Lifestyle Choices

Provided it is done skillfully, massage is a wonderful treatment for the face. But it must be done gently and carefully, for the muscles of the face and neck are made up of fine fibers which, unlike muscles in the rest of the body, are attached not only to bone but also to the skin itself. They are, therefore, delicate and must never be pulled hard, or massage can have a detrimental effect, rather than a helpful one. Always following the direction of the muscle fibers themselves, massage will stimulate blood circulation, which improves the tone of muscles and skin and promotes the use of nutrients in the cells and the elimination of wastes. Massage will also help the skin to absorb active ingredients in creams and essential oils. (more…)

BEGIN BY STAYING OUT OF THE SUN

To preserve your skin from premature aging, in addition to the constant use of a sunscreen on your face as part of your everyday skin care, you should understand the art of sunbathing—that is if you want to tan at all. Ideally, of course, you would be far better off pale.

As we’ve already said, the sun is your skin’s worst “ager.” It has been proved that exposure to ultraviolet light brings about permanent fundamental alterations in the genetic material of skin cells and encourages the process of cross-linking. These changes are cumulative and irreversible. Even when sun-exposed skin from an arm is grafted onto a protected area such as the abdomen and left there for years, it still remains older- looking and darker than the skin surrounding it. (more…)

Eyeliners

Finally put on your eyeliner. A good way of emphasizing eye shape without looking too obviously made up is to use a pencil in the same tone you are using for your eye shadow, dotting it all along the upper lashes and then just under the lower ones so the two lines meet at the outer corners and form a little triangle. This kind of liner looks good when it is gently smeared with a brush or fingertip to blend it into the surrounding area and keep it from looking too heavy. You can also use another color line drawn on the inside of the lower lid if you like. If you use a light color there, such as off-white, it will make your eyes look bigger. If you use a bright color such as electric blue or brilliant green, it can look great for evening. (more…)

Light Draws the Eye

Highlighter is a powerful tool when it is used wisely. When carelessly or wrongly applied, it can make a face look positively absurd. The best highlighters are not white. Bone white is too harsh. Instead choose a pale ivory foundation to use as a lightener on the areas of the face you wish

The Eyes Have it

For most women, one of their best features is the eyes. Perhaps this is because eyes reveal so much of what goes on inside one. Makeup for eyes should emphasize this and show off the eyes‘ beauty and color. It should never be applied gratuitously, as it often is. (more…)

Not only does older skin need extra protection from the sun in order to avoid the formation of brown age spots, it needs protection in other ways, too. From excessive stress, for instance, which takes a heavy toll of a woman’s face when she is over forty. It is important to get enough sleep.

Both sebum production and the water content of the skin decrease with age, which makes it doubly important to keep your skin guarded from excessive dehydration. Many creams for older skin contain a sebum-like substance to make up for the gradual decline in the natural ability to hold water. Hormone creams, particularly those containing estrogen and estrogen-like substances, can be useful in combating aging too. They plump up skin that is losing much of its padding and form, thanks to their ability to increase the skin’s water-holding tendencies. They also soften the surface texture. (more…)

One of the most useful things you can do yourself to prevent your face from aging and to correct sags and bags even after they have occurred is to practice face exercises every day.

The bones you were born with give yaw face its individual shape and structure. Short of plastic surgery or adjustments to your skull through cranial osteopathy, there is nothing you can do to change them. But your muscles are constantly changing either for better or for worse. They are made up of bundles of fibers, each of which works independently to shorten muscle and draw a part of the face into a particular expression. Just like the muscles in the rest of your body, each of these groups of fibers has an antagonistic group. This means that for each muscle that pulls an area of your face into one expression, there is an opposite muscle to pull it the other way. (more…)

There are three parts to any good external skin care regimen, regardless of your age or the type of skin you have:

1. Regular, thorough cleansing

2. Protection from moisture loss and external roughness

3. Protection from the ultraviolet rays of the sun

These are the basics. They are simple, and there need be no mumbo jumbo about them. One can include a fourth part to skin care too, and that is treatment. This extra can correct problems, help preserve youth, and revitalize the look of skin.

You can give your skin treatments either internally from vitamins, minerals, and diet, or externally in the form of hydrotherapy, or by applying special creams, oils, or herbs, or by using specific exercises to strengthen muscles before they have a chance to sag or to correct neglect. The treatment part of skin care is where the art comes into it, and here you need to consider your specific skin conditions and problems. The other three are all parts of the simple craft of skin care, and it is very simple indeed. (more…)

Covering the Blemishes

Now is the time to deal with any problems you want to conceal, such as black circles under your eyes or discolorations here and there. Concealer creams and sticks are good here, although some of them are greasy and, particularly under the eyes, tend to sink into tiny lines and make matters worse. If you use a concealer, buy one that is not too light-colored. Many brands are far too pale and, used under the eyes, make you look ghoulish.

Put your concealer on and pat it into the skin with your little finger until it blends perfectly with the surrounding area. If you add a little powder here—particularly under the eyes—even if you don’t wear it on the rest of your face, you will get just the finish you need to make the undesirable area fade into the surrounding skin tones.

The Magic of Light and Shade

The whole secret of successful makeup, no matter what look you are after (the natural, clean face or pure glamour), lies in using light and shade well. The rules are simple. Whatever part of your face you want to bring out or emphasize, you apply a light color to, and whatever part you want to minimize, you cover with a darker shade. In practice it becomes a little more complicated. Shaders and highlighters come in several forms: creams or lotions you put on a naked face or just after applying your foundation, powders you brush on after applying translucent powder, and simple light and dark shades of foundation you put on various areas of the face for effect. (more…)

Every good makeup begins with a water-in-oil moisturizer and a sunscreen lavishly applied over clean skin and then given a chance to settle in. It is rather like making a mayonnaise. You can’t rush things. You need to wait for your skin to take to the moisturizer before you put on your foundation; otherwise you will end up with a flawed finish and your makeup will not last. “Taking” time is usually about two minutes.

Many Moisturizers

In addition to the ordinary moisturizers, there are also tinted ones on the market. These products are halfway between moisturizers and foundations. They impart some color and also provide you with some measure of protection from water loss. In France they are often called creme sport, because they can be worn, by women who ordinarily would not want to cover their skin with a foundation, for instance during a tennis match. They give a very light cover but can be a nice way of simply adding a healthy glow to your skin. Some of them also contain sunscreens. (more…)

The Products

Makeup products offer you two things: coverage, which to some extent will conceal minor flaws and blemishes in your skin, and most important, color. There are literally hundreds of different makeup products on the market. From the amount of advertising that accompanies the launch of each of them—the new wand-lipstick or foam cheek color or moisture- encapsulated powder—you would assume that to do a good job of making up her face a woman needs all of them. You don’t. In fact you need very few.

Neither do colors change a great deal from season to season, in spite of the fact that each cosmetic house brings out new autumn or spring collections. If you gather together a simple range of shades for eyes, cheeks, and lips that you know look good on you, there is no reason to replace half of them with each new season’s arrivals. Yes, there might be the new shade of fuchsia lipstick which you fancy or a new-formula foundation (foundations seem to get better and better each couple of years), but the quality of a makeup product is not dependent on its price, although the package—including the little compacts, mirrors, and applicators—is usually better the more you pay. (more…)

When you use makeup, you are practicing the age-old art of illusion. But the illusions makeup offers you are subtle ones, not complete changes of character, age, and coloring. Try to achieve that, and you carry the use of makeup too far; then, instead of being your friend, it will suddenly become an enemy and make you look foolish, too old, or simply less well than you could look. So the first rule of good makeup is simple: Never try to change your face with it.

After that has been said and after you have come to terms with the fact that whether or not you like it, your jaw is square or your eyes small or your skin a different color from what you ideally would like, then there is a lot you can do with color to make you look better. And that, after all, is what making up your face is all about. Whether you are after a freshly scrubbed, natural look (which incidentally takes a lot more artifice to achieve than you might imagine) or a more elaborate-looking, sophisticated face, the makeup you choose and the way you apply it should make you look more attractive, more interesting, healthier, and simply more yourself. (more…)

Straight hair is often strong and beautiful hair. It can be lank, in which case you should treat it with a thickening product, which will enlarge the shaft of each hair and make it look fuller. It can also be lackluster, which calls for a conditioner to make the scales of the cuticle lie flat and enable hair shafts to reflect light better. Straight hair is often good blunt- cut and worn not too long, or tied up in a twist, or chignon.

Curly hair needs to be carefully cut, for this can make all the difference between its looking fantastic and frizzy. A layered cut is usually best, one in which the direction of each scissor snip goes counter to the direction in which the hair grows, so it makes the most of all your hair’s natural curves and idiosyncrasies. It is best not to impose a particular style on your hair, but, rather, to go with the natural swing of things. If your hair tends to be wiry, you can correct this by using a softening conditioner. (more…)

STRAWBERRY (Fragaria vesca)

Strawberry leaves make an excellent astringent wash and, used in the bath, are particularly good for oily skins. Brew up 250 ml (1 cup) leaves to 750 ml (3 cups) boiling water, stand, steep and cool. Use ripe, mashed fruit as a face pack — it is astringent and tightening. Combine with oats or mealiemeal as a cleansing and invigorating face pack for oily skin and coarse pores.

SUNFLOWER (Helianthus annuus)

Ground sunflower seeds make an excellent nutritious face pack. Grind 500 ml (2 cups) seeds and mix with milk for dry skins and yoghurt for oily skins, to form a paste. Apply to a clean, damp face and allow it to dry (I find 20 minutes is about the time needed — relax and read a book). Wash off with warm water. Use sunflower petals in hair rinses for blonde hair.

TANSY (Tanacetum vulgare)

Tansy is a cleanser — make a tea of 250 ml (1 cup) leaves to 750 ml (3 cups) boiling water, stand, steep for 20 minutes and strain. Dab onto pimples and use as a wash. Combine this herb with comfrey or chamomile flowers. (more…)

LAVENDER (Lavandula officinalis, L. spica)

A beloved herb, lavender is one of the most well-used herbs in cosmetics. Make a strong lavender oil by infusing flowers and leaves in a good oil, eg sweet oil, and use as a rub for aching muscles, or in the bath for softening the skin. Lavender vinegar can be brushed and rubbed into the hair to stimulate hair growth and, rubbed onto the temples, will soothe fatigue and headaches. Have a bunch of lavender leaves and flowers at the bedside and touch and bruise them from time to time — the fragrance will help you sleep. Lavender tea — 60 ml (¹/4 cup) herb to 250 ml (1 cup) boiling water — relieves exhaustion and will help you unwind. This same brew is an excellent face wash and a stronger brew can be rubbed into the hair — 250 ml (1 cup) herb to 250 ml (1 cup) boiling water — to stimulate hair growth. Dab it onto pimples and acne, or use as a gargle to freshen the mouth. You can splash it on as an aftershave lotion or use it in bath oils, vinegars, soaps and perfumes.

LEMON (Citrus limon)

Lemon is an aromatic astringent and is used in many ways. Add the fresh peel to your bath to soften the skin, and the juice to the rinsing water after you have shampooed your hair. Use diluted juice as a rinse for oily skin, as a face wash and as a freshener. Dig your nails into a squeezed lemon to strengthen and cleanse them. Rub a halved, squeezed lemon over rough heels and elbows. Drink lemon juice in hot water or herb teas daily to keep the skin clear. Dab the juice onto spots and blemishes. (more…)

ALMOND (Prunus communis, P. amygdalus, P. dulcis)

Shelled almonds, ground into a meal and mixed with a herb infusion such as rosemary or sage, make an excellent mild bleaching face pack. They have a deep cleansing and toning effect.

Almond oil is non-drying and has superb emollient or softening properties; it also combines well with creams and, in lotions, with other ingredients. Can be used as a deep cleansing oil.

ALOE (Aloe vera, A. arborescens)

Most aloes can be used directly on the skin for burns. The juice can be included in various lotions and shampoos for its healing, soothing properties make it appealing. The juice of some aloes has a deep yellow colour which stains the skin, so use the clear fleshy leaves of Aloe vera to be on the safe side.

ANISE (Pimpinella anisum)

The seed of anise smells a little like licorice. A brew of crushed seeds and boiling water is used cosmetically in facial steams to open and medicate the pores. The same brew (250 ml (1 cup) seeds to 1-1¹/2 litres (4-6 cups) boiling water) is excellent for rinsing the hair and enhancing its colour; at the same time it cleanses the pores of the scalp. (more…)

PATCH TEST

Before starting your herbal treatments always do a patch test. Dab a little of your preparation on the pulse point of your wrist or in the crook of your elbow. Leave it unwashed for 12 hours to see whether you have an allergic reaction to it. Always be sure of the identification of the herbs you are using and if ever you are in doubt, consult your doctor or skin specialist. Many people are allergic to a wide range of ingredients and I urge you to tread with care and always test your blends and mixtures, lotions and salves before using them.

CLEANSING

There are literally hundreds of creams, lotions, tonics and soaps available on the market, enough to confuse anyone. I like to keep my cosmetics simple and effective and the following is a list of natural facial cleansers, fresh and delightful to use, and available to all at very little cost.

Rainwater

The softest and most beautiful water of all — perfect for washing the face and hair. Make a plan to catch some, in a big clean basin, next time it rains. (more…)

Broken veins

Broken veins are just visible skin blood vessels which are not really broken but just standing out more obviously because they are permanently dilated. They are usually the result of years spent out of doors and are typically seen on the face of farmers and sailors or those with pale skin who live in unsuitable sunny climates. Sometimes the incautious use of powerful steroid creams will cause these blood vessels to appear or make them much worse, or they can accompany skin diseases such as rosacea. When there are just a few they can be destroyed using an electric needle, but when they are so numerous that the whole cheek is redder than normal, it is not so easy. You may find that green foundation creams are useful as a background because the combination of green and red softens the colour and makes the usual foundation cream and powder more efficient. (more…)

You can wash your face with soap and water as often as you can wash your face with soap and water. That may sound silly but what it means is that if you wash often with no ill effect, then clearly no damage is being done. People with greasy skin often have pallid, rather coarse, thickened complexions and suffer from blackheads, whiteheads and spots. They need to wash regularly to keep pace with the production of oil and it really doesn’t matter what they use as long as the shiny surface is removed. They cannot change the underlying grease production rate unless they take tablets which will grossly interfere with the hormonal control of their body. It is no use using products that claim “deep down cleansing” or which “unblock clogged pores:’. These phrases are meaningless and no amount of soap has any effect on the blocked grease gland which is the forerunner of an acne pimple. Neither is it any use using ‘medicated’ soaps because a flourishing bacterial population on the surface of the skin is quite normal and is only temporarily reduced by washing. (more…)

No matter what your skin type, you can make all-natural skin care treatments at home—for only pennies! Most of the following “recipes” use ingredients found in your kitchen. (Remember that if you are allergic to eating certain foods, using them on your skin will probably cause problems as well. Use common sense when making homemade treatments.)

Cleansing Masks

Ready to give yourself a facial? Cleansing masks are a good way to help skin with too much or too little oil. (more…)