How’s The Skin Doing?
That should be the new title to the Fresh series, really. I feel like it’s become a play-by-play on my complexion. LOL.
So the breakouts that I had this past weekend have started to heal and subside thanks to my Azulen Paste. Can I also say that Bobbi Brown Blemish Cover Stick is a lifesaver?
However, I continue to give my skin a hiatus. The situation isn’t dire, but it’s not great.
In the meantime, all of you ladies out there with skin woes, take heart. Over the weekend, my mom - ever the vigilante for clear skin - slipped me this great article from Good Morning America. “Better Skin, Fast and Cheap.” Um yeah, I’ll have me some of that.
In the segment, which you can also watch online, Dr. Loretta Ciraldo, professor of dermatology at the University of Miami and author of the new book, 6 Weeks to Sensational Skin, gives us cheap and simple tips for better looking skin:
Cut back on washing your hair. Many shampoos contain problematic ingredients like fragrance and sodium lauryl sulfate that might actually lead to breakouts along the hair line and where your hair touches your face.
The good doctor recommends washing your hair every other day. And after the age of 35, try to do it once a week. (Eek. That last one sounds kind of gross.)
Upgrade your pillowcase. Puffy eyes are partially the result of using facial products at night that contain mildly irritating ingredients like Retin-A and glycolic acid, and then burying/rubbing your face into your pillow for eight hours.
Upgrade to a higher thread count pillowcase (think 400) which is softer against your skin.
Also try switching to a detergent like All Free & Clear which gets rid of dust mites, cat dander and fragrance — three things that might cause allergies and lead to puffy eyes and creases.
Smile more to banish lip lines. I like this one. Just smiling in a broad smile five minutes every morning and night will actually build up the muscles around your lips and help lessen lines.
As for me, I’m going to test out the shampoo theory, and hunt around for a good, mild shampoo. Any suggestion are welcome!
October 27th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
I have (or, at least, had) terribly, wretchedly dry hair. Haystack hair. To where each individual strand felt rough to the touch because it was soooo dry. I tried over a dozen different moisturizing shampoos and conditioners (mostly my mother’s castoffs, because she had a new infatuation every couple months when it came to shampoo and conditioner) and at one point she bought a sample set of Oatmeal and Honey, from TiGi’s Catwalk line. She liked the sample set and bought a liter bottle of each, but never even opened the liter bottles when she found Fashionista from Catwalk, which is made for color-treated hair. So the Oatmeal and Honey was offered to me.
I couldn’t get into the scent at the time (it’s a soft, soothing, very light scent, and at the time I was into botanical scents) so I set it aside until one day, out of desperation (the dryness!) I tried it again. My personality had changed in the intervening time, and I find that the scent of the Oatmeal and Honey now suits me better (and I like it better) than anything else I’ve used. I’ve been using it faithfully for over 2 years now, and my hair feels sooooo much nicer - my hairdresser (didn’t meet her until after I’d been using it for a few months) would never have known my hair wasn’t naturally silky and smooth instead of dry and haystack-y.
Over the course of a few months, in addition to moisturizing upon use, it seems to actually have improved my hair - it takes at least a month and a half for me to develop split ends now, whereas I used to have them just days after a new haircut. So I adore my Oatmeal and Honey.
Sorry for the ultra-long post!
October 27th, 2006 at 9:45 pm
No worries at all - I love getting everyone’s comments and feedback. It’s helpful for us to all pool experiences, I think.
I’m going to check out Tigi…I’ve definitely seen it around, but just never had the chance to see what it’s exactly about.
I’ve actually been doing some haircare experimenting these past couple of weeks, and formulating a hair hypothesis if you will…mwhaha…sounds intriguing I hope!
November 1st, 2006 at 7:38 am
[…] I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting lately with shampoo and haircare. As you may have heard whispered into your ear from magazines and friends and experts, you’re not supposed to wash your hair daily as you put yourself at risk of overdrying your scalp and overloading on product. […]
November 8th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
I’m really liking Freeman’s pure color fresh shine shampoo. It does have fragrance (I think) but it’s very gentle, yet effective as well. One tip for me that’s helped reduce breakouts- when showering, wash your face after you’ve rinsed conditioner out. I’ve made sure to do this (as well as soap up any areas the conditioner might have touched, like front and back of the neck and hands) and it’s really made a difference.
PS- love the blog!
November 8th, 2006 at 12:48 pm
Hi Julie - thanks for stopping by, and thanks for the recommendation! I will definitely have to check out Freeman.
I typically don’t condition my roots, and keep the ends of my hair (where the conditioner hits) away from my face when I’m showering. That’s a good tip, though, because I’m sure conditioner can’t be great when it gets into the pores.
November 29th, 2006 at 3:13 pm
[…] I also received a few Skinsational skincare products that I am hoping to test out in the near future. But we’ll see how my skin fares. Thank goodness it’s been calming down lately. Maybe I can finally get back to that much-delayed Fresh series of mine, huh? […]