to repair dried and fried ends suffering from coloring and styling.

Face

Oil Cleansers

Winter is harsh on skin.  So is makeup. Partake in rituals of a kinder, gentler kind by gifting an oil cleanser.  An Asian ritual forEVER, the proper oils breakdown product on the skin and leave it dewy soft, not clogged.  Top notch formulations from Shu Uemura and Shisedo are elegant workhorses, and will please the veteran and novice oil user alike.

Lips

PROTECT Yu-Be Lip Therapy

Cult classic Yu-Be debuted their Lip Therapy this year, and, Rosebud Salve who?  I can’t live without the stuff.  From an earlier review, my views haven’t changed: This is the ultimate therapy balm.  Instantly sinks in, doesn’t dry out and contains no artificial ingredients.  My lips even enjoyed the camphor, which seemed soothing to their dry, cracked existence.

Hands/Feet & Nails

Winter weather can cause nails to become dry, brittle.  If you wear polish of any kind, that means it will pull back from product.  Keep your nails flexible with an oil that is natural and blended to penetrate your skin.  Many products just float on the surface, but CND’s Solar Oil acts therapeutic.  This Special Edition version is scented Vanilla & Amber and packs an olfactory WOW.

Overall body

Dove Deep Moisture Body Wash

Why wash with soap when you can use a moisturizing body wash?  Get a jump start by keeping your skin supple instead of drying it out during cleansing.  Dove’s new Deep Moisture combines mild cleansers with a rich blend of nutrients for a nourishing body wash.  This drugstore beauty find has a super creamy lather, and that oh-so-pretty trademark Dove scent that pleases the senses.

Disclosure: Product was provided in some instances for review consideration.  I liked it so much I included it in my retail roundup recommendations.  

Nail Techs in Need drive continues

The donations drive continues for nail techs that have lost it all in Hurricane Sandy.  Techs are getting vetted through Nail Talk Radio and matched up with supplies that come in.  New or gently used products are what it takes to get these survivors back to business.

The first thing you think of in a situation like this is sanitation.  What is the gold standard in our industry?  Why, Barbicide, of course.  Barbicide was originally manufactured out of New York until it was bought and transferred here to Milwaukee several years ago.  What a koinkidink!  I gave them a quick call and they were only too happy to help.

Check out the two cases of Barbicide and Barbicide wipes.  Thank you Barbicide!

Every donation, big or small, helps an individual manicurist.  I’ve been touched to see donations from a single packet of art sponges to a baggie of polishes and nail files.

Nail tech Sonja sent an artist’s dream box full of glitters and tips and heck, I think there is even a drill in there.  It came all the way from IOWA:

Every little bit helps, and I know there are more shipments coming in this week.  If you’ve got extra supplies you aren’t using, consider donating to Nail Techs in Need.  This will link you to the Facebook page and mailing address.

Univision’s Lourdes Stephen Helps Latina Cancer Patients Look Good, Feel Better Through Live, Streaming Spanish-language “Virtual Workshop”

Sal y Pimienta Host joins Beauty Experts to Offer Lessons on Dealing with Outward Side Effects of Cancer Treatment

The beauty industry focuses on making people look good to feel better, but what happens when something like cancer transforms your look?  It is even more important to get support to keep up esteem and health.  Look Good Feel Better® is a program that joins beauty experts and workshops and online support to help women work through new beauty regimes to shine during challenging times.

Coming up this Wednesday, an online workshop specifically geared to the challenges Latina women may face when going through cancer treatments.

WHAT: Look Good Feel Better®, a program dedicated to boosting cancer patients’ self-esteem and confidence through lessons on how to manage the appearance-related side effects of cancer treatment, will partner with Univision’s Lourdes Stephen for a Spanish-language “virtual” workshop. Ms. Stephen will be joined by beauty experts who will offer instruction, tips and advice – tailored to Latina women – for dealing with hair loss, changes in skin, complexion and *nails during your cancer treatment, taken straight from the live LGFB community based group workshop program.

WHEN: Wednesday, October 31, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM (www.lookgoodfeelbetter.org).

WHERE: Streaming live at http://redsocialww.us5.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=14e50c66160cf480879c0ead4&id=1bf2a37689&e=a5d5f54586
Register at http://redsocialww.us5.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=14e50c66160cf480879c0ead4&id=ef13ef5954&e=a5d5f54586

WHO: Lourdes Stephen, host of Univision’s Sal y Pimienta
Lilly Rivera, makeup artist, and Petra Belen, hair stylist
Louanne Roark, Executive Director, Look Good Feel Better

Look Good Feel Better is a nationwide program that offers free workshops and educational resources that address skin changes and concerns, and offers lessons on wigs, turbans, cosmetics, nail care, and accessories, and wardrobe styling. Workshops are facilitated by 14,000 volunteer beauty professionals in more than 3,000 locations nationwide. During the past 23 years, the program has served more than 800,000 people with cancer in the U.S. and more than 1.2 million people with cancer around the world. The program is made possible through a collaboration of the Personal Care Products Council Foundation, the American Cancer Society, and the Professional Beauty Association.

STATISTICS:

59,200 Latinas will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in 2012.
1 in 3 Latinas will be diagnosed with cancer in her lifetime.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Latinas, followed by colorectal cancer and thyroid cancer.
Even though Latinas have lower breast cancer rates than white women, they are more likely than whites to be diagnosed at a later stage, when the cancer is more advanced and harder to treat.
According to a recent survey, one-third of women with cancer said that their altered -appearance during treatment negatively impacted relationships with their friends, their spouse and their kids
37% of women in the same survey said that they avoided leaving the house because of the way that they looked during cancer treatment.

Look Good Feel Better is not for Latinas alone.  The site helps women of all ages and race.

*I support the great work of LGFB but have raised the issue of the advice given to people to bring their own implements to a professional manicure appointment.  Sanitation/Sterilization laws vary by state and many manicurists will not accept using client tools because there is no way to verify they are appropriately cleaned.  Manicurists must also use an EPA approved disinfectant that is not available to the general public.  For health and safety, find a manicurist that follows these steps for a sanitized manicure.