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.