Real Girl Beauty

For every girl who's imagined herself as Lucky Magazine's "Lucky Girl." Or who's conquered her addiction to the bitchier-than-thou style.com forums. Or who reacts every day to her Daily Candy email with the same: "Who can afford that?" Here are some heartfelt health and beauty tips from one Real Girl to another.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Preparing for...SUN!

As you know by now, last week's scheduled Real Girl writing night fell victim to the America's Next Top Model drinking game. (A contestant does not "believe in herself." Drink! Guest spot by crazy Janice Dickenson. Drink! Model stumbles in high heels. Drink! Model must work that much harder because she is the shortest of the group. Drink!)

But have you noticed? The sunny months are approaching. Yay!! However, spring and summer are also when your skin will need its greatest protection. Along with sunscreen, you should be thinking about antioxidants. Studies have proven that antioxidants increase the efficacy of sunscreen and provide your cells with the chemical reactions needed to fight free radical damage.

The annoying part? Cosmetics aren't tightly regulated. So a skin care company can claim it's got all the antioxidants in the world, but very often? The concentrations are too low to do any good. HATE THAT. Also, for the finer antioxidants like white and green tea, often companies will jack up the price to exorbitant levels. HATE THAT.

Monday night I'll be sharing my favorite antioxidant product--the one that offers the greatest concentration of ingredients for the best value. Will we be hitting both oily skin and dry skin? Of course!

And does my search for the ultimate sunscreen continue? Well, duh!

If you want, you can use the comments here to suggest sunscreens for me to test and examine.

And we'll finish this post up Monday night! xx