Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Sip elegant Tatratea cocktails, enjoy tasty hors d’oeuvres, and learn about a new and revolutionary age-defying beauty secret, called the Circ Cell Transdermal Infusion Facial.

One lucky FOF will win an Island Bliss Pedicure valued at $40.

Haven Spa
150 Mercer Street, New York
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

 

Tickets to the Summer Soiree for you and a guest are complimentary, but we also invite you to take advantage of one of Haven Spa’s special offers, just for FOFs.

Click here for details and to get your complimentary ticket!

Remember when BB creams were the beauty buzzword? Now cosmetic companies are taking it up a letter with the CC cream.  First launched in Hong Kong by Rachel K cosmetics in 2011, CC creams contain all the benefits of BB creams, but claim to provide more coverage, targeting an issue particularly relevant to FOFs–uneven skintone. We spoke to two beauty experts, Tracey Brown who sings the praises of CC creams and Dana Ramos, who thinks it’s a marketing gimmick. Now, we want you to tell us what you think.

Read the interviews below, then, enter to win Stem Cellular Repair CC Cream by Juice Beauty by answering this question in the comments below: What’s your most bothersome skin issue?

What exactly is a CC cream?

Tracey: CC stands for color correcting.  Cosmetic companies have taken the BB Cream and added more property to it, so it makes skin look better by adding more coverage.

Dana: CC creams and BB creams are essentially the same thing–it’s a basic makeup product [tinted moisturizer] with added ingredients to make it more effective. Each company has their own list of added ingredients: some contain peptides, others contain glycolic acid, etc.

So there’s no difference between BB creams and CC creams?

Tracey: BB cream doesn’t have properties to fix your skin discoloration. The CC cream ingredients and properties help even out your skin tone, age spots, acne scars, and hyperpigmentation.

Dana: I don’t see a difference except that CC creams may be more effective in evening out skin tone, whereas BB creams are targeted more toward improving the skin overall–but you will find they each have some of the same ingredients.

What skin issues do CC creams treat?

Tracey: Dry skin, sun damage, acne, aging skin and shiny or oily skin.

Dana: They might make your skin look better when used as makeup, but you’d get that same effect from products that don’t call themselves CC. You might get some sun protection if your CC cream has SPF. But really, you’re getting a little bit of things that are good for your skin, but not to the point that its going to make any real difference.

Before and after one application of Rachel K CC Cream (src: VanityRouge.com)

What are the benefits of using a CC cream?

Tracey: There are certain things that over fifty skin needs.  Usually our pores are enlarged, we have a bit of sagging going on, we have some fine lines. We need moisture and sunscreen, and our skin tone needs evening out. CC cream treats all of those issues, so instead of layering on 10 different products you can get one cream that treats all of that. It’s a time saver, as well as a money saver.

Dana: CC cream won’t change your skin. The tiny bits of retinol, peptides, or glycolic acid found in CC creams won’t actually do anything.

Can CC creams replace foundation?

Tracey: Yes. I don’t like heavy makeup or foundation. With CC cream your skin is evened out, you look radiant, dewy, and healthy, and thats what the over fifty crowd should be trying for.

Dana: I’m all for women who say, ‘I like the way CC creams feel and look as makeup.’ I just want them to understand that they’re not getting any skin benefits other than SPF and coverage.

Would you recommend CC cream to women over fifty?

Tracey: I recommend CC creams, 100% percent. I think they are really beautiful. It’s a time and money saver. CC cream is what’s going to help even out your skin tone and make it look clear and bright. It doesn’t look like you have a ton of makeup on. It creates a nice, soft look without being overdone.

Dana: Bottom line: Can it hurt you? No. Can it help you? Probably not. The active ingredients in CC creams contain too small of an amount to really make a difference to your skin.

Juice Beauty has set up an exclusive offer for Fab Over Fifty members! Use code FAB to receive a deluxe Stem Cellular Repair Eye Treatment gift with any order of $45 or more from www.juicebeauty.com. Offer expires January 31st, 2013.

Tracey recommends…

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Tracey Brown is a beauty expert based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the owner of Brown Beauty Consulting, a boutique marketing firm and editor-in-chief of Blinging Beauty. After 30 years in the beauty industry as a makeup artist, trainer and skin care expert, and a member of the team that launched Sephora.com, Tracey is now a brand strategist and published journalist, being called upon for her expertise by such mediums as CNN and CBS.

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Dana Ramos, author of The Skin Regime is a skin-care enthusiast and writer who lives in Westchester, New York. She’s from California where she obtained a Masters in Professional Writing from USC and wrote screenplays. In addition to creating and writing The Skin Regime book and concept, she writes freelance articles and is working on other books.

Enter to win Stem Cellular Repair CC Cream by Juice Beauty by answering this question in the comments below: What’s your most bothersome skin issue?

Five FOFs will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes January 24th, 2012 at midnight E.S.T. Contest limited to residents of the continental U.S.

Who better to ask for beauty secrets then FOF models? Come on, these ladies are paid to look gorgeous. Here 3 beauties share their best tips.

Beverly Johnson / Age: 59

In 1974 Beverly made history as the first black model to be featured on the cover of Vogue. Following her Vogue shoot, was recruited by Eileen Ford to be represented by the Ford Agency. From there she landed modeling jobs at Glamour, Elle, hundreds of other top magazines. Today, at 59 she is back with Ford Agency. The “modelpreneur” also has her own haircare line sold at Target, authored a beauty book and most recently has her own reality show, “Beverly’s Full House” on Oprah’s OWN network. The New York Times named her one of the “20th century’s most influential people in fashion.”

1. You can look like a million bucks without spending a fortune.
“I’m a big drugstore products junkie. Presently, I’m liking this Pantene Pro-V ‘Shine’ Conditioner. For skincare, RoC has some really beautiful products. They’re not super, super pricey but they are high-end.”

2. Dress the way you feel.
“When I was younger I was very self-consciously sophisticated. Now, I dress the way I feel. I’ll wear shorter skirts or cheetah print. My girlfriend and I go out and dress alike, that’s how bold we are. People say, ‘Do you two know you’re wearing the same dress?’ And we say, ‘Uh huh!’”

3. Read fashion and beauty magazines for inspiration, but not to compare yourself.
“I read magazines for ideas. I’ll see they’re doing this kind of vest now and not this kind… Looking at them is not punishment anymore. I don’t look at them and say, ‘Ohmigod I used to be that thin.’”

4. You don’t necessarily have to hit the gym to get a great workout.
“I work with my trainer, Tanya Evans, via Skype. She’s so fabulous, she’s one of those people who stays on the cutting edge of everything. She was a former Ms. Fitness and she really knows the woman’s body. And she can see everything on Skype. I can’t cheat!”

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Susan Hersh / Age: 50

As a teen Susan Hersh idolized supermodel Twiggy and as a young adult worked in fashion under designers Calvin Klein and Norma Kamali. In her 30s Susan was discovered by a model scout while she was sitting in a California coffee shop but passed on the opportunity. In her 40s, when she was scouted for a second time–this time by Ford Modeling Agency–she accepted. “I was starting to think, maybe it’s my calling–it just keeps coming back to me,” she says. Since then, you may have seen Susan’s face grace issues of O Magazine, Good Housekeeping, and Macy’s, Sephora, Nordstrom and Target ads. She was also the “face” of Silver Expressions for Pantene and walked the runway for Barney’s. “I’ve had a pretty good run,” she says.

1. Splurge on your sunscreen.
“I use Kiehl’s Vital Sun Protection SPF40 for my body and Kiehl’s Super Fluid UV Defense 50+ on my face. It’s not cheap, but, in the summer I’ll have suntan lotion on my skin sometimes for up to ten hours–I have to make sure it doesn’t make me break out.”

2. Use Moroccan Oil in your hair.
“This product is amazing. I put it on after I blow dry my hair. You don’t need that much. It’s a miracle product–it immediately makes it soft, shiny, luxurious and contained.”

3. Eat green, leafy vegetables.
I eat kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli rabe, swiss chard, zucchini and string beans. I rotate all of my vegetables. I steam them instead of boiling them to keep in the nutrients that are so beneficial to your health and beauty.

4. Just come to terms with the fact you’re aging already.
“We cannot chase beauty our entire lives. You can have your eyes done and a facelift and everything else and still not feel satisfied. At this age, it’s time to come to terms with the fact you are aging and may have flaws.”

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Robin Bobbé / Age: 60

In 1999, at age 47, Robin Bobbé married a photographer and the two ran a successful commercial photography business together for print advertising. Later, she honed in on what she liked best–casting–and started to do that full time. When an agent looking for new faces of the 50+ market asked if she knew of anyone, Robin thought, “why not me?” This year, at age 60 she went pro with her first gig modeling for a pharmaceutical company ad campaign.

1. Start your workout before you get to the gym.
“I go to the gym every day and alternate what I do there–yoga, weights, etc. But, as a warm up I ride my bike to the gym.”

2. Use tinted moisturizer, instead of foundation.
“I use Kiehl’s Tinted Moisturizer because I get good coverage from it. I think when you’re older you really have to be careful about not using too much product. You don’t want to look pasty and made up plus, foundation can go into your lines and make them more pronounced.”

3. Good genes.
No secret here. “I have a little gray but not much. My mother at 87 years old [her hair] just went white.”

4. Beauty starts internally.
“There’s sunblock, there’s Cetaphyl but to me it’s all about self-discovery. Without that, there’s no beauty. At 60, I’m discovering for the first time who I am. I was feeling very stagnant, I didn’t know what do with myself. My therapist said to me you must try new things…and I did. I started writing, I tried yoga and I took a sewing class. I became more confident–and to me, confident people always look more beautiful.”