Archive for November, 2008

To get a healthy tanned look on your skin, bronzers are a perfect choice as they create a natural glow and are also safer than other self-tanning process.

Contrary to popular belief, bronzers are not only for people with darker skin tones, but people with lighter skin tone can also wear bronzers throughout the year.

A popular benefit of using bronzer includes attaining a self-tanned look without too many harmful effects of sun or self-tanning processes.

By using bronzers, you can adjust the color of your skin depending on your preferences and can easily wash off the color at the end of the day. Here are a few useful tips for applying and choosing a bronzer to suit your skin tone:

1. Before choosing a skin bronzer, it is very important to determine the type of your skin. First of all, determine your skin type and buy a bronzer that suits it.
2. When applying bronzer, use a good-quality bronzer brush, as the bristles are specially designed and angled to ensure an even application on your skin.
3. The consistency of the bronzer is another important factor to consider when choosing the right product. For example, if you have dry skin, go for a cream bronzer for the most effective results.

It is indeed possible to spend less, and get more. Yes, I am talking about skin care products and facial cleansers.

Some of the best facial cleansers you can use are readily available right at home, but most of us do not know this, and we end up spending extravagant amounts of money on them.

Why, even the great Cleopatra used home made facial cleansers to keep her skin looking beautiful and glowing at all times!

Here are some tips on how to make the best homemade facial cleansers:

• Alpha-hydroxy acids form the main ingredient in most facial cleansers, and this is something that is readily available in most of the food stuffs that we use at home. Milk contains alpha-hydroxy acids, and apparently, Cleopatra indulged in milk baths everyday!

  Lemon juice, oranges, blackberries, grapes, and tomatoes all contain this important acid, and what they do is to exfoliate the skin, so that the dead skin cells that stay on the face long after they are dead are removed, to leave your face clean and glowing.

  Remember, when the top layer of skin is removed, it helps the natural emollient oils in our body to reach the rest of the cells, especially those on the surface, thereby moisturizing the skin and leaving it fresh and moisturized.

It is easier to manage curly hair than you may think. I have this friend who has a wild looking mane of curly hair, and she always moans at her fate, saying, “I wish my hair was straight or something. Why can’t someone find a method to style my hair type?”

That prompted me to find out how exactly people with curly hair manage it, and what styles they use to look good.

Here are some of the things I found out:

• First and foremost, curly hair is a blessing: it does not need constant maintenance like straight hair does. People with curly hair have to simply wash their hair, use a little bit of styling gel, and walk out cool and poised, while the rest of us struggle to style our hair, a style that never stays anyway unless expensive gels are used.
• However, curly hair needs to be cut and styled well. If you have long curly hair, remember that your hair will be weighed down by the curls, while if you have a shorter hair cut, your curls will be released. Experts say that it is a good idea to have a layered style.

Recently, my friend, aged fifty, told me, “I really need to get something done to spice up my life.

Since I don’t want to go in for things like face lifts or tummy tucks, how does an eyelash transplant sound to you?” Frankly speaking, I was astonished! I was not even aware of the existence of such a thing!

What all a human being can think of to become beautiful! My friend’s question prompted me to research a little into the topic, and here is what I found:

This is a cosmetic surgery, done for people who either wish to augment their looks, or who really do not have any eyelashes for a number of different reasons, and want to have some.

People who do have eyelashes tend to dismiss eyelash transplant surgery as stupid or a complete waste of time, but one may not be able to understand the feelings of those people who have lost their eyelashes due to infections or burns, or congenital malformations or some other reasons; they would give anything to own a few eyelashes.

Some researchers in Scotland found that for patients who were suffering from great hair loss, and from conditions like alopecia nervosa, massaging with essential oils like rosemary, thyme, cedarwood and lavender caused a dramatic reduction in their hair loss.

However, other experts do say that no matter what oil you may use to massage your scalp, it is the quality of the massage that will help your hair more than anything else.

Experts advice that you must use circular movements and only the tips of your fingers to massage oil into your scalp. This will promote hair growth and give one a feeling of well being and also bring relief from mild headaches.

Try not to use too many chemicals in your hair; they may be harmful and may cause irreversible damage to your healthy hair. Instead, use fresh natural oils for massaging your hair everyday. Here are some natural oils for you:

• Mix chamomile in a glass of warm water. Use this solution as a final rinse after you wash your hair. This will act as a natural conditioner for your hair and let it stay in place. Additionally, chamomile has the advantage of giving golden highlights to your hair.

We all would simply love to have the gorgeous hair that the model on TV has just shown off, although some of us, like my sister would say, in a fit of jealousy, “Pooh! That is just a wig! Don’t I know it! Just look at her swinging it; natural hair just doesn’t shine this way!”

Little do we realize that she is wrong, and that our own hair can shine as much as the next persons, if we take care of it and maintain it well.

Here are a few tips for you to soon possess that glossy superb mane of hair.

1. The cleaner your scalp, the healthier your hair. Always make sure that you massage a little oil into your hair just before you have your bath, and then wash it off with a mild shampoo. Remember to condition your hair after every wash, as this will leave your hair soft and easy to groom.
2. Mix one egg with 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Apply this mixture to your scalp, and leave it one for at least twenty minutes. Wash off in tepid water; remember, hot water will scramble the eggs, and nobody wants scrambled eggs on their scalp!

During teenage years, it is quite common that your skin naturally exfoliates for every 2 weeks. Consequently, youthful skin is revealed as the outer layer for dead skin cells.

This exfoliation process of dead skin helps you to keep your complexion glowing and youthful.

However, when the blood flow and oxygenation of skin cells is reduced, it mainly results in dull complexion.

Even, if your skin fails in its natural exfoliation process, you can get lifeless complexion. If you are suffering with dull, lifeless skin, here are some simple steps to brighten and rejuvenate your complexion.

1. Supplement your diet!

What you eat and what you include in your regular diet reflects your skin along with your health. So, try to supplement your routine diet with fresh fruits and vegetables.

Don’t forget to include essential vitamins and nutrients, as they play a vital role in improving blood circulation in your body.

2. Moisturize!

A good moisturizer is very important for every one who want brighter and wonderful complexion. Along with your regular sunscreen, you should also consider moisturizers that contain light reflecting pigments.

The added shine makes your skin glow and certainly minimizes sallow complexion and dark circles present, if any.

Do you know acne is most widespread condition around the world? Despite of gradual rising of awareness about acne, the acne myths are clouding public perception beyond belief.

These misdirected acne care regimens and lack of proper awareness about acne can probably result in producing unfruitful attempts to solve your acne problem.

If you think you already know about acne, you may be surprised that there are some things that you’ve already heard about acne like what causes or how to deal with it, are not actually true. Here are few acne myths for you to drive out the misconception that you have about acne.

Acne myths:

1. Poor hygiene mainly triggers acne!

Most of you might be in this particular misconception that acne is caused due to poor hygiene. Actually, acne is not caused due to dirt or environmental pollution. It is actually caused due to production of excess oil by your sebum glands.

However, one thing is true that although it is caused due to excess skin oils, dirt and other environmental pollutants potentially worsen acne condition.

2. Frequent face wash helps to reduce acne!