Beauty Secrets #3: Skin, part 1

Here is the next chapter from the book World's Best Kept Beauty Secrets by Diane Irons. Enjoy :)

• Water. Water is the number one beauty treatment favored by women of every age. If you don’t drink at least eight to ten glasses a day, you are depriving yourself of the best beauty treatment on earth.

 

• The sun is your skin’s number one enemy. Use a sunscreen formulated for your skin along with your moisturizer. Always apply lots of it not only to your face, but slather it on the neck, hands, and hairline.

 

• Cleansing. The first rule of beautiful skin is to stop overcleansing it. Unless you’ve been up all night digging ditches, your face is not dirty. Your morning routine should be nothing more than reactivating last night’s moisturizer with a splash of warm water or milk. Milk is a lactic acid and will allow your face to receive a natural acid treatment. Be careful of the chemical acids you use, and when you can, substitute nature’s acids in your cleansing routine. In addition to milk, consider these natural acids: Pineapple juice, lemon juice, tomatoes and most citrus fruits.

 

• Toning. Toning is your second step, and an important one. The purpose of using a toner is to remove residue soap, moisturizer, and oil. Carry around lemons. They are refreshing and more effective than those silly toners that contain only a little lemon but lots of chemicals. Other inexpensive alternatives are rose water, witch hazel and hydrogen peroxide. Or try the following refreshing tea tonic: Mix 2 teaspoons of green or chamomile tea with ½ cup water. Saturate a cotton ball, and apply all over the face. Allow it to remain on the skin until it evaporates. There is never any reason to rinse this or any toner off.

 

• Moisturizing. It is not necessary to spend a lot on a moisturizer. Good basic moisturizers can be found in any drugstore. Just learn to read the labels, and look for these low-cost ingredients. Lipids: ceramides, cerebrosides, or sphingo lipids. Essential fatty acids: sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, and primrose oil. Sunscreen. Don’t buy a vitamin A,E or C enhanced moisturizer. Go to your local pharmacy, and purchase these vitamins in capsule form. Prick open the capsule, and add it to your moisturizer. You’ll find most moisturizers more effective when applied to damp skin because it forms a thin film that will trap moisture in the skin.

xoxo Katja