How Great Skin, The Ultimate Beauty Bargain
The skin is the largest and one of the most important organs of the human body, so keeping it healthy is of the utmost importance. Skin is strong, protective, powerful and it can heal itself. Your skin acts to protect the body from the environment, to allow us to feel, to regulate body temperature, and to protect organs. Your skin is the first place to show health, neglect, and abuse. Treat it well and it will reward you with a glow and radiance that money can’t buy. Looking great takes less money and less time than you think, and makes everything else on your face and body look better. Just be consistent.
Cleansers
It’s not necessary to spend a lot or to purchase an entire line of products to cleanse your skin. Quite the opposite is true. There’s not even a need to cleanse your face when you first wake up. If your skin is dry, you should be able to splash your skin with water to get rid of excess oils and to reinvigorate the moisturizer you applied the evening before.
If your skin is oily, keep a small jar of powdered milk on your bathroom counter. Take a small amount in the palm of your hand, add enough water to make a paste, and give yourself an old-fashioned milk cleansing. Parisian models are legendary for their beautiful skin, and this is their secret. They would never use soap on their faces.
Water
It’s free, and it’s skin hydration at its finest. The first thing you should do to get your bargain regimen started is to drink a glass of water when first awakening. Next, splash your skin with tepid, never hot, water. Hot water robs the skin of the natural oils that have built up overnight. If you have normal to dry skin, all you need is a few splashes to remove the excess oil without stripping the skin. If your skin is oily, you still don’t need soap.
The water should just be a little warmer than for normal/dry skin.
To Tone or not to Tone?
Toning is not always necessary. And ironically, the more expensive toners contain alcohol, which may be too harsh for some skin types. The purpose of toning is to restore the pH balance to the skin and remove impurities.
Again, don’t waste your money on expensive brands. There are effective and inexpensive toners that you will love.
Mixing a teaspoon of lemon juice with a half teaspoon of tepid water is my favourite toner since the lemon shrinks the pores. Also try witch hazel (available at drugstores). It’s perfect for normal to dry skin and leaves the face clean and refreshed without a dry or tight feeling.
Hydrogen peroxide mixed with a little water is the toner of choice for very oily skin. I actually prefer these toners to their cosmetic counter cousins. That they won’t break the budget is just an added benefit. If you do prefer using an astringent to remove traces of dirt and for antibacterial agents, then get the most for
your money by being sure that there is more alcohol than water in the product. Stay away from toners containing fragrances, which can irritate the skin.
Moisturizing
Don’t be fooled into thinking that a moisturizer is what gives skin moisture. Its purpose is to keep the moisture that’s in your skin shielded the water content in moisturizers do somewhat help replenish some moisture, but it cannot penetrate the lower layers.
Don’t spend a lot on a moisturizer. They’re pretty much all the same. If you’re looking for extra moisture, don’t pay for vitamin E–added products, add your own. Take a vitamin E capsule (1,000 units), puncture it with a safety pin, and add it to a thumb-sized dollop of moisturizer. Vitamin E contains properties to help heal scar tissue and neutralize damaging free radicals. It’s known as the skin vitamin. Mixing it fresh gives the product more potency.
Do the same with vitamins C and A. Vitamin C is essential to the formation of collagen, and has been proven to protect the skin as well as fade age spots. Also shrinks pores by helping oil-secreting glands function properly.
Vitamin A regulates skin hydration and repairs skin. It stimulates the growth of new skin cells and helps with acne.
All are available in capsules so that they can mixed easily.
Use these added elements at night they are not for day use. During the day, you want your moisturizer to stay on top of the skin. This keeps your makeup on top of your skin and stops it from sinking into your pores. Give your face a treatment each time you moisturize. Tap your moisturizer into your skin. Never pull or rub. Tap up and down your face. Pressure tap under the eye area.
Sun
Use a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 to 30 and apply it at least an hour or two before being exposed to the sun. This gives the sunscreen time to interact with your skin. Remember to reapply sunscreen after swimming or perspiring. Of course, the safest tan is no tan.
Smoking
It depletes the skin of oxygen and causes discoloration and wrinkles. If you must smoke, at least drink a glass of water while smoking to diminish dehydration.
Over-Scrubbing
Too much of anything does not make it better. This certainly applies to what you do to your skin. Overzealous cleansing, rubbing, and scrubbing can irritate skin and cause premature wrinkling. Treat your skin like a delicate flower.
Stress
When you’re stressed out, your hormones are altered in such a way that can clog pores and cause acne.
Facial Exercises
Your face gets enough exercise with your natural expressions. If you do exercises, the muscles will stretch and then your face will drop even more.
Sleep Strain
Not enough sleep is an enemy, and so is sleeping on your face. If you can’t train yourself to sleep on your back, then by all means purchase a satin pillowcase.
Cheap and Effective Skin Treats (Cleansing Mask)
Mix two tablespoons baking soda with just enough water to create a paste. Smooth over clean skin and leave for about ten to fifteen minutes. Rinse thoroughly with slightly warm water.
Blend together one egg yolk, two teaspoons orange juice, one-teaspoon sour cream, and just enough oatmeal (grind it in a blender first until it becomes powder) to make a paste. Apply it to your face for ten minutes. Rinse off with warm water.
Skin Savings (Eye Tonic)
Use this treatment when you wake up with puffy.
Cut two thin slices from a raw potato. Next, wet your eye area with saturated cotton balls. Lie down and place the potato slices over your closed eyelids. Leave them on for about ten minutes. Remove and rinse off with cool water.
Freebie
Always remove contact lenses and any eye makeup when using this or any other eye treatment.
Skin Refresher
Make a pot of chamomile tea. Pour the entire pot into an ice cube tray and freeze. Pop out a cube and wrap it in a thin cloth. Rub over irritated or tired skin.
Skin Smoother
Mash and combine two raspberries, three blueberries, and two strawberries with a fork. Apply pulp to clean face and leave on for fifteen minutes. Rinse.
Milk Moisturizer
Refrigerate whole milk in a spritzer bottle for about an hour. Spray over irritated or inflamed skin.
Skin Reviver
This mask will wake up even the most red skin. Squeeze the juice of an orange with a tablespoon of plain yogurt. Mix well and smoothed over your face, avoiding the immediate eye area. Leave on for five minutes and rinse off with cold water.
This mask will not only deeply and gently cleanse your skin, but will leave it glowing and tingling
