Cologne writes: 

Skin guru, Dr. Leslie Baumann, shared her secrets with me on how to tackle every gal’s least favorite things: zits and wrinkles. In her opinion, no one should have to live with acne today given contemporary medicinal advancements and knowledge. And everyone should be aware of simple routines to effectively and efficiently prevent aging.

The most interesting and personally surprising recommendation Dr Baumann gave: everyone should use a retinoid daily—and not just for acne prevention, but for its powerful anti-aging properties, too.  (Thankfully, I have been using Differin for years, and am now thanking my dermatologist for maybe making me look a tad bit younger!)  Most retinoids can be obtained by a prescription (Retin-A, Differin), but it is also possible to obtain over the counter versions (retinol, which is found in many products from companies like Neutrogena and RoC). No matter what age or skin type you have, you should be using a daily retinoid.

As a girl who has tried practically every acne medication on the shelf, I was enthused by Dr. Baumann’s advice. First of all, acne is a combination of oil, bacteria, and clogged pores—thus it is essential to use products to battle all three of these issues. Certain products may fix one of these problems, (*cough*ProActiv*cough*) but only through fighting all three at once can acne be eliminated. Other than genes, friction can cause acne, as well as stress, dairy, and sugar (please, no wonder I break out).

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When you’re exposed to so many new products and line launches, it’s inevitable that you’d become cynical. “Suuure, this product is going to work,” you think sarcastically, happy that as a beauty editor you don’t have to waste any of your own money to disappointedly discover that yet another moisturizer failed to live up to the hype. So when I first tried In An Instant, the new line that Heidi Klum created with industry behemoth Guthy-Renker, I wasn’t expecting much; color me shocked when I became immediately addicted. The line’s premise is that it marries sophisticated, effective ingredients (namely antioxidants and—ta-da!—those all-important, magical peptides) with instantaneous results. (Um, hence, the name.) Better yet, it’s affordable…and, oh, did I mention that it works?

I first used the products last year, while living in England, when my skin was waging war against me: breaking out all over, all the time, and also finally showing my age in the form of fine-lines and one angry-looking wrinkle down the center of my forehead. It wasn’t pretty. The products arrived, I tried them in desperation…and when I glanced in the mirror an hour later, said angry-looking wrinkle was noticable diminished…smaller…deflated. I started using the entire regimen (Gentle Foaming Cleanser, Instant Warming Scrub, Intensive Firming Serum, Instant Wrinkle Smoother, Instant Daily Tinted Moisturizer and the Intensive Eye Treatment) twice daily, and a few days later all my breakouts went away…and stayed away. My skin felt softer and looked clearer and more radiant. And that wrinkle? The Instant Wrinkle Smoother pen kept it at bay all summer…until I ran out, returned to the States, and desperate for my IAI-fix, turned to Botox. (It’s a slippery slope, folks.)

Guthy asked me how I liked the products, I wrote poems and sang songs about how obsessed I was, and they eventually asked me to appear in their new infomercial extolling its virtues. It starts airing soon (and In An Instant is finally available!), so keep your eyes peeled for ol’ Jolie, and I’ll post a clip soon.

Otherwise titled as “A Post That Really Has No Point, But Just ‘Cause…” 

When I started working at Lucky, fresh out of college, I was a lowly beauty assistant with little input, terrified of everybody around me.  My job initially consisted of opening packages, arranging products in the beauty closet, organizing the in-demand director’s schedule (well, okay, that would be attempting to organize the in-demand director’s schedule, since I was universally acknowledged to be a terrible–but oh-so-eager!–assistant), and answering phones.  Hardly tasks necessitating an Ivy League diploma—yet I was hooked.  The place was drenched in glamour, each editor was more fabulous than the next, and as time progressed, I was passed micro-pieces to work on, eventually graduating to the Secret Ingredient page and occasional Q&A’s for the burgeoning website (oh, 2003, how long ago you seem!)  Those Q&A’s became the inspiration for the Beauty Questions I now answer (but which y’all have been lazy about recently, so send ‘em in!), and, of course, led to the creation of beauty blog 1.0 formerly called Jolie in NYC.

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Jolie is thrilled that Allure’s Daily Beauty Reporter included her skincare tips alongside those of fellow beauty gals Daneen from Spoiled Pretty, Erika from Makeup Bag, and Amber from Beauty Blogging Junkie (if you’re not reading their blogs, you should be, as not only are these ladies super knowledgable, but they’re just good people to boot!).  Daily Beauty Reporter Jessica Matlin, an old magazine chum, quizzed me on which skincare product is currently revving my motor.  My answer?  IS Clinical Super Serum Advance, a powerhouse serum that’s full of antioxidants, brightens the complexion, helps keep acne at bay, increases collagen production, and does your laundry.  (Okay, not true…but it does everything else!)  It is, let’s be real, hardly cheap—$130 for a serum?  Dude, I still don’t have a car!—but if you’re as skin obsessed as I am, genuinely worth every penny.

Lipgloss and nail polish are all well and good, but I feel about makeup the way I feel about fashion: it enhances and beautifies, sure, but at the end of the day it’s what’s underneath that counts.  As a result, skincare is my true beauty passion–if your skin isn’t glowing, taut and in its best shape, all the makeup in the world isn’t going to do a damn thing.  Luckily, there have been seemingly endless advances these past few years, as beauty companies are realizing the huge potential of the anti-aging market: now you can find a serum or night cream at every price.  But which ones are best…and do they actually work? 

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I’ve visited a spa or twelve in my day, and consider myself something of a massage expert.  (Hmm.  Okay, maybe not an expert, since I have no freaking idea how to properly give one that doesn’t involve lightly scratching fingernails or sad little attempts at shoulder-kneading that result in said recipient swatting away my hands and saying, “You know…it’s okay.  Just forget it.”  So, let’s say I’m a massage enthusiast.  A connoisseur, if you will.)  I had a fantastic one last night at Ole Henriksen in West Hollywood (310-854-7700): a two-hour African Red Tea Body Cocktail involving a drool-inducing massage, followed by a brown sugar scrub, tropical rain rinse (as in, the ceiling started raining fat, soothing droplets of water on me), antioxidant African Red Tea body mask, and a wrap to pull out all the impurities.  I crawled home, drank my body weight in water to flush out all the toxics I envisioned flooding my system (and since Tuesday night was a very late one, I’m sure there were a lot of toxins to be axed) and then passed out.

Antioxidants are, of course, one of the big buzzwords in beauty, since they help fight free radicals, which are the nasty little buggers involved in the aging process.  African Red Tea is getting attention because it has a higher percentage of antioxidants than green tea, and also has calming and soothing properties.  The African Red Tea See The Difference Serum is packed with it, and includes anti-inflammatory, circulation-boosting gingko biloba, and sea kelp, which firms and detoxifies.  It costs $48.

Another of my favorite Ole products is the On the Go Cleanser, which is great for all skin-types and gives you that extra-clean feeling without drying the skin.  It’s chock-full of goodness, too: vitamin C, grapeseed extract and seaweed.  It costs $21.

I couldn’t live up to my promise to review the Clarisonic today as you have to let it charge for 24 hours.  (Stupid instructions…That’s how you know I’m getting old–I’m actually starting to read them!)  As far as the Vi Peel after-photos, I will post them next Tuesday, at the five week mark. 

After hearing so much about the Clarisonic, a sonic oscillation face brush that’s supposed to be twice as effective at cleaning skin as the lazy ol’ regular method, I was of course eager to try it.  My very own version arrived today, delivered by the magic beauty fairies, so I’ll try it out tonight and let you know how it goes.  Perhaps tomorrow I will emerge looking so clean, so young, so vibrant that I’ll appear, like, twelve.  Dare to dream!