A flawless complexion with makeup

In the world we live in now the most of us is 'trying' to be perfect. But i personally think that perfect isn't everything but that's a different story. If you have bad skin or scars it's oke to fake a flawless complexion and still look natural because you don't want to look all paint up. Here a some tips to follow to get a flawless complexion with makeup.

• Concealing. Use a moisturizer with vitamin E or shea butter. This will soften your skin and fade your scars. You can use a liquid concealer wich suits your skin tone and pat it into the skin.

• Foundation. After you've applied your concealer you can use foundation to even out and blend everything in. Make shure that your foundation is not to light! One shade darker is oke but not lighter. Start by applying a thin layer and add more if you like to. If any concealed spots are visiable than add more concealer.
• If you are done with these two steps apply a powder. If you have oily skin use one with a matte finish. As a finishing touch you can add a highligher and/or a blush to give your cheeks more shape

And ofcourse before you start follow your daily skin routine and a good primer before applying makeup. And by following these steps you are a step closer to flawless skin!

Love,

Banish your oily nose

The people with oily skin have mostly a oily nose. Whatever you do and what kind of products you use it doesn't seem to go away. By trying so much different stuff on your nose it will get prone to acne, blackheads and other problems.You need to keep it clean and oil-free.

The reason of your oily nose can be because of the weather and hormosnes. To keep your nose clean and hydrated drink plenty of water and stop touching and putting everything on it! Wash your face twice a day and moisturize twice daily. Don't cleanse your face more than twice a day because most cleanser contain chemical ingredients wich can be harmfull for your skin. If you still want to cleanse it more times a day use water. If you are into natural stuff you can add a few drop of lemon juice on a cotton pad an wipe off the oil also citric acid works. Scrub it also an essential element to banish your oily nose, you can mix honey&almonds and use this as a scrub and leave it on for a few minutes.

Hope this helps!

Love,

Skin care tips

Dry/sensitive skin:
Dry/senstive skin is a hard skintype. You need to find out what can sooth the dryness and leave it healty and glowing. Mostly there are two causes of dry skin one of them is lack of water and the other is lack of sebum. Here comes the tips:

• Use a milk cleanser to avoid trying your skin even more. Don't use soap because this containes harsher ingredients which strips the sebum away. By using oil based cleanser your skin will feel a lot softer and moisturized.
• Exfoliate your skin when it starts peeling. Use a gentle scrub for this.
• Moisturize your skin at least twice a day, in the morning and evening, or whenever you feel your skin needs moisture. By doing this there will be a balance.
• Increase your water intake by drinking atleast 8 bottles of water a day! You can build this up to get used to it.
• Use a sunscreen to protect your skin from damageing factors.

Night care:
Proper skin care at night is very important. Because at night your skin will 'heal'. Around 23.30 your skin is preparing for the 'healing' process so if you can wash your face before this time. You skin will feel much better.

• Cleanse your face every night before going to bed. Remove any traces off makeup bu using a makeup remover and a mild cleanser
• Use a toner to get the dirt the cleanser couldn't get off. This will make your skin cleaner and hella smooth!
• Apply a moisturizing cream and allow it to sink into your skin by using a massageroller special made for the skin (The bodyshop has one)

Four remedies for whiteheads

A lot of young (and adults) have trouble with whiteheads. Whiteheads re the result of hardenend sebum accumulation this cause that the pores get clogged. Natural methods can solve this problem and reduce the effect. By using natural product the chance of reaction is so little.

• On number one is hydration. Lack of water can lead to whiteheads. Also moisturizing is important to keep the skin smooth.
• Tomatoes sooths the whitehead and can detox the pores. Just mash a tomatoe into a paste and apply on the spot for 5 to 10 minutes. Don't leave it on for too long because there is acidic in the tomatoe. You can use this several times a day. You can do the same with apples. Crush the apples and mix 3 tbs of honey and apply it on the spot for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Milk is also a good natral remedie. Get like 50ml of milk and add 2 tbs of lemon juice and if you like a little salt. You can use this as a cleanser to clean your pores from toxins
• Patatoes are used to strip the skin from dead cells. It can lower the grease inside the pores. You can use a slice of patatoe and put it on the whitehead for a few minutes and rinse it off with water.

Mustard oil

So, a few weeks ago i bought mustard oil. I didn't use it yet because i didn't know what to do with it. So i did some research. I found out that mustard oil is a source of vitamin A, vitamin E, iron, calcium, protein, omega-3, omega-6 and antioxidants. All this will be great for your skin. It is also excillent dor massaging. It is good for the heart and has many other benefits.

Some other benefits are:
- It can be used as an antibacterial oil
- Stimulates circulation
- It warms your body up in the winter because it promotes sweating if you massage your body with it.
- Helps to detoxify human body
- Makes your immune system strong
- Good for treating cold
- It can be used to slow down the ageing process
- It helps to reduce hairloss and promotes hair growth if you massage it on the scalp
- It will remove the tan of a sunburn and limits the itching and redness

The only thing is that this thing smells like crap!

Love,

How to switch to natural skincare

Many of us use chemical product, some use natural products and some are waiting to switch. The reason why many people wanna use natural products is that is many chemical products have some dangerous risks. And with natural skin care you limit the side-effect. The most of the products contain carbon ingredient, wich you also can find in the human body. That's why it is safer.

Here are some guidelines.
- Research first. That a product is labeled as natural doesn't mean that all the ingredients are natural. A company can label it natural if it has only one natural ingredient.
- Start by using ingredients out of your refrigerator. You can easily make a moisturizer, scrub, ect. by just using yogurt, oatmeal, eggs, honey and more. Easy to find and affordable.
- Find the ingredients that works the best for your skin type and issues. If you have an oily skin you need more astringent ingredients like citrus. A sensitive skin needs more soothing products like olive oil. Or ask for samples in an natural skin care store.
- Make a natural face routine with cleaning, toning, moisturizer, exfoliator and mask.
- Make your own ingredients by using skin care recipes.
 
Love,

Fade imperfections

Some of us are blessed with a beautifull skin but some of us have the bad luck to have acne or break outs that leaves scars and dark spots.

Stretch marks or striae.
Stretch marks are often caused by growth, weight gain or loss in a short period. Because this suddenly happens it causes a tear in the middle layer (the dermis) of your skin and a crack in the collagen and elastin fibers. The sooner you start to treat them how more chance you have of fading them.
The steps you can take are:
- Moisturizer that containes cocoa butter, this hydrates the skin, apply 2-4 times a day.
- Wheat germ oil, this improve stretch marks in their early phase
- Glycolic acid, increase collagen
- Vitamin C, can increase collagen in the early phase
- Retinoids, increase collagen and elastin in the early phase


Dark spot.
Dark spots can be caused by popping a pimple wich leads to 'post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation'. If you have a healing inflamed pimple your skin overproduces melanin wich darkens the skin. Some of these spots dissapear and some don't. Remember fading is just a matter of time.
- African black soap this evens out the skintone
- Vitamin E, Aloe vera and plain yogurt will speed up the healing process
- Lemon juice, has an bleaching effect use this 2 times a day and rinse after 15 minutes
- Cocoa butter, hydrates the skin
- Shea butter, fades scars

Home made bleach.
- Milk is a good natural resource fir treating dark spot
- Parsley juice with orange- lemon an red carrot juice works well for wreckles and brown spots
- Citrus fruits wich are rich in vitamin C is a good natural bleach
- Dry orange skin powder with rose water is effective for removing dark spots
- Honey has several skin renewing propeties. (You can mixe it with wheat germ for an more effective treatment)
- Cucumbers and apricots is very powerful for reducing dark spots
- Make a face mask of curd and cucumber juice and apply it at least once a week
- Rub slices of raw patatoes over your face and neck this helps reduce blemishes
 
Natural bleach regimen.
Wash your face with baking soda mixed with a few tablespoons of oatmeal, rub it in and let it dry. Wash off with cold water. And put on an overnight mixture. The over night mixtures that you can use are: EVOO, lemon juice and egg white/EVOO, grape, lemon and oatmeal or tomato, lemon and egg white.

Or you can wash your face with an olive oil soap , tone with rose water and moisturize with aloe vera gel and grape seed oil. In the evening remove your make-up with olive oil and wash with the olive oil soap, tone with lemon juice and moistuze with aloe vera gel and shea butter.

Love,

How to get soft skin

Everybody dislikes having a dry skin. But it's very easy to have soft, smooth skin by taking a few steps. To start cleanse your skin once a day with soap free body wash and a soft sponge. Because the body wash is soap free it won't dry our your skin. Second is start exfoliating once a week this will remove dead skin cells, dirt, oil and dirty smells. If you are done exfoliating pat dry with a fluffy towel (rubbing can damage the skin and create wrinkles) and apply lotion, bodybutter or body oil. Make shure you moisturize before leaving the shower this is the best time because your pores are still open and your skin will absorb it better!

The skin of the legs are often forgetten. During the winter we cover them up with pants, tights and leggings but we don't protect them against dry air and temperature difference. So when we notice some itch we are like, Oh they are dry! With your legs you do the same like you do on your body: cleanse, scrub, pat dry. After you pat dry take petroleum jelly or aloe vera cream and Vitamine E or Olive oil and apply this mixture to your legs put on a pair of tights and go to sleep. By covering your legs they will lock moisture. Repeat this for a few days and your skin will feel baby soft!

- Drink water to keep your skin hydrated. The best way is to begin from the inside out
- Try home made scrubs like brown sugar with milk, oatmeal with water, honey and sugar
- Keep a regimen that is easy to hold on to
- Try soaking your feet with warm water, olive oil, lemon juice and milk. This is a great time for relaxing and having soft feet

Love,

Your skin during the cold months

The months are getting colder: hard winds, rain, snow, dry air and a huge difference between the temperature inside and outside the house. All these are detrimental factors for your skin so it must be protected because the factors earlier named can make the skin out of ballance and dry. Especially the skin on the face because this is thinner than the skin on the rest of the body. Use a feeding cream with vitamin like vitamin A (protects the skin and makes it less sensitive and repair it faster).

Like the skin of the face, the lips needs extra attention. Your lips can get dry and rough. Make shure to have a lipbalm with you to prevent bursting lips or if that already happend a balm that repairs the structure. Apply it regularly so you can maintain your soft lips.

Some tips:

- Put containers w/water in the area of the radiator this keeps the air fresh

- Don't go late to bed, your need more sleep in the winter
- Use a thick creme on your feet before going to bed
- Avoid using too much soap this dries the skin out
- Use a hydrating shampoo/conditioner, your scalp can get drier than usual
- Swith your powder into foundation this is more protecting
- Don't forget to use sunscreen F15
- Use a handcreme and wear gloves
- Protect your bodyparts by using a hat, shawl ect.
- If you don't like thick sweaters try layering

Love,

Oil Cleansing Method

Everybody wants a clear, free of imperfections, glowing skin. Some try to achieve that by using chemical products that strip your skin from oils and leaving your skin dry, irritated and tight, it isn't good for your skin at all! It will/can work for a temporary time and so the cycle goes on. The best thing is to start by the basic with cleaning your skin on a daily basis with natural products. I know what you think: doesn't oil clog your pores, give you pimples and make your skin greasy? No, oil dissolves oil. Your skin naturally repairs, heals, protects and moisturizes itself with oil. The cause of pimples is usually hormones, bacteria, dead skin cells and buildup.

So oil dissolves oil and steam will open your pores for a better cleansing you can start your OCM. For this method you need two oils, the main oil is Castor oil -you can use your own personal oil blend. The pro's of Castor oil is that it's healing and cleansing. The secundary oil is any oil of your liking, i use Olive oil beacause it's healing and moisturizing.

Now you have enough information you can start with your personal oil blend that fit your needs. If your skin is feeling dry (dryer than usual) you need t ouse less Castor oil. Suggetions for your personal blend:
- Oily skin: 30% Castor oil to 70% Sunflower seed oil
- Balanced skin: 20% Castor oil to 80% Sunflower seed oil
- Dry skin: 10% Castor oil to 90% Sunflower seed oil.

What you need:
A soft washcloth
Hot running water
Personal oil blend (mine is 20% of Castor oil, 75% Olive oil, 5% Jojoba oil)

The method:
- Pour a quarter size amout of the oil into the palm of you hand, rub your hands together to warm the oil up.
- Smooth the oil over your skin and start massaging for a few minutes and focussing on your problem areas.
- If your done pick up your washcloth and soak it in hot water, as hot as you can but watch out to not burn your skin!
- Put the washcloth over your face untill it cools down. Wipe the oil away and reapeat this 2-3 times
- Pat dry your skin and use a toner, after that use your moisturizer or a drop of the oil blend or your own oil mix.

Your skin should now have a glow and feel clean, soft and non-irritated. I use this method 3x a week. The best advice is: Work with your skin, not against it.

Love,