Being in front of the camera a lot means that every single flaw is amplified. And for someone lie who talks a lot – having a great smile is definitely an asset. So I’ve been wanting to fix my teeth (to be specific my bottom lower teeth) for a while now but I didn’t have the time nor the inclination to wear braces again.
Doctor Leedia Riman’s fun wall decor. Happy clients all around.
I’ve had braces twice – once in my early teens and once in college – and now, almost a decade later, due to not wearing my retainers, my lower teeth are crooked again. As any adult will probably understand, braces are only socially, aesthetically acceptable when you’re at school. When you’re almost 40, it’s just awkward to do a business presentation or pose for night-out photos with metal retainers around your teeth.
Dum dum dum…
Fortunately for me (and for the rest of adults out there), there’s an awesome new way to get away with having braces without anyone noticing called Invisalign. Kind of a word play on “invisible” and “align”, which is exactly what you get.
The Invisalign is a clear set of BPA-free plastic aligner trays designed to gently straighten your teeth. It’s absolutely safe, smooth, and comfortable. There’s no tendency for food to get caught like it does with regular braces and no discomfort from metal wires. Best of all, it’s virtually invisible.
The way the Invisalign works is that your doctor scans your teeth and maps out your mouth’s movements so your plastic aligners fit your teeth perfectly. Afterwards, they create your customized set of aligners.
Here’s my Doctor explaining how Invisalign works.
I had my custom Invisalign treatment at Dr. Leedia Riman’s, of R Dental Group, based in Beverly Hills. Dr. Leedia comes from a family of dentists, and she’s absolutely lovely and professional. I remember when I first met her: she was so approachable and warm – I was looking forward to my dental visits – which I know was a good sign. I also know I was in the best hands when she had to fill in quite a few cavities for me and the process did. not. hurt. at all. I kept expecting and waiting for pain afterwards, and was even given a prescription of industrial-strength ibuprofen, but I did not feel a thing. If she is capable of filling a gazillion cavities with no pain, I know she is definitely the right dentist for me.
Me, trying to explain why I had so many cavities.
If you can’t talk with your mouth, use your hands.
Clearly, the dentist has some serious skills, so it’s only natural for me to choose her again to put my Invisalign on. It’s important to choose a dentist that you trust when you’re getting Invisalign on (or even just regular braces) because you’ll be coming back to your dentist time and time again!
And I wasn’t at all wrong in picking Dr. Leedia. She made me feel relaxed the entire time and was quick to advise me on after-care. There are still eight months to go for my treatment, but already my Invisalign aligners got me feeling selfie-ready. Can’t wait to show you the before and after results soon!
PS: I am on tray set 7 of about 20 trays (and I have to wear each set of trays for 2 weeks) so I can’t wait to show you my new and improved smile soon!
This blog post is created in partnership with SK-II. However, all thoughts and opinion are my own (as always.)
If you have been following me on my blog and/or on social media – you will know I have been using SK-II Facial Treatment Essence for years. Now that I’ve hit my 30’s and my travel has intensified, I know I have to ramp up my skincare routine and I’m happy to collaborate with SK-II for their #onebottleawayfrom challenge – to go on a journey of getting my skin to its best condition ever – even better than when I was in my 20s, I would say.
I have oily skin and with constant travel across continents as well as heavy makeup use whenever I’m in front of the camera or out at events, I needed amazing skincare that would combat uneven skin tone and help me achieve firm, radiant and smooth skin.
And the thing is even though my skincare routine might change depending on whether I am in Los Angeles, New York or even Kuala Lumpur – the one constant is my SK-II Facial Treatment Essence.
SK-II is a luxury skincare brand but if you’re a person who wants to maintain the health and beauty of your skin, it’s a worthwhile investment.
What I love about SK-II is that it is gentle enough on my skin that I never had any adverse reaction to it but it is effective – in the morning it cleanses, preps and moisturizes my skin; while in the evening it cleanses and rejuvenates my skin so I wake up looking refreshed. With SK-II, I definitely need less makeup in every day life, and my skin looks even better now than it did when I was in my 20s. I remember when I was in my 20s and I had listened to my older friends talk about how their skin changes when they are in their 30s – so I can’t help feeling a bit smug seeing how smooth, even and plump my skin is now. And I know it is because I use SK-II Facial Treatment Essence.
I am in front of the camera often -and with that comes many challenges but I’m happy that having beautiful glowing skin is not one of them. I am one bottle away from achieving my best skin yet.
Currently, they have these promotions going on SK-II.com:
And of course, I’d love to know your feedback after using it. Comment below or follow me on Instagram and let me know about your #OneBottleAwayFrom journey with SK-II.
This blog post is created in partnership with SK-II. However, all thoughts and opinion are my own (as always.)
Sometimes I feel as if women are constantly being pressured to accomplish something before their “expiration date.” Whether it’s getting married, having a child or changing careers, there seems to be a “before it’s too late” tag attached to so many aspects of a woman’s life.
But we are not cartons of milk. We as women – should not worry about getting older or becoming “outdated.” There is no reason to rush into a relationship – instead, enjoying life means being happy just being ourselves. We shouldn’t feel pressured into marrying someone, for example, just because we’re getting older.
Don’t get me wrong – I do believe that we should all seek love, long-term partnerships and have families IF the right partner comes along and IF that is what we want. What I don’t condone is a societal pressure that women are not complete and are will not be happy without something else completing them.
I remember when I was in my early 20’s – my girlfriends and I was at times pressured by well-meaning family members including our mothers – to settle down and find a man (and get married, and start a family, and so on and so forth) – because it’s what expected. I knew they believed that if we don’t have a spouse and children by a certain age, we’re doomed to spend the rest of our lives sad and alone – incomplete. It took me a decade – when I was in my early 30s – a stylish, strong and successful woman at the top of my field – to realize that happiness is something that comes from within – not from being with the right man or being married or not married. It’s about accepting oneself as is.
Because if we sought meaning and completion by having another, there is a chance we will always be dependent on others to make us whole. I don’t know about you – but I do not want to be dependent on anyone. Isn’t seeking happiness from outside the very thing that makes thousands if not millions of people so unhappy in the first place?
In short, I believe we should accept ourselves as we are, irrespective of age. I want to take care of myself for myself, not because I’m hoping someone will come along and sweep me off my feet.
Now that I am in my 30’s – I have stopped comparing myself to others around me and found pleasure (and ultimately peace and happiness) in the fact that I can take my own time in doing what I want for me. I wear clothes that I want, travel where I want and have hobbies that I want – not worrying about expiry dates or pleasing anyone else.
And I am happy that one of my favorite skincare brands – SK-II has been a prominent advocate of women being happy onto themselves – without needing anything (or anyone else) to complete them. I was drawn to its motto #changedestiny that women should always be themselves, which dovetailed with the way I was feeling. This is one of the reasons why you SK-II is one of the brands that I am proud to be an ambassador of.
Often, we’re afraid we’ve run out of time to make a difference and find love, but neither of these is true. We compare our lives so much to those around us when ultimately we should just be comparing our what we have achieved today to what we have yesterday.
You are ultimately the person you have to live for and impress. So go out there and make yourself happy. Take yourself on that dream date, and spend the time taking care of your body. It’s the power of positive being. And trust me; the universe will take note of your efforts, and your entire world will change for the better.
Watch this video from SK II and tell me how do you feel about being a modern woman and not having to care about ‘expiry dates’.
Traditionally in fall, the leaves on trees change color. I live in Los Angeles, where the leaves stay green year round, so I started getting into the spirit by changing my hairstyle and color. And naturally, soon after I wanted to try new makeup, which was why collaborating with Revlon and highlighting the new products in their ColorStay™ Eye Collection was something I was looking forward to.
Wearing Revlon’s ColorStay™ Eye Collection on my eyebrows and eyes and their Kiss™ Balm on my lips. I know this does not look anything like fall weather, but it’s really warm here in Southern California. #SorryNotSorry
Specifically, I am really loving Revlon’s new ColorStay™ Brow Pencils, 2 in 1 Angled Kajal™ Liners and their ColorStay™ Crème Eye Shadow. I’ve worked with Revlon before on a few campaigns so I knew I was in good hands. But I was really excited because the eyes are my most favorite area to play up with vivid colors.
The surprised look you get when your makeup stays on for a really, really long time in warm fall weather.
ColorStay™ is the right name for these new products. The eye makeup lasted very long (on me it stayed on for at least 10 hours) and more importantly, the products are waterproof, so I didn’t sweat it away (I did say I live in LA where it still gets up to 80F on some fall days).
Here’s what I used:
• ColorStay™ Brow Pencil in Soft Brown. The angled tip made it a breeze to apply while the opposite end has a brush to smooth the hairs into shape.
• 2 in 1 Angled Kajal ™Liner in Graphite. The smoky eye is no longer daunting! The makeup side of the wand is angled so that it does the work for you. The other side has a brush to smudge the makeup into the perfect blend.
• ColorStay™ Crème Eye Shadow in Pistachio (a beautiful silver-green) and Caramel (a shimmering and universally flattering rose gold). More than just beautiful colors here – the packaging is brilliant. Finally, the brush is incorporated into the round cap of the shadow itself so that I won’t be searching for, losing, and eventually buying a replacement brush. Plus it would be hard to duplicate the innovative brush that has three edges so that you can apply in different ways to suit your mood and look. And for oilier skin (like mine), I was surprised I didn’t even have to use a primer first. The pigmentation was bright, even and lasted throughout the day (for me).
*Eye shadow color tip: rose gold and jewel tones work for almost every skin tone,
so you might want to try those first if you want to experiment!
From Top Left to Bottom Right: Revlon ColorStay™ Crème Eye Shadows, Kiss™ Balm ColorStay 2-in-1 Kajal™ Liner and ColorStay™ Brow Pencil. I love them all, but the brow pencils and eye shadows are my favorites.
I also tried Revlon’s new Kiss™ Balm. Here I used Fresh Strawberry. The Kiss™ Balms may are perfect year round and include SPF 20. In the fall and winter months, these moisturizing balms are ideal either on their own, on top of lip liner, or over lipstick. (I may have oilier skin but my lips still get dry!) The compact, portable design is adorable and you don’t have to worry about leakage in your purse. They’re so inexpensive and wearable that I’d probably end up getting them all.
With the change in seasons upon us, I’m happy to be experimenting with Revlon’s new makeup. In fact, with Thanksgiving coming up I can even say I’m thankful to Revlon for their long-lasting pieces. And I’m going to be stocking up on quite a few of the Kiss™ Balms to use as stocking-stuffers this Christmas.
Revlon’s Kiss™ Balms (I’m using Fresh Strawberry in the picture above) are the only holiday treats that won’t cause you to gain any weight – so feel free to get as many as you like.
This post is sponsored by Revlon through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write about Revlon, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
This post is sponsored by Revlon through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about Revlon, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
The highlight of my day is generally in the evening, kicking off my heels and plopping down on the sofa next to my sweetheart with a cool beverage. So it’s rare that I think of starting my usually very hectic day with highlighting or contouring. Especially when the beauty YouTube mavens seemingly spend an hour or more highlighting and contouring their faces to perfection.
I’m amazed by the results but I just don’t have that kind of time but then I discovered Revlon’s PhotoReady Insta-Fix™ Highlighting Stick:
No more wasting my time getting a good night’s sleep (I’m kidding – do that too), after I put on my foundation in the morning I swipe the highlighting stick along my brow bone, the top of my cheekbones (look! There they are!) and then across the bridge of my nose and, finally, right above the cupid’s bow of my upper lip. Voila – instant luminosity! If you have oily skin like me, set the whole look with a light brush of your favorite loose powder afterward.
Last week I had a happy-hour meeting and I just reapplied again on the same areas. Within seconds, while on the go, you can look rejuvenated even at the middle or end of the workday. It’s almost like walking around with your own personal lighting consultant at a fraction of the cost. Seriously – a fraction. And one of the two colors will work for almost any skin tone. The Pink Light works best on lighter/cool skin colors because it is pink with a hint of silver, while the Gold Light (which I used) is for warmer skin color such as olive tones, as it has a warm peachy hue.
I don’t know about you but, I’m incredibly busy and anything that doesn’t take a lot of time and provides fantastic results is my kind of item. It even goes well over makeup – great for touch ups come mid-day or in the evening:
Give it a try and let me know what you think (and how you spend the extra time it gives you.)
Introducing Madison Reed – salon-level hair color at home.
Feeling my hair – I am loving the rich hazelnut brown tones – isn’t it perfect for fall … or whenever? Lol.
Please note that this is a sponsored post by Madison Reed but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Coco Chanel famously said “the best color in the whole world is the one that looks good on you.” If you’ve ever paid for that expensive salon dye job that made you want to die, you need to check out Madison Reed.
Madison Reed : Premium and customized at-home hair color.
When I first got to know about the brand I was intrigued. I had not had my hair colored at home in a while ( at least in the last 5 years) because I remembered the last time I DIY-ed my hair with a box of drugstore hair color, it turned out a bland and uneven shade of red-brown. I also hated the pungent smell of ammonia that permeated around me for the next 48 hours. So when I heard about Madison Reed I was game to try this next generation of at-home hair color.
Madison Reed makes customized at-home color. This is definitely not your boxed drugstore brand where you’re expected to choose a color you’ll live with on your head simply from an ink-on-cardboard-box swatch the size of your pinkie toe.
My hair color before I colored it. It was bad.
Easy at-home hair color by Madison Reed.
Cost. It’s not just the cost of the salon hair color, but also the fact that time is money so once I add in the commute there and back, the inevitable wait, wash, color, wait some more and dry, I’ve spent hundreds more dollars in lost income.
Confidence. With Madison Reed you can confidently leave the science of skin tone and hair color combining to the experts. Go to their website and take their short quiz for their recommendation. If you’re still concerned, you can call or email or live online chat. Their site also has helpful videos and a blog with more tutorials as well as fun hairstyle ideas.
Convenience. Delivered to your home so that you can do it whenever suits you and your schedule – not a salon’s schedule. You can even set up automatic delivery so that you don’t have to remember to order more. And don’t think you have to go it alone if you don’t want to – there are hair color experts on call to help as well as the above-mentioned tutorials which I found to be all the help I needed.
Company. We all want to support good companies and Madison Reed is all about using the best ingredients while avoiding unhealthy ones. They call it “Smart 6-free” because their permanent dye is free of ammonia, gluten, parabens, PPD, phthalates and resorcinol. (I don’t know what half of those are which is probably the point – they aren’t natural!)
Color. The all important color. The four C’s above might be there but it doesn’t mean a thing if the colors aren’t great. Fortunately they are amazing.
What my hair color looked liked in the shade.
I like to change up my hair color because I see it as part of fashion. That means, however, that it can get costly and time-consuming if I’m always headed to the salon for a change-up. So whether you’re like me and like to experiment, or if you just like to maintain your natural color, you’ll love the convenience and cost of Madison Reed.
Try it and do tell me what you think and send before and after photos – those are super fun.
The sky’s the limit. Ciel Spa at SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills reaches the stars.
It often feels as though there are more stars in Beverly HIlls than there are in the skies. And so, at the aptly named
Ciel Spa
(Ciel is French for ‘sky’) at the SLS Hotel – it seems that the services here are only limited by one’s imagination.
The only downside was that I was limited to three hours that I had while rushing off to NYFW. With so many options to choose from at the spa, I really would have preferred three days. Given that amount of time I could have run the gamut from head to toe – literally! From hair services to pedicure. And everything in between – waxing, facials, manicure, and more.
I love little interior design details like this.
My Ciel Spa afternoon began by walking thru the doors into the most beautiful sanctuary. You’ll think you’re walking on cloud nine, surrounded by soothing white everywhere – you’d never know that you’re actually surrounded by a state-of-the-art wellness center that caters to post-plastic-surgery recovery patients. We’re incredibly lucky that the SLS Hotel allows us all access to this oasis.
I opted for the women’s only lounge which felt like a modern, luxurious boudoir. I was offered champagne and informed that in the co-ed waiting area there’s also fruit-infused water, brownies, cookies and other snacks. I love a spa that doesn’t feel wheatgrass juice is the only option.
I loved the robe and cutest pair of flipflops ever:
I was then escorted to a private room where I endured the agony of a custom skin analysis. Ciel is the first spa in LA to use something called the Biologique Recherché Methodology. I just hope it’s not so smart that it realizes I lied when I said I don’t sleep in my makeup. After six pages (no wonder they offer champagne to start) it was decreed that I needed a fruit acid mask for light, yet thorough exfoliation. I didn’t feel anything other than a pleasant tingling but I knew it worked because my skin felt smooth and glowing after the treatment. And I have to say that pleasant also referred to my personal aesthetician Catherina who was so lovely, which isn’t always the case at uber posh establishments.
After the facial I had a 40 minute gap before my manicure so I popped down to the Philippe Starck designed lobby downstairs for lunch. I felt as though I got enough vitamins via the fruit in my facial, so I ordered this:
Fortunately, all burger juice and french fry oil was erased when I got my gel manicure. Not only did it hide the evidence of a calorie indulgence but the gel manicure lasted for 8 days chip free even after 7 days of heavy traveling worldwide. My nails clocked in 14,000 miles around the globe as well as countless hours typing on my laptop and various devices.
The Couples’ Treatment Room at the Ciel Spa
I can’t wait to go back and try all their other offerings. The Ciel Spa is definitely my number one choice in Beverly Hills for serious luxurious treatments. If we’re told to “reach for the sky”, I’ll be reaching for the phone number of the Ciel Spa.
