Pregnancy and skin care

Your skin really changes during pregnancy, well, everything in your body changes!! Some things are better like hair and nails and other things are worse, like my skin. Under normal conditions I have normal to combination skin and my regimen is pretty simple, rinse and apply sun protection in the morning. Cleanse and lightly hydrate at night. Exfoliate in the shower and apply a mask once in a while. But now its all messed up!! I have pimples, borderline acne, oily skin, blackheads and whiteheads as well!
Thankfully I have access to the best skincare products on the market and I was able to get a hold of the situation pretty quickly. I've been using the Zorah organic products with argan oil. They have this new line for oily skin that I am in love with! There is the cleanser Kaïla with elderflower and also Inua, the matifying lotion with hemlock plant. The combination of these two products has been my lifesaver. My skin actually looks normal! The cleanser is in gel form but it doesn't lather too much and doesn't completely degrease your skin, which is great because to more you remove the more your body makes to compensate. The hydrating and matfying lotion is also great because its not heavy at all. Its a light formula that helps regulate your skins sebum production.

Le soin du visage version automne

Bon, la température a changé, bientôt on va devoir changer l'heure aussi, c'est l'automne! Quelques petits changements s'impose dans notre routine soin du visage aussi. Voici quelques petits conseils afin de garder notre peau en santé.

Peut être qu'on utilisait un savon doux pour nettoyer le visage durant l'été mais quand vient l'automne et l'hiver mieux vaut opter pour un lait avec une texture légère que l'on peut rincer. Mon outil favori pour nettoyer le visage c'est l’éponge de mer. Elle exfolie en douceur et laisse la peau toute douce.

La lotion tonique est toujours intéressante, je préfère l'eau d'hamamélis l'été mais quand vient le froid je change pour de l'eau de rose qui calme les rougeurs et aide à refermer les pores après le nettoyage.

À chaque saison notre peau a des besoins qui changent. Quand on commence à allumer les chauffages et l'air est plus sec on opte pour une crème de nuit un peu plus riche que celle qu'on avait durant l'été.

Les matins, j'aime me rincer le visage avec l'eau de fleurs d'oranger et n'oubliez pas, l'écran soleil on ne le met pas de coté! c'est 365 jours qu'on le porte!

Les top 5 produits essentiels dans notre trousse de maquillage

Changement de saison, un ménage s'impose. Aujourd'hui on veut remettre à neuf notre trousse maquillage. Mais lesquels jeter et lesquels garder? Voici une petite liste des produits essentiels.

1. Écran solaire: LE produit le plus important dans votre trousse, été comme hiver, il ne faut jamais s'en passer.

2. Crème contour des yeux: La peau qui se trouver autour des yeux est beaucoup plus mince que celle du visage donc tout signe de veillissement y apparaît plus rapidement alors il faut s'y prendre d'avance et avoir un bon traitement préventif.

3. Exfoliant: Élimine les peaux mortes, dégage les pores, redonne de l'éclat et opbtimise la pénétration des produits, c'est selon moi, l'étape la plus importante. On peut employer un exfoliant mécanique (granules) ou chimique (peeling) les deux ont leurs avantages et inconvénients. (sujet intéressant pour une autre discussion)

4. Hydratant corporel: Que vous optez pour une crème, une beurre ou une huile ça vous prends un produit pour appli éviter la peau de croco.

5. Baume à lèvre: produit culte par excellence, et non sans raison. La peau des lèvres est très fine et fragile donc vunérable à la sécheresse. Avec FPS ou non ça nous prend une baume!

Donc voici mon top 5. J'en ai d'autres mais je peux vivre sans les autres...en avez vous des favoris??

10 tips to a healthy complexion in winter

Want to look less tiered naturally and for (almost) free?
Here are some of my tips to a healthy looking face during the dull winter months. Considering its right after the holidays and the state of your bank account (thank you consumerism!) I tried to stick to the free and almost free tips. Here goes...
1. Splash your face with cold water to constrict blood vessels, this tonify your face instantly.
2. Moisturize! Slather on a nice thick layer of cream to fill in those lines. Please skip the pharmacy stuff, a basic natural cream will do, nothing too pretentious, miracles don't come in a bottle remember that!
3. Here is a tip for when you have more time on your hands. Put some milk and ice cubes in a bowl, dip a washcloth in this mixture and place the cloth on your face for a few minutes. It should reduce blotchiness and give you a bright glowy complexion.
4. At the end of your shower give your face a nice long scrub. Either use an exfoliant or a washcloth, remember to rub gently but for at least one minute.
5. Store you eye cream in the fridge. When you apply it massage it well into the eye area to accelerate circulation. While we are talking about eye cream, when you go to choose one, read the ingredient label carefully, try to avoid petroleum based creams and look for some active ingredients.
6. Discover mineral makeup! This one is my favorite tip! Choose one with no fillers or starch. You don't even need that much, just a dab for the under eye circles and little spots where needed (pimples, brown spots, redness, etc.) Its a great product and when used sparingly seems invisible. Its one of those things where a little goes a long way and too much can take you back. (You can come at the boutique for a free trial!)
7. After brushing your teeth at night brush also your lips with your wet toothbrush; small circular motions. Then slather on some lip balm and bonne nuit!
8. Become friends with an eye lash curler. No need for pricey mascaras with scary vibrating wands, those could put an eye out! Best way to curl ones lashes is in 3 steps: Once at the very tip of the lash; then once again at the middle; and a last time at the roots or as close as you can get to the lash line.
9. Fix those eye brows. Well shaped eye brows can make anyone look better! But just like tip #6 a little bit goes a long way especially if you do it yourself. Just a bit in the center to eliminate any allusions to a unibrow and a little under the brow line.
10. Nothing says tiered like a frown so this last tip is not only free but fun and super easy...SMILE!!!! It takes less muscles to smile than to frown and it makes anyone look better.

So that is it! 10 tips to make you look and feel better and survive the winter. Let me know how it works out.

Its my first posting of the year, I would like to with you all a healthy and successful 2010.

Water based nail polish versus regular polish

I've been meaning to write about this topic for a while now and today is the big day, I will explain for once and for all the difference between regular nail polish and the natural water based polish. What inspired me today you ask? Actually on my way to the store, in the metro, I noticed a young girl biting her nails. This seems like a pretty lame inspiration but for me this was big! I had to almost hold myself back from talking her out of doing this very harmful act. The reason why I was so affected is because this girl was wearing a very stylish dark purple polish. I have nothing against purple polish or those who wear them but I am pretty sure this was not a natural polish, and the thought of this poor girl eating all those toxic ingredients (along with some of her own nails and skin) made me really mad. And so here we are, I am going to explain why regular polish should be avoided at all cost! Here goes!!

Regular polish contains formaldehyde, toluene, dibutyl phthalates and FD&C colors. You wonder what this four syllable words are? I do not want to get into very scientific explanations but to summarize, these are harmful chemicals that the human body cannot get rid of, so it is accumulated in our system. What this accumulation can do? Well, we do not quite know, some people speculate by saying it might cause cancer and other ailments. But what I say is, why take the risk if it can be avoided or replaced by something else.

These harsh solvent-based nail polishes are simple solutions of nitrocellulose resins in strong solvents. Nitrocellulose is used because it forms a very hard film as the solvents evaporate from the base. These same bad smelling solvents are used to remove the polish by dissolving the film.

On the other hand, water-based polish, uses an emulsion resin in the form of billions of very small particles suspended in water. So as the water evaporated, the particles touch each other and form a hard film which is no longer soluble in water. It may seem like these two systems are similar but actually they as different as night and day. One cures by reversible solvent evaporation and the other by creating a tightly knit film. One can be easely removed while the other not so easily.

In a nutshell, here it is, the difference between regular and water based nail polish.

Everything you need to know about the skin

The skin is the largest human organ and fulfils many important functions. It protects the body against mechanical, chemical and thermal influences and damage, and also against many germs. It acts as a temperature regulator. It is important for maintaining water metabolism. It is a sensory organ for love, tenderness, pain, pressure and temperature. The skin is also an organ for communication (blushing, paling, stroking hair, etc.) and it is aesthetically very important for the external appearance of a person. It is therefore worthwhile to have a dedicated interest in skin.

The skin is made up of three layers:

Epidermis: protects against external factors
Corium: assures skin-nourishment, immune defense, and sensory perception
Subcutis: contains the fat cells, which store fat and water and are responsible for the skin’s elasticity

How much care does skin need?

Everybody wants a beautiful, soft, and supple skin. Having a healthy, wrinkle-free skin is not only a question of age: harmful environmental factors, UV-rays, unhealthy eating habits, stress, and psychological problems can accelerate the aging of the skin. Both the amount and the kind of care the skin needs largely depend on the skin type. Generally, it can be said that more mature skin requires more attention. From the age of thirty onwards, the first signs of aging skin can be detected. The skin’s fat production decreases, which leads to a loss of moisture. In turn, the skin gets drier and small wrinkles develop. With increasing age, the quality and amount of collagen and elastic fibers decreases: The skin becomes thinner and less elastic, which further adds to the appearance of wrinkles. The biological aging process cannot be stopped, but the right care can slow it down. To achieve this effect the skin should be cared for regularly and with products that are suitable for the respective skin type and its individual requirements.

Four different skin types

Normal skin
has fine pores
is well supplied with blood
is supple
Dry skin
is taut
feels dry
is prone to flakes, irritation and allergic reactions
Oily skin
is shiny; especially the T-zone looks oily
has large pores
sometimes develops spots and blackheads
Combination skin
is dry in the cheek- and hairline-area
is oily in the T-zone area