Kiehl's Superbly Restorative Dry Oil: OMG I can use it on my skin and hair?!?!!!!

I finally broke open the Superbly Restorative Dry Oil from Kiehl's and I can't stop applying it. The combination of eucalyptus, cedarwood, and orange are heavenly (sweet and earthy). My skin (and at this point my latptop;) are greedily absorbing this magical Moroccan oil and if there is any left in the morning I am going to try it on my hair and report back. Any one product that can improve my skin's suppleness and hair sheen at the same time, from the very same bottle, is a must have in my book. I can especially see how this would be a useful product to travel with. In fact if I were on a desert island for a week by myself (and could run around with greasy hair without serious social and professional consequences) I'd bath in this Aragan Oil-based product and soak my hair in it just because it is like a yummy meal for my whole body.

SUPERBLY RESTORATIVE DRY OIL
Multi-Purpose, Emollient Formula for Improved Skin Suppleness and Hair Sheen

Key Formula Benefits:
Rich dry oil for face, body and hair
Preservative-free formula with a blend of fairly-traded, organic Moroccan Argan Oil and other antioxidant-rich emollients
Protects and smoothes skin, while improving the appearance of skin tone and radiance
Helps to smooth split ends and add a healthy sheen to hair
Naturally-fragranced with a blend of Orange, Patchouli, Eucalyptus, and Cedarwood essential oils

Key Ingredients: Argan Oil, Squalane, Vitamin E, Organic Sesame Seed Oil and Avocado Oil
Size: 4.2 oz. SRP: $30.00 On Counter: April, 2008

The Perfect Back Facial at Spa Physiog

Yes, there is such a thing as a facial for the back. It's true name is a backacial or bacial. Every spring I get obsessed with making my back acceptable for my bathing suit. Mostly because it makes me want to vomit when I spend the first month of summer looking at everyone's white, pasty, pimply backs just laying unapologetically around the pool. (Yes. I know, I'm a horrible, judgmental person.) I understand we are all just human and God made us all this way for a reason but I'm a visual person and I happen to love beautiful things. So I usually spend the first month of summer with my eyes buried in the pages of enormously weighty fashion magazines until everyone's skin gets that perfect tint of brown which reflects the sun so beautifully. By that time it's usually too hot to think about clothes anyhow.

This winter is lasting longer than any other winter I have experienced in North Carolina. So I have had a little extra time to obsess over the condition of the skin I can't see without smoke and mirrors. During my recent playdate with Terri at Spa Physiog I was mentioning the poor condition of my back and she said plainly, "We'll fix that." When Terri says things like that I know it's true. The truth has a very certain ring to it and Terri's truths are especially harmonious and pleasing to my ears. Whether coming from my aesthetican or a boyfriend, the truth's voice is singular, like the sound of rain on a tin roof. I can also audibly identify the truth because its opposite is so vague and requires hours of thought and kneading in order to rise into a loaf of something truth-like rather than into a loaf of something BS like.

So anyhow when I got home tonight after my back facial at Spa Physiog I wasn't surprised to see instant results. After Terri applied numerous Eminence products to my back, my problem areas turned from nasty, pasty, white remnants of winter pimples and parched skin into a very specific beautiful shinny result. That specific result being the reduction of problems areas to only two discolorations which have become so slight that they will be invisible after the first tan. I know this from years of experimentation and mental documentation of results. I don't know how Terri works such miracles but she does. In years past I have had to suffer through the first ugly skin month with everyone else. This year I'm grateful to be able to turn that energy elsewhere, knowing my skin is lovely and ready for the sun. Now I'll just wait for the rain to stop falling.

Teri was kind enough to give me the recipe (save a few secret ingredients) for her perfect back facial. But I have to let you know that if you have not yet been lucky enough to meet Terri Exum, you are really missing out. Terri is bit more than an aestheticain. I venture to say she is healer of sorts, curing whatever ails you. And she tells it like is, in skin care and in life. I hope one day you all get to meet her. However if you live in say, California, the items with links below are available for purchase online and will be shipped right to your door in case you'd like to perform this spring ritual at home.

Terri's Perfect Back Facial:
Eight Greens Phyto Masque
Stone Crop Masque
Blueberry Soy Sugar Scrub
AHA Fruit Pulp Treatment
Hungarian Herbal Mud Treatment
Mandarin Grapefruit Body Butter
Paprika Herbal Treatment
Stone Crop Serum
Citrus Exfoliating Wash
Stone Crop Hydrating Mist

Pink Grapefruit Clarifying Masque

Eminence has launched their new line of Citrus Facial Products. The line includes: Citrus Exfoliating Wash, Lime Refresh Tonique, Pink Grapefruit Clarifying Masque, Pink Grapefruit Vitality Masque (tomorrow night's adventure), Pink Grapefruit C Gel, and Mandarin Grapefruit Body Butter. I am overjoyed about the new line but even as someone who enjoys writing I am wise enough to know (at least today) that there are sometimes when I shouldn't say much. This has nothing to do with the product and everything to do with my mood. Today I am full of self-pity and all I want to do is uproot my entire life and move to California, or Bali, or anywhere very far away. My solution for this is to dig through my pile of new eminence products, attempt to use the Pink Grapefruit Clarifying Masque to reduce the size of the volcanic zit on my cheek, and perhaps gain a moment's peace on my couch. Since the age of 16 a face mask has always had the powers to brighten my outlook and now that a brand like Eminence is around bad moods are (hopefully) only momentary.

The product is perfect. It feels like a rich creamy milk bath filled with large chunks of grapefruit. A surprising combination of powerful astringent and milky comfort. It oozes a muted tanginess that I am certain is good for my skin. In fact Eminence tells me so:

Benefits:
• Removes impurities from the skin
• Helps heal and prevent blemishes
• Balances excess sebum production
• Infuses high levels of antioxidant vitamin-C and bioflavonoids