oh, say can you see… why spf is so important this weekend?

Treasured readers, I want to make sure you have a safe Independence Day weekend. To some, Fourth of July safety might mean not blowing off any extremities while playing with fireworks. But to me, it means making sure you use sun protection—because you’re bound to be outside on this beach- and BBQ-filled holiday.

Look, I get it: no matter how much we go on about how important it is to wear sunscreen, it’s always going to feel like a chore (like when your mom used to constantly badger you to ‘bring a sweater’). But one thing that makes slathering on the SPF a little more fun? When it’s part a really fabulous skincare formula. That’s why I wanted to share some of my absolute favorite skin-protecting picks. Each of these broad-spectrum blocks has a beauty bonus to make it so much more enticing to apply than your average ho-hum sunscreen. Load up on these babies to make sure your ‘red, white and blue’ celebration is a little less heavy on the red:

bliss best of skintentions spf 15
Beauty bonus: It nourishes skin with vitamins, minerals and omegas, and illuminates.

laboratoire remède uv coat spf 30
Beauty bonus: It’s a slightly tinted foundation that feels feather-light.

la mer the spf 30 uv protecting fluid
Beauty bonus: It helps prevent skin discoloration and unevenness.

3LAB perfect sunscreen spf 55
Beauty bonus: It has antioxidant green tea and acai berry for environmental protection.

rodial skinny beach spf 15 tinted
Beauty bonus: It firms, lifts and tones while delivering an instant bronze tint.

colorescience suncanny spf 20 bronzer brush
Beauty bonus: It supplies a sunless tan in seconds and is super-easy to dust on.

clarins uv plus day screen spf 40
Beauty bonus: Its Expertise 3P Anti-Pollution Complex helps shield skin from free radicals and pollution.

skinceuticals sheer physical uv defense spf 50
Beauty bonus: It increases skin’s resistance to UV aggressors, heat stress and DNA damage.

sisley all day all year spf 8
Beauty bonus: It’s a super-luxe anti-aging treatment that reduces lines and wrinkles.

sk-II facial treatment uv protection spf 25
Beauty bonus: It contains SK-II’s signature smoothing, brightening and moisturizing ingredient Pitera.

elemis liquid layer spf 30
Beauty bonus: It moisturizes with jojoba seed oil and coconut oil.

omorovicza complexion enhancer spf 15
Beauty bonus: It’s a tinted foundation that blurs imperfections to make skin look digitally retouched.

Hey, I figure if I’m going to celebrate America The Beautiful, I might as well do my part to keep its residents looking that way. So protect your skin this weekend, and make sure the only thing getting burned are those hot dogs on the grill (because unlike your skin, those can actually be good a little crispy).

‘Skin’-cerely,

Miss Bliss

Posted in Brands We Love, skin care, sunscreen | 1 Comment »

just your ‘luxe’: bliss now stocks more posh potions than ever

As any die-hard Bliss fan knows, we’ve loved cushy creams since we were just a twinkle in the spa industry’s eye. When we tried the legendary Crème de la Mer, it was love at first smear—and our obsession with sophisticated skincare brands only blossomed from there.

Aside from the fact that we don’t carry a product with a 3-digit price tag unless we’ve tried it and seen fabulous results, we also love the way using these fancy formulas makes us feel. We might not be strolling the red carpet, lounging at our private villa in Tuscany or dripping in diamonds—but meticulously massaging on a rich, opulent cream makes us feel like we could be. Heck, they make us feel so much like celebrities that we could practically be entering rehab (well, maybe not—but they do seriously rehabilitate your complexion).

We know there’s a lot of sumptuous skincare out there, but we’ve culled it down to the ‘crème de la creams’—if we’re hyping it, you know it’s good. There are certain classics we’ve been devoted to for years, like the aforementioned La Mer, along with names like Laboratoire Remède, Z. Bigatti and RéVive.

And now, we’re carrying more exciting new upscale brands than ever: SK-II, a Japanese brand whose signature age-fighting ingredient was discovered in a saké brewery. Elemis, a Brit brand that blends natural ingredients, science savvy and impressive clinicals. Omorovicza, a Budapest-born brand whose ‘mineral cosmetology’ products have left us ‘Hungary’ for more. And—you heard it here first—we’ve just debuted our latest discovery: Sisley, a famed French brand whose plant expertise and limitless scientific research budget make it one of our most exciting extravagances yet.

The best part? You’d normally have to visit a department store to shop all of these hard-to-find brands in one place. But on blissworld.com, you can browse all of them while you’re on the couch sporting your Steep Clean Mask—and you don’t have to deal with the annoying perfume-spritzing brigade.

So go ahead and peruse our selection of ‘fit for a queen’ fixes. Because while you might not be able to live out all your grandest fantasies, you can treat yourself to a dream cream and look as good as any paparazzi-dodger out there.

‘Skin’-cerely,

Miss Bliss

Posted in Brands We Love, skin care | No Comments »

good vibrations: the secret behind ‘pore’-fector gadget

Have you ‘heard’ about new ‘pore’-fector gadget, Bliss’ very first skincare device? In a nutshell, it uses sonic wave technology to give your pores a deep clean that’s on par with—we kid you not—the one you’d get from one of our expert estheticians (who absolutely love the thing, aside from worrying about whether it’ll put them out of business).

I realize the skeptic in you is probably wondering exactly how sonic vibrations can clean your pores. I mean, I’ll admit: it DOES sound a little far-fetched. But our education guru Donna (check her out in this how-to video) described it to me by using a really cool analogy that totally makes sense out of the science—and I wanted to share it with you.

Basically, she explains that sound waves move, which you know if you’ve ever been front row at a concert and seen the speakers actually pounding, or been in a nightclub and felt the beat shaking beneath your feet. That is sound in action, my friends.

Donna clarified it further with this great story, which totally gave me an “a-ha!” moment. See, her husband is a musician, and when he had his first band at the age of 13, his parents were kind enough to allow the foursome to rehearse in their basement. Needless to say, their rehearsals were LOUD—we’re talking three teenaged guitar players and a drummer, rocking out full-force. (Those are some seriously cool parents.)

Here’s the thing, though: the basement was directly underneath a gorgeous inlaid tile entryway, and after less than two months of the band rocking out below it, the tiles had actually become loosened from the grout by all of those sound waves. (Bet those parents were slightly less cool after they made that discovery.)

The ‘pore’-fector gadget’s sonic waves do the same thing, only much more gently. Think of the accumulated dirt, impurities, oil and dead skin cells on your complexion as the tiles, and the ‘Pore’-fector as the band—the device’s sonic power vibrates and ‘moves’ the skin’s surface to loosen up all that pore-clogging, skin-dulling gunk so it can be easily lifted and eliminated. (This also helps create pathways for better penetration of other skincare you apply).

After hearing Donna’s explanation, the power of ‘pore’-fector gadget doesn’t sound so hard to believe, does it? I know it was enough to convince me that it totally ‘rocks’.

‘Skin’-cerely,

Miss Bliss

Posted in pro tools, product launch, skin care | 1 Comment »

solve a case of spotted skin in 31 days

It’s no mystery that we’ve always been big on battling blemishes at Bliss. But this, my friends, is truly huge news for spot sufferers everywhere: we’ve just introduced a brand-new bliss acne system: no ‘zit’ sherlock!

Before I get into the ‘how’, I’m going to wow you with some clinical results we’re really jazzed about: it turns out that after using our new No ‘Zit’ Sherlock regimen, 95% of testers saw clearer skin in 31 days*. Those are some pretty impressive odds, no? I mean, your chances of getting a clearer complexion are a lot higher than winning lotto, and I’m sure you know lots of people who have shelled out for a Mega Millions ticket. Check out before and after photos of two of our lucky testers here.

So what’s in these potions that makes them work such magic? Well, aside from a hefty helping of salicylic acid to break up dead cells and oil, the star players here are probiotics. You may have heard of these being used in yogurt and dietary supplements—basically, they’re ‘beneficial’ bacteria similar to those found in your own body. They help boost skin’s natural defenses against acne-causing bacteria, and create a healthier environment. Learn more about the science behind these solutions here.

The regimen consists of three simple products: a cleanser+toner combo, a moisturizer and a serum. And to make life even easier for you—always our top priority—we’ve packed try-sizes of all three into a convenient little box, priced at just $32.

So what do you do when you want to pulverize pimples pronto? It’s elementary, my dear—pick up our new no ‘zit’ sherlock acne system.

‘Skin’-cerely,

Miss Bliss

*Quantitative results reported from independent clinical study. Individual results may vary.

Posted in product launch, skin care | 1 Comment »

it’s a (paraben) free-for-all!

We know you’re all as excited as we are about the launch of our new paraben free body butters (they’re rich, creamy and guilt-free—sort of like that bowl of fettucine alfredo in your dreams). Not only have we plucked the parabens from our famous potions, we’ve also lowered the price by seven dollars*. (You can spend that extra money on something nice for yourself—a couple of caramel macchiatos, or a few iPhone apps, perhaps). And butter buffs, take heart: We haven’t tinkered with anything else in the recipe—it’s the same maximum moisture formula you’ve always ‘rubbed’.

But let’s rewind a minute, and remind ourselves why being paraben free is so important in the first place. Parabens are preservatives used to prolong the shelf life of a plethora of products. In recent years, it’s practically become a swear word in beauty industry circles, due to some studies that suggest long-term exposure to the chemicals can lead to cancer, along with other unsavory effects.

After the initial hoopla, it’s been suggested that they may not be as dangerous as originally imagined, and the FDA is still looking at the data. But we believe in erring on the side of caution—after all, our products are all about making you feel good, and how can you do that when there’s a little voice in the back of your head wondering whether all the butter you’re slathering on is going to come back to bite you?

So with that in mind, our goal is to remove parabens from all of our products by the end of 2011. But for now, a bunch of our formulas (in addition to the body butters) are already free of the controversial little buggers. Here’s the full list:

poetic waxing at-home hair removal kit
ingrown eliminating pads
problem salved
blood orange+white pepper bath+shower gel
blood orange+white pepper soapy suds
lemon+sage soapy suds
vanilla+bergamot soapy suds
fabulous foaming body wash
blood orange+white pepper sugar scrub
lemon+sage body butter lite
naked body butter lite
fatgirlscrub
fatgirlsleep (in the US)
serious seaweed cellulite soap
mammoth minty scrub soap
the youth as we know it eye cream
the youth as we know it cleanser
the youth as we know it concentrate
steep clean pore purifying mask
steep clean deep pore cleanser
peeling groovy
best of skintentions (in the US)

Pretty impressive, no? So go ahead and get worry-free gorgeous, because at Bliss, we want to make sure you’re safe, sound… and absolutely stunning.

‘Skin’-cerely,

Miss Bliss

*Tube is now 1.8 oz smaller.

Posted in bath + body, cellulite, Green, hair removal, product launch, skin care | No Comments »

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