6/26/11

Acne



Acne is a disorder of the sebaceous(oil) glands.  Sometimes requiring medical attention if severe enough.  When treating skin with acne you should not over do it.  Just stick to reducing the oiliness, removing blackheads(pretty much just keeping the skin clean), Cleansing the Skin(VERY IMPORTANT), and using special products.   Acne is mostly due to hereditary and environmental factors, and uncleanliness.  It can also be aggravated with stress and faulty diet.  Although not caused by any particular food or drink, foods high in fat, starches and sugars help aggravate blemishes.  Continue to read more…….
Some people like using containing Salicylic Acid and others like using Benzoyl Proroxide, this meaning everybody is different and their skin will react differently to different products.  For my fair, sensitive skin I prefer using salicylic acid.  Sally Beauty Supply have amazing products that have helped me tremendously.  Some doctors also prescribe Birth Control pills for this problem.
 Here is a link that also shows us why we sometimes get these zits…..Sneaky Little Zits!

Eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies


DRINK PLENTY OF WATER!!!!  I cant stress this enough


Always cleanse skin, day and night.  I like Clean & Clear or the Cetaphil Cleansing Bar. Noxema Cleansing Cream is AMAZING!

Exfoliating 2-3 times a week will keep your pores free of clogs and keep your skin fresh.

Go to the Beach!  Have you ever noticed those days when you go to the beach  for a couple of days and your skin just looks perfect?  Thats the salt water.  You can mix water with sea salt and rinse your face with it.  Wash off after 30 mins or an hour.

Tone! I like sea breeze and I really feel that my skin is out of control.  Some people can be sensitive to it but it’s worked great for me.  I wouldn’t recommend it for sensitive skin though. Witch hazel is amazing for sensitive skin, dry skin, oily skin, mature skin.  It’s cheap too!  You can get it at Target or CVS for less than $3!!!  I love this!  It does have alcohol so be careful.

Moisturize!  Dry skin makes the skin produce more oil and a quicker rate, which equals to clogged pores!  The One moisturizer that never broke me out (like i said everyone is different) was Beyond Belief  AHA Oil Free Moisturizer.  Burt’s Bees has a great one too.  Ponds is Great as well.  They have this new line called Clarant for Oily skin which is AMAZING.

Treat:  There are so many things out there!  The most promising ones I’ve read about and tried is the..
Only an Esthetician can apply a high frequency current over the affected area for about 5 mins.  This is antimicrobial current that uses violet rays.  Tiny violet sparks are emitted and it aids in elimination and absorption.
Clean & Clear Persa-Gel.  It’s a bit irritating so just put it on the blemish. 


Toothpaste works wonders!  Make sure it’s the white paste and not the blue or green gel.  After cleaning put on blemish for about 15 mins or overnight depending on your skin.  It dries the blemish up in no time!
Put honey on a blemish with a band aid over it, over night.

 I like Beyond Belief Acne spot treatment.  It’s less irritating, doesn’t smell strong and dries up pimples too.  It’s a bit softer but it works great!  Especially for sensitive skin.  Make sure to just put it on the blemish!

Tea Tree Oil!  Nature’s own antibiotic and bacteria killer!  Dab some on infected areas. After a few days you’ll notice the difference.

Vinegar kills bacteria.  1 part apple cider vinegar and  10 parts water should do the trick.
It also adds shine to your hair ;-)




MASKS!!
Ok this has to be my favorite part of acne treatments.  I can’t stress enough how well natural products work!  Honey, aspirin, yogurt, lime or lemon!  I’ve tried them all and some do work nice, like the Queen Helene Mint Julep Mast but nothing beats an aspirin mask, a pure form a salicylic acid without the preservatives. (only for people who aren’t allergic to aspirin please)
Massage the face with the skin of lemon or orange before washing with lukewarm water.  Lemon Juice helps sometimes too.
Mush strawberries along with the leaves on the acne.  The alkalinity of the fruit helps to reduce the swelling.
It’s so simple too.  Just get uncoated aspirin.  Can be generic and usually cost about $1, you can’t beat that. 
Get about 4-5 pills and make a paste using a few drops of water.  Apply to face for about 15 mins.  This may cause some sneezing.  Then rinse off at the same time rubbing it in and exfoliating with it.  You can do this for a few days a week, I would say every other day.  Some people can also do it twice a week and leave it on for about 30 mins.  For it to adhere to the skin better you can also mix it with some honey(antibacterial properties) or yogurt(lactic acid).  Rinse and leave your skin alone for a while.  You can moisturize after a while.

Also, my friend Lareyne posted this on my facebook page -
Burt’s Bees skincare products have worked WONDERS for me. I’m sure you remember that I have had bad skin since I hit puberty, and have tried everything under the sun, prescription and all. Burts Bees is the only thing that has helped maintain my skin soft and clear. I'm also using Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Sun Damage moisturizing lotion to help with the spots that the acne left behind. AMAZING! Like you said, everyone is different. I just wanted to give my two cents. 
http://www.burtsbees.com/
http://www.burtsbees.com/natural-products/face-natural-acne-solutions/



Something else that worked wonders on me were lemon and sugar scrubs, maybe once a week.  It really cleans out the pores and all the pore clogging dead skin cells.  It also worked wonders for old marks.  It's best to use actual lemon use instead of the bottled kind.



As said everybody is different.  My skin hated burt’s bee and her skin loved it.  I’ve heard amazing things about burt’s bees and notice it all goes back to natural products. I really wish it would of worked on me because they are amazing.  It’s worth a try 

Ok, what we learned was Keep Skin clean, don’t over aggravate it, don’t over do it with crazy products, and toothpaste and aspirin work wonders! Well for most people. 
Adjust your diet.
Just make sure you know what your skin can handle and what it can’t.

6/22/11

Making Eyes Bigger

A friend of mine requested that I talk about how to make eyes appear bigger. There are a few tips and tricks. Although sometimes unnoticeable in person, you can see a world of difference in pictures. So how do we do this?