Choosing gifts for the important people in your life is difficult enough as is, but when you add makeup, skin-care, and hairstyling products to the list and you’re setting yourself up for mission impossible. The way cosmetics counters are set up complicates matters even more, given the often-overwhelming number and variety of products and the consultants, who will say anything to get you to buy from their line. So, how do you know which products really work and also look and feel good? The Cosmetics Cop Team is here to help!

Out of the thousands of products we use and review each year, these standout favorites are bound to be a hit, whether you’re treating a loved one or yourself. Best of all, you don’t even have to leave your couch to find them!

Paula’s Perfect Presents:

• Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid ($18.95). I use it every evening and wake up with the smoothest skin imaginable. This never fails to amaze me, and I’ve been using it for years.
• Paula’s Choice Pure Mineral Sunscreen SPF 15 ($15.95). I use this every day on my hands and chest. The result: no brown spots … and it holds up beautifully, even after washing my hands.
• Paula’s Choice Moisture Boost Hydrating Treatment Cream ($18.95). This is the perfect moisturizer for my eye area!

Nathan’s Not on the Naughty List Products:

• Paula’s Choice RESIST Advanced Replenishing Toner Skin Remodeling Complex ($18.95). Innovation was the word for 2010 at Paula’s Choice, and instead of raving once more about our 2% BHA Liquid, I cannot deny (resist?) that the unique and complex formula in this newest addition to the RESIST collection is my new favorite body moisturizer! I have never been a fan of lotions for the body, so the Skin Recovery Toner was the perfect substitute … until now! With incredible benefits, the unparalleled array of antioxidants and cell-communicating ingredients in the RESIST Advanced Replenishing Toner soothed my winter dry skin, without the “lotion feel.” (Bonus: It takes only about 15 seconds to apply!)
• Clarisonic Classic Sonic Skin Cleansing System ($195). This was a gift from a friend—and it has been a fantastic alternative to the washcloth! I’ve dealt with ingrown hairs from shaving (endlessly, it seems), but after a few weeks of daily use, the Clarisonic, along with my  CLEAR Normalizing Cleanser, has made for the perfect shave and is a splurge-worthy gift!

Desiree’s Dream Gifts:

• Paula’s Choice RESIST Weekly Resurfacing Treatment with 10% Alpha Hydroxy Acid ($26.95). Even though I already use a BHA exfoliant that I love, I decided to give the Weekly Resurfacing Treatment a try after hearing all the rave reviews from customers. To my delight, I really did wake up with glowing, radiant skin the next morning. After using Paula’s Choice products for over a year now, I didn’t think my skin could get any better, but with the help of this product, it did!
• Too Faced Naked Eye Kit ($35). I fell in love with this eyeshadow palette the instant I laid eyes on it. There are nine gorgeous shades, including gray, beige, black, brown, and light pink, in either soft matte or shimmer finishes. It’s rare to find an eyeshadow set in which all the colors are beautiful and usable, but this kit nails it, offering endless combinations for subtle or sexy eyes!

Daynah’s Decadent Delights:

• Paula’s Choice Beautiful Body Butter ($16.95). This decadent hydrating cream is a staple in my life (especially in winter), and it makes an excellent gift because it’s so versatile and luxurious! You can use it on dry elbows, heels, or all over your hands. (I keep some right at my desk!) The texture is rich, but it absorbs so well you’re never left feeling greasy. The packaging is unisex, and an added bonus is the delicious chocolaty cocoa butter scent—and zero calories!
• Chanel Rouge Coco Hydrating Creme Lip Colour ($30). Very few shoppers are going to drop $30 on a lipstick, but that’s the joy of gift-giving, getting to spoil your loved ones (or yourself, we won’t tell!). I consider this lipstick a worthy splurge for any lady on my list—it’s absolutely divine! I can’t get enough of its creamy texture, incredible stain (which means it has staying power), and the gorgeous, sleek Chanel packaging. Lipstick may seem tricky for gifting, but the now-famous Mademoiselle shade is amazingly universally flattering (a blend of mauve, pink, and peach), and it will work on most fair to medium skin tones. In fact, it’s such a hit that Chanel counters all over the country sold out of the shade the first day it was on the market!

Bryan’s Buzz-Worthy Favorites:

• Paula’s Choice Skin Balancing Moisture Gel ($18.95). It’s not an easy task picking my favorite Paula’s Choice product, but this one is my go-to. A “never-fail” option for handling minor dryness, it keeps my skin smooth (never oily,) especially after shaving. I use it every day, and during the winter months, I follow with one of our more emollient moisturizers for my eye area, which is drier than the rest of my face.
• Bumble and bumble Sumowax ($25). I discovered this styling wax back when Paula and I were working on the last edition of “Don’t Go Shopping for Hair-Care Products Without Me,” in 2004. Needing a wax for the way my hair was cut at the time, I figured, “Why not?” Almost seven years later, I am never without this product. It’s expensive, yes, but a little goes a long way; I can make a jar last almost a year. And it works so well for finishing my hairstyle that the expense is worth it. I also love Bumble’s Styling Spray; it works great for normal to fine hair that needs light hold and body without stickiness.

Happy holiday shopping, and don’t forget to check out Beautypedia.com for more product recommendations from The Cosmetics Cop Team!

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I had the pleasure of taking my 9-year-old daughter to see Tangled, Disney’s newest animated fairy tale. Generally speaking, I’m a tough sell on animated films, and even more so if they’re aimed at kids, but I found this one incredibly delightful. I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed it.

What also surprised me was the anti-aging theme, which ended up being the premise for the film’s entire plot. In this variation on the famous Brothers Grimm fairy tale, the old witch who steals Rapunzel from her crib does so not because she wants a daughter, but because Rapunzel’s long enchanted hair acts as an instant beauty treatment! Of course, as I watched Rapunzel’s hair do its magic on the screen, I couldn’t help but think of all the miracle ingredients and outrageous claims The Cosmetics Cop Team encounters daily. The witch’s wrinkles disappeared instantly, not a far cry from the promises made for numerous skin-care products that promise the same kind of impossible, miraculous anti-aging transformation.

The oddest thing to me? I’m not sure why this beauty aspect of the film surprised me, but it did. After all, many fairy tales use the quest for endless youth as the villain’s motivation. There are lots of examples:

• The evil stepmother in Snow White, whose vanity consumes her to murderous ends.
• Sleeping Beauty’s Aurora contends with the jealous and over-the-hill Maleficent.
• And then there’s Cinderella, in which the less-attractive stepsisters and stepmother scheme to enslave the beautiful girl.

More recently, Neil Gaiman’s novella-turned-film Stardust featured the wicked Lamia (played by Michelle Pfeiffer), who needed to eat the heart of a fallen star, Yvaine (Claire Danes), to restore her youth and beauty. (I’m guessing that “Heart of a Fallen Star” is one miracle ingredient The Cosmetics Cop Team is not likely to stumble across in anti-aging products! But who knows? After all, this is the cosmetics industry!)

It’s always bothered me that the women in fairy tales either are young and beautiful or are conniving (and even trying to kill!) to become young and beautiful. Considering that Stardust and Tangled are recent releases, the quest for eternal youth is a narrative trend that doesn’t seem to be changing.

I hope that other parents use these stories like I did, as an opportunity to start a conversation about real beauty with their kids, because, fairy tale or not, cinema has a long history of portraying the villain as less attractive than the hero. As we all know, in reality, lots of villains are very good looking (charming, even), and many heroes don’t meet the traditional standards of beauty. In a world teeming with false advertising of all kinds, you should remind your children that outside appearance is not necessarily a direct reflection of what’s on the inside—even if you’re a Disney princess.

Punctuality is a virtue, but it’s also an absolute expectation in the professional world. No matter how beautiful your makeup looks or how stylishly your outfit is put together, it’s really all for naught if you arrive to work late!

To that end, streamlining my morning routine has become an obsession. (No surprise to me—my family has always joked that I am “The Efficiency Expert.” And it’s true: If there seems to be a faster, better, or more convenient way to get something done, then I’ve probably tried it.) My years spent as a busy working mother and grad student have yielded some tried-and-true tricks that I rely on every day to make sure I look great and still arrive on time, wherever I’m headed.

I hope that one or more of these tips will help you, too!

• Pick out your entire outfit the night before. This means assembling your entire ensemble: coat, earrings, socks—everything! Don’t let your morning get hijacked as you scramble to pick out the perfect necklace. You can do all of this the night before, and you’ll undoubtedly look more put together the next day. My kids love to help me pick out my clothes, and it sets a good example for them as they learn to dress for themselves and develop their own sense of style!

• Do your non-essential or pampering skin-care treatments at night. Adding extra products to your morning routine means extra time spent waiting for them to absorb. Cleansing, toning, and a liberal application of broad-spectrum SPF 15 or higher sunscreen really is all you need in the morning. Unless I’m treating a breakout, I exfoliate before I go to bed—and wake up with glowing skin! I also use my evenings to touch up my nails, tweeze my brows, and tend to any other beauty details that will slow everything down in the AM.

• Keep a clock in your bathroom, but not your cell phone! Not only is the moisture in the bathroom damaging to your phone (and can activate your phone’s moisture indicator, which voids the warranty), but you can easily get sidetracked by texting or emailing while you should be getting ready. Put your phone in your briefcase or purse—and leave it there!

• Brush your teeth in the shower. You’re already there, so why not? Instead of wasting water while I let the conditioner sit on my hair, I brush my teeth. But, always remember to cleanse your face right after you brush so there’s no risk of skin irritation from toothpaste residue (I learned this the hard way). I usually wash my face while I’m rinsing the conditioner out of my hair—talk about multi-tasking!

• Choose multi-tasking products. Using a well-formulated tinted moisturizer with sunscreen can save you so much time and money! You’ll get coverage, hydration, and sun protection, all in one. Paula’s Choice Barely There Sheer Matte Tint SPF 20 and Laura Mercier’s Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 are two of my favorites. (Browse Beautypedia.com to discover your own.)

• Don’t experiment with a new makeup look or new products. Save that fun for the weekend. Adding a new makeup look can take time—and what if it doesn’t look good? You’ll have to start all over….

• Keep your makeup routine simple. This one speaks for itself—but if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that staying on schedule means keeping it simple!

Do you have any of your own time-saving beauty tips? I’d love to hear any clever ways that you’ve learned to save yourself time in the morning!

I recently visited my dermatologist for an annual skin cancer check. Having fair skin and being of northern European descent (not to mention getting a few bad sunburns as a kid), this is a visit I make at least once each year. My partner, who normally avoids doctors like a dieter avoids dessert, surprised me when he asked if he could make an appointment, too. He wanted to have his skin checked out and had some other concerns as well. This could get interesting….

When I asked what inspired him, he replied, “Well, I’m not getting any younger and I want to look good for you as long as I can!” I assured him that what keeps us together has little to do with looks (although I’m not denying that he is really adorable), and made another appointment.

Surprisingly, the dermatologist had back-to-back openings, so we went in together and spent almost an hour with her. She did a thorough skin exam on me and didn’t see anything suspicious, but she found a suspicious mole on my partner’s back and went ahead and removed it. You may wonder what made her suspicious of the mole. The biggest clue was that the mole was considerably darker than any other mole in the area. It also had an uneven border rather than a smooth border. As it turned out, the biopsy revealed that the mole was benign, but better safe than sorry!

I was sure that after that, my partner would be ready to bolt (needles and scalpels make him queasy), but he just sat up and pointed out several other areas of cosmetic concern, asking what could be done for each.

The dermatologist was excellent: patient, honest, and matter-of-fact. I was done with my appointment, but my partner asked me to stay in the exam room with him, saying “you know all the big medical words to use and can talk about this skin stuff without sounding dumb.” That was enough for me, so I stayed put. The dermatologist pointed out two patches of actinic keratosis (a precursor to skin cancer and 100% caused by sun damage) on his face, and I watched as he had these sun-damaged areas treated with liquid nitrogen. She was thrilled to hear that both of us apply sunscreen daily (Paula’s Choice, of course)!

Next, the dermatologist lanced and drained the contents of some whiteheads (milia) on his forehead, which he said hurt more than he was letting on (such a brave guy!), and then she zapped some broken capillaries with an electric needle. Using an electric needle for this process is a dated technology (lasers and light-emitting devices are considered more effective, but they also cost a lot more per treatment), but it’s a good option to consider before moving on to “the big guns,” just to see how the red spots respond. In this case, one spot responded really well, the other only saw a 50% reduction.

I was fascinated by the whole sequence of events, even though I’ve had these procedures performed or had researched them in the past. Watching it being done, rather than being the one getting poked and zapped, was a transfixing experience.

Afterward, looking a bit blotchy from the facial treatments and bandaged from the mole removal, he declared “It wasn’t so bad after all.” In fact, on the ride home, he surprised me, proclaiming, “I think that after going through all this, I’m ready for some Botox!” Does he need Botox? As far as I’m concerned, no, but I’m also aware that his forehead lines bother him. So, if he wants to get Botox, I’m not going to stand in his way. Apparently, he won’t be standing in his own way anymore, either!

As part of The Cosmetics Cop Team, I constantly browse medical journals, read study summaries, and look for the latest in peer-reviewed (meaning legitimate) skin-care research. Hype-driven product marketing often relies on biased in-house studies, which can appear very persuasive, but Paula and the Cosmetics Cop Team rely only on published, third-party research to substantiate our reviews and the research we cite for all Paula’s Choice products. I take this part of my job very seriously, and given my background in academia, I also quite enjoy it.

My favorite part of this work, however, is coming across bizarre studies that I can’t believe anyone ever took the time to dream up. Every time I think I’ve seen the strangest one, I encounter another that’s even stranger, or perhaps one that just doesn’t seem to have any purpose whatsoever. Some sound more like elementary school science fair entries than medical studies. Either way, for your amusement, I share with you some of the sillier studies I’ve found recently.

• Pop your pimples while you ovulate. This study (from a group that must have little else to do) measured the size of facial pores during ovulation. They asserted that if you time the extraction of your premenstrual acne comedones with ovulation, at which time your pores are slightly larger, you will increase “facial attractiveness, well-being, social function and thereby decrease psychological stress.” They want you to actually time ovulation? Really? Well, that never worked for birth control, and it sure doesn’t work for acne!

• Expression lines predetermine wrinkles. It’s tempting to file this one under “Duh.” This 8-year study found that, all else being equal, “the pattern of expression lines predicts the pattern of future persistent wrinkles.” So, the smile lines and crow’s-feet that appear when your face is animated is essentially a wrinkle blueprint…. And that took them 8 years to determine?! They could have called us (or a lot of other folks) for the answer and saved lab time for something meaningful.

• Young women are better at guessing age. 20 men and 28 women, ages 22 to 64, were asked to guess the age of Caucasian women after viewing a series of nearly 200 different facial photographs. The study concluded that the women under 35 guessed the ages most accurately. Well, we can all sleep better now knowing that! Can you imagine anything more useless to study?

• Men have larger pores. This study assessed the relationship between sebum production and pore size. It turns out that the more oil you produce, the larger your pore gets, sort of like the more calories you store, the more you weigh. But, this study made an additional conclusion: being male is associated with larger pores, which is like saying that being male is associated with larger feet. On average, men are larger than women, pores and all!

As easy as it is to poke fun at some of this research, I know that for every needless study conducted to confirm common sense, there are dozens more that are making huge strides in the science of aging and skin care. Thanks to universities and medical labs all over the world, Paula and The Cosmetics Cop Team have the facts we need to formulate state-of-the-art Paula’s Choice skin-care products and to educate consumers about the products they use (or are thinking of using) on Beautypedia. Now that’s real progress!

Recently one of our Paula’s Choice Facebook fans wrote in wanting to know what I thought of the Accent XL, a laser treatment system hyped as “the ultimate painless non-surgical facelift!” She was skeptical of the claims being made but found them interesting, and of course her friends were enthusiastic, so she wanted to know whether this machine was something to consider.

My STRONG advice: NEVER shop for any type of laser, light, radio wave, or any kind of machine a dermatologist can use on your face. NEVER shop for a specific type of dermal filler such as Restylane, Hyaluron, or Artefill. You must only shop for a great dermatologist! Period.

This is such a common trap people fall into when they search the Internet for the best cosmetic treatments. It’s easy to be lured in when you see a certain product being heavily promoted, endorsed by a celebrity, or featured in a magazine, but that is not research—it is simply clever, misleading, and often borderline deceptive marketing from the company selling it.

In the case of Accent XL, this machine isn’t the ultimate, it isn’t the best, it isn’t well researched in comparison to dozens of other options, and it certainly isn’t painless. Despite attempts to convince you otherwise, there is no single machine that does it all or is the best.

In fact, there are over 100 different machines a dermatologist can use to reduce wrinkles, lighten skin discolorations, help firm skin, and remove surfaced capillaries. They all have different pros and cons for different skin types and skin color that only your dermatologist can speak to. The key is finding a great dermatologist who can determine which options are best for your skin.

So how do you find a great dermatologist?

1. Start by asking around to see if any of your friends have had great experiences with the dermatologist they see. While relying on someone else’s experience isn’t foolproof, it is a good way to narrow down the options.
2. Make sure your dermatologist is board certified. You wouldn’t want a podiatrist working on your face, would you? Doctors of any background can perform cosmetic corrective procedures, but you want one who has been specifically trained to work in your area of need. Visit the American Board of Dermatology to find out if your dermatologist is board certified.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Not all dermatologists will come up with the same game plan for your face, so pay attention to what makes you feel the most comfortable and makes sense to you in light of the research you have done. It never hurts to ask how much experience they have, either.

Even though I have wonderful products that can give you great results and truly improve your skin, all skin-care products have certain limitations. Laser treatments and other cosmetic corrective procedures can bring your skin back to a younger-looking, more radiant state often overnight or in just a few weeks. Considering these options is far more valuable to your face than wasting money on skin-care products making false promises.

Having a great cosmetic dermatologist can make all the difference, so forget about finding the right machine—find the right doc!

Almost every cosmetics company you can think of sells at least one eye cream and many sell more than a dozen, yet no one needs a product specifically labeled as an eye cream! The cosmetics industry has done an outstanding job convincing women eye creams are essential to eliminate everything from wrinkles to sagging skin, dark circles, and puffiness around the eye.  We’re here to tell you to call off the search, it is wasting your time and money! Surprised? Read on!

Here are the facts:

• There is no research proving that the skin around the eye area needs something different from skin elsewhere on the face.

• There are no cosmetic ingredients that change dark circles under the eye or get rid of sagging, puffy eyes, or crow’s feet (these lines show up on the face and the eye area, which makes all the theories about eye creams even more foolish).

• What you get when you buy an eye cream is a small amount of product (often half the size of a face product) that, ounce for ounce, is twice as expensive.

• Eye creams are often sold as being gentle and fragrance-free, so they’re “safe for the delicate eye area.” So, in essence, you are being told the eye area gets the good ingredients and the face gets the bad ones. The entire face needs to be treated gently and not exposed to irritating ingredients. More to the point, most eye creams DO contain fragrance AND coloring agents!

• Most eye creams are packaged in jars and that is a problem because as soon as you open the jar, the beneficial ingredients (assuming there are some in the formula) begin to deteriorate due to light and air exposure. It’s also unsanitary to dip your fingers into a jar every day!

• No one in the cosmetics industry (ingredient manufacturers, salespeople, or cosmetic chemists) has ever explained exactly what ingredients the eye area needs that the face doesn’t when it comes to dry skin, wrinkles, puffy eyes, or sagging skin—and we’ve asked hundreds of people over the years!

• If a “face” product is well formulated for dry skin and fighting wrinkles, you can use it anywhere on the face and beyond.

There are many myths about why you need eye creams, but that is just what they are, myths. Day after day, week after week, year after year we are constantly told “I’ve tried everything to get rid of [insert eye-area concern here],” and yet the problem persists. Of course it persists; these products cannot work as claimed, and you’re being mislead and wasting your money, time and time again.

We’re not saying you don’t need a brilliantly formulated moisturizer for around the eye area; it just doesn’t need to be labeled an eye cream with a higher price tag than the accompanying face product. Here are some brilliant examples of products that can and should be used around your eyes:

• BeautiControl Cell Block-C New Cell Protection SPF 20 ($31)
• CeraVe Facial Moisturizing Lotion PM ($13.99)
• Clinique Super Rescue Antioxidant Night Moisturizer ($42.50; available  in three versions for different skin types).
• *Olay Pro-X  Deep Wrinkle Treatment ($47) or Olay Total Effects 7-in-1 Anti-Aging Moisturizer Mature Skin Therapy ($18.99)
• Paula’s Choice Moisture Boost Hydrating Treatment Cream ($18.95)
• Paula’s Choice RESIST Barrier Repair Moisturizer ($22.95)
• Paula’s Choice Skin Recovery Super Antioxidant Concentrate Serum ($24.95)
• SkinMedica Rejuvenative Moisturizer ($50)
• Vichy Reti-C Intensive Corrective Care ($30)
• Yes to Carrots Daily Facial Moisturizer with SPF 15 ($14.99)

*The Pro-X product has a creamy texture (more like an eye cream) while the Total Effects product has a thinner, lotion texture.

For an extensive list of the best antiaging products, including moisturizers that do double-duty as eye creams, visit CosmeticsCop.com and click on the link to our product reviews on Beautypedia. During the entire month of January, everyone can enjoy FREE access to Paula Begoun and The Cosmetics Cop Team’s extensive database of product review!

Tips for dealing with dark circles:

• First, stop searching for an eye cream claiming to eliminate dark circles; none of them work as claimed.
• Use sunscreen daily to keep circles from becoming darker.
• Apply a good concealer to lighten and brighten the undereye area.

For more tips on dealing with dark circles, click here.

Tips for dealing with puffy eyes:

• Many cases of puffy eyes are due to allergies; taking an over-the-counter antihistamine can help a lot (be sure you check with your physician before adding a new medication to your routine).
• Try sleeping with your head slightly elevated to minimize undereye swelling
• Keep cool compresses (such as a gel eye mask) ready to reduce morning puffiness

For more tips on dealing with puffy eyes, click here.

Women worry about and spend a great deal of time and money to look and feel beautiful. Whether it is their makeup, skin care, hair care (cutting, dyeing, styling), shaving, dry lips, buying the right fragrance, getting manicures and pedicures, dark circles under the eyes, clothing, weight loss, and on and on, we want to be attractive—and we pay attention to lots of details to achieve this goal.

Yet, despite this endless effort (any rational person has to admit that it’s exhausting) there are details we ignore, can’t see objectively, or didn’t know anything about (I mean, there is only so much time in a day, week, month, or year, right?).

It isn’t my intent to make your life more complicated. My hope is that these recommendations may actually make your beauty quest easier. I’m curious to hear what you think (I love your feedback!).

1. Stop touching your face when you have makeup on! Rubbing your eyes, resting your face on your hand, or holding your cell phone against your cheek causes you to slowly but surely wipe away the makeup you put on in the morning. Ask your friends or coworkers to point out when you do this because you probably don’t even know you’re doing it.
2. Don’t leave the house with chipped nail polish. Putting on a great outfit, stunning shoes, and doing your hair and makeup is all for naught if you ignore your peeling, cracked nail polish. Even with everything else in place, the shoddy manicure takes focus. It is especially detracting at your job.
3. Don’t wear clothes that don’t fit. This sounds simple, but it isn’t as easy as you might think. Women feel pressure not to repeat outfits within the same week, for some not even in the same month. When there’s nothing else to wear we go to the parts of our closet we shouldn’t. So if you can’t button a jacket or blouse, if your pants are too tight (you can see your panty line or way too much body detail), sleeves are too long, skirts are way too tight or short for your body type, or your pants are so long they drag on the floor and have frayed,  don’t wear them. Oh, and about those shoes with worn-down heels and torn leather—those need to be tossed out!
4. Don’t wear fake nails. I know, I know, those of you who are attached to your fake nails as much as they are attached to you aren’t going to take my strong recommendation to give this one up. Nonetheless, even if there weren’t issues of infection, damaged nail plates, and fumes when you’re getting them done, they are expensive and almost always distracting. Fake nails add nothing to your overall appearance. I mean really, isn’t it rare to see a set of fake nails that don’t look fake? Having long nails might be enviable, but if you don’t have nails that grow naturally long on their own, it doesn’t add to your appearance to stick acrylics on.
5. Don’t overdo mascara! I’m guilty of this one, too. No matter how hard I try to stop, I keep piling the stuff on. I do love the way my eyes look with long, thick lashes and it takes a lot of mascara to achieve this. But I also know that the way I do it doesn’t look anything like “real” long lashes. Too much mascara is distracting and the more you wear the more likely even the best mascara is going to flake during the day. Isn’t that a pretty picture? I’ll try again today to cut back, but just like for some of you, this isn’t going to be easy.

OK, one more “don’t” that will help a lot, and I’ve blogged about this issue in the past: Don’t fall asleep for the night with your makeup on! Being sure to cleanse your face before going to bed will help you avoid a litany of unattractive skin and eye-area problems and help you spend less time getting ready in the morning (because you’re not trying to fix all of the side effects evident from sleeping with your makeup on).

I tuned in for the season premiere of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills expecting to watch the usual train wreck that precedes this cult-following Bravo reality series. What I didn’t realize was that I’d also receive an education in Sun Damage 101.

The majority of the housewives are in their forties, but you’d never guess it. Despite their efforts to look younger (including overblown lip injections, obvious forehead lifts, extreme Botox and fillers, etc.), most of the women actually look ten years older than their real age—tan skin, neon pink lipstick and all. I found it odd that the housewives put so much emphasis on having cosmetic procedures done on their faces (and that‘s a whole other blog), but yet they make little to no effort to take care of their sun-damaged wrinkly necks and leathery, brown-speckled décolletages. This exemplifies the point that you cannot have it both ways: All the fillers, injections, and lifts available will never look convincing if you continue to damage your skin in the sun.

So all this got me thinking: As diligent as I am about wearing sunscreen, I still sometimes forget certain areas like the neck, chest, and hands. Seeing the leathery-skinned housewives of Beverly Hills taught me to never make that mistake again! Because those areas are constantly exposed to UV light, they blatantly show the telltale signs of sun damage if not adequately protected. Let the sun-drenched skin of the Beverly Hills housewives serve as a reminder for us all: Never neglect your neck, chest, and hands from broad-spectrum sun protection!

I could go on and on about other “lessons” from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and the other Housewives series, but let’s hear what you have to say!

I finally have time to write again. After three weeks of doing over 150 newspaper, TV, magazine, and online interviews, along with several presentations to Chinese and Taiwanese beauty bloggers, I was exhausted and ready to get on the plane and come home. Unfortunately, for all the anticipation I had before departure, it was a trip from hell.

Shortly after dinner on my flight, I got food poisoning (not from the food served because no one else was affected, and thank goodness it was only me or it would have really been a disaster). I was having waves of nausea, cold sweats, and a feeling I was going to fall if I stood up. Simultaneously, I was also developing a raging flu with a fever and cough (can you believe that!). I needed a wheelchair to get off the plane. Geesh!

Aside from my traumatic trip, everything else was spectacular and fascinating (I was in perfect health until my plane ride home). Taiwan is a small part of the world with a population of 24 million, in comparison to China which has a population of 1.3 billion people. It is so hard to fathom that number!

Taipei has a mix of old world and new development with one of the tallest buildings in the world. Beijing and Shanghai have very little that isn’t new. These two cities are a maze of endless towering buildings enveloped day in and day out with a thick haze of pollution that blurs the horizon as well as buildings just a few blocks away. Picture New York City on steroids with minimal visibility in any given direction.

Beijing has a personality that is a mix of Washington D.C. and New York City as it is the financial and political cornerstone of the country. Shanghai, on the other hand, is a shopping Mecca. You can’t imagine the number of department stores, clothing boutiques, and home décor shops there are.

Despite all this potential to spend money on enhancing my wardrobe and home, it was sheer agony because there was no way anything was going to fit me. I was trapped in a world where on rack after rack there were stunning outfits but only with sizes ranging from 00 to 6. Can you believe that double-zero is actually a size? I don’t think I could fit a double-zero on my forearm, let alone try to make a top or pair of slacks work!

The media attention for the launch of my book in both Simplified and Traditional Chinese and my Paula’s Choice product line was astounding. My reputation as The Cosmetics Cop preceded me, and, not surprisingly, I was asked the same questions in China that I am asked all over the world (what gets rid of dark circles, what stops wrinkles, what products clear up acne), only with a few twists.

Asian women wanted to know what products were best for their skin because they believe they can’t use products designed for Caucasians. From a chemistry standpoint, there aren’t products specially formulated for Asian skin but, not surprisingly, cosmetic company marketing departments reinforce this false notion with products labeled clearly as being designed for Asian skin.

The fact is, physiologically, there are no differences between Asian skin and Caucasian—or darker skin tones, for that matter—when it comes to skin care. Skin is merely the human body’s largest organ. The same way the heart, kidneys, liver, or other organs don’t require different foods to be healthy, nor does skin.  Can you imagine going in for, say, heart surgery and telling the doctor you need a special procedure because of your nationality?

Skin color does not change what skin-care products are needed to fight wrinkles, acne, rosacea, oily skin, dry skin, uneven skin tone, and on and on. The protocol is the same for everyone, and there is no research to the contrary.

I was also asked a great deal about skin-care products that could make skin white. At the cosmetic counters and drugstores in China and Taiwan there are countless products branded as ”whitening.” Whitening products are actually the most popular skin-care products sold in Asia. Wanting to have lighter skin has been part of the Asian culture for hundreds of years, and most Asian women are diligent in this pursuit.

It isn’t so much that Asian women want to be white, they just don’t want to be yellow. In China, I was told there are age old sayings illustrating this beauty issue. One such idiom I had never heard before was, “One white face erases 100 ugly.” Loosely translated, this phrase in essence means that if you have whiter skin, 100 other flaws such as acne, a large nose, or thin hair don’t exist anymore and you are beautiful nonetheless. Another expression describing an unattractive older woman was to refer to her as a “yellow-faced old woman.” Now that was culture shock for this Cosmetics Cop!

Just to be clear, I have no judgment about the pressure Chinese women feel about the color of their skin. Every culture has women fretting about some aspect of being beautiful that sounds oppressive, and Asian women are no different, which is why they need a Cosmetics Cop as much as other women do anywhere else I go.

Speaking of skin-care products, I am thrilled my products are doing so well in Asia despite the fact I don’t sell “whitening” products. I am proud beyond words to find Chinese, Korean, and Taiwanese women so warm and open to my information and the skin-care philosophy and research Paula’s Choice provides.

Despite some bumps along the way, I am looking forward to going back. There is so much more to learn and to see. Plus, I continue to be acknowledged around the globe for being The Cosmetics Cop! This international recognition has brought new meaning and challenges to my life. I am grateful for the privilege and am eager to continue and expand the passion I have for this perpetually wonderful, yet at times infuriating, business of beauty.