lunes, 28 de enero de 2013

Mirror, mirror on the wall...



I have been frequently asked by many readers about how do I manage to have healthy skin and what is my care routine. To be honest, at the beginning I was not sure about posting on this particular subject. 
I used to think that I had no big wisdom to share. 
'My beauty secrets? - I thought -  No big deal at all! '
 But then I started surfing the net to look for any tips from bloggers all around the world.
What I mainly wanted was comparing my own perception with some other people´s criteria.
And do you know what? We had diametrically opposed views.


I went totally perplexed when, after reading more than a dozen beauty blogs, I realized about (and this is just a personal opinion) the bunch of big mistakes they comitted. The most of them were focused on making reviews of semi-professional products which were supposed to be essential for daily skin care regime. From my point of view, there were too many of them in every single post, kind of a cosmetic avalanche. And I started thinking:
'This makes no sense. Why are those ladies so obsessed with getting every new product? This won´t make their skins healthier by itself'.

So I decided I could have something to share after all.
These are my tips for a pretty, young and healthy skin.
This can sound like an obvious principle, but we need to hydratate ourselves both internally and externally.
 The suitable quantity of  liquid to drink is around eight glasses a day, but they don´t need to be exclusively water: juices, infusions, softdrinks or smoothies are good options too. However, remember that drinks containing  caffeine, alcohol or big amounts of sugar do not count. Indeed, they contribute to dehydratation.
If you don´t feel like drinking that much, you can get a reasonable volume of water from fresh fruit. Watermelon, kiwis and oranges contain huge liquid portions. Water helps to eliminate toxins from our body and makes our skin to look younger.


In relation to external hydratation, big companies insist on selling really expensive and useless lotions to us.
Many scientific researches show that the most effective products are those containing big shots of C Vitamin. There are many good brands offering this type of treatments for no more than 10 euros.
Personally, I tried many different creams over the years (my skin is really sensitive) and I finally found the perfect one for me in an unexpensive body + face lotion from Kinesia. I get it in my current supermarket and it costs four euros. Yes, that´s right. Only four euros. The regular bottle lasts for two months or even more, (even if a share it with my man). And on the top of all it, it is cruelty free.
 I can assure that my skin feels young and fresh since I use it.
A good nutrition is as important as a good hydratation.
Anemia is a fast track to a bad look (and better not to speak about health problems).
Try to make your diet complete and well-balanced:
Do you eat fresh veggies three times a week at least? Do you have fruit everyday?

A recent research demonstrates that women who consume big portions of C vitamin show less wrinkles when they turn thirty. This substance is present in citrics, but also in strawberries, kiwis and blueberries.


Having a healthy diet can make us feel a little lazy, but there are simple ways to achieve success.
If you do feel really bored about cooking green stuff every day, well, you can try green smoothies. 
And the same is applied to fruit. One of my favourite smoothies right now contains freeze blueberries and soy milk. 
Really yummy! 


And don´t forget that you can get extra vitamins and minerals from pills. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that multi-vitamin pills do not substitute natural elements. Our body doesn´t synthesize a hundred per cent of artificial vitamins. Keep that in mind!  

Seriously, do you think you need those twenty five beauty bottles that you storage in the bathroom?
Skin PH is very sensitive, and the excess of chemical substances do not help.
If you want to reduce the impact of chemicals in your skin there are several things you can do: first and most obvious, do not saturate your beautiful face with lots of products. Think a little bit about it. 
Exfolitation followed by a mask, followed by hydratation.  
Really?

If you want to feel your skin softer you can eventually substitute your current chemical mask for a homemade natural product once in a while.
 Greek Yoghurt is a miracle, you can trust me.


My personal skin care treatment consists in three basic products:

  1. Moisturizing cream (the one mentioned above).  Avena Kinesia Moisturizer.
  2. Anti-oxidant Mask (I just apply it once a week). Gisèle Denis, Maque antioxidant au thé blanc.
  3. Gentle scrub lotion for both, face and body (once every two weeks). Payot Paris Gommage Douceur & Sanctuary Warming Detox Mask.

Yes, every goth lady knows that.
Excessive sunlight contributes to premature aging. Of course I am not suggesting you totally hide yourself from it (we need it to synthesize vitamin D), but a good parasol and sunscreen on summer will help to make you look younger.

 
Of course it does!
So please, don´t forget to remove all your make up before sleeping
During our dream, skin regeneration process takes place. When we clean our skin, and help her breathe, we also remove dead skin cells, excess sebum and pollution accumulated during the day.



My top secret product for a clean and healthy skin is Vichy Purete Thermale.

Besides, let your skin to breathe with no make up on it once in a while (I do it every time I stay at home, specially on the weekends). When I stay at home and I want to keep it simple, I just wash my face with water and a natural Shea Tree soap which has ultra-hydratation power. 
This makes the skin healthier.
 Yes, having good rest also helps to be pretty.
I am sure you notice the difference between a dream session of seven or eight hours to another one of five or six hours. When you don´t sleep properly not only dark circles appear, but also skin feels dry and tense.
Make a favour to yourself and have sweet dreams every night.


Okey, lovelies, this is what I basically do for keeping my skin healthy and young.
I´d like to know what do you think about this.

Is my routine very different from yours?










12 comentarios:

  1. You have a great skin care system going! I would say that ours is quite similar! I don't understand people spending loads of money on skin care products either, surely applying all these different creams and potions do more harm than good, especially those harsher products!

    I don't like using products with too many chemicals, the least amount of ingredients possible is what I generally go for. I have sensitive skin too and it took me years to find the right balance in my skin care routine. Now I very rarely get a blemish! The only thing I suffer from time to time is red cheeks!

    I only use three products for my face, St. Ives Apricot Scrub and Simple Kind to Skin Moisturising Facial Wash and lastly Simple Kind to Skin Light/Rich moisturisers (depending on the season)

    My new years resolution was to get more fruits and vegetables into my diet and so far I've been really enjoying it! I try to go for organic where possible and I have been looking into smoothie makers this past week as I'm really wanting to step it up some more!

    I'd love to see some of your smoothie recipes! ~♥~

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    1. It´s funny we both had the same New Year resolution, I also wished to get more green stuff daily into my diet. I can totally say that I feel much better since then. I´ll ve includying some smoothie recipes here in the future in I have the chance :)

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  2. This topic is very appropriate for me, today. :P I bought a new serum and moisturizer and started using them after I scrubbed last night and today I have a terrible rash and red face. :(
    I've just started to change my lifestyle a bit to see if I can get more sleep... it's hard to get in bed with so much to do. O.o
    Also, It's been a week since I started making green smoothies and I feel so energized already.
    You really know all the secrets and it shows in your gorgeous face! <3
    Loved reading ^^

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    1. I have experienced some bad allergic reactions to heavy chemicals in the past myself, and that´s the reason why I started thnking that too many of them are not good at all. For red skin try not to use chemicals or make up for a couple of days. You can try by washing your face with cold water (it tones the skin) and natural shea tree soap. It is truly soft and hydratating.

      Glad to see you enjoyed the post! ♥

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  3. I used to get sucked into the high pressure sales pitch at the skincare counter until I switched to Dr. Haushka. They recommend washing your face at night and leaving the face bare - and after all those years of spending a whack of money on “special” overnight moisturizers!

    So I definitely think you're on the right track with your system! And yes, what we put into our bodies is definitely important! I need to drink more water, which I'm trying to do by drinking a couple of mugs of hot water with lemon and honey before bed. :o)

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    1. I use regular moisturizer cream, but I won´t give a single penny for "special care night creams" anymore. They are expensive and do not help the skin to be fresher.

      I like your system with the hot water and lemos before sleeping. I have to try that myself, partially because as a teacher I get my voice spoiled frequently.

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  4. Very good points! I think you have a perfect flawless skin. I would say that you need to eat raw vegetables for almost every meal during the day, not only three times a week. The more colour of the fruit/vegetable the better. I make my own facecream and It's so visible that my skin likes it, all thin lines dissapear when I use it. It contains cold pressed rapeseed oil, beeswax, cocoabutter, boiled water, glycerine and an emulsifier + some extras if I have at home, simple as that. the beeswax protects my skin from the dry winter air and the wind.

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    1. Linnea, I meant that three times a week is the minimun quantity for being healthy, but of course the much, the better.
      I am curious, what do you mean by raw vegetables? Normally I boil them all, maybe with the exception of carrots and cucumbers, because I like them in their natural state. Fruit is a different thing, for sure.

      I´d like you to share more lovely recipes in your cute blog if possible! I think it´s great we can share healthy tips :)

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  5. I totally agree with you. People usually do not pay attention to food. After consulting several doctors because my acne problem I realized (after having put into practice) that food makes all the difference. It is obvious that many products help but good nutrition is essential.
    I wish you a good week.

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    1. Yes, I think that nutrition is more than the half of the issue. If you are healthy then products become just a little extra help, which after all is what they are for.

      I wish you a good wee too!

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  6. I use a homemade oil cleanser made of castor oil, grapeseed oil, apricot oil, jojoba oil and a few drops of tea tree oil nightly and follow it up with coconut oil (scented with Tahitian gardenias) as a moisturizer a few times a week. About once a week I use a homemade exfoliator in the morning, consisting of rice bran, salicylic acid powder and uguisu no fun (nightingale droppings! XP) but usually I just wet my face with cold water in the mornings. I have hormonal acne so I still need to take medicine to help regulate my testosterone otherwise the skin on my face aches so bad (even if my face is pretty clear).

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    1. Oh, my! Your beauty treatment sounds terrific. I am always thinking about introducing some more natural products in my regime, I think that the more natural they are, the healthier is skin.

      By the way, youre very welcome to my place.
      Please, feel free to comment whenever you want to :)

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