Romy Raves

A few weeks ago, I was invited by the lovely Camille to the Skin Addiks Skin Care Studio in Studio City, California to experience the Environ-Mentally Challenged Facial Treatment. I was especially excited to visit Skin Addiks because Camille is a seasoned pro who offers top notch services at a fraction of the rates of most Los Angeles salons and spas–aka affordable luxury, I like the sound of that!

 The Environ-Mentally Challenged Facial is a 90 minute treatment ($95) that utilizes a galvanic current with sound waves along with high concentrations of vitamins A, C, and E which are deeply penetrated into the dermal layers of the skin. The galvanic current and vitamins are able to penetrate so deeply that they are able to target pigmentation, wrinkles and blemishes. This facial delivers such impressive results that it has been voted one of the ten best facial treatments by Harper’s and Queen Magazine.

Here are the specifics of the facial: First, my skin was thoroughly cleansed and then exfoliated using a medium depth peel followed by steam and extractions. Next, my skin was treated with a photo rejuvenating light which stimulates new collagen and elastin and has an anti-inflammatory effect. This was followed by a very gentle manual lymphatic drainage which moves toxins and wastes into the lymphatic system and flushs it away. Camille then created a customized skin cocktail of vitamins A, C, E, beta-carotene and applied it to my face, combined it with an alginate mask (which acts as a conductor, calms and soothes, hydrates and prevents water loss in the facial skin), and then used the galvanic and sound wave current to increase the vitamin penetration by 400-4000% (FYI it doesn’t hurt, you can barely feel a thing.) That’s alot of transformative, active treatments in one facial!

Camille has a very calming demeanor and a gentle touch which makes you instantly feel comfortable and at ease. I loved the gentle potency of this facial, the variety of modalities to treat the skin and the results which continued to show up on my skin days later. I feel that the caliber of  this treatment, the skill of Camille and the lasting results rival the most impressive facials in LA that cost at least double the price!

If you want a gentle and results oriented anti-aging facial, definitely come out to the valley and pay Camille a visit, you won’t be disappointed! And as an added perk, Romy Raves Readers can enjoy $25 off their first treatment.

Skin Addiks  Skin Care Studio
12265 Ventura Blvd. #205
 Studio City, CA 91604
  818.212.8780

Tags: Affordable Luxury, Anti-Aging Facial

Every once in a while, I try a product that instantly ‘WOWS’ me because it is so innovative and the results are so impressive that I can’t stop gushing about it. CND Shellac is one of the most amazing products that I have tried in a long time.

Two weeks ago, I was invited to a delightful beauty insider event at the recently relocated Paint Shop from Beverly Hills to experience this new Shellac nail service. Paint Shop was debuting their airy new digs on West 3rd Street and the fact that it is one of a handful of salons in LA currently offering Shellac. After sipping some tasty margaritas and eating some super tasty Mexican food from Plancha, the very skilled and meticulous Iesha gave me a fabulous Shellac manicure with the ease and flawless precision of a pro. The service took about an hour and I was amazed that it had almost no smell, I loved how it dried instantly and was even more impressed that I got my massage after the manicure to prove how totally dry my nails were.

What is Shellac you ask? Shellac is an amazing category busting hybrid nail color product that applies like polish, wears flawlessly for 14 days of high gloss shine, and is removed in minutes. Shellac paints on just like regular polish – base coat, color, top coat –however it needs to be cured between each coat under a special a UV light which is the secret to its durable finish. The formula is thin and flexible like polish, so it not only looks natural, it provides strong natural nail protection with a resilient mirror finish that resists dullness and chipping, even during the most rigorous activities.

Shellac is a professional salon service that launched in May 201o with 12 shades ranging from French pinks and whites to reds and rich darks. The product is hypo-allergenic, 3-Free (no formaldehyde, toluene or DBP) and requires zero drying time (the UV curing does that for you!) This innovative formula took nearly five years to develop because it resulted in this game changing professional product that resists chips, smudges, dullness, does not damage the nails, and is easily removed in 10 minutes.

Sounds too good to be true, right? Well a picture is worth a thousand words (forgive my amatuerish photo below, I am still learning the art of photographing for the web):

Shellac - Day 1

Shellac - Day 14

Tags: CND Shellac, Hybrid Nail Color

Hey Fab Followers, you will be so glad you checked in with RR today if you happen to be an LA Fashionista because below is a special exclusive insider invite to a private BDB sale on June 29th and 30th. It’s a special media invite that I am allowed to share with my loyal fans, lucky you! Let me tell you, BDB sales are the BEST! Amazing deals on top notch fashions and accessories–I always find incredible, high quality items at BDB sales. This is NOT TO BE MISSED! And if you go, please tell them that Romy Raves sent you and then come back to this post and share your haul. Happy Shopping! 

Tags: Billion Dollar Babes, Exclusive Invite, Insider Sale

Tags: Artisanal, Hand Made, Made in Los Angeles, Shoes

Greetings loyal followers, I have been busy, busy keeping up with all that is going on in the beauty world, hence the lapse in posts. Below, you will find a sampling of some fun things that are popping up in the beauty world, as well as some of the trend scouting missions and events that have been keeping me busy. Enjoy!

MAC Venomous Villains  The blogosphere is all abuzz about the Fall release of MAC’s latest inspired collection called the Venomous Villains. I am particularly excited about this special collection because not only am I a beauty maven, but I am an avid collector of all things Disney female villians (which I call the Evil Queens.) Can you say Malificent, Cruella, and Ursula?

Here’s the official scoop: MAC Cosmetics is teaming up with Disney to create a limited edition color collection, intended to launch globally in late September in all MAC locations. The products will feature four Disney characters, on which the brand is keeping mum at the moment — although with a collection name of Venomous Villains, it is assumed that we’re not talking Donald Duck and Minnie Mouse here. Lipstick, powder, lip gloss and blush shades will be sold, ranging in price from $12 to $29.50. I will be all over this fabu collection!! Click on this link for a fun teaser of this new collection: Sneak Peak of MAC Venomous Villians

CEW Award Winners Cosmetic Executive Women, Inc. (CEW) is one of the leading trade organizations in the beauty industry, comprised of members who are some of the most influential people in the beauty business (including yours truly ) The CEW Beauty Awards are one of the industry’s highest honors because they recognize some of the most innovative beauty products of the year, as voted by CEW members and industry experts. Winners of this award gain tremendous exposure in the beauty category. The 2010 CEW Beauty Award Winners were just announced, click HERE for the list.

NYX Cosmetics Decade +1 Unveiled Event Last week, I was invited to a super fun swanky poolside party at the

Katherine McPhee & Me at NYX Event

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in celebration of NYX Cosmetics 11th Anniversary. This brand is probably best known for making high quality, professional make-up at affordable prices. In honor of this milestone, the brand hosted this great event to celebrate its established presence in the cosmetics industry. I brought along another fabulous blogger TravelsWithTwo, and we enjoyed hanging poolside, checking out celebs (like Carmen Electra & Katherine McPhee) listening to great tunes, sipping the signature NYX-tini (a yummy grapefruit pink girly concoction), eating yummy morsels (loved the petite burgers and the Guinness Beer milkshakes), and playing with samples of NYX Cosmetics. We left with lots of NYX make-up goodies and I am especially enjoying their yummy berry flavored and slightly tingly Mega Shine Lip Gloss.

Tags: CEW, MAC, Makeup & Go!, NYX, Shecky's