Home Beauty Secrets Are All Around You
Are you seeking beauty secrets? Maybe you should realize that the most
important beauty secret is that there is no single secret that will help every
woman. Every woman is unique, and therefore, so are her beauty needs. In your
search for beauty secrets, you may not notice the obvious. Stress is a major
cause of aging, thus relief from it will help maintain your youthful beauty. The
spa is an excellent place to visit if you want to get rid of stress. Massages,
mud, and other beauty wraps are also popular and effective methods of relaxing.
Your mother or grandmother can probably give you some good beauty secrets.
People have different skin, and your family is more likely to have gone through
the same problems that you may be experiencing. Someone in your family may have
already found a treatment that helps eliminate early wrinkles or ward off
pimples for your skin type.
You can also look for more beauty secrets on the World-Wide-Web. Hop online for
more beauty tips, but keep in mind that some of the information you find may not
work for you. Womens magazines are also a good source of beauty tips and
treatments. They offer a huge variety of tips that may or may not work. You
might say that half of the fun is experimenting with your friends, or spending a
night alone to pamper yourself with new treatments.
Try to keep track of your own beauty secrets for future reference. There will
come a time when you discover an amazing facial in the local beauty store, but a
few weeks down the road, you cant remember the brand name. You can also come up
with an effective homemade treatment for acne, but then forget the basic
ingredients that you put in it.
Every generation thinks that they are facing a unique problem that old methods
cannot handle. This idea is both true and false. Old fashioned methods can treat
your beauty problems. In some cases, the environment has changed so much that
your beauty or skin care needs may require new treatments.
Keep in mind that you should be careful about what you apply to your skin or
what you put into your body. While drinking a lot of water is one of the
effective and reliable beauty secrets that you can safely try, putting a
potentially harmful substance in or on your body is a risk that you should not
take. Natural Beauty Care At Home
Natural Hair Care
Your hair takes a beating all summer long from sun, salt, chlorine, and wind.
Get a good hair cut or trim and deep condition your hair to replenish lost
moisture. My favorite home treatment is honey. Yes, pure honey will do wonders
for your luscious locks and is one of the best natural hair conditioners. Simply
massage a tablespoon or two of pure honey into damp hair and leave on for 15 to
20 minutes then rinse off with warm water. (It is a bit "sticky" going on but
easily rinses out of your hair.)
Sweet Body Treat
This is also the perfect time of year for an all-over body scrub. I like to use
sugar to exfoliate my skin and deep cleanse it. Sugar scrubs are popular at many
resort spas. They have replaced the salt and oil style scrubs. Sugar is gentler,
less dehydrating and can be used by all skin types. When you use a body scrub
you are deep cleansing your skin. Clean skin will retain more moisture and look
healthier - a definite benefit! I would suggest adding a monthly all over body
scrub to your beauty regime.
Here is a simple recipe for a scented sugar scrub from my book, Natural Beauty
from the Garden (Henry Holt and Company):
Scented Sugar Scrub
This gentle scrub can be used all over your body to freshen and stimulate your
skin. I like to use lavender scented sugar in the morning but feel free to
experiment with your own favorite scents. If you are sensitive to scents just
use plain sugar as directed. Sugar is gentle enough to use for all skin types
and is not as abrasive as it may feel at first since it slowly dissolves as you
wash with it. Fill a pretty jar with some sugar scrub and tie up with a pretty
bow and give to a special friend who could use a bit of pampering.
Ingredients
1/4 cup dried lavender, dried basil, or vanilla bean split
1 cup granulated sugar
Directions
In a clean, dry, glass jar alternate layers of the sugar and dried herbs. If
making the vanilla scrub, insert the vanilla bean into the center of the jar of
sugar. Cover with a tight fitting lid or plastic wrap and place in a dry spot
for a few weeks. When the sugar is scented to your liking, separate out the
herbs or vanilla. Don't worry if the sugar has a bit of the herbs or vanilla
left in it - I think this actually looks better and adds to this cleanser's
homemade charm. Store your sugar scrub in a clean, dry container with a tight
fitting lid. To use: Pour a small amount into the palm of your hand and mix with
water or your favorite cleanser. Massage into damp skin and rinse well with warm
water. Overview Home Made Natural Beauty Products
If you have ever been inspired to make your own beauty products at home but
ultimately decided not to proceed because you were intimidated by the process,
here are some suggestions for you:
Like any new venture, the best way to ensure success is by taking things one
step at a time and adopting an open attitude. No one person, no matter how well
versed in the subject, will ever know all there is to know about herbs. Feel
free to learn at whatever pace makes you comfortable.
You might want to browse through the selections at your local public library to
get a feel for the kind of information that is available. Then, when you find a
particular guide book that suits your needs, you can go ahead and purchase one.
Try to find one that you can use as a reference guide, with the properties of
various plant products listed in an easy to read manner. You might well find
yourself going to your garden or to the local market for remedies for common
health ailments instead of your medicine cabinet or the drug store!
Once you have gained enough knowledge to be familiar with the different
properties of herbs, you can then proceed to making use of them for whatever
your needs may be. Some herbs act as a sedative, which is good for both body and
mind. Still others are astringents, which is helpful if you are dealing with
oily skin, while others are antiseptics, which may help those with acne.
Now that you know which herbs to use for your particular condition, how do you
use them? One common way is by infusion. This is a lot like making tea. Using a
glass container with a lid, boil the water (one pint of water for each ounce of
herbs) first, then add the herbs (including stems and leaves). The mixture is
then left to steep for about 10 minutes. Strain it, and then you can use the
liquid in whatever fashion you choose.
Some natural products take the form of seeds, roots, or bark. If you would like
to work with these items, the procedure is a little different: The best results
are obtained if you used a small mortar and pestle to grind up the roots and
seeds before you put them in the pot. This will help you get the most benefit
from your ingredients by releasing their properties fully.
You need the to use a container made from a non metallic material, but in this
case you need to bring the mixture to a slow boil and keep it boiling for about
15 minutes. The lid of the pot should not be put on tightly; instead, leave it
at a bit of an angle to let steam escape. After 15 minutes, take the pot off the
stove and let it steep for another few minutes (5 to 10 are recommended). Strain
as above, and then use the liquid.
If you take the time to do some research first, the whole world of natural
beauty products isn't really so intimidating. Figure out what you would like to
treat, find out what herbs are needed and how to prepared them, and you will be
well on your way to a whole new hobby. Natural Beauty Makeup at Home
People generally wear makeup because it makes them feel better about the way
they present themselves to the world. Makeup can give you a glow and can cover
the blemishes and acne you might not feel comfortable displaying to the people
around you. However, sometimes makeup can create a vicious cycle, just creating
more blemishes on your face by clogging your pores. This is why it is important
to buy makeup for sensitive skin. Natural cosmetics will help give your skin a
shiny glow, while creating safe and healthy skin with a youthful effervescence.
One type of makeup that creates natural beauty is mineral makeup. This is the
latest addition to an emerging beauty culture dedicated to better living. Unlike
traditional products, mineral makeup, which is based on a hypoallergenic loose
powder that naturally hydrates your skin, contains no perfumes, talc, alcohol,
dyes, mineral oil or preservatives.
This makeup can have spf that will protect your skin from sun. The sun is the
number-one aging agent, which makes it very important to stay out of. Mineral
makeup's zinc oxide offers natural UVA-UVB protection. This type of makeup will
make your skin look better. The old makeup phrase "putting on your face" may
soon be obsolete. People love when people tell me my skin looks great, because
the makeup is obviously invisible. It can look and feel like you're wearing
nothing at all, like a silky top layer of your very own skin.
The natural makeup product contains ingredients that are good for skin. For
women who can't get to a spa, triple-milled minerals like titanium, gold, zinc,
magnesium and aluminum naturally relax, refresh and rejuvenate the skin, and
offer a genuine beauty solution in the comfort home. These natural cosmetics can
be used after peels as well. Skin procedures such as lasers and peels are
common. Minerals are the natural choice to calm and soothe red, bruised, itchy,
inflamed and flaking skin. This product hides imperfections, then camouflages
with minerals that actually block the sun, which is crucial after aggressive
treatments. In fact, after certain treatments, you shouldn't use sunscreens.
Minerals cool the skin and encourage faster healing. You can sleep in it as
well.
This makeup will not enhance wrinkles like traditional powders. If you have fine
lines or crow's-feet, traditional makeup can cake in those places, often
creating an illusion of deeper lines. Minerals create real health and a glow
like we had in our teens and 20s through essential vitamins, antioxidants and
ingredients that actually hydrate the skin and conceal wrinkles.
It is good for sensitive skin as well. Several of women struggle with acne,
allergies, dryness and clogged pores from unfriendly commercial makeup. Mineral
makeup lets you enhance skin care with positive beauty choices, not create more
problems. In addition, it does not feel like a mask. For some women, traditional
makeup, often heavier, can feel like a mask. Mineral makeup's texture is lighter
and different. Even with more coverage, experts say you will see a natural,
translucent radiance and more of your skin. Women Over 50: Natural Beauty
Home Tips
A few fine lines, a hint of gray. The normal changes of aging are
inevitable. But with skin rejuvenation products, nonsurgical facial treatments,
and hair care products, it's easy for women over 50 to enhance their natural
beauty.
What Happens to Skin and Hair as We Age
The effects of sun exposure, smoking, diet, and heredity become evident on our
skin as we get older. Stress, gravity, and obesity also affect how well skin
looks. And as we age, our skin doesn't produce new cells as quickly as it used
to. Skin gradually becomes less elastic and prone to dryness.
Something similar happens to cells that give our hair its color, too. Hair
pigment cells become less efficient at renewing themselves, which makes hair
gray.
8 Natural Beauty Tips for Your Skin
A few simple steps are all you need to care for your skin as you get older.
These natural beauty tips can get you started.
- If you smoke, stop. Research shows that smoking prematurely ages your
skin.
- Just say no to sunbathing and tanning salons. Stay out of the sun
between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. when the sun's rays are the strongest. If you
must be outside, wear a protective hat, long-sleeved shirt, and sunglasses.
Freckles, age spots, and blotchy complexions are linked to sun exposure.
- Wear sunscreen religiously. Use products with SPF 15 or higher, and both
UVB and UVA protection. Damage to the skin from excess or unprotected sun
exposure is known as "photoaging." These changes can include fine wrinkles
and an uneven skin tone.
- Check skin often for skin cancer. If there are changes that worry you,
call your doctor right away. Older, fair-skinned people are at high risk,
and must have a yearly check.
- Soothe dry skin. Use a humidifier. Use moisturizing soaps and lotions.
See your doctor if you still have problems.
- Eat right and hydrate. Good nutrition helps the body repair skin.
Drinking lots of water helps hydrate skin from the inside out.
- Try antiaging products. For women over 50, over-the-counter creams and
lotions may enhance natural beauty by rejuvenating your skin. Pentapeptides
(a chemical compound in many new products) may help prompt skin cells to
produce more collagen, which is the support structure that gives skin a
firmer look. Prescription treatments and retinoid creams are also options.
- Know about skin treatments. Botox injections can ease wrinkles in the
upper third of the face. Chemical peels are effective in removing fine lines
and smoothing skin, especially around the eyes and mouth. Wrinkle fillers
can plump up your skin and erase lines. Microdermabrasion erases ultrafine
lines, rejuvenates your complexion, and improves skin tone and color. Laser
resurfacing is another technique; it allows doctors to improve sun-damaged
skin, scars, and other facial problems.
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