January 31, 2008

When it comes to her pores, Babe always plays dirty -- those little suckers are consistently clogged, regardless of the weather, her mood or which party holds the majority in Congress. Her secret weapons of late are clay and charcoal. Not a pretty color but they make a great replacement for harsher chemicals in facial products. Two items have recently made their way into Babe's medicine cabinet. A new brand called Rare2B makes an organic, clay-based Detox Facial Mask ($35) that dries to a silkier finish than the usual mummifying formulas. This is pretty thrilling, because it allows Babe to exfoliate and move her lips at the same time (all the better to dispense with annoying phone catch-up for 15 minutes). Another fave is von Natur's Chaotic Facial Gel Cleanser ($29), which contains charcoal and helps get acne under control. Try the entire Chaotic line if you're prone to breakouts like Babe, but the brand also offers products for combination and dry skin.