Category: Beauty
Saying No to Dairy
| March 26th, 2013 | Advice, Beauty |
You know from multiple blog posts that I started seeing my face break out after using the Clarisonic last spring. A year later, I’m still seeing some inconsistencies with my skin. My face tends to be on the dry side with many of my breakouts on my chin or nose. This past weekend, I did some reading and found that dairy can be the cause of breakouts, because many people can not digest dairy properly. I’ve tried a lot of things over the past few months, so I decided to try this.
Saying No to Dairy
WebMD states that although there is no definite link between dairy and acne, there ARE theories about it. F. William Danby, MD, wrote in 2008 that the two items may be related. Milk contains components related to testosterone – which can stimulate oil glands in the skin. Another researcher found that his patients who have stopped consuming dairy found their breakouts getting better.
Dr Mark Hyman recently did a study and found that there is in fact a link. Many researchers have suggested a diet-acne link, but until recently it has not been proven in large clinical studies. In 2009, a systematic review of 21 observational studies and six clinical trials found clear links.
One scientist referred to milk as a “complex aqueous, suspended fat, liposomal, suspended protein emulsion.” Milk is naturally full of anabolic hormones – mostly androgens (like testosterone) and growth hormones like growth factor 1 (IGF-1).
Two large controlled trials found that cow’s milk increased both the number of people who got acne and its severity. Other trials found that people who had higher sugar intake and a high glycemic diet (bread, rice, pasta etc.) had significantly more acne.
I have nothing to lose at this point. I have decided, since Friday, to stop having dairy for a week to see if my skin settles down a bit. As of this morning, I haven’t seen any active breakouts. Seems like a step in the right direction.
Talk to Me
- Have you ever seen the effects of dairy on your skin?
- What’s your favorite way to battle breakouts?
- Do you consume a lot of dairy per day?
The Body Shop Review
| February 27th, 2013 | Beauty, Reviews |
I’ve always been a huge fan of The Body Shop because of what they stand for. The Body Shop is against animal testing! All of their products are animal cruelty free and vegetarian. Another amazing quality is that they launched Community Fair Trade in 1987. That is their commitment to trading fairly with suppliers. The Body Shop uses small-scale farmers, traditional artisans and rural co-ops that are experts in their field. In exchange they offer good trading practices and prices.
The Body Shop has 5 Core Values:
- Support community trade
- Defend human rights
- Against animal testing
- Activate self-esteem
- Protect our planet
I was thrilled when I was given the opportunity to try out some of The Body Shop products! I already own one of their lip glosses and couldn’t wait to try out some of their bath items. I’ve integrated most of these products into my nightly routine (some I use every night and others only sparingly). For the purpose of this post, I’ll only talk about the items that I’m using every single night and/or day.
1. Coconut Body Scrub. The scrub leaves the skin smelling just fresh coconuts! It’s made from organic, virgin, cold-pressed Community Trade coconut oil and coconut milk, and organic Community Trade babassu oil to help restore the skin’s natural moisture barrier.
I’ve been using this every night with a warm wash cloth. I’ve noticed that my skin is so much softer and actually glows more.
Price: $20
2. Nutriganics Soothing Eye Cream. I’ve been on the hunt for a while for a nice eye cream. I don’t need anything right now for wrinkles, but I could use something that is hydrating for the thin skin under my eyes. (At some point I WILL definitely need a wrinkle cream). In the mean time, this works wonders. The cream contains organic red grapes from Frank, plantain and elderflower from Switzerland and organic buddleji and thyme from Switzerland.
I’ve been using this product every night and every morning. I’m using the Bobbi Brown corrector and concealer to conceal dark under eye circles, and I’ve found that unless the skin there is super hydrated, the makeup cakes up very quickly. Using this eye cream has been a blessing!
Price: $21
3. Absinthe Purifying Hand Cream. The hand cream from their new Absinthe line is perfect for the mornings. It does have a strong fragrance of bergamot, petit grain and neroli. This is why I can’t use this product at night. It’s a bit too strong for my liking, however it’s perfect for mornings! It definitely does leave my hands moisturized and feeling fresh.
Price: $20
FTC: All of the items above were provided by The Body Shop for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
Talk to Me
- Have you ever tried out The Body Shop’s products?
- What is your favorite body scrub to use at night?
- Do you use an eye cream? If so, which one?
Benefits of Coconut Oil
| January 30th, 2013 | Advice, Beauty |
I told you last week that my skin practically burned off because of a prescription topical my dermatologist gave me. After having chats with my friend Courtney, I’ve decided to stop using that medication and use a more holistic approach for my skincare. Courtney is a yoga teacher and Certified Nutrition Consultant, and has the most amazing skin! So I’m going to listen to her advice. I also did some research. The information below came from the following sources: DoctorOz.com, OrganicFacts.net and Huffington Post.
What is coconut oil?
Coconut oil an edible oil extracted from matured coconuts. Throughout the tropical world, it has provided the primary source of fat in the diets of millions of people for generations. Coconut oil is very heat-stable, which makes it suited to methods of cooking at high temperatures.
Coconut oil consists of more than 90% of saturated fats with traces of few unsaturated fatty acids. Here is what’s inside coconut oil:
- Saturated fatty acids: Most of them are medium chain triglycerides, which are supposed to assimilate well.
- Polyunsaturated fatty acids: Linoleic acid.
- Monounsaturated fatty acids: Oleic acid.
- Poly-phenols: Coconut contains gallic acid, which is phenolic acid. These poly-phenols are supposed to be responsible for the fragrance and the taste of coconut oil.
- Certain derivatives of fatty acid like betaines, ethanolamide, ethoxylates, fatty esters, fatty polysorbates, monoglycerides and polyol esters.
- Fatty chlorides, fatty alcohol sulphate and fatty alcohol ether sulphate.
- Vitamin-E, Vitamin-K and Iron.
What are the internal benefits of coconut oil?
(source)
Studies have shown that ingesting coconut oil can help our bodies resist viruses and bacteria, while also fighting off yeast and fungus. Coconut oil also positively affects hormones for thyroid and blood sugar control, because it boosts thyroid function by increasing metabolism, energy and endurance.
Coconut oil also helps keep weight balanced. A 2009 study found that women who consumed about 2 tablespoons of coconut oil daily for 12 weeks not only gained no weight, but actually had lowered amounts of abdominal fat.
When purchasing a coconut oil, it’s important to purchase an organic unrefined oil to reduce the absorption of toxin and pesticides. The jar I bought is refined, so I won’t be ingesting this until I purchase a new bottle of unrefined.
What are the external benefits of coconut oil?
(source)
Believe it or not, but coconut oil is a great moisturizer for skin and hair. (Please note: I’ve only ever tried this on my skin). Coconut oil has antioxidant Vitamin E, which protects your skin. Moisturizers by many “top” beauty brands contain a large amount of water, which makes you feel like your skin is being moisturized. However, once the water dries, your skin becomes dry. Commercial moisturizers also contain petroleum-based ingredients that can suffocate the skin. Coconut oil, on the other hand, helps strengthen underlying tissues and helps remove excess dead skin cells. Victoria’s secret supermodel Miranda Kerr swears by coconut oil. You can read her story here.
Coconut oil also delays wrinkles and sagging of skin, helps in treating psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema and other skin infections because of its antioxidant properties.
There are so many health benefits of coconut oil that it would take a whole series of posts to talk about – maybe I’ll do that! My next post about coconut oil is how to use it for your skin and the process that I’m currently doing to clear my skin the natural way.
Talk to Me
- Have you ever used coconut oil? If so how?
- What types of recipes do you use with coconut oil?
- Do you use coconut oil for your skin? If so, how do you like it?
Natural Nail Care
| June 26th, 2012 | Beauty, Reviews |
My nails are not great. As a nail biter my entire life, my nails have gone through a lot of trauma; not only biting, but tearing and acrylic nails as well. Last summer I decided that I was no longer going to live my life with disgusting nails. Since then, I’ve been on the hunt to strengthen, lengthen, and make my nails all around gorgeous.
After my nails started growing in, I soon found that my cuticles were still horrible. Maybe it was due to cutting them once a week, but they were dry, shredding, and ripping. GROSS.
Then came along Burt’s Bees Cuticle Cream.
Ingredients:
This product is 100% natural. The cream contains almond oil and cocoa seed butter to moisturize and soften cuticles, and vitamin E and sunflower oil to nourish brittle nails. The great thing about Burt’s Bees products is that they never have unnatural things like petroleum, sodium lauryl sulfate (WTF!?) or propylene glycol. That stuff just sounds unsafe. Their products are also never tested on animals of any kind.
*Note: some products contain ingredients derived from animals such as beesbax and milk.
Pros:
- The cream smells really good. It kind of reminds me of lemon dish soap that my mom used to keep on our kitchen sink.
- Very moisturizing and strengthens not only my cuticles, but also my nail beds.
Cons:
- I’m not a fan of having a jar that I have to dip my fingers in each time I use it. It’s an easy way to spread germs. I’d prefer a pumped bottle.
What is your favorite brand of natural skincare or makeup?
Foundation Routine
| March 15th, 2012 | Beauty |
I’ve always been a fan of drugstore makeup. I still am. However, as my skin is changing, I realize that drugstore foundation just won’t cut it anymore. A few weekends ago, I headed over to Ulta to look for a new concealer and foundation. I walked into the store thinking I was going to purchase one from Smashbox, which had great reviews; however, the sales attendant couldn’t find a shade to match my skin tone. I tried on one from Stila and was sold!
1. Amazing Concealer from Amazing Cosmetics // $28
2. Perfect Correct Foundation from Stila // $44
3. Moisturizing Cream from Cetaphil // $14
First and foremost, for moisturizer, I use the moisturizing cream from Cetaphil. I’ve had this jar for a year now, and still have so much left. It leaves my skin soft, but not oily and perfect for makeup application.
On to foundation and concealer: According to Ulta’s website, the Stila foundation is an
“innovative, lightweight foundation. This lightweight foundation offers buildable coverage for a youthful and luminous complexion. Combining an advanced emollient system to hydrate and moisturize the skin, a unique multimineral complex, and an array of skin-soothing ingredients, Perfect and Correct delivers a luxurious, high-performance, and high-definition foundation. Infused with Stila’s exclusive Youth Revival Bio-Available Mineral Complex, Perfect and Correct reads and reacts to the skin’s needs and targets skin imperfections to correct them.”
I love this foundation, because I don’t need anything heavy. I sometimes forget I am wearing makeup when I have this on. I love the mousse texture of this foundation and how it is mixed with primer. I use this foundation early in the morning before I head to work, and by noon my makeup is still flawless. (Or, at least I think so!) If you need more coverage, I would recommend trying something different. Although this foundation is supposed to be buildable, I find it to be very low coverage.
The price on this foundation is a bit higher than I wanted to spend, but the good thing with Ulta is that if you don’t like the product after using it, you can still return it.
The concealer on the other hand was WAY more pricey than I expected. For such a little tube, this product had better be amazing (as it claims). To my surprise, this product does not disappoint. Ulta states that the concealer is
“Hollywood’s magic eraser and covers everything from under eye circles & sun damage to blemishes & rosacea”
This stuff is shocking. I use it under my eyes and on trouble spots. A little does go a long way, but I would like to find something a bit more reasonably price to use under my eyes so it feels like I’m not wasting the product as much.
What moisturizer, concealer, and foundation do you use?
Natural Face Mask (Day 8)
| February 7th, 2012 | Beauty, Live Fit Trainer |
One of my friends from work has amazing hair and skin– her name, Princess Jasmine. Okay, that’s not her real name… but that’s what we call her from time to time. She was telling me about this natural face mask that she’s done in the past that really helps exfoliate your skin and bring life to your skin cells. I knew I had to try it. I managed to not spill any of the ingredients as I brought them from my kitchen to my bedroom. “Your bedroom!?”, you may ask… yes. My bedroom has the best light for photo taking. I did however spilled half of the coffee grinds on my bedroom carpet after taking this photo.
Need less to say, my bedroom still smells like a coffee shop. Hell, I’m not complaining.
[Ingredients]
coffee grinds- I used 1 Keurig pod
3 tablespoons of honey
a splash of milk
1 tablespoon of olive oil
[Instructions]
Mix all ingredients together.
Put your hair in a pony tail, top knot, braid.. anything to get it off of your face. Make sure your face is free from any makeup.
I really need to add artwork to these walls.
Slather the mixture onto your face.
Wait 10 minutes and wipe clean.
I did this right before my shower; just in case coffee grinds got in my hair. Be warned: you may need to add more honey/less milk to get the texture that you desire. Next time I make this, I will be using a lot less liquid and more honey. The mask turned out great, though! I loved using the coffee grinds as a natural exfoliate. My skin was a bit red afterwards, but I think this may be a result of the rough grinds.
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On another note: yesterday was day 8 of Jamie Eason’s Live Fit Trainer!
I plan on posting at the end of week 2 about my thoughts on the program.
I was very pleased last night to realize that I started using higher weights than last week. I hope to continue getting stronger and pushing myself. The one thing that I didn’t do yesterday was the second set of push ups. EH! I couldn’t move after the first set! My chest muscles had enough push ups for one day.
Have a great Tuesday everyone!
