A softer, firmer & more radiant complexion

I’m having my second chemical peel today.  Who would’ve ever thought that I would be asking someone to put acid on my face?  But then again, who would’ve ever thought I’d be this old?  Seriously, how did I get to be at an age when peeling layers off my face seemed like a good idea?  With all of that said, Wow, it’s such a great process.  

Chemical peels do amazing things to your skin and truly leave you looking refreshed and healthy, after the peeling stops.  Of course, I’m a difficult patient and not only do I not want to peel too much, I also want to time it perfectly so that I know when it will start and when I will be finished.  I’m lucky I’ve got great aestheticians here at Aesthetics by Katzen and they graciously put up with me and my “preferences”.  If you’ve haven’t taken advantage of our peels yet, give it a try.  Keep an eye out for our Living Social Baltimore deal this week, it’s a great opportunity to get started. 

A new yet small dilemma...

Hello ladies, I hope everyone is enjoying their spring.  I know that I have discussed packing for vacation in the past, but I ran into a small dilemma this past weekend and thought I would share.
For those of you who may not know, my husband and I like to ride motorcycles.  We just spent the weekend with our great friends in Ocean City, happily enjoying good weather with no real rain to speak of and the best orange crushes that Harborside has to offer.  But when you pack for a trip on a motorcycle, you have to make certain concessions, such as Steve Madden boots or hairspray. 

Okay, seriously, this was a real problem.  You see, I temporarily have straight hair (thanks to Mary Beth Hair Designs and Keratin), which therefore means that I have many hair issues.  I’m not really sure what to do with my hair just yet and then you add helmet hair to the mix and well, you can just imagine.

So here I am trying to pack in a small bag that will fit on the bike and there is my husband, not only rushing me to hurry so that he can have the bags, but also wondering why I am going to such efforts with my hair when in the end, it’s really not going to matter. (Of course it’s going to matter, we’ll be at the Taco Toss at the Lighthouse tonight!)  I am trying to explain that he can’t have the bag until I am done getting ready, and only then will I be able to pack everything.  He, on the other hand, is clearly not understanding!  And I quote, “don’t you have doubles of everything?” Really, doubles?  Oh sure, I have 2 full sets of skincare, make-up, hair gels, hair spray and brushes.  Can you imagine that conversation, “well, honey, I have to have two of everything, remember how impatient you were the last time?”  

Now I know what you are thinking, they sell travel sizes of many of the things that I would use, but I have a lot of hair and I would need as much as a full size anyway. But I promised between now and Bike Week in September to begin to amass a complete full set of everything that I would need to pack ahead of time. 

What would be in your travel kit,
given limited space?

What would you need and
what can you live without?

The dilemma... Part I

I have to apologize, I’ve been sort of MIA for a while.  For those that follow these things, Aesthetics by Katzen was featured by Groupon last month for laser hair removal and after 26 hours, 1000 Groupons were sold!!  It’s exciting but frightening at the same time.  That means 6-7 women working side by side all day long, all week long (AHHHHHH), in a much busier environment that we had just 5 short weeks ago.  However, we are good girls and after a few glasses of wine, the world is right again!!

My Closet Before

On a personal front, I have a considerable dilemma.  I am completely, absolutely, undoubtedly out of closet space.  What is a girl to do?  Like any industrious woman, I tried to take my  husband’s closet.  I mean, really, it made perfectly good sense to me.  He doesn’t need nearly the space that I do, he has a fraction of the shoes and only a handful of jeans.  I on the other hand, have almost 200 pairs of shoes (including my favorite Jimmy Choo’s), 24 pairs of jeans, untold # of dress pants, and suit jackets.  Keeping in mind, I have a work wardrobe that spans from scrubs to dresses and then my weekend wardrobe which consists of glittery fun stuff.  And this is just my winter closet.  (By the way, I clearly recognize that I have a shopping problem, but who can pass up a good deal on a pair of Rock & Republics?)

Think this is in my budget?

In an off moment, my husband joking offered up his closet, and I instantly got excited.  What a great idea, we could knock out the wall between and tada!  I have one big closet and I never need to leave the bedroom.  But, I’m sorry to say, HE WASN’T SERIOUS!  Who says such a thing as a joke.  So now I am trying to come up with the best way to organize everything.  I've considered Space Bags, or a system like they have in the dry cleaners.  Did you ever see the movie Overboard, I would love to have that rotating shoe rack???  At the moment, we have landed on the turning a bedroom into a closet, but wow, to really do that right, it’s expensive..  If anyone out there has any suggestions, please feel free to comment, I’m open to just about anything!!

I guess I need to come clean on my shopping addiction.  The first step is to recognize that you have a problem, so I’ll be sharing my favorite shopping sites in my next blog.  Maybe once I have it all down in writing, I will convince myself that it’s not my closets that I need to work on? 

Packing for vacation!

Moroccan Oil Hair Kit

I just spent 5 days in Mexico and what a great trip!!!  It's funny, a few years ago, I would have never considered the effects of the sun on my skin.  I mean, really, I can get tan and be honest, most people look healthy with a nice tan.  But now that I know the damage the sun can do and the years it adds to your appearance, trust me when I say, I had a nice size cosmetic bag!  By the time I packed my Obagi kit, my Moroccan Oil Hair Kit (I didn't want my hair to fry up either), my sunscreen, my visor, my moisturizer, jeeeeeez, it was already too heavy.  Once I lined up the arsenal of products, not only did I feel old, but I certainly felt ridiculous.  I can only imagine what Oliva, my room attendant, thought I looked like?  She probably thought I had a shrunken head when she saw all of my tools.  I mean, really, did I need all of this stuff, well........yes, I do.  In our little group, I am the oldest of the girls (I still refuse to say women), so I find it completely necessary to scrape together my best look each and every day, be it skin, hair, whatever. 

Obagi CR-X Kit

Even getting up at the crack of dawn for a power walk to sweat out the previous nights libations didn't deter me from my skin care schedule.  Personally, I am a big fan of the C-Rx System with Vitamin C.  It contains vitamin C, 4% hydroquinone and sunscreen.  So each and every morning, prior to laying in the sun like a Mexican lizard, I performed my vital 3 skin care steps.  I am proud to say that last night, I had a wonderful comment about my skin, so obviously the system works! And yes, Oliva may not understand, but when people are still guessing my age to be 8 years younger than my 40-something, I will remain committed!  Now, if only I can find something that stops the rest of time!!

The first step......

is to realize that you have a problem!!  Eleven lines, what the heck are those???  Well, those are the lines between your eyebrows that form when you are squinting.  Why am I squinting you ask (when I work for an eye care practice?).  Because I am not ready to admit just yet that I need glasses to see my computer clearly!  So I do two things, I get my first injection of Botox®!  Yes, Botox, nectar of the Gods!! You go from these ugly little lines that give your age away to smooth, porcelain surfaces.  I don't care what anyone says, friends, husbands or co-workers.  If botulism makes me look younger, I'm all for it.  Now let me say, my husband could care less if I get Botox, actually, he is probably happy because it keeps me from standing there at night pointing and saying "here, right here, don't you see this line?"  Every six months or so, I get a few tiny injections and Poof, I don't look so irritated or tired.  (of course, I still am, but as long as no one noticed, it's all good.)

The second thing I did was to stop off at the optical store.   I'm lucky because we have a great optical department with tons of options.  Being style conscious, I went straight for the Dolce and Gabbana's, picked out a pretty little black frame with some bling and felt pretty good.  Then my eye caught this fun, funky, turquoise frame by Airo that would go perfect with soooooo many of my outfits.  Okay, now this was getting fun.  3 frames later, including a purple Coach frame, I was happy again, despite my aging eyes. 

So on most days, when I sit here at my desk, concentrating on some new task, you can't see my furrowed brow and you are so capivated by my gorgeous eye glasses that you don't even care that I need them to see!

Hope I'm not boring anyone, until next time.............Do your best to look as good as you feel.

From the beginning...

Have you ever stood in front of the mirror, first thing in the morning, with your teenager's music blaring in the background, wondering to yourself  (and in my case, speaking out loud to my dog, Casey) "How did I get to be in my 40's?"

Well, that's exactly what occurred about 3 years ago.  I stood there wondering.... when did I get crow's feet......where did those ugly lines between my eyebrows come from and why do I look so tired when I just woke up?  I mean really, I'm just not one of those people that will embrace the sentiment, Grow Old Gracefully!  I plan to fight it every step of the way.

Now, I realize there are quite a few people out there that would never consider getting injections, for whatever reason.  But I am definitely not one of those people.  I don't get my face frozen, I'm not crazy, I just want to look 10 years younger, LOL!  It's not an overt difference, but I don't look as tired as I used to and I am able to convince some that I am a peaceful sort of person.

Next came my realization that I had to take the steps to prevent aging myself.  Standing in front of the mirror each morning, complaining to my loyal best friend, certainly wasn't going to do the trick. First, you have to know, that I am a red head with a fair complection and several decades worth of sunburn in my past.  Second, between our swimming pool and my summer spent on the back of a motorcycle or driving a convertible, staying out of the sun was somewhat of a chore.  So, I did what every self respecting, age fearing 40-something year old woman does, I bought a great hat!  Several in fact, in many different colors, from floppy poolside styles, to baseball caps to visors. Then I bit the bullet and decided to invest in skin care, not just any drug store skin care, but good stuff.  I started washing my face at night and putting on the serums and creams that are supposed to make me glow.  I even started paying attention to age appropriate make up applications and took the time in the morning to apply my make up correctly. 

I've learned a lot over the last few years and I've worked hard to surround myself with people that have been trained well and can give me good advice. 

I wanted to take a minute to introduce my reasons for starting this and I am looking forward to sharing the things that I have learned, to talk about my favorite products and to pass along the tidbits that we teach patients about each day.  Aesthetics by Katzen has been wonderful for me personally, and I've really enjoyed watching it grow as part of Katzen Eye Group. Stay tuned for more, I'm gathering my thought!!

Janna