Beauty Squared Round-Up - Sunday, April 26, 2015

Hello lovelies! It's time for our weekly round-up. And I feel like I should add a note about the lack of posts lately. Both Beauty Squared ladies have been very busy lately and blogging has proven challenging, but we're aiming to bring you some posts very soon. Stay tuned! In the meantime, we'll keep bringing you this weekly round-up, so you can see what the internet is talking about where it comes to beauty and skincare and haircare. 

Let's go!

• Keratosis Pilaris is a skin condition that's getting a fair bit of buzz lately, mainly because it seems to be something many people have but didn't realize it was an actual condition and could be treated. I actually just realized that Keratosis Pilaris is what I have on my upper arms, after about 20 years of being embarrassed by the red, bumpy skin there. If you've got patches of skin that look a bit like chicken skin, it might be Keratosis Pilaris.
  
• Blackheads are better known than Keratosis Pilaris, but they're no less problematic. If you have them, you'll want to read this article that explains what they are, what causes them and how you get rid of them.
  
• From one beauty issue to another (and another). Dark undereye circles are something most of us deal with, and there really isn't a whole lot than be done about them apart from trying to avoid them if they're caused by dehydration, lack of sleep, etc or concealing them. Here are some tips to minimize their appearance from treatment to concealing.
  
• It's that time of year when many of us are turning into sun worshippers after a long, cold winter but forgetting that even when it's not that hot, it can burn our skin. You really should be wearing sunscreen on any exposed skin during all seasons of the year, but if you're not fastidious like that and occasionally get too much sun, here's how to cover up sunburn without irritating the damaged skin any further.
  
• If you kind of like the look of a bit of sunburn on your face but would rather not burn your flesh to get the effect, here's how to do it with makeup.
  
• Here's a fresh, bright way to wear colourful eyeliner this season.
  
• Red lipstick is typically a winter/fall trend, but you don't have to stop wearing it when the weather warms up. Here's how to wear red lipstick in the spring and summer.
  
• Fashion Magazine's Beauty Panel talks about how they groom their eyebrows. Lots of tips here!
  
• Have you tried Nudestix? They're a new line of versatile cosmetic pencils with a view on simple, natural looks. Learn about the teenagers behind the line.
  
• Temptalia's review of yet another nude eyeshadow palette, this one containing five very wearable matte shades from Becca.
  
• MUA Lisa Eldridge talks about the beauty tricks she uses while travelling.
  
• We all want to save money. Buzzfeed has a post on doing so with your beauty products.
  
•  Beyonce's MUA Sir John Barnett has been tapped as L'Oreal Paris' new celebrity makeup artist. Here he talks about his new role for L'Oreal, his techniques and shares some secrets.
  
• Time for some hair talk!
• How to fight frizz, no matter your hair type. 
• Sideburns for women? Yup, have a read. 
• Waking up with perfect hair. Yes, it's apparently possible. 
• Are you an unnatural redhead? Do you emphasize your natural red with a bit of colour? You'll want to read this about how to keep your red from fading. 

Fekkai Brilliant Glossing Cream

I live in Toronto where the humidity can elevate temperatures 10 degrees. I find the locals fall into two opinions when it comes to our fair city's humidity. To those who are originally from southern Ontario and those who would happily move to the Tropics, they crave humidity. They love to sweat and summer just isn't summer without 35 degree days where you step out of the shower sweating.

The others, among which I find my kindred spirits, wilt like flowers in humidity and claim that dry heat is where it's at. I suppose I shouldn't complain since all that moisture is good for the hair and skin, but I grind my teeth and curse girls on the streetcar with glossy, thick hair that doesn't seem to realize that the air feels like you're walking through soup. Even worse is when it rains and my hair inflates to twice its normal size.

My hair is on the fine side of normal, I colour it and use a hair dryer and straightener almost every day and I don't get it cut as often as I should. I have used a myriad of products to smooth and style my hair and I would list the following among my top picks for anyone's hair: Kiehl's Creme with Silk Groom, Kiehl's Heat-Protective Silk-Straightening Cream and Aveda Light Elements Smoothing Fluid. These are all fantastic products and I would recommend them to anyone looking for something to smooth, protect, gloss and moisturize your hair, but they do not help my hair one bit when the humidity rises.

Upon Jill's recommendation, I picked up a tube of Frederic Fekkai's Brilliant Glossing Cream. Let me tell you, this stuff is fantastic! It easily lives up to its glowing (or should I say glossing?) reviews. I used too much my first time trying it and my hair felt great but a bit heavy. On my second try, I used a dollop about the size of a small pea and that did the trick. My locks are glossy, incredibly smooth and soft and on a recent rainy day, my hair stayed that way. I'm still experimenting with the amount that's right for my hair, because it does weigh it down quite a bit. I am in need of a trim though, so I figure much of that weight is coming from the hair itself.

Dare I mention that the weather is gradually getting chillier here in the great white north and we're soon to be visited by Jack Frost? Hair, like the skin on your face, tends to suffer the elements of winter pretty severely; it gets drier, more flyaway, less manageable. I imagine a dollop of this gorgeous cream will be akin to that extra-rich body lotion we will soon be slathering on our legs and arms each morning.

Have I mentioned the very delicate, pleasant fragrance? So many hair products are heavily scented but this is one that lingers but doesn't dominate. It makes your hair smell good, it's not just a good smelling hair product!

Here's what the Fekkai website has to say:

Frizz-fighting, soft-seeking shine cream works for nearly every hair type. With encapsulated olive oil spheres to instantly reboot shine all day long. Our superstar formula, ever so brilliant.

Fekkai's legendary shine collection infuses new Encapsulated Shine-Release Complex in its winnning olive oil formula to renew shine all day, strand by strand, minute by minute.

And Sephora's description is:

Frederic Fekkai Brilliant Glossing Cream provides light control and imparts lasting shine. It also protects your locks from styling tool damage, and shields hair from the environment with UVA and UVB sunscreens. The cream absorbs quickly and without greasiness.

As you may be thinking, Fekkai Glossing Cream is excellent for you curly heads out there and especially good for dry, thick hair. You do not need much, so start with the recommended pea-sized dollop and add more if you need to. It's meant to be used in damp hair, pre-styling but it can be used as a styling aid as well.

A pea-sized dollop will do for most heads, so it is well-worth it's higher-end price ($24 for 100 mL/$33 for 200 mL). I bought the smaller sized tube at Shoppers Drug Mart but it's also available at Sephora (in-store and online) and through the Frederic Fekkai website, which lists other retail locations here.

My bottom line is this: if any of you lovely readers experience frizziness, roughness, dullness and crave the sleek, swingy, glossy hair of those girls and ladies you envy on the streetcar like me, try the Frederic Fekkai Brilliant Glossing Cream. It's one of the more remarkable hair products I've tried.