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 

Beauty Secrets #2: Attitude, part 2

Here is the second part of first chapter in the book World's Best Kept Beauty Secrets by Diane Irons. Like I said in the first part I really like this book and I thought I would share the tips inside the book with you. Enjoy :)

1. Don’t act or dress your age. How do you begin your own ‘’timeless’’ appearance? Pick up a magazine that might be geared to a different age demographic. Shop at a different store or department than you usually do. 

2. Start a journal. Keep your daily activities and thoughts as a reliable thermometer to your current state of thinking. Use it to keep track of what you’re eating, wearing, and feeling.

3. Find your energy level. Don’t rely on the time of day to tell you when to eat, when to rest, etc. Let your body do the talking!

4. Set goals. It could be as small as ‘’I will lose five pounds by the end of the month’’ or ‘’I will devote one hour a day just for me.’’ Sit back, close your eyes, and visualize yourself as slimmer, happier, or more assertive.  Beauty begins with self-acceptance. Look in the mirror, smile, and say ‘’hi!’’

5. No-Brainer. Have one or two outfits that you know make you look terrific and require no thought. 

6. Keep no more than five cosmetics that can make you look fabulous and don’t have to be color coordinated. Keep one overcoat that will make you look stylish.

7. Keep moving. Don’t stay frozen in time. Keep a look that is absolutely your style, but keep reinventing that look to keep up with the times.

8. Learn to forgive. Get back to self-acceptance. Let it go! Learn to forgive others. Throw it away, and get on with your life today!

9. Meditation is a beauty ritual.  It can be perfectly relaxing and enjoyable way to start the day.

10. I double dare you. Whether it’s just getting a manicure or changing your hair color, just a little something new or different can create a brand-new mind-set.

11. Self-portrait. Drawings are our subconscious speaking to us. Take a pencil or crayon, and draw a picture of yourself. Ask yourself what your drawing says about you. Did you take up a whole page? Are you in the corner? Are any of your body parts missing? Are you wearing clothes? What kind of clothes are you wearing? Are you wearing shoes? Are any of your body parts out of proportion? What would you name your drawing? The most evidential self-portrait results were the ones done by teenagers and homemakers reentering the workplace. They were most likely to draw themselves without body parts, grotesque bodies, or as being practically invisible, taking up only a small corner of the page.

xoxo Katja