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!

So, it’s been three weeks since my Vi Peel, and my skin still seems to be regulating itself.  After enjoying a gorgeous, smooth, soft complexion last week, I woke up on Saturday with four honking zits that seemingly came out of nowhere.  In the week after the Vi Peel, there was a noticable difference in the texture and appearance of my skin—less pigmentation, more even and radiant, although also more red—but my skin broke out from the intensive moisturizer that comes along with the peel.  The zits quickly went away, but now they’re back with a vengeance.  (I mean, seriously, I have some zits right now that deserve their own zip code.)  I don’t want to have unrealistic expectations, and know that the real test will come next week with my one-month-post-peel photos…but still.  Jolie is not so happy right now.

Jennifer Aniston’s He’s Just Not That Into You is pushed until February, avoiding a competitive release with Angelina Jolie’s Changeling.  Please, we all knew Jen was going to win the box office war, anyway!

Hilary Swank cut all her hair off.  I mean, all…of…it.

Bella Sugar loves Arcona White Tea Cleanser (I second her raves!  I’ve been using it off and on for the past few months and it’s excellent for sensitive skin.)

Clinique is beginning a beauty insider program.

Beauty Addict finds out which makeup items Dior used on Charlize Theron during the Hancock publicity tour.

Taylor Momsen (little Jenny Humphrey, again!) signs a modeling deal with IMG.  Um, I sure as hell didn’t look like that when I was 14 years old! 

It’s been three days since I had my Vi Peel, and the phenol acid, vitamin C and Retin-A peel is working wonders…if by “wonders” I were to actually mean “is causing every last ounce of my skin to kamikaze dive off my face in unattractive, flaky sheets.”  Pictures of the disgusting-yet-effective madness to follow shortly!

 UPDATE: Click here for my before and after photos to see the results!

Readers and friends ask me all the time how to get rid of undereye circles, and I always have to disappoint them with the unsatisfactory answer: creams and serums might help a teeny bit, but not much, since the problem is often a hereditary pigmentation problem.  Thursday Styles devotes an entire article to it, explaining that excess pigmentation and dilated veins are the two main culprits, and bemoaning that—despite the 50 plus creams at Sephora devoted to the problem, not to mention the $1.8 billion spent in 2006 on banishing dark circles—few products are actually effective.  The article recommends products that contain plumping ingredients like AHAs, or vitamins C and K to thicken skin and lays out the unsexy truth that sometimes the dermatologist or (eek!) plastic surgeon is the best and only recourse.  Nobody really wants to hear it (”But, but, can’t I just spend money at Neiman’s???”  Nein), but for severe problems, fillers like Juvederm or Restylane and lasers to target pigmentation are often the only things that work. 

I just had something called a Vi Peel, and my face feels like it’s on fire and is going to fall off.  Good times!  It uses exfoliating phenol acids, vitamin C and Retin-A to slough off the top layer of skin in 3 -5 days, and is supposed to be good for all complexions, including African-American skin (which typically can’t tolerate peels without hyperpigmentation).  The actual peel only took about five minutes, and I’ve been instructed to use the Post-Peel Towelettes tonight and tomorrow night to help accelerate peeling, and then to expect the oh-so-sexy snake action to begin on Friday.  According to the literature, the peel will get rid of acne and acne scarring, brighten skin and increase collagen production…but right now all I can focus on is the fact that my skin looks like a tomato, smells like formaldehyde, and feels like it’s been sunburned and then scratched.  (Note to self: Eyes on the prize, J.)

I wonder how many of you roll your eyes when magazine articles insist hysterically that, down the line, there will be Hell To Pay! for not wearing sunscreen.  I do it myself; if I’m flipping through Glamour and come across a decidedly non-glamorous feature on skin cancer, I usually think, “Gross!” and then flip the page.  Maybe I’ll skim it, maybe I won’t.  (C’mon, I prefer reading the sex tips.)  So, a few days ago, when I asked Dr. Solieman and Dr. Litner to do some UV imaging of me (inspired by my experience at the Total Beauty conference), I felt confident it wouldn’t be that bad.  I’ve been addicted to sunscreen for years (my old favorite was DDF Organic Sun Protection SPF 30; my recent love is Obagi Nu Derm Healthy Skin Protection SPF 35), and while I lapsed for 12 months or so in Palm Beach, surely my years of anti-aging serums and broad-spectrum filters would have served me well.  Here is the normal “before” picture:

And here is the scary “after”

Wear your sunscreen, kids!!!!