End of Summer Beauty Tips

After a long weekend in Montauk, followed by five nights in St. Lucia, our skin and hair have about had it! It's time to seriously hydrate every inch of our bod. Here are a few of our fave beauty products we're spritizing and slathering all over:

Clinique's Moisture Surge has long been a favorite, so it's no surprise that the new Clinique Moisture Surge Spray is top on our end of summer beauty tips list. The aloe and water based spray is labeled as "thirsty skin relief". You can spritz it on anytime-before applying moisturizer, after a long plane ride or on top of makeup, like we did just now. Ahhh....

For our sun-dried skin, we're slathering on Votre Vu's On Holiday Moisturizing Body Spray after every shower. Not only does it contain grape seed, sweet almond, apricot and jojoba oil, when we close our eyes, we can still hear the waves crashing in the background.

Last but not least, we usually run from deep conditioners like the Wicked Witch of the West runs from water, but after days of using the Caribbean Sea as our only hair product, even we had to admit it was time to call in reinforcements. We reached for our bottle of Kim Vo Brilliant Luster Glaze
and our locks are as good as new. Our hair color is another story--we should have used the UV protecting product before we hit the beach. Good thing our colorist is on speed dial!

With a little help, we're going to make this the year we stop aging yet!

This review was based on free samples.

Sponsored Post: Olay Total Effects 7-in-1 Advanced Anti-Aging Body Wash

Two of my main focus areas in my Year I Stop Aging are my arms and my decolletage. While I always use moisturizer on my face, I haven't always been so good about taking care of the rest of me, and, it's starting to show. Both have plenty of freckles and sunspots, but what's really worrisome is that the texture is starting to change. While the skin on my face still has good laxity (when I pinch it, it quickly snaps back into place), the skin on my arms is looking tired and old. As if I need another reason to be concerned, a recent study indicated when judged independently from the face, your body skin, if maintained, is perceived up to 10 years younger.

Part of the reason I'm bad about taking care of these areas is that when I'm in a rush to get out of the door in the morning, I don't always have time to use moisturizer and let it soak in before getting dressed.

Enter Olay Total Effects 7-in-1 Advanced Anti-Aging Body Wash. Using Olay technology, it promises to:

• Improve elasticity
• Relieve dryness
• Deeply moisturize
• Brighten dull skin
• Even skin tone
• Smooth rough skin
• Minimize the appearance of dry lines

I look forward to testing it out and reporting back on results!

Olay Total Effects 7-in-1 Advanced Anti-Aging Body Wash are available where Olay products are sold. The suggested retail price is $5.99 for 8.4 oz. and $7.99 for 15.2 oz.

The Year I Stop Aging

I had a birthday a few weeks back and determined that this would be the year I stop aging. When I look in the mirror, I feel as though I aged more in the past year than I did in the past five years combined. I'm sure some of that has to do with stress--I was married last November and lost my father recently. Then, I read an article in Allure that said a woman's attractiveness peaks at age 36 and a 50-something dietitian friend told me we go through aging spurts, just like growth spurts, so I suspect what's going on is more than just life changes.  Uh-oh.

I realize, of course, that I can't actually stop aging. But just how I know it's time to cut back on chocolate and margaritas when my regular jeans start getting tight, I can tell it's time to take serious action. By serious action, I don't mean that I plan on pulling a Heidi Montag. Simply that I plan on eating those 5+ servings of fruit and veggies everyday, exercising regularly, using sunblock from head to toe (my arms and decolletage are particularly sun damaged), rigorously testing the many skin care products that get sent my way and occasionally dabbling in laser treatment to clear up my brown spots and a spot of Botox here and there. Follow along this year as I investigate how to stop the clock.

That's me, above, in April, about 6 months from my last Botox treatment.

Read about my current anti-aging skincare regimen that I already see making a difference.