Over the years, I’ve heard much discussion involving the awesomeness that is the ghd flat iron.

Until I recently tried it out for myself, I had no idea how great they really are.

They’re amazing.

And talk about speedy?

The ghd flat iron heats up in seconds.

Seconds!

Essential if you are in dire need of straight locks and have zero time to wait for your iron to be hot enough to do its job.

Once ready, it straightened my hair easily…no fuss, no muss.

Love that.

To top it off,  it even comes with a sleep mode that automatically shuts it off after 30 minutes…perfect for the forgetful straight hair lover.

As if the flat iron itself wasn’t amazing, you can now get one in a sweet limited-edition collection.

Ghds new Eras Collection allow you to reinvent iconic looks from the most stylish eras: Glamour Era, New Wave Era (seen in pic above) and Boho Chic Era.

Each collection includes:
a sleek ghd Gold Professional 1 styler
heat resistant purse per collection
two ghd straight plastic hair clips
Protective styler heat guard
step-by-step booklet showing you how to recreate the styles at home

Check out the collection for yourself at your local Sephora or sephora.com.

disclosure: i received a sample for review…honestly though, i wouldn’t hesitate to buy this one for myself or gift one to a worthy friend.

Well, we’ve been doing a little traveling.

I have two kids under the age of 5 who are driving me insane.

It’s also been hot as hades out and I’ve been sweating my tushie off.

I am excited about a couple of things though.

The first of which is the fact that August is almost here and THAT means that school is right around the corner!

YAY!!

Please do not judge me.

I adore my children and I would do anything for them, but for the love of god they are driving me nuts.

It’s been so hot outside that they really can’t play outside.

That means that it’s indoor play and craziness and whining.

Not fun.

My oldest, Little L, will be starting Kindergarten in the fall and we’re both excited.

Well, excited and a little sad because he’s my baby and getting so big and all that.

My littlest, Little E, will be starting preschool for 2 year olds.

It’s only two days a week, but can I get a “hell yeah”?

With the nuttiness (hopefully) coming to a close, I will try to catch up and post a lot more than I have.

Until then, it’ll still be a little sporadic and I’m sorry about that.

Anyway….

Just to give you a little chuckle, here’s my favorite commercial of all time.

This will be me in the next week or so…just sayin’.

Stay tuned and please keep coming back.

I love having you here.

Now’s the chance for your voice to be heard.

QVC is holding their first ever Customer Choice Beauty Awards featuring many of the beauty goodies that you’ve tried and loved.

All you have to do is head over to qvc.com and click on your fave beauty products from the chosen nominees.

That’s it!

My love for Tarte goes far and wide, so I have to give them a little shout-out because they’re nominees in seven categories.

Just click on the pic above to get a better view, then click here to start voting!

I am not lying when I say that I’m positively in l-o-v-e with Jada’s hair on this cover.

So pretty.

Today I deliver the how-to’s as they were delivered to me via email earlier today.

Read on…

Celebrity hairstylist Marcia Hamilton created Jada’s sizzling summer look for the August cover of Redbook Magazine.

Here’s what she did:

1. To begin, blow out hair out using a large boar bristle round brush. Make sure to prep hair before drying. I used a moisture rich leave in conditioner and a couple drops of an oil.


2. Next, set hair with a large barrel curling iron working from the bottom to the top. Take large sections, no bigger than the size of your iron. Twist hair, then wrap it around the iron, close and hold for a few seconds. Pin each curl. When you’re finished, spray with White Sands Infinity Hairspray and let sit for 10 minutes.


3. Remove all the pins from the set and put IT&LY Hairfashion Pure Water Drops in your hands to smooth fly away hairs while finishing. Run your fingers through waves to produce this gorgeous cover ready look.

So, you’ll want to have flawless feet. Not a hair (yuck) or a dry skin misplaced.

I searched my files for my favorite Do It Yourself foot scrubs (+ a great one to buy when in a rush and/ or not the ingredient-mixing type of girl). Here are my top 5:

Ingredients

8-10 strawberries
2 tablespoons Apricot oil (you may substitute with olive oil
1 teaspoon of coarse salt, such as Kosher salt, or Sea Salt
Preparation

Mix all ingredients into a paste, massage into feet, rinse and pat dry

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Ingredients

Honey Almond Foot Scrub Recipe
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
11 almonds (1/2 oz.)
Juice of lemon

Grind almonds into a fine meal in a blender or food processor. Mix almonds, olive oil, honey, brown sugar, and juice of lemon. Rub onto feet and massage, then rinse off. Makes enough for a single foot scrub application.

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Ingredients

1 cup of sea salt or Epsom salt
1/2 cup of cold water
2 drops of lavender essential oil

Start off by gradually adding water to salt and lavender oil
As you are adding it, you want to make sure the mix starts looking like a paste. It has to be not too liquid and not too solid, it should be like soft though otherwise it will run between your fingers
Rub your feet and soles in circular motion
Rinse off with warm water.

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Ingredients

Lemon softens and brightens your dull-looking feet while mint cools and refreshes tired feet.
1 lemon
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon sweet almond oil
15 fresh mint leaves, chopped
2-3 drops lemon essential oil

Slice the lemon into small pieces. Place them in a blender and form a pulp. Remove and then add sugar, almond oil, mint leaves and lemon essential oil.

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Aromafloria For Feets Sake Foot Scrub Tube – A paraben-free, lemon-scented foot scrub that is both refreshing and exfoliating as it removes dry skin leaving legs and feet happy and soft! PRICE TAG: $11.99

I start with a Clarifying Shampoo – one that removes excess oil and product build-up. Pureology makes my current favorite as it is sulfate-free and does a fantastic job of removing all unwanted guck and grease due to the unbearable humidity.

Then to take care of the dryness that is destroying my ends, I like to do a hair mask immediately following the Clarifying Purify Shampoo. I think of it as a purging of all product build-up and then a replenishment of all lost moisture. I use Pureology’s Hydra Cure Intense Moisture Hair Masque on my ends only and let it settle in for about ten minutes. This is the perfect time to shave my legs (the most lothesome of all beauty traditions!) or, perhaps, use a face mask. Then I rinse and let my hair air dry while I sleep, waking up to beautifully clean, refreshed and rehydrated hair.

The combination of a strong wash and hydration offers the perfect antidote to summer’s offensive weather and the toll it takes on your lovely locks.

Keep them healthy with a little Sunday night hair repair. The rest of the week’s going to be a killer. And Sunday night you’ll have to do it all over again.

PRICE TAG: shampoo – $25.00 / mask – $34.95

I’m probably the worst at-home hair color-er that’s ever existed.

I get it everywhere…myself included.

While my hair ends up looking great after I’m done, I have to go over every blessed surface with a Magic Eraser to remove the dye.

Not fun.

This stuff made all of the above a thing of the past.

John Frieda’s new Precision Foam Colour is super easy to use and stays where you put it till you wash it out.

I’m serious here.

I followed the instructions to a T and was amazed at the coverage of (ahem) my grays and the fact that I didn’t splatter it all over the place.

As per the usual.

All that I was left with was beautifully colored hair that felt soft and looked incredibly shiny.

Perfection!

To find out more info and to select your shade, click here.

disclosure: a sample was provided

But, alas, here it is. Not necessarily my favorites, but my beauty staples. The products that will forever remain in my beauty arsenal, despite the other favorites that come and go… So, have a peak –

What are your top 5, can’t-live-without products?
1 – Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 20 in Sand- I write about this product often, and I use it even more frequently. It is, by far, the best tinted moisturizer I have found on the market. It evens out my skin tone and doesn’t make it look like I’m wearing a face full of makeup. Plus, oil-free is a major bonus.
2 – Tarte Hotel Heiress Mineral Bronzer – I like the look of a sun-kissed face, but learned in my 20’s that sun on my face is the enemy. That’s when I fell in love with bronzer. I use many bronzers but always return to Hotel Heiress. I think it gives the perfect golden hue; the closest color to actual sun.
3 – MAC Brow Set in Mynx – I received this in a PR mailing. At the time, I was using Anastasia’s tinted Brow Gel. That changed the moment I tried Brow Set. The brush gets into my hairs, covering the sparse areas with the tinted, brownish hue. The result: fuller arches that stay in place. I believe good eyebrows really frame the face. Brow Fix is the one product I use every day, without fail, even if I’m going totally bare-faced.
4 – Bioderma Crealine H20 - This is a relatively new product on my radar (about 3 years old), but I cannot live without it. It’s a French find, used in France as a waterless face wash because the Parisian women believe the water is too harsh for their delicate faces. I use it as a makeup remover. It takes off everything from waterproof mascara to HD Foundation. And it’s so gentle, you don’t feel it or smell it. It leaves no residue and I’ve never had a break-out from it, ever.  I JUST discovered that you can purchase it on amazon.com (click on the link above to redirect to the product), but, of course, it is more expensive than in Paris.
5 – Make Up For Ever Star Powder in Bronze Brown #930 – I’ve been using star powder since I was a teenager and, while I’ve tried other products that are similar, nothing compares to the pigment of star powder. Bronze Brown is my favorite and a staple in my beauty bag as I am a sucker for a gilded eye (always have been) and this color is the perfect gold to cover the entire lid. If I just want a hint of drama, I use my pinky finger, dab it into the powder and apply only into the inner corners of my eyes. You can never go wrong with gold.

What is your all-time favorite product?
I definitely don’t have an all-time favorite product. There are just too many fabulous products to choose from and too many more being made. But I’d say good brushes are crucial. And one tool that every beauty lover needs to own is the Beauty Blender. It will change the way you apply makeup. At the very least, the way you apply foundation and cover-up. It leaves your skin with an air-brushed effect while still giving you full coverage. It’s a genius product!

What product do you buy in bulk?
 Nivea Cherry Tinted Lip Care. I have been using it since it was Labello (Nivea acquired them a few years back) and you could only buy the balm in Europe. It’s my ultimate lip balm – moisturizing – never sticky -, with a hint of natural redish hue (my lips are quite pale, so I need a pop of color to make them stand out).

Favorite hair product?
Bumble and Bumble Curl Conscious Reactivating Mist. I used to live for John Frieda’s Ocean Waves and when the product was discontinued, my hair – and I – had a mini-meltdown. Then we found Reactivating Mist. It does the trick – gives my wavy hair a kick so that I can have just-stepped-out-of-the-ocean-and-off-the-beach hair all day, everyday if I choose.

You moisturize your face with…
AMOREPACIFIC Moisture Bound Refreshing Hydra-Gel Oil-Free in the summer. Has a very light, gel-like consistency and is so refreshing yet hydrates without leaving the slightest bit of shine or grease. In winter I use AMOREPACIFIC Moisture Bound Vitalizing Creme which is a bit thicker but just as amazing. And for those brutally cold and dry days, I slather on a tiny amount of Weleda Skin Foods. It’s like medicine for the face – it’ll fix any cracking problem!

Favorite body product?
My obsession with body products is out of control. I love a good exfoliator, body wash, body lotion, bath soak – you name it. But a staple is Jurlique’s Rose Shower Gel and Body Care Lotion. Rose is one of my favorite body scents and Jurlique nails it! Not too perfumey, not too mild – it’s just the right amount of rose garden. The shower gel seriously lathers and the body lotion is light and fluid yet moisturizes and keeps my skin feeling incredibly soft.

Favorite beauty secret you’ve picked up along the way?
Aquaphor fixes any beauty problem you have – from zits (yep, put it on your pimple!), to cracked cuticles, to eye makeup remover, to unruly eyebrows. It’s also great as a quick fix to use as a highlighter on cheekbones, mix it in with your favorite shadow to create a cream consistency (fab for the “gilded” look), add some foundation – a shade darker than your natural skin tone – and apply to legs and arms as your very own, DIY tinted body oil (models use Aquaphor and the likes on their limbs on photo shoots because the sheen adds a thinning effect). But my favorite use for Aquaphor has to be as a faux mascara… that you can sleep in! It’ll add sheen and length (although not color) to your lashes. So, if you have a boy spending the night, apply some Aquaphor to your lashes, cheekbones, lips and brows and you’ll look fresh and naturally made-up – without makeup!

Beauty icon you admire?
I’m really into Jane Birkin these days. There was such an ease to her beauty and she was quite comfortable in the nude, which I always find beautiful – when it’s tasteful. She’s my summer beauty muse! For all of my beauty inspirations, click here!