Best Beauty Tips I Know

Rappel

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 5:16 am

This thread is meant to be a collection of great home secrets for keeping ourselves healthy and beautiful. Please share your own ideas below!

(I underlined any outside products you might need to use the tips. All are easily obtained and cheap. Wink

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For Skin:
-When I get winter-dry, I take the hottest shower I can bear and scrub myself all over with a rough sponge. Then, when I step out, I pat myself dry, and while my skin is still hot and red from the water I apply my favorite moisturizer. Works wonders!

For Face:
-Start off washing with hot water (opens pores), use a facial cleansing soap, and then switch to cold water (shrinks pores). I get cleaner that way, and when I'm done, my face takes in less dirt.
-I suffer from "shiny nose." Rather than drop $30/pop for mattifying powder, I put ordinary baby powder on my makeup brush and just dust it over. It works!
-Avocado peels. Before you throw them out, rub them on, and let the vitamins sink in before you rinse off the green. Waste not, want not. Wink

-If I'm having an acne week, same thing for banana peels. Use the inner side. I don't know why it works, but it does.

For Hair:
-My hair gets pretty dry out here in minerally Israel, so around once a week I brush in olive oil around a half hour/hour before I shower. Aside from helping with the split ends, my hair is definitely thicker and brighter for it.

Other things to keep the shine:
~"Hair Mask" is a tub of goo in the shampoo aisle that I didn't even know existed until I got married. Around once every two weeks, I use it as a second conditioner in the shower, and it really helps calm down the split ends.
~Don't use super-hot water on your hair. Best effects happen if you can finish off your shower with a cold rinse for your hair, but I can't always take it. Brrrr.
~Never dry your hair all the way. Towel till it stops dripping, brush while it's damp (this is for straight-haired people), and then leave it alone. Air-drying (or tichel drying! I almost never have time to just hang around and wait) leaves it healthiest.

For Feet:
-I do NOT have time or patience for pedicures, but I definitely suffer from...um...over-callousing? Like when your callouses get too rough and start to crack and hurt? To combat it, at the end of every shower, I whisk over the bottoms of my feet with a pumice stone (drugstore -- 75 cents). Nothing effort-ful, because the effects are better if you wear the callouses down over a long time. Voila -- smooth feet, no pain!
(Also, I have lumpy little toenails. No idea why that happens, but similarly swiping at them with an Emory board once or twice at the end of a shower, when they're soft and shape-able, does wonders for the look.)

DrMom

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 6:30 am

Rappel wrote:

For Skin:
-When I get winter-dry, I take the hottest shower I can bear and scrub myself all over with a rough sponge. Then, when I step out, I pat myself dry, and while my skin is still hot and red from the water I apply my favorite moisturizer. Works wonders!

I always learned that very hot showers can dry out the skin. But I it works for you, I won't argue with success. Smile

I find that eating healthily and getting regular exercise works wonders for one's skin.

nywife

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 7:40 am

Another great face/ body scrub is sugar + olive oil + fresh lemon juice. Mix it together, scrub on skin, leave for a few minutes and then wash off. Your skin will feel so soft and refreshed!

Rappel

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 7:49 am

DrMom wrote:

I always learned that very hot showers can dry out the skin. But I it works for you, I won't argue with success. Smile

I find that eating healthily and getting regular exercise works wonders for one's skin.

You're right. Basically what I'm doing there is prepping my skin, at which point it's alllll dry, but receptive, and then using a good moisturizer. But this is definitely a desperate times, desperate measures kind of thing.

Kudos, and seconded, on living a healthy lifestyle. Smile

Rosemarie

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 8:07 am

Am waiting to hear some great tips for dry skin. My kids skin is so dry in the winter, they complain it itches them. (Most complaints are at bedtime which drives me bananas, but that's another story...) I have given them moisturizing body lotion (aveeno or play are w of the brands I've used in the past) and they dont like using it, they say it burns after they put it on, and then they wipe it off...

What can I do to make their skin not so dry?

mummiedearest

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 8:13 am

Rosemarie wrote:

sounds like you need a better moisturizer. also, bathe them less frequently. pour some baby oil in their baths and use as little soap as possible. you may want to slather them in vaseline after their baths. messy, but it works better than thin moisturizers.

Rosemarie

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 8:21 am

mummiedearest wrote:

We do bathes only 3 times a week, not daily. Should I do less? I can try the baby oil in their bath, maybe it will help. But Vaseline we have tried with one child and she hated the sticky feeling, she came complaining nearly an hour later that her PJs are still sticking to her and she can't get comfortable enough to go to sleep. She ended up changing PJs.

Any advice on what's a better moisturizer that I should try?

mummiedearest

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 8:26 am

Rosemarie wrote:

consider giving your kids sitz baths instead of full baths once in a while. if you don't have one, it's a bowl that goes on your toilet. you fill it with warm water and sit in it. my kids call it a tushie bath.

try pond's dry skin moisturizer. it's meant for the face, but I like it better as a body lotion. rub them in it right after each bath before toweling off. and try to have them wear cotton pjs, synthetics over thick moisturizer makes you feel icky. also, consider getting a better soap. I like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Shea-Moi.....xcema

sped

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 8:26 am

I sometimes massage them with baby oil right after their shower/bath, and I think it helps their skin. Also, Vaseline massaged in just after a shower/bath gets absorbed better.
What kind of soap do you use? I think dove BAR soap is less harsh than others. I was told to stay away from baby soaps and washes.

Rappel

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 8:26 am

Rosemarie wrote:

Any advice on what's a better moisturizer that I should try?

Growing up, mum used to put baby oil on us after we bathed, and then we'd wipe down with a soft towel. Maybe that will help?

etky

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 8:36 am

DrMom wrote:

I always learned that very hot showers can dry out the skin. But I it works for you, I won't argue with success. Smile

I find that eating healthily and getting regular exercise works wonders for one's skin.

This.
There's that wonderful 'right after exercise glow' but I'm sure that there are also longer term benefits for skin (and for everything else - physical, psychological and mental).

staten islander

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 8:46 am

For dry skin, you need a moisturizer and a Humectant to lock in moisture. So a cream followed by oil, preferably coconut. That combo will both moistirize and prevent further moisture loss

Rappel

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 8:50 am

staten islander wrote:

For dry skin, you need a moisturizer and a Humectant to lock in moisture. So a cream followed by oil, preferably coconut. That combo will both moistirize and prevent further moisture loss

Sorry -- a hume-what? Can you explain further?

Rosemarie

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 10:03 am

Thanks so much everyone. So many good tips here. I will try some of them and see what works. Hopefully soon my kids will have heir soft skin back...

amother

Smokey

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 10:13 am

staten islander wrote:

For dry skin, you need a moisturizer and a Humectant to lock in moisture. So a cream followed by oil, preferably coconut. That combo will both moistirize and prevent further moisture loss

Another vote for coconut oil. It's the only thing that helps my eczema. Anon since I told so many people about this IRL.

studying_torah

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 11:37 am

interesting, I didn't find the coconut oil helps my kids eczema, nor their dry hair.
vaseline does help, but they definitely hate the stickiness.
I once got a goat's milk cream that they liked and it didn't burn, but they're costly.

trixx

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 11:43 am

Best moisturizer I have ever used (and my hands Crack and bleed in winter) is eucerin

Lukshen

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 11:51 am

I've tried all kind of moisturizers, and the one I love most is plain old Cetaphill. Use it on my entire body.

amother

Blonde

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 5:05 pm

Rosemarie wrote:

Try aveeno bath oil in their baths. Also, try a shea butter moisturizer.

amother

Black

Mon, Feb 08 2016, 5:29 pm

any ideas for black under-eyes?
and blackheads?