Winter Prep

Season’s change, yet it all stays the same. Well, you have the same skin at any rate.

Still, a change in climate is one of the biggest stressors to your skin, so it helps if you prep it to deal with the extreme shift in temperature that it will have to face head on. No double pun intended.

One of the best things that you can do to prep your skin for winter is:

1. SWITCH YOUR MOISTURIZER

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Or in some cases, USE one. And yes, everyone has to use one. Oily skin and all, we’ve covered this here.

One of the many challenges with the harsh winter climate is the immense dehydration in skin that can occur.

Dry Skin Types

In addition to the fact that this skin type is prone to dehydration, it also naturally lacks oil, a situation that can become more chronic during the winter months, which can result in excessively tight, uncomfortably flakey skin. To effectively deal with this, Switch your lightweight moisturizer to a thicker, heavier one. Perhaps opting for a cream consistency rather than a lotion or fluid. Bring on the overnight serums, complexes or other nutrient/ hydration boosters to counteract the harsh, sometimes stripping effects of the winter wind chill.

Oily Skin Types

Oily skinners argue that they already produce so much oil that a moisturizer is the last thing they need. Well, for sure oil is probably the last thing you need, but everyone needs water. Even oily skin can be dehydrated. Seek out and find yourself a humectant moisturizer – a fluid like (read ‘watery’, easy flowing consistency), one with water, or even better, ingredients such as Hyaluronic acid or Sodium PCA as one of it’s first/ first few ingredients.

If you are oil prone, stay away from any product that contains any sort of oils/ oil based substance in it – Olive oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, jojoba oil, or worse, mineral oil.

Sensitized Skin Conditions

Whether your skin is dry, oily, normal or in between, silicones are your best friend if you experience sensitivity on your skin. They are non-irritating, and are fantastically capable of protecting against water evaporation from the skin, while at the same time allowing the skin to breathe – a property that petroleum, and mineral oil products are unable to claim, as they are considered highly comedogenic (blocks/ clogs pores). Cyclomethicone and Dimethicone are common silicone ingredients… generally any ingredient that ends in ‘cone’ is an ingredient to look for.

Other calming ingredients that help are oatmeal, lavender, cucumber and chamomile, anti-inflammatory ingredients such as lavender and chamomile also help.

2. EXFOLIATE

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Regardless of your skin type, exfoliation is an excellent way of ridding your skin of dead skin cells to reveal fresh, new, skin cells that are more … well… alive and have a greater fluid content.

Therefore the process of exfoliation results in two things:

1. Ridding your skin of excess, dead skin cells
2. Hydrating skin

Now, let me say here that rather than the amateur-league, morning cleansing scrub (especially if your skin is sensitized)  opt for chemical exfoliation  - AHA/ BHA (lactic acid/  salicylic acid based), or enzymatic exfoliants, rather than manual exfoliation by micro-scrubbing beads – So teenager. [For the difference between chemical and manual exfoliation, see post Smooth Criminal]

Let’s get into Grown ‘n Sexy proper tings.

For my non-temperate country dealers, exfoliation is also a step that you’d want to up the ante, starting now  so that you can prep your skin for the holiday season. Be it swanky shindigs, corporate appearances, family gatherings or ish you only attend for the free food – You don’t want to wait for the week before an event to start a professional exfoliation for obvious reasons.

1. God forbid, you have an adverse reaction to the procedure.

This mess would be neither sexy, nor desirable.

Whether it is microdermabrasion, chemical peels or enzymatic peels… no-one wants to show up with welts on their skin to the biggest shindig of the year.

2. It takes 28 days on average for your skin to regenerate itself – longer if you are over the age of 25. [See Anti-aging Tip #5]

Stats don’t lie. I see the average age of you peeps who read GC and I know we’re all well over 25 *cough* so take heed. You would want to take on the process of skin rejuvenation – either by professional exfoliation skin treatments and/ or change in diet/ lifestyle well before a month prior. Just like your nutrition, or lack thereof, with the reasoning that you did ish all whole year about your skin’s health, you will need three months minimum prep for your skin to even start to see some sort of change that you can write to home about.

So, let’s get to it. Exfoliate.

b Freakin’Fabulous

Sensitive vs. Sensitized

A classic case of  skin type vs. skin condition. 

“Sensitive” and “sensitized” skin, are they one and the same? Are the words interchangeable? Do they both ‘basically’ refer to the same thing?

No. No, and No.

Yes, the picture is all butterflies, flowers and pink and all but it’s not a ‘girl’ only issue. The guys walking around with itchy, burning, red, or inflamed skin would attest to that I’m sure. Holla.

SENSITIVE

Sensitive skin is considered a skin type, meaning that you were born with it. As it’s in your genes you aren’t going to grow out of it, ever. It’s embedded in your DNA and nothing can be done to change the fact that you indeed were born with this particular skin type.

It is not uncommon for people of Celtic, Scottish or Irish descent to have this skin type. Other common traits of people with this skin type are:

- Light eyes
- Red hair and
- Almost transparent looking skin.

However, this is not absolute. This is a global world, breeds get mixed. Medium skin with light eyes? Yes. It is not impossible for darker skin to be genetically sensitive. 

As sensitive skin is a genetic condition, it would stand to reason that if you have sensitive skin there is most likely someone else in your immediate family with sensitive skin – mom, dad, son, daughter, sister or brother.

It has also been found that:

- Allergies (e.g. hay fever)
- Eczema and/ or
- Asthma 

are genetic predispositions often associated with a sensitive skin type.

SENSITIZED

Sensitized skin, or skin that has been environmentally sensitized is considered to be a skin condition. 

A skin condition is the present state that the skin is in. As such, skin conditions can vary from year to year, season to season and even from day to day. Your skin condition in the morning can even be different from that in the afternoon. It is a temporary state of the skin which can be treated. 

Many factors can trigger sensitivity/ environmental sensitization of the skin. These include but are not limited to:

- Aging 
- Cosmetic Products
- Diet 
- Climate
- Hormones
- Stress
- Environmental Assault
- Impaired barrier function of skin

All of which  will be discussed in a later post.

Keeping the skin both calm and hydrated is the most effective way to decrease skin’s sensitivity and keep it under control.

And you’d want to do this why? Because skin that remains in a red, irritated or inflamed state over extended periods of time is skin that is prone to hyperpigmentation (darkening), deep lines and wrinkles aka signs of accelerated aging. Yeah, you’d want to not do that; Premature aging is not Sexy.

If you can help slow down the signs of aging just by soothing inflamed, irritated skin, why wouldn’t you?

Stay tuned for a further discussion on triggers, treatment options, and my favourite topic – useful ingredients to look for in skin care products .

b FiercelyFabulous

Photo credits: Tina Phillips / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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POSSIBLY RELATED GC POSTS

Tip | Skin Types
Q/A: Skin type vs. Skin condition
Are you wearing protection?
HELP! My skin is schizo
Skin Care | “Skin Vitamins”
Skin condition | “Acne”
Anti-Aging Tip #3 | Preserve the skin’s protective barrier

Vid | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

Talk about getting your point across. The possibilities are endless when your man smells like a man. 

How so? check the vid below.

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Thanks Lise!

Ladies, there’s another idea for V-day, some appropriately scented stuff for your bmf.

It may not turn him into a multi-millionaire Rico Swave, but at least he’ll smell like one.

Have a ‘manly’ smelling day fellas.

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POSSIBLY RELATED GC POSTS

Vid | Hygiene Tip – Clean Balls
Manscaping
Mood busters: Brillo pads
Dating | Me no speak Engrish
Grown Man’s Swag | Denim

Hygiene Tip | Clean Balls

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Guys, if you have dirty balls that need cleaning, check out this very important message from Axe.

Me likey mucho thiso concepto.

It’s that much more enjoyable to play with clean equipment.

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Thanks for looking out Lise.

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POSSIBLY RELATED GC POSTS

Manscaping
Mood busters: Brillo pads
12 Minute Abs
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Nail Tip | Polish Smudge Fix

You finally got that second top coat on on your nail polish and one single, first-class, clumsy move royally wrecks it with a nasty dig?

Of course you can remove the polish completely and start from scratch with your base coat, first layer then second layer of polish – another 10 minutes (because you need to allow the polish to dry sufficiently between coats) or, if you are impatient like I can tend to be with my own nails, you can opt for a quick fix.

Tip 1:

1. Wet the finger pad of a strong, stable finger – perhaps your index finger of the opposite hand, in nail polish remover and tap the smudge lightly with the remover, using quick firm taps.

Your finger pad must be wet with the nail polish remover, or else you will just stamp your finger print on your wet nail polish. Dip your the finger pad again in the nail polish remover if necessary.

Careful now, tap don’t attempt to smoothen.

1. If the first coat was smudged, allow the quick fix to dry, then apply the second coat and base coats as you would normally.

2. If the second coat was smudged, allow the quick fix to dry, then just apply the top coat once the remaining two layers of nailpolish looks like you have already applied two layers.

3. If the top coat was smudged you can do the same and then apply another layer of top coat once the nail has COMPLETELY dried. If not then it would take very long for 5 layers of nail polish to dry rather than 4. 

Tip 2:

Alternatively, you can press the nail polish on top side of your tongue and smoothen out the polish in the appropriate direction. Sounds janky I know right? but I kid you not it works!

Now I don’t know about the health benefits of nail polish of course, so maybe you don’t want to do this on a regular basis, but you know… maybe if you are in a jam.

Allow the quick fix polish to dry completely and then finish with a top coat.

In the event that you do not have a professional nail polish remover dispenser, simply pour enough nail polish remover into the nail polish remover cap (more than halfway) that would allow you to wet your finger pad with ease without removing/ compromising the nail polish on that nail.

Of course this is for personal use, if you are charging people for your services then might I suggest you drink less caffeinated drinks and reapply the polish?

Might get you a larger tip.

Toodles!

POSSIBLY RELATED GC POSTS

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BMP Tip 4 | 5 easy ways to look 10 years older

Matchy Matchy Makeup

Matching your makeup to your clothing is too predictable, leave that for the younger folks.

More sophisticated makeup looks work better for us Grown folk.

Work with a palette that incorporates variations of natural hues and opt for sophisticated glam.

Makeup doesn’t have to be fluorescent and glittery to make a statement.

Related GC Posts
BMP Tip 3 | 5 easy ways to look 10 years older
Beauty | Flawless Face
Eye Seduction | The Basic Smokey Eye
Makeup | 3-C Eye Definition
Makeup | Eyeshadow 101 

BMP Tip 3 | 5 easy ways to look 10 years older

Wearing foundation in the wrong undertone.

Take the time to figure out what the undertone of your skin is. Typically medium to darker skins have a yellow undertone and fair skins have a pink undertone. However, this may not hold true for everyone as Mediterranean skin can have an olive undertone.

Your skin undertone will establish the colour foundation that you should wear, as well as the hues of coloured cosmetics that will work effortlessly well for you – eyeshadows, cheek colour, as well as lip colour – sticks, glosses or stains as well as other things like clothing and hair colour.

Knowing your skin undertone, and choosing the right hues to compliment it, is a guaranteed way of looking your best self even on your worst day; regardless of whatever else is going on, your skin will always glow and your eyes will always sparkle because of the colour that surrounds them.

This also holds true for wearing too thick a layer of the right colour or wearing too much concealer on dark circles. Holy Concealer Batman!

For all my tanning and bronzing fiends, this also falls in this category. No-one is naturally orange. And as exciting as you’d like everyone to believe your life is, no-one’s gonna believe your fake bronzed look in the middle of the holiday season. There is a huge difference between naturally warming up the skin with cosmetics and artificial tanning. 

Work with the skin colour you were given. Keep it at a hundred and let your true self shine. If you wish to use the tanning creams to give you a hint of colour then do so, but lets not go overboard.

If you use a tanning bed, please stop. It’s not smart, you will only damage your skin.

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Possibly Related GC Posts
5 Simple Ways to Look 10 years older | BMP Tip 2
Selecting the right foundation
Holy Concealer Batman!
Anti-Aging Tip #6
Sunkissed beauty
 

Eye Seduction | The Basic Smokey Eye

The Basic Smokey Eye

With the understanding that there is no way really for someone to either or explain or master a smokey eye makeup application by just reading about it, these are the basic steps to a smokey eye.

Of course many variations exist, as well as various executions based on various levels of expertise, still following steps ought to be useful.

1. Prepare the eyelid by creating a good base

After applying foundation and loose powder, prep the eyelid using an eyelid primer.

Alternatively you can blend a small amount of your normal foundation over the eyelid using a cosmetic triangle or sponge and pat lightly with loose powder on large powder brush.

2. Apply the mid-tone eyeshadow from lash line to eyebrow

Fill the entire space up with an eyeshadow that closely matches, or is a shade lighter than, your natural eye lid colour and blend. A shimmery (not glittery) shade is usually very flattering.

3. Apply the highlighter eyeshadow to the inside corner of the eye area and on the brow bone.

Using an eyeshadow brush, apply a light shade of eyeshadow at the inner corners of the eyes as well as on the brow bone. Blend WELL into the existing mid-tone.

If you have perky (large) eyes, forget applying this shade to the inner corner of the eye as this will just make your eyes look even larger.

 4. Line eyes with black eyeliner and blend

Using a black eyeliner, line upper and lower lash lines with black soft kohl eyeliner pencil. Smudge the line with fingertips or a soft brush to diffuse the harshness of the line a bit.

5. Apply the accent tone around the lash line

A smokey grey, a black, a metallic navy, an eggplant shade – you create the fantasy that you’d like here. Just so long as it doesn’t match the colour top that you’re wearing exactly. Too matchy matchy.

Starting from the outer corner of the eye, apply eyeshadow using short, controlled strokes on the upper lash line toward the middle of the eye using a small eyeshadow brush. Use a little of the accent colour at a time, you can always layer more colour if you wish the colour to be darker.

At the middle of the eye on the lashline, blend this accent colour into the corner of the eye where it meets the high tone that you’ve previously applied.

Now, starting again from the outer corner of the upper lash line, blend accent color upward and over the eyelid until the colour reaches the eye crease, just where the eye folds when you blink.

Blend, blend, blend.  

If you decide that you want you want the smokey effect darker, use more eyeshadow on the eyeshadow brush and always start from the outer lashline and blend it up. That way the darkest effect will always be at the outer corner of the eye.

You can choose to focus most of the accent colour just to the outer colours of your eyes, or you can up the ante and colour your entire eyelid with the accent colour. For extreme sized eyes, the first technique opens smaller eyes and the second minimizes larger eyes.

With a very small eyeshadow brush, or with those teeny, firm eye shadow sponges that normally come with eye shadow compacts, apply accent colour on the outer bottom lash line, and blend toward the inner of the eye. 

Blend the free outer edge of the eye in a slightly upward fashion, so as to not make eyes look droopy.

6. Apply Mascara

Focusing on outer lashes, apply two coats of masacara on top lashes. If you dare, try applying to the outer bottom lashes as well. However, to avoid the spidery look, only apply mascara to bottom lashes if you’ve previously lined them. Mascara with no eye-liner on the bottom line looks well scary.

Easy does it, it’s a little tricky.

Use waterproof mascara, or the type that coats the eyelashes in a ‘tube-like manner’ so that mascara, especially that applied on the bottom lashes,  wouldn’t run if you get misty. 

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Minimalista Steez

On a very basic level, smokey eye shadow differs from a more natural, well defined eyeshadow application in the following ways:

- The choice of makeup colours (variations of your skin-tone’s natural colours vs. statement bright/ deep/ vibrant colours)

- The intensity/ amount of the accent shadow applied and 

- How far from the lash line toward the crease the accent eye shadow goes.

Just a little definition goes a long way. In a normal eyeshadow application the accent colour is limited to the lash line, with particular focus being paid to the outer corners of the eye.

For more on applying everyday makeup using 3 colours see GC post Makeup | 3-C Eye Definition
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Other possibly related GC posts
Makeup Tip | Choosing Eyeshadows
Beauty | Flawless Face
Holiday Glam: Face Bling
Frump to Fab in 10 steps

Makeup | Eyeshadow 101

Of all makeup products, eyeshadows offer the greatest way to add personality to the face.

Eyeshadows can be used to:

- Soften the eye area
- Create light and dark illusions that can make subtle changes to the eye area
- Correct and/ or enhance eye shape.
- Accent the eyes

Top 10 tips regarding eyeshadow application:

1.  Never use an eye-shadow that’s the exact shade as your eye colour.

 The same colour family – lighter or darker, sure. But using one that matches your eye colour exactly, over your entire eyelid will make you look like you have one big eye, or well two… if you do that on both eyes.

2. Use natural colours for day, more unique colours for night.

 Shadows in tones like bronzes and metals, golds, coppers, tans, tawnies, chocolates, whichever variations of your natural skin colour, work well for day.
You can snaz it up a bit at night or for special occasions by going for eggplant, navy or smokey greys as your accent colours, for example.

3. Use an eyeshadow base for prepping the eye.

 It can help to even out the eye area, in the event there is any uneven pigmentation or discoloration.
It can also help the eyeshadow to either adhere better or prevent it from creasing, especially in the case where dramatic eye shadow colours are used.

4. Apply a light to medium shadow, from the lash line to under the brow as the first step.

This creates an even canvas on eyelid and helps facilitate colour blending.

5. Use larger, fluffier eyeshadow brushes for blending, and for shadow application in larger areas.

Use smaller, angled brushes for accenting smaller areas.

6. Soften edges of medium to dark eyeshadows by blending with a lighter shade of eyeshadow

7. Avoid letting eye shadow get too far out of the sides of the eye

As far as possible, keep eyeshadow within the boundary of the eye. To establish this boundary, draw an imaginary line from the corner of the eye to the end tip of the natural eyebrow. Keeping eye shadow in this area will help you look like you are awake.

Veering too far under this line can age eyes, or make you look like you’re sleep walking.

8. Use lighter eyeshadow colours to highlight or emphasize unique areas of the eye.

 For example on brow bone areas, or in the inner corners of the eyes to open up the eyes.

9. Use darker colors to create depth and definition

 For example when creating the illusion of a smokey eye

10. Use wet shadows for liners if necessary

For example if you have oily skin, or when you would like to line over false eyelashes.
Wet shadows can also be used as liners to create a variety of liners that match your shadows exactly, without having to spend a fortune. <- My kind of party.

For more on applying wet eyeshadows as an eyeliner see GC post Drama Glamour

Related GC posts
Drama Glamour 
Beauty | Flawless Face
Holiday Glam: Face Bling
Frump to Fab in 10 steps 

Skin Type| Dry Skin

Dry skin is one of four categories of skin types, and is the skin type that lacks oil. Some characteristics of dry skin may include:

- Thin texture
- Lack of sebum (skin’s oil secretions)
- No oily film present
- Tight/ taut sensation
- Lack of suppleness and tone
- Matte complexion
- Closed pores
- Rough texture
- Flakes of dehydration
- Expression lines (frown, smile etc) as a result of reduced natural lubrication and superficial dehydration
- Dull, lackluster skin 

Treatment

As the protective barrier on dry skin is already compromised, harsh, soapy, detergent cleansers can completely ‘strip’ skin’s protective barrier. Products with a higher oil (lipid) content work well for dry skin as they help reinforce this protective layer.

Cream or emollient cleansers, conditioning cleansers that are ‘non-soapy’ and often have either a thick or a fluid like milky look, work best for dry skin, especially chronically dry skin – skin that is prone to cracking, splitting and bleeding. The thicker the consistency of the cream cleanser, the more beneficial it is to drier skin, as the more oils the cleanser contains.

These same rules apply when choosing a moisturizer for dry skin. The drier the skin the more it benefits from the oils present in cream based moisturizers.

Exfoliation

For normal to dry skin, frequent mechanical exfoliation, with the use of appropriately mild facial scrubs 2-3 times a week is beneficial, as it helps shed the over abundance of dead skin cells present on the skin’s surface that can contribute to a dull, lackluster skin tone. 

This exfoliation of normal to dry skin also helps stimulate the skin’s sebaceous (oil) glands and promote the skin’s production of oils that this skin type lacks.

Harsh exfoliating agents such as crushed walnut/ apricot shells should not be used on the face, especially on chronically dry skin. Even though these shells may be finely crushed, the pieces are not uniformly smooth and may contain sharp edges that can rip, tear and damage the skin’s surface.

Exfoliating agents that dissolve in water, like crushed cornmeal or exfoliating agents that contain spherical ‘microbeads’ work better at exfoliating skin without damaging its structure.

Alternatively, products that contain chemical exfoliating agents like alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) such as glycolic and lactic acids  can work well to smoothen rough-textured, dry and dehydrated skin. Contact your skin care therapist before you start using these products as incorrect use can severely damage skin.

Dehydration

Usually, but not always, dry skin is also dehydrated. Therefore, using products that contain a high water content, like toners and/ or fluid moisturizers, can help to hydrate the skin, leaving it more soft and supple.

Drinking the required amount of water daily and having a diet full of vegetables (that contain mostly water) also assist dry skin to maintain flexibility.

Aging

Because dry skin often is dehydrated and lacks oil, suppleness and tone, it is prone to faster aging than oily skin. A proper and consistent moisturizing habit as well as the use of sunscreen are two ways to help prevent pre-mature aging.

Possibly related posts
Q/A: Is toner important?    
Q/A: Skin type vs. Skin condition 
 Premature aging