The bizarro weather we’ve been having in the North East is giving way to the October chill this weekend. Those of us in the cold parts of the world are gearing up for a few months of Jack Frost, which means that we need a daily moisturizer with a little more oomph to combat cold, dry air. But, even in winter, you still need the SPF.

So, here’s a budget-friendly beauty tip. Since summer is officially over, drugstores have mad deals on sunblock. And that thick, “heavy,” “greasy” sunblock you complained about all summer? It is now your best friend! Nothing blocks the sun, and dry air, better than a good heavy sunblock!

If you tend toward winter-dry skin, try out the sunblock tip. It’s a great cost-saver, not to mention skin saver. My favorite sunblock for my face is Blue Lizard (affiliate link), which unfortunately has gotten harder to find. But Amazon does carry it!

Here at BeautyOlogy, we love questions! So submit yours for our new feature Burning Beauty Question!

Oh make up brushes! How we adore you. Until you get dirty and funky and gross and we don’t know what to do with you anymore!

When you use a makeup brush, you are not only transmitting makeup onto your skin. The dead skin, dirt and bacteria from your skin also gets transmitted on the brush. So you definitely need to give it a good cleaning.

(PS, this dirt and bacteria then gets in your makeup if you dip the dirty brush into your new compact. So please stop sharing makeup. And stop using those nasty Sephora displays. I say this because I love you. xoxo)

If you aren’t experiencing major break outs, many experts agree that once a month is fine. I actually prefer twice a month, but I am kind of obsessive about sanitation.

Some makeup pros swear up and down that shampoo or soap will ruin the brush bristles, and recommend you wash brushes with a specific brush solution. My go-to method is baby shampoo, but I also have a kid at home and easy access. I wet the brush in warm water, add a dab of shampoo into my palm and gentle wash the brush, then rinse clean. I blot with a paper towel and reset the bristles. Then I lay the handle on the counter, with the brush head hanging off, to dry.

Ok, so that last part is awkward. But if you leave it upright to dry, water can get under the seam of the brush and ruin it. Laying it flat give you flat bristles on one side! Some actually blow dry their brushes, but I don’t have the patience to blow dry my hair, never mind my makeup brushes!

I soak my professional brushes in alcohol. Again, experts warn that this will damage the bristles, but I am more concerned about bacteria and contamination than the life expectancy of my tools. If you have bad acne, I do recommend using alcohol to be certain that the bacteria is not re-transmitted to your skin.

When I was working in the spa and talked to clients post-facial about home care, a number would inevitably say “you’re just trying to sell me something.”

Unfortunately, the “upsell” in the salon and spa setting has pretty much eclipsed the fact that I really, honestly don’t believe that Oil of Olay is good for your skin.

Of course, there will always be technicians trying to make an extra buck and pushing useless product on unsuspecting clients. So I get why people are wary.

But if you are on my facial table getting a treatment from me, I am going to suggest alternatives. And sometimes those alternatives are at the drug store, sometimes they are on my shelves.

In fact, the company that supplies my peels, PCA Skin, recommends that, for best results, their products are used pre-and-post peel. “Is that really necessary,” you groan, firing up your mental calculator to add up product costs.

Over the past five months, I conducted an experiment to see if using their product really was necessary. Over the course of three peels, I alternated between using their products prior to the peel and using non-PCA products prior.

Peel One
I used PCA’s products for 10 days prior to the peel. By the 2nd day post-peel, I was peeling. A lot. The peeling lasted almost two weeks. My the time it was done, my skin looked spectacular. I was impressed.

Peel Two
I did not use PCA’s products prior to applying the peel and just went for it. By the 2nd day, I could barely make out flaking. By the third, there was minimal peeling. It was all over in five days. And then I broke out. Interesting…

Peel Three
Once again, PCA products were used 10 days prior to the peel. Day two saw very light peeling, and by day three, my skin began to shed. And while it didn’t go for a full two weeks like the first peel, it did peel for about 10 days.

On the day the peeling started to wane, Manly Man Husband asked me if I was wearing makeup, because my skin looked particularly radiant (or maybe he was just kissing my ass).

The Verdict
In the case of PCA and their peels, using their home care products prior to peeling made a significant difference in the peel result. The mix of active ingredients does prep the skin significantly so that the skin achieves fantastic results, without over-doing it.

I should also note that I used their recommended post-peel products each and every time. You should always follow the home care product advice you receive after a peel treatment; that’s imperative.

The home care product kits (pre and post) are automatically given out to my clients who book a PCA peel.  I don’t want clients worried that I am only trying to upsell them product. To ensure the best result, compliance is key.

I don’t know about you guys, but I am SO not into the whole Black Friday shopping thing. The idea of lining up in the middle of a late November frigid night just to drop kick anyone in my way of a $3o DVD player just doesn’t appeal.

So Black Friday warriors may want to add in a Black Friday spa deal to work out the sore shopping muscles and release a little stress.

In NYC, Chelsea’s charming Just Calm Down Spa is offering 25% off a bunch of services, including their The Morocckin’ On The Marrakech Express Waterbed Massage or the Movie Star Massage. For those looking for something a bit more practical, they are also offering 15% off waxing services. The Black Friday specials actually kicked off today, so you can treat yourself pre-Holiday.

Oasis Day Spa (locations throughout the NY area) is offering 15% off all gift cards using code BF2010, and 20% off all product purchases using code SHOPOASIS (and, both codes can be used at the same time!). Plus they are offering free shipping with any purchase over $50. Offer is good online or in store, so even those without an Oasis near by can still grab some goodies.

Finally, bluemercury, the civilized answer to Sephora, is hosting Pre-Sale and Holiday store parties starting on Friday. Their events promise champagne and treats, free samples and up to 20% off your purchases.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here in the northeast, the weather is changing. The hot and humid days of summer are officially behind us, and we are experiencing drier, cooler air. And while I love the change of seasons, I hate what this time of year does to my lips.

My lips have always chapped easily, and even as a kid, Chapstick just didn’t cut it. A layer of wax sitting on top of the thin skin of the lips may help prevent chapping, but doesn’t do much to sooth and hydrate if you are chapped to begin with. Plus, I’m a lot older now. I want my products to do double or triple duty.

Image Skincare’s Ormedic Balancing Lip Enhancement Complex does exactly that. Not only is it ultra hydrating, it is infused with peptides to help diminish the appearance of fine lines.

Those peptides also give lips that “bee stung” look, bringing blood to the service to plump them and give lips a bit of color. So you don’t need to layer a lip color over it. Perfect for giving your face a polished look without the extra application time for traditional lip color.

Sounds great, doesn’t it?Want to find out for yourself?

Get a chance to win a full size tube of Balancing Lip Enhancement by by signing up for  Product Junkie, BeautyOlogy’s exclusive newsletter. Only newsletter subscribers can win!

Be sure to sign up by Wednesday, October 13 for your chance to win! PLUS, get the free e-series 7 Skin Care Myths (That Keep You From the Skin You Want)! That goes away on October 13th as well!

Disclosure: I use Image Skincare in my professional practice and retail the line.

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A stay in a salt room is an unusual and intriguing Spa Week option.

It was slim pickings for Fall 2010 Spa Week, running from October 11 – 17.

While the number of spas participating remains pretty huge, I was underwhelmed by the spas participating. A few good names were in there (Great Jones, for example) but the treatments they were offering just seemed uninspired.

But amid the unimpressive offerings from mostly lackluster spas, I did find a few unique enough to get my attention.

Without further ado, my picks for the Fall 2010 NY Spa Week.

Erika Bloom Pilates Plus
This isn’t a typical spa offering and I think that’s really cool. Erika Bloom Pilates is offering either a 60 minute session of pilates, reflexology or Thai Yoga Massage. No question, you want that Thai Yoga Massage, which is an amazing mix of assisted stretching and yoga along with massage. It is an incredible experience, and, at Erika Bloom anyway, is priced at $120 for a 60 minute session. Book it. Seriously.

Halo/Air
This is a really unusual offering Spa Week offering.

Halo/Air is not really a spa but consists of salt rooms where you can go and relax. Salt rooms are gaining popularity in the spa world, but it’s still pretty rare to find them. It’s thought that breathing in the air from salt caves helps cleanse the body. I have never seen a stand alone salt room–usually they are part of a spa that offers the usual treatments. But at Halo/Air, you just chill in a private, quiet room and purify the body by breathing in the salt-infused air. For $50 you get two 50 minute sessions, specific to either the body or for the skin.

You definitely have to be up for this, and believe in the healing power of salt. But I would do it,just for the curiosity factor.

Shibumi Spa
Situated in Eastern Athletic Club in Tribeca, Shibumi Spa gives you a little more bang for your Spa Week buck since it includes a guest pass to the Athletic Club. So you can make ample use of their facilities while you are there for your treatment–take a class, use their steam room or sauna.

The treatments are almost secondary to the access that the Spa Week Deal affords, but I would pick the 45 “head to toe” special, that includes a marine enzyme peel for the face and a pomegranate cranapple sugar scrub for the body.

L’Institut Sothys New York
You can’t get more old school spa luxe than Sothys NY outpost. My very first spa experience was with a spa that used Sothys products, and it remains my best spa experience to this day, so there is a soft spot in my heart for the brand. And their new location on 57th Street looks like a tranquil oasis. The must on their list is the Caramel and Vanilla Seasonal Facial Treatment. While it only clocks in at 45 minutes, Sothys is absolutely brilliant at these seasonal treatments. The thought of the warm aromas of caramel and vanilla is simply transporting.

And don’t forget to brush up on my tips for surviving Spa Week. These will help ensure that you get good service at a time when these spas are way overbooked.

Thinking of booking something? What sounds good to you?

Products containing lactic acid are a wonderful addition to your skin care arsenal. Photo by lisegagne/istockphoto.com

I admit it, up until about 45 minutes ago, my skin looked like crap.

An erratic schedule, a pile of commitments (including an overhaul of this blog) and a few new product trials meant that my skin was either getting the barest minimum attention or getting slathered with stuff that wasn’t really agreeing with it.

I was sick of looking at my craptastic skin in the mirror so today I forced myself to schedule my own appointment. I finally broke out a lactic acid peel that I have been meaning to try for a while. And while it’s Day 3 of summer, and I generally have a no-peel policy for the hotter months, I will be extra vigilant over the next few weeks on keeping my skin protected.

So, onto the lactic acid! Lactic acid is found naturally in the body, and it is found in the acid mantle of our skin (acid mantle is easiest thought of as our skin’s oil). Because it is a naturally occurring acid in the body, our skin accepts it much easier than any “foreign” acid (like, for example, salicylic or glycolic). It’s also very mild, and good for sensitive skin.

Lactic acid (derived from the sugars in milk) is a wonderful exfoliator and ultra moisturizing, and combined (as my peel was) with kojic acid, it helps with hyperpigmentation. It’s a tyronese inhibitor, which means it suppresses the tyronese enzyme that causes skin discoloration. In combination with the kojic acid (often sourced from mushrooms, soy or rice bran), which is a natural skin lightener, it helps to lighten hyperpigmentation from sun damage or from skin inflammation (such as acne) that leaves spots behind.

Result: My skin tone has evened out, and it looks and feels smoother and much more hydrated.

While you will get more pronounced results from a lactic peel, home care products with lactic acid can offer wonderful results. However, products containing lactic acid can be a bit hard to find because, for whatever reason, lactic acid just isn’t a terribly sexy AHA for the marketing types. It may not be sexy, but it’s damn effective.

Sign up for Product Junkie, our free weekly newsletter to get exclusive product reviews (including two lactic acid products I use in my treatment room), tips and giveaways. As a bonus for signing up, we’ll also send you our e-series 7 Skin Care Myths (that are keeping you from the skin you want)! Best of all? It’s absolutely free.

Beautiful Lemongrass and Sage Olive Oil Soap from Batty's Bath

I recently made the mistake of taking a quick saunter down the beauty aisle of the grocery store. I have been pretty tight on time lately, and the soap situation in the shower was becoming situation critical. I was down to my last sliver.

Since both my skin and nose are super sensitive to artificial “natural” fragrance, soap and body wash purchases are a little tricky and I generally use all natural or handcrafted products. So to purchase via Stop & Shop meant that things were getting desperate.

I settled on something that I felt would be the least noxious, Ivory. 99 and 1/100ths or whatever pure! I used it when I was a baby! When Manly Man Husband saw it in the bag, he groaned and refused to use it.

About a week after using it, the skin on my upper arms started getting dry and flaky, and Manly Man Husband taunted me with a chorus of “I told you sos.”

Yup, Ivory was completely drying me out (and itchy too). Commercial soap is not soap. It’s detergent. And detergent and skin just aren’t friends.

Yesterday, I came across this excellent post by Jamie, who runs Batty’s Bath, a lovely handmade soap company that you can find on Etsy. Want to know how commercial soap is different from hand-crafted? Check out her post.

You will never look at Ivory the same again! 99 and whatever percent pure my ass.

This Gary Harvey-designed piece of eco couture is made from 350 Skin Food packages, and was unveiled at the opening night party of Eco Fashion Week in February 2010.

Summer sandal wearing does considerable damage to my heels, leaving them parched and cracked. Usually a winter spent in cozy socks clears up the aggravation. Last year the skin on my right heel was particularly bad, including a fairly deep fissure, so even a full season spent covered up did nothing to alleviate the problem. Any foot salve I tried did little to help. And at this point, my heels simply laugh when I whip out the pumice.

When Weleda sent me a bottle of their cult-classic product Skin Food, I knew I wanted to try it on my heels. As an experiment, I used it only on my right heel, the one that’s much worse for wear, and leave my left foot untreated.

Given the state of my right heel, my Weleda Skin Food test seemed almost unfair.

After a little over a month of frequent application, the deep fissure is about half way closed. And while my skin is still pretty rough (and I suspect nothing short of a serious peel or a dermaplane will fix it completely at this point), the Weleda tested heel is noticeably softer and slowly getting healthier.

Essential fatty acids in the Sunflower Seed Oil is the key to Skin Food’s hyper moisturizing properties. Dry skin is, clearly, fatty acid deficient and Sunflower Seed Oil replaces it. Skin Food also contains Sweet Almond Oil, which is not only an excellent hydrator but also absorbs into the skin nicely without leaving an oil slick behind (hence why I was not slipping and sliding all over the floor after application).

There’s a ton of other soothing and antibacterial ingredients in this little tube, including rosemary, calendula and chamomile. But I think the oils are the key to Skin Food’s proven success.

This is definitely one of my new go-to products for dry, irritated and damaged skin.

Weleda Skin Food is $17.50 for 2.5 ounces and is available at Target, Whole Foods and online at Weleda.com.

Disclosure: I was sent a tube of Skin Food to test by Weleda’s PR representatives.