Description of Butterflydiary.com by writer Charu Suri: Butterflydiary is a site for social butterflies everywhere, especially those who want to be Monarchs and Admirals. It brings a humorous, fun and fresh perspective to beauty by delivering well-honed product reviews and trends. It also produces original beauty cartoons.
If I gave you $100, what beauty items that you don't own would you buy?
I have skin that’s more difficult to manage than a two year old, and I would buy Dr. Susan Taylor's RX for Brown Skin (the Bright & Clear Acne Treatment). I'd also invest in several doses of Clinique's Turnaround Radiance Once a Week Peel since I hear it performs a minor miracle each time people use it.
What are two beauty blogs we should check out, and why you love them.
I really love The Beauty Alchemist's site because Diane brings a really smart, savvy and thorough perspective to everything she writes.
BeautyStat is a new site that has great forums and interactive discussions and I end up learning a lot from the member recommendations.
Share three skin care tips with us.
- Get a collagen-boosting moisturizer if you can. I use Dr. Ci-Labo's Aqua Collagen Super Moisture. My skin has done a 360 with it. A good, deeply hydrating moisturizer can help the skin repair, recover from assaults and prevent blemishes from forming. Once I slather this baby on, I have no need to apply moisturizer for the rest of the day-it’s that good.
- Always wear sunscreen, especially the new formulations that shield against UVA and UVB rays. A sunscreen like Coppertone's Dual Defense Moisturizer actually heals skin and repairs it while you're in the sun.
- Try to steam your face at least twice a week, or get facials regularly. It’s more work than weeding your garden, I know, but the payoff is excellent. I used to have terrible breakouts but since I started deep cleansing my skin through regular steaming, the pores have become clearer and my skin breaks out less.
What four skin care or beauty steps do you religiously take time for?
- I always cleanse, tone and moisturize thrice daily. Living in a city like New York makes my skin a sponge for grime and dust and that makes me very religious about having skin cleaner than spring water.
- I always remove every trace of makeup before I go to bed. I’ve become addicted to this wonderful invention by Jane Iredale called the “Magic Mitt” which is a glove that removes every trace of makeup. You just wash, rinse and repeat. You’ll never need Lancome’s Bi-Facile again (though I adore this product).
- Applying under-eye cream at night is also really key for me, since I work late hours (I’m a night owl) and my eyes are the first to show signs of stress and sleep deprivation. Some eye creams that have really worked include Jan Marini's Factor A Eyes for Dark Circles capsules and Relastin's Eye Silk.
- I take Perfectil One a Day [www.perfectil.com]. It’s an oral vegetarian supplement that helps improve your skin, hair and nails. It’s the best selling supplement in the UK and I absolutely love it. It also doubles as a multivitamin.
What five fantastic products do you use now, and why do you love them.
- Dr. Obagi's ZO Skin Health products keep promises like a saint. His Growth Factor Serum is pricey but works by boosting collagen and zapping wrinkles.
- Patricia Wexler's Sensitive Skin line (it debuts in the fall). The peel and night cream give no tingling feeling at all but you know they work because skin gets more hydrated and clearer with 2-3 uses.
- Liz Earl’s Superskin Line is one of the most fragrant and efficacious I’ve used. The Superskin Concentrate is a mélange of plant essential oils that I love. She's also launching a new Superskin Body Cream that is not only ultra luxurious but also smells like a French lavender garden.
- Lumecin: I never heard about this product until recently and it really does deliver on its promise of luminosity and comet-like radiance. Your skin gets bright and clearer each day. It's a drugstore product and completely worth every penny.
- I use ANSR [www.ansr.com], a hand-held device that emits blue and red light, to clear my acne twice daily. I find there’s no need for fancy prescriptions like Retin-A when I use this sleek disc. I like the idea of having red and blue photo-therapy at home.
Thank you Charu! Those are great tips and products that you shared with us. To find more from Charu, visit her site: ButterflyDiary.com.
