Anti-Aging Tip #2

Use Antioxidants Orally and Topically.

Antioxidants prevent and repair the damage done by free radical action on the skin. They are the body’s defense against ruin, and may be ingested or applied topically. 

Vitamin E and C  help protect the skin in this way and are utilized in many topical skin care formulations. A particular form of Vitamin C has a melanin-surpressant and is helpful in treating hyper-pigmentation (darkening of skin due to exposure to sunlight) 

Betacarotene, which is converted into Vitamin A in the liver, is also another well-known antioxidant.

Minerals such as Zinc and copper also help prevent reactions from starting.

Japanese green tea extract has been receiving much ado lately, though it is believed that white tea packs the most antioxidant punch. 

Antioxidants found in skin care also include grapeseed extract and maritime bark extract which contain proanthocyanidins (I can’t pronouce it either but I can spell it!), which are known to be powerful antioxidants. Sunscreen also contains antioxidants which prevent damage to the skin from the sunlight. 

Antioxidants are photosensitive (sensitive to light) so ensure that skin care products that contain antioxidant ingredients are properly packaged to maintain the integrity of the ingredients especially in the cases of specialty serums and what-not. If you can see that a product is darkening in a jar, this is a sign of a good product gone bad; the antioxidants that may have been present in these products are no longer effective.

For more info on the power of antioxidants in your diet see  Anti-Agers

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Eat up!

Supernova

Related GC post Anti-Aging Tip #1

Sexy State of Mind

Sexy is truly a state of mind, Hero or zero

Sexy is not a profession, it is not a size. It is neither a skin colour nor hair type. It’s a swag. Sexy need not speak for it radiates from the eyes. It resides within the funk, deep within your soul.

It’s not the end result, it’s the initiator. You can’t buy it, wear it or surgically enhance it. It doesn’t age. You have to find sexy within yourself and own it.  Swagger jack and people will be made out in a big way. You will not be considered sexy, you will be considered fake.

It is an unconditional love of self, a honest belief that you love yourselves and everything that comes along with it. Many times we are incensed by society when we feel that they do not accept us as ‘we are’. But how can we expect society to accept us when we aren’t even accepting of ourselves? A Sexy State of Mind subconsciously commands the world to stop and to pay attention. To appreciate. To love. To gravitate toward. No long talking.

It’s how you walk, how you talk. It’s how you view the person who looks back at you in the mirror. It’s where you put that person in the grand scheme of things. Is that person first or last? Is that person even on your list?

How can we attract good when all that we project is doubt and a vapid obsession with being someone else? How can we expect the world to take note of what we have to offer if we don’t demonstrate what it is, or even know what it looks like? Instead we only attract predators, for in this mindset we are nothing but wounded prey. We are so deprived of  love within, just by osmosis, we absorb manufactured love wherever and however we can.

To achieve a sexy state of mind we have to be comfortable with who we are, where we are in life and understand where we are going. We must practice self love daily, give ourselves the benefit of the doubt and cut ourselves some slack. We must set our goals, work smartly to reach them, and enjoy the journey. Every year is our best year, because everyday we tell ourselves “I am the best me today”.

Let us stop focusing on our weaknesses. It gives them too much importance in our lives. It enables them to be part of our mental script, which only further debilitates us. There are other people with that strength, let them contribute that to the team. Weaknesses makes us nothing less than human.

Cause let’s be real; no matter how hard we work at our weaknesses, they are never going to be as strong as we wish them to be; they will never be our strengths.  So let us focus on developing our strengths. Let our strengths shine. When we put enough focus on developing our strengths, no-one will know or even care about our weaknesses.

We can’t have a sexy state of mind if we are stuck in the waiting phase. Waiting on that promotion, waiting on the right time to step out that dead-end relationship, waiting until we lose those extra pounds to get our look together, waiting until something else comes along that will enable us to have another life. The “Waiting State of Mind’ doesn’t promote positivity. It doesn’t promote happiness. It doesn’t promote sexy.

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Be your own sexy self. Everyone else’s is already taken.

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Anti-Aging Tip #1

Avoid aggravating skin

Avoid any habit, product or treatment that acutely irritates skin – sun, heat, smoking and excessive alcohol for example. Anything that continuously reddens skin like harsh cleansers and toners with stripping agents like alcohols should also be avoided.

Also, using soothing agents like grapeseed oil, green tea and oatmeal in skin care products can help control inflammation and prevent the trigger reactions that lead to free radical damage.

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Leave the scrubbing action for your bathroom tiles.

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Supernova

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Shake it off: Loose Powder

Loose powder helps set foundation and concealer, and helps it wear longer. It also gives a smooth appearance to the skin when applied and create a good base for the other colour products that are applied after, like blush and eyeshadows. 

Loose powders are also used present a better skin tone by correcting foundation that is not the right colour.

Let’s be real, try as you may, sometimes you may not be able to find foundation in the right skin tone, especially if you live in a temperate country and your skin color fluctuates by a shade during the year. Skin tone can be ‘warmed’ by using a darker tone of powder; foundation that is a touch lighter than your natural skin tone can be ‘warmed’ by the application of a darker powder. Likewise, if your foundation is a tad too dark, you can use a lighter powder to correct the tone. Of course this works best for minor tone changes.

It’s best to use loose powder for makeup application at home and compressed (compact) powder for touchups on-the-go.

Loose powder may be applied with a large fluffy powder brush or for more with a powder puff. (big up all my Trini peeps with Carnival on the cranium 24-7).

Powder puffs deliver more product to the skin and give more coverage. Use if your skin is combination/ oily and has a tendency to become really oily during the day, as powder applied this way helps the foundation not only last longer, but stay true to colour. 

Powder brushes are best used for minimal coverage or on dry skins.

Compact powder may be applied in the same way, depending on skin types. 

- For use with large powder brush:

To get some loose powder out of the container, first lay some tissue to catch any spills. Turn closed loose powder upside down once and set back to original standing position on tissue and open.

Dab powder brush in powder that rests on the top of the perforated tray of the loose powder and knock the brush on the side of the container to remove any excess.

Don’t fluff but rather pat powder brush directly on skin on entire face, paying special attention to T-Zone area (forehead, nose and chin) and well as eye area and any other areas where concealer was applied.  Patting the powder in this way delivers more powder to the face which would assist in absorbing oil, enabling extended wear and giving a dewy look to the skin. 

Then dust off excess powder with brush

- For use with powder puff

Empty some of the loose powder in powder puff, fold like a taco shell and rub the sides together. Pat powder on all areas of the face, paying special attention to tight spaces like around the nose and the eyes. 

When complete, dust off powder with powder brush. 

Now you can check to ensure that your eyebrows are holding it’s shape together and move on to eyeshadow application.

Happy powdering!

Supernova

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Holy Concealer Batman!

Using concealer is an optional step. If you choose to use concealer select one in the same way that you would a foundation – one that matches your skin tone and undertone exactly. Using too light a tone will prompt the uncontrolled “Holy Concealer Batman” response from your peers; too dark and you will look like a raccoon.

Concealers come in liquid or cream formulations. The creamier the consistency, the more coverage imparted by the concealer i.e. the better it conceals. These formulations also spreads easier and wears longer.

It is commonly used over foundation to cover imperfections or, for more advanced makeup applications, it may be used under foundation for contouring. 

Concealers are used over foundations to cover: 
- fine lines
- redness
- breakouts
- under eye circles
- hyper-pigmentation (darker skin tone)

Application

- Apply with lip brush for smaller areas like over pimples and small blemishes, or with a flat brush, similar to the foundation brush but smaller, for larger areas.

- Even application by patting gently with a cosmetic sponge or finger. 

Advanced application

For more advanced applications,  concealers are used for makeup contouring, to even irregular lip shapes, and for camouflage reasons. 

Used under foundation, concealers may highlight or shadow an area of the face like the cheeks, to create a contoured look. Here, a concealer in a shade lighter than your skin tone is used on the cheek bone area to make cheek bones more prominent.

Alternatively, in shadowing i.e. applying concealer in one shade darker than your skin tone just under your cheek bones will create a more sculptured look. 

Highlighting and shadowing can also be achieved using foundation, and eye-shadows in the same way.

The key is, just as with clothing, lighter colours makes the area appear more prominent thereby attracting attention to the area , whereas darker colours repress an area making it appear less noticeable or slimmer. 

Face proportion issues can also be corrected with shadowing and highlighting.

Happy concealing!

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Supernova

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Sun and Skin Types

A person’s complexion and their tolerance of sunlight are measured using the Fitzpatrick Classification scale. It was developed in 1975 by Harvard Medical School dermatologist, Thomas Fitzpatrick, MD, PhD., and used by practitioners to determine how someone will respond or react to facial treatments such as successful laser, light therapy and peels and how likely they are to get skin cancer. It is important to understand that not all facial treatments are suitable for all skin types.

Fitzpatrick Classification scale

This scale is a guide and is not intended to replace the advice of your practitioner.

Sunscreen

It’s white and goopy. Some brands remind me of the beach which, in itself can be a bit of a downer… but I digress. Sun protection factor (SPF) is a number on a scale for rating the degree of protection provided by sunscreens. No sunscreen can filter out 100% UVRs so even while wearing sunscreen, it is possible for you to tan. Your chosen sunscreen should protect against both UVA and UVB rays.

Types of sunscreen

There are two types of agents used to screen the sun’s rays, physical agents and chemical agents.

Physical sunscreen agents use their opaque property to block out the sun as they sit on top of skin to prevent UVRs from entering. (think: White paste on cricketers noses). These types of sunscreens should be the LAST product applied to the skin, even after the moisturer. Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide are most common physical sunscreen agents.

The upside is that they are very effective at screening UVRs; the downside is that using it on darker skins can result in a ghastly grey complexion.

Chemical sunscreen agents penetrate layers of the skin and protect it from within and as such should be the FIRST product put on the skin after cleaning. There are a host of these agents used in sunscreen products e.g. Dixoybenzone, Oxybenzone, PABA… and new ones are created every year, many of them unpronounceable. 

The upside is that as they penetrate the skin, and thereby does not affect skin tone – a plus for darker complexions. The downside is some chemical sunscreen ingredients may irritate sensitive skin.

Lotion up!

Supernova

Related posts: Sunkissed beauty  

Anti-Aging Tip #6

Wear Sun Screen

This should have been the first Anti-Aging tip, but I didn’t want it to get lost in the melee.

Badly damaging skin due to unprotected exposure to the sun’s UV rays is the greatest way to accelerate your skin’s aging process. 

The best anti-aging advice anyone can give is to avoid excessive sun exposure and at the very least, wear a broad spectrum sun screen that protects against both UVA and UVB rays.

Everyone should wear sunscreen daily, SPF 15 minimum. Lighter skin types, Fitzpatrick skin types (I, II and III), should wear sunscreen containing a minimum of SPF 20.

Exposure to ultraviolet radiation emitted by the sun, even in small daily doses, results in free radical action on skin that enables the destruction of natural collagen and elastin fibres in skin, causing skin to lose elasticity and tone, as well as develop wrinkles, crows feet and frown lines. 

We live in modern times. There are many types of sunscreen products in various formulations/ weights in creams, lotions and fluids.  No longer does sunscreen have to smell of bananas and coconuts, be oily, or cause acne breakouts. There are formations that incorporate sunscreen into moisturizers and foundations. Alternatively sunscreen can be worn alone or under makeup. There are sunscreens formulated for the face and others formulated for the body. The options are endless.

It may be cute and ‘cool’ to bake in the sun and live in tanning beds when we are young, but not so cute to have to consider replacing the lost collagen in our skin when we are older, by the use of injectable fillers or surgical procedures.

Though darker skin types are better protected against the damaging sun’s rays, they are not immune to aging.

So really, there is no excuse to not wearing it.

Playing russian roulette with your skin health is so 80′s.

For more on Sun Screens see post Sun and Skin Types

Lotion up!

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Anti-Agers

Aging is inevitable. There are some things that we cannot change; like the effect of environmental pollution our skin for example. Then there are some things that we can change, like kicking that smoking habit. We can also add antioxidants to our diet. 

Antioxidants are nature’s defense against the damaging, aging effects of free radicals. As free radical scavengers, they help prevent against prematurely aging skin. 

Free radicals destroy cells and are produced by exposure to radiation, alcohol, smog and many other pollutants.

With respect to the skin, free radicals:

- Damage cell function
- Change the DNA in the cell which can lead to cancer
- Activate factors which break down collagen, which causes wrinkles and
- Cause aging which appear on hands, face and neck first.

Antioxidants prevent and repair cell damage that is cause by free radicals. Antioxidants can be found in foods as well as in skin care products. Carotenoids, vitamin E, vitamin C and vitamin E are antioxidant vitamins.

Carotenoids
Betacarotene is a provitamin which converts into Vitamin A in the liver, and prevents against damage to cell membrane. 
Food sources are sweet potatoes, carrots, mangoes, spinach, egg yolk and red, orange, deep-yellow and some dark green leafy veges like broccoli.

Vitamin A
Vitamin A is needed for the formation and maintainence of mucus membranes. It is only found in animal products such as liver, butter, milk, cheese and eggs.
Shout out to all my vegetarians. Get up on your betacarotenes! 

Vitamin E
Vitamin E reduces the ability of LDL (bad cholesterol) to form plaque in the arteries.
Common food sources include margarine, salad dressings, peanut butter, whole grain products, nuts, vegetable oil and mayo. These sources are often high in fat and should be used in moderation. It can also be found in some leafy veges.

Vitamin A and E, as well as vitamin D and K are fat soluble (stored in body fat), and can be harmful when taken in excessive amounts.

Vitamin C
Vitamin C protects against heart disease, cancer and stress.
It is usually found in citrus fruits like oranges and tangerines but is also found in sweet peppers, melon and most berries – strawberries, blackberries and blueberries for example. Vitamin C is water soluble and cannot be taken in excess as whatever the body does not use will be passed out in urine. 

Teas
Tea also contains antioxidants, white tea containing the strongest content of them all. *Muuuuaaahahahahahah*
Coffee and chocolate also contains antioxidants, but of course you have to factor in the effects on your body of caffeine and sugar respectively.
 

Sunscreen (SPF) is an antioxidant that guards skin against damaging UV rays and can be found in quite a few moisturizers and other cosmetic products. 

Eat up!

Photo: djcodrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Slip, Slop, Slap, and Wrap

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We’ve all been there.

 An advertisement highlighting the damaging effects of the sun comes on and we think back to the time we wanted  a tan so badly we slathered our limbs with baby oil and beached ourselves on the sand.

 We’ve since, hopefully, learnt that this is not a good idea, and so we retired the baby oil and moved to the tanning  oil, the SPF 2 one.

Someone mentioned that this upgrade wasn’t a really much of one so we further upgraded to a SPF 15, the only problem is that we never remember to apply it the how-many-hours-before sun exposure and the how-many-hours-after being exposed to the sun.

We usually find some crafty reason we didn’t use sunscreen this morning with/in our moisturizer but the truth is that we really don’t think it’s that important because we protect ourselves otherwise, besides it’s not like we are beaching ourselves on the sand for the whole day. 

I was researching some info for SunKissed beauty the other day and came across this interesting list of sun exposure myths on sunsmart.org.nz .It’s a website from New Zealand (trust me to find it) so I’ve adapted it a bit. They have identified the top sun exposure myths as follows:

It’s not possible to get sunburnt on cloudy days.

False. You can get sunburnt on cloudy days as some ultraviolet radiation (UVR) penetrates cloud cover. Under partly cloudy skies UVR levels can be high, and even increase, due to reflection from clouds.

The wind burnt me, not the sun.

False. It is UVR from the sun that causes skin to burn. Wind lowers the temperature of the air making it easy to forget that the UVR from the sun is still strong.

I tan easily so my skin is less likely to be damaged.

False. Any exposure to UVR has the potential to cause skin damage. Burning and peeling are signs some damage has already occurred – even if it turns into a tan. The tan you develop won’t protect you from the harmful effects of the sun.

I can’t get sunburnt through glass.

False. Glass reduces but does not block transmission of all UVR. It typically transmits about 10 percent of the UVR. People who spend long periods in a car, or next to a window receiving direct sunlight should use sun protection.

I have had sunburn but now I protect my skin, so I am safe from developing skin cancer.

False. You can’t undo any damage that may have already occurred to your skin but you should prevent future sunburn to minimise any further risk.

Sunscreen blocks out the sun.

False. Sunscreen should not be used as a means of staying out in the sun longer. When exposure to the summer sun is unavoidable, sunscreen is the last line of defence to reduce the risk of sun damage to your skin. No sunscreen will completely shield you from the effects of UVR. Many people apply sunscreen at less than the recommended thickness, so reducing its effectiveness.

People with tans or dark skin don’t sunburn.

False. If your skin turns brown it is a sign of sun damage – even if there is no redness or peeling. If you tan easily or have dark skin you are still at risk of skin cancer and should use sun protection.

‘Burn time’ is 20 minutes therefore I am safe in the sun within this timeframe.

False. A time indication for how long it will take your skin to burn is not accurate, so really there is no such thing as ‘burn time’. People have different skin types and therefore some burn quicker than others. 

Suntans are healthy.

False. There is no such thing as a safe or healthy tan. It does not improve your body’s ability to protect yourself from the sun. Some exposure to the sun for vitamin D is healthy, but most people get enough vitamin D through normal daily activity – even with sun protection.

I’m sure this was not a mean attempt to freak people out but it might as well have been.

They do suggest that you slip, slop, slap and wrap…. Interesting, I like i.e. 

SLIP on a shirt
SLOP on some sunscreen
SLAP on a hat and
WRAP on a pair of sunglasses.

Reminds me of that ‘SlapChop’ commercial on TV where the guy says “Making America thinner, one SLAP at a time!” LOL. If only.

Source: SunSmart

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