Beauty Basics :: Beauty :: Skin Care

Beauty Basics
by author Trudy Peskett

Easy recipes for glowing winter skin.

Lemony Hand and Body Cream

With both outdoor elements and indoor air conditioning conspiring to dry your skin, moisturizing is essential for preventing cracking and chapping. You will need:

3 Tbsp (45 ml) juice from one lemon
3 Tbsp (45 ml) sweet almond oil
1 tsp (5 ml) beeswax
3 drops essential lemon oil

Strain the lemon juice through a cheesecloth into a heatproof measuring cup. Add almond oil, then place cup in a small saucepan of water. Add beeswax and heat gently over medium heat for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. The trick is not to burn the wax, so once it’s completely melted, remove from heat. Keep stirring until it’s cool, then mix in the lemon oil. Store in a closed jar or bottle, and give it a shake every once in a while until it cools completely. Apply whenever you feel the need for a real moisture surge and a boost of vitamin C.

Baby-Your-Lips Balm

Cold air can chap your lips faster than saying "Brrrr." To keep your lips moisturized, prepare your own mint-scented balm with:

3 tsp (15 ml) almond oil
1 tsp (5 ml) beeswax
3 drops peppermint essential oil

Using same method as for the body cream, stir almond oil and beeswax over gentle heat, then remove and add peppermint oil. Store in a palm-sized metal tin. Extracted from the kernels of ripe almonds, almond oil is a soothing emollient that thickens when mixed with the beeswax.

Source: alive #T

Special Advertising Feature

Make the choice to go natural a simple one - Special Advertising Feature provided by VitalScience Corp
It is shocking is to learn that hazardous chemicals are even closer than we think because they are common skin care ingredients! Fortunately there are steps to take in choosing skin care products that will prevent unnecessary exposure and maintain your health and wellness. Heiko skin care products are gentle and do not burden the skin with unnecessary ingredients. You will not find parabens, perfumes, preservatives, chemical compounds or mineral oils in our formulas. They also do not contain methylparaben (or similar compounds), suspected to have links with cancer. Make the choice to go natural a simple one with Heiko.

CoQ₁₀
Skin care products have become very sophisticated over the past 10 years. A look at the label of any well-researched and effective formula reveals the most up-to-date ingredients. AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) gently remove dead cells from the surface of the skin.

Beauty in a Man's World
Looking good is not just the domain of women. Men too need to be aware and take care. Hair (and the lack of it) in particular can cause men many a sleepless night. The following home remedies and natural products will soon have you sleeping like a baby again.

Defy Aging Naturally
With the increased use of synthetics in skin care products and the higher amounts of toxins in our air, water and food, it's no wonder that women feel they're fighting a losing battle against pre-mature aging.

Blow-Off Dandruff Flakes
Dandruff is a common condition characterized by an overly dry scalp, with itchy white flakes that may be waxy or greasy. If it's a serious case, there may be evidence of inflammation along the hairline or around the eyebrows. Possible reasons for dandruff include poor circulation and the overuse of products that dry the scalp..

The Cultured Word on Apple Cider Vinegar
Nature has a marvellous way of offering simple solutions to seemingly complex problem.

Give Your Head a Shake
The sun is shining brightly, but when you look at your shoulders you swear you can see snow. Of course, those tiny white flakes have nothing to do with the weather, but they aren't all in your head either. Those embarrassing tiny specks result from an overgrowth of skin cells on the scalp.

Dealing With Dandruff
Itching, flaking, and the dread that comes with wearing a dark-coloured shirt-it may not be life threatening, but dandruff can certainly be an embarrassing condition.

Skin Moisturizers
The body's largest organ, the skin, has a very efficient system for retaining moisture. A protective layer of sebum - a complex mix of wax esters, free fatty acids, cholesterol, and glycerides - is released from the skin's sebaceous oil glands..

Your Detox-Product Shopping List
From the car fumes we breathe to the pesticide residues on our foods, toxic contaminants are, sadly, a daily reality. Your local health food store is your best source of the wide range of natural foods, herbs, and supplements needed to support natural detoxification.

Forever Young
All of us want to have longer and healthier lives, and while some of us are dealt a better hand than others in life's genetic lottery, there are many ways we can maximize the potential we are born with.

Miracle in a Jar?
Adding nutrients like essential fatty acids and antioxidants to our diets can take us a long way toward recreating youthful, healthy skin. Your choice of moisturizer can also have a huge impact on your skin quality.

The Energy Trio
When we are young, our bodies have a tremendous ability to repair. This is called anabolic metabolism - the ability to repair our cells faster then they break down. Anabolic metabolism also creates a great atmosphere for fat burning and muscle enhancement. In other words, instead of merely living, we feel truly alive.

Moisturize Away Dry Skin

Sweet Talk
Medical researchers say we have more control over our blood sugar levels than we may realize. Scores of published studies support the use of a variety of nutritional and herbal supplements in combination with a high-fibre, nutritionally balanced diet as the best natural approach to blood sugar control.

Profile of Dr. Andrew Weil
Andrew Weil is definitely changing the face of medicine. His familiar, white-bearded face has beamed at us from the cover of TIME magazine twice in the last nine years, most recently last October when his new book, Healthy Aging (Knopf, 2005) hit the stands.

Dodge Diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic health problem that involves elevated blood sugar levels. Proper nutrition, exercise, and dietary supplements normalize blood sugar levels and weight preventing diabetes. Your diet should be high in fibre, found in vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. More specifically, your diet should include water-soluble fibre.

Homemade Scrubs and Foot Baths
Combine one cup finely ground oats, two cups clay (available in health food stores), one cup finely ground almonds, one-eighth of a cup each of finely ground lavender and roses and one-eighth cup poppy seeds or blue corn meal. Store in a glass jar. When needed, scoop out a couple of teaspoons and mix with water.

Alpha Lipoic Acid

Natural Rx for Dandruff

Defense of Ylang Ylang

Bee-auty Fit For Royalty

"Hypoallergenic?

In the Eye of the Beholder

Winter Skin Blues?

Good health times four
Your ability to love and care for self-physically, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually-is your assurance of a long and healthy life. Longevity is worthwhile only when it comes with the following types of good health:Good physical health-you know when your body needs exercise, rest, or nourishment.

Maintaining Moisture

Correcting Skin Imperfections

Herbal Help for Your Hair
While we typically turn to our herb gardens to embellish a salad or a savory sauce, these delightful herbs can also do wonders for hair. Herbs contain chemical compounds that can help restore hair's natural balance and shine. Try these recipes at home and see your locks glow!

Man Enough to Moisturize
Metrosexual men may have long looked after their skin, but now it seems even the most rugged of males can be seen browsing for cosmetics. This month alive looks beyond the basic shaving creme and aftershave combo to see what other products are out there for the guys.

Seeing is Believing
Eyesight is often the first sense adversely affected by time and poor nutrition. Macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and cataracts are three of the most common causes of blindness in North American seniors.

Skinfully Soft
If you're like most women, you have a cabinet full of squeeze bottles and pump-tops whose contents attempt to mimic an ocean breeze or a vast field of lavender. Are all those different kinds of lotions really necessary, or will one type fit all your needs?