It's OK to Begin Again

I think one of the hardest things anyone can go through is a breakup. Seriously, the ending of a relationship is equivalent to a death. All of a sudden, someone you care about is completely out of your life and you are left alone to mourn. Last night a good friend of mine, I’ll call her “Miriam” called me in hysterics. Her long romance with her boyfriend had ended. I absolutely adored her boyfriend. Shoot, my whole clique of friends adored him, so this was a huge shock. We spoke for three hours and I did my best to try to console her, but there are no words that can ameliorate a pain so intense.

Today I was in Sephora when an orange Philosophy bottle 3-in-1 caught my eye. I’ve always been attracted to Philosophy; one because their products are amazing and two because of the wise sayings that are scripted on their bottles. The bottle was a tangerine 3-in-1 shower gel and bath gelee called Begin Again. I'm obsessed with Tangerines so I had to pick up two bottles, one for me and one for my sweet Miriam. I actually just finished showering with this delicious smelling, luxurious product and can still smell remnants of it on my skin (so incredibly yummy). But, I also loved the message on the bottle because it reminded me of what was going on with Miriam. I wanted to make sure and share it with you guys, my blogger buddies. Remember ladies, don't let another person control your happiness. Hugs, DE

you took the right road and ended up in the wrong place. begin again. you reached the top of a mountain only to find yourself at the bottom of a new one. begin again. you dotted every "i" and forgot to cross your "t's." begin again. you were at the wrong place at the wrong time and your life changed forever. begin again. you loved hard and lost big. begin again. you won the race but they gave first place to someone else. begin again. you followed your north star and ended up at the south pole. begin again

Congrats To The Winner of The Sothys Set

Mary B, you were the winner of that Sothys Gift Set. Congrats!! Thanks for a great laugh. Hugs, D.E

Magic Potion

It seems as if every time I have somewhere important to be, my hair decides to misbehave. Well yesterday was no exception. My hair was just totally acting up! It was really frizzy, lacking shine and just plain dull looking. Needless to say, I was getting frustrated. But then I remembered something that I hadn’t used in some time. I quickly went into my beauty bag and grabbed Oscar Blandi ‘s Jasmine Hair Serum. As soon as I applied this magical potion to my mane, it immediately changed back to its normal self. My frizzies were completely gone, the baby hairs were tamed, the shine it imparted was outrageous and it smelled fantastic. An added plus was that my hair was not weighed down at all. This product is one of the few that does what it purports to do. Truly a miracle worker! Update 4/15/2008 According to style list.com Kelly Ripa is obsess with this product as well.
"The golden goddess of morning shows is a slave to her hair dryer. Her stylist Oscar Blandi tells StyleList, "Kelly blows her hair out every day." In order to prevent the damage that comes with such wear and tear, she uses
Blandi's Jasmine Oil Treatment ($26) weekly to strengthen her strands and add elasticity."

Beauty From Within First

From the age of five to around eleven, my parents would ship my siblings and I to the Dominican Republic every summer. We loved going to visit our relatives but most of all to enjoy the beautiful white sand and crystal-clear blue water of the Dominican beaches. My siblings and I would spend countless hours playing in the sand and basking in the sun. Those are some amazing memories. However, I’m now a grown woman in my mid twenties, and I’m terrified that those summer months under the sun will take an aging toll on my skin (they say the aging effects of the sun show up later in life). I’m sure many of you know that Green tea is an amazing antioxidant. I drink a cup every day. But today I found an Organic Yogi green tea that includes Pomegrante-which is another powerful antioxidant and has been linked to promoting skin and cardiovascular health. I’ll be adding this to my anti-aging arsenal and I hope you will too. Remember Beauty begins from within first. Hugs,

Get rid of the Flakey Curse

I received an email from one of my readers asking about an effective shampoo for dandruff. Unfortunately, I know all about dandruff. It seems like eons ago, but I too, used to be a chronic sufferer of the flakey curse. I tried so many harsh shampoos: Selsun Blue (stripped my hair of all its shine), Head & shoulders, (destroyed my hair period and the effects were only temporary) and Nixoral (as soon as I stopped using it, dandruff came right back).Finally after nothing was working, my mother advised me of a natural substance called Tea Tree Oil. Tea Tree Oil contains terpenoids, which have antiseptic and antifungal activity.

After starting my tea tree oil shampoos, my dandruff was ELIMINATED. Here are the 2 I would recommend.

Giovanni Triple Treat Tea Tree Oil



Jason's Tea Tree Scalp Normalizing Shampoo


Hope this Helps,

Hugs,

Contest ends tomorrow.

Skin Health

You must know that what we put in our bodies has a direct effect on our skin. Here's a gorgeous Ford Model informing us what wonders Flaxseed does for her skin. I take flaxseed as well, but in capsule form.

Velvet is a girl's best Friend

Face Time Velvet Veil Primer is my new addiction. My boyfriend and I love to go to The Hudson Hotel in New York for some drinks and dancing. Now when I say dance, I don’t mean some slight shaking of the hips. NO, NO, not at all, remember I’m Dominican. I’m talking some straight, out of control, booty shaking, hips gyrating; drop it like its hot, show stopping fun. Although I go through great pains to put my makeup on when I go out with my honey, by the end of the night, it’s been completely sweated off and I’m left with my plain old face;oh and my raccoon eyes of course.

When I first got this primer, I was really excited. The fact that this contains Jojoba oil was a huge plus to me (you know how much I love my oils). Because the structure of jojoba oil closely resembles that of your own skin sebum, it is an excellent moisturizer and is ideal for all skin types without promoting acne or any other skin problems. I applied this primer and then my foundation. HOly CRAPOLA, my skin looked FLAWLESS, I mean seriously, my face looked airbrushed. Even my boyfriend (who notices nothing) kept commenting on how great I looked. So we went to the Hudson Hotel, and danced our sexy butts off. When I went to the bathroom at the end of the night,I was expecting to look into the mirror and stare at a sweaty face devoid of makeup. However, what greeted me in the mirror was not at all what I expected. I was flabbergasted. My makeup looked new and fresh as if I had just applied it. As I wiped the sweat off of my face with a napkin, my makeup stayed intact. This product is a MUST HAVE!!!!!!! And I mean it.
www.facetimecosmetics.com

Dominican Salon Featured in Vogue

First of all, I would like to again thank my fellow blogger friends for wondering where I was for the last few months. I've been so busy with school, work and trying to take over the world that I haven't really had time to blog. I do apologize, but I thank you so much for wanting to read more. Anyway, I'd like to write about something that I thought was pretty incredible. I must admit, although the magazine Vogue is supposed to be the pinnacle of fashion, I never really liked it. I hated having to carry the heavy magazine, which was mostly filled with advertisements of $50,000 gowns and articles that I could not relate to at all. I never thought the magazine spoke to me-a young urban Latina. So I was more than shocked when I opened it up this month and found that they were touting a Dominican salon as one of the best places to get a blowout. I was truly flabbergasted and had to write about it. The article states:

Maritza's House of Beauty
212-665-8970
The Dominican blowout-distinctive due to a specific technique called "the doobie" which involves rooler -setting and blow-drying the hair, resulting in vampy, volumptuous waves-is arguably one of Manhattan's best kept secrets. Martiza Celemi's salon offers one of the best, and counts the perennially perfectly groomed Liya Kebede among her in-the-know clientele of models, editors and fashion-world regulars who travel up to Harlem for her staggering inexpensive ($15) famously long lasting service.

Wow how times have changed. I'll be going to Maritza's this week.

The Dominican Enigma Hair Regimen

My Hair Regimen

A few days ago, I was heading to Nobu for my friends engagement party when I was stopped by this uber-chic glam statuesque model-type woman. She stared at my hair for a few seconds and asked me, “What do you use on your hair that it’s so shiny and long?”. I immediately advised her on how to get shiny hair and wanted to make a post about it.

1) The first thing I always recommend is not washing your hair often. I have very long hair, (all the way down the bottom of my back) and I only wash my hair once or twice a week. Washing your hair often will strip it of its natural oils, and leave you with dry, stringy hair.
2) The second thing I do is every night massage my scalp. Yes, I massage my scalp (and face for that matter-but that’s a different post) for 5 minutes every single night. Why? You ask. Massaging your scalp for 5 minutes will increase blood flow to your scalp-and therefore increase growth for long lustrous locks.
3) Coconut Oil-I am addicted to this stuff. But make sure you buy Pure, Organic Unrefined Coconut oil. I often add coconut oil and sesame oil to my massage routine.
4) Hair products-As I’ve said before I never ever use any product with Sulfates in it (stuff that makes your shampoo lather). That stuff will leave you with very un-healthy hair. I only use Aubrey Organic or Giovanni hair products which have absolutely no chemicals.
5) Vitamins. I am a vitamin addict. I know how effective they are on hair. I am not a Doctor and in no way am I advising you to take the supplements I take. But these are my supplements and they work for me: MSM, Multi-vitamin, Borage Oil, Omega 3 Oils (fish oils), Zinc, and a B-multi.
6) I always sleep on a silk pillow cover. I find that my hair is still incredibly shiny 4 days after getting it done.

I hope this helps.

Belleza!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Before the New Year began, I suffered a terrible loss and have been dealing with it. I’ve gotten some very nice e-mails and I really appreciate them. Anyway, the first thing I would like to do is wish you all a Happy New Year. (I know I’m late but hey, better late than never.) Second I would like to let you guys know about Thalia’s new book titled Belleza. I just started reading it this morning and am so excited about it. Thalia gives some great make-up advice as well as admitting her own make-up blunders. I absolutely love it. Buy it! (Or you can get it from the library like I did.)