Monthly Archives: January 2014

Moisturize naturally with derma e

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The winter wind sounds like a pack of baying Transylvanian wolves — and my skin is howling for moisture.

2013070812081657300_medVitamin E is a longtime friend for a challenged epidermis because it helps to keep moisture in our skin when the forces of nature are trying to draw it out. Grandmother Smith was a big believer in the power of Vitamin E, a fat-soluble vitamin, to treat everything from sunburn to brittle nails.

Grandmother would have appreciated derma e’s Vitamin E Intensive Therapy Body Balm (MSRP: $15.99). It’s a highly concentrated cream with naturally sourced full-spectrum Vitamin E that is formulated to rescue and restore extreme cases of dry, dehydrated skin.

Although it’s a natural antidote to winter, derma e was born in sunny California in a local health food store. A high-potency Vitamin E cream was its first product.

Today the company makes a full line of products designed to clean, moisturize and protect our skin. A recent addition is Evenly Radiant Dark Circle Eye Creme, which helps to reduce dark circles, puffiness and fine wrinkles.

Throughout the line, there’s an emphasis on pure, natural ingredients, including vitamins A, C and E, green tea and peptides. You can find derma e in natural foods stores, as well as GNC. Or buy direct from the company website.

Cocktails with St-Germain

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St-Germain, the artisan elderflower liqueur, is civilizing the world, one cocktail at a time.

image007You can add a touch of style and sophistication to your cocktail gathering with a St-Germain one-liter carafe ($12), which makes it easy to mix five flawless drinks at a pop. Like the classy St-Germain bottle, the carafe is inspired by Art Deco design and embossed with the navy and gold St-Germain logo.

Each piece also is embellished with fill marks on the side for your choice of either brut sparkling wine or sauvignon blanc, sparkling water or club soda, and, of course, St-Germain, making it easier than ever to craft the perfect St-Germain cocktail for friends and family.

Spouts on either side of the rim facilitate the perfect pour. Serve straight up in a champagne flute or on rocks in a Tom Collins glass. Add a lemon twist, if you wish.

At our house, we taste-tested the cocktails, made with a bottle of St-Germain provided by the company. For our variation, we opted for sparkling wine and club soda. We found the combination refreshing and refined, an effervescent way to greet guests at a party — or a loved one after a hard day at work.

So what does elderflower taste like? Think citrus fruits with a hint of pear. Pretty and romantic.

You can shake up your cocktail repertoire with a variety of drinks contained in St-Germain’s recipe book ($5). Civilization is alive and well.

Handy flashlight a bright idea

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File IMPEL Tronics‘ innovative telescoping flashlight under the “I wish I had thought of that!” category.

extendable-telescoping-magnetic-flashlightsThe Extendable Magnetic LED Flashlight is truly a bright idea. It’s a slim, compact LED flashlight that extends to nearly two feet long, with handy magnets on both ends. The heavy-duty magnet on the bottom can lift up to 8 pounds and attaches to metal, such as the beams in your basement, so you can use it for hands-free illumination.

There is also a magnet on the light head that makes it easy-peasy to retrieve metal objects in hard-to-reach places, such as when your car keys slide into the crevice between the front seats. You can attach it to your belt or a pocket with a sturdy clip.

The nice folks at IMPEL Tronics sent me a flashlight to try myself. I put it to the test in my dungeon of a basement laundry room, where the flashlight illuminated a few wire hangers on the floor under the ironing board — and then picked them up with the magnet! No bending, no contorting to reach the hangers.

This flashlight is metallic pink, ideal for a girl’s night stand. The original IMPEL Tronics Telescoping flashlight also is available in black, silver, red and blue and can be purchased through the company website and a handful of distributors. MSRP: $20.99.

A Highlands fling at Inverlochy

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Robert Burns was a romantic, pouring his heart into verse and Scotch whisky into his glass.

Open_Hmoon_InverlochyCastle_DB_FW13The poet’s beloved Scotland and its wild, beautiful and remote Highlands offer honeymooners the warm kiss of history, hospitality and natural wonders—with the bliss of fine food, drink and accommodations.

For a true Highlands fling, book a room at Inverlochy Castle, where Queen Victoria came to sketch in 1873. Located near Fort William, the manor house is sited a caber toss from the ruins of the original 13th-century castle and is an easy drive from Inverness, the largest city in the Highlands. Or take the Caledonian Sleeper, the iconic overnight train from London. To travel in style from the station, reserve the hotel’s chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce Phantom, stocked with two bottles of ice-cold champagne.

It’s a splendid place for a honeymoon, as reported in Delaware Bride magazine, one of a number of luxury accommodations in Scotland.

Guests are greeted with bubbly on arrival, no matter how they get to Inverlochy. The extravagant bouquets in the great hall are imported from Holland. The glittering chandelier is from Venice. Sink into sumptuous, down-filled seating in front of the coal fire and listen to the pianist who plays each evening. Equally sigh-inducing rooms are equipped with laptops, high thread-count sheets and marshmallow-soft pillows.

164500_Text 24If the $500-per-night entry point is too rich for your blood, book at a local bed-and-breakfast for about $100 a night, breakfast included. Then make a reservation for lunch, afternoon tea or dinner at Inverlochy Castle’s restaurant, which has held a coveted Michelin star for more than 20 years. The heavily carved sideboards in the hushed, posh dining room were a gift to the lord of the manor from the King of Norway.

A lavish three-course dinner featuring such delights as the hotel’s signature baked quail with foie gras is an attainable splurge, priced at the equivalent of $104, tax included. Lunch is $59 for three courses. Sommelier William Birch expertly pairs wines with dishes.

After your repast, stroll velvety moss walking trails on the 500-acre grounds. The estate also offers fishing, tennis and falconry for outdoors enthusiasts, as well as a clubby billiards room for the indoor set. Nearby activities include monster-watching cruises on Loch Ness and hiking on towering Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the United Kingdom.

Midnight Promise aces the sniff test

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At any hour of the day, any day of the year, a new scent is released on the market.

image002Midnight Promise, an elegant and aromatic up-to-the-minute newcomer from Bellegance Perfumes, was created by master perfumer Sarah Horowitz and fragrance designer Karen Dubin, winner of the 2013 Cosmetic Executive Women Great Idea Award for Fragrance Innovation.

Here’s their recipe for your senses: red mandarin and cinnamon for starters, followed by spicy notes of Moroccan red rose. Underneath it all, you will find exotic hints of amber incense, vanilla musk and sandalwood, balanced with fresh tones of minty patchouli and grassy vetiver.

With a preliminary spritz on my wrist, Midnight Promise smells fresh and feminine. But it had yet to pass my sniff test: wearing it to a social event and waiting for the reaction, if any, from other guests.

So Midnight Promise and I head off to a dinner party, escorted by my husband, who does not notice that I smell ravishing. When we arrive, the house is filled with the gorgeous aroma of Bolognese sauce. Would anyone notice my perfume?

Our hostess gives me a hug and says: “what a nice scent! What is it?” Those are the words perfumers yearn to hear. When we head home after a lovely evening, the fragrance is still going strong.

Midnight Promise was previewed at the 2013 Sniffapalooza Fall Ball in New York, which was founded by Dubin to attract fragrance enthusiasts from around the globe. The company sent me a small tester enrobed in a purple velvet bag to try for myself.

Manufactured in France and bottled in a pretty, boudoir-worthy bottle, Midnight Promise has a MSRP of $105 for a large, 2.5-ounce bottle.

 

 

An eye on firmness with Relastin

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During our young, invincible years, our skin springs back naturally, thanks to elastin, a protein found naturally in the skin.

 

But our bodies stop producing it while we are still in our teens. And unless we intervene, it’s all downhill from there.

rel_1Enter Relastin Eye Silk Zinc Firming Complex, which clinical tests report improves the appearance of skin’s firmness, as well as the resiliency of the delicate eye area. Formulated with zinc firming complex, Relastin is formulated to reduce the appearance of dark circles and improve the appearance of lines and wrinkles.

It’s easy to smooth on and can be applied under makeup. Use your ring finger to avoid pulling the skin around your eyes.

After two to four weeks, 80 percent of the women who tested Relastin reported that fine lines and wrinkles were not as noticeable. (I suggest you stick with it for at least four weeks before making an evaluation. Good skin care requires consistency and stick-to-it-tiveness.)

That said, the results speak for themselves. For the past four years in a row, Relastin Eye Silk was the winner of Allure magazine’s Best of Beauty Award for best eye cream. 

MSRP: $69. You can find Relastin at  www.precisionMDskin.com and lots of other beauty outlets.