A veteran magazine beauty editor/writer (and a member of the 40+ club), Genevieve Monsma created MediumBlonde to help Gen Xers and Baby Boomers age the way they want.
I was getting my hair highlighted recently when a woman sitting in the chair next to me announced (loudly) to her colorist, “No woman over 40 should ever wear tight leggings.”
If you’re a regular reader, you know I’m a fan of Essie’s Treat Love & Color one-step nail lacquer. It goes on in a single coat, requires no base or top coats—and it strengthens weak (prone-to-peeling-and-breaking) nails in as little as a week. It’s also now available in two dozen new shades.
I’m surprised. I thought applying an oily serum to my face twice a day would make it super-dewy. It doesn’t.
On a recent visit for brow-tinting at Sarah West’s The Brow Bar in Ann Arbor, my attention was hijacked by West’s expertly-curated collection of global beauty products. My fifteen-minute appointment turned into forty-five minutes (sorry, Sarah), as I peppered her with questions about the skin, hair, fragrance and makeup treasures she’d discovered while traveling in Spain, South Korea, Paris, Guatemala (and more). There were so many things I wanted to try, but one I couldn’t leave without...
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post on my favorite tinted moisturizers, but couldn’t include the one I’m currently obsessed with (and am wearing as I write this) because it wasn’t yet available in stores. (I got an early preview from a beauty editor friend.) But it went on sale yesterday so now I can finally sing its praises.
If all the online buzz is to be believed, this plant-based serum may be the holy grail of skincare. Blogger accolades (from Millennials, mostly) include phrases like radiance-boosting, cystic-acne-curing, fine-line-plumping, dark-spot-fading. Many also contend it's such an effective all-in-one, they’ve tossed the rest of their regimen. (I assume/hope this excludes their cleanser and sunscreen.) So how well does it fare on a 40+ face? I intend to find out.
As part of a regular series, I’ll be asking inspiring, in-the-know women to share their best tips and favorite products. The point? As always, to find out what works. Today's beauty insider: Amanda McIntosh, founder of Take My Face Off reusable cleansing cloths
Not so long ago, to get your hands on French beauty products, you had to trek to a French Pharmacie and buy them in person (or beg a friend visiting France to stock up for you). No longer. French beauty staples can now be found pretty easily Stateside, either online or in specialty boutiques.
When I was the beauty editor at More, one of the best-read stories we ever published was by an American fashion editor who wrote how she’d moved to Paris, adopted a French approach to skincare—and watched her complexion improve dramatically, then age remarkably well, over the two decades she lived abroad.
With holiday reds and metallics behind us—and warm-weather brights still (alas) months away—early February can feel like nail lacquer purgatory: neither here nor there.
I was talking to a beauty industry executive the other day about clean/green/natural (insert your own earth-centric buzz word) beauty. She confessed that, while there is no single traditional skin, hair or makeup product that she views as particularly harmful, the quantity of beauty products laced with chemicals we use over a lifetime does give her pause. Like one pack of Twizzlers at the movies=not so bad. But eating sugary twists daily for the rest of your life=not so good.
I am impatient. Nearly two decades of living in New York City taught me to loathe long lines, inefficient service, and slow-walkers (if a New Yorker bumps you while you stroll down Fifth Avenue, you probably deserve it. Think how you’d feel if she went to your town and drove a Suburban 10 mph down a one-lane road.). When we first moved to Ann Arbor, I even stopped visiting one coffee shop because the barista was too chatty, greeting my order of a soy latte with “soy-tainly!” and then taking 15 minutes to mix my drink. Nope. Not before 8 a.m. Buy-bye.
I spent last weekend in suburban Chicago, zigzagging between ice rinks for my son Heath’s hockey tournament. His team won their division, which made all that travel (and a not-exactly-posh stay at a Hampton’s Inn) worth it. The other upside: I rediscovered Neutrogena’s Body Lotion Light Sesame Formula
Every winter, my husband complains that his skin is itchy and dry—and he asks me to get him more of that “stuff” that provides quick relief. Heath, my teenage son complains about his chronically parched, peeling lips, and my hair can become so dehydrated and static-y come January that I develop a permanent halo of flyaways. I assume you or your family are similarly moisture-challenged by mid-winter so here are some solutions that work for us:
If you are still wearing foundation on a regular basis, but don’t love the way it makes your skin look, join the club. And keep reading.
