Winter Skin

Winter is the hardest time of year on the skin.  From long, hot showers to the forced air in your home and car to the rough scratchy clothes we wear to keep warm, our skin is under assault.  Here are a few tips to keep the moisture in the air and in your skin.

Make Soup - No seriously.  Homemade soup is a great way to humidify your home.  Putting on a brothy soup on a low temperature for several hours raises the humidity in your house.  My favorite is Chicken Noodle soup.  You can see the recipe below.

If you don't like soup you can boil water on the stove.  I like to put an orange and cinnamon stick into the water to fragrance the air.

WARNING:  Be sure to watch your pots.  Don't leave them on while you are not in the house and never leave them on while you sleep.

Moisturizer -   The best time to moisturize your skin is right after a bath or hand-washing.  The moisturizer locks in the moisture that is left with the water, making it even more effective.  Simply wash and dry your hands as you normally would and then put a dab of moisturizer on your hands.  Make sure to take off your rings before doing this.  (You don't want to make your "bling" look cloudy.)  Rub into the backs of the hands first being sure to cover all the natural lines in your hands.  Then do your palms.

If moisturizing before bed, sometimes it is helpful to wear a pair of cotton gloves over the moisturized hands.  this keeps the moisture where you want it, on your hands, and not on your sheets or face.

Of course, I have several moisture remedies in my on-line store, so please take a look.  

Lemons -  Petroleum jelly is often used to soften elbows and knees.  Simply apply it to the problem area before bed and let it soak in. But, another sharp little tool is the lemon.  Really.  Cut a lemon in half and rub it for 1 - 2 minutes on each trouble spot.  This moisturizes and exfoliates because of the acids and oils in the lemon.  It's amazing!

Exfoliation - And speaking of exfoliation...your shower scrubby can be your best defense against all-over dry skin.  While you don't want to over exfoliate (only 1 -2 times per week for actual exfoliation treatments like sea salt scrubs and such) a soft shower scrubby can keep your skin clear of dry patches in between times.

Cool it down -  Try to cool down your shower.  Taking blazing hot showers may feel good in the short term, but it robs your body of valuable moisture in the long term.  Also, keep you thermostat set at a reasonable temperature.  Anything over 70 degrees and you may be drying your skin out just by being in the house.

Drink lots of water - Water is your best friend.  Now, my husband seems to think it's the cure for everything, including bad moods.  But, I assure you, if you drink enough water, you will see a difference in your skin and in your energy level.  It's remarkable.  

How much water is enough?  Well, most people think that 64 oz. of water a day is enough. But, you may need more.  I had a Yoga instructor one time who told me that I needed to take my weight and divide it in half and that is the number of ounces of water I needed per day.  For me, that's a lot.  But when I get it all in, I feel great and I look great.  Try it!

Make today a beautiful day and take care of yourself!

Chicken Noodle Soup (from scratch - sort of)

Take a left over rotisserie chicken and put it in a pot  (you can also use a whole fryer that has never been cooked, you'll have more meat in your soup that way - but this is a nice way to dispose of left overs)

Cover it with water

Add:

2 Carrots cut into 1 inch pieces

1 stalk Celery cut into1 inch pieces

1/2 Large Vidalia Onion - whole or chopped

1-2 Tbsp of white wine or vinegar

Bring this to a boil.  Reduce the heat to simmer and simmer this mixture uncovered over low heat for 2-3 hours.

Drain the chicken into another pan, reserving all of the broth you have just made.  Let the chicken cool.

You can either throw out the veggies or put them back into the pot with the broth, as you wish.  As soon as the chicken is cool enough to handle, strip all the meat from it and put the meat into the broth.  Bring the broth back to a boil.  You may need to add bouillon or stock to the broth to bump the taste up a notch.  Use your own judgment.  

Once the broth is boiling again, add a 1 lb. package of egg noodles.  My favorite are medium or wide Amish style noodles or kluski, if I am not making my own.

Boil the noodles in the broth for as long as it takes them to cook (see the package for directions) and then serve it up.  

Serves 4 really hungry people or 6 sort of hungry people or 8 people who eat like sparrows.

Clearing the Air

It's no secret that when you want to get a breath of "fresh air" you don't go inside the house.  Well, that's because all the dust and dirt from your heating system as well as all the lovely CO2 that you produce as you exhale are hanging around doing you no good.  During the Winter months, not only are all the windows of the house shut, but the air gets hot and dry and creates the perfect conditions for you to catch whatever germs are lurking around.  So, the good people at NASA have compiled a list of the top ten plants to have in your house to purify the air and create humidity to boot.  I am only going to talk about three of them that are easy to maintain and don't take up acres of space, but you can find the link to the rest of the study at the bottom.

The Boston Fern
Its fronds create a very effective air filter for mold and pollen.  They are easy to care for with partial or indirect sunlight and not too much water.  And they get HUGE...which is nice if you want to make a statement.


The Peace Lily

This swamp plant needs plenty of water and only indirect sunlight to thrive making it an almost kill proof plant.  We have several and even when I forget about them and they droop all the way to nothing, a good soaking of water brings them right back.  They also happen to make the NASA list for sucking toxins out of the air.  Nice, huh?


English Ivy

Right, then!  Ever wonder why there's ivy all over old buildings?  This is why.  The NASA clinicians proved that within 6 hours of introducing English Ivy to a room 60% of the airborne mold in the room vanished.  I guess it worked well to keep pollution and dirt out of the house!  If you have an asthma sufferer or a member of your family with COPD, I strongly urge you to look into some decorative English Ivy topiaries.  Not only are they lovely, they are so good for the air around you.

If you'd like further information on this study and all the other plants you can use to purify the air in your home or office, check here to read the official NASA study on Indoor Pollution Abatement.

Wrinkles and Shadows and Bags...Oh my!

What causes those nasty little signs of aging, anyway?  Gravity is one part of the equation.  Over your time on this earth everything pulls down and that certainly puts stress on your skin, but if this was the only issue, everyone would have wrinkles at about the same age. There must be other factors to take into account. Your lifestyle could be part of it.  Do you wear protection when you go out into the sun?  You should!  Many beauty products include an SPF rating of 15 or higher so it isn't even an extra step.  Be sure to look for a moisturizer or foundation with an SPF factor.  Another outside factor is squinting into the sun.  The best protection against early development of crow's feet is a good pair of shades to wear every time you go outside.

Smoking can cause wrinkles and dry skin, too, as can not drinking enough water.  Frowning or having an anxious look on your face can also cause wrinkles.  Ever see a pruny-faced old lady and think, "Boy she must always be unhappy"?  You may be right.  My mother-in-law always tells me to smile so my wrinkles will all be in the right place.


But, no matter how many precautions we take against the outside world our bodies betray us beginning in our 20's.  As we age, the natural fullness of our skin decreases through a loss of collagen, causing a hollowed out look in our cheeks and eye sockets (Hello, dark circles!) and the skin loses it's ability to bounce back through a loss of elastin (Hello, fine lines!).  To add insult to injury, our skin cells decelerate their renewal rate, (Hello, patchy, dry skin!)  This happens so slowly that we don't even notice it until our 30's or 40's.  Over time, elastin and collagen continue to decrease, so we develop deep wrinkles and baggy, saggy skin and deep dark circles under our eyes.  Suddenly you wake up one morning and think, "Wow, I must be really tired!"

How do we stop that?

There are many cosmetic procedures designed to help reverse the aging process.  I am sure you've heard of chemical peels, and collagen and Botox injections.  I don't know about you, but I hate needles.  The longer I can avoid one, the better for me.  Especially near my face.  And, frankly, they're expensive!  All of these procedures are between $300 - $500 a shot, every 4 -6 months!  There are alternatives.

At-home retexturizing peels and microdermabrasion treatments are designed to resurface your skin, giving you a smoother, more even textured appearance.  Much less expensive than laser resurfacing, they offer an affordable solution with a low recovery time. Collegen and Elastin replacement can be accomplished with an injectable-grade surface firming treatment.  And, of course, a good skin care regimen will always help with elasticity and fullness. And the best eye lift I have ever used is the ANEW Clinical Eye Lift.  It is amazing.  (I am an Independent AVON Representative, but I would recommend this even if I wasn't.)  It diminishes dark circles and fine lines and lifts the brow area all in one product.  Check it out here.

Obviously, the earlier you begin a skin care regimen and fighting the signs of aging, the more successful you will be. So take care of your skin and it will take care of you!

Make today, and everyday, beautiful!

Everyday Beauty Begins With Beautiful Skin

Well, that seems pretty obvious, I'm sure.  Nothing is more beautiful than a woman with beautiful skin.  She just radiates confidence!

Still, it seems like such a struggle for most of us to get to that point.  I have some friends who complain that they are still having break outs well into their forties!  One said, "Sure enough, the break outs stopped and wrinkles popped up everywhere!"  Other friends complain about larger pores, or sags and bags where none used to be before.  

One morning two years ago, I woke up and looked in the mirror and thought, "My face is sliding off my skull!!"  I was so upset.  I had gone from an attractive 30-something to a saggy 40-something almost overnight!  I never really followed a skin care regimen and that was my first mistake.  97% of dermatologists agree that the best way to protect your skin from the aging process is to start a skin care regimen early and maintain it throughout your life.

The trick seems to be finding the right combination of skin care to fit your needs.  Our skin changes.  Whether still doing battle with breakouts or fighting off the little crow's feet that just appeared in the corners of the eyes, or  - Heaven Forbid! - the "Angry Elevens"  between the eyebrows, there is something out there to help combat it. 

Before you do anything drastic....take a look here and take the skin care quiz.  This will set you up with a basic anti-aging regimen to base everything else on.  In my next post I'll talk about what kinds of targeted action you can take for particular trouble spots.

If you are not doing the anti-aging thing yet and want something to keep blemishes at bay, try this page.  My teenage daughter swears by the Thermal Mask and the Blackhead Eliminating regimen.  My sister-in-law, a lady in her early 30's, prefers the Blemish Clearing regimen.  There is literally something here for almost everyone.  I plan to do a post on teenage and breakout-prone skin care very soon.

Let me know if you have questions, and I will be happy to answer them.

Make today a beautiful day!  Take care of your skin and it will take care of you!