Beauty Solutions: Ultra Dry Face Skin Care

Dry skin causes peeling, tightness, and sometimes even pain. In the winter, household heat and exposure to freezing wind dry face skin in a snap. Dry air in homes, caused by heating systems and fireplaces, draw the moisture from skin like a wick. In the summer, sun, salt, chlorine, and wind do the same.

To help combat the effects of the elements on dry skin, you should:


Minimize exposure: No, you don’t need to stay indoors on beautiful summer days. A good facial skin cream for day time includes an SPF 15 or higher sunscreen. In the winter, we forget that UV rays still affect our skin. Always use an SPF 15 sunscreen or higher when it is cold out—even on cloudy, overcast or rainy days.

Use the right cleanser: Over-cleansing can dry the face worse than sun or wind. Check the ingredients label and avoid any cleanser or toner with alcohol.

Moisturize: Always use a good quality facial skin cream while your face is damp. If your skin is very dry, combine with a serum.

Remove all makeup before bed: Use an oil or cream makeup remover. Allowing your makeup to stay on your face overnight can clog pores, dry skin, and cause blemishes.

"Fashion Is Foremost Inspiration"

Suzanna

Beauty Solution: Lemon Lust Moisture Boosting Body Balm

Though we’re already a full month into fall, some still aren't willing to let go of summer. It’s just unbearable. To keep a little “summer” in your fall and winter routine, why not use a moisturizer that reminds you of summer? A good example would be H2O+ Lemon Lust Moisture Boosting Body Balm 240ml/8oz.

We all know how important it is to moisturize during the cold weather months– our skin gets dehydrated and flaky and, on extremes, a simple caress on very dry, sensitive skin can really hurt! This particular moisturizer has fruit extracts, shea butter and aloe vera, not to mention vitamin E. Vitamin E, besides leaving your skin feeling hydrated, is responsible for healing and protecting our skin.

As this is a balm as opposed to a lotion, the consistency is thicker and richer. My best tip as far as applying it goes, is to apply it right after the shower, with your skin still warm from the hot water, your pores open and your skin is still moist. This will ensure an even better result and easy application.

"Fashion Is Foremost Inspiration"

Micky

Beauty Solutions: Artemis Woman Shea Butter Paraffin Spa

If you ever took the time to do a paraffin hand or foot session at your manicurist, you surely know what I’m talking about when I say that it can be an outter body experience. Paraffin treatments remove dry, chapped skin and leave your skin feeling like silk. If you suffer from dryness on your hands, this is the best treatment I have ever seen. The downside to this kind of treatment is the fact that most of us can only access to it at our local beauty salons, For some of us that can mean long waits even if we have an appointment, and let’s face it, time is a luxury that we aren't always blessed with.

That's not a worry anymore, now Ulta has introduced the Shea Butter Paraffin Spa by Artemis Woman. This way, you can have your own treatment at home. This kit comes will all you need and then some. For $39.99 you’ll get the special electric pan (that will warm the paraffin at the exact temperature) and lavender scented special shea butter wax. The lavender scent will help you relax and then, all you have to do, is dip your hands onto the warm wax, take them out and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes. The next step is to peel the wax and apply a good hand moisturizer. You can choose your favorite, but this kit comes with a 3.75 Oz. Gem Therapy Hand and Body Cream and a 1 Oz. Topaz Foot Butter.

"Fashion is Foremost Inspiration"

Micky

Beauty Solution: Burt's Bees Hand Repair Kit

Our hands are really important in our day-to-day lives. We use them for almost everything and a lot of the time, they are the only tools we need to accomplish our daily tasks. As a result, the skin on our hands suffer a lot. To take care of our hands, a great solution is the Burt's Bees Hand Repair Kit.

It has the much-acclaimed Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme that is said to perform actual miracles for your cuticles. It prevents them from getting dry and peeling, which not only is extremely uncomfortable, but it hurts. The Burt's Bees Hand Repair Kit also comes with a jar of Beeswax and Banana Hand Creme enriched with aloe vera to repair and moisturize your hands, no matter what kind of stress they have been through. My tip is to use it after you do the dishes, every morning or simply when you feel like your hands are a bit dry. If you work under air conditioning or live in a cold place, having a good hand moisturizer is super important.

To pamper your hands even more, this kit also comes with a great night time cream and appropriate cotton gloves to be worn with it. Personally, I love all kinds of intensive overnight treatments and I use this kind of treatments where you have to put a nice coat of cream and then use the gloves a lot. I seriously recommend them and I guarantee that in the morning, your skin will look and feel like silk.

As an added bonus, the kit includes a little booklet that will give you an understanding of basic hand anatomy and, granted, you’ll smell awesome any given time of day or night. All this pampering for only $14.50 is the best your hands can ever get.

"Fashion Is Foremost Inspiration"
Micky

Beauty Solutions: Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Set

Elizabeth Arden is a brand most of us know and come to love. Back in the early 1930’s this brand brought to our grandmothers the revolutionary Eight Hour Cream. Back in the day it was considered a miracle and though many things have changed since then, this cream still works.

This cream is well known for its healing and protecting benefits so the brand had the amazing idea of making a three-piece set with the best products of the Eight Hour line, the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Set ($51 value). In this set you’ll find a tube of Eight Hour Cream Intensive Moisturizing Hand Treatment, an Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick with SPF 15 and the traditional Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant. This set comes in the lovely Elizabeth Arden deluxe red gift box and you’ll get to save $4.50 by buying these products together.


Skin often gets dry from temperature differences experienced during the summer but also due to the sun; therefore, moisturizing is very important. If you’re all about products that have been tested and proved to work wonders, then this set is definitely for you.

Fashion Is Foremost Inspiration
Micky

Beauty Review: Shiseido Pureness Oil-Control 1-2-3 Skincare System

I usually have balanced combo skin, but when I get nervous or there is a drastic change in the weather, my skin can straggle the extremes. Some times it gets oily and sometimes it gets really dry. During my last oily skin phase I discovered the Shiseido Pureness Oil-Control 1-2-3 Skincare program. The 1-2-3 Skincare Program works for most skins, whether you need to brighten your skin a bit or get rid of some age spots. This skincare regimen consists of three steps:

Step 1- Clean: Pureness Deep Cleansing Foam What you have to do is work up a rich lather on your hand, massage it over your face and then rinse with lots of water. This cleansing foam has little tiny blue pearls that will help clean your pores and remove even the most stubborn foundation and pollution agents. You can really feel the clean difference on your face – it’s almost the sensation you get after a facial. The one negative with this product is the smell. It really smells like chemicals, which isn’t very pleasant in my opinion.

Step 2- Balance: The next step, and according to Shiseido the one that really makes the difference, is to use their TS Hydro-Balancing Softener Alcohol-Free Tonic. After cleansing your skin, just saturate a cotton pad and wipe gently over your face. No smell problems with this tonic. I’m pretty lazy when it comes to applying tonic, and to be honest I would very much prefer that it already had the saturated pads. Apart from that, I’d say it’s a good product. It doesn’t feel dramatically different from other matifying tonics but it won’t leave you sticky and you can clearly tell it doesn’t have alcohol. It matifies without drying out your skin to the point where it will feel uncomfortable or make you break out.

Step 3- Moisturizing: Pureness Matifying Moisturizer Oil-Free Fluid: Talk about fluid! It looks just like milk, except the fluid is a little bit thicker. With your skin still a little moist from the tonic, smooth this fluid over your face and you’re done. I have to warn you it does smell a lot like alcohol. I don’t understand why would anyone do a skincare regimen with an alcohol free tonic just to go and put alcohol on the moisturizer…?

I hate to say this, but this program broke me out. It’s usually the reaction I get from most face tonics and I know the reason for it so I was not really surprised. Also, this regimen won’t work right away. As with most matifing creams and fluids, it will take up to a week for your skin to get accustomed to the new routine and react the right way. Knowing that, Shiseido should probably make their samples bigger since the ones they have will only last you for one use (and let’s be honest, in most beauty shops people are lucky to go out with a free sample so they’re not very likely to give you more than one). I loved the Deep Cleansing Foam, but I’d only stick to that part. In my opinion, you don’t need to shed your dollars for the whole program. If you’re skin is really oily and you do need deep cleansing, the foam is enough.

"Fashion Is Foremost Inspiration"
Micky