Today I’m heading out of the office early to pack up the car and go camping at Clearlake — about 2.5 hours north of San Francisco. I’ve never been camping before since my idea of roughin’ it is a fully functional lakeside cabin. This weekend, we’re pitching tents, fishing and.. well, for me, I’ll be laying out basking in the sun too

The boyfriend tells me I need to pack light and leave the makeup bag at home. And while I’m giving in and leaving the Chanel back in the city, there are definitely a few basics that I’m going to take with me.

1. Pond’s Clean Sweep Wet Cleansing Towelettes - on a campsite where bathrooms and sinks might be scarce, I plan to keep my skin clean and refreshed in 90 degree heat with these easy disposable wipes. These are heavy duty cloths packed with chamomile and vitamin E. Just one wipe will suffice in taking away all the sweat and grime from the outdoors in a few swipes. And, in a 30-pack, I can share with the rest of my friends without a hassle.

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Last night, I recruited my friend Bruce (and co-creater of The Living Room Chef) to come over and help me demonstrate the Tria At-Home Hair Removal system so that we could show you how easy it this DIY job can be.

Before you dive into the video demonstration, let me give you the quick and dirty on how to start your laser hair removal experience at home.

Prep Your Skin: It’s recommended that you don’t pluck or wax 6 weeks before you start the Tria system, or any laser removal for that matter. When you’re ready to start your at-home treatment shave the area you want to treat and remember to clean your skin of any lotions or creams — the surface needs to be totally clean.

Activate the Tria: This thing is pretty smart when it comes to usage — safety first! It comes with a skin sensor unit that must be used to test the skin beforehand. The sensor detects skin tone and will let you know if you’re too tan or dark. If you get a green light, you’re good to go; red light means no go and you have to test your skin before every use.

It’s Laser Time! After the skin sensor gives you the thumbs up, you need to wave the sensor in front of the base unit to activate it. Set your preferred power level (1 - 3) and start zapping! It’s recommended for best results to laser the area you’re working on in 1/2 inch increments. While we didn’t do Bruce’s whole leg, I’d imagine that we could get the job done on both of his lower legs in maybe 30 minutes or so.

Now for the video demo - just press play! And please excuse the mess, we were hanging out in the garage watchin’ TV and having a grand old time!

The manual says you can do subsequent sessions within 2-4 weeks, but when I spoke to the folks at Tria, they actually recommended that I wait closer to 4 weeks. So check back then where I’ll follow up with Bruce for the next edition in Adventures of Laser Hair Removal!

Love this post? Subscribe to The Daily Cookie RSS feed and email to learn more about the TRIA at-home hair removal device and our journey to get rid of those pesky hairs!

Happy Hump Day!

I have a very exciting event to share with you, my lovely Bay Area readers - I’m hosting an at-home hair coloring event with a new line up of L’Oreal Feria products and I want you to join in on the fun! I’ve invited some of my friends to get gussied up and I thought, hey, why not invite a loyal Daily Cookie reader to get herself made over by me too!

L’Oreal Feria is introducing a new formula of their popular multi-faceted hair color with lower levels of ammonia - which means less stinky beauties! The new product also comes with a savvy pro-touch applicator to allow for a faster and more precise application.

If you’d like to be one of the lucky ladies to join me and my friends at a hair-coloring party in San Francisco please email me at thedailycookie [at] yahoo [dot] com by 5pm PST Thursday, July 24th. I’m hosting this event with drinks, h’orderves, and of course a goodie bag from L’Oreal! I’ll pick one lucky reader at random and will email you with all the details of where, when, and what color! Well, you actually get to choose your color; we won’t make you lovely brunettes go blond if you don’t want to

Looking forward to hearing from you and hope you’re having a great Wednesday evening - remember to watch Project Runway and Shear Genius tonight; I certainly am!

xoxo, Lilan

For those of you who feel like Sasquatch more often than not and have contemplated permanent hair removal but found it too expensive, I may just have the answer for you. Are you ready for this? SpectraGenics, a leader in light-based beauty devices, introduces TRIA Personal Laser Hair Removal System to let men and women remedy pesky hair from the comfort of their own home.

But with a $995 price tag, is this device really worth it? I know there are probably a few questions running through your mind right now. Like, is it easy enough for me to use at home? How long does it last? Is it really safe and a good alternative to those in-office visits for laser hair removal?

Well guys and gals, I’ll have all these questions answered for you and more - I have volunteered to be your guinea pig as one of the few ladies chosen to test the TRIA before it hits mass market this fall. Over the next few months I’ll be reporting on my progress as I attempt to get rid of my underarm hair. (more…)