Beauty of a Site Blog

So here we are, the week after Memorial Day, enjoying the first warm days of summer (at least that's what's happening here in the Midwest!).  We all flocked to the lake or to barbecues on Monday, stayed out all day, and now are suffering from our very first sunburn of the summer.  Here's a refresher on sun care for your skin and hair during the summer months ahead: 1.  PREVENTION:  As your mother and health professionals everywhere can tell you, the best way to care for a sunburn is to prevent it from happening in the first place.  Especially with the prevalence of skin cancer among our generation, we must be careful to protect ourselves from the damaging sun.  Here are some of our favorite protective sun products: Coola (SPF 45) is one of our favorite classic sunscreens, providing powerful protection, custom made for those leading an active outdoor life.  Endorsed by the American Lifeguard Association, this sweat-proof formula is the best we've got! If you're looking for a mineral alternative to classic sunscreen, Alba Botanica's Natural Mineral Sunscreen (SPF 30) uses a chemical-free formula that provides excellent protection from the sun without compromise. Orly's Sunscreen for Nails is a must-have.  As you beach-babes know, after long hours in the sun, your manicure can become discolored and faded.  Sunscreen for Nails is a high-shine topcoat that protects the colors beneath it with its UV absorbent formula. Rene Furterer's Protective Summer Oil (KPF 90) uses sesame and castor oils with UV sunscreen to ensure protection for exposed hair while swimming and sunbathing.  It's waterproof formula is a must for any beach bag. 2.  TREATMENT:  We know that there will be days that we didn't plan ahead and didn't apply the sunscreen as much as we should have.  Here are some treatments to refresh skin and hair after long hours in the sun: The absolute best in the business, Hempz After Sun Gel soothes heat and pain from sun-burnt skin, prevents peeling and uses the nurturing qualities of hemp seed oil and tea tree oil to start repairing skin damage and even minimize the look of fine lines and wrinkles! Bed Head Some Like It Hot Heat & Humidity Resistant Serum is not only treatment oriented, but also for prevention.  It, along with the Some Like it Hot Shampoo and Conditioner provide a shield to help hair that will be in the sun and water constantly.  This product in particular, though, is essential after sun, taming frizz and re-moisturizing burnt-out hair. Rene Furterer Repairing After Sun Shampoo is specifically designed to combat the drying effects of sun, salt water and even chlorine, enriched with palm butter to restore shine and softness to your hair! Awesome. So, enjoy the sun, ladies, but care for yourself while you're doing it! Check out these products and more at www.beautyofasite.com to help you enjoy the summer in style!

As we're running around finishing up our perfect New Year's Eve look for tonight (nothing like shopping at the office!), we thought you might enjoy hearing about what we used to get the look!  We loved sparkly pinks, silvers and dark matte greys to build the perfect New Year's Eve glam! For Nails: From the OPI Burlesque Holiday Collection, we chose Sparkle-icious.  One of the six glitters (not shimmers, but glitters), this shade is multi colored (that's right... it matches everything) and adds just the right glitz to our get up. For Skin: To get the perfect pink glow, we skipped bronzer and used classic pink blush (Bed Head has a perfect selection), coupled with all over shimmer powder.  We concentrated the shimmer along cheek bones and even under the brow line for maximum impact.  We got the best results using Bed Head's Shake It Loose Powder in Shimmer. For Eyes: Natural mineral shadow, like the Orglamix Pure Mineral Eye Color adds the perfect natural sheen, while being easily blended and applied for intricate looks.  We thought the Twilight eye color kit was absolutely perfect, because it used the playful pink we love with darker grey tones and white highlights. * Pro Tip: Use the eye color kit picture on the website as a guide to blending and applying the three shades. For Lips:  Shimmering natural lips seemed perfect for the occasion, so we chose DuWop's Lip Venom to gloss and accentuate our natural lip color to the perfect kissable pink.  DuWop's Pink Shimmer Lip Venom gave us both the perfect pink tint and subtle sparkle that was essential for our NYE theme. * Pro Tip: Never accentuate both eyes and lips on one night.  If your eyes are dark and dramatic, let naturally toned lips do the kissing.  Or, if you're sporting bright red lip stick, keep the eyes simple.  Choose where you want the focus to stay!

The best trick in my hair care bag: smoothing creme.  Heat styling, humid weather and damaging shampoo takes a toll on the health and texture of our hair.  Even with the nicest care and styling products, daily wear and tear is difficult for our hair to recover from. Avoid frizz and poof-y style with a high quality smoothing creme, like Tigi's After Party.  Making your hair incredible smooth and irresistibly shiny, After Party helps the most damaged hair do as its told.  The formula consists of a lightweight creme intended to be applied either on damp hair, for protection while styling, or over dry hair, to separate, smooth and submit hair to your will. Usually $19, Tigi After Party is only $14 at Beauty of a Site for the rest of this month!  Place an order before Wednesday to take advantage of this product at 25% off.  The perfect time to try something new, make sure and stock up on our favorite behind the scenes hair product! Click here to purchase Tigi Bed Head After Party at Beauty of a Site!

Freshen up your cosmetics bag with bright new colors for the summer season.  We've seen marigold yellows and chartreuses and limes in our nail polish palettes, and a with little skill, those same colors can be used with makeup to create a truly unique and beautiful look.  Here are our tips for this light and summery look: 1.  Shiney Pink Lips:  Drawing together all these bright colors is a classic, cool pink lip gloss.  Almost any shade of pink will do, but our very favorite for the job is DuWop's Pink Shimmer Lip Venom. The plump lips will draw attention to your traditional feminine curves in offset of your non-traditional color scheme. 2.  Yellow / Lime Eyes:  As strange as it may sound, especially girls with dark hair can beautifully sport these bright summer colors.  Apply lightly all over lid and under eyebrows, adding sparkly white at the inside corner of your eye.  We suggest Bed Head's Cyberoptics Eyeshadow in Lime. 3.  Pink Cheeks:  Set aside your orange-y bronzer for this colorful look.  Choose a classic pink to match your gloss! The Orglamix Pure Mineral Blush has the perfect consistency and shimmer for this light and airy summery pink.  We think the Pink Pepper color would be perfect. 4.  Flawless Complexion:  To keep attention on the vibrant colors, a flawless complexion is absolutely necessary for a carefree summer.  Find a light-reflecting, moisture rich tinted moisturizer that will even out your complexion without the added weight of thick foundation.  Our very favorite tinted moisturizer is Urban Apothecary's Supernatural Mineral Sheer Tint.  It's soft weight and beautiful luminosity is perfect for summer.

Even though it's May, Spring seems to be delivering all sorts of showers just a little bit late.  All of our May weddings, events, graduation parties and picnics are requiring serious humidity-proof hair, as showers hang in the distance, threatening our sunny plans.  Here are our top three products for fighting humidity, and keeping a style looking great all day long:

	Cutler's Volumizing Spray is by far my favorite humidity proofing product, and it doesn't even have humidity in the title! My biggest problems with humidity are one either my hair totally flattening and losing curl, or my hair poofing and frizzing out of control. Cutler's Volumizing Spray both controls these factors in daily styles, but also provides nurturing ingredients and heat protection that keep your hair healthy, reducing these effects from the beginning! Purchase it here for $21.
	Bed Head Some Like It Hot product range includes three products that are all uniquely designed to protect against humidity while styling. Including a shampoo, conditioner and weather-neutralizing serum, these products not only protect against frizz from humidity, but also from the damage of heat and from color loss in the sun. Perfect for beach-y summers and sunny weekends! Purchase here, $16-17.
	The Blow Weather Girl Climate Neutralizing Complex is a miracle product created by Blow, a company that prides itself on creating products for people who heat style daily. Gentle and nutritive on over-heated hair, Weather Girl locks out humidity by coating hair, while remaining weightless and protecting from frizz. Purchase here for $22.

As an avid Cyberoptics eyeshadow user, I am here to ensure you that I've never used eyeshadow quite as nice as Bed Head's.  Based on what we hear from customers, bloggers and cosmetics reps, it sounds like people across the world agree- Bed Head's makeup is extremely high quality, long lasting, and perfect for any skin tone. In honor of the great results we've been seeing from Bed Head's cosmetics, the Beauty of a Site staff want to share the goodness with you!  For the month of April, we're discounting some of Bed Head's hottest make up products to give you an opportunity to try them for yourselves!  Here are three of the "must-haves" we definitely think you should give a try this month: Bed Head Big Fat Fun Eyeliner: This perfect-for-smoky-eyes eyeliner, is a must have for any beauty junkie.  It applies an uber smooth slightly thick line with ease, and includes a smudgie on the opposite end, to help you even out or smudge the line for either a natural or dramatic look.  15% off! Bed Head Lipstick: This ultra creamy, long-lasting lipstick is available in a huge variety of colors. We hear from so many customers who, after trying this lipstick once, use it forever! Its high quality and perfect finish make it a huge hit. 20% off! Bed Head Glamma Powder: This powder foundation is truly revolutionary. Using a light-reflective, non-oily formula, Glamma Powder helps you achieve a flawless complexion in one easy step. It's smooth to the touch and matches your skin perfectly! 15% off!

[caption id="attachment_653" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Catwalk Your Highness Products"][/caption] We had no idea that styling products could be so beautiful. Tigi is in the process of revamping their entire Catwalk line, and their newest edition, the Your Highness range, achieves volume like we've never seen. Instead of just selling individual products to help you achieve a certain style, the new Tigi Catwalk lines feature a concept from wash all the way to finishing spray.  The formula in each product helps prepare your hair for the next, resulting in a well thought out product line that gives maximum results. To help initiate volume-lovers into the new line, Tigi released a limited edition introductory set (pictured below) that includes all of the Your Highness range gift packaged in a starter kit that costs nearly 40% less than buying them each individually. [caption id="attachment_655" align="alignright" width="234" caption="Your Highness Starter Kit"][/caption] The Catwalk Your Highness line (and the starter kits) include: Elevating Shampoo (10.14 oz) Nourishing Conditioner (8.45 oz) Thickening Gel Creme (7.27 oz) Root Boost Spray Mousse (8.1 oz) Weightless Shine Spray (5.15 oz) Firm Hold Hairspray (9 oz) Don't forget Your Highness this Christmas!