Mystic Tan giveaway set

Don’t fall off your GTL routine just yet — this week’s giveaway is an exclusive FULL SIZE sunless tanning set from Mystic Tan! I’m giving away a set of MT’s Exfoliator, Accelerator, and Build formula which help you get salon tanning results right at home.

Exfoliator: Primes your skin with aloe vera and exfoliating micro beads to use before you tanning session. Can be used in between tans to keep your skin smooth and flawless.

Accelerator: To achieve the deepest, most natural-looking tan in half the time, this complex will accelerate desired sunless results, while adjusting the skin’s pH and balancing moisture level.

Build: Mystic Tan’s famous patented, alcohol-free, quick-drying, deep penetrating tanning formulation. Creates smooth, even color and easy to apply.

Enter for your girlfriends, enter for yourself, no judgment here.

TO ENTER: Do either to enter, but both will increase your chances!
1) Leave a comment below
2) Follow me and tweet “Retweet to win an exclusive Mystic Tan set! http://ow.ly/6SHv3 @BeautyNDFeast #MysticTanGiveaway”

You have to have a US shipping address to be eligible. Winner will be announced on Tuesday, 10/18. Good luck!

x
Shy

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Summer skin care tips from Dr. Ellen Gendler

BATF: My biggest issue with shaving is itchy skin. What are the best ways to minimize that?
Dr. Gendler: There could be many causes to skin itchiness after shaving. Some people get itchy hives when anything is rubbed onto their skin, or if skin is really dry, it can lead to more cuts during shaving, which can itch. Try moisturizing immediately after towel drying, or try an over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream.

Another thing to note is that getting the best shave often starts with the products you’re using and how you’re using them on the parts you’re shaving. Many women believe men’s razors give them a better shave but this isn’t true. You’ll get the same close shave with a woman’s razor, except you’ll be able to reach curvy areas that tend to get missed with a razor that doesn’t pivot. My recommendation as a dermatologist goes back to the skin and protecting it, so I like Venus ProSkin MoistureRich, which has built-in shave gel bars that create a layer of protection for skin, as well as a pivoting head to help navigate tricky areas.

Venus ProSkin MoistureRich razor

BATF: How should you deal with ingrown hairs?
Dr. Gendler: Ingrown hairs need to be extracted by a professional to avoid ending up with cysts and scars. Waxing causes ingrown hairs more than other methods of hair removal; to help reduce them, stop waxing until they can be treated.

BATF: What are some of your tips for treating blemishes?
Dr. Gendler: Use Anything with a benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid in an over-the-counter product can be effective for blemishes – it helps them dry up faster.

What are your best tips to summer-proof your skin?

x
Shy

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Nivea Pop-Up at Grand Central

Nivea at Grand Central

Old and new tin designs

Inside Nivea's Pop-Up space

The Nivea house will be at Grand Central Station all week, so you can check it out yourself! Yesterday, I went to its launch to give you a little preview of what you can expect. First stop, the Skincare Lounge to enter to win Rihanna concert tickets in Prague.

Entering to win concert tickets to see Rihanna in Prague...fingers crossed!

Holding a limited-edition Rihanna Nivea tin for good luck

Afterwards, I got the most relaxing hand massage and right when I was about to go to another station, Giuliana Rancic, host of E! News, arrived!

Giuliana Rancic in support of Nivea

Giuliana headed straight for the lotions...can't blame her

She talked about using Nivea as a child in Naples, Italy and how her mom was obsessed. I think all our mom were and are Nivea fans too…those blue tins seem to be a staple in almost every house. Speaking of which, the next place I stopped at was the turntable journey through the years of the tin design:

The evolution of the Nivea tins

All over the walls were old ads and shots of Nivea through the years too…it’s like a skincare museum:

A glance at the history of Nivea

I saw there were also stations to get your skin elasticity tested. I was curious about mine, and had the doc run a quick test on my arm…

Getting my skin elasticity checked

He said my skin was 83% which was very good sign (whew). Before you leave, you can stock up on some of their limited-edition Rihanna tins (who’s serves as their brand ambassador), and other moisturizing goodies.

Bags to stock up!

Our Nivea gift bag

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Shy

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Me next to a living work of art in MAC Pro makeup

MAC Pro brilliantly showcased what their makeup is capable of by hosting a block party under NYC’s Highline last week with their “Hit the Pavement” event. Blink and you might accidentally bump into one of the many body-painted living statues:

Living statues at the MAC Pro event under NYC's Highline

I was kinda in awe at how the makeup didn’t even seem to melt away with the sun.

Green Greek statues

I was digging his wind-blown hair

DJ

Crowd at Hit the Pavement

More street performers. Photo Credit: Philip Robertson

Photo credit: Philip Robertson

I think the cutest thing I saw was this little girl painting away on a graffiti wall with her own MAC lipstick…I think we could have been friends:

Tiny lipstick artist

Cutest moment #2: when the same little girl saw this MAC-clad street performer approaching her…she freaked out for a second but then continued her masterpiece.

Nice to meet you

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I felt like I was wandering in an outdoor makeup-museum, it was the coolest thing. But to top it off, we were surrounded by food trucks…more reason why MAC and I speak the same language. There were so many trucks I was trying for the first time, including Wafels & Dinges. My friend Archana and I headed straight for dessert first.

I hear the Spekuloos sauce (a type of gingerbread sauce) is their specialty, but we went with a nutella/banana combo. It was still crazy good:

Wafels & Dinges

MAC Pro x Wafels & Dinges

Our nutella-banana waffle

We then skipped over to the Rickshaw Truck for edamame dumplings, and right after to Van Leeuwen for Earl Gray and Strawberry ice cream.

The Rickshaw Truck

Edamame Dumplings -- these were OK, but was craving some meat and they ran out of their chicken

Van Leeuwen Earl Gray ice cream

Not sure if it’s a food blogger thing, but our whole dessert->appetizer->dessert meal made perfect sense to us. After we ate to our hearts’ content, we walked a few blocks over to the West Side highway to catch the sunset…little reminders on how NY really has its moments.

...

Rihanna for Nivea

To celebrate her new LOUD tour, Nivea is offering a chance for one of my lovely readers to accompany me to meet Rihanna herself! As part of their #skin2skin contest, all you have to do is comment or “Like” my picture on NiveaUSA’s Facebook fan page. It will ultimately be decided based on the number of comments/Likes so tell your friends!

You ALSO have a chance to win two VIP tickets to Rihanna’s concert at one of the cities/dates below by joining the Nivea USA fan page, and writing on their wall about your favorite Nivea product (or how much you want to see Rihanna!) using hashtag #BeautyFeast and tagging my fan page (@Beauty and the Feast).

Chicago 6/15
Minneapolis 6/16
Los Angeles 6/28
Dallas 7/8
Atlanta 7/12
Uniondale 7/19
East Rutherford 7/21
Philly 7/23
Boston 7/24

Good luck and make sure you Like and comment away…I know how excited you all would be to meet me RiRi .

x
Shy

Win a chance to meet Katy Perry from Schick Quattro!

For Katy Perry fans, this is HUGE: From now until July 8th, if you’re 18 or older, you can enter on their Facebook page. One lucky winner will receive a spontaneous getaway vacation with three friends to an undisclosed, secret location in the United States. The trip includes hotel, airfare, tickets to a Katy Perry concert, and a chance to meet Katy in person!
In the mean time though, you have to have to try their new TrimStyle razor with jojoba extract and acai berry. It’s waterproof, and battery operated, and super safe to use. I fell in love with this years ago, and I still always have one handy. SO to convert you, this week I’m giving away Schick Quattro’s newest TrimStyle razor, as well of one of their razor-only version in their limited edition purple handles.

Schick Quattro TrimStyle and Razor with jojoba extract and acai berry

TO ENTER: Each method below counts as an entry, so all three will increase your chances of winning:

3) Leave a comment below (if you tweeted or left a FB comment, include that in your comment…it helps me keep track ).

Winner will be announced next week, Thursday, June 2nd. Good luck!

x
Shy