Under eye puffiness

Med school is def starting to wear on me from all the stress and lack of beauty sleep :( I've noticed that I have puffiness under my eyes more regularly now. Any suggestions as far as make up or other beauty tips? :D Y.G.

Hi Y.G.,

There are a few simple things you can do to help with this problem.

Beauty Tips:

A quick thing you can do in the morning is to splash some cold water on your face, this gets the circulation going.

You can also try lightly tapping your upper or lower lids to help move fluids away from your eyes. Use only your fingertips.

If you have more time use a chilled gel eye mask. If you don't have a mask you can always use chilled cucumbers, tea bags or teaspoons. They are just the right size and it's the cold that will help the puffiness.

Make up Tips:
According to Dr. Haberman clinical instructor of dermatology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City and author of The Doctor's Beauty Hotline. To minimize upper lid puffiness, apply a darker shade of makeup on your upper lid, from just below the brow to the crease. Then stroke a lighter shade on the lid from the crease to the lashes. Puffiness is less noticeable when you highlight the lower portion of the lid. For under-eye bags, use a slightly darker shade over your regular foundation.

Hope this helps!

Letita

Botox Cosmetic & Dress for Success

In honor of working women who have helped make BOTOX® Cosmetic (botulinumtoxinA) the most popular physician-administered aesthetic treatment since 2002I, Allergan, Inc. developed the ”BOTOX® Cosmetic: Express Success“ charitable education campaign spearheaded by actress and singer Vanessa Williams. The campaign benefits not-for-profit Dress for Success, an organization that helps disadvantaged women succeed in the workforce, through a $250,000 donation from Allergan. The donation supports the organization’s efforts to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

Dress for Success is a not-for-profit organization that promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. Since starting operations in 1997, Dress for Success has helped more than 500,000 women work towards self-sufficiency. The organization offers a number of services to help women reach their goals, including:

■The Career Center promotes confidence and professionalism by providing clients with services and resources that are vital to women entering the workforce, including career guidance, technology skills and support in their job searches.
■The Professional Women’s Group provides employed Dress for Success women with support to help them make the transition from unemployment to work by offering sessions with expert speakers and monthly meetings covering professional development topics such as communication skills, financial planning and health and wellness.
■Finally, Dress for Success helps women “look the part” by providing each client with one suit when she has a job interview and a week’s worth of career separates when she lands a job.


Visit http://www.dressforsuccess.org/ for more information about how to get involved, including various ways to donate and volunteer.

Pledge Your Support:
As part of the ”BOTOX® Cosmetic: Express Success” campaign, for each of the first 25,000 people who register, Allergan will donate $2 to Dress for Success on their behalf.

Your Closet Can Help Too
Donate your nearly-new professional attire to Dress for Success through one of the BOTOX® Cosmetic: Express Success campaign local events. Sign up to receive more information about local events.

click here for more information

Letita

My Skin is Winter ready!

The weather is getting colder every day here in Northern Virginia.

Every morning I get prepared to walk my dog:
Boots? Check
Coat? Check
Gloves and Hat? Check

When I walk outside and the cold air hits my face I think maybe I should buy a ski mask. Every part of me is covered and protected but what about my face? Then I remember I do have a glove for my face, a Galactic Glove.

Galactic Glove Seal Your Skin Anti-Oxidant Serum is an important part of your daily skin care regime. It “seals” your skin with a protective layer making you less susceptible to irritation or inflammation caused by external factors; in this case harsh cold winter weather.

When we are outside the biting cold and wind can irritate our skin. When we are inside the heat pumping through the house adds to our skin dryness. It’s lose, lose for your skin unless you “skinsulate” as Dr. Dima says “You need to apply the right product to replenish and skinsulate your largest organ to allow for proper functioning of your cells and prevent water loss.” click here to continue reading about skinsulation.

Don’t think this is a one trick pony, Galactic Glove not only protects and hydrates your skin it also:
Helps treat acne breakouts and enlarged pores
Decreases the look of fine lines and wrinkles
Is an excellent base for mineral make up

I use Galactic Glove every morning because of the wonderful skin benefits. When cold weather comes around I make sure to apply it morning and night as a result my skin never gets dry or irritated.

Cosminology is having a 10% off special on Galactic Glove Seal Your Skin Anti-Oxidant Serum. Just in time to help you “Skinsulate” this winter!

Letita

20% off any one item at Ulta

Get 20% off any one item at Ulta until 11/21/09 using coupon code 22290

You'll find tons of gifts for $30 dollars or less.

As the biggest shopping day comes closer I am starting to get very very excited. I like to do my holiday shopping on black friday. I wake up at 4 and get all my presents for a very good deal. This year I'm trying to be extra thrifty, I've signed up for email promotions from the major stores that I plan to shop at for extra savings.

I'm making my list, checking it twice and trying to find the perfect gift for everyone on my list. I've been known to buy an xmas present in August because I can't pass up a good deal. I really like to put thought into my gifts and as the expression goes it is better to give than receive. I like to give because it makes me happy, I like to buy early because I can save (and I love to shop).

Sometimes I can't wait to give my gifts though, so I'll try to be good and wait till 12/25/09.

Letita

I LOVE my Latisse Lashes UPDATE

I’ve been using Latisse since March and I still love my Latisse lashes! After my initial 16 weeks of daily application I dropped down as directed to 2-3 times a week for maintenance. I found that my eyelashes were still growing and my goodness they were starting to become a hazard, for example: they barely fit under my sunglasses and they became heavy when wet, be careful what you wish for “I want them so thick it will be hard for me to open my eyes” well I got it.

I decided to drop down to 1-2 times a week to continue to maintain my beautiful Latisse lashes I worked so hard for (not really, it was super simple) but not more than that for fear that someone might get poked if they got too close. Can you imagine? My lashes are still longer, darker and fuller as promised but now I don’t feel like they will continue to grow until they are freakishly long (semi-freak will do for me, thank you) and with the drop in usage my bottle will last even longer. It is said that there are 80 drops of Latisse in every 3ml bottle but I found there to be so many more that I lost count. All of our patients are also surprised at how long their Latisse bottles are lasting them and they are ALL loving their Latisse lashes too.

Keep checking back we will be posting many before and after pictures of Dr. Dima’s actual patients on Latisse. For now I’ve posted some fun pictures of my Latisse lashes with just the tiniest bit of Obscenely Overweight Astrolash Mascara™ cuz even skinny lashes need lovin, no eyelashe curlers were used in the making of these photos and if you look very closely you will see that my lashes actually touch my brow bone.

Yes ladies this stuff really does work! If you can’t come in to see Dr. Dima you can find a physician near you at Latisse.com


I have put together an educational video for Latisse with some great before and after photos. Hope you like it.

Click picture to view Latisse tutorials.

Letita

Body Image

When I was in high school I had a binder with the clear plastic on it, the kind you could put pictures into. I always had postcard with an overweight Barbie on it that said something to the effect of beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.

Everyone thought it was gross but I guess they were missing the point.
The point was I did not resemble Barbie in anyway!! Neither did my friends and family or most of the people I had ever seen in my life. I did however as a young girl wish I looked like her or Olivia Newton John in Grease. A look I could never attain and would not look good on me anyway.

I grew out of that but I know that many women and men struggle with body issues. We are all so hard on our selves and it’s not made easier by the media. The article below was in Glamour magazine’s November 09 issue. I know I’m behind I have stacks of magazines to catch up with, but when I read it this weekend I knew I just had to share with you all.

On the C.L.: Are You Ready to Start a Body Image Revolution? Oh, Wait--You Already Did!: Vitamin G: Health & Fitness: glamour.com: "As the editor of this magazine, I've been proud of plenty of portraits we've published--from fashion designers to First Ladies and beyond. But I'm especially proud of a shoot you'll see in our November issue--not because of the work that went into it, but because of the important work it kicks off. Oh, and did I mention the whole fun, fabulous thing was your idea?

Here's the photo: seven beautiful women, all three to five sizes larger than the models you generally see in magazines. We'll get to the reasons for that in a minute, but for now, let's just spend a minute soaking up their gorgeousness!

Lovely, right? Now here's the backstory: About two months ago, Glamour started receiving letter after letter about the exuberant smile--and naturally curvy tummy--of a model who'd appeared in a small photo on page 194 of our September issue. ('This picture is absolutely amazing,' wrote one. 'Finally, a picture of a woman with a rounded, squishy, real belly!') I wrote here about the reader reaction, and about 'the woman on page 194' herself, 21-year-old model/singer/softball player Lizzie Miller, who went on to be interviewed everywhere from Oprah Radio to Access Hollywood. But the most important conversation took place right here on glamour.com, where over 1,000 of you posted your own joyous reactions to a figure with curves. 'Lizzi, you are radiant,' wrote one. 'Shine on, sister.' (Men loved the picture too: 'I speak on behalf of all men: she is stunningly beautiful,' went one typical comment. 'Please, make more of her.')"

Reading the comments, it was hard not to notice that many ended with the same two words: "More, please!" Matt Lauer put it pretty bluntly to me on the Today Show: "Cindi, you know we've had these types of segments before where a photo like this...sparks a lot of positive comments and you know what, the editors of the magazines come in and go, "It's great, it's great!" and then we go back to skin and bones. Is this gonna change things?"

It's a fair question--but the answer is, at least at Glamour, yes. Don't get me wrong: I'm proud of this magazine's longtime dedication to photographing women of all sizes. But can we do more? Of course--and that starts here. As you'll read in our November issue, Glamour is committing to featuring a greater range of body types in our pages, including in fashion and beauty stories (traditionally the toughest areas for even the top "plus-size" models to crack).

Click here to continue reading.

Letita

GET A ROOM! Cosmic Face Flush and FREE cheekabuki

Dr. Dima’s Cosminology GET A ROOM Cosmic Face Flush for that just ravished look is a pressed mineral blush with 4 different shades: AstroRose, AstroFlush, AstroBerry and AstroKissed.

All of Dr. Dima’s Cosminology mineral formulations are ALL NATURAL, free of parabens, fragrances, oils, talc, bismuth oxychloride. They won’t clog your pores; they actually act as a protective barrier for your skin so your skin can breathe.

They have healing properties and SPF protection. These face flushes have exceptional adherence to skin that creates long lasting coverage, so just like the rest of the Cosminology line a little goes a long way!

I go between AstoBerry and AstroKissed. I use AstroBerry when I want a little more color and to look a little flirty or girly. AstroKissed is my everyday face flush; it adds subtle color and is great for contouring.

Dr. Dima’s Cosminology is offering a complimentary cheekabuki with every GET A ROOM Cosmic Face Flush purchase. I just started using a cheekabuki to apply my blush and I am amazed. I LOVE it! It adds just the right amount of color but what I really love about it is that the color looks like it’s coming from your skin not just placed on top.

You can use a cheekabuki for blushes, bronzers and even mineral foundation application. I find that the cheekabuki size lets you get more coverage faster and it’s just the right size to throw in your purse for mid-day touch ups if needed.

I like to give Dr. Dima’s Cosminology products to all my friends and family as birthday or Christmas gifts, needless to say everyone LOVES them. People always comment on the face flushes, how vibrant yet subtle they are. Now is a perfect time to try them and a cheekabuki.

Check out the Face Flushes and cheekabuki in action.

Letita

I love Nail Polish!

I love love love nail polish. I remember being about 12 and getting to go to the mall with my friends, I always came back with a new nail polish color. I also remember having my mom yell at me because anytime she asked me to do anything I never could because my nails were wet. I've tried all kinds of colors and brands. When I lived at home I would use Avon brands because my mom sells Avon and it was very convenient for me. One of my favorites types of Avon nail polish was the rapid dry. They had fun colors that really did dry very fast and allowed my to be fashionable and still do my chores around the house.

My polish of choice now it OPI Nail Laquer. They have beautifully rich vibrant colors and totally adorable names. They have a wide brush that allows for easy application of the polish with minimal strokes. OPI nail laquer is very long lasting, I use the base and top coats every time I do my nails. I start off by:
removing all my polish

shape and buff

apply base coat

apply color

apply top coat

Admire

OPI has a Rapid Dry top coat that dries quickly and comes in very handy when you're on the run. If you apply a layer of top coat every few days, I find that I am less likely to get chips in my polish.

I usually buy my OPI laquers at beauty stores like Ulta or the cute independent stores at the mall. I have on two occasions bought them at Target. I bought a beautiful mauve color called Silent Mauvie-love the color, but I found that it did not last as long as my beauty store purchases. I really wanted a red one day and didn't have to time to go to the mall and let's face it if you're like me, you're always at Target so I decided to give Target OPI polish another try.

Maybe last time was a fluke, how could the formulations be that different? So I picked up my red (can't remember the name right now) and went home to try on my new color. Well, this time when I opened it the formulation seemed really thin, not like any of my other OPI colors and surely enough it chipped right away. Ever persistant I gave it another try on my hands a few weeks later and yes it chipped right away again, but don't feel bad for me I decided to reserve this polish for my toes. It's on my toes right now and they have been chip free for a few weeks. Nail polish just lasts longer on your toes, I guess they don't get washed as much (sounds gross) and aren't as exposed to the elements.

Not sure what the deal is with OPI at Target, most bottles are $8 kinda on the high side for nail polish, so I would recommend only buying them at beauty stores.They are totally worth the 8 bucks for color vibrancy, ease of application and long lasting wear.

Letita

Benefits of medical grade skincare

A good skincare regime is the foundation of great looking skin. Daily use of a medical grade skincare line will protect healthy skin from premature aging and damage, keeping skin hydrated and youthful. Even with the growth in laser and light based cosmetic procedures skincare is still the pre, post and daily step to achieving the desired effects from a procedure.

“The problems we see on the surface of the skin correspond to cells underneath that aren’t working properly. Brown spots indicate melanocytes that aren’t functioning as they should. Wrinkles appear because cells producing collagen and elastin stop performing efficiently. Women need to start using products that keep cells in top working order early in life. It’s like building a house: You start with the foundation.” Dr. Zein Obagi

Before any cosmetic procedure daily use of medical grade skincare products condition and prepare the skin to receive a treatment allowing for faster healing time and fewer possible side effects such as hyperpigmentation (especially in olive complexions). Once a procedure is done skincare products can be used to soothe irritated skin without diminishing the benefits of the procedure. After you have invested your time and money into a cosmetic procedure your skincare products are a daily protection in your investment by maintaining the benefits of any cosmetic procedure whether it be botox or laser resurfacing.

A minimal skincare regime should include:
1. A gentle cleanser that will clean your skin without stripping it of its essential moisture. So Clean You Can Eat Off My Face
2. A daily sun block SPF30 or higher, this is one of the most important steps in anti-aging and preserving the health of your skin. Cosmic Ray Shield SPF36
3. A hydrating night cream that boosts cellular renewal to maintain the appearance of healthy cells. Fault-Line Defender Twilight Anti-Oxidant Cream
Remember it is always easier to maintain your healthy skin than to try to repair it.

Dr. Dima’s Cosminology offers the Essential Goddess Gear Dermacles Collection that includes all of the above mentioned products with a complimentary make up remover Global Debris Remover Get Cosmically Naked. Global Debris Remover will hydrate your skin and lashes while gently removing makeup and is safe for those who wear contacts. This collection is a great start to healthy skin and you can always add products for additional anti-aging benefits.

Skincare doesn’t only mean lotions and potions either, take skincare one step further to include your make up as well. Daily use of mineral make up will protect against environmental damage and pre-mature aging. Medical grade mineral make up will help heal your skin after cosmetic procedures while enhancing your flawless complexion. Want to try Dr. Dima's Minacles Clinical Mineral Coverage pressed mineral compact?

Letita

Latisse Wishes

Borrowing on the tradition of blowing on an eyelash to make a wish come true, the LATISSE® Wishes campaign aims to raise awareness and support for the Make-A-Wish Foundation®. Allergan has already committed $500,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and, with your help, will increase this donation to $1 million. Actress Brooke Shields and beauty expert to the stars Anastasia Soare have joined Allergan to launch this campaign designed to make wishes come true. You can make a difference


For every person who registers for our rewards program LATISSE® LashPerks, from now through December 31, 2009, Allergan will contribute an additional $5 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, up to $500,000. Best of all, your participation will help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions in your community

The LATISSE® Wishes campaign kicked off with a star-studded event including Brooke Shields and Anastasia Soare in Hollywood. Other LATISSE® Wishes events will take place in New York, Miami, Dallas and San Francisco where you can support the Make-A-Wish Foundation while learning more about LATISSE®.



About the Make-A-Wish Foundation
The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishesof children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Founded in 1980 when a group of caring volunteers helped a young boy fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer, the Foundation is now the largest wish-granting charity in the world, with 66 chapters in the United States and its territories. With the help of generous donors and more than 26,000 volunteers, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants a wish every 40 minutes and has granted more than 174,000 wishes in the United States since its inception. For more information about the Make-A-Wish Foundation, visit http://www.wish.org/ and discover how you can share the power of a wish®.

Letita

Halloween with Dr. Dima's Cosminology

I love Halloween!!! I like coming up with a costume and I LOVE coming up with my makeup whether it be a freaky zombie or a sparkly princess. This year I decided to be Poison Ivy, no not the plant. Poison Ivy is a batman character; she’s a bad guy or girl in this case. I’d also like to mention that I love the Batman movies and cartoons. When I was younger I would watch all the movies and cartoons with my younger brother and we would even make Batman puzzles together. It was loads of fun.

In 1997 Warner Brothers released Batman & Robin the 3rd installment in their Batman series, the villains were Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy played my Uma Thurman. I based my version of the character on a combination of the cartoon and movie looks. I think it was a success and to my surprise quite of few people knew that I was going for Poison Ivy. Kudos to them!

I only used my Dr. Dima’s Cosminology Minacles clinical mineral coverage to create this look.

I prepped my face with my CosmicRay Shield and Galactic Glove then followed with AstroThena mineral foundation.

I primed my eye with my KharmicKoncealer and then applied AstroMagic eye shadow all over my lid.

I used the eye liner AstroJade to add drama to my look by creating a large arch over my eye brow, I wet my brush removed the excess water and dipped it into my AstroJade compact I was then able to blend the color on my skin and apply as many layers as needed to create the depth that I wanted. It looked as though it was painted on my skin and I dusted just a little of the AstroMagic on top.

I defined the arch with eye liner AstroRain, and then to add a little sullenness to my eyes I applied it under my eyes.

I dusted some AstroBerry on the cheeks and applied AstroFaith to the lips.

I was now all set for a very fun and beautiful Halloween.

Oh and yes those are my Latisse lashes that you see, no j/k the only thing on face not from Cosminology was the green lashes that I found at a Halloween store.

I was very thankful that I was able to create this look with the products I already had and that they were all mineral based. I had a lot on to create the drama I was going for and knowing that they weren’t going to break me out put me at ease. I also easily removed my face with Global Debris Remover, it got me cosmically naked.

I hope you enjoy the look.

Letita

I love my Latisse Lashes!!

I was very excited to hear that Allergan (makers of Botox and Juvederm) was coming out with Lattisse a solution to grow eyelashes thicker, darker and longer. I am fortunate to have been born with long eyelashes and I was very proud of them but I always wished they were THICKER, so when Dr. Dima started prescribing Latisse I was the first on board even though everyone said “But you already have long eyelashes.” Yeah well, Latisse makes lashes thicker and darker too; I wanted my lashes so thick it would be hard for me to open my eyes. J/K, but not really.

I started applying Latisse to my eyelashes on March 16th. I swear my lashes looked darker the next day (but maybe that was all in my head). I diligently applied Latisse to a clean eyelid every morning just like Dr. Dima recommends; after it dried I applied my eye make-up as usual including my mascara. According to Latisse.com most people start to see a difference at 8 weeks with full results at 16 weeks resulting in lashes that are 25% longer, 106% fuller and 18% darker. I really noticed a difference after about 3 weeks, they seemed longer when I was applying my mascara. Everyone is different but the majority of our patients have commented that they saw a noticeable difference at about 3 weeks too, stating “This stuff really works, look at my lashes they are longer!

Throughout the clinical trials some users experienced itchy eyes and eye redness. Many users found these irritations went away as they became used to the solution or began using it properly. A little goes a long way, if you use too much your eye will get irritated. I noticed one or two days of eye redness but that quickly resolved.

As you can see from my un-retouched pictures this stuff really works! I don’t feel like I have to use mascara anymore, I am just amazed at the fullness and really do love the look of my Latisse lashes and the best part is you can grow them and still use mascara. It was really easy to incorporate the daily application into my normal routine I’ve been using Latisse for 13 weeks, and after the full 16 weeks I will only need to apply 2-3 times per week for maintenance.
Latisse is the only FDA approved solution for eyelash growth and has to be prescribed by a physician so buyers beware. If you can’t come in and see Dr. Dima for your Latisse you can go to Latisse.com to find a physician near you.

Letita