Make Your Skin Naturally Glow Part 3

Skin's Best Friend introduce

25. Brew a pot of tea, chill, then store in the fridge and drink throughout the day. Tea, as you probably know, is a great source of antioxidants, molecules that fight the free-radical damage caused by sun exposure and cigarette smoking. One Arizona study, for instance, found that the more tea people drank (particularly tea with lemon) the less likely they were to develop squamous cell skin cancer.

26. Switch moisturizers every time the seasons change. Your skin needs more moisture in the winter than in the summer. So the same day you bring those sweaters down from the attic for the winter, buy a heavier moisturizer. When you trade in the sweaters for shorts, switch to a lighter one.

27. Here’s one for men: Recognize that skin-preserving products like cleansers and moisturizers aren’t just for women. Men need skin care just as much as their wives and sisters. To prevent wrinkles and skin cancer, use a moisturizer containing a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 daily. Also use a gentle exfoliant weekly and a nighttime moisturizer that contains alpha-hydroxy acids to encourage skin regeneration.

28. Prepare a homemade oat scrub and use on your face every other day. Oats moisturize and exfoliate your skin at the same time. Grind enough rolled oats in a food processor or coffee grinder to fill 1/2 cup. Combine with 1/3 cup ground sunflower seeds, 1/2 teaspoon peppermint leaves, and 4 tablespoons almond meal. Mix 2 teaspoons with a small amount of heavy cream. Scrub your face and neck with the mixture, then rinse thoroughly with cool water.

29. Add a teaspoon of grapeseed oil to your toner. The oil acts as an anti-aging serum by helping your skin cells repair and rejuvenate themselves, suggests Gina Michele Bisignano, a model and beauty expert in Los Angeles.

30. Avoid these three skin destroyers: Smoking, tanning salons, and sunbathing. All three will age your skin prematurely, many doctors agree.

31. For double protection, apply a cream containing vitamin C to your face over your sunblock. The cream helps prevent facial skin damage, dehydration, and wrinkles, says Galvez. Also try creams containing vitamin E or beta-carotene.

32. Use a spritzer with rose, sandalwood, or bergamot essential oils mixed with water. These oils are great for hydrating the skin, says Melinda Minton, spa consultant and health and beauty expert in Fort Collins, Colorado. To create an herbal spritzer, mix a few drops of essential oil with water in a small spray bottle and spritz on your face whenever your skin
needs a little boost. Your skin is more pliable when it’s hydrated, so a spray helps stave off frown lines and general movement wrinkles. The hydrator also keeps pollutants out and keeps your skin’s natural lubricants in. An added bonus: Your makeup will stay on longer and look more natural.

Homemade Solutions
33. Make your own cleansing, moisturizing masks.

• Mix 1 tablespoon plain yogurt with a few dashes of sesame oil.Leave on for 15 minutes, then rinse.
• Mash a banana well and mix with a little honey for an instant dry-skin fix.
  Leave on for 15 minutes, then rinse.
• Mix 1/4 cup whipping cream, 1/2 teaspoon olive oil, 2 tablespoons ripe mashed avocado, and 1 teaspoon calendula petals. Leave on for 5 minutes, then rinse. A study completed at the Department of Food Engineering and Biotechnology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, found avocado oil significantly increased the collagen content in skin, maintaining its youthful look. Not only does the oil in avocado act like an emollient, but the fruit also contains moisturizing vitamin E. Another good avocado mix is 1 tablespoon mashed avocado, 2 egg whites. and 2 tablespoons honey blended until smooth. Leave on for 15 minutes, then rinse.
• Lightly scramble an egg and apply to your face while still warm, leaving it on until it hardens. To remove the egg, place a warm, wet washcloth on your face and allow the moisture to soften it. Eggs are great for tightening wrinkles and smoothing skin. If you have oily skin, apply an egg white only; if you have normal skin, use the whole egg.
• Simmer an apple covered in water just until soft. Remove from the water, mash, then add to the apple 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon crushed peppermint leaves. Apply the mixture to your face, leave for five minutes, then rinse. This works great on oily skin.
• Mash peeled mango flesh until it turns soft and pulpy. Then massage into skin, leave on for a few minutes, and rinse. This helps clean and tighten pores.
• Add 1 tablespoon of peppermint, yarrow, sage, or hyssop to 1 cup boiling water. Steep for 30 minutes, then strain and cool before dabbing it on your face. This makes a great skin toner for oily skin.

34. Clean your face and neck with a natural cold cream and follow with a rosewater and glycerin rinse twice a day to remove skin-damaging pollutants.

35. Keep your hands off your face! Because your hands touch so many surfaces, they are a magnet for dirt and germs. Rub your eyes, stroke your chin, cup your cheek, and you’ve transferred everything on your hands to your face. As an extension of this, use headphones or a headset when talking on the phone. This, too, keeps hands and germs away from your face.

36. Stop with one glass of wine or one alcoholic drink. Overdoing it enlarges the blood vessels near the surface of your facial skin.

37. De-shine your face throughout the day by periodically dabbing on loose powder to blot excess oil. Don’t use pressed powder, which actually contains oil as an ingredient.

38. Never, ever rub your eyes — apply compresses instead. The skin on your face is extremely delicate, especially under your eyes. So use a very light touch on your face at all times, says Dianne M. Daniels, image consultant and color analyst at Image & Color Services in Norwich, Connecticut. If your eyes itch, apply a cold compress or washcloth to the area, or try a cotton pad moistened with toner or witch hazel.

39. Use a single family of skin-care products. If you buy and use lots of different skin-care products, there’s a good chance some contain the same ingredients, thus making them redundant, says Cara DeCenso, an aesthetician at Ajune in Manhattan. And some brands just aren’t very compatible with others, though you’d have no way of knowing that until you already paid for and opened them. You’ll get much better results if you use products that are designed and formulated to work together, such as Clinique, Mary Kay, Albolene, or Neutrogena. You may have to shell out a little more cash, but experts agree you’ll get better results.

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Skin-Shmallow 

Make your skin like a Marshmallow!