RED DOOR SPA DEBUTS SKINCARE COLLECTION
Ever since it’s cameo appearance in George Cukor’s 1939 film The Women, the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa has been a worldwide icon for the best in skincare. Now, under the guidance of Cornelia Zicu, global chief creative officer for Red Door Spas, the venerable brand is launching its first spa-based skin and body care collection.
Comprising 42 face and body items, the Red Door Spa Professional® formulas are conceived as an extension of the services offered at the spa’s 30 nationwide locations. The goal is to help consumers extend the results of their treatments at home.
Cornelia Zicu says that this line has been decades in the making, and involved culling information from the spa’s many experienced estheticians. The result is a comprehensive collection that features three categories: Intensive Solutions, Customized Daily Essentials, and Body Renewal.
Intensive Solutions:
This features 16 concentrated products that target specific skincare concerns from premature skin aging to redness and discoloration. One of the range’s stars is Age Defense Multi- Peptide Moisturizer, which contains peptides to help relax wrinkle formation and liphophlic vitamin C to moisturize, improve skin tone, and stimulate collagen production. One of my favorite products is the Age Defense Hyaluronic Intensive Serum, a veritable waterfall of moisture for thirsty skin. In addition to hyaluronic acid, the humectant or all humectants, the serum contains vitamins A, C, and E, as well as beta glucan, which stimulates the functioning of the immune system and acts as a UV protectant. The prices of the Intensive Solution products range from $26 to $120.
Customized Daily Essentials:
With targeted systems for sensitive, oily, normal, and dry skins, Customized Daily Essentials offer cleansers, toners, moisturizers, masks, and sun protection as the basic building blocks of a personalized skincare regimen. Each of the specialized systems contains a cleanser, toner, moisturizer and mask. The Sensitive Skin System draws on soothing botanicals like chamomile, willow extract, and kola nut extract to calm and restore. Prices for Customized Daily Essentials range from $26 to $120.
Body Renewal:
This is one of my favorite line-ups in the collection, with extremely luxurious products ranging from three different body creams (a must!) to body washes, scrubs, balms, gel, and sprays. There are 10 luxurious body care products in all, and actually are the exact products used in the Red Door Spa’s treatments and services, which means both luxury and professional expertise in a jar. The idea behind these products is a healthful, youthful and toned appearance. It is the most affordable of the Red Door Professional categories, with price ranges from $22 to $45.
The Red Door Spa Professional collection is available exclusively at Red Door Spa locations nationwide.
DARA TORRES FLIPS FOR AMLACTIN CERAPEUTIC BODY LOTION
If you suffer from dry skin, you’ve probably learned to separate the wheat from the chaff. Lightweight scented body lotions may be delicious to smell and apply, but are often over loaded with alcohol to make them absorb quickly, ultimately drying out your skin even further.
True dry skin sufferers seek out clinically driven brands, many of which began life as products intended for physician and hospital use only. Case in point: AmLactin® and the new AmLactin® Cerapeutic™ Restoring Body Lotion (7.9 oz., $18.99 suggested retail price).
Dry skin can be a challenge even in the summer if you live in a dry climate like the US southwest or even southern California. And swimming, the most summer of summer activities, can wreck havoc on your skin. Take it from Dara Torres, 12-time Olympic medalist and AmLactin brand ambassador. “When I was swimming daily, I created a moisturizing routine to keep my skin from drying out,” she told BeautyInTheBag.
One way to make skin more receptive to moisturizers is to exfoliate and remove dry, dead skin layers. AmLactin lotions and creams feature alpha-hydroxy acids, natural and gentle exfoliators derived from lactic acid, which encourage new soft skin cells to reveal themselves, and help draw water to the skin to hydrate it.
The new Cerapeutic Restoring Body Lotion also contains ceramides, lipids found naturally in the skin’s outer layer. Spending a lot of time in water or using harsh soap among other reasons causes skin to lose ceramides, which leaves skin vulnerable to irritants. The ceramides in the body lotion help heal, protect, and replenish the skin.
Cerapetuic Restoring Body Lotion joins three other AmLactin body moisturizers sold at drugstores and pharmacies. Cerapeutic helps repair extremely rough, flaky, dry skin. Moisturizing Body Lotion is ideal for everyday; Ultra Hydrating Body Lotion is for dry areas that need extra attention; and Foot Cream helps eliminate rough skin and callouses. Amlactin is also a favorite of dermatologists.
AMOREPACIFIC PUTS THE CC IN COMPACT
BB, CC, and DD, what’s your letter combo? To break it down, BB creams provide treatment benefits, usually anti-acne, are oil free, and offer medium coverage. CC creams are color correctors, and generally formulated with moisturizing and antioxidant ingredients. As for DD, well, that perplexes even beauty editors—reports indicate they will be daily defense body or foot creams, but we need to wait and see because they haven’t hit the market yet.
What is available though is the fabulous AmorePacific Color Control (CC) Cushion Compact ($60). Applied with a sponge puff, this lightweight fluid evens out skin tone with a very natural looking finish and color. It feels great to apply, very cooling, and coverage is buildable and long lasting. I like to put on two layers to camouflage sun spots and then go without a foundation. If I’m in a hurry, one application will do.
To make life even easier, the CC compact contains SPF 50+ broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection. It builds on the sun screen in my moisturizer, but in a completely undetectable way. “Protection, hydration, coverage, CC Cushion Compact has everything under one roof,” says Natalie Paiva, AmorePacific marketing manager.
For example, AmorePacific really has its color-correcting technology perfected. Available in four shades, the CC compact range initially seems limited. But the shades are truly forgiving and work on many different skin tones. My skin fell somewhere between Tan Blush and Tan Gold. I chose Tan Blush, but honestly, I think Tan Gold would work too.
AmorePacific’s heritage lies in skincare with a blend of Asian botanical ingredients. The CC compact’s benefits start with a bamboo sap base (rather than traditional water-in-oil), which moisturizes, fights free radical damage, and boosts the skin’s resistance to environmental aggressors with amino acids. AmorePacific was one of the first, if not the first, to use green tea in skincare. Rich in polyphenols and antioxidants, green tea powder fills in fine lines to achieve a smooth finish.
Obviously, I’m an AmorePacific fan, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in the U.S. this year.
Other news from the Korean-based line is the introduction of Line Revolution Neck Cream ($185), perhaps a little steeply priced, but oh so worth it. Again, the proprietary blend of Asian botanicals is at work here, plus collagen stimulation technology. Apply in the front—and the back of the neck—for enhanced collagen production, reduced appearance of wrinkles, and skin cell regeneration, all in a cream formulated for the delicate skin on the neck.
.jpg)
.jpg)
