While it’s great that there are many natural and organic beauty products available nowadays, it’s still better for the environment and your pocketbook to avoid buying products you don’t need. Let’s focus on the “reducing” aspect of the equation. If you don’t NEED it, don’t buy it, even if it’s eco friendly. Here are some ways to be a “green” beauty.
Eliminate products you don’t need
Skipping beauty products you don’t really need means using less packaging and other resources. Here are some of the products you can probably do without.
Beauty and skin care experts agree that toner (or astringent) is not necessary. If you cleanse your face well and rinse well, you can skip the toner.
If you have oily skin you probably don’t need moisturizer, and if you have normal skin, your sunscreen might be enough of a moisturizer. All skin types should use a sunscreen daily. If your skin is dry, use the gentlest cleanser you can and you can get away with less moisturizer.
Most people, unless their skin is extremely oily, don’t need to wash their faces with a cleanser in the morning. Of course it goes without saying that you should thoroughly remove makeup and cleanse your face at night, but as long as you do this, your face is clean enough in the morning. Just splash with warm water then apply sunscreen.
Exfoliation is important for healthy and pretty skin, but you probably don’t need an expensive product. Use a very clean washcloth to gently scrub your face. Or put some baking soda in your hand and use that as a gentle scrub. Or sugar or salt mixed with a little olive oil. Olive oil makes a great eye makeup remover too.
Skip the allover foundation. Most people don’t need it all over their faces but just a little bit under the eyes and around the nose. Use a little tinted moisturizer instead or try mineral makeup, which makes your face look flawless and seems to last forever.
Skip certain steps in your beauty routine
If you curl your eyelashes you might be able to skip mascara and eyeliner. It opens up the eyes and really makes them pop. Keeping your brows groomed also shapes your face without needing a product. In addition to tweezing, try trimming the longer hairs that stick out after you comb your brows (use cuticle nippers).
Many hair care experts agree that most people wash their hair too often. Twice a week is enough. On the other days, you can rinse your hair and then reapply a small amount of styling product. Not washing your hair daily saves water and you will often find you won’t need conditioner and other products for the hair, as it will be easier to style with some of the natural oils intact.
Try multi use products
Dr. Loretta, author of “6 Weeks to Sensational Skin” says that dead sea salts have multiple uses for skin problems: everything from acne to eczema.
Body lotion or conditioner can double as shaving cream. You can even buy makeup that can be used for eyes, cheeks and lips.
Make your own green beauty products
Making your own skin care products usually means you’ll use far less packaging than if you bought everything. It doesn’t have to be super complicated though. You can mix honey and salt to make a body or facial scrub. Or sugar and olive oil. Lemon juice, salt and olive oil are great to exfoliate and bleach elbows and heels.
Learn to love your natural look
My sister has super thick, curly hair. The kind that, if it were long, would rest in ringlets down her back. The kind that other people spend $100 per perm to try and achieve. Now she has accepted her hair and decided not to fight nature, but when she was a teenager and everone had Farrah Fawcett wings, straight was the look. So she would spend money and time trying to chemically straighten her hair, which was mostly an exercise in futility!
Learn to accept your natural face. Freckles are cute and don’t have to be covered up. Curly hair is beautiful and doesn’t have to be straightened. Ask your hairdresser to help you choose a style that works with your facial shape and hair texture. The more you try to change your natural look the more money and time you’ll spend.
By: Carrie Lauth
Posts Tagged ‘Oily Skin’
How to Be a Cheap Green Beauty
March 21st, 2010Fantastic Beauty Tips For Men
February 10th, 2010
Those days are gone when a man entering a beauty salon was objectionable, or considered to be fatal to his masculinity. Nowadays, the average male can easily saunter inside a good salon to get himself some serious enhancement in looks. History shows that in ancient days, men would make use of kohl to line their eyes. Now again, it is quite much in the style, totally tolerable and quite common if a man goes to a beauty salon or parlor and gets his chest waxed and eyebrows done. Otherwise, the primary thing that people nowadays notice is the face, and the image is all that matters. So in present world, making the best of your looks and looking neat has become extremely significant for men. These beauty guidelines are for all those men who desire to look their best, and attract people more easily.
Men, similar to women, get concerned when they observe gray hair. For that reason, there are beauty guidelines for men who are going gray. If you are going gray, then cover them up as soon as you see them. Either snip them off or color them. Do not wait for it to turn into more noticeable one. And if you notice you are going bald, get your hair cut short, crop or shave your head to look smart; it is very much in style to looks smart and sexy with a clean-shaved head.
Another beauty instruction for men is that one should not forget to cut the hairs from your nose and ear hair. You can also get your back and chest waxed to eliminate unnecessary hair. There are a number of companies that focus in beauty products for men. These beauty products for men can in fact improve looks of men. If you are looking to use these products, like facial foam which would clean dirt and unclog pores, you should look for the type of skin it calls for. If you have oily skin, then stick to products which suit that skin type, and if you have sensitive skin, remember to use mild, gentle soaps which can help improve the suppleness of your skin. Use a good kind of sunscreen, and a moisturizer, to prevent the skin from drying out and looking leathery. You should also use any good product that would occasionally balance out your skin’s ph level to get a better skin.
By: Nelly Conway
Beauty Secrets in Your Fridge
January 4th, 2010
Thanks to technological advances, experts in dermatology have been able to observe the effect that our diet has on our skin’s texture and appearance.
Many recent studies in dermatology confirm that the most significant factor in skincare does not only depend on the cosmetics that we apply (which, of course, do make a difference) but also largely on our diet.
So…which diet should we implement to look great?
WATER
Our body is 70 percent water; therefore, it’s logical that any lack of sufficient water intake will affect our appearance.
That’s why drinking water is undoubtedly the easiest and most efficient way of preventing the signs of aging, maintaining the skin smooth and the body healthy.
HOW DOES WATER AFFECT OUR SKIN?
Water eliminates the toxins in our body that are daily stored up through contact with pollutants, tobacco smoke, stress and other sources of free radical formation. Concretely, free radicals are the principal cause of skin diseases and premature aging.
Water not only gives skin a more youthful appearance but also eliminates all of these elements, which cause the appearance of acne. Acne is formed by the accumulation of bacteria, oil, dead skin and dirt on the skin. Even for those with oily skin and problems with acne, water is needed to wash away both internal and external impurities.
Additionally, water helps vitamins and nutrients to easily flow throughout the body. In particular, it collaborates with all of the body’s organs to distribute vitamins E, C and B12, which help maintain the skin smooth and young.
HOW MUCH WATER DO I NEED TO DRINK DAILY?
Normally it’s recommended that a person drink at least a liter and a half of water, although many dermatologists recommend increasing the dose to two or three daily liters.
WHEN IS IT ESSENTIAL TO DRINK WATER?
It’s very important to drink and recuperate lost fluid after exercising or sunbathing. Don’t forget that water is good not only for your organism but also for your outward appearance.
WATER INSIDE AND WATER OUTSIDE
When cleansing facial skin or the body, it’s best that the water be lukewarm. Very hot water can dry out the skin excessively, but at an adequate temperature, its cleansing power is enormous.
BEAUTY TRICK
Drink water in the morning; it will help eliminate a puffy or swollen face.
Who would have thought that water would end up being one of the most relevant beauty secrets in the new millennium?
By: Maria Llorente
