Summer's Recipe For Beauty

Beauty is a head-to-toe process, and the cosmetic industry knows it. This year as summer heats up, the focus expands from the face onto the whole body--with products designed to help you moisturize, sparkle and glow. As always, exfoliating and moisturizing should be the first step in any skincare regimen. Then, besides highlighting the face with bronzers and a bit of shimmer, industry professionals advise checking out the complementary new colors from the biggest names in beauty.

Make Waves With beach blonde

The waiting is over. Now there's no excuse not to dive into summer headfirst. John Freida introduces four new beach blond products guaranteed to turn up the "hair conditioning" on cool, summer styles.

Cool Dip is a refreshing shampoo with a gentle formula that washes away chlorine, sand, salt and oil, leaving your hair fresh as an ocean breeze. The revolutionary anti-humidity formula prevents summertime frizz, while aloe vera and spearmint let you keep your cool. Smooth Sailing is a detangling conditioner. Light conditioners, spearmint and aloe vera combine to slow down knots on sun-scorched hair, so styling is breezy.

Life Preserver, a hair-conditioning oil, is a combination of rich and emollient conditioning oils that sink into the depths of your hair and warm up in the sun for unbelievable hydration. Kelp Help is a deep conditioning masque with a highly penetrating formula that combines protein-rich algae and an innovative wheat-protein complex to strengthen and repair hair damaged by the sun, salt and chlorine. Kelp extract, aloe vera and vitamin E infuse moisture and suppleness for sun-shiny hair.

For more information call (212) 929-7979.

Light Will Inspire Beauty

In the spirit of Ayurvedic wisdom, Aveda, The Art and Science of Pure Flower and Plant Essences, introduces What's Lit from Within, a makeup collection grounded in the core belief that outer beauty is inextricably linked to inner well-being.

Inspired by light--the kind that comes with the illuminating glow of self-discovery--Aveda offers two radiant makeup palettes: Clarity, which conjures a healthy, luminous ethereality and Reflection, evoking the shimmering warmth of skin touched by sunlight. Both are enhanced by the arrival of Mosscara--hair care for eyelashes--a new nutrient-rich mascara infused with the moisturizing and conditioning properties of Icelandic moss, the same ingredient found in the company's award-winning Sap Moss Shampoo and Conditioning Detangler.

For more information call (212) 284-2736.

Don't Be Afraid to Fake It

It's that time of the year again, the time when everyone wants to sport a deep, dark, just-got-back-from-the-islands tan. Most of us admit we look better with a tan, but who has the time to get one these days? And what if you need one ASAP? philosophy® offers the healthy tan for all you on-the-go people out there, a sunless product incorporating top-notch ingredients and skincare intelligence to give you a tan that is completely believable. The company promises the product won't leave a sloppy uneven tan or that yucky orange color that sunless tanners from the past used to leave. The formula has a soft, gentle scent and a non-tacky after-feel. It is a smooth and silky fast-acting gel so you can apply the lotion evenly, which is the key to quality sunless products.

For more information on products from philosophy, start with its Web site, www.philosophy.com, or call (800) 568-3151.

A Day At The Beach

According to Bobbi Brown, women want to look and feel like themselves, only prettier and more confident. Fragrance helps, so leave it to Bobbi Brown to create a fresh, clean fragrance that captures the essence of summer. For 2002, Beach will be the hottest fragrance of the season. It is designed with a lightly intoxicating blend of sand jasmine, sea spray and mandarin; it's wearable anytime, anywhere.

Bobbi's Lip Tint SPF 15 is just the thing for lips in need of moisture, a hint of color and protection. It's perfection in an easy-to-use, portable tube. More than a gloss, this innovative lip-enhancer delivers a shiny tint of nourishing color in an SPF-based formula. Also flavored with a refreshing hint of peppermint.

For more information about Bobbi's summer offerings, check out www.bobbibrowncosmetics.com or call (877) 310-9222.

Clinique Offers Plenty Of Insurance

Clinique is offering skin an insurance policy for the future with its After Sun Rescue Balm, an ultra-moisturizing, pale-blue body balm developed to calm and help "repair" post-sun skin. The product is oil-free, allergy- tested and 100-percent fragrance-free. It contains antioxidant vitamins, sucrose and Ultrasomes, a microscopic control system that helps boost the skin's ability to sooth and repair itself and, thereby, help prevent today's sun exposure from becoming tomorrow's visible damage.

Another highlight in Clinique's 2002 lineup is its Sun-Care Lip/Eye 30 SPF, a full-spectrum sunscreen in a convenient stick. This product allows for targeted sunscreen application where your skin needs it most. It combines three powerful sunscreens to provide the most complete protection from UVA and UVB for lips, eye-area skin, nose, ears or wherever skin needs a little extra boost. The creamy formula applies easily and evenly, leaving skin feeling clean, not sticky.

For more information call (212) 572-4480 or log on to Clinique's Web site, www.clinque.com.

A Star Is Born

Lancôme wants to give you a fast sun-kiss this summer with its Star Bronzer collection, two shimmering body powders that will give you a starry bronze glow and a head-to-toe one-day tan that appears and disappears like magic.

The Star Bronzer Magic Bronzing Brush automatically releases powder onto its brush at the press of a button for effortless application. It is convenient for touch-ups on the go. Star Bronzer Powder Compact SPF 8 opens to reveal a silky powder with a big, full-face mirror. This oil-free powder contains sunscreen and vitamin E and is available in two shades: Dore' for fairer skin tones and Intense for darker skin tones.

Lancôme also will make summer waves with Aroma Fit, a fragrance for your body and senses. The product features a "fitness cocktail" of fruits and vegetables, including orange, mandarin, carrot and basil.

For more information about any of Lancôme's products call (212) 984-4107 or surf to the Web site at www.lancome.com. 

Rain and Shine

Origins believes this will be a great summer to bare it all. It's Nude and Improved is a hydrating "barely-there" makeup that protects your complexion with free-radical-quenching vitamin E and an SPF 15 sunscreen. Light-diffusing and soft-focus particles distribute light evenly onto the skin's surface, minimizing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and providing sheer, radiant coverage. An essential oil blend of grapefruit, lemon and spearmint stimulates the skin and uplifts the senses. So, forget about makeup. Show your face off in the nude!

The company also is catching eyes, make that lips, with its Rain and Shine lip tint. This sheer, moisturizing lip color also features an SPF 15 to protect lips from UVR. Moisture-rich shea butter and grape seed oil hydrate condition and smooth lips while vitamins A and E help fight off free radicals.

Origins' duo of casual, carefree beauties creates the ultimate sheer look that's easy to wear and has the added benefits of sun protection.

For more information start with Origins' Web site, www.origins.com, or call (212) 572-4292.