Romy Raves

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, and on the heels of a fabulous overnight staycation this past weekend with my hubby, I’ve got love on my mind. You know how it is, like a magnet or energetic force, you are instantly drawn to someone or something without explanation, it just ‘happens’. Well I know it is a bit of a stretch, but for a life long beauty junkie like me, this energetic pull happens to me with beauty products, and every once in a while I try a product that just instantly knocks my socks off! Kinda like being hit with cupid’s arrow, but towards a product, not a person. Strange, I know, but it’s honestly how I feel. Well, lately I have come across some fabulous new products that I was instantly smitten with and now I am dying to share them with you. Hope you love them as much as I do!

Four Truffles Argan Moisturizing Balm ($26)

OMG this magnificent balm is truly “The Balm”! I literally got this product a few days ago and I am obsessed with it and can’t stop using it! This is a luxurious multi-purpose ultra hydrating balm packed with argan oil and all it’s nutrients and antioxidants that soften, hydrate, and repair your skin. It also contains a lovely Bulgarian Lavender Oil, an ancient herb that has been used for ages to relax the body and heal skin. And there’s more goodness: this product is organic, made in the USA with indigenous ingredients, its eco-centric, made by women4women and comes in a hand carved wooden jar. It smells divine, feels yummy on my dry skin, instantly moisturizes and heals like a champ. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

Kate Somerville DermalQuench Liquid Lift ($95) will be available March 2012 www.skinhealthexperts.com

This is a ground breaking new product that brings Kate Somerville’s most sought after celeb skin transforming treatment  into your home! Liquid Lift has a unique foam dispensed delivery system that instantly infuses your skin with three powerful ingredients KS calls advanced HydraFill™ Complex which work together to increase volume, significantly smooth skin, boost radiance and dramatically reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Liquid Lift infuses your skin with a much-needed boost of oxygen to increase volume and deliver a plumping effect that dramatically diminishes the look of expression lines and furrows. I actually have had the FAB professional DermalQuench treatment at the KS Clinic in LA, and I am equally as ‘wowed’ by the similar, and much more affordable results of this at home oxygen treatment. I adore how it instantly plumps, hydrates and makes my skin look more radiant, and after just a couple of weeks of use, my skin feels more supple, moist and it looks smoother.

3LAB Perfect BB SPF 40/PA+++ ($95)

I just adore BB creams because they deliver instant results and are super easy to use, and 3LAB’s version is luxurious and FAB! This BB Cream is infused with 3LAB’s signature bio-engineered growth hormone and apple stem cell technology, which noticeably firms and lifts the skin, regenerates new skin cells, brightens, moisturizes, and protects your skin with a potent SPF.  It also contains a wonderful combination of anti-oxidants, vitamins and botanicals that help improve your skin tone and alleviate irritation. My skin just drinks this cream up, I love that it comes in three shades (I’m medium), and it instantly hides imperfections and makes my skin look smooth and flawless.

Benefit Watt’s Up ($30)

IMO Benefit is the Queen of fab, fun, kitschy, inspired makeup products that really work (like my beloved Erase Paste.) Well, Watt’s Up is my latest  addiction, it’s a great soft focus highlighter that instantly brightens and lightens your face and gives you the perfect luminous glow. It is a stick cream-to–powder champagne sheer highlighter on one side and a blending sponge on the other,and together this gives your skin a velvety glow. I am having such fun manipulating the light on my face with this product and really like how it adds the perfect instant sheen to my skin, which makes it look fresher and younger. Fab!

Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray ($39)

I have to admit, I have not been thrilled with my hair lately, it’s been dry, flat and lifeless, so I decided to cut like 5-6 inches off, much better and healthier. In light of this change, I am trying  new products to add volume and texture, and I am having alot of fun with Oribe’s Texturizing Spray. It’s a wonderful alternative to dry shampoo and it’s giving my hair fullness, movement and a sexy glam look. Basically, this is an invisible dry hair spray that offers incredible volume and a sexy texture. It contains patented polymers that absorb oil at the roots which allows you to milk that fab blowdry for days. It’s easy to use and it gives the perfect amount of va-va-voom to your hair.

Dr Dennis Gross Active Vitamin D Serum Oil ($65)

Leave it to the pioneering Dr. Dennis Gross to notice that his patients were experiencing Vitamin D deficiencies because they were being hyper-diligent about protecting their skin from the sun, so Dr. Gross set out to develop the first skincare serum-oil that would provide sufficient levels of Vitamin D to skin through topical application.  Traditionally, Vitamin D needs sun exposure to activate it, but this innovative new formulation contains an already active form of Vitamin D that does not require sunlight to work. This serum-oil replenishes hydration, boosts elasticity, smooths fine lines and wrinkles, enhances radiance and luminosity, and corrects the appearance of hyperpigmentation. I just love the idea of giving our skin it’s much needed Vitamin D, and I love how this product nourishes my dry skin and how it has added noticeable suppleness in such a short time.

Greetings Beautiful! I wanted to start the year off right and share some gorgeous new products that I am loving and that are making my skin absolutely radiant, so I figured that I would let you in on my little secret. Perhaps you’ve heard of Jan Marini, skincare icon and the pioneer of medically validated skin care preparations? Well, if not I am delighted to introduce you to this fabulous line full of active products that really work and transform your skin. At the beginning of the Fall/Winter season, Jan Marini kindly sent me two amazing anti-aging skincare products to try and I have totally fallen in love with them! Today, I am excited to tell you all about them and give FOUR of them away!

Limited Edition Jan Marini Holiday Exfoliator 

OK, admittedly my timing is a little off season with this product review, but this product is so yummy and transformative, that I will continue to use it throughout the year. The Marini Holiday Exfoliator is a clinical-strength resurfacer that immediately refines your skin’s texture and follicle size and gives your face a gorgeous radiant, polished glow. This innovative product contains antioxidants, unique spherical dissolving beads (non-abrasive), papaya enzymes, and glycolic acid, all designed to gently and safely scrub and resurface your skin.

What do I love about this product? I absolutely adore the almost edible sweet and spicy gingerbread scent. I love how it thoroughly and effectively smooths and softens my skin and how refreshed it looks after I use it. This is one of those scrubs that you can feel working and your skin looks noticeably different immediately afterwards. And did I mention, it smells like a slice of the holidays?! Deelish! However, this is a Limited Edition product and when it’s gone, it’s gone!  But lucky you, I am giving TWO away and you can also buy it HERE.

Jan Marini Age Intervention Retinol PLUS

This isn’t your ordinary retinol product, it’s a ground breaking new concept in retinol technology. Retinol PLUS delivers the most aggressive levels of stabilized retinol combined with advanced topical agents to maximize efficacy while simultaneously decreasing irritation, sensitivity, dryness and redness-all very common side effects with retinol usage. And not only is it formulated with a potent and well tolerated retinol formulation, but it also contains anti-aging and collagen boosting peptides, antioxidants, hydrators and skin soothing ingredients that deliver unparalleled skin rejuvenation benefits.

What do I love about this product? The results are totally noticeable and amazing! I have noticed a nice softening of my fine lines and wrinkles, a much softer and smoother skin texture, radiance and luminosity and an overall vibrancy to my skin. Since I have been using it, people continually comment on how gorgeous my skin looks, and I credit Retinol Plus for that. And I am truly impressed with the lack of sensitivity and irritation that I have not gotten with this product. Typically, when I use retinol, my skin gets a little red and irritated (but the results are worth it), but that didn’t happen at all with this product. Love that! Oh yeah, and the reasonable price of $65 for a potent anti-aging product is very appealing too (not peeling )

But perhaps the best news of all, is that I am giving away TWO Jan Marini Holiday Exfoliators & TWO Retinol PLUS products to 4 lucky readers!

Contest Details 

-How to Enter: All that you need to do to enter this FREE giveaway is use the Rafflecopter Widget Below, enter your name and email or sign in through Facebook, then click “DO IT” to do each task that you choose to and once you have completed the task click the “ENTER” button to confirm your DONE entry. Make sure to enter your name and email for each selection, so your entries will be counted.
-Options for Entering: There are (3) choices for daily entries, and (4) choices for one-time only entries and three of them are mandatory for entry.
-Prizes:  TWO (2) Jan Marini Limited Edition Holiday Exfoliators (Retail Value of $80 each) and TWO (2) Jan Marini Age Intervention Retinol PLUS Products (Retail Value of $65 each) – 4 Winners in TOTAL
-Contest Dates: 1/20/12 to 2/4/12 at 12:01 am EST

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Year’s Greetings My Beauties! I have been MIA on my blog for the last couple of weeks because I took a much needed vacation with the fam, hit Palm Springs, San Fran, ate deelish food, drank gorgeous wine and just relaxed. It was very nice, but now I am back and have lots of fabulous products, events, services and treatments to share with you! First up, is this fabulous new spray-on foundation from Classified Cosmetics called Aero Minerale. It is launching at Ulta stores nationwide this week.

What do I love about this product? It is awesome, easy to use and it gives you that flawless airbrushed look without having to carry around a heavy machine or needing a professional technique to apply it. The best part? It’s affordable at under $15 bucks! Most products of this caliber cost way more! Not only does it give your skin a beautiful even finish and offer lightweight buildable coverage (it makes your skin look like it was in the hands of a pro), but it also contains your daily dose of vitamins and botanicals too.

And here’s further proof of just how fab this product is: The lead makeup artist from Twilight Breaking Dawn ordered 1,000 cans of Aero Minerale to use on the entire cast of the movie. A thousand cans people! That’s a a lot of product! So this stuff really works!

So what are you waiting for? Head to your local Ulta and pick up a bottle or two for yourself, your face will love it and so will you!

Tonight’s the big night, the night we reminisce and reflect on the past year and the night we get all kinds of glam, dress up in our favorite festive attire and celebrate the new year (FYI I will be in jammies tonight with my boys, a fab bottle of bubbly and caviar, but I digress). Well, what better way to make yourself even more gorgeous than you already are, than with a collection of stellar products from Too Faced.

And as luck would have it, they have just come out with the most adorable girlie makeup set that I am totally loving and think it will be the perfect glam accessory for NYE and will even take you through Spring: Too Faced Natural Flirt Makeup Collection, a limited-edition collection filled with some of Too Faced’s best-selling faves for the eyes, lips and face at an amazing price-only $45 for $112.50 worth of products.

Here’s a look at this chic set and all the fabulous products that come in it:

Sometimes I feel compelled to write a posts that really have impact, make you think and help you to change your lives in a positive ways, this is one of those posts. I was recently invited to an eye opening luncheon hosted by Jessica Gottlieb and MyInfoGuardian. The purpose of this lunch was to inform a group of very influential bloggers about the importance of protecting our online privacy and enlighten us about what a growing problem this is, especially for those of us in social media who live our lives very publicly online. While indulging on a divine meal and exquisite bubbly at Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills, I got a good dose of reality and how easy it is for someone to access my personal information online if they really want to.

Here’s the scoop: Anytime you do anything publicly online or with a government agency (like register to vote or school registration for example), your personal information becomes public property. People search sites have made a business out of using all these online sources to access, publish and sell your personal information without your knowledge. Basically, the sole purpose of these companies is to make money by publishing your personal information on the Internet and they will sell your personal information to any buyer without your permission and it’s all legal! They often know your name, address, date of birth, personal finances, place of employment and much more. Once someone has access to all of your personal information, it makes tracking you and your family down rather easy. And the more exposed your information is on people search sites, the greater the risk for you and your family.

Allow me to introduce you to MyInfoGuardian, a service that helps protect your privacy and can put your fears at ease because they continually track down and remove your personal information from people search sites. They search all of the sites to find your personal information, remove it and continuously monitor the sites on your behalf. The seasoned trained professionals at MyInfoGuardian are experts in cybersecurity and personal and private security, so basically they know this niche very well and are extremely diligent in their work. The sole mission of this service is give people like us control over our personal information and deciding who has access to it and who doesn’t.

How does MyInfoGuardian work? They let you see for free how many sites sell your information, and then after you subscribe, with one click, they remove your information from these sites (this would take you hours or days to do it on your own.) And they even remove it again if it comes back on these sites or appears on new site. MyInfoGuardian offers affordable plans for individuals as well as families and gift programs too.

It is certainly not pleasant to think about your privacy being at risk, in fact I found it all rather unnerving, but it is important for you to take matters into your own hands and control who has access to your private information, and MyInfoGuardian is an easy and affordable way to do it. I hope you will give this some thought and and consider protecting you and family in the future.