Obagi ZO Skin Health Review: Week 4 and Beyond

We made it through three weeks of our Oabgi ZO Skin Health trial before disaster struck. No, we didn’t have a major breakout, but our luggage that we had packed it in was stolen off the street while we were packing our rental car for a road trip. (We still haven’t quite gotten over the loss of our month old Marc Jacobs bikini.) Thus our trial ended a little earlier and more abruptly than we planned on.

We realize that our experience is unique and that many of our criteria for evaluating skincare products may be different from yours. That said, our feelings on the Obagi ZO Skin Health are decidedly mixed. While we did see a reduction in brown spots, we never got over missing a rich, creamy moisturizer. Throughout our 30s, we’ve tried a wide range of skin care products, probably more than is good for us, truth be told. While we do have some favorites, nothing has ever given us miraculous results. Given that we’re not looking for or expecting anything major, we tend to prefer products that we enjoy applying—they feel good going on and have a light scent. (Right now, we’re really enjoying the Kate Sommerville Nourish products and the Prescriptives Vibrant-C moisturizer.)

Beyond the tactile aspect of the Obagi products, the jury is out on how our skin was actually looking. We went for a B. Kamins Diamond Radiance Facial at the Tribecca Beauty Spa five days after we suddenly stopped using the Obagi products. Our aesthetician was very critical of our skin and told us we had “double skin” on our forehead (we’re not even sure what this means, nor did we understand her explanation) and said our skin was extremely irritated.

The facial started with a Deep Detox Microstimulator with ginger and clove that is supposed to remove impurities and improve circulation. It was very tingly and hot on our face, more so than other chemical peels we’ve used in the past. That was followed by the most painful extractions we’ve ever experienced—and we’ve been getting facials since we were 15.

Next up was a soothing facial massage with cucumber and mango serum, then a second mask: Radiance Rejuvenating masque, which smelled like peppermint and features green tea extract.

We realize that our skin was still getting used to the Retinol in the Obagi products and this may not have been the right facial at the right time. With our skin in the process of rebuilding itself, we should have taken it easy. Our face was red for a few hours after the facial.

A day later, our skin was super soft—and flaky once again. We lived with it for two days, then decided to go back to our tried and true Prescriptives products for an at-home facial. Our skin has been in good shape ever since. Was it the Obagi products? The B. Kamins facial? The Prescriptives regimen? A combo of all three? We're not sure.

In the meantime, the people at Obagi were kind enough to take pity on the theft of our luggage and sent over another starter kit. Hope volunteered to test it out, to give you another opinion on the products. We’ll see how her experiences compare.

Click here for the reviews from week 1, week 2 and week 3.

Thanks, Connie and Jamie!

JSG was super-honored to contribute to not only one, but two of our favorite blogs this week!

Check out our best packing secret on The Daily Obsession.

And learn more about Annie on the Beauty of Life's First Look Fridays.

A Peek Inside Robert Verdi's Carry On Bag

One of our highlights of fashion week was visiting the Robert Verdi Luxe Lab. Not only did we get to meet Robert, we had one of our biggest celeb sightings EVER, our red headed idol, Julianne Moore. While there, we took a peek inside Robert's carry on bag.

Robert totes the Kiehl's Ultra Facial Travel set with its travel-ready, FAA-compliant products to keep fresh-faced and fabulous. In the kit are the classic formulations of Ultra Facial Cleanser, Ultra Facial Toner, Ultra Facial Moisturizer and Lip Balm #1.


For pictures and videos, Robert uses his pocket size KODAK Zi6-video camera to capture the moment and easily upload the film to any USB port.


Robert's carry on bag this fall is the Ferragamo Amber Alligator Satchel, which he calls, "this season’s on-the-road it bag."

Between Robert's sprawling roster of clients and his own jet-set schedule, it's imperative that he stay plugged in using the FlyBook laptop. The laptop has a swivel monitor which was designed especially for use on planes, allows for easy Internet connectivity in 230 countries and weighs in at a stylish 3.5 pounds.

As tech savvy as he is, Robert still keeps hard copies of everything in his Coach planner.


Sunglasses are Robert's trademark, so he keeps the season's hottest pair with him at all times. Right now he's rocking Carreras from Safilo.



Robert's secret for getting the low-down on the way to the next hot-spot are the slim, portable Phaidon Wallpaper City Guides.



Want to know what Madonna's stylist Andy Le Compte travels with? Look inside his carry on bag.

ch-ch-ch-changes

I am such an absentee parent, and for this I am ashamed. Let us, however, accentuate the positive, hmm? Like, that I got a haircut. And also...

You may or may not have noticed that I cleaned house around here a bit, adding fancy pants graphic links in the sidebar. It was getting seriously cluttered over there and it needed some prettification. Now if you click, say, the Awesome Movie Poster Friday pic, it'll magically zap you to a page listing all of said Fridays. Isn't that amazing? It is. Don't try to deny it.

In related news, I've started labeling posts- in fact, I went back and tagged my entire archive which took forever. FOR-EVER. Some of the labels are actually helpful...the rest...well, I have no idea. I thought they were funny and/or strangely appropriate when I was making them, but I'm sure I was all methed out at the time. Please take this into consideration before you judge me!

My pimp-fu has been seriously lacking of late and I've been neglecting to post here whenever my AMC columns have gone up. What's old news to me is new news to some however, and you may care to thrill to my musings on eeeevil sidekicks and/or disaster movies.

From the news almost completely unrelated to horror department: Ghostella's Haunted Tomb star, Final Girl Film Club member, and my bestest pal in the whole entire universe, the amazing Bridget McManus is moving from the online world to the TV world tonight when her talk show Brunch With Bridget airs on LOGO at 2am. Wait, is that tonight or tomorrow morning? Eh, semantics shmemantics. Regardless, Brunch has gone from an email pitch to a TV show in about 8 months, which is quite an achievement. That's less time than it takes to make a human!

Watch it, DVR it, send her congratulatory comments and vibes, and click here to check out the promo spot for the show. Fuck this clicking links shit! Here's her opener...

Lesbian video from AfterEllen.com

I've been obsessed with Madge the Manicurist since I remembered her existence late last night. What a whirlwind 9 hours it's been!

awesome movie poster friday- the MORE VHS BOX ART edition!

Okay, I don't even want to know what exactly a lady-shaped gun would shoot.


From the coolest box art for the worst effing movie department:


Wait...so there's no time to scream, but then I'm silently screaming which isn't even possible to begin with? Quit messing with my head, Silent Scream!

Kitties are "lusting" for humans? Really? Eww.


Okay, yeah yeah, I get the whole mind-Stockholm Syndrome thing. But turning her body against her? What, did they make her punch herself in the face? "Stop hitting yourself..."


I need to see this RIGHT THE FUCK NOW. This casting is way too good to be true.

Uh, yes...yes, it is. Just ask that bitch who almost beat me at Clue that one time...oh wait, you can't. She's dead. Here's the solution: Final Girl in the den with her fists!

That fate is obviously being trapped within a never-ending series of Halloween masks.

So...the jitters are like herpes? Suddenly everything makes sense!

On Our Radar: The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Amelia Island

The holidays will be here before you know it. We're not normally sweet freaks; but starting with Halloween (we'll just have a couple of these little Snickers), then Thanksgiving (only a small slice of pie please) to our friend Meg's annual Christmas cookie party (can we have some sangria with our Mexican wedding cookies?); this time of year is wicked to our waistline. Wouldn't it be great to indulge in these treats without paying the price on the scale? The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Amelia Island is offering just that: guilt-free spa treatments using organic seasonal ingredients. In November, their featured treatments include a Pump-skin Latte Hydration Facial (goodbye Starbucks' pumpkin latte!) using pumpkin puree to correct summer's damage. In December, they offer a Cranberry Pomegranate Facial which uses the ruby fruits to sooth your skin followed by a chocolate mousse mask and sugar plum moisturizer. In January, they have Champagne Facial and Body Treatments and February has Chocolate and Cherry Jubilee Manicures and Pedicures. These decadent treatments are available November 1st through February 28th with the offerings changing each month.

We're headed to the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island next weekend and will get back to you on our visit including the spa. We're looking forward to carving out a couple more beach days on this gorgeous oceanfront resort.

Clinique Modern Matte Fall 2008

We've been wearing our Prescriptives Fall 2008 collection for weeks and it's only the middle of September. We were equally impressed with the sophisticated, defined, matte look by Clinique in the Modern Matte collection available for fall.

Our favorites are first, the Defining Liner for Lips in Sugared Fig. We picked ours up at Macy's as soon as we saw it. Not only is it a great color, flattering for light and dark complexions, it has a built-in sharpener in the cap. We are constantly borrowing our girlfriends' sharpeners on vacation. There is something about remembering to pack one that is totally beyond us.

Next we chose the High Impact Lip Color in Plum Nude, not only does it have SPF 15; but it will go with all our purple...

Lastly, the Colour Surge Eye Shadows in Stone Violet and Slate are a great way to wear plums without looking retro 80's purple.