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.

Enjoy!

ScarJo graces the August cover of Cosmo, looking nearly identical to her 2006 Oscars red carpet appearance when Isaac Mizrahi fondled her boob.  (Good times!)  There’s something so glamorous and cool about Scarlett that sends me into giggly worship mode.  I think it’s the sad realization that–while I am Jolie and that’s pretty good, too–try as I might, I will never be Scarlett.  I will never rock a mullet.  I will never be engaged to Ryan Reynolds.  I will never have massive boobs that always look fantastic.  Alas.  (Although, she did totally lend me her, um, thing, that one time, and that was a pretty randomly awesome experience.)

More pictures of Scarlett through the years, after the jump…

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This morning, my friend R. send me a text message telling me I had to check out today’s sunscreen article on CNN ASAP.  Not one hour later, a publicist I was chatting with mentioned it, too.  “What is this revolutionary article?” I wondered.  “What amazing revelations about the evils of sunscreen is it bringing to light??”  I finally got around to reading it, however, and see that it’s the same warnings about sunscreen that have been known for years.  Or, at least, I thought they were known (um, don’t want to be all, “I told you so,” but I wrote about this in Beauty Confidential, and it wasn’t even new then).  Apparently, more people than I realized are still in the dark.  To wit:

- When picking a sunscreen, choose one that offers UVA and UVB protection.  This is called “broad-spectrum”
- UVA is the aging ray; UVB is the burning, cancer-causing ray.  According to The Skin Cancer Foundation website, UVA rays may also be carcinogenic and can exacerbate UVB’s cancer-causing properties
- If you have sensitive skin, avoid potentially irritating “chemical blockers” such as avobenzone and Parsol 1789, and instead look for “titanium dioxide” or “zinc oxide”, which are known as “physical blockers”.  Chemical blockers work by absorbing UV rays; physical blockers repel them
- Sunscreens are tested in labs, under ideal conditions, and are falliable.  They tend to break down quickly, must be tossed after a few months, and need to be reapplied every two hours
- I’m going to repeat that one again: you must reapply sunscreen every two hours!
- There’s no such thing as “waterproof”.  It’s a marketing term.  So-called waterproof formulas simply take longer to break down and lose their SPF (80 minutes for “waterproof”; 40 minutes for “water-resistant”)
- As you doubtlessly know, SPF stands for “sun protection factor.”  What you may not know is that SPF refers to burning UVB rays only.  It does not refer to aging UVA rays.  SPF’s are also not magic - as I mentioned earlier, the SPF number only holds under ideal conditions, for two hours, when applied properly and generously
- SPF’s are also different for everybody, as they are multiplied by the time it takes you to burn.  So, somebody from sub-Saharan Africa likely will not burn after three hours in the sun while wearing SPF 15.  My pale-as-Caspar friend who has Irish and Scandanavian roots?  Three hours in the sun, SPF 15 or no, will fry her to a crisp.  Use common sense, and don’t treat SPF number like magic; view them more as subjective guidelines that are different for every person
- Sunscreen takes about half an hour to become effective, so don’t apply it at noon while you’re rolling up to the beach and expect to be protected; put it on at home well before you’ll be in the sun
- Finally, come to terms with the fact that you are probably not using enough sunscreen.  My own totally-random-not-at-all-scientific rule of thumb?  Take what you’d normally apply, and triple it.  (The official measure is 1 oz., which equals a shot glass)

I’ll post some of my favorite sunscreens soon!

Bella Sugar investigates the best cream blushes.

MTV is wondering how to top Britney Spears’s trainwreck performance for this year’s VMA awards on the Paramount lot in Hollywood.

All About The Pretty recommends Kerastase Substance Constructive hair treatment for weak or chemically-fried locks. 

Ivanka Trump: on the cover of Town and Country, and perhaps the most glamorous 26-year-old in the world.

Makeup Bag flips for Kate Somerville spa in LA (and Kate Somerville Nourish Daily Moisturizer, infused with antioxidants…but not SPF, alas.)

Madonna and Guy Ritchie may be divorcing.  (Okay, this rumor has been around forever, but this time, it seems real…and very sad.)

Photo from DailyMail.co.uk

Too busy to eat?  I guess these overachieving kids are going to be saving our future–somebody has to counteract the MTV generation–but they certainly don’t sound like a barrel full of laughs.

If you’re over 27 and haven’t had your Gardasil vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, you’re still out of luck; the FDA has rejected an application for use in women 27 through 45.

Cosmetic surgery procedures will exceed 55 million by 2015.  That’s four times as many procedures performed in 2005.

DailySugar is offering a free Balenciaga bag just for signing up.

Kat Von D. has a makeup line…and the offerings are actually kind of cute.

It’s (not at all really) official: Mario Lopez is The Most Shirtless Man in America.  Number two?  Everybody’s crush at my gym: Ryan “Oh My Hot” Reynolds.

I found out this weekend that TotalBeauty.com is sending me to Paris in October!  Apparently, more Jolie readers visited the TotalBeauty.com “Totally Green Sweepstakes” link than those from any other blog…so, from the bottom of my heart, thank you!  (I hope it will make you proud to know that your clicks were more than double those of the number two blog!)  I’ll be attending the Beyond Beauty conference in the City of Lights and will report back to all of you on the latest, greatest and oh-so-chic in beauty. 

Your new mission, should you choose to accept it, is to click on the button below to visit the Spas of America website.  The blogger which sends the most traffic via link clicks will visit a spa and write an article for Spas of America/Total Beauty.  Can we prove, once again, that Jolie readers are far and away the most awesome?  Methinks we can!

By the by, I’ve had the pleasure of visiting a few really spectacular spas in my day, so I’ll post all month on my favorites.  Stay tuned…

A. writes: “I just bought Benefit’s Some Kind-a Gorgeous foundation….absolutely love it….goes on best with foundation brush. Thought you might be interested……check it out!! It’s very light and soft and turns to a powdery finish…..natural looking and lasting.”