DR LEWINN

Let’s Do Thisssss, Part One: Dr Lewinn’s Cosmetic Lift

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

The thing that I loved so much about We Love Laser is that you show up, lie down, get zapped, and you’re done.

On the other hand, there was The Fear. I got over it, in less than three visits, and the Photo Facial is totally non-invasive, but what if you have a laser phobia or whatever?

Dr Lewinn proposes that you can give yourself a lift, sans zappage, at home.

DR L BOXSee? Says it right there on the box: Cosmetic Lift, and also, Facelift Without Surgery.

These are all the things in the box:
DR L CONTENTS

And these are all the directions:
DR L DIRECTIONS

So many wordsssssss. God, I’m lazy. Half the time I don’t read the packaging, which has resulted in some interesting uses of products: putting stuff on my face, for example, that is actually meant for my hair, or using an exfoliant for the face all over my bod. Whoops!

Also: mixing stuff up + me = disaster, because again: directions, and I so rarely believe that the measurements look correct, so I add more, or less, or whatever, and, big whoops! Don’t ask me to make scones!

But I’m interested in this product because I am interested in Dr Lewinn and all his works, since he’s been doing such a great job on my manky nails.

Okay! Here we go!

First, I had to go clean the sink in the bath. I’ll spare you the before — here’s the after.
DR L THE SINK

Then, all the things you pray won’t happen, happened: the phone rang, a delivery man came to the door, I realised that I ought to take off the big bulky fleece and put on a vest* — which I did, before the delivery man showed up, and boy is he glad I did! Should have gotten his number — and then then I realised that I needed to memorise the poxy directions because I absolutely can’t read anything anymore without my specs —

And then I stopped procrastinating and got down to business…

***

*That’s a tank top, to you Yanks.

***

£115; see here to buy online from the UK

***

Top Twelve of 2012: Dr Lewinn’s Renunail Miracle

/ brightandbeautyfull / 1 Comment

dr-lewinns-strengthenerNow, I never did get around to my superfantastic celebratory manicure, due to Auld Schplitty — although, having said that, I did give myself a nice fake French Manicure. And the only reason the fake French manicure worked is because of Dr Lewinn’s Renunail Regime.

Incorporating a Nail Strengthener and a Nourishing Oil {for the cuticles}, this is a miracle worker of the highest order. Having had manky, weak, ridgey nails for the entirety of my life, I suddenly have longer, stronger, smoother nails.

Suddenly? Yeah, not really: it did take discipline, and I didn’t maintain, and I learned my lesson. But if you do the work, you will reap the bennies, and in fairness, it’s not that big a deal.

The result? You can refer to the Dr Lewinn for the whole saga, but if you just want to see The Wowness, then click here.

***

Ask And Ye Shall Receive: OPI Shatter

/ brightandbeautyfull / 2 Comments

We call upon World Famous Supermodel Thumbnail™ once again. {Honestly, must start its own Twitter feed.}

Sure it was only yesterday or the day before I was saying that I had some OPI Shatter in my future, and the future is clearly now.

I wish I had video capabilities on this site, because watching this stuff work is cool. You brush it on and just watch it… well, shatter.

I like this look, because as I am generally so sloppy with my varnish application, this makes all my ills look I’ve done them on purpose.

Now I really can’t wait ’til my split nail is all grown back! Except I’m looking at it now, and overnight, that fault line looks to be back. Is the Dr Lewinn’s Renunail not enough?!?! Blast!

***

€13.20 {RRP}

Colourful Claws: The Wild, as Seen in the Wild

/ brightandbeautyfull / 1 Comment

Sparrrrrrkllllly!

I am so delighted with the health of my nails, thanks to Dr Lewinn’s Nail Strengthener and despite Auld Schplitty. They have never looked better, and perhaps, I will now learn enough patience so that I don’t do such a sloppy job as regards the application of  nail varnish.

I like this LA Splash glitter nail lacquer. It feels very sturdy on the nails, but it certainly does not look that way! It is totally disco, in the best possible sense.

I so want this in black.

I must say, though, as dreading the removal of this — when I was taking off the other colours, this remained disturbingly unmoved by my present nail polish remover. We’ll see how we get on…

***

LA Splash Nail Lacquer is €5.99, and available online only: http://www.creativestudio.ie.

Dr Lewinn’s Renunail Update: Magic Isn’t Magic

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

But results can be magical.

‘Kay, here’s the thing: even though I’ve got the bottles of Nail Strengthener and Nourishing Oil right there, on my desk, to the left of my computer, I got a little lazy with my Dr Lewinn regimen.

Frankly, once you pile them on, the layers of Strengthener start to look pretty cruddy. I’m also having another healing crisis on my right hand: the cuticles look like I’ve got some sort rare skin disease that I contracted in the depths of the primeval forest.

So, counter-intuitively, I stop using the product. I know! Where is the sense in that?

See the thing is, magic isn’t magic. You can’t just wave a wand — or a brush — and say a magic word {me, I’d be partial to avada kedavra for my loathsome cuticles} and then it all goes away. Sad to say, this is news to me.

Only joking. Sort of. My fingernails need to be tended, and they are so terribly manky that I need to keep this up, or keep them cut down to the very nub.

But even though magic isn’t magic, the results I’ve gotten from this regimen are magical. Once I started over, the whites on the tips of my nails got brighter and cleaner, they were once again strong enough to file, and even though it’s going to take as much time as it takes, that nail that split is slowly growing out — but with a difference. It’s growing out with the support of the Strengthener.

This is a life long project, if you will. I spend a lot of time contemplating my fingers, as I sit here, hands at rest on the keyboard, wondering what I’m going to write next. If nothing else, I can’t bear them to be all gross and splitty and peeling, for my own peace of mind. And I really cannot wait to paint them up nice — so I won’t! Grotty cuticles notwithstanding!

My bank holiday project will be to give myself an amazing manicure.

I know, my life, it is much excite.

***

Ha ha ha – google Dr Lewinn’s Nail, and my fingers are the top images! I’m faaaaamous!

Covered in Oil, Crazy: Reporting Back

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

I put all this stuff on myself the other day.

I also used the Hairwonder Anti-hairloss Lotion, which didn’t make it into the family portrait due to low reziness.

The lotion went on first, massaged into the roots of me follicles and rubbed around the scalp. This is the sort of thing that the efficacy of which will only tell with time. Howevs, if you are worried about having greasy roots, don’t be. It didn’t feel like much either way, which is grand if you’re worried about your hair getting weighed down, perhaps not so great if you’re looking for some kind of tingle on your scalp. Me, I do like a bit of tingle, makes me think that something is working.

Then… ah. Bio-Retinoid Anti-Ageing Concentrate from REN. I do love a good serum, and this is one of the best I’ve tried yet. It smells organic without smelling too organic, if ya know what I mean, and even though it is a serum and therefore oily-ish, it doesn’t feel slippery or slimy. If your are a morning-rush person, you’ll want to give this plenty of time to sink in, or maybe just use it at night: it does take a longer than most to sink in. I didn’t feel the absolute need to follow this up with a moisturiser, which I think may be good news for people who have oily skin and don’t want to add to it.

The thing with using oil on oily skin: The face needs a protective barrier of oil to fend for itself against the environment. I reckon, then, if your skin is oily, it is fighting the good fight, but way too hard. A helpful, judicious amount of applied oil helps the skin in its daily battle, and because it doesn’t have to work so hard, it doesn’t break out as a reaction. ??? That sounds plausible to me.

My favourite kind of oil is oil for the bod, and it was with great delight that I popped the top of Lanolips Herbal Treatment Body Oil. It smells lovely… but the bottle is made of hard plastic, making it increasingly difficult to dispense, as one’s hands get quite slippery. I also found that it absorbed too quickly, meaning the coverage wasn’t great, meaning I had to try to squeeze out some more… I might save this for exposed limbs only, and the ever-popular décolletage — it seems too much trouble otherwise.

Last but not least: Mythic Oil from L’Oréal Professionel: Colour Glow For Colour Treated Hair. I will have to back to you on this, because I used it and then forgot about it. Which is, I think, probably in its favour? I wasn’t like, Oh my God, what is wrong with The Hair today?!?! But I can’t remember if is was exceptionally special, either. I’ve also got a sample of Mythic Oil Milk, which can be used at any stage, either as a detangler, a blow drying product, or a finishing spray. As it is milk, it didn’t make it into this category.

Hmmm, any other milk-ish products I can cobble together? Call me crazy and cover me in milk???

***

See here for prices.

Call Me Crazy and Cover Me in Oil

/ brightandbeautyfull / 1 Comment

Oh, wait, this is not that sort of website! Apologies to all search engineers who have happened upon Bright & Beautyfull! expecting… something else.

The last thing in the world I wanted when I was a teen was shiny, shiny skin. For some reason, I must still think I am a teenager, because the notion of putting anything oil-based on my face makes go all no waaaaaaay.

But of course, now I am aging, shine = youth, and holy wow, I’ma just put oil on everything I can reach.

Now, we already know of my deep and abiding love for Clarins Huile Prodigieuse, so the oil-as-body-treatment isn’t really all that strange. In fact! Here’s a lovely little homey hint: I used to put a few drops of an essential oil of my choice into a bottle of Johnson’s Baby Oil, apply on wet skin post-shower, and let it half dry. Soft scented skin, and very, very economical. {I favoured ylang ylang — sexxxxy.}

I’ve got a couple of new things to try all over, so I am going to slather myself up with the following, from left:

I find the brand name Lanolips a bit odd as it is applied to their Herbal Treatment Body Oil (€12.90), but upon initial sniff, it smells good, like fresh cut grass.

REN presents us with the Bio-Retinoid Anti-Ageing Concentrate (€50). I have come round to a serum-y approach to facial care, since I’ve gotten over my adolescent fears. I must be well over that teen POV, because I have many a senior moment when it comes to dropper applicators: I forget to close the cap afterwards, in which case the stuf gets all contaminated, or else I knock it over and it ends up all over the floor.

This is new to the Mythic Oil family, from L’Oréal Professionel: Colour Glow For Colour Treated Hair (€19). I found the original version of the oil of myth to be a steep learning curve. I think half a pump does my hair good, and a half of a drop more makes it too greasy. We’ll give this go.

This didn’t look like much of an embarrassment of oil, so I added this into the mix: Hairwonder Anti-hairloss Lotion (€19) — I know, I know, it says it is a lotion, but it really isn’t! It is a serum-y oily thing. now, I know: I have a lot of hair, and so far, knock wood, not losing any of it, so this is more in the line of an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of hair.

Oh! And since the split fingernail scare, I have been assiduous in my application of Dr Lewinn’s Nourishing Oil.

I’m going to be so shiny, you could see me from space.

***

Dr Lewinn’s Renunail Update: Lost Track of Where I Am At

/ brightandbeautyfull / 4 Comments

Well, I know I haven’t been bathing my cuticles, so hang on a sec, I’ll take a moment to do that now —

Hey, what is the point of cuticles?!? I’m going to go a’Googlin, wait —

In human anatomy, cuticles or eponychia are the small folds of thickened skin at the base of each of the nails. Their purpose is to protect the area between the skin and the nail from infection.

Thanks, Wise Geek! Ooh, there are answers for everything over there —

Sorry, went on a bit of a wander. So, I lost track of what week it was in my Dr Lewinn’s Renunail Nail Strengthener treatment, overcome with ennui, maybe, because all I had to do was check the blog. Duh. I remember removing it, and leaving the nails, and then going Whoops! Gotta put some more on! and then doing that.

The problem is, my troublesome left ring fingernail is at it again. It is seriously split, so much so that I had to trim it waaaay down. And then file the others down to suit. This is too bad, because my right hand nails were looking so spectacular, I was about to polish them. But on the upside: my nails were actually strong enough to file!

Drat! So now I am chasing the cart with the horse, and layering on the Renunail, especially in that splitty fingernail, because it’s all I can do, isn’t it? I mean, the nail has to grow out of its split, right?

Here’s Auld Schplitty herself:

You can see that, yeah? Want to borrow my specs?

Right. So, I’ve anointed my cuticles in the Nourishing Oil, because it really does make a difference, and applying more strengthener, and hoping for the best…

Dr Lewinn’s Renunail Update: A Bit of Perspective

/ brightandbeautyfull / 2 Comments

I am in the middle of the third week of Dr Lewinn’s Renunail Nail Strengthener application. This is the fifth week of the whole process. I was only admiring my nails, my historically manky nails, earlier yesterday, thinking about how I was going to post another picture of their new and improved-ness.

They are not only whiter, and less ridge-y, but also stronger. I have been growing them without thinking twice. Until last night, when I removed my left riding glove and realised that my ring fingernail felt funny.

It had split all the way down the center.

Argh! Okay, so, in all the admiration yesterday, I had forgotten to apply the strengthener. Was that what happened? Or had I tempted the fates by letting the nail grow and grow? The riding gloves don’t help matters in any respect, so I am guessing that the confluence of elements — gloves tugging on too-long nail, too-long nail that had not been coated with supernatural strength — resulted in the split.

Dammit. Ah, well, time to file the nails down, and to keep strengthening.

Look, they are not even that long! I bet it is an aging thing…

Well, I am learning the limitations of the product as it conjuncts with the limitations of my own raw material. Still! The improvement is amazeballs.

Dr Lewinn’s Renunail Update: Uh. Wow!

/ brightandbeautyfull / 2 Comments

The story thus far: I treated my nails for one week with Dr Lewinn’s Renunail Nail Strengthener, and also applied ‘his’ Nourishing Oil to my cuticles.

I took the layers of Strengthener off when the week was up, and gave the nails a rest, while faithfully keeping up with the Nourishing Oil.

I reapplied the Strengthener for another week, and removed it yesterday.

Now, if you are the type of person who starts a thing, a thing like this that is supposed to work miracles, and then the miracles are not happening in what you consider to be ‘miracle time’ which would be IMMEDIATELY and so you are like, Feck this, this is not a miracle and then you stop the thing — then you are me.

I complained and complained about my manky nails, and I tried things now and again to unmank-ify them, and gave up. Maybe it’s not all my fault — maybe the products weren’t very effective! The thing is: Dr Lewinn gave me, by the middle of the first week, an indication that this stuff might work. Since I began to have faith in the process, I was inspired to keep it up. And so, as we enter week four of the six week treatment… Continue reading →