Romy Raves

Attention Beauty Junkies, Fall 2010 SPA WEEK has arrived on the West Coast and Chicago! What is Spa Week you ask? Spa Week is an entire week dedicated to affordable and fabulous spa treatments at some of the most exclusive spas in North America. All treatments during Spa Week are only $50 at participating spas and each place offers at least a couple of treatments to give you a wonderful flavor of their offerings. The actual cost of these treatments is MUCH higher than $50, so it is a great way to try out a fabulous spa in your area without the spendy price tag.  Spa Week takes place on the West Coast September 13-19th and on the East coast October 11-17th, 2010. This is one event you don’t want to miss, just click HERE to find out what spas in your area are participating and what treatments they are offering.

Being a beauty insider has its privileges, and I had the delightful pleasure of being invited to Elude Med Spa in Pasadena, California to sample some of their fabulous offerings for Spa Week this past weekend. Elude is located in an adorable part of Pasadena, surrounded by great shops and restaurants, and the spa itself is located in a quaint shopping complex that has a hip small town European vibe. Although Elude just opened a few weeks ago, it has all the class and professional demeanor of a seasoned spa. Elude offers all of the latest high tech laser skin treatments, photofacials, laser hair removal, injectables and dermal fillers. Megan, the owner is an experienced business woman, super sweet and VERY accomodating (I was detained for over an hour and she happily fit me in) and her lead Nurse Practioner, Catherine, is a skilled and seasoned professional.

Upon arrival, I filled out the requisite paperwork to asses my needs, skin concerns, and health issues. Then I sat down with Cat to discuss my primary aging concerns (which are the dark circles/bags under my eyes, pigmentation and just looking fresh, youthful, radiant and natural–like the best me, only better). I could tell instantly that Cat was an seasoned pro and knew her stuff, she listened attentively while I shared my concerns and then we mutually discussed the best treatments to address my concerns. Cat came up with a comprehensive treatment plan that includes Laser Tightening and Rejuvenating, IPL Photofacials (a Spa Week Treatment), and minimal Botox (also a Spa Week Treatment). We also discussed doing fillers for my annoying undereye bags, and I very much appreciated Cat telling me that undereye fillers were not in her realm of expertise and that I should go to a specialist for that.

[caption id="attachment_3143" align="alignright" width="224" caption="September 2010-Romy Before Treatments"][/caption]

For this visit, we decided on little bit of ‘Botox on the Go’ and a laser skin tightening treatment, two treatments that I have never tried before. I chose Botox to smooth out some of my fine lines and give me a slight brow lift and laser tightening to refresh my skin and stimulate collagen. I plan on returning to Elude in about 3-4 weeks for another laser tightening treatment (3 are recommended) as well as the Pixel Laser treatment to rejuvenate the skin. I will be blogging and vlogging about my experiences and posting pics to show my transformation–see my before shot to the right (I must love you guys to show you this very candid mug shot!) and click on the link below for my brief video about my initial visit at Elude  

 

Both treatments took about an hour, were minimally uncomfortable and will show results over time. The laser tightening treatment heats up the skin to about 44 degrees in order to stimulate collagen at a deep level and it just feels pretty hot on the skin at times (but not unbearable); and the Botox injections didn’t hurt that much at all thanks to Cat’s great ‘icing and tensing your muscles technique’ that made the injections almost painless. When she finished, I felt great, like I had been treated by skilled practitioner and look forward to continuing to work with her and seeing the transformative results.

After my first experience, I am very impressed with Elude and I HIGHLY recommend checking them out during Spa Week. In my opinion, they are a top notch facility and definitely worth a visit. Here is a list of the amazing services they are offering during Spa Week September 13-19, 2010–FYI these services are a steal for $50 bucks each:

• Custom Skin Rejuvenation Photofacial Treatment – for pigmentation
• Botox On the Go! : 10 Units of Botox – Plus $9/ additional unit if needed
• 3 Sessions of Virtually Pain-Free Laser Hair Removal: Choice of Underarms, Upper Lip, Chin, Bikini Line or Brazilian

Greetings My Beauties! Sorry I have be remiss in writing regular posts lately, but as you know I have been traveling for most of the summer, plus I have the little guy home for an extra week (Thank You LAUSD Budget Cuts!) which definitely makes it hard to stay focused and write. In addition, tonight is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and I have been busy cooking and prepping for our yummy dinner. I thought you might enjoy sampling a couple of new tasty holiday recipes, whether you celebrate or not. Below are some new holiday recipes that I am testing out, let me know what you think.

Honey Cake This is a warm brown colored cake sweetened with honey and the perfect hint of spice. It’s yummy, warm and comforting. It is often eaten as dessert during the New Year festivities. FYI-I made this cake this AM and even though I sprayed generously it stuck to my fancy Star of David pan, and my wonderful hubby and son decided to make another one before I got home so I wouldn’t be upset (isn’t that sweet of them ), but low and behold, it stuck again! Well now, we have TWO, not so pretty but super yummy honey cakes, guess its gonna be an extra sweet, but not perfect New Year? 

1   Box Yellow Cake Mix

1/2   Cup Honey

1   Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2   Teaspoon Nutmeg

1/4   Teaspoon Ginger

2   Tablespoons Oil

3   Eggs

1   Cup Coffee

Mix all of the above ingredients together thoroughly, pour into a bundt pan and bake at 325 for 1 hour.

Yummy Apple Noodle Kugel I describe kugel as a the Jewish comfort food akin to the all American Mac ‘n Cheese. A kugel is typically a casserole of noodles, eggs and sometimes sweet and other times savory additions. Below is a recipe for a sweet kugel, that is super easy, tasty and the perfect representation of apples and honey for a sweet new year. Kids love this one. Word of warning: kugels are yummy but dense and filling, so beware

1   Package of Wide Egg Noodles

4   Eggs, beaten

1   Cup Sugar

3/4   Stick Butter, melted/softened

1   Can Comstock Apple Pie Filling, diced into small pieces

1  Tablespoon Cinnamon

2  Teaspoons Vanilla

Raisins, if desired

Preheat oven to 350. Boil noodles per package. Combine drained noodles with the rest of the ingredients and pour into a greased 9×13 pan. Sprinkle cinnamon on top. Bake for 45 minutes.

Eat and Enjoy!

And to those of you that celebrate, Here’s to a Sweet, Spectacular, Healthy and Properous New Year!

In my opinion, French skincare products always strike me as beautifully made, high quality, luxurious, and results oriented–like someone really cares and puts their heart and soul into making these products. Skincare made in France often has a very distinct addictive fresh citrusy smell and always feels so indulgent going on my skin.

Case in point: SAMPAR Urban Active is an inspired line of skincare products made in France that effectively target the signs of aging as well as environmental pollutants. I am just starting to discover the wonderful products in this line and so far it has lived up to my expectations of products made in France.

My current addiction discovery from this line is the Sampar Nocturnal Line-up Mask. OMG! This is one fabulous, amazing, results oriented anti-aging product. Basically, you apply this lovely instantly nourishing and hydrating mask at night before you go to bed, and viola you wake up with visibly refreshed, supple, energized, firmer looking skin! I just love what a noticeable difference it makes in my skin and I totally dig the very French fresh green scent (the smell of luxury skincare IMO.) BTW this is a great product to use on those nights you stay up way too late but want to look awake and refreshed in the morning.

So what are the magical ingredients behind the Nocturnal Line-Up Mask you ask? It has a proprietary anti-aging cocktail called Age Antidote Complex, which is a powerful anti-wrinkle complex that contains:

• Adenosine-a cutting edge active ingredient that stimulates the production of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid during the night
• Biopeptides-diminish wrinkle depth and length by stimulating the cellular renewal process
• Soy Isoflavones-stimulate cellular regeneration and the production of collagen, diminishing wrinkles and improves firmness
• Horse Chestnut Extract-fortifies and tones the facial contours as well as diminishes redness

This product is definitely worth checking out and while it doesn’t come cheap (about $95), I think the results are well worth it and little product goes a long way towards preserving your youthful glow.

What is your late night secret weapon product? You know, the one that makes you look like a million bucks in the morning? Do Tell, I promise not to give away your secret