Come spring, I'm all about lightening up my beauty routine and find myself reaching for weightless products that feel effortless on the skin and lend to a more fresh and effortless beauty look. From my favorite shadow palette to innovative products and multitasking wonders from my favorite natural and luxury brands, I've rounded up the best spring beauty products you should try now.



COMPLEXION
Smith & Cult Veiled Threat Weightless Micro-Blurring Foundation (comes in 42 shades)
With the Smith & Cult brand growing into a full beauty brand which is delivering impressive product launches, I was thrilled to hear about their new foundation. The velvety formulation of these foundation is only the beginning of its wonderful features. Concentrating on providing a radiant and more hydrated complexion, this impressive 12-hour coverage includes ingredients like aloe vera and chlorophyll which lends to a more improved skin texture and overall brightness. Best of all, their inclusive 42-shade range offers a helpful shade finder quiz to ensure you get the perfect match.



EYES
Arbonne It's All In The Eyes Volume 1 Eye Shadow Palette 
You may have first read about this amazing palette in my Valentine's Day post and I'm happy to report that I'm keeping this versatile collection of modern neutrals in heavy rotation for the spring. The earthy tones and flattering shades beautifully enhance the eyes with excellent color payoff in soft matte and satin finishes. I love using the bolder shades Forest (green), Amber (soft gold peach) and Red Rock (Rusty Red) as accent shades smoked out along the lower lash line in lieu of eye liner. This not only adds an unexpected element of color but makes the eyes pop without looking too dramatic. Unlike other products, the botanical-rich (cucumber extract, sunflower seen oil) formulation of these eye shadows contribute to its smooth texture and application.  Best of all, its compact design fits into slim makeup bags making it the perfect travel palette.

COLOR
ILIA Color Haze Pigment (comes in 5 shades, color Stutter shown above)
An ultra-creamy and dreamy pigment that's also muti-functional - sign me up!
Great to throw in the you makeup or beach bag, this pigment product really delivers a flattering flush of color on both your cheeks and lips in an easy fashion. Additionally, it perfectly adjusts to your personal intensity and dries down to a hydrated matte finish for a more polished look. If you're looking for a more intense hue, this cream product nicely builds without that dreaded caked on texture. Featuring Jojoba and Coconut oils, this whipped pigment is also both conditioning and soothing on the skin and lips. I love this lightweight cream color product for the spring season because it offers the perfect amount of color without using lots of product. Apply it on the cheeks, blending out in a soft-focus fashion for an instant fresh-faced look or pat pigment on the lips for pretty stained-effect pout.



BRONZE 
Laura Mercier Sun-Kissed Veil - Riviera Sun
Achieving that chic sun-kissed glow has never been easier with this light-weigh bronzing balm. This illuminating bronzing product gives the skin the perfect dewy finish and creates a elegant, sheer golden veil on the skin. To mimic that lit-from-the-sun glow in a flash, apply the product along the face using your fingertips and softly diffuse the product as you pat onto the skin. A creamy bronzing balm like this is perfect to have in your beauty bag as brushes aren't required for application and can be used on the body as well. Applying along your arms and legs can create a quick warm weather glow on-the-go.





Images: Courtesy of Smith & Cult, Arbonne, ILIA Beauty, Laura Mercier 

Rainy weather may lead to beautiful blossoms but they also tend to wreak havoc on our hair. From humidity to wind, spring rain can ruin a good hair day the moment you step out the door. With NYC experiencing consistent rain for the past couple of weeks, with more on the way, this seemed like the perfect time to write up a post on my best tips to tame frizzy tresses during wet weather.

Sharing my favorite products and hard-learned hair lessons, here are my tried-and-true tips on keeping the frizz at bay while keeping hair stylish:

1. Dry Hair Well
If you're like me, a great hair day begins with freshly washed hair. While some may want to skip a wash an rainy day, washing hair may be inevitable. Humidity likes any kind of moisture so it's important to really blow dry the hair from root to tip. Now is not the time to skimp on the effort - every bit of dampness you leave it your hair will ultimately frizz in this tricky weather. If you don't want your hair to look fluffy in a messy fashion, blow dry the hair in smaller sections to ensure all moisture is properly dried.

2. Prime Styling Products 
A rainy day is the perfect time to break out heavy-duty styling products that will not only protect the hair but diminish frizz while keeping styled hair in place. The best product to have on hand for such days is Living Proof Instant De-Frizzer, an ultra-conditioning finishing spray that packs a frizz-fighting punch (a hair taming power of over 90%). Another product I love using on hair, especially during wet weather is Bumble & Bumble Hairdresser's Oil. This lightweight oil smooths hair and adds a beautiful healthy shine while serving as a heat and UV protectant while calming frizz. Best of all, this oil tames pesky flyaways and extra frizz at the crown with minimal application. I like to blend a small drop onto my finger tips and gentle pat onto the crown for a polished finish. To seal in your look, Bumble & Bumble Thickening Dryspun Texture Spray offers a light mist of medium hold and allows the hair to have touchable body without weighing down the hair or using a ton of product.



3. Avoid Touching or Playing with Hair
Keep your hands off your hair. Constant touching or playing with hair only invites more frizz and unwanted texture. I can't tell you how many times I thought smoothing my hair with my hands would calm down the frizz but was sadly mistaken. The constant touching created more friction and awful frizz - an all around bad move.

4. Avoid Pretty Curled Styles 
A rainy day is not the time for perfectly styled curls. Chances are they will not hold up in rainy, humid weather and lead to an unwanted puffy look. Trust me as I have been on this side of a tragic hair day one too many times. These are the days to opt for sleeker looks and straighter blowouts.

5. Embrace Hair Accessories & New Looks 
A week of rain is just the time to try that chic ponytail or braided style you've been eyeing. Additionally, pinning the hair back with a trendy barrette or pin is stylish way to hide frizz-prone tresses while looking polished. Luckily, hair accessories are making a major comeback and New Yorkers have a wealth of options in this dreary wet weather. My favorite way to quickly tame hair in a flash is pulling my hair in a low ponytail and popping on a stylish silk scarf headband - quick, chic and out the door.

The Brand
Pili Ani in a not like any brand I've used before. This Filipino skincare company features a truly unique ingredient in their products which is an absolute game changer. Originating in Bicol, the southern island region of the Philippines, Pili Ani was built around the rich oils of the pili tree, which is specific to this location. Rosalina Tan, creator and proponent of organic agriculture, gravitated to this "chosen tree"and focused primarily on its beneficial oils.

These potent oils -- pili oil, which is found in the fruit's pup and elemi oil, which is found in the tree's bark -- carry intensely moisturizing qualities as well as being antioxidant-rich and have skin firming properties. These vital oils coupled together are the star ingredients in their exclusive skincare line.




The Key Product
While their multi-dimensional products are promoted as ultra-hydrating, fine-line and wrinkle diminishing skin wonders, pili oil is rich in Vitamin A and E which also aids greatly in healing. I was thrilled to learn more about the pili oil and was excited to hear stories of skin ailments and scarring healed through its use. I couldn't wait to get my hands on their Intense Hydrating Facial Cream and try it on my own scars, of which I have plenty.

With so much hope and being so moved by the brand's story and testimonies, I wondered if this product would work on my aggressive, hypertrophic scarring, With a lot of patience, I put their cream to the test.

To help explain the degree of my major scarring, I should explain a bit and how they develop. Oh boy are they frustrating.



My Scar Story
Caused by trauma, some of my scars are more extreme than others. Surgery is a form of trauma which causes inflammation of the tissue. With time that inflammation converts into a scar, sometimes becoming a hypertrophic scar (keloid). This kind of scar is a thickened, elevated scar that grows beyond the measures of a surgical lesion. As someone who has experienced extensive surgery, I am all too familiar with keloiding and found that my skin responds to all trauma with this kind of collagen-rich scarring.

The most frustrating and decades-old scarring is on my shoulders which was caused by a terrible sunburn. As the skin naturally-healed and peeled away, it caused small tears in my skin which healed over in large, puffy, dark-toned keloid scars. Growing with time, these were painful, tight scars which would pull on the skin. I didn't know how to tackle them at the time and tried everything under the sun to treat and heal.



Keloiding is my skin's natural response to healing. That meant cuts, surgery wounds, or even a pesky blemish could and would heal as an unsightly keloid. I refused to get cosmetic work (injectables and laser therapy) or have them surgically cut out as the chance of them returning or getting worse/bigger was far too high. Additionally, the amount of scars and area of coverage was far too much. The time, pain and money involved to treat by these cosmetic methods without a guarantee was not worth it.  I knew a topical treatment was my only method.

The Results
Vitamin E was working the best so far. Discovering that Vitamin E was a component found in pili oil, I had high hopes and started to lather my scars in their Intensely Hydrating Facial Cream as a new at-home treatment method. The progress was slow and while I secretly wished for a instant response, I held on and continued use. To my surprise the condition of my scars, even those decades-old shoulder keloids which I was so self conscious of, began to improve with use.

With a few months of consistent use, Pili Ani's cream has not only improved the texture of my keloids but has began evening out their color and lightening the harsh darkness, The raised-puffy nature of my scars haas also flattened which is such an improvement from their initial state. A keloid is very tough to the touch and with use, the areas of intense hypertrophic scarring has softened and continues to do so. Best of all, the painful strain I feel in each scar has finally settled due to do the intense hydration.



Like all great things, this is not an over night cure-all. It took consistent use and twice-a-day application to garner any results. I imagine it would work much quicker if the product is applied to a fresh scar. The scars I've treated are many years old and therefore require more product and greater attention. I have used Vitamin E creams and various oils in the past, in the same fashion, to no results. It is this uniquely blended, pili oil-rich cream that has really delivered an overall improved change in the condition of my scars.

Pili Ani has become a major staple in my daily morning/evening routine and I can't rave about it enough. I have been so embarrassed of my scars which constantly draw odd looks and comments. I am thrilled to proudly show them thanks to the help of Pili Ani. While I know my scars tell a visual story that will never be fully erased, I'm so glad I found a product that truly works and heals the additional troubles that come along with my scars and has improved their overall look and texture.

As the weather cools, it's completely normal to see your skin dry out and require twice as much moisture than the warmer months of the year. While we're inclined to drench the skin on our faces and bodies with moisture-rich products, we often forget that our scalps need the same attention.