FASHION Magazine

My love affair with beauty began 38 years ago as I sat on my grandmother’s bed and watched her put on makeup. As she dusted Max Factor Creme Puff powder across her nose and slicked on waxy magenta lipstick, I looked on in awe, lost instantly to the cause. It gives me huge satisfaction and […]

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For do-it-yourself damage patrol, we’ve selected a few of our favourite remedies to use at home: »

I thought a healthy diet, thorough cleansing, and the odd makeup-free Sunday was the recipe for perfect skin but, when summer started, so did the breakouts along my jawline. I initially blamed heat and humidity for an increase in oil production, but my skin actually felt dryer than normal. I ceased use of all products and even took to Twitter to whine. Moments later, I received a reply from Pure + Simple spa with a very helpful proclamation: “100% natural oils are good and you’re probably in need of microdermabrasion.” Feeling defeated by my own failed attempts at facial clarity, I headed there to find out more.

Long, thick lashes are of paramount importance to most beauty regimes; the number of mascaras, false lashes, and lash extensions available on the market make that quite clear. When lash-growth treatment Latisse broke onto the scene a few years ago, ads with Brooke Shields and her head-turning lashes endorsed the new prescription-only product, promising that you could have lashes like hers, too. Having recently worn a few rounds of 15mm extensions, I was interested in learning if Latisse could give my own lashes the same volume and length.

I visited Dr. Martie Gidon at Gidon Aesthetics and MediSpa in Toronto, and she explained to me that Latisse was discovered to be an effective cosmetic product by accident—it was originally used as a medication for glaucoma. Patients were walking out of their ophthalmologist’s office batting long lashes, and chemists took note. The active ingredient in Latisse, bimatoprost, is only 5 per cent the medical-grade strength but will prolong the life cycle of your natural lashes from the usual three- to four-month cycle to one of nearly eight months.

While itching my über-dry scalp all winter, my thoughts drifted to that iconic early-’90s VO5 Hot Oil television commercial. You know the one: “Don’t be so mean to your hair!” That commercial was my last memory of hair oil until the recent popularity of Moroccan oil products that include other oils, like argan. Since rejoicing in its glory myself, I became curious about other oils, like the ones present in most household pantries, and if they might also offer benefits to my hair and scalp.