Carry It On: Sodashi Jet Lag Recovery Kit

I was sitting on the patio of my Four Seasons Koh Samui bungalow when my favorite Head of PR, Maria Kuhn, mentioned jet lag, the harshest of travel ailments (second, of course, to E. Coli and Montezuma's Revenge).

While lapping up the fresh island breeze, Ms. Kuhn filled me in on a little travel secret.... Sodashi, an Australian line of products second to none in the realm of travel goodies. Combining Sodashi’s most refreshing and uplifting products to rejuvenate during extensive periods of travel, their Jet Lag Recovery Kit features convenient travel sizes of their top travel products including:

• 30ml Jet Lag Recovery Gel
• 50ml Jet Lag Recovery Mist
• 30ml Eye Lifting Gel
• 30ml Rehydrating Face & Neck Moisturiser
• 30ml Hand Rescue Cream

My favorites include the Jet Lag Recovery Gel, a cooling gel formulated to 'uplift and revive the mind and body during long periods of travel.' Applied to pulse points every three hours during travel, it strengthens mental clarity and awareness and helps the body’s digestion with key active ingredients including grapefruit, peppermint, rosemary, lemongrass and ginger. The Jet Lag Recovery Mist, a fortifying mist, can be used regularly during and after travel to cool the skin and keep the mind and body feeling fresh when you're about ready to fall over. One of the key active ingredients includes geranium which provides a balancing effect on the skin. All products are available online so stop dragging your feet and start feeling jet set fresh.

www.sodashi.com

Stay tuned for the next two weeks where Jaunt will uncover the best off-the-radar picks for LA and Maui!

Carry It On: Balm Voyage! Cosmetic Junkies Unite!

Have I mentioned that I only travel light? That means light moisturizer, make-up, and hair care. No sooner had I searched for Eva Longoria's beauty secret (FYI - it's Enjoue's Satin Primer), when I came across a beauty website that had some of the finest custom blended colors anywhere.

Welcome to Cosmetic Junkies (www.cosmeticjunkies.com), a site run by a family of beauty-tastic professionals that know more about color, hair, and cosmetics than anyone I've met in years. After training as a color educator for Goldwell and traveling the Southwest and East coast teaching, the Nusskerns learned beauty inside and out.

After they moved to New York and established a salon, Val, Head Proprietor and heart & soul of the group, got back to her passion for make-up. After all, her mama was a buyer for cosmetic stores in the Deep South. As most salons and stores now cater to the big names, Val goes to the best names; the ones you need to search for. In essence, she does all the work for you.

My vote for travel buffs?

Balm Voyage, a trio of three sexy colors with names like Daddy's Girl, Beauty Queen, and Cocoa My Coconut.

It's luxury travel make-up for the hot traveling babe in you.

www.cosmeticjunkies.com

NYC: Your Restaurant Cheat Sheet

New York is like an in-law. Most of the time we get along just fine. Sometimes, we're even thick as thieves. We laugh, we shop, we drink, we dine... and then it rains, snows, or throws an awful gust of rotten summer trash right up my nose. She frustrates me... this city that never sleeps, but hell, I still love her.

Which is exactly why I like to elicit the aid of good friends and grub-loving gurus to help me determine where to do my dining and socializing when I'm off to the Big Apple.


This week, it's Maryann Scaccia, Vice President of KB Network News, an influential restaurant public relations firm in NYC. This is what she's got to say and we're all ears.




Casa Mono
Tapas lovers flock to Mario Batali's cozy spot in Gramercy Park to feast on classic Spanish dishes such as Patatas Bravas, as well as sumptuous delicacies such as Duck Hearts with Faves a La Catalana, Ensalada Mono with Manchego, Dorada with Chanterelles. Muy delicioso!

52 Irving Pl.
NY, NY 10003
between 17th and 18th Sts.
Phone: (212) 253-2773

Superfine
Tucked away on a cobblestone street beneath the Manhattan Bridge in DUMBO, Superfine is situated in a graffiti splashed converted brick warehouse, which is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of cool factor for this little-known Brooklyn hot spot. Great cocktails, a seasonally driven American menu (with quite possibly the best pork chop on the planet!), comfy retro furniture and free pool attract local hipsters night after night. They also do a fab blues brunch with live music on Sundays.

126 Front St
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Phone: (718) 243-9005



Oceana
If you’re seeking an escape from the madness of midtown, duck into Oceana where Chef Ben Pollinger has created an exquisite seafood menu using local and seasonal ingredients. With interiors designed like a luxury yacht and desserts that are otherworldly (caramel candy bar anyone?) it’s the ultimate fine dining experience.

55 E 54th St
NY, NY 10022
Phone: (212) 759-5941

La Esquina
Although the west coast may have one up on New York for its authentic Mexican food, no one could argue that La Esquina doesn’t deliver when it comes to great food, funky décor and cool people. Still a place to see and be seen at all hours, there is a basement restaurant and bar, taco stand and café. Personally, I’m a big fan of the laid back atmosphere in the café and can be found there gorging on bistec tacos and ceviche most Sunday afternoons…..

106 Kenmare Street
NY, NY 10012
Phone: (646) 613-7100















Café Mogador
Smack in the center of a busy East Village block, this Moroccan restaurant is the perfect place to gather with great friends to share plates of gloriously authentic tagine, cous cous and hummus. It’s lively, fun and reasonably priced – all in all, the perfect destination for a good night out.

101 Saint Marks Place
NY, NY 10009
Btwn 1st Ave & Ave A
Phone: (212) 677-2226

Straight from Maryann Scaccia, Friend/Foodie/Guest Blogger/Guest Guru, you now have the answer to that always baffling, 'So where do we dine tonight?'

Ice is Hot: Lap(land) it Up

I'm a warm-blooded desert dwelling gypsy, but when I hear about Swedish Lapland I think of men named Bjorn, fjords, water so blue it's white, reindeers, and Bond... James Bond.

It all started with Art.

The story goes something like this. In the late 80's, Japanese ice artists visited northern Sweden, an area known as 'no man's land' at the foot of the Arctic Circle. It was there they created an exhibition of ice art. A year later, French artist Jannot Derid held his own exhibition in a nearby igloo. One night, there were no rooms available in town so visitors asked for permission to spend the night in the exhibition hall. They slept in sleeping bags on top of reindeer skin. Voila! The first guests of the Icehotel (c) had unofficially checked in.




Located in Jukkasjärvi, a town in Swedish Lapland (northern Sweden), there are only 541 permanent residents year round, the majority of whom are Sami, a nomadic Nordic people that live in the area stretching from northern Norway to the Kola peninsula in Russia with a fascinating culture based on animistic beliefs where everything from animals to minerals have a soul. They have 400 words for reindeer alone. Pushed north by the Vikings, they are one of the oldest surviving cultures in the world settling the Scandinavian Peninsula over 4000 years ago.

Since its creation, the Icehotel (c) has seen numerous guests. New ice art, and the rooms themselves, are created by visiting artists from around the world. Yes, the entire hotel is made out of ice blocks taken from the Torne River. The best part? When the weather warms, the hotel begins to disappear... melting right back into the environment from which it's sprung. With more than 80 rooms and suites, bar, reception, and even a church (in case you want to get hitched in the Arctic Circle), guests can expect to pay about 1,400 Swedish Krona (@ $196 US dollars/night). Keep in mind, the hotel only exists between December and April.



The only building not made of ice is the amazing restaurant which serves up cuisine fresh from the fells, forests and marshes north of The Circle. Think venison, ptarmigan (a medium-sized game bird), wood grouse, reindeer, salmon, whiting, grayling and arctic char. Desserts are prepared from the wild cloudberries, blueberries, lingonberries and arctic bramble that thrive in the nearby marshes and moors. In addition to the local fare, the hotel offers excursions such as dogsledding and snow safaris.


(c) Jorma Jaemsen—zefa/Corbis

So if the ancient Sami, safari sledding, cloudberries, and ice rooms that promise to make you feel as if you've stepped into the hands of time aren't Jaunt worthy enough for you... forget ever living up to the likes of Bond.

Stay home and eat a pot pie, as far as I'm concerned.

I'll be Laplanding it Up.
Sami style.

www.icehotel.com