Christopher Columbus of Beauty

Like dear ol’ Chris, I have been braving a few New Worlds of Beauty as of late and I’d like to share my findings with you!

• The Brazilian Blowout

As you might recall, I am a Keratin Believer.  Please witness my previous post here.   A wise woman named Mara once said to me after her own treatment, “Now I have more time to focus on world peace because I don’t have to wonder whether or not it’s going to be a good hair day.  They are ALL good hair days.”

It’s the truth – the treatment is amazing. But the three days you spend as a Gremlin while this stuff works on your hair? Torture. So when Lindsay informed me that her salon, Mint, was offering a Keratin treatment which required a reduced amount of time for the product to set in, you better believe I was all about it.  I figured, any second I could shave off that process would be a vast improvement!   

I was outrageously and pleasantly suprised when I called in and discovered they have also very recently started to offer the Brazilian Blowout, which is 100% complete when you walk out of the salon, no downtime!  AMAZING. It took about 3 hours, and the process was similar: wash, apply product, blow out, bake in strand by strand with a flat iron…

Mary Joyce at Mint Salon working her magic

…and the result is EXACTLY the same. I recommend 100%.  I’ll let you know in a month or two if it lasts as long as the Keratin, but for right now at 2 weeks out, I am THRILLED.  Oh, but please note: you must stay away from Sodium Chloride products (as you do with the Keratin) but you must also stay away from Sulfide products as well.  Mary, who performed my treatment at Mint, recommended Prive Concept Vert for my shampoo and conditioner:

You may remember how obsessed I am with Prive as a line, but this stuff takes the cake.  It’s 3 liters of product jammed into this little bottle.  Yowza!  The tiniest bit of this product, mixed with a little water, expands to an entire handful and definitely more than enough for one use. Plus, it smells SPECTACULAR.

Call Mary Joyce at Mint Salon for an appointment 404.724.9669.  Tell her the Q+DD sent ya!

• OPI Axxium soak-off gel nail polish
  

I didn’t think I could do this.  I am a commitment-averse person.  I can barely decide on a pair of shoes for an evening, let alone a nail polish color for 3 weeks, but I finally bit the bullet and tried OPI’s new gel colors.

Not to be confused with Gel Nails or Acrylics, this gel is painted on like a polish, but dries under the UV light to a smooth, hard finish like the aformentioned products, but with no damage to your actual nail!

A few things to note: once the polish is applied, it must be soaked off like acrylics or gel nails.

Also, the colors are MUCH lighter than they appear. If you are choosing a neutral shade like Bubble Bath, it will dry almost clear.

Now, since I am not and will never be a naked nail girl, AND since i was in an 80′s kind of mood when I was doing this, I went with HOT pink. I had to have them soaked off early because I could no longer stand the color, but I could have easily gone another week.  Check it:

After 2 weeks!

If you think gel color may be for you, there are several salons offering this in town including Nail and Toe Spa in Buckhead, Top Nail in Toco Hills, and Hammond Nails in Sandy Springs.

Finally, the last beauty product I need to share with you is…

• The Clairsonic Mia

From the creators of the Sonicare toothbrush, this little hand-held wonder ensures that my mug gets a thorough 1-minute cleaning at least once a day!

It’s completely waterproof, so if you want to use it in the shower that is a-ok and the charge lasts a REALLY long time! My mom brought it in as a gift when she came to visit, and I absolutely LOVE it.  I can definitely tell a difference in my skin and it makes my nightly routine SO much easier.  I use it with my glycolic cleanser from my dermy and plain ol’ Cetaphil…the Mia works great with both!

Ok, that’s all I’ve got for now.  I’ll continue to look into the open sea of beauty possibilities and report back.

Further bulletins as events warrant.

xx, L