Summer Skin Care

Ok, sorry if this bores any guys brave enough to read it, but hey, these wouldn’t be bad tips for you to follow either!

anyways so BASICLY my friend asked me to put up another post, even though I know she hasn’t read all of the old ones even and wonder if she has even been on yet since my last post went up… so anyways I decided to humor her. Only problem is, I dont really have a heck of a lot to write about. I’m more than half way done my history revision though I haven’t even started Chemistry yet, but (doing breathing exercises) I will stay calm…. (continues breathing exercises…) I don’t get too stressed out about tests anyways… Just so long as I have my special good luck charm I’m good.

Well it’s not so much a good luck charm as a “Have-confidence-and-go-with-your-first-instinct” charm. I tend to do well and be calmer and more capable of living by my philosophies when I’m wearing it because it keeps me conscious of them. hmmm I will have to write a post about them some day… (problem is there are so many so not today since I’ve got more revision on hold).

Anyways (I tend to use that a lot, I know…*sigh* what can ya do?*shrug*)  I wanted to take some care of my skin today. I tend to have good skin, I take after my dad unlike my mom, and where as my dad never had particularly supple skin as a teenager because he didn’t take care of it (apparently- Don’t worry, I dont have a time machine I’m not telling you about :P) he, regardless, rarely got blemishes or pimples. Now though my skin town is totally alien, my texture seems pretty similar to that. Despite my freckles and tendency to go red after being in the sun for 5 minutes or walking for three regardless of whether I’m sunburnt or tired or not… my skin is just annoyingly translucent so it shows really strongly whenever my heart starts pumping blood even slightly harder…

Ok, so unfortunately I do not have any remedies for that, and not even tanning works because my skin will not hold a tan EVER! But I do have some tips for clear, soft skin! Guys, seriously, it might be a blow to your manliness to take these tips, but a guy with a clean face is so much more attractive… I mean even a guy in a dress shirt with a clean crisp outfit is more attractive than a guy that looks cool but like a slob. The cleaner you are, the more care you seem to take of yourself, the more we feel you will take care of us… Thats why a guy with a good body is also more attractive, because it means he obviously spends time on himself, and hence if he loved us he would spend twice as much time on us (though there is a bit of our pre programmed instinct to have a predisposition to strength coming to us from the days you would head butt and throw each other off cliffs to win out love… 😛 now adays we would rather a clean shirt and face than brute strength!)

So back to the tips I have… Ok so first of all let me describe the type of skin you will get from these tips. Though I can not promise that you will be as pale as me (not that you want to now when everyone risks their life to tan!) some of these tips have potentially bleaching properties, so if ever you do want pale skin, follow the ones i say will bleach it and go sit in the sun…

So you should get generally clearer skin, with fewer pimples, and the ones you will get on occasion should be much smaller and much less potent. The fact that you don’t have pimples often should also help your self esteem because even if someone has a zit, most people will not notice it unless you act like you have something to hid. So many girls will pull their bangs down to hide a zit they got BECAUSE of their bangs. Its really obvious then. SO if you dont get zits often then when you do you should just say to yourself, “What are the chances that today I will do something so memorable that everyone will remember the zit on my face?”  The idea (even though that sounds really pessimistic) that one day out of the BILLION people will see you, why should they remember such a relatively small detail will help you keep your chin up and your zit out of people’s radar! That’s the number one piece of advice anyone can give you!

For anyone who suffers from black heads, these will also help. I recently got a small outbreak of them, very small just on the tip of my nose, but started one of my tips and they are already diminishing.

Another great thing about these routines is that they are multi functional! But enough about this, why dont I just tell you already!

1. VINEGAR!!! – Sure you will smell like a garden salad after wards but it is GREAT for your skin! Don’t put it on just as is or you risk doing damage! I suggest taking about a table spoon of apple cider vinegar and mixing with 1/2 to 1 table spoon water. Using a cotton ball dab this mixture all over your face! It is excellent! It will remove your black heads, decrease the swelling and draw out infections on your pimples and it will also exfoliate your skin of all those awful dead cells that cause all those problems. The final and best multi function of it? It tightens and draws in your pores. If you are having some serious problems with your skin and want to clean real deep boil some water and make an infusion using tea tree, eucalyptus or lavender essential oils. These will help to slough off all those dead cells. You should put your head 12 inches over the steam so you dont get hurt and sit like that with a large towel over your head. Stay as long as you can or as long as it is warm and steamy under the towel. THis would have opened up your pores BIG TIME so you can get deep while cleaning. Now you want to use a cleanser to get in and get the dirt out. Or you can go straight to the vinegar. Either way you want to end with the vinegar, leave it on for a few minutes and then rinse it off with COOL water! Not warm! warm will only open up your pores again, leaving them vulnerable to more dirt and oil. By using cool or cold water you further shut your pores. The PAT never rub, your face dry with with a clean towel. Its all about keeping it bacteria free, because even though the black of your black head is just your skin’s natural oils oxidizing after being trapped, your face wont secrete as much oil if your face is free of pathogens! If it is healthy you are healthy since it makes up a huge part of your body and is your best line of defense!
2. Wile you can just use plain vinegar, most people don’t like the smell, so I suggest doing the above routine (^) at a time when you will not have to see other people soon. You can however use what this woman suggested “I’ve battled this problem with blackheads for years! Nothing worked. I was mixing some things at home for an at-home exfoliation treatment and come to find out, it treated my blackheads too! This is what i used: 3/4 medium-sized glass of filtered water, ultimate aloe whole leaf 100% aloe vera juice, 3 capfuls of apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon raw-wild honey, 1 thumb-sized portion of Clean & Clear continuous control acne cleanser. This is the best exfoliation treatment i have ever used, it cleared away my blackheads, made my pores smaller and left my face soooooooo smooth! Sloughed off all my dead skin and left my face wonderfully soft and ready for my serums and moisturizers to work. I’m 47, and let me tell you, i’ve tried just about every thing on the market. Try this..i loved it!” I haven’t had a chance to try all of what she suggested yet, because i can not find the aloe vera juice, but I have tried the rest as is, and can say it is very effective!
3. Now how about just a regular in the shower cleanse? First of all, if you are going to be washing your face in the shower, take advantage of the steam to open up your pores!  I suggest washing your hair first, and then washing your face. Turn the shower to cold for a minute and freeze your face shut. Do so again just before leaving as most likely the moisture would have opened them up again even if you use a moderate temp.
4. What if I just want to use an astringent to feel fresh after a work out? what with the heat coming too this is a popular sentiment. You want to feel clean and fresh but its such a hassle sometimes to give your self a full facial wash, and if you are anything like me you would make a mess at the bathroom sink. Sure, go ahead and use an astringent, especially if you dont have time to wash your face before applying make-up cuase you never want to wear a mask with a sweaty face right? Imagine how bad it would be afterwards! But what do I, the nature, organic, be as self sufficient as possible in a modern environment freak use? Well of course the vinegar though I dont like to use it that often, and it is GREAT to feel fresh in the summer. However for frequent use I use Witch hazel oil. I know you can make an astringent out of it, but its much more perishable, and the pure thing works just as well. Just put a bit on a cotton ball and swipe over your face!
5. What can I eat/drink for healthy skin? Your skin is primarily water. So you want to constantly have enough fluid to both act as a solvent for the reactions constantly happening throughout our bodies as well as flushing out toxins from our skin and body. When you have pollution you need diffusion. So keeping hydrated will help, but drinking green tea will also help a because they are a great anti oxidant. Anything with Vitamin A, B, C, D or E will also help you too! Most products have retinol in them which is basicly just vit. A. You should have listened to your mom when she told you to eat your carrots! A lot of prob;ems you will have with your skin will probably stem from a deffinciency in any of these vitamins and heres why: C works well with A, D and B help with the absorbtion of them both, and E helps aid the storage capacity of the liver, meaning you will be able to use more of what you take in. Vitamin D you can not consume, so get out into the sun! (finally a good reason to tan though its no reason to forget sunscreen!)
6. Basic tips you really NEED to follow no matter what:

• Always pat your face dry with a clean towel. Use a separate towel for body, hair and face.
• Always use as natural or mild a cleanser or astringent you can.
• Always use a moisturizer after wards.
• Never forget to wash and cleanse your neck! Its part of your face, not torso and the skin is as delicate as your face!
• Always use products with as few ingredients as possible.  Same thing goes for shampoos. And my philosophy? If you can not pronounce it, or don’t know what it is(refering to an ingrediant) DO NOT USE IT! Especially if there is anything with Sodium something or other. You do not want to be putting chemicals down the drain or on your body, especially in our skin! Thats an invitation for sickeness and bad hair and skin. Sodium something or other like chemicals are often used in shampoos. They are the most harmful chemicals you can wash down your drain for the environment. FYI if something is bad for the environment just imagine how bad it is for you. DO you know what the purpose of these chemicals are? Merely to make your shampoo lather. Nothing else. They can be completely done without!
• Another chemical you do not want anywhere near you is anything that will help bleach your skin. once again, though people want dark skin now, they do not want the sun spots that come with them, so they use bleachers. Though you might want some natural bleaching for scars you can do this using citric juice, and even vinegar or cucumber juice. Also would you pour the hydrogen peroxide of a hair salon down the drain? I think not! The chemicals I have told you to avoid are believed to be highly carcinogenic, meaning they can lead to cancer. Maybe now you will realise that whats bad for the environment is really just as bad for you!
• Once again when it comes to moisturizers keep natural.
• Always take off makeup completely before washing your face. If you are opening up your pores to clean them out, while you have junk on your face, that junk is just going to be pushed inside them instead of anythign coming out.
• Always wash face after using make up remover. I know this basicly sounds like the reverse of what I just said, but consider make up removers one of the chemicals you are alowed to use. You want to use it fully, rub it in (not too hard) to get everything off. But most likely it woudl then have gone places you dont want it. Namely in your pores so YOU have to get it out!
• Always exfoliate GENTLY! You want to get the dead cells off and out of the way so they dont clogg your pores, but at the same time you do not want to pluck away the premature cells and leave yourself a victim of self scaring!
• Never leave the house wihtout at least SPF 15 sunscreen on. When your body starts using more retinol, your skin becomes more susecptible to burns so even just passing about outside throughout the day may cause you to burn. Also, if you want to not cover up from head to toe, so as to get some of that lovely VIt. D, you won’t feel guilty about a bit of pausing to absorb and work on your pree summer tan!
• All your skin care products should be oil free, water based (except for sunscreen- here they higher the spf the better is the rule of thumb though remind me to talk about that later! theres some more you need to know!) aswell as scent and colour free!

A soap I love to use is MEY. It is really great. Quite organinc, and its been aroudn for a while with a consistent recipe so you know it is safe. I know a woman who is now 60 and has been using it since she was 15 and she has the best skin I have ever seen on anyone. And she rarely ever wears makeup so just letting you know its no illusion! All the Avenee products are great too, I especially love their after sun’s.

Now just to clarify a few points, why is everything about your pores? Your skin is your first line of defense.  We want as little getting past there as possible. So we need to keep the gates closed! Your pores are litterally tiny holes, gateways through your skin. Leave them healthy or open or clogged and the way is free for pathogens and dust to infect you. Try putting a sponge under a stream of water. It goes right through right? Now use a plastic bag. No leek right? The germs and particles you dont want are the water and your skin is the bag/sponge. Well hopefully its not literally either! Though a natural sea sponge is great to use to exfoliate gently!

Why did you title this summer skin care? Because during the extreme months, in other words the winter and summer we need to take extra care of our skin. People tend to go tan crazy and ignore their skin’s health. They slather make up to hide shiny skin when they aren’t cleansing, they wear tanning lotion instead of sunscreen and they let the salt, wind and sun take its toll! Not only will this have an immediate short term impact on your skin but it will aslo scar you, leaving you with skin cancer 20 years down the line. Its as easy as buying a colour and perfume free moisturiser with spf 20. 4 birds with one stone!

Well thats enough for now! I have to run!

More later chikadees! Email me or comment if you want more specific info!