Street Team: Stanford Law School

Meet Marin. She's a total powerhouse. Second year law school student, has a brilliant mind that reads cases faster than a children's book and wins endless take-her-home to momma points through mentoring law school newbies.

So what beauty product can't Marin live without? Miss practicality would hold on to her sunscreen for dear life if the ship was sinking. Neutrogena Age Defense is her favorite. 

What's in her bag? Shimmer chapstick, a Clinique power compact, beat up but ever fabulous Lancome Juicy tubes, and this adorable mini nail file set that I'm now on the hunt for. 

Scouted by beautifuld

SCOUTED: Navajo Healing

One morning last May I was going on my morning walk through Stanford's campus when the sounds of Fergie's "Humps" on my iPod started to get drowned out by drumming. The sound got louder near the eucalyptus grove on Palm Drive and I when I walked through the clearing, I ran into a huge Pow- Wow; a celebration of Native American culture. It was totally amazing - there was a dirt circle at the center of everything were people were stomping in a ritual dance and tents full of people on the sidelines were drumming along with them. Everyone was in various states of dress from sweats to head-to-toe feathers with five foot tall head dressers and moccasins with bells that jingled while they walked. The detail on some of those outfits would make a haute couture artisan swoon. 

 

The back of the clearing was a sea of booths. Dodging through row after row of hand-beaded jewelry and fried food, ducking under massive headwear and trying not to step on fresh suede shoes, I managed to spot a lone booth at the outskirts with Native American skincare remedies. 

The brand was called Medicine of the People and I the most amazing woman there, Virginia,who founded the company based on what she learned from her father who was a Navajo healer. I was totally rapped by her story - picking herbs with her father from the reservation as a young girl, and.... well, in her own words: 

Wow. Always hunting for the best new acne cure, I immediately went for her Purifying Salve. Good thing I jumped that because as I was there I met John, a loyal customer ready and willing to wipe Virginia out every last tin of salve. He told me that he waits all year to stock up on the purifying salve when Virginia sets up her booth at the Pow-Wow and his daughter can't live without it: 

You know how much I love balms, so I couldn't help but fall in love with this one too. I warm a little bit in my hands and pat over my face before bed when I'm feeling a little ikk. It's even fun to put on - the smell is so rich and herbal that after hearing Virginia's story, I feel like I'm out hunting for new ingredients at the reservation with her every time I use it. It's not a hardcore zit-blaster, but it does give a great, "I just got a secret facial" glow by morning. Bonus: it comes in a chic little tin -- one of the only acne products that I love to leave out on my make-up table! I'd even gift this one. 

Find out more here: www.medicineofthepeople.net

scouted by beautifuld

My top 10

My secret? Well let's just say that if you stranded me on a desert island these are the 10 that I'd be kicking and screaming to take with me. Think I'm missing something critical? Let me know! I don't want to be stuck on a permanent Caribbean vacation with chapped lips!

1. Egyptian Magic

Created by a Pharaoh. No, really. Created with peace and love as primary ingredients. No.... really. I was skeptical of this gigantic tub of wax with copy seemingly inspired by hallucinogenics, but after I used it and got a few dozens of compliments on my skin, I became a believer. Warm the wax in your hand and pat it on as the last step before sleep. Wake up plump, moisturized, and absolutely glowing. Think the thick, oily wax would make you break out? Well apparently, once you add the peace and love, the acnegenic properties just disappear . My pimple-prone skin never got a single blemish from this stuff.

2. Api Derma Propolis skin cream

Created by a Benedictine monk in a secluded (REALLY secluded, I hiked through fields for an hour to find it) monastery outside of Parma, this stuff is worth a pilgrimage. I watched the sisters of the monastery mix this miraculous concoction by hand over the kitchen stove and although I think it's the sulfur, propolis, and lavender that do the trick, the results are so extraordinary it might just be god's work.

3. Aveda Pure Abundance Conditioner

Brilliant. They say it's a conditioner, but pssttt, the secret is that it's also a styling product. Use this and you're hair has more body, holds it's style better, and you can lighten up on the gel. If I'm traveling, I just bring a travel tube of this stuff, make due with the hotel shampoo, and wear my hair big and wavy.

4. Honey Beez Healing Cream

I found these guys at a spa trade show. Next to the huge booths for Botox and fillers with flashy signs and dancing models, these guys had set up a little card table. Always one to root for the underdog, I decided to give them a try and I've never looked back. It's the perfect "do I call it a lotion or a cream?," spreads like a dream, and leaves you feeling sexy and touchable all day long. I also love that it comes in a jar - so much more luxurious than the plastic bottles that slide out of your hands and make gross fart noises when you squeeze them!

5. Covergirl Lash Blast Mascara

It's the ultimate pin-up girl mascara, the ULTIMATE. Dior Show eat your heart out. With this stuff, I could be a Vegas stripper... or a hot MBA student.

6. American Girl Sheer Chocolate Mint Lip Gloss

So what if I'm 26 and hoard American Girl merchandise? It's just the lipgloss-- I swear!! Never has a more perfect chocolate mint been created since LipSmackers and why they discontinued that will always be a mystery to me. Chocolate + mint = the holy grail of lip gloss flavoring if you ask me. And yeah, yeah, it's also gorgeous on (the dazzling shine! the muted sparkle!).

7. Etro Ambra EDT

I have my sexy perfume, my just out the shower perfume, my summer nights perfume in New York, and a whole dresser full of fragrances for increasingly idiosyncratic occasions, but there's one perfume that's always right on: Etro Ambra. Subtle and skin loving, this stuff melds right in and becomes a part of you. It's sweet and fresh on top, rich and earthy on the bottom, like the kind of woman you meet and want to get to know better even though she scare you just a little. This is not the fragrance that people compliment, it's the fragrance that they physically draw closer to you when you wear, smile when you talk, and engage with you with undivided attention

8. V05 Max Hold Hair Spray

Helloooooo big hair. Good things come in cheap packages. This stuff is dirt cheap and the best there is, period. Yeah, I smuggled the good stuff back from Europe like the rest of the American beauty junkies, but honestly, it's those chic French woman who should make room in their Valentino smoking jackets to smuggle back the V05. 

9. Dead Sea Products Mineral Care Mud Mask - Oily/ Normal

So simple! So wonderful! Works wonders on acne, dries up oil, and makes pores seem to disappear. And you can't possibly over-use this stuff - go wild. I try to use it as much as possible, but most importantly, I make sure I slather it on after a long flight to purify and refresh after hours of stagnant air reeking havoc on my face. I hear the dead sea is evaporating fast - I love to book a ticket to see this wonder myself, but in the meantime, I'm going to have to grab bottles of this mask like a cheap bride at a sample sale. 

10. Proactiv Renewing Cleanser

OK, first a disclaimer, I worked for the creators of ProActiv and love them like family. But sometimes family does things you wince at and sometimes they do things you want to scream from the rooftops about. This product is a quintessential rooftop moment. It banishes acne like nothing else out there and it has the perfect exfoliating - lots of tiny grains that make you feel like you're scrubbing off the days evils, without ever getting red.  

Beauty Around the World

I met Maggi and visited her beauty salon outside of Accra, Ghana in December 08. To me, this epitomizes beauty culture its purest, most wonderful form. Maggi is a happy woman because she chose a life where she can make other women happy - she spends her days chatting with her friends & clients, trading secrets about everything from hair care to child rearing, and, in the process, helps make them feel absolutely gorgeous. I think of the beauty world as an international network of secret societies and, if in that case, Maggi is one of the queens of Accra.