Fighting the signs of aging, what you can do now

Aging is inevitable for all of us. Even those who buy thousand dollar creams, Botox, hormone pills, and plastic surgery age. But there are things that you can do now to prevent future aging signs. Fighting the signs of aging is something that can and should be done from our teen years. Yes a 15 year old may look young but by the time you hit your thirties your skin will have already suffered damaging rays from sun, harsh weather conditions, and the effects of poor diet and unhealthy lifestyle. When we age our skin basically forgets how to do its job and collagen production slows down causing wrinkles (annoyingly men have 25% more collagen then women do, that’s why they age so well). So what can we do now to fight future aging?

First sunscreen, sunburns aren’t the only down side to unprotected fun in the sun. Even if you don’t get burned or tanned the sun is damaging your skin. Wearing sunscreen everyday will protect your skin from those harmful aging rays and prevent wrinkles and dark spots. I use Neutrogena Healthy skin SPF 15 facial lotion.

Routine is my second recommendation. Proper skin care is all about routine. Taking off all of your make up every night before bed, washing your face properly, and moisturizing daily. These are all parts of a proper skin care routine that will help you to fight aging every day. Sleeping with make up can not only cause immediate problems like acne but also cause skin to become more sensitive to the sun and causes premature aging also it’s very drying to your skin. 

Don’t forget your neck! Your neck will show your age as much as if not more then your face. And what’s the point of a youthful face with a wrinkly sagging neck? So apply not only moisturizers to your neck but also sunscreen. 

Moving in the right direction when applying products to your face can affect your future appearance.  Avoid pulling on your skin instead be as gentle as you can. Apply products in an upward motion instead of tugging down on your face.  It may sound a bit silly but imagine that if you wash your face once a day every day for 10 years that’s 3,650 tugs on your skin, that’s a lot of abuse for your skin. 

The skin around your eyes is thinner and more delicate then the rest of your face. And because it’s so delicate it requires extra care. Using a good eye cream will help care for this delicate skin. You can even get eye creams with SPF for daytime. To apply cream to the delicate eye area pat on product instead of rubbing, again to avoid tugging skin. Also apply eye cream from the eyelid to about an inch away from your eye at night, while you sleep the cream will move so you want to make sure the entire eye area is covered.

And lastly lifestyle will affect the way you age. Of course smoking can increase wrinkling (and yellow your teeth and cause cancer and all of that) but also heavy drinking and drug use can cause premature aging. But even if your not leading an 80’s rock star life by doing things like not drinking enough water, missing sleep, and not eating a balanced diet you can increase the signs of aging. 

Lastly, serums are the big trend in skin care right now for a good reason. They are vitamin packed which helps repair and nourish skin. If you choose to use a serum use it nightly before applying your night cream. For layering products the rule of thumb is to go from thinnest to thickest, meaning your heavy night cream comes last. 

And lastly, don’t stress about aging because annoyingly enough stress can cause premature aging. Just stick to your routine and try and lead a healthy life and remember, everyone ages the goal is to age gracefully. 

Quick Review: Clean & Clear Blackhead Eraser Mask

Brand: Clean & Clear

Product: Advantage Blackhead Eraser Cleansing Mask

Price: $10.00 CDN

Would I Re-Buy: Maybe

I have to be honest; I bought this after a night in which I slept with make up on (I know it’s awful but I fell asleep and common nobody’s perfect). So I went to the store looking for an acne fighting mask to deep clean my skin and hopefully start combating the breakout I knew I had just caused myself. It’s made for oilier skin and I tend to be on the dry to normal side but I figured I’d be fine. It’s made to fight blackheads and contains salicylic acid.

It goes on blue without any offensive smells on sensations. It hardens as it dries and turns white; this mask is worn for only 5 minutes. I use it once or twice a week and have been for the past month or two. I still have blackheads and breakouts so even though I feel like this mask does a good job of cleaning my skin it’s not a miracle product.

So I’ll keep using it until the tube is empty but I’ll likely try another mask instead of re-buying this one. I may recommend trying this is you have oily and/or acne-prone skin as part of an anti-acne skin care regimen if you’re looking for something to add.

For more reviews plus beauty tips and tricks and so much more (like a photo tutorials page) check out my blog makeupforall1.tumblr.com

Photo Source: http://www.cleanandclear.ca/product/treatments/clean-clear-blackhead-eraser-cleansing-mask

Tip:

Blushes can cause acne, try using a pink, red, or coral eye shadow instead. Eye make-up ingredients are less irritating because they’re for use near the eye and so they contain less acne-causing ingredients. 

How to look well rested, even when you're not

Getting a goodnight’s sleep is important, but not always possible. Just because you only got a few hours of shuteye doesn’t mean you have to look tired all day.

First wash your face with cold water to help reduce under eye bags. It will also help you feel alert. Be sure to moisturize and using a good eye cream will also help to reduce under eye bags and dark circles. Once the moisturizer has absorbed its make-up time. 

Being tired can make us look ill, pale with sunken eyes. If your in a time crunch or don’t like wearing too much make-up just grab a liquid concealor (your shade or a shade or two lighter then your skin tone) and use it under your eyes, on the tops of your cheekbones, and down the sides of your nose and blend. Blush helps you look healthier and more awake, focus on the apples of your cheeks and remember a little goes a long way. For super quick make up use a lip and cheek tint (like Benefit’s Benetint, posie tint, or cha cha cha). Also using a coloured lip-gloss, lip stain, or coloured lip balm will aide in giving your complexion a healthy glow. (I like Revlon Kissable balm stain in Honey and Charm for a subtle day look)

And lastly your eyes. Curling your lashes makes your eyes look bigger and therefore awake so it’s worth your time. Then finish with a coat of waterproof mascara to hold the curl (also if you take a nap waterproof mascara won’t smudge). To really look well rested grab a highlighter, or light coloured eye shadow and use it on your brow bones and inner eye corner. It will quickly brighten your eyes. 

And to feel more awake caffeine and get moving, do some stretches or simple quick exercises to get your body moving. Put on a fast-paced song to keep yourself awake well getting ready in the morning, it will also help amp you up for the day ahead. 

For more articles plus beauty tips, tricks, reviews and so much more check out my blog makeupforall1.tumblr.com

How to wash your face

The first step is to remove your make-up. Most cleansers can’t completely wash away foundation and other cosmetics (especially if you use primers and setting sprays). Whether you prefer wipes of liquid make-up removers, remove that make-up!

How often you should wash your face is dependant on your skin. You must wash your face before you go to bed, but whether you face also needs morning cleansing or just a splash of water and day cream depends on you. For dry or sensitive skin once a day is enough as over washing can be very drying. For oily and acne-prone skin morning washing can be helpful. But you’ll have to figure out what benefits your skin the most. If you have very clogged pores try cleansing your skin in the shower. The steam can help loosen the grime in your pores. 

You should exfoliate at least once a week to remove dead skin and give skin a good cleaning. Choosing a gentle exfoliater like a salicylic or glycolic acidcleanser is easier on skin then using a scrub. No matter what exfoliant you choose exfoliating helps prevent breakouts and reduce the signs of aging. You can exfoliate as much as 3 times a week or use a daily exfoliant. Again you have to decide what’s best for you. If you have sensitive skin you don’t want to exfoliate too much. Also our skin needs more exfoliating in the winter months compared to the summer. Using a facial brush on your skin can be great but it can also be harsh on your skin, you don’t need to use a brush on your skin everyday. Also if you’re using acids and retinols on your skin you need to be gentle to it so only brush your face a few times a week. And remember to keep that brush clean! Rinse and air-dry after use and replace the brush head every 3 months like you would your mascara.

You don’t need to use a toner. Alcohol based toners can give a clean “feeling” to the skin that may even tingle, this is bad! They are very drying and can strip your skin of it’s natural oils (which are good for your skin). If you want to tone your skin choose an alcohol-free version to help restore your skins pH balance. 

Lastly moisturize! Cleansing and exfoliating skin is great but without maintaining your skins moisture balance all your hard work goes down the drain. I love cetaphil, but most moisturizers are okay for your skin. Again your going to have to figure out what works best for you. Of course using one with SPF during the day is a good idea as it helps prevent sunburns and premature aging and also helps to avoid acne scarring.  And I can’t say this enough, you must apply your lotion/cream right after washing your face. Even a minute or two later can cause your skin to become dry which can lead to dullness and flakes.

For more articles plus beauty tips, tricks and so much more check out my blog makeupforall1.tumblr.com

How to choose a foundation

Buying foundation can be tricky.  To dark or to light and everyone can see not only your foundation but also your mistake. Choosing the wrong formulation can make your skin look dull or shiny. Choosing the right foundation can make your skin look flawless and creates a great base for other make up.

The traditional advice for choosing a foundation shade is to apply a few shades to your cheekbone and stand in the sunlight choosing whichever shade blends seamlessly into your skin. Which is great advice and a useful tip but most of us don’t want to go stand on the street with stripes of foundation on our face staring into a mirror. Although sunlight (natural light) provides the most honest light for using make up applying foundation swatches to your bare skinned jaw bone in store and using a mirror and finding some good lighting will work just as well.

Start by testing foundation textures and consistencies on your inner wrist (the side with the veins). To see how much coverage the formula offers rub it over a vein and see how much in conceals. Also note how easy it is to blend and the finish it provides. For dull dry skinned girls a dewy finish will help skin look healthy, for oily skinned people a matte finish (like a powder) will keep skin from looking to shiny.

Once you’ve found a formula you like, it’s time to pick your shade. If you’ve bought foundations before you’ll likely have an idea of which shades will work for you. For myself I’m usually not one of the lightest shades and fall more into the “beige” category but for winter a shade called “porcelain ivory” suits me. For winter most of our complexions become lighter due to spending less time in the sun. So your summer foundation may be to dark in the winter, and your winter foundation may be to light come summer.

Choose a few shades you think may work well for you of your chosen formula (2 or 3 should be fine) and test them in front of a mirror on your jaw line. The jaw line is used because it’s easy to blend their and since not all cosmetic stores offer wipes to remove tested make-up you may end up going home with a few swatches still on your face and they’ll be less obvious of your jaw then say your forehead.

If you find yourself stuck between 2 shades, one a little light and the other a little dark. Try blending them to find your perfect shade. If you want to look slightly tanned you can choose a foundation one shade darker then your skin tone BUT BE CAREFUL! Using a shade that’s darker then your skin tone can be hard to pull off; you must blend well around your ears, hairline, and jaw line to avoid an obvious foundation line. NEVER use a foundation that’s to light for you, it will create a ghost like look and will look very unnatural. To make your skin tone seem lighter use a foundation that matches your skin tone and then a liquid concealor lighter then your skin tone, only slightly lighter, as a highlighter across the top of your cheekbones and down the side of your nose and under your eyes and blend well. Now you’re glowing.

Tip:

looking for skin care products (and cosmetics) that work for you can be hard. Especially if you’re acne prone or have sensitive skin. Did you know it takes skin cells about 23 days to turnover and 23-60 days to show both good and bad results of a skin care product, cosmetics, or regimen. A pimple can show up a month after it’s cause, like sleeping with make-up on or using a poorly made face mask

How to get sexy soft skin

How to get sexy soft skin

Sexy, soft, smooth skin not only looks good it feels good. Just a few steps here and there and you can be sexy soft in no time.

Moisture is key. Skin suffers through dry air, itchy fabrics, and all sorts of abuse every day. Even bathing can be hard on skin if it isn’t properly cared for after. Find a body lotion you love, I love St.Ives vitamin E formula. Right after you steps out of the shower and towel off use your lotion all over to seal in moisture and create a protective barrier for your skin. For extra dry patches, like elbows and feet, use body butter. Tip: to give dry feet an extra boost put on warm socks right after body butter to intensify the moisture.

Exfoliation sloths off dead skin and prepare skin for moisture. Exfoliate with an exfoliation product or exfoliating gloves at least once a week. Try adding a little baking soda or sugar to your body wash for a quick homemade exfoliate.  

To get a sexy sheen rub a little Vaseline on areas like your shoulders. This is the subtle sexy version of body glitter and will make you look more toned, which is always nice.

For more beauty tips like this plus articles, reviews and more check out my blog makeupforall1.tumblr.com 

Skin care, simply :)

Skin can take care of itself, but your skin doesn't think looking goods important it focuses on protecting your insides. Your skin doesn't mind a few wrinkles here and there or some pimples and a cluster or two of blackheads, but those wrinkles and pimples can drive a person CRAZY! I now wish I could have a quick chat with my 14-year-old self to explain how simple good skin is, but alas I have not yet found a way to do that so I'm going to explain all that I know here, for you beloved my reader.

Moisture:

Basically how moisturizers work is by keeping the moisture that’s in your skin in. Things like Shea butter and vitamin E can increase your skins moisture level so if you have dry skin look for things with these in them. The important thing is water, it is both skin cares savior and enemy. To get the most out of your creams and lotions use them RIGHT after your skin touches water, so right after you wash and dry your hands (for example). When your skin is wet it's got lots of moisture but as the water dries up it actually takes moisture from your skin leaving it drier then before, so you want to get that moisturizer on in that window between soft and dry. Applying lotion to dry hands throughout the day is not effective, using lotion right after you wash your hands is very effective!

Washing:

Skin care companies will say almost anything to get us to buy more of their products, including the lie that you must wash your face twice a day. If you have very oily skin then using a cleanser on your face morning and night may be beneficial but if you have just minor-average acne or normal skin or (especially) dry skin then washing your face twice a day is a waste of cleanser and time. Simply splash water on your face in the morning, pat dry with a towel and moisturize. A splash of water is enough to wash away anything that may have accumulated on your face during the night (assuming you washed your face before bed) and it preps your skin for your moisturizer which all skin types benefit from (including those with oily skin). Picking a moisturizer is hard, that is very true. I like Nivea soft for my face and a nivea eye cream because I have dark circles. Cetaphil also makes great moisturizers and they are often featured in beauty magazines favorite products. But finding a good moisturizer is really a try it and see situation. A good thing to know is that skin cells take about 23 days to turnover, which means it, takes about a month to see what a product does to your skin. So if you try a cream for a week you really don't know if it was good or not. Knowing this one-month rule has really helped me find good skin care products. If a product makes you break out, it will take about a month to show, so don't judge a product on the pimple that you got a day after you bought it. To find a good product ask people whose skin you admire what they use, and check out online reviews. Often if you go to YouTube and type in the products name and "review" tons of video reviews will come up. I also love makeupalley.com, which is a site full of people discussing products they do and don’t like, and you can sort through reviews by age or skin type of the reviewer, which is very helpful.

Sunscreen:

I personally do not use sunscreen on my face because every facial sunscreen I try causes a major breakout for me. This is because sunscreens work by sealing all of your pores shut. So for right now I just try to avoid the sun and I use a foundation with SPF but I doubt that gives me much coverage. I do use a lip balm with SPF when I'm outside a lot though because my lips don't break out and they are very thin skinned so they need lots of care. 

Vaseline:

You may wonder why I am writing a section on Vaseline, and it is because I LOOOOOOVE Vaseline, it is one of my main broke-beauty secrets. Vaseline makes my elbows soft, my feet smooth, my shoulders glisten, my lips moist and plump, and my cuticles gorgeous! How? Well petroleum jelly (Vaseline) is the BEST at keeping moisture in (you'll see it listed in many moisturizers ingredient lists), so for a dry skin girl like myself it's a godsend. After I shower I coat my body in body lotion (I like st.ives but most body lotions are created equal) and then I glob Vaseline on the soles of my feet (that I lightly pumice in the shower) on my elbows and shoulders. When I have Vaseline giving my shoulders a nice glow people ask me if I've been working out because my arms looked toned (little do they know I'm a master couch potato teehehe). I rub it into my cuticles before bed when they are dry and I wake up to beautiful hands and I coat my lips in it before I go to sleep so my lips stay moist while I snor for 8 hours (okay it's more like 5 hours, I need to sleep more). I have even been re-growing part of one of my eyebrows by rubbing lots of Vaseline in it before bed. If I were stranded on a desert island, I’d be fine until I ran out of my Vaseline.

Acne:

Acne is the bane of most teenagers’ life and 80% of Americans between the ages of 11-30 suffer from acne (that’s a real statistic). Acne is cause by the devil, I'm just joking it's not but it seems that way doesn't it? Acne is cause by sebum (skin oil) and bacteria and skin flakes etc clogging up your pores, we can also blame hormones, stress, and salty foods. I feel now is the time I say CHOCOLATE DOESN'T CAUSE ACNE! Things like salty chips and fries do, but mostly it's hormones and your skins natural oils and sometimes skin care product and cosmetics. If you have really bad acne I suggest going to see your doctor because the effective acne creams are prescription only and when I was a teenager that’s how I finally conquered my acne. It's scary but you just go to your doctor and say "I'm tired of suffering from painful zits and the scars they leave behind, please prescribe me something to help me deal with it" I would suggest getting something topical before trying out an anti-acne pill just because the pills can be a bit risky, and your your a girl their are birth control pills formulated to help get rid of acne and it will also lessen your cramps and shorten your periods, yaaaaay. 

If you can avoid popping your pimples, it can cause scarring and even more pimples. But if you must pop then pop and wash and don't put acne creams on open wounds. I put polysporin on the scabs of pimples I’ve popped (because I'm weak and I hate having mountains on my face). Also take steps like AVOID TOUCHING YOUR FACE, don't lean with your face in your hand don't rub your face when you're tired. It's a hard habit to break but if you work at it will become natural and your skin will look better as your reward :). Also washing your pillowcases once a week helps to because well your sleeping your sweat and skin cells get into your pillowcase and can then later clog your pores.

To some it up:

At night wash your face with a facial cleanser, not a bar of soap because they contain waxes that can clog your pores, then moisturize and head to bed and when you wake up splash water on your face pat dry and moisturize. All done :)