Some links for the weekend. Have a beautiful one!

Brilliant: The Not Just a Girl Project offers girls aspirational dress up ideas beyond princesses.

Hilarious: The Honest Toddler’s Frozen movie review.

Outrageous: Famous football player Boomer Esiason says player should have forced his wife to have a  C-section so he wouldn’t miss games.

Questionable: This Bar Rafaeli Muppet ad has been banned for being too sexy.

Shocking: Have you seen these Dermablend Camo Confession videos?

Exciting: Birchbox is going brick and mortar in NYC!

I’m one of those people known for my hair. I’ve always had a sort of an unusual shade of dark auburn. When I was a toddler people used to actually ask my mother if she colored my hair. (This was in the 1970s, of course.)

As I grew up, my identity as a redhead was constantly reinforced. I’d get nice compliments from random people pretty often, sure. But I also got teased. By boys. In junior high. I distinctly remember Josh L. writing me a note in 9th grade on a wrapper of Big Red chewing gum.

Being a redhead defines me. For example, if I’m about to meet someone at a restaurant I’ve never met before, and they ask me what I look like,  I’ll say “I have long, dark red hair.” When I fill out paper work at the DMV, and I get to the question of hair color, I check the box “Red.”

Until I wasn’t.

After I had Julia, my hair got really dark. As in, Very. Dark. Brown. Except when I stood directly under the sun and a hint of red shimmered from within. So rather than go through an existential crisis after childbirth (because Year One is difficult enough, isn’t it?) I swallowed my pride and lost my hair processing virginity. My genius colorist Steven Amendola at Serge Normant at John Frieda brought my hair back to the age of “Rapper’s Delight” and Kramer vs. Kramer where it belongs. 

The trickiest part of being a bottled redhead is the maintenance. I had no idea my hair grew so fast. Like, at least half an inch each month. I get roots, a serious issue I never really understood prior to turning brunette post-partum. Leave it to celebrity colorist Rita Hazan (who has also amazingly colored my hair) to develop the best root concealer on the market, by far. Hazan’s Root Concealer is a convenient, easy-to-use spray, in contrast to the popular mascara-type root covers I find difficult to use. It comes in five shades that work well on a wide range of colors, including grays—and it stretches me at least a week or two when I need my color done.

My friend V. has such amazing skin she looks backlit. Even tone, no discernible pores and a radiance I’ve only ever seen achieved with airbrushing. When she told me that she swears by a toner called p50, from a legendary French company called Biologique Recherche, I ran to do my research.

p50 has been a cult beauty product for decades in Europe and has been quite the sleeper product among skin care gurus here in the United States. Turns out Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen are obsessed with the brand, too. Im almost ashamed I didn’t know about it. 😬

After road-testing p50 for two months, I can attest to its power. I definitely saw a boost in radiance almost immediately. My t-zone was more balanced and the dry patches that began to plague me this harsh winter were eradicated. I even think my pores look smaller.

p50 uses a combination of lactic, salicylic acids, glycolic acids and sulfur, among other key ingredients like onion and horseradish extract to exfoliate, hydrate and balance the skin’s pH, which is crucial for healthy cell turn over. Use it after cleansing and before your other skincare.

I should warn you: p50 has a strong odor. My husband says I smell like an anatomy lab after I use it, but I think the scent leans more toward auto fluid. Also, it mildly stings when you apply it, but I promise—both the smell and the stinging dissipate in minutes.

p50 is hard to find in the U.S, but it’s always well stocked at Rescue Spa. It comes in three formulations—I recommend the original p50 over p50V (for sensitive skin) or p50W (for mature skin).

As we head into Spring, I think p50 is a great way to renew your complexion. Let me know what you think!

When I went to the Birchbox press event for Fashion Week in NYC (love Birchbox!), beauty editors were invited to create their own Birchbox of samples from a dazzling wall of beauty items. I took home a mascara from a brand I had never heard of before called Marcelle, a Canadian beauty company that makes hypo-allergenic, perfume-free makeup and skincare. I’m a tough sell when it comes to mascara and this mascara is TOTALLY AMAZING. The most perfect, firm short-bristled brush gives a smooth application, and the formula is just thick enough to add length and dimension without clumps. But what’s most striking to me about this mascara is the color—the deepest, darkest black, in the best, most eye-opening way. What’s more amazing is the price: $13.

It’s out of stock on Birchbox.com but you can order directly from Marcelle. (There’s a minimun for delivery since they ship from Canada, but you’ll want multiples anyway.)

Marcelle now has a solid spot among my mascara all-stars:

1: Marcelle Xtension Plus Mascara: Ive been wearing this exclusively for a while now. It’s that good.

2: Cle de Peau Beaute The Mascara: This is my special occasion mascara. Dramatic and long-lasting.

3: Cover Girl Lash Blast in Very Black: My go-to for everyday for the past few years now.

4: Kevyn Aucoin Beauty ‘The Mascara Curling’ : One of the first “tubing” mascaras, this amazingly dark, bold mascara really holds a curl and simply slides off with a warm wash cloth.

As we get older, our skin’s ability to defend and repair itself decreases. Fine lines and discoloration, loss of elasticity and brightness all happen as we age because our cells get weaker and turn over at a slower pace. It’s pretty basic if you think about it like this: our skin gets beaten up every day from internal and external stressors and it can’t fight back or recover the way it used to.

Growth factors are like fuel for your cells. They boost the “repair” signal, which has everything to do with cell turnover and collagen production. Over time, research is showing, the use of growth factors can not only slow the aging process but also reverse damage that’s already been done. Growth factors have actually been used for years for wound recovery so all this makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?

I’ve been using Neocutis Journee Biorestorative Day Cream for a few years now and definitely notice its benefits. In addition to containing super high quality growth factors, it also contains vitamins C and E, which protect against free radical damage. I use the slightly tinted formula with SPF every morning to streamline my routine. Previously NeoCutis has only been available through doctors, but now you can get it on Amazon Prime!