As a frequent traveler and longtime fan of MD Skincare, we absolutely must have this MD Skincare Team Travel Set:

This handy travel set contains 3o application packettes of MD Skincare Alpha Beta Daily Face Peel, a 1.7 oz. All-in-One Facial Cleanser with Toner and a 1.7 oz. Hydra-Pure Firming Body Cream—all favorites of Makeup Bag.

Also included is a stacked set of 6 refillable pots—ideal for daytime moisturizer, night cream, sunscreen, foot cream, and pretty much every other lotion and potion on our bathroom counter.

The best part? This $116 value is available for only $78. (Come to think of it, we might need two!)

Teen Corner comes to you a day early this week, because—drumroll please—I’M GOING FISHING!

I’m not kidding. It’s the coldest day of the season so far, and my best friend Andrea and I are going to be out on the river with my Dad. It’s going to be just the three of us (a little father-daughter bonding thing, I guess) with no MySpace, no cell service, and possibly no Creme de la Mer (I’m trying to convince my mom to let me bring along her jar) for an entire weekend.

Before you go and peg me a spoiled brat for the whole Creme de la Mer thing, let me just say—it’s not mine, and I don’t use it every day. But the stuff works. Especially when it’s cold and windy and my normally good skin gets all chapped and dry. Gross.

Andrea and I consulted on the phone last night and came up with a little list of beauty essentials for our trip:

• Boots No 7 Quick Thinking 4-in-1 Wipes—I know I always talk about these, but they really are an essential part of my beauty routine. Fishing trip or not, these are coming along.
• Clinique Acne Solutions Emergency Gel-Lotion—because I’m not taking any chances. If there happens to be cute boys on the river (please God, let there be cute boys on the river) they will be charmed by my smashing personality and exquisite fly-casting ability—not blinded by a huge zit on my face.
• Nivea Original Moisture Body Lotion—there are probably two dozen different body lotions here at my house that do an equally great job, but I just love the way this one smells. (This reminds me of the time a guy-friend came to our house for the first time and was like, “what’s with all the lotion?” I hadn’t noticed before, but as I took a look around the kitchen and living room, there were no less than 8 full-sized bottles of lotion sitting in plain sight. Our family might be crazy, but we all have soft skin. Ha!)
• Vaseline Intensive Rescue Heal & Repair Balm—I’m actually packing this product for my dad, whose legs get dry and scaly after standing in the cold river in neoprene waders for hours on end. It’s so thick and creamy and relieves dryness and discomfort in seconds. (This will also be my backup in case my mom won’t let me bring the Creme de la Mer—I’ll use it to protect my face from windburn.)
• Neutrogena Healthy Defense Oil-Free Sunblock Stick SPF30—because I’m not allowed to step outside without sun protection, and this one is just easy.
• Chapstick—a good ‘ol standby that never lets me down.

I’m not bringing any makeup—the fish (and cute boys) will have to appreciate my natural beauty (ha)—but, seriously, I’m looking forward to my weekend outdoors. Andrea and I are psyched!

Hope your weekend is as fun as mine is going to be.

xo,

Bree

Smelling good is high up on my list of Things that Matter, right up there with my cell phone, cute accessories and my baby sister. (Really, she’s not a baby—she’s 5—but she rocks my world.)

I like to smell fresh and clean without being too “perfume-y” if you know what I mean.

Recently I discovered Body by Maurices, a bath and body line exclusive to one of my favorite places to shop: Maurices. There’s three fruity flavors (Cool Citrus, Sweet Sage, and Berry Blush) available in a body scrub, cleansing gel, body butter, lotion, and body spray.

I love the Cool Citrus scent of the body spray—so refreshing! I can smell super yummy without being overwhelming.

Stop by your local Maurices and check these out!

Until next week,

Bree

The new Beauty Rush Body by Victoria’s Secret is a fruity scented body care line inspired by the awesome Beauty Rush Lipgloss.

With six summer scents available in a body mist, moisture gel, lotion, and glimmer wash—you’ll be smelling delightfully fresh all season long.

The only issue will be deciding which of the yummy scents to get:

• Slice of Heaven
• Passion Fruit Pop
• Strawberry Fizz
• Appletini
• Grapefruit Blast
• Grapesicle

Or you could make it easy on yourself and get them all.

Beauty Rush Body is available at Victoria’s Secret stores and online at victoriassecret.com.

We’ve been reading about Product Body and their incredible line of bath & body products for nearly a year but only tried them for the first time last week. Finally.

We were most excited to try Crush On You, the Ultra Plush Sugar Shea Scrubby Wash that everyone’s talking about. While the scent we tried, Yuzu, was a little too citrus-y for us, the product itself is INCREDIBLE. Our skin is so smooth and soft, we feel like we’ve had a glycolic treatment over our entire body.

(And you probably don’t know who The Jets are because you were probably born in the 80’s and have skin so incredible you’ve never even heard of a glycolic treatment much less experienced one, but every time we use this product we get Crush on You by The Jets stuck in our head.) (Shut up. It was 1986 and we didn’t know any better.)

The bad thing about Crush On You is that our husband discovered it and can’t keep his hands off it. He’s enchanted with the Yuzu scent. Of course he’ll never admit this (in fact he might just show the kids our secret stash of Milk Duds if he finds out we’ve told you) but he’s referring to our Crush On You as if it were his. When we tried to hide it from him he was all Where did you put my scrubby stuff ?

We also tried the Product Body Cream, also in Yuzu, and OHMYGOD this stuff is like nothing we’ve tried before. In a futile attempt to describe this to our friend we were like It’s sooooo soft. And cushiony. And creamy. And soft. You HAVE to try it.

I’m sure she thinks we’re nuts.

But seriously. You HAVE to try it.

If we lived close enough to New York City and the office of Dr. Dennis Gross, we would stop by each and every morning and give the brilliant doctor a kiss on his cheek to show our appreciation for his amazing products.

Dr. Gross is the creator of MD Skincare, the company behind our beloved Alpha Beta Daily Face Peel, and is now launching a revolutionary body cream that not only hydrates and firms, but promotes long-term collagen production and removes unwanted minerals and impurities left on the skin by water. Hydra Pure Firming Body Cream increases the water content of skin by providing triple-phase moisturization with essential oils, humectants and chelators (these soften water to remove calcium).

We saw immediate results from this product, waking up to dewy skin after only one application. The cream is light and blends well, without any greasy residue. The only downside is the price at $120 for 6.7 ounces (which we’re guessing would last us about 4 weeks). But hey, you can’t expect the Fountain of Youth to be cheap.

MD Skincare Hydra Pure Firming Body Cream, $120

Nourishing.

After weeks of grossing out our husband with sick amounts of body oil (he has a serious aversion to any kind of oil on his skin and has to actually LEAVE THE BATHROOM when we apply it lest he gag from the disgustingness of it) we changed our routine this morning and covered ourself in Keri Nourishing Shea Butter Moisture Therapy.

We sort of forgot how nice it feels to rub a rich, creamy lotion into our skin. And Keri Nourishing Shea Butter lotion has natural shea butter and vitamin E to hydrate and condition dry skin.

Also, it smells yummy but is mild enough to get along with a spritz of Chanel Allure as we walked out the door.

That’s our kind of lotion.

Keri Nourishing Shea Butter Moisture Therapy, $7

Gift sets for the holiday are definitely the way to go.

Not only do they pack a huge value, but they give the receiver an opportunity to try a range of products that they otherwise wouldn’t.

The Body Shop has some great holiday gift sets like this Vanilla Spice Quartet Gift with Body Butter, Shimmer Body Lotion, Soap, and Lip Balm in the yummy Vanilla Spice scent.

There isn’t a girl out there that wouldn’t want this under her tree.

The Body Shop Vanilla Spice Quartet Gift, $25