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.)

Smell Like Sex Baby

Last week a good friend of mine sent me Philosophy’s The Ultimate Diet.



It’s a collection of Philosophy three in one, 8oz Cinnamon scented Shower gel & Bubble bath; 8oz shimmer Body lotion, and lip shine. I am a huge fan of Philosophy so I was really excited. That night, my boyfriend and I were headed to my fave restaurant so I decided to try on my new collection. I lathered on the shower gel. Oh my god!!!!! It smells good enough to eat (but make sure you don’t). Then I applied the lotion all over my skin-again sooooooooooooo yummy. And then I moisturized my lips with the lip shine. When I walked into my boyfriend’s car, he was on his phone. But he quickly turned to me and began to sniff. “Wow,” he said smiling “you smell incredible.” Now driving to the restaurant, he was all over me. During every stop sign and red light I was being kissed and hugged and he would not stop telling me how great I smelled. It was amazing. Needless to say, I had a wonderful night. At first I attributed it to my new sexy haircut but then I did some research. Here’s what I found:

According to scientists, the most arousing smell for men is cinnamon buns. In a study at The Smell & Taste Research Foundation in Chicago, scientists tested more than 200 smells to find out which ones aroused men the most -- and cinnamon won. "We discovered that smelling cinnamon increased the flow of blood to the penis, helping him stay aroused," says study leader Dr. Alan Hirsch.


Hmm……**heading to sephora.com and purchasing 100 more of The Ultimate Diet***

That Pregnant Glow

I have three friends that are pregnant right now. All three of them are in the latter stage of their pregnancies and their excuse for leaving their house with curlers in their head, stained clothes and an overall disheveled appearance is that they are pregnant and everything goes down hill once you’re pregnant. Well that’s no excuse. A woman should look stunning all the time! I believe if you look good, you’ll feel good.

Have you guys taken a look at Halle Berry and Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Lope lately? These women are making pregnant women the new sex symbols.







Wow, they look out of this world gorgeous!! All three of them are in the latter stages of pregnancy and show no sign of slowing down. Please don't make the excuse that they have stylist, and hair people. I'm not saying to walk out of your house with a $100,000 gown, and $1000 hair dos. What I am saying is just because you are bringing a new life into this world, doesn't mean you have to forget about taking care of yourself. I I believe all pregnant women should take a look at them and aspire to look fab all the time.