This late edition of Biorequiem Beauty Week is brought to you by a busy day and a lazy afternoon. Apologies for the delay, but life waits for no one! However, I’m happy to finally share my experience with Belle Face Salt Scrub.

With correct [read: gentle, minimal] use, scrubs can be very amazing for getting rid of dead skin cells and cleaning pores. Tons are out there, and lots of peeps make their own, but, until Belle Face, I hadn’t actually tried salt or sugar scrub on my face, so the only experiences I’d had were with St Ives and Bioré, both of which were downright painful and irritated my skin. I’ve used tons of salt and sugar body scrubs, but had The Fear when it came to putting similar stuff on my face. Not to mention that I already use an exfoliating cloth when I wash my face.

But, when a friend is developing a natural skincare line and makes the stuff right before your very eyes after a night of cheap Russian champagne, you just don’t say no.

Thus, I was sent home with a freshly-made tub of amazing-smelling goop, and a list of ingredients:

• Coarse and Fine Sea Salt (base)
• Castille Soap (base)
• Glycerin (binding)
• Aloe Vera (soothing)
• Olive Oil (incredible moisturizer which, miraculously, doesn’t clog pores)
• Jojoba Oil (moisturizer)
• Chamomile and Peppermint Tea (to restore balance and invigorate)
• Lemon Oil (scent)

My instructions were to use weekly, which makes today my second time, and may I just say, damn. After scrubbing, I rinsed it off with warm, then cold, water, then moisturized as usual, and… My face was sloughed and soft and glowing. In fact, my skin’s looked fresh all week. The effect was impressive, and actually quite different than the results I get with exfoliating cloths, which I still love and use. Even though the coarse salt looked a little intimidating, it was not irritating and dissolved quickly, but not too quickly to do its job. The key is gentle scrubbin’! And the lemon oil! Cooks out there know how amazing this stuff smells.

I’ve read many contradicting opinions on the benefits of scrubs, synthetic scrubs vs. natural scrubs, etc., so I’m not going to pretend I actually KNOW, for a fact, what’s right and wrong in the realm of scrubbing. I don’t. What I do know is that dead skin cells are better off gone and scrubbed skin is better off replenished, so I’m going to be using this stuff whenever my skin starts looking dull, and hope that I can get my hands on more when it runs out. This scrub isn’t available for purchase yet, but keep it locked to the Belle Face blog. From what I understand it’s just a matter of packaging now. HURRY UP, ANNAH.

                          

What vitamins or supplements do you take daily?

• Fish oil
• Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc
• High potency B
• Piracetam – this is a nootropic that helps with memory and cognitive enhancement
• Currently I’m also adding Echinacea, because there is a flu going around

Everything I’m about to take:

Do you retouch your skin in your photos or is it that beautiful naturally?

Though my skin is generally decent, it isn’t perfect and I do retouch it in some photos. After all, I’m a professional retoucher and have spent years editing pictures of other girls – it’s kind of compulsive at this point. Here is a completely unedited, makeup-free photo, where you can see the cat-inflicted scars on my left cheek!

Do you have sensitive skin? because I don’t, but I read on Biorequiem that you use Prestige liquid liner, and I’ve used it in the past and it burned my eye lids. And I have bad skin and saw your skin tips.. So I’m not sure if I should try it out.

Sounds highly unpleasant! I suggest you take the time to get checked out by a doc and figure out what it is in Prestige liquid liner you’re allergic to, so you can avoid it in the future. This will help you establish a safe, steady skin regimen! As far as my skin is concerned – no, it’s not especially sensitive.

What are your most indispensable concoctions and/or tools used in the decontamination chamber? (i.e., do you have a skincare regimen, or does your skin look like bionic porcelain thanks to glorious genetics?)

Alas, even bionic porcelain isn’t perfect! I mostly covered this here. Additionally, I use jojoba oil as eye make-up remover and wear sunscreen – my powder foundation has SPF 15, or I use Olay’s Complete daily moisturizer. Exfoliating with one of these every few days does wonders, as well:

Don’t think that this is a sleazy question, but have you ever been in porn? I thought I saw you in a fetish thing, so I looked it up and it lists a “Zoe” who has been in 2 other adult films… Is it you?

I’m not the adult industry”Zoe”. However! Back when I did a lot of extra work for film and TV, I was featured in Fetish: Are you Human [likely the film you saw] as a cyborg and an evil nurse – but not as a “performer”.  I’m not even sure they credited me, though they did put a shot of me on the back cover, which caused some confusion among my friends. Here is a picture of a gigantic polaroid from that set:

2002. Suck is, Lizbeth Salander.

This was a really fun, bacchanalian experience actually – I got to go behind the scenes of a high-budget SciFi porn production, see how it’s done on a gorgeous set, take pictures, make money and eat a fancy lunch while watching attractive professionals having sex in this glass pod just 20 feet away.

I also got to command miniature porn actor, Napoleon, as his evil nurse – all while keeping my clothes on.

You seem like a busy person, so what do you do with Micron when you’re out and about? I ask because my dog tends to fret when I go out for the day and I’m not sure what to do about it!

When I first adopted her, she was a fretter, and it took about a year and a half for her to feel confident that I would be back every time I left. These days, Micron is a fairly mellow beast and spends much of her alone time sleeping, save for the occasional romp through the garbage. I often work from home, so she isn’t left alone too often. When she is though, she manages with the sleeping and the romping, but is overjoyed when we come home. During trips, we’re lucky to have friends willing to watch her in our absence!

You don’t have to reply to this but I just wanted to say (even though you said you didn’t want to have children) that if you decided to, one day, I think you would make an incredible mother.

Thank you! I’m not sure what prompts you to say that, but hope to channel whatever it might be into all the work I do.

Tell me, in single words, only the good things that come into your mind when you think about your mother?

My mother? Let me tell you about my mother.

Not so much a question as a “thank you for not stepping on slash helping me find my glasses at The Protomen show.” My sister was awesomed by your hair, also.

Hey, you’re welcome! I hope you’re still having fun discovering LA.

                          

It’s International Women’s Day, and to celebrate, I’m introducing a new feature. Titled “Interrogation Station”, it’s here to answer questions from YOU. I got the idea after trying out Formspring – there were so many similar questions, it made sense to integrate them into Biorequiem, for all to see. To give Interrogation Station a go, just submit a question through my Fromspring page. You can ask anything you like, it doesn’t have to be about style or art. All I request is that you check out my FAQ and previously asked questions beforehand. I can’t guarantee that I’ll get to every single question, but I will certainly try. Onward!

How Do You Keep Your Skin Looking So Perfect?

Thank you – my skin isn’t perfect, in that I have scars from piercings and the neurotic cats of my childhood, but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve!

1. Sleep. Getting enough sleep is a crucial step to looking and feeling your best. As you all probably know, people who sleep enough and regularly [not too much, not too little] live longer, look younger and are generally healthier than those with erratic sleep patterns.
2. Water. You hear it everywhere and by Einstein’s balls it’s TRUE! Drink water whenever you can, literally.
3. Hyaluronic Serum. Whuhh? Oh yes, you heard it here first! Rejoice my squidlings, because this stuff will do things to your skin you didn’t know where possible! I’ve been wanting to tell everyone about it for months, but I wanted to give it a good test run before recommending it. And now – I recommend it. In my experience, this product is not so good under makeup so I try to use it before bed or on no makeup days [I have plenty of those, don't gasp at me that way]. This is the brand I’ve been using. You can thank me later. On make up days, I use Oil of Olay Deep Hydration Regenerating Cream.
4. Avoid processed food. You already know it’s bad for you, so just stop. Eating real food is good for every aspect of your being. If your insides are stuffed with frozen pizzas, gummy bears and hot pockets, your skin will show it.

Does your hair dye ever rub off on things, like pillowcases or clothing? I can never seem to keep my color really vibrant without it leaving it’s mark everywhere.

Honestly? Possibly, but I wouldn’t know it. My bedsheets are all dark and so are my towels. It does help to rinse your hair with ice-cold water  after shampoo and conditioner, to close those follicles god and proper. I’ve heard of people rinsing with vinegar to help keep the color stay put, but haven’t personally tried it.

Do you gravitate towards certain colors? I understand black is the ultimate color. Do you handle other colors (red, green, etc.) well and can you wear them?

Actually, I firmly believe that anyone can wear any color they want, as long as they do it with style and confidence. As for me, I currently prefer wearing mostly black and gray, but have handled color just fine in the past, as demonstrated by these old-school style photos:

What places do you typically purchase your make-up from, especially foundation? Your make-up and skin are flawless!

In my recent Blush Response, I said that I’ve been using Prestige’s Skin Loving Minerals powder foundation. It’s half the price of Bare Escentuals and more matte, too.  When I can, however, I go for Bare Escentuals, and I never-ever use liquid or non-mineral foundation. You can find Prestige at drug stores that carry the brand, and I buy Bare Escentuals at Sephora.

You mentioned that you sometimes curl your hair with a curling iron. How do you manage the shorter hair in the back with that a-line? I can’t ever get it right.

I curl it under, in rows, starting from the bottom up, then I make it a little messy and go. Looks better than leaving tight curls back there – those make me think of The Golden Girls.

I would love, if you have the time, to tell me how you did your hair, particularly in the Sugarpill post and Style Dispatch 008. Product, pointers, how you dried it, or an essential step. I would really appreciate any advice.

1. Air dry! Always air dry.
2. While wet, distribute a little bit of TiGi’s Curls Rock Curl Amplifier through hair. Scrunch.
3. Once dry, curl just a few pieces on top and around the face with a medium-barrel curling iron.
4. Once hair cools down, separate tight curls with fingers for a softer, fuller look.

And that wraps up this installment on Interrogation Station. More soon.