Beauty Question: Daily Moisturizers

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2005

A. writes,

Help! I don’t have a lot of money to spend on a good daily facial moisturizer, and I’m never sure if what I’m using (currently Nivea Q10 Advanced Wrinkle Reducer Lotion with SPF 15) is the best out there. I don’t want to fall in love with one that costs an arm and a leg. What do you recommend? 

A., you’re in luck! There are tons of inexpensive options at the drugstore that are just as good (if not better) than pricier face creams. The Nivea lotion you’re using is stellar (I love Nivea products, and only wish that they had as many choices here in the US as they do over in Europe!) and its main ingredient, coenzyme Q10, is an energizing antioxidant that will help keep your skin looking radiant. If you want another choice, one of my absolute favorite moisturizers in the world (and the one that I currently use every morning over my IS Clinical Pro-Heal Serum) is Purpose Dual Treatment Moisture Lotion with SPF 15—dermatologists love it, it absorbs quickly (so it’s great under makeup) and it’s one of the only moisturizers that absolutely, positively never makes my skin break out. Other great options that rival anything you’ll find at Bloomingdale’s: Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Cream SPF 15, ROC Age Diminishing Daily Moisturizer (the Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Daily Moisturizer is amazing, too; it battles fine-lines) and Olay Regenerist Daily Regenerating Serum. You’re just as likely to find any of these moisturizers in a beauty-insider’s cabinet as you are to find the Crème de la Mers and the SK-IIs. And, of course, the price is right!

Beauty Question= “Help Me Fight Blemishes!”

Wednesday, August 24th, 2005

J. writes,

Hi Jolie! (or Nadine, whichever you prefer:-) )I need help! I’m a redhead with fair, freckled skin that’s ridiculously sensitive. I’m kind of weird in that I actually do have theability to tan a little bit but I try to avoid that. In any case, my skin is really sensitive and I find myself breaking out all the time. I’m 24 years old and still in school so I avoid makeup, especially foundation, most of the time but I put on a tinted moisturizer for a job interview the other day and within 24 hours my skin had completely broken out. I thought I found a great face wash (I’m currently using Aveeno) but everytime I try something new, it works for a couple of weeks and then starts failing on me. Any suggestions? Thanks! 

J., I think you and I are secretly twins, since your description and issues sound exactly like me! (Yes, my hair is naturally reddish…I think…it’s been so long!) My skin is especially sensitive and keeping breakouts at bay is a daily struggle, but I’ve finally found a regimen that works for me (and will work for you, too, I hope!). One of the only cleansers that consistently works for me is Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash. I’m in love with it, and using it twice a day keeps my skin clear. (It has 2% salicylic acid, so you might need to alternate with another cleanser for a week or two. Purpose Gentle Cleansing Wash is an excellent choice—although it doesn’t fight acne, it’s extremely gentle, doesn’t leave any residue and even helps get rid of eye makeup.) I then follow with Purpose Dual-Treatment Moisture Lotion SPF 15 (dermatologists love this line because it’s non-irritating), my beloved OC8 (to sop up oil) and, finally, Bare Escentuals makeup. (This is the point where you’re thinking, “Why won’t she shut up about Bare Escentuals?” And my response: Because it just really is that good.) It is theonly foundation I’ve found that won’t clog my pores, feels weightless—so doesn’t leave you with that nasty “I have a face full of makeup” feeling—and completely covers redness and pigmentation. (It goes without saying: whatever foundation you choose, make sure it’s oil-free!!) Give yourself about three weeks on the new regimen to let your skin get used to it and, of course, be religious about washing your face twice daily. I hope it works for you as well as it’s worked for me!

Beauty Question: Day vs. Night Moisturizers

Monday, August 29th, 2005

V. writes,

I can’t wait to try some of the lotions and washes you recommended recently. My skin seems to be similar to yours: seriously sensitive, but I still manage to break out–not to mention dry out! I’m always confused as to whether I should be using different products at night. If my day lotion has SPF in it, I don’t like to use it at night. Any recommendations? What should a nightly beauty routine consist of? 

Hi V.!The whole SPF/night cream thing is so confusing! Even though there’s little, if any, difference between most moisturizers marketed for AM or for PM, I think it just doesn’t feel right putting on “night cream” during the day, or SPF-infused moisturizer at night. Regardless, unless you have extra-sensitive skin that gets irritated by sunscreen, it’s actually fine to use your day cream at night and vice versa. (So next time you go on a trip and forget a night moisturizer, don’t freak out!) Night moisturizers are often slightly heavier and day moisturizers usually have sunscreen, but other than that, they’re pretty much indistinguishable. That being said, there are so many excellent night products out there, why not pick one that’s going to do something good for your skin? Some of my favorites: ROC Age Diminishing Moisturizing Night Cream, Kinerase, IS Clinical Active Serum, Philosophy Save Me and Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture for Sensitive Skin. These products won’t inflame breakout-prone skin, and (except for the ROC and Neutrogena, which are just great, non-oily moisturizers) will even help reduce breakouts, so you won’t have to deal with that annoying “Okay, this cream has zapped my zits, but now I’m molting” experience common to so many acne-fighting moisturizers. As far as the general routine, keep it simple: a gentle cleanser followed by moisturizer—and that’s it. (Toners are generally a crock of BS, unless you simply enjoy the squeaky-clean feeling. Then, by all means, tone away!)

My New York Times debut

Wednesday, August 31st, 2005

This just excites me beyond words—I had no idea about this until, oh, about two seconds ago.Job Posting (NY Times)

A Day in the Life, or Jolie Gets Wordy and Earnest

Tuesday, July 5th, 2005

The day-to-day life of a beauty editor is always changing: sometimes I’ll be at my desk for eight hours straight, interviewing experts and writing stories, and other times I’ll be dashing around the city, running from appointment to appointment. The days filled with appointments are the interesting ones, since you never quite know what to expect.Appointments held in the office, where public relations people visit you to present their latest beauty products, are usually rather run-of-the-mill, and only take about 15 or 20 minutes, if you’re lucky. Of course, depending on who the PR person is, even the most mundane appointment can take a wrong turn, such as the time I sat down with a publicist I wasn’t particularly fond of. Apparently, the feeling was mutual, since I commented on her exotic bracelet, and she replied, “Oh, it’s a bracelet to ward off the evil eye. I wear it when I’ll be around negative people.” Hey, thanks!Completely different from in-office appointments are out-of-office events, thrown by public relations people at clubs, hotels, museums or restaurants, and designed to make a big enough splash that you’ll have fun and think, “You know, I think I will write about this completely ordinary and not-at-all innovative beauty product.” That’s the only possible explanation, since events are getting more and more lavish (think jungle motifs, hot male models acting as waiters, private museum viewings, day trips out-of-state and even cross-country or overseas press trips), when most of the time, an in-office appointment would serve the same purpose, let you ask more questions without worrying about getting the evil eye from other, busier editors, and would probably save the company a lot of money.In between the appointments and the events are the lunches, which can range from decadent and delightful to painful and pointless. Some of the best food I’ve ever eaten has been in the company of PR people at chic eateries like Nobu and Per Se, although the average lunch tends to run more toward places like Sushi Samba, Bryant Park Grill and Koi. Sitting down to lunch with a PR person is a crap shoot: sometimes you’ll hit it off and chat excitedly about college, “the industry” and various crazy celebrities (Tom Cruise, anybody?), whereas other times you’ll be desperately grasping at straws for things to talk about, until you’re finally forced to discuss what types of stories you’re currently writing. (That’s usually the point at which they’ll try to convince you that their new anti-wrinkle cream is just perfect! for the oil-free foundation story you’re writing.) Luckily, those uncomfortable meetings are few and far between, since PR girls seem to be getting younger and younger (it can’t be that I’m getting older!) and are endlessly cheerful and talkative.It’s a very unique industry, but it’s thankfully never boring. And at least twice a week I’ll think of my banker and lawyer friends chained to their desks and I realize, in a nutshell, that my job rocks.

My perfume addiction

Tuesday, July 5th, 2005

As my friends know, I am completely addicted to perfume. Despite having done a bathroom purge about six months ago, when I got rid of 10-15 fragrances by giving them away to needy friends, a quick check shows that I still have 25 perfumes on my bathroom vanity. I suppose I could get rid of most of my fragrances, since I only wear four or five on a regular basis, but how can you toss classics like Amarige, Shalimar, J’Adore, Marc Jacobs and Fleurissimo?I currently rotate between Calvin Klein Eternity Moment, Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue, Narciso Rodriguez for Her, and Miss Dior Cherie, with the occasional Escada Rockin’ Rio, Chanel Chance, Givenchy Pi or Stella McCartney thrown in for good measure. But the one fragrance that provokes the most reaction when I wear it is Coco Mademoiselle—my current obsession—which has notes of jasmine, rose, bergamot, orange, vanilla, and patchouli. Fragrance writer Chandler Burr describes it by saying, “It is lovely, flowery, a fresh-faced seventeen-year-old in a summer dress…when you come across someone wearing it, you want to lean closer to them,” which is a pretty apt description from my experiences. If you’re looking for a gorgeous fragrance to make people say, “You smell delicious—what are you wearing?”, Coco Mademoiselle is it.

Rules for PR people to live by

Tuesday, July 5th, 2005

If you are a public relations person, might I be so kind as to offer one or two words of advice? It’ll make everybody happier.1) Please don’t ask permission to send press kits. Just send them. 2) Please don’t call and ask to speak with “Shirley” when my name is “Jolie” and I have been the only person at this extention for three years. Shirley hasn’t worked here since 2002. Pick up a masthead. They’re fairly current.3) Please don’t leave a message asking me to call back to let you know that, yes, I did receive the press release that you randomly sent. If it’s really that important to you to verify that I received an unrequested piece of paper, call me back until you reach me.4) Please tell your bosses to make you stop calling “just to check in”. I know you’ve gotta do it (and I know you’d rather not—I feel your pain!)…but it’s still kind of annoying. 5) Please don’t call and read something verbatim off a piece of paper. Maybe you’re an intern, maybe you’re very nervous over the phone, maybe you really are a robot, but at least try to make it sound unrehearsed.Phew! That wasn’t so hard, was it?

Everything For a Dollar

Wednesday, July 6th, 2005

For a beauty editor, there are no two more horrific words in the English language than “beauty sale.”* If you think a beauty sale means “a fun day where you bring $15 to the office and get $100 worth of beauty loot while chatting with your colleagues and avoiding work,” you are dead wrong. In actuality, a beauty sale is a monstrous day of carnage, where otherwise civilized women suddenly morph into growling packs of wolves, greedily dumping entire drawers of products indiscriminately into bags as fast as their little hands can act.Beauty sales turn normally charitable women into snarling penny pinchers. After an hour or two, if a surplus of products is left, it’s common for items to go on sale—maybe 10 items for a dollar. Despite the knowledge that all products are insanely discounted, with profits going to charity, it’s embarrassingly common for women to try and bargain you down, arguing, for example, that they should only have to pay 80 cents, since they have only eight makeup items. At our beauty sales, it’s gotten so bad that we don’t have “last call” anymore—if you don’t buy it at “full price” (for a freakin’ dollar, people!), we’ll either save it for the next sale, or send it straight to a charity.I, thankfully, have not had to run a beauty sale in many years. I do not think my poor heart—or my somehow still enduring love for humanity—could survive it.*A quick primer: for those of you not in the know, a beauty sale happens once or twice a year at magazines, when the beauty department rounds up all sorts of products, organizes them in a conference room, and sells everything at a major discount (usually at a dollar) for charity. Mayhem ensues.