Travel Beauty :: Kahina Giving Beauty

[trip style = sightseeing]

Editor's Note: This is the fifth post in a multi-part series on Morocco with a focus on beauty---something Moroccan women have been perfecting since the dawn of time. Lauren, our travel beauty expert, is always on the lookout for the best in beauty. This line of Morocco-based products is her newest obsession, to the point where she's seen a noticeable difference in her skin. For a look back at the rest of our Morocco series, see Savoring the Sahara, Casablanca, La Gazelle d'Or and Dar al Hossoun hotels in Taroudant.

A family trip to Morocco is what first inspired Kahina Giving Beauty's founder, Katharine L'Heureux, to create her gorgeous line of holistic, organic skin care. Named after a Berber queen and prophetess, Kahina is also a symbol of empowerment and a heroine for the Berber women. The line is infused with nourishing organic argan oil, used by the Berber women in their daily beauty rituals. In addition to Kahina's beautiful collection, the brand gives back: A percentage of profits are donated to support programs that improve the lives of the Berber women. Read on to discover more about organic argan oil---Morocco is the world's largest producer of the elixer---and Katharine's love for Morocco.

Lauren: Tell me more about your first trip to Morocco and how this inspired you to create Kahina Giving Beauty.
Katharine: My first trip to Morocco was in September of 2007 with my parents. We went with a tour company, Heritage Tours, on a ten-day excursion that took us from Casablanca to Meknes, Volubulis, Fez, the Sahara, Ourzazate and Marrakesh, where I first discovered argan oil in the souk. The Berbers are the indigenous people of North Africa, living throughout Morocco and practicing many traditional crafts, each specific to their region or village. While I came across many Berber women on the trip, it wasn’t until I decided to go back to Morocco to source ingredients for Kahina the following January that I encountered the Berber women extracting argan oil.

L: How were the Berber women using argan oil? How is it created and processed?
K: Most women in Morocco use argan as a massage oil in the hammam, and use the culinary version as a cooking oil, particularly in the argan region of Morocco. The nuts of the argan tree are cracked by hand by the Berber women by hammering them between two rocks, a practice that has been used for centuries. Inside the nut is a tiny little kernel, called the almond. At Kahina, we cold-press the kernel by machine to extract the oil and ensure the purest end-product. It takes one woman eight hours to crack the nuts for a single liter of oil and it requires approximately 26 kilos of fruit to get enough raw material for one liter of oil.

L: What's so amazing about this ingredient?
K: Argan oil is a multi-purpose wonder. It balances oily and dry skin, promotes healing, minimizes and prevents fine lines, restores elasticity, and visibly improves skin texture. Argan oil is extremely rich in Vitamin E---it contains four times the amount as olive oil---and the hard-to-get omega 9 and omega 6 essential fatty acids. The beauty of argan oil is that it's so easily absorbed into the skin, you never feel greasy. This is due to the high concentrations of squalene in the oil, which is present in our own skin. What I love most about it is the multitude of ways to use one single ingredient. I use it on my face, my body, my hair and my nails.

L: How did this ingredient inspire you to create a line of skin care?
K: I was looking for an organic skin care product that really worked and loved the results I experienced with argan oil. From there, I started slowly by importing argan oil first and sharing it with my friends. After hearing their rave reviews, I decided to take the next step to create the line I was looking for---simple, natural, organic, effective and beautifully designed. When I got to know the Berber women who extract the oil, I decided to highlight them throughout the core of the brand.

L: How often do go to Morocco?
K: I try to return two to three times a year, but it is getting more difficult as the demands of running the business become greater.

L: What's your go-to Moroccan dish?
K: My top meals are the simplest ones cooked in someone’s home---Moroccans are incredibly hospitable. I love a traditional chicken tagine prepared with olives and preserved lemons, yet my favorite meal is fresh grilled fish from the market with lots of Moroccan spices, followed by sweet mint tea.

Kahina Giving Beauty products can be found online at ecodivabeauty.com and other retailers. Check out their website for more information.

[photos via Kahina]

Face Masks For Frequent Flyers

[trip style = any]

Something about face masks reminds me of teenage sleepovers---a time when I wore scrunchies, played Truth or Dare and watched Girls Just Want to Have Fun with an oatmeal mask on my face. While I can still recite lines from the classic Sarah Jessica Parker movie, I've matured and started incorporating masks into my weekly skincare routine in the hopes that I'll look as amazing as Martha Stewart does at age 72. The New York Times recently published an article about her beauty regimen, which includes several face masks. They aren't only effective for detoxifying, firming or brightening your skin; they also boost hydration, which makes them the perfect travel companion.

Trip Styler Tip: I'm a huge fan of try before you buy. Drop by your local beauty store and ask for a sample or two before committing to a mask. Bonus: samples are perfectly sized for travel!

I suffered the harsh effects of recycled air and zero humidity while flying to Europe last year. My face and lips were parched for days. I wish I knew then what I know now: you've got to prep and treat your skin for travel. That means applying a hydrating mask before, after and even during a long flight. Hear me out before you call me crazy! Many masks are invisible and can be left on the skin overnight, so there won't be any embarrassing episodes on board. Plus you'll be the only one emerging from the flight looking dewy and glowy.

Trip Styler Tip: Don't forget to hydrate your lips on a long flight---I have friends who swear by MALIN+GOETZ's fragrance-free lip moisturizer. If the recycled plane air already got the best of you, steep a bag of green tea, pull it out and press it to your lips for several minutes. This trick totally works.

My top picks for hydrating gel or cream masks are Origins Drink Up 10 Minute Mask, skoah hydradew mask and GLAMGLOW Thirstymud Hydrating Treatment. PS. They all smell delicious! Another style of hydrating mask is the sheet mask, which is huge in Asia, where the biggest skincare trends are emerging these days. Case in point, Japan Airlines gives out moisturizing eye masks to business class passengers {see our editor wearing one}. Made of cotton and soaked in hydrating ingredients, these sheets are individually packaged mini facials. Perfect for travel, but maybe not applying inflight unless the lights are out. My top picks are Dr. Jart+ Water-Full Hydrogel Mask, SK-II Facial Treatment Mask and When Essence Mask.

This post is written by Trip Styler fashion and lifestyle blogger Heather.

[graphic by @heatherlovesit]

Travel Beauty :: Flying The Test Of Time

[trip style = any]

Want more travel beauty? Lauren, our travel beauty expert, is already whipping up her next concoction post!

Nowadays with my busy mom/work/travel schedule, I’m drawn to anything that does double duty or works in a flash. Bonus points if it makes me look like I’ve had more than four hours of sleep. Below I've chosen a few of my favorite {read: cult status!} timeless beauty products for TS, which have flown the test of time for me and many other industry insiders. Don’t forget to pack them!

1/ Smith’s Rosebud Salve This multitasking balm---held in the cutest vintage-looking tin---smells like fresh rose petals. In addition to healing and softening dry, chapped lips {as well as cuticles, elbows and rough patches}, it creates the prettiest sheen. Gorgeous worn alone for a natural look or applied on top of a lip color to add shine.

2/ Nars Blush in Orgasm There's a reason almost e-v-e-r-y makeup artist carries this blush in their kit and e-v-e-r-y beauty editor swears by it: it has a shimmery, peachy-pink perfection that suits all skin tones {and brightens the face after a multi-hour flight}.

3/ Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream A tube of this potion is sold every 30 seconds! It has over 10 different uses, like smoothing brows, calming sunburns, and soothing skin post-wax to name a few. However, my favorite way is to use it is apply a tiny dab pre-flight to keep my skin hydrated, allowing me to deplane glowing.

4/ Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey A classic since its debut in 1971, Black Honey is a natural-looking, sheer berry tint that is not quite lipstick and not quite gloss. It was all the rage in the '90s and is still a top seller today. Beautiful worn alone or layered over lip color.

****What timeless travel beauty products do you tote traveling?****

More Travel Beauty Virgin Diaries :: Sky-High Skincare LA's Must-Stop Organic Pharmacy Splurge VS Steal {Part 2} Splurge VS Steal {Part 1} Gorgeous Hair In 5 Minutes A Sky-Vival Kit

[collage by @tripstyler, photos via product websites]

Virgin Diaries :: Airtight Hair

[trip style = any]

{Editor's Note: Virgin Atlantic’s got the market cornered on runway-ready beauty (pun intended). Intent to find out how flight attendants look hot on high, I flew to London to attend their grooming school, a three-pronged skin, makeup and hair course EVERY uniformed staff—guys and gals—goes through when they sign up, up and away with Branson’s birds.}

Following this week's Virgin Diaries in Sky-High Skincare and Inflight Makeup, the final leg of our journey achieves lift for airtight hair, before touching down on solid ground.

Airtight Hair During Virgin's hair demo, everyone attending the class stood in awe as Helen Kavanagh, Virgin's Grooming Standards Hair Manager, teased, pinned and wound the crew member/model's golden tresses into red carpet territory. Whether she was doing a french twist, voluminous bun or pouffy pleat, each hairstyle clocked in at six minutes flat---six minutes for a gala-coiffed updo! To say she left me in shock and awe is a huge understatement.

Once the demo was over, Helen styled my locks into a pouffy, side-swept do a la Mad Men era. All it took was a little backcombing basics and haircare essentials like bobby pins, spongy hair donuts {Helen is holding one above} and L'Oreal Elnett hairspray to achieve six-minute liftoff.

To get the look, Helen backcombed the top of my tresses, smoothed it over with a brush and secured it with a low, side pony, which she flipped over and weaved through a part just above the elastic. Leaving a few strands out to wrap around and cover the elastic, she wound my ponytail from the bottom up around a squished donut, fanned the hair over it, then pinned it to my head.

Virgin’s Airtight Hair Tips 1/ According to my class and the Virgin manual above, you MUST secure the essential ingredients; a teasing brush, L'Oreal Elnett Hairspray, dry shampoo, suzon hair pins or large bobby pins, non-tear hair elastics and a mesh donut. 2/ A little teasing goes a long way for mile-high hair. 3/ Ladies, wearing your hair up inflight means it won't get messy and dishevelled for landing. 4/ To give it some va-va-va-room before landing, re-tease and spray over flyaways.

Recalling my skin and makeup sessions, I gleaned the grooming day's theme wasn't about spending hours on my roaming routine, but learning the travel beauty basics, plus the best products for the job. Now, every time I fly, I operate by this mantra: WWAVCMD {what would a Virgin crew member do}?

Trip Styler Tip :: As we mentioned late in 2011, Virgin’s birds are flying West {again} this summer. Starting May 14th, a seasonal non-stop service takes flight from Vancouver to London {return}. Yay!

[photos by @tripstyler (as well as one from Virgin's crew grooming mag) taken when I was a guest of Virgin Atlantic in London]

Virgin Diaries :: Facing The Sky

[trip style = any]

We're currently mid-flight in our three-part series on grooming for globetrotters, applying tips we learned at Virgin Atlantic's beauty school in London. Hot off the tarmac of Monday's sky-high skincare session, I give you:

But first; a refresher: Virgin Atlantic’s got the market cornered on runway-ready beauty {pun intended}. Intent to find out how flight attendants look hot on high, I flew to London a few months ago to attend their grooming school, a three-pronged skin, makeup and hair course EVERY uniformed staff—guys and gals—goes through when they sign up, up and away with Branson’s birds.

Face-ing The Sky After a long travel day starting at 8am in Vancouver, I arrived at Heathrow around 2am Vancouver time/10am London time. Speaking of time, it was in short demand, so upon touchdown I was whisked off to Virgin's training base, for my intensive grooming session. At this point, I was operating on pure adrenalin.

When I sat in the makeup chair in front of a too-bright-for-the-hour mirror and a counter full of open grey-hued eye shadows and pinky blushers, I obviously looked tired---raccoon-like, actually. And then the inevitable happened, Mim Allgood, Virgin's makeup maven, gingerly asked if she could take off my half-there makeup to reapply it a la Virgin. Pl-ease {and thank you}.

Bare-faced {ah!},we started fresh with a spritz of rose toner and a dollop of day cream from Dr. Hauschka. Smelling like my first ever perfume, "Tea Rose" from The Body Shop {which I still hold in high regard to this day}, Mim went about making me up. Here's what I learned:

Virgin's Modern Makeup Tips For Travelers 1/ Virgin has a minimum look; for ladies it's black or brown mascara, blusher and red lipstick. For men, it's all about manscaping. 2/ Mim used a cocktail of bareMinerals powders to mask my jet lagged skin. 3/ For the eyes, she applied a quick base, layered a grey shadow in my crease and swiped the same color with an angled brush below my lower lash line. To add more impact, she finished off with one coat of mascara, followed by a swish of mineral powder {to thicken my lashes} and a second coat of mascara. 4/ A light dusting of pink-hued blusher on the apple of my cheek followed. To St. Tropez-ify my pale skin, bronzer was applied in a "number three" formation starting just above my brows, over my high cheekbones and down my jawline. 5/ Finally, lipstick. Red, of course. Mim told me there's a shade of red that suits every woman---she'd know, she's applied the saucy stuff to thousands. If red makes you nervous, she suggests starting with a blue-red hue. To preserve your pout, exfoliate the lips and apply a liner over the whole lip. Fill in with lipstick, blot, and apply another coat. Mwah!

While this 5-step process might seem lengthy "on paper", once Mim worked on me for a mere five minutes---she's that good---my eyes popped like sapphires and my lips dazzled like rubies. Freestyling Virgin's minimum look into my own jetset repertoire, I'd add a dash of Visine to take away red eyes, a dab of cover-up {especially focusing on the inner corners of the eye}, and per the Virgin way, paint my lips a blue-red, because red personifies polished {and distracts from a multitude of skin imperfections}. Voila, jetset in two minutes flat.

Trip Styler Tip :: As we mentioned late in 2011, Virgin’s birds are flying West {again} this summer. Starting May 14th, a seasonal non-stop service takes flight from Vancouver to London {return}. Yay!

[photos by @tripstyler taken when I was a guest of Virgin Atlantic in London]