Plump without the Sting?!

    We love the way lip-plumping glosses give us a sexy, full and flushed pout, but we can definitely do without the tingly, burning feeling that comes with them. That’s why we’re so excited to find out that DuWop (the company that created the first lip plumper in 1999) has come out with a new edition-- Lip Venom 2nd Sin-- which offers up the same great lip-enhancing benefits, without making us feel like we just kissed a bee.

   What makes this product unique is its surprising cooling sensation. A special ingredient, Coolant 10, is being used for the first time in a lip-plumper. Lip Venom 2nd Sin actually feels refreshing when you put it on. We only have one complaint: Why don’t they sell it in a larger size?


Skin Chic is excited to introduce Lip Venom 2nd Sin!! Come in and try it today!


(Daily Beauty)

Want longer, fuller looking lashes by Christmas?

Lash enhancement products are without a doubt a popular beauty trend. We have yet to come across a women who doesn't want longer, fuller looking lashes. Lately, it is nearly impossible to open up a women's magazine without seeing an advertisement for the latest and greatest lash growing product. We have been working with RevitaLash for over 4 years and have been in constant awe of the results. During our many interactions with other brands that claim enhanced lashes, we have yet to see the consistent results that RevitaLash offers. Now, with their launch of RevitaLash Advanced, our clients are seeing full results in just 3 weeks! 1/2 the time of the original formulation.

Beyond results, selecting a lash enhancing brand is equally about the company behind the product. RevitaLash not only stands behind their product 100%, but they stand behind their consumers. We love their story so much, we just had to share.

Here is their story:

(from www.revitalash.com)

It all began when a Doctor wanted to give his wife a very special gift.

RevitaLash® was developed by Michael Brinkenhoff, M.D. as a special gift for his wife, Gayle, while she was recovering from metastatic breast cancer treatments. Intensive chemotherapy had damaged Gayle’s once-beautiful eyelashes, leaving them fragile, sparse and thin. Based upon his knowledge and experience as a practicing ophthalmologist for over 25 years, Dr. Brinkenhoff believed that he could develop a formula that would give Gayle’s eyelashes the look of renewed health, strength and beauty.

After extensive research, Dr. Brinkenhoff, together with a talented team of cosmetic chemists, created a product that truly gave the beautiful look of renewed vitality to Gayle’s eyelashes. RevitaLash® was the perfect name for this amazing product!

Thus, an entirely new and unique cosmetic product was born; and a formula created originally for just one special lady has become a product available to men and women everywhere who want to have attractive, beautiful-looking eyelashes.

“Often we feel helpless when someone we love is suffering. I am very fortunate, in my own small way, to have been able to help Gayle through her recovery. Watching her be excited about her beautiful looking eyelashes has been a real joy.”

— Michael Brinkenhoff, M.D

Philanthropy& Community

Paying it forward and giving back are the key missions for Athena Cosmetics, Inc. (RevitaLash). Since the company launched its first product, RevitaLash, this mission has been in the hearts and minds of everyone at the company.

Gayle Brinkenhoff, Wife of RevitaLash founder Michael Brinkenhoff, is a breast cancer patient and survivor. So, supporting breast cancer initiatives is a paramount importance at the company. "Supporting breast cancer research is an integral part of the Athena Cosmetic, Inc mission," says Gayle. "Through building our company with this in mind, I have gained renewed strength and satisfaction by helping other cancer patients regarding healthy lashes and using a portion of our proceeds to help find a cure or support those battling and recovering from the disease."

Athena Cosmetics, Inc. has made philanthropy a cornerstone of its business profile. We believe in giving back to the community, as it is this core belief which inspired the creation of our company.

We are proud and honored to devote time, energy and resources to the goal of fighting breast cancer. With public education programs and by the contribution of time, energy and financial resources, Athena Cosmetics, Inc. will strive to reach the ultimate goal of finding a cure for this epidemic disease. Our philanthropic activities have been focused on several organizations dedicated to the breast cancer community across the country.

Susan B. Komen Walk for a Cure

American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life

Revlon Walk for Women

City of Hope’s Walk for Hope

Entertainment Industry Foundation

Cancer and Careers

The Breast Cancer Research Fund

…and many more.

http://www.revitalash.com/

Everyone's raving about KP duty!

     If you're like us, winter usually means dry, bumpy skin. Those 'chicken skin' bumps on the back of our arms get even worse, and no body cream seems hydrating enough.

Winter skin was not a pretty thing. That is.. before KP duty!

      KP duty is a real solution. It's almost magical how it has transformed our skin!

KP duty makes even the dryest skin soft and silky, and keeps it hydrated and glowing through the dryest, darkest months of winter.

..and we're not the only ones: The editors at New Beauty magazine rave about how effective KP duty is.

From New Beauty magazine's blog: Daily Beauty

"I’ve had annoying little bumps on the backs of my arms for as long as I can remember. I came to the point that I just thought they were a normal part of having fair skin. They’re not. It’s actually a condition known as keratosis pilaris (sometimes called “chicken bumps”), and can be treated.

I turned to a dermatologist-created two-step program to battle keratosis pilaris: DERMAdoctor KP Duty. The first step, Body Scrub with Chemical + Physical Medi-Exfoliation, is a combination of chemical peel and microdermabrasion treatments that gently exfoliates the skin, reducing redness and bumps. The second step is the Moisturizing Therapy for Dry Skin, which soothes and smoothes rough and bumpy skin.

Combined, the two products have nearly eliminated my “chicken bumps” in a matter of a couple weeks."

Time to peel away summer's damage and prepare for winter skin.

Did you accidentally get a little too much sun this summer? Is your skin looking dry and rough? Don't worry, there are several ways you can help your skin get backs its youthful glow.

Services
One of the quickest and easiest ways to reverse the effects of sundamage is with a professional facial. One of our favorite procedures is a microdermabrasion which removes the top layer of dead skin cells, revealing softer, healthier tissue. The procedure only takes about 30 minutes and has little if no downtime for most people. Having a microdermabrasion will not only give you instantly smoother, brighter looking skin, it will aid in the penetration of skin care products by up to 50%. [Microdermabrasion in Practice. 1995. Mahuzier, Francois MD.]

Other uses for microdermabrasion: softens acne scarring, decreases the appearance of hyperpigmentation, photo-damage, fine lines & wrinkles.

We have an esthetician 7 days a week that performs full facial microdermabrasion. Let us get you tucked into our heated bed, give you arm & neck massage, and peel away summer's damage.

Products
There are several options for topical products that will help resurface the skin. We recently fell in love with Jan Marini Skin Research's Retinol Plus. It is equal in strength to a mid level perscription vitamin A cream with out the irritation. By adding active ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, chrysin, anti-aging peptides and green tea extract, this retinol product separates itself from every other vitamin A product on the market.

After one use of this must have cream, your skin will feel softer and more hydrated. Give it a few weeks and your skin will start to glow! Check out these before and after photos from Jan Marini. We'll let the pictures do the talking!



Take time to meet with a Licensed Esthetician to discuss what services or at home products you may need to reach the results you want.

Kiss the world with rose-colored lips

Ask any lip balm pundit to name their top-five picks, and Fresh's best-selling Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 is bound to appear on the list. And now, the formula is sure to garner a few more fans with it's berry-hued reincarnation, Sugar Rosé Tinted Lip Treatment SPF 15.

This colorful new take on the brand's beloved balm still has the nourishing ingredients of the original. Black currant, meadowfoam seed and apricot kernal oils provide replenishing fatty acids and lots of moisture; grapeseed polyphenols and vitamins A, C, and E offer antioxidant protection; and the eponymous sugar helps hold onto hydration. Plus, there's still an essential SPF 15 rating.

But this time around, lips get a hint of ruby tint that helps wake up any complexion. Add for an especially feminine feel, Fresh has added a rose aroma to the citrus flavor carried over from the original.
Want something a little darker? Come into Skin Chic and try the brand new Sugar Passion or Sugar Plum Tinted Lip Treatment SPF 15. They work as a lip and cheek color!

We love the effortless beauty this balm helps to exude, instantly through color and cumulatively through care.


http://www.newbeauty.com/

Skin Chic celebrates it's 10th Anniversary. Founder, Cindy Duncan shares her story.

In 2000, still young in our marriage, my husband and I began a journey to find the perfect city to raise a family. We flew into Seattle, WA, rented a car and started a 17 day road tour around the Pacific Northwest. After visiting several Washington and Idaho cities, we continued east on I-90 and pulled into Missoula, MT.

We found a local restaurant to have dinner and decided to stay overnight. As we walked Missoula’s downtown streets, we could hear the sounds of a live bluegrass band coming from a corner bar. We walked in to find a wall of beer taps. We sat down at the bar and order a couple of beers. Both of us first saw a tap with a pink pig on it. “We will take 2 Pigs Ass Porters, please,” my husband ordered. We took one sip, looked at each other and said…..”This is the coolest place!”

We flew back to Florida the next day, sold everything we owned and set off for our new beginning in Big Sky Country. Neither one of us had a job or a plan. All we knew was that we loved what Missoula’s community had to offer and wanted to be a part of it. We just didn’t know how yet.

In my 20’s and into my 30’s I suffered from adult acne and rosacea. Living most of my life in Florida and spending a lot of my time outdoors, I needed help with my skin. I refused to wear sunscreen because it aggravated my acne and rosacea.  My sister, 21 years older, gave me a facial as a present (the first one I have ever had). My aesthetician gave me a California Girl Brush and said “Use this every day, this is your sunscreen that won’t irritate your skin and it will help camouflage your redness.” I agreed, because I was so tired of people asking me, “Are you OK? Are you upset? Are you hot?” My breakouts were driving me crazy!

As soon as I realized the winter I was facing in Montana, I knew I had to find something to do with my time. Having 20 years of sales experience, I picked up the phone and called Diane Ranger, the founder of Colorescience. I told her my story and asked her for a job.  Diane laughed when I told her where I lived. Colorescience was just starting and Diane was hoping I was in LA or NY, but agreed to send me a makeup kit to see what I could do.

Not having a lot of capital to work with, I started in Nolita, a small clothing boutique in downtown Missoula. The owner graciously let me sell Colorescience, a brand new mineral makeup line that people hadn’t heard of yet, to her clients. After I began to create a larger following, I moved into a space inside of the historic Hammond Arcade building, which we now refer to as “Baby Skin Chic” and added two employees. Having a larger space was exactly what we needed; however, I still desired a street front location. A few years later, my wish came true. The store in front of us moved locations which offered us the rare opportunity to get street visibility. Our square footage tripled, which meant we needed to find more products.

Since my career with Colorescience required me to travel and meet with Dermatologists and Plastic Surgeons, I was given access to the latest and greatest in skin care and was the first to bring it to Missoula before a lot of big cities even knew about it.

In 2007, now having grown to a staff of 8, we made an exciting decision to move our downtown boutique to the Southgate Mall. Although, it was difficult to leave behind so many memories, we were excited to finally start offering facial and waxing services and to take our “skin serious” motto to the next level.

Skin Chic grew out of my passion for what Colorescience did for my skin and self-esteem. I wanted to pass that on to other women.  My goal was to create a place where women could receive education in a comfortable environment and without making an appointment.  I am proud that I have a confident staff with over 70 years combined experience that is able to consistently offer the best in customer service, makeup and skincare.

Thank you for 10 amazing years.  Skin Chic will always be committed to staying abreast of makeup trends and skin care technologies while offering a personal, comfortable experience.

Love,

Cindy Duncan

Microcurrent Facials: Do they work?

From Elle magazine:

What is microcurrent?

          Microcurrent treatments use low levels of microcurrent electricity—1/1,000,000 of an amp (a light bulb runs on less than one ampere)—to stimulate the muscles of the face and neck.

How does it work?  
         On a muscular level, the microcurrent acts like a personal trainer to tone and shorten muscle fibers. On a dermal level, as Peter Pugliese, the skin physiologist, notes, there is serious anti-aging action going on. Pugliese has spent more than five years analyzing microcurrent’s effect on fibroblasts by biopsying skin before and in between microcurrent treatments, and has found a statistically significant increase not only in the production of collagen and elastin, the skin’s main structural proteins, which degrade with age, but in that of glycosaminoglycans, or “GAGs,” the viscous material in which the proteins are embedded. “When you see a nice plump cheek like a baby’s and you pinch it and it feels very good and snappy,” he says, “that’s GAGs.”
Does it really work? 
        And, according to dermatologist Nicholas Perricone, the long-term benefits are more than skin-deep: If you have a microstimulation machine, “you don’t have to have perfect genes,” Perricone says. “When I first started working with celebrities, I assumed they were genetically gifted and had perfect symmetry.” But now he knows that symmetry can be made: “Not only can we use electrostim to increase our muscle mass, we can accentuate one side of the face by working it harder than the other to give a more symmetrical appearance.”
       Electric facials are on the menu everywhere from Perricone’s New York flagship spa to Four Seasons hotels to Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door salons. Professional-grade microcurrent machines emit a positive and a negative current via two wands, probes, or sponges. When the probes are placed a few inches apart on the face, a circuit of current travels from one point to the other and “stimulates” the tissue in between, Perricone says.
How does it feel?
          The current is subsensory, which means all one feels is the gliding of the rods and perhaps a slight tingle. Customers often fall asleep midfacial.

Celebrity treatment.. available to you!
          Regular microcurrent sessions were rumored to be Princess Di’s beauty secret. Depending on where the probes are placed, (microcurrent) can smooth a furrowed area by stretching the muscle or add lift by shortening the muscle.
      “If you lift from the cheekbones toward the hairline, it will make your eyes more almond shaped,” says makeup artist Kristin Hilton, who travels between New York and L.A. to work on clients including Uma Thurman and Milla Jovovich. “You can even create an arch in the eyebrows.” ..I’m a skeptical person,” Hilton says. “For me to like something like this is unusual. But I use it for five minutes on each side, pulling upward. Everything’s tighter. You look more awake. People know something’s different, but they don’t know what. Usually they say, ‘Did you get your hair cut?’”

Want to learn more?
Read the full Elle article here

Skin Chic's talented estheticians offer microcurrent treatments: Call us at 406-541-8464 for details.

Could you be the 1st Annual Face of Skin Chic?

The search is on for the First Annual Face of Skin Chic....could it be you?

How does it work?If you want to be the NEW face of Skin Chic, simply register and upload a picture of yourself and summary why you deserve to win! It is THAT simple!
Who gets chosen?A panel of owners and business people will select the top 10 from all of the entrants. From there, YOU and YOUR friends and family get to decide! The top 10 will go to vote beginning Nov. 10 and voting will happen until Nov. 21.
What does it mean to be the "New Face of Skin Chic"?The New Face of Skin Chic will be in all of Skin Chic's advertising, brochures, in-store promotions...everywhere! Winner will also be available for in-house events, parties, social media...and so on! It also means the winner will receive the amazing prize package below:

1. One year of skin care products
2. One year of makeup products
3. 4 deep-cleansing facials in a year
4. One brow wax each month for a year
5. One year of make-up/skin consultation
6. Professional photo shoot with portfolio
7. Cosmetic brush set
8. Complimentary make-up application each month for a year, for all your special events!
9. 5 head shots by Betsy Doughtery Photography
10. Cut and color by Katt Ahlstrom with Canvas Studios
11. Value of $4,500 total

Go to our Facebook page www.facebook.com/skinchic406 for details and to enter. Then, tell all your friends to vote!

Mineral Sunscreen 101 With Colorescience Pro

Just because summer is ending doesn't mean you can stop wearing your sunscreen. Most sun exposure comes from everyday activities such as walking the dog, driving, walking to and from the car, etc. We have an easy solution that will keep your skin protected from the sun and create a more even looking complexion.

Colorescience Pro created Sunforgettable SPF 30 in 2005 and made a splash as the first powder sunscreen on the market; but with new studies coming to light about the mis-use and mis-application of sun protection – they opted to create something even bolder and stronger: SPF 50 – currently the highest rated mineral powder SPF on the market.

The new SPF 50 is better for sun safety compliance and for more extreme situations – ie: post laser or vacation in extended heat. There is also a higher percentage of zinc and titanium dioxide in the product itself.

Sunforgettable sun protection relies on the reflective and refractive properties of micronized titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. The clear, weightless powder does not rub off on clothes, is safe for all ages, odor free and will not burn the eyes when perspiring.

“After all, the single most important anti-aging product is the right sun protection,” says founder of Colorescience Pro, Diane Ranger.”

Acne: How it works, and real solutions

(These results were achieved using Jan Marini's Skincare Management System)

What Causes Acne?

• The Right Mix: Oil and bacteria can live harmlessly in the pores, but when sebum (oil) gets trapped and can’t flow to the skin’s surface, and it mixes with bacteria inhabiting the follicle, you get a pimple.
• An Attempt to Heal: Acne prompts an an inflammatory response in the skin in an attempt to heal itself. "With continued inflammation, it becomes harder and harder to treat the skin because it becomes more sensitive to products," says Las Vegas dermatologist Dr. Alison Tam.
• How Breakouts Heal: Why does your skin scar after breaking out? “Long-standing inflammation in the skin leads to scarring and the tissue being remodeled. When this happens, acne scars, texture changes and hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation can occur,” adds Dr. Tam.

How to Fight It: 
To properly treat recurring breakouts, follow a plan of attack that includes lifting away dead skin through exfoliation, killing acne-inducing bacteria, minimizing the amount of oil produced, using a healing antioxidant to fight inflammation, and always protecting your skin with sunscreen.

A truly comprehensive, permanent acne solution often cannot be addressed by one product. It's important to remember that just killing the bacteria isn't enough to get beautiful, blemish free skin!

Have more questions? Come in and talk to our experienced staff about what solution would work for you.

(Source: New Beauty, April 2011)

Skin Chic is now blogging!

Welcome to the Skin Chic blog! We are excited to add another way for us to stay in touch with our clients and share information about products and services.

Our commitment to you is to provide valuable and relevant information regarding your skin care needs. The world of cosmetics is constantly changing so let us help you stay informed.

Find out about our sales and special event by following us on Facebook and Twitter.