Hello! I hope you've been enjoying your holiday season thus far. I know I have been! And that is why I have not been blogging as regularly as I would like to have been. It's really no excuse... but what can I say... the Esthetician has been enjoying herself!
Today, I have a very simple, but glorious post. I am about to share one of my biggest beauty secrets with you! (Just in time for those Christmas parties you may have to attend.) I had gotten a few messages/comments in regard to my skin "glowing". This is one of my secret how-to's!
I'm not sure about you, but I'm all about DIY's, or 'do-it-yourself' for the gentleman reader who may not already know. This is perfect for everyone, not just my lady readers! Not only is this exfoliating, but it is also deeply nourishing and hydrating... perfect for the cold winter months ahead.
Without further delay, let's get to it!
You're going to need two things;
Organic Raw Oats (I buy mine at Harvest Health)
Powdered Organic Goats Milk (I buy mine at Harvest Health)
(also, you're going to need a spoon, a storage bag or container, a blender... and a pair of hands!)
In a blender or food processor, blend together 1/2 cup of each. (If you want serious left-overs, use 1 cup!)
After removing all your face makeup with a gentle cream cleanser, (best cleansing how-to here!) re-dampen your face with lukewarm water. Take a heaping tablespoon of your glorious mixture and put it in your non-dominant palm. With your dominant hand, turn on the faucet, and gently begin to flick bits of water into your hand. You don't want too much! You're trying to form a paste, not a soup! After you've got a good consistency, rub the mixture between both of your hands, and onto your face. It should look clumpier in certain areas and smooth in others.
At this point, you can use the mixture as an exfoliant, rubbing it in and then rinsing away immediately, or you can do what I do and let the entire mixture dry and harden on your face (like a masque). I leave mine on for 10-15 minutes. Around 5, you are going to feel your face start to burn, especially if you use any type of Vitamin C, Retin-A, Vitamin A; exfoliating cremes daily.
Why is your face going to start to burn?
Goats Milk is a lactic acid. Lactic acid is a form of an alpha-hydroxy acid. AHA's eat away at dead skin cells. Lactic acid is a colorless, organic acid compound derived from the sugars in milk. It is fairly gentle on the skin, yet it is aggressive enough to see and feel the results with the use. It has extremely hydrating properties and works well on all skin types. Lactic acid has been seen to improve the appearance of hyperpigmentation, stimulate our skins natural collagen production and also leave our skin with a natural glow.
Why oats? Oats are an amazing natural beauty enhancer. They soothe and nourish the skin while reducing inflammation. Inflammation is one of the number one causes of premature aging. Because of oats texture, they make for an outstanding exfoliant. They are hypo-allergenic. They soften the skin, and have been clinically proven to help heal dry, itchy skin. For those with sensitive skin, oats are perfect! Oats can help soothe insect bites, dry skin, mild burns, eczema, and irritated skin.
After you've left it on for a maximum of 15-20 minutes, rinse it off. Massage gently and splashing your face with lukewarm water! I always do a few splashes of ice cold water, too. (but that's because I'm crazy)
Your face should feel refreshed, nourished, slightly moisturized, exfoliated and clean.
Your skin should look dramatically different, glowing as-if from within.
Throughout scripture, milk and honey symbolize the gracious nature of God, the abundance of His blessing.
So I hope this leaves you informed and I hope this helps with maybe some stubborn breakouts or strange skin issues that you may be having!
And may you feel abundantly blessed, because you are! Love to your skin, and love to you!
-Jessica.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Maintaining pH
Skin pH is an important part of our skins health. pH, or potential hydrogen is the measure of acidity and alkalinity.
A slightly acidic balance of our skin is healthy. Skin should be balanced at 5.5.
Our skin has an acid mantle that buffers our skin from the wind and environmental factors, keeps bacterial infections at bay, reduces our likeliness to breakout, protects our skin from drying, delays wrinkling and other various signs of aging.
Our acid mantle is formed by the combination of the natural oil we secrete (sebum), our sweat and beneficial bacteria that live on our skin. Together they form a healthy surface of the skin that is slightly acidic.
When our acid mantle is "lost" it simply means we are not taking notice to our natural pH balance of our skin. When we strip our skin by ways of over-washing, harsh chemicals, detergents and alkaline soaps our skin is more susceptible to free-radicals.
Think of your skin briefly as a school dance. Great right? Now, think of free radicals like angry boys at the school dance without a date. On the surface of our skin we have all these happy atoms that have mates that are dancing around to crazy cool tunes. The free radicals are angry because they don't have a mate to dance with, so they go in and steal the other guy's girls to dance with. Thus, resulting in more angry atoms... thus resulting in damage. But how is this damaging?
Once formed these highly reactive radicals can start a chain reaction, like dominoes. Their chief danger comes from the damage they can do when they react with important cellular components such as DNA or the cell membrane. (Everything is connected, I am telling you! Our bodies are walking miracles!) Cells may function poorly or die if this occurs. To prevent free radical damage the body has a defense system... antioxidants! And not just our own, but antioxidants we can put on our skin!
Commercial soaps and harsh cleansers tend to be highly alkaline and often have free alkalis still in them that react with our skins sebum to strip away it's acid mantle. What? Did I just imply that some sebum is good?! I did! Our sebum protects our skin from environmental factors and nourishes our skin. The result in these cleansers and products with free alkalis still in them is drier skin that ages more quickly and is less able to withstand infection. Skin care products containing alcohol can also shift pH away from it's natural balance.
Toning our skin is a fast way to bring our skin back to 5.5 pH balanced.
Maintaining pH doesn't seem so complicated, right? It actually might seem quite unimportant and stupid. At least, that's what I thought when I was in Esthiologly school. I was all, PSH! BIG DEAL.
But... the health of the outermost part of your skin is one of the secret keys to achieving better than normal skin. To glowing skin. When you are protecting your skin with antioxidants, washing your skin with proper nutrients, restoring your acid mantle with the proper toner, moisturizing with the proper ingredients... you are actually changing the life of your skin, not just the appearance. So much we want to see something work 'now', I'm guilty of it too. And when you maintain your pH you may not even see very much of a difference, especially if you aren't prone to break-outs. But, it is a small but very important step for health not just physical beauty.
Cheers to that! Now toast a cup of green tea (full of antioxidants) to yourself, and your skin! And just for me, rub that tea bag all over your face after you finish your drink.
Love to you,
Jessica.
A slightly acidic balance of our skin is healthy. Skin should be balanced at 5.5.
Our skin has an acid mantle that buffers our skin from the wind and environmental factors, keeps bacterial infections at bay, reduces our likeliness to breakout, protects our skin from drying, delays wrinkling and other various signs of aging.
Our acid mantle is formed by the combination of the natural oil we secrete (sebum), our sweat and beneficial bacteria that live on our skin. Together they form a healthy surface of the skin that is slightly acidic.
When our acid mantle is "lost" it simply means we are not taking notice to our natural pH balance of our skin. When we strip our skin by ways of over-washing, harsh chemicals, detergents and alkaline soaps our skin is more susceptible to free-radicals.
Think of your skin briefly as a school dance. Great right? Now, think of free radicals like angry boys at the school dance without a date. On the surface of our skin we have all these happy atoms that have mates that are dancing around to crazy cool tunes. The free radicals are angry because they don't have a mate to dance with, so they go in and steal the other guy's girls to dance with. Thus, resulting in more angry atoms... thus resulting in damage. But how is this damaging?
Once formed these highly reactive radicals can start a chain reaction, like dominoes. Their chief danger comes from the damage they can do when they react with important cellular components such as DNA or the cell membrane. (Everything is connected, I am telling you! Our bodies are walking miracles!) Cells may function poorly or die if this occurs. To prevent free radical damage the body has a defense system... antioxidants! And not just our own, but antioxidants we can put on our skin!
Commercial soaps and harsh cleansers tend to be highly alkaline and often have free alkalis still in them that react with our skins sebum to strip away it's acid mantle. What? Did I just imply that some sebum is good?! I did! Our sebum protects our skin from environmental factors and nourishes our skin. The result in these cleansers and products with free alkalis still in them is drier skin that ages more quickly and is less able to withstand infection. Skin care products containing alcohol can also shift pH away from it's natural balance.
Toning our skin is a fast way to bring our skin back to 5.5 pH balanced.
Maintaining pH doesn't seem so complicated, right? It actually might seem quite unimportant and stupid. At least, that's what I thought when I was in Esthiologly school. I was all, PSH! BIG DEAL.
But... the health of the outermost part of your skin is one of the secret keys to achieving better than normal skin. To glowing skin. When you are protecting your skin with antioxidants, washing your skin with proper nutrients, restoring your acid mantle with the proper toner, moisturizing with the proper ingredients... you are actually changing the life of your skin, not just the appearance. So much we want to see something work 'now', I'm guilty of it too. And when you maintain your pH you may not even see very much of a difference, especially if you aren't prone to break-outs. But, it is a small but very important step for health not just physical beauty.
Cheers to that! Now toast a cup of green tea (full of antioxidants) to yourself, and your skin! And just for me, rub that tea bag all over your face after you finish your drink.
Love to you,
Jessica.
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