Wicked Beautiful

C.O. Bigelow has revamped its skincare line. The historic New York City apothecary, who joined forces with Bath & Body Works a few years ago to launch their skincare, bath, and body products nationwide, has streamlined, simplified, and updated their skincare products. No longer a Kiehl's clone with a dizzying array of different cleansers and moisturizers, the new C.O. Bigelow Face Collection consists of one cleanser each for normal-to-oily and normal-to-dry skin types, as well as a toner and a daytime moisturizer with SPF for each type. The Face Collection also features additional products for all skin types, including a night cream, an eye treatment, a face mask, a facial serum, and a dermabrasion cream.

I recently purchased the regimen for normal to dry skin. My new Bigelow regimen starts with the Vitamin-Boost Cream Cleanser ($10). It's a low-lathering cream cleanser that removes makeup and debris. I have combination skin that breaks out but can also be on the dry side, and I like this cleanser. However, I think it might be a bit too strong for very dry skin. I follow the cleanser with the alcohol-free Vitamin Booster ($12), a refreshing spray-on toner. I mist my face, gently press it into my skin, and then follow it with the All-in-One Protective Day Cream with SPF 25 ($19.50). I really liked the previous Bigelow day cream with SPF, and this one feels slightly less heavy but still rich enough to keep my skin soft. I finish my morning routine with the Triple Task Eye Treatment ($18). It targets wrinkles, undereye circles, and puffiness, and contains antioxidants.

I also purchased two of the products for all skin types. The Acai Repair Night Cream ($24) is the powerhouse of Bigelow's new skincare line. It contains a blend of antoxidant-rich fruits, including acai berries, mangosteen fruit, and chokeberry; as well as minerals such as copper, iron, and zinc; and multivitamins. The first day after using the Acai Repair Night Cream, I looked in the mirror in the ladies' room of the restaurant I was having lunch at, and I thought the tone of my skin looked a little better. I also purchased the Rice and Bamboo Gentle Dermabrasion ($18). It contains rice, bamboo, and bran to gently exfoliate the skin. It's creamy and slightly granular in feel, but not harsh. I use it three times a week.

I give the new line of skincare products from C.O. Bigelow high marks for streamlining my beauty regimen. The products are effective and pleasant to use (even if they are a bit over-fragranced, in my opinion). Almost all of the products in the Bigelow skincare line contain Bigelow's "Healthy Skin Complex," the company's proprietary blend of vitamins, minerals such as zinc, copper, iron, and magnesium, and antioxidant-rich berries (the only exception is Dr. Galen's Herbal Skin Tonic for normal-to-oily skin, the only holdout from the previous line, as it is one of the company's original products from the 19th century).

The new line of C.O. Bigelow products are visually pleasing. I admit, it was the packaging that first caught my eye. The new C.O. Bigelow skincare line retains the old-style apothecary labeling, complete with the Bigelow product number. But the cleansers now come in sleek tubes instead of plastic bottles (like Kiehl's), and the toners are in appealingly tall, skinny plastic bottles. The moisture creams and scrubs now come in plastic jars rather than the glass jars of Bigelow's previous skincare line, which is great for me since I have a habit of dropping beauty products in glass containers soon after purchasing them, resulting in broken glass and a lot of wasted product. This new line is also surprisingly affordable. Prices range from $10 to $24, so it won't break the bank. C.O. Bigelow products are available at all C.O. Bigelow and Bath & Body Works shops, as well as online at www.ilovebigelow.com and www.bathandbodyworks.com. Right now, if you buy any two items in the new C.O. Bigelow skincare line, you get a third item of equal or lesser value free. This offer is available in the stores as well as online. It's a great incentive to try C.O. Bigelow's new line of skincare.

When I lived in New York, I often visited Dylan's Candy Bar on Third Avenue. Dylan's Candy Bar is owned by Dylan Lauren, daughter of fashion designer Ralph Lauren. It is a glorious soda-fountain, sweet-shop emporium that used to carry a few dessert-related beauty items like scented soaps and bath products as well. The entire lower floor is devoted to all of the sweets and candies that we have loved since childhood, such as Hershey Bars and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, as well as newer favorites like Bertie Botts Any-Flavor Beans. The only problem was that Dylan's Candy Bar was ridiculously overpriced. A packet of two Reese's Peanut Butter Cups that costs 80 cents in the check-out aisle candy display at your local supermarket cost close to two dollars at Dylan's Candy Bar. But hey, it's the Big Apple, right? And you were paying for atmosphere.

Now Dylan Lauren has launched a line of bath and body products based on her Candy Bar shop. I received two of her Candy Lip Savers as Christmas presents. I'm glad I received them as gifts, because if I had been able to try the testers in Sephora (which exclusively sells them), I wouldn't have purchased them. Although the packaging grabs you with its brightly colored plastic jars and cute labels, these lip balms are all style and no substance. For starters, the two flavors, chocolate cup cake and birthday cake batter, smell exactly the same, which is to say a strange combination of some vague dessert-type flavor mixed with wax. They soften lips nicely enough, due to the combination of beeswax, castor oil, and shea butter, but I was expecting a delicious-tasting treat for my lips. Instead, they taste like the cheap no-name brand lip glosses I used to buy at the 5-and-10 store when I was in junior high.

Like the candy in her store, Dylan's Candy Bar Candy Lip Savers are overpriced. At $8 each, they are disappointing. Better, more flavorful lip balms can be found on Etsy for $3 or $4 dollars.

New Englanders have been pretty lucky so far this winter. We just experienced the warmest winter on record - until January, that is. Now it's seasonably cold. Last month my heating bill was $50, this month it was $100! The cold weather, combined with the effects of indoor heating, can really dry out the skin. So I went to the C.O. Bigelow store in the Copley Square Mall to try out some of their own line of products for face and body. This venerable apothecary has been a New York City institution since it was founded in 1838, establishing a reputation for stocking hard-to-find and imported items as well as cult favorites. Two years ago they branched out nation-wide in partnership with Bath and Body Works, and began mass-producing their line of products, many of which were first created for their customers in the nineteenth century.

For my face, I purchased their Rose Wonder Cold Cream ($15). This was the first product the company created in 1838, as the number 001 on the jar's label attests to. Unlike most commercial cold creams, this one is mineral-oil-free, non-comedogenic and non-acnegenic. I use it at night to remove makeup and daily debris. Apply to a dry face and remove with a damp washcloth to cleanse and moisturize the skin.

I follow the Rose Wonder Cold Cream with the Triple Rose Water hydrating spray ($25). This is different from their Rose Water Skin Tonic, which contains witch hazel and is more like a proper toner. The Triple Rose Water is made with essence of rose damascena petals, obtained using the centuries-old method of steam distillation. It comes in a beautiful cobalt blue glass bottle with a spray applicator. The fact that it is the only one of Bigelow's own products that comes in an attractive box underscores how special it is. I feel very sophisticated for having such an elegant, luxurious item in my medicine cabinet. I can imagine it on a Victorian lady's vanity table, looking just the way it looks today. I'm not a fan of toners in particular, but because this product is mostly rose water, it doesn't dry out my skin. It gives the skin a refreshing boost of hydration to prep the skin for moisturizer. And the natural fragrance of rose is light, not cloying like many synthetic rose fragrances.

For a moisturizer, I decided not to continue with the Rose theme and bypassed the Rose Hydrating Gel Treatment ($20) because it left a matte feeling on my skin when I tried it on the back of my hand. It would be perfect for normal-to-oily skin, but my skin needs more moisture. Instead I chose the Incredibly Moisturizing Face Cream ($20). This cream gives my skin the moisture that it craves this time of the year, plus it has an SPF of 15. Just because it's winter doesn't mean the face is immune to the damaging effects of the sun, so remember to "block up" all year round. I also use this at night because it's so rich.

It's just as important to winterize your body skin as it is to hydrate your face, and for that, I've saved my favorite product for last. C.O. Bigelow's Lemon Body Cream ($19.50) is a generous tub of rich cream that smells divine - like lemon pastry cream - and is one of C.O. Bigelow's best sellers. It's so popular that it spawned a "lemon line" of companion products, including a lighter Lemon Body Lotion ($19.50), Lemon Cream Body Wash ($16.50), and Lemon Body Scrub ($20).

If you're new to C.O. Bigelow products, you can try the travel sizes of their most popular products, including the Rose Wonder Cold Cream and the Lemon Body Cream. In addition to the C.O. Bigelow stores, the line is also available at Bath and Body Works, or online at www.cobigelow.com.