Skin Sins
Wow, September has been a busy month, we are now over our summer holidays and settling into the autumn, children are back to school, so now is the perfect time to help our skin rebalance, correct and more importantly get ready for the winter time. I have had a great time testing and trying all the wonderful Instyle beauty buys for 2014, thank you to all the suppliers and good luck. With brands such as Chanel No. 5 perfume and Christian Dior show stopping mascara I have been spoilt, good luck to all brands and I look forward to the results in February 2014.
We are all guilty at some stage of the following sins to the skin, here’s how to try to resolve them:-
1. Keeping skin care products for too long, just like food, beauty products have a use by date too. As well as the fragrance and the texture not being right, bacteria can build up and could lead to break outs or infection, also SPF cream should be thrown away to stop you burning if it’s old. Most products have a number and the letter m next to them which stands for how many months after opening it is ok to use it, get checking!
2. Squeezing your spots, tempting as it is to squeeze or pick your spots, don’t!! It will make the area more inflamed, and more likely to scar. If you are prone to spots or blocked pores, use a daily product containing salicylic, Glycolic or Mandelic acid to help fight bacteria and heal blemishes quickly, you will also be less likely to scar as the products also help with cell turnover and boosting collagen.
3. Neglecting your neck, chest and hands, in the last few weeks I have been helping ladies with repairing all of these areas. We seem to be much better with protecting our faces but seem to be missing other important areas which can be very ageing. When applying face creams, use them to the neck and chest area and also wear SPF on the backs of your hands to stop age spots and wear a good hand repair cream at nighttime. If your are very dehydrated or sun-damaged to any of these areas, skin peeling, dermal roller and hydration plumping fillers can make the areas more youthful again.
4. Dirty make up brushes, let’s be fair we are all guilty of this, applying our bronzers, eyeshadows and blushers with amazing brushes, but not cleaning them at least weekly means bacteria breeding inside our make up bags and potentially causing infection risks to our faces. Try to wash brushes weekly in a natural antiseptic, mix water with witch hazel or tea tree and let them soak for 20 mins to help keep your skin and brushes clean.
5. Look after your lips, perfectly shaped, hydrated, rosy coloured lips are a hallmark of beauty. Define your lips by replacing the lost moisture with a natural filler, the lip tissue is thin and does not retain water in the same way the skin does because they lack sweat and oil glands. Wear a lip balm with SPF to stop discolouration. To help combat dryness gently exfoliate the lips, use a mix of sugar and honey for a gentle and effective treatment. Furthermore there are amazing lip rebuilding creams that help restore and repair lips if you are not keen on natural lip fillers.