There are some jiffy times in life that give us "AHA!" moment and there are times when you think "why bother". We learn something new, pretty much everyday. On this occasion, I would like to save your time researching and give you six easy to follow beauty hacks that you may have been just waiting for.
As a skin care therapist I always advise on a good quality home care routine which is 80% of success when awaiting results or final goal. Throughout the centuries women always followed routine starting with Cleopatra and her beautiful skin as a result of regular baths in milk. Now we know that milk in skin care has many benefits like smoothing and exfoliating, due to lactic acid a very common AHA exfoliant.
Nowadays, we are lucky enough to have access to labs, tests, safe formulas and don't need to use kitchen cabinet food to beautify our skin.
So let's start with make up. It is a common practice every morning for many women, but what happens at the end of the day when we are tired and quite frankly to lazy to take it off?
1. KEEP MAKE UP CLEANSER IN A VISIBLE SITE.
I always say to my clients, when you come back home, the minute you go through the door take off your bra and make up. At home we like to be comfortable, so then we change clothes but do we give comfort to our skin? Keep your make up cleanser where you can see it easily, you will then remember to cleanse skin, at least before bed time. Skin is a surface where all scum, gunk, pollution mixed with own sebum (natural oils) and make up accumulates, you really want to take it off before wiping face in a pillow. Keep your skin fresh and healthy.
2. OILY HAIR? SALT WILL HELP
It is understandable how frustrating oily hair can be. Specially when you shampoo and the next day your hair turn into oily streaks. If your hair tend to get oily very quickly after wash, next time try adding little of epsom salt into your regular shampoo. It wont just absorb the oil, epsom salts are full of magnesium that improves scalps health
3. DRY BRUSHING FOR SMOOTH LEGS
While caveman enjoyed the extra warmth from their long body hair especially during winter season, the modern human is not quite the same. Although, during winter season we sometimes turn into hairy bears under all layers of clothing but most of the time we shave, wax or use other hair removal products that can leave our skin dry and flaky. The artificial heating indoor is not very helpful either and can lead to skin de-hydration. Next time before hopping into shower, try dry brush your skin for couple of minutes. Round, circular motions upwards. It will remove dry "dead skin" cells and boost blood circulation as well as lymphatic system. Therefore, better transportation of nutrients throughout the skin.
4. BLACKHEADS "TO SQUEEZE OR NOT TO SQUEEZE"
Blackheads removal are best left for the professional to avoid skin damage. When you really feel like you are ready to perform blackhead extraction yourself, make sure skin is well cleansed and hands are also clean.
There is a rule of two presses, if you gently squeeze blackhead once then second time and it still don't want to come out - LEAVE IT!
Otherwise you are risking breaking capillaries and that is something it cannot be easily treated to reverse it. Before blackhead extraction, prepare your skin, preferably use exfoliating enzyme mask, cleanse it off with warm flannel and use AHA toner. Make sure clean tissues twisted around your pointy fingers are used.
5. ROUGH ELBOWS
As we get older our skin becomes more dry and that is a fact. If rough skin on elbows or knees bothers you there is a simple tip. Slice juicy lemon, sprinkle it with sugar and rub around tough skin for couple of minutes (make sure it isn't damage as that may sting). The acid in lemon will work as skin brightener and exfoliant, leaving your skin smooth in no time.
6. SMELLY HAIR
Our hair can easily absorb smell surrounding us. As much as we may love fish and chips that is not a great fragrance on our hair. Also the mixture of oils (our natural sebum) on scalp is not very pleasant. Before combing hair in the morning, spray your brush with favourite perfume and et voila beautifully fragranced hair.
The bottom line
All studies in the world may not proof all these hacks work for health and beauty, the best way to find out is to try it yourself. I think there may have been quite a few "AHA!" moments that you will find useful. Happy testing!
Aggie Singh
Silesiana