Our latest news on skincare, hair, clean beauty & sustainable style.
Today starts “Low Blow Dry July” here at Style Chicks, but if you still need some heat styling, try the new Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Styling Heat Protect Spray. It protects your hair from damage by heat tools upto 450 degrees via a dry spray formula that contains keratin to replenish hair and make your hair oh so shiny.
Find it at Lock & Mane for $22.
I’m kind of a nerd. OK, I’m more than “kind of” a nerd. So when I am sent samples of skincare that has interesting derm research behind it, I’m intrigued.
The DNAEGF Renewal Skincare Line is a fantastic two-punch system to treat the causes of age and UV related skin damage. First, it uses marine and botanical enzymes. Since the DNA starts to lose the ability to repair itself at a pretty young age, these enzymes help skin cells to recognize damaged DNA and eliminate it – just like your skin did in younger days.
Secondarily, the DNAEGF line contains Epidermal Growth Factor grown in Barley plants, which are grown in pumice stones with Icelandic water (sounds very spa-like). This peptide works to give your skin’s natural healing system a little boost. Put together, the two components optimize the way your skin reacts to the effects of sun and time.
The cleanser is a little powerhouse. It is both a masterful cleanser and exceedingly gentle. When I was sick for a week, it was the only cleanser that didn’t sting my raw skin. It is especially good for taking off all makeup cleanly, including eye makeup, without scrubbing. Like Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase HydraBalance Foaming Cleanser, it’s a soft feeling foam – it doesn’t feel like you are overcleansing, it’s just a gentle, soothing foam. Which makes it impressive that it contains a glycolic complex to sweep away dead cells and brighten up your complexion, without irritation.
The DNA Night Renewal Cream is fantastic. The silky formula absorbs well and makes skin soooo soft – you’ll have a hard time keeping your hands off your skin. I love how lightweight it is – many night creams are thick and sticky, but Night Renewal glides on skin and leaves it smooth, soft, and feeling practically product-free. If the line’s SPF is as lightweight of a feel, then I’m sold on that too!
Since it is doesn’t countain fragrance, both products would be great for guys – nothing sticky or heavy to deter him from using it again. It’s also paraban and sulfate free.
I really like using the DNAEGF Renewal line at the gym – the cleanser is amazing both before and after workout. Beforehand, it cleans all makeup off your skin easily, so you aren’t walking out of the locker room with a scrubbed red face. Afterwards, it gently cleanses away your workout. DNA Night Renewal is a nice light base moisturizer to use after a workout – doesn’t trap heat and doesn’t feel sticky even on the most humid days.
Dr. Moy’s DNAEGF Renewal Skincare line is pretty intriguing. Find the whole line at dnaegfrenewal.com.
Makeup can be messy sometimes. Powder makeup is a big offender in this regard, especially Mineral Makeup. There’s something a little weird about a range of products that you are supposed to shake the majority of the product off the brush, right? Of course, that never stops us from shaking off the product onto our vanity tables, other products, makeup mirrors, and clothes, does it?
Make-Up-Matte
Make-Up-Matte at the Gym
Make-Up-Matte Rolled Up
I have three favorite products in the Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase line, and Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase Lift & Resculpt Serum XK is one of them (the other two: DLBK Skin Tone Perfecting Serum XK, and DLBK Lip Resulpt 3D, review coming soon). I tend to approach a lot of lifting products with some skepticism, in that many I’ve tried make my skin dry and tight rather than lifted and dewy. However, Lift & Resculpt Serum XK goes beyond its firming promise.
Much like Caudalie Vinexpert Firming Serum, DLBK Lift and Resculpt Serum XK moisturizes and soothes as it perks up your skin. More importantly, it plumps up the volume of your facial contours. When I’m evaluating a firming product, there are certain facial contours that really show if a product is working or not: the top of the cheekbone just where it meets your undereye, the tip of the nose, and the area right above my eyebrows. Lift and Resculpt Serum XK knocks it out of the park on all three (and then some).
I like that Lift and Resculpt produced an immediate boosting and volumizing effect on the skin and with continued use skin gets smoother and more youthfully plump. The most dramatic effect I saw was on the nasal tip. The tip of your nose is one of those weird areas that subtly show aging – the slightest, most subtle sagging shows and can add years to your looks. It’s really not an area of sagging that you notice over time, but when it’s corrected, it makes a world of difference.
Now, I’m in my early 30s and have used retinols forever, so I don’t have a ton of sagging, but DLBK Lift and Resculpt XK brought the tip of my nose up about an eighth of an inch. That is a HUGE improvement. That’s enough to remove any shadow that your nose casts on your cupid’s bow, which should be an area that light hits, not cast in shadow. It’s subtle, it won’t look like you went in for rhinoplasty, you will just look fresher, more awake, brighter, and like you did when you were 18.
I’m also impressed with the lift it gives to the area above the eyebrows, and as a result, the upper eye area. Again, plumping up the skin volume here is crucial since it dictates how your eyebrows and eye skin will drape. Adding some lift and volume here with Lift and Resculpt Serum makes eyes look wide awake and frames eyebrows fantastically. Definitely makes me keep up with regular eyebrow shaping when the area can look as good! It also adds amazing volume to cheeks – you know how the fat that used to sit on top of your cheekbones manages to travel south over time? Lift & Resculpt brings it back to the top of your cheekbones where it belongs!
We also tried it out on the Style Dude for a few weeks, and his jawline and chin bounced back to their youthful tautness! This is actually a great product for guys – no floral scent (mildly citrus but doesn’t linger) and isn’t sticky. It’s also soothing enough that it would be great post-shave.
DLBK Lift & Sculpt Serum XK boasts amazing ingredients – Kinetin, which is in all Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase products, Resveratrol, a fantastic antioxidant, and Hyaluronic Acid, which increases water absorbtion in the skin and keeps skin supple. There are also peptides and extracts to increase collagen production and target elastin fibers in the skin, so you have firm, youthful skin!
We really love Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase Lift & Resculpt Serum XK – it is so gentle and can be included in your skincare regime without risking irritation. You will see fantastic results quickly, and the results will increase over time. It’s one impressive product!
Find Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase Lift & Resculpt Serum XK at Walgreens for $33.99.
Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase Wrinkle Repair Daily Cream SPF 30
Awhile back, Lyn and I ran into an acquaintance who said “Wow, you guys never change.” We assumed she was just being polite, but then she started pressing as to why we haven’t wrinkled up like prunes (It’s not like we’re 90 or something…). We muttered something and changed the subject. We saw her again yesterday, and it came up in conversation that she has never worn sunscreen. See where I’m going with this?
We love Dr. Lewinn by Kinerase Wrinkle Repair Day Lotion SPF 30, but when the air conditioner gets cranked up, you may need a slightly more emollient texture to your sunscreen. So we were curious to try Dr. Lewinn by Kinerase Wrinkle Repair Day Cream SPF 30. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s kinda hot outside, and the AC is cranked up (blissfully) in most offices. So it’s been a good time to compare the Lotion vs. the Cream.
Wrinkle Repair Day Cream SPF 30 is essentially the same great product as the Lotion – it has the same amount of wonderful Kinetin, and contains Symrepair 2%, which increases the skin’s ability to maintain moisture, and QuenchT 2%, which also soothes the skin. The difference is that the Cream is a more moisturizing product, but it still isn’t at all greasy. In fact, when I smoothed it on my skin, it seemed to absorb a little better than the lotion. My skin doesn’t feel dry and tight by the end of the day, no matter how dry a room I’m in. There is one local library that I tend to avoid when I can because the AC makes the air so dry that my skin ends up raw after I’m there, but when I’m wearing Wrinkle Repair Day Cream, my skin stays moist and dewy and my makeup stays fresh. I’ve been searching every summer for years to try to find the right combination of moisturizing but not greasy in a sunscreen, and now I have.
We wear sunscreen all year, everytime we leave the house, but obviously some people only think about sunscreen in the summertime. If you fall into the latter category, take this summer as an opportunity to start wearing sunscreen everyday, and continue in the Fall. Soon it will become a routine, and your skin will thank you for it. I highly recommend Dr. Lewinn by Kinerase Wrinkle Repair Day Cream SPF 30 and Dr. Lewinn by Kinerase Wrinkle Repair Day Lotion SPF 30 as both a highly effective anti-aging cream as well as an effective sunscreen. I’ve been using the Cream in tandem with Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase Skin Tone Perfecting Serum XK and have noticed a significant decrease in sun spots – the Skin Tone Perfecting Serum goes to work on existing sun spots, the SPF prevents new ones, and the Kinetin in both works to optimize your skin beautifully.
In the future I will likely purchase both the Lotion as well as the Cream and switch off between the two depending on the amount of moisture my skin needs as well as what weather conditions my skin will be facing. All in all, another great product from a fantastic line.
Find Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase Wrinkle Repair Daily Lotion SPF 30 at Walgreens for $27.49.
Martians always apply moonscreen. Are you diligent with sunscreen?