Prevent. Protect. Get Checked. You Can Control Skin Cancer

In the United States alone, one person dies every hour of melanoma.  You guys, it's the only preventable cancer.  You are in control.  To spread the awareness of melanoma I partnered with Skinceuticals to create this video along with Top Chef host, Padma Lakshmi, Fashion designer, Rebecca Minkoff, NHL star, Sean Avery, Lifestyle Blogger, Derek Blasberg, New York Society Influencer, Annabelle Dexter-Jones.  For every share, $1 will be donated to Melanoma Research Alliance.  Please share, but more than anything, get checked.

Wax or Shave? How to Get the Smoothest Skin

I'll be the first to admit it, even though I'm super type A, I definitely keep up with my hair removal more in the spring and summer than in the colder months.  Honestly, I don't think I've ever met a woman who didn't.  When it comes to exactly how, I've tried most and use different techniques for different areas, but truth is hair removal isn't the only thing to credit for smoothness.  Here's what you need to know about how to get the smoothest skin for sundress season like the girls in the Nine West ad (above). Razor Fans

They say to shave in the direction of hair growth for a clean cut, but we all know to get a closer shave you need to shave in the opposite direction.  Look for a razor with 4-5 blades to ensure it gets each hair as it runs across your body and conditioning strips that ease the glide like the Gillette Venus & Olay Exfoliating Razor.  As you shave not only are you removing hair, but you're also exfoliating your skin, which removes dead skin cells keeping your skin silky to touch.  Adding a moisturizing shave cream doesn't hurt either.  Try Pure Silk Moisturizing Shave Cream.

Waxing Fans

Rip, ouch, ooohh.  Yep, something like that.  Numbing creams are a girls best friend (I've used BareEase) and after the madness of the (most likely) Russian woman ripping you to shreds, you realize it was all worth it.  Since you wax about every 4-6 weeks though, you need to make sure you regularly exfoliate to keep your skin fresh and touchable.  Of course, exfoliate once to twice a week in the shower all over your body, but I'd recommend using a retexturizing lotion like Skinceuticals Body Retexturizing Treatment on your legs daily.  It promotes exfoliatoin and radiance.

The Fraxel Diaries... Photos of My Week of "Down Time" and My New Skin

Now that I tried Fraxel everyone's asking me if it was worth it... truth is, I'm not sure yet as I'm not completely healed.  Here's a diary of the recovery so far with some really embarrassing pics, but I wanted to give you the full experience minus the discomfort.  Would I do it again?  Since I had fairly good skin with some hyperpigmentation and was just being anal, probably not.

Day 1: Check out my blog post.  My eyes and cheeks were swollen, face was beat red and hot.  Picture the worst sun burn you've ever gotten, only it's only on your face and neck.  I iced and moisturized like there was no tomorrow.  Before Joe got home from work I wrapped my face in a scarf leaving out only my eyes and lips.  Once he made me de-robe from my masking job, he described my new look as "a raw burn victim."  Go to product: Cerave Facial Moisturizing Lotion with SPF 30.

Day 2: I touched my face as soon as I opened my eyes and it felt like sand paper.  OMG.  I actually skeeved my skin. I ran to the mirror and saw a brown, crusty face.  Attractive.  At least it didn't hurt, wasn't swollen or raw.  Ok, I'm healing.  Hiding behind sunglasses and a scarf I only left the apartment once to take a train home to NJ where I can hibernate.  I looked bad enough to cancel appointments for the rest of the week.  Moisturizing every half hour.  Go to products:  Cerave and Skinceuticals Epidermal Repair and Aquaphor at night.

Day 3: Sandpaper.  That's what my face feels like.  It still looks pretty much the same as it did yesterday.  I noticed that all of my brown spots are brought to the surface including those I didn't even know I had.  It's all brown.  Daytime routine: Skinceuticals then Cerave with SPF 30.  Nighttime routine: Skinceuticals then Aquaphor.

Day 4: My face is falling off.  I thought the peeling I would experience would be like peeling form a sunburn and my skin would come off in strips.  Nope.  Everything that turned brown and feels like sand paper is literally crumbling off like sand.  It looks better today, I guess because it's half fallen off.  At this point I'm just hiding my identity behind my sunglasses.  It's impossible to hide my face.  Still laying low.

Day 5: Fresh skin!  Most of my skin has crumbled crumbled off and my fresh skin looks brown spot free.  I'm beyond excited.  However, I still have rough brown patches around my hair line and on my nose that need to flake off.  It's frustrating.  The fresh skin is pink.  Nothing hurts, but it looks raw-ish.  I can't moisturize enough and have been applying SPF 30 like it's my job.  It's like starting over.  A new chance with new skin.  I'm not going to mess it up.

Day 6: My skin looks awesome.  It's all done peeling except for a few rough spots around my neck.  I have a party to go to tonight and I was nervous all week about how I was going to manage my face.  Well, I've never felt more confident.  Truth is, my skin never made me feel insecure, because it wasn't bad to begin with, but seeing how clear it looks now is definitely an added confidence boost.  My parents said I look like a porcelain doll.  The only brown spot that didn't fade is a stubborn one on my nose, which got significantly lighter and I plan on attacking it with a hydroquinone cream.  Over time, I'll get that one too.

*Note: I took all of the photos myself with my iPhone and lighting wasn't controlled.

Melanoma Awareness: Prevent, Protect and Get Checked

Last month I reported on the scary truths behind skin cancer and since May is Melanoma month, I feel it's only right to point out a few more facts.  As we cross out days on our calendars leading up to Memorial Day Weekend it's important to remember why sunscreen is so key not just in the summer months, but year round. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer and one person in the US dies of it every hour.  Can you even grasp that?  This month, many skincare brands are building awareness campaigns around Melanoma, but you should be cautious and take care of your skin year round.  I recently went to my dermatologist for a full body scan to make sure I'm OK.

SkinCeuticals began a mission to raise more awareness of Melanoma by educating people on prevention, protection and getting checked.  They're encouraging Facebook fans to share their story on the how melanoma has affected them or how they plan to stay protected this summer.  They're also donating $20 to the Melanoma Research Alliance for every video uploaded to the Facebook page, or $2 for every written post. Each user who uploads a video will also get a free full-size Physical Fusion UV Defense SPF 50.