Tip Tuesday: Face Cleansing

Hey, look, Tip Tuesday's back! For at least today––don't count on it becoming a frequent feature. But this is just such a perfect Tip Tuesday topic that I couldn't resist!

image via Philosophy

I use oil cleanser at night to remove my makeup, then double cleanse with Philosophy Purity. Purity claims to be a makeup remover as well as cleanser, but I like to be extra sure that I'm getting rid of everything. However, when I went back east, I didn't have an oil cleanser, so I had to make do with just Purity. I'd read somewhere (don't remember where, my apologies!) that you should always massage cleanser onto dry skin before getting your hands wet and washing it off, much as you do with oil cleansing. Turns out, it works like a charm! I found I had to use about twice as much cleanser as usual to cover my face sufficiently before getting it wet, and I always double cleansed it with another dollop of Purity after rinsing the first batch off, but the end result was completely makeup-free skin. I don't know if that would work for all cleansers, as I've only tried it with Purity, but it's certainly worth giving a shot. It's cheaper to do oil cleansing followed by normal cleanser than to do this method ($7.50/month vs. $10/month), but if you use a cheaper cleanser than Purity that may not be the case, and it's certainly a good tip to have in your back pocket should you ever find yourself without your normal makeup removing products!

Do you apply cleanser to dry skin? How has it worked for you?

Tip Tuesday: Winter Skincare, Body Edition

Okay, I know, it's been months since I've done one of these, and for that, I apologize. If you're new to Tip Tuesdays, see here for a summary!

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where it tends to rain most of the time between November and April, so I didn't really have any experience with dry skin due to weather until I went to college in Pennsylvania. I was rather annoyed by the changes in my skin (though I did appreciate the whole sunshine-during-winter concept), and spent much time over those 4 years figuring out how to best battle itchy, dry, flaky skin, which I will happily share with you now! There are a lot of things you can do to treat (and prevent!) dry skin. One big thing is not showering (or bathing) in hot water, as it dries out already-parched skin, but as someone who cannot fathom taking a lukewarm shower when it's cold out, I don't actually offer this as a realistic recommendation.

image via Drugstore.com

Instead, be sure to use a moisturizing body wash or cream in the shower to help offset the drying effects of the hot water (opaque products, those with "oil" or "cream" in the name, work best on dry skin; I've used Dove Cream Oil Body Wash, which has both those terms in it, and it worked extremely well at preventing my skin from drying out during the arid East Coast winters).

Tip Tuesday: Winter Skincare, Lips Edition

Up first in my as-yet-undeterminedly-long Winter Skincare series is How to Keep Your Lips Happy When the Temperature and Humidity Drops and They Start Wanting to Fall Off Your Face, or "Lips Edition" for short.  As it gets colder and drier (in most parts of the country, at least; here in the Pacific Northwest we get to look forward to near-constant rain, but that's neither here nor there), your skin and hair lose moisture and can get cracked, dry, itchy, scaly, and/or grouchy.  The first thing to go for me is my lips, hence why I'm discussing it first (that, and because I don't really have to do any research for it!).

You want to have a good lip balm, for starters.  This can be anything from Vaseline to ... whatever the opposite of Vaseline is (Burt's Bees, maybe?), but it should protect your lips from the elements and feel good on.  In olden times, people would use axle grease or lard to treat chapped lips; fortunately, things have gone uphill since then.  Petroleum jelly (aka Vaseline) and mineral oil are common ingredients, as are shea butter, beeswax, carnauba wax, and lanolin.  Many balms have ingredients that make lips tingly, which can definitely be fun, but those things actually irritate your lips further and leave you in worse shape than you started (generally speaking, at least; if the base is moisturizing enough, that effect is mitigated).  Menthol, which is used in Carmex and Blistex, among others, is a common culprit, along with camphor, clove oil, phenol, mint, and salicylic acid.  Ideally, you want to heal your lips, not just make them feel cool (pun intended), and especially in the wintertime, when they're prone to chapping anyways, finding a solid balm without tingly additives is key.

Lip balm with SPF is also recommended, especially if you live anywhere with snow and/or sun (though even those of us in dreary rainy states should wear SPF, too!), because your lips can get sunburned, too, and nobody thinks to put sunscreen on them (and, if they do, they soon realize that it feels disgusting).  Some people are sensitive to SPF ingredients, though, especially in higher concentrations, so be aware of that when trying balms out.  You can also use a different balm at night than you use during the day; I don't like carrying around a tube of Aquaphor with me, but it's extremely moisturizing and works great as an overnight treatment.

To help keep your lips from getting dry and scaly, you can make a homemade scrub from sugar, salt, honey, and/or various kinds of oil.  Mix a little in the palm of your hand and rub gently over your lips to exfoliate, then rinse it off and apply a nice rich lip balm immediately after.  Alternatively, you can brush over your lips with a soft-headed toothbrush in a gently circling motion for gentle exfoliation.

If you wear lipstick, try and stick to the more moisturizing varieties.  Many matte lipsticks can be drying, and put that with already-dry lips and you've got a recipe for flaky disaster.  A tinted balm works nicely, or layering lipstick over lip balm (this can cut down on wear time, but that's a small price to pay!).

What are your tips for keeping your lips in tip-top shape through winter?

Tip Tuesday: DIY Beauty Solutions H-Y (Plus a bonus C)

For a summary of Tip Tuesday, see here.  For part one of diy beauty tips, see here.  And for a video of bunnies wiggling their noses, see here.

Honey
Used as: Cleanser, mask, scrub
Good for: Everyone
Bad for: People who don't like stickiness
I've already done a couple of posts on the wonders of honey, so I'll keep this brief.  Honey is great.  You can use normal honey, raw honey (opaque and light yellow in color), or Manuka honey (full of super nutrients, with a price tag to match).  I've used normal and raw, and prefer the latter because it's less sticky, but both work well.  You can put it on dry skin as a mask or cleanser, or use it on wet skin as a quick cleansing treatment.  Honey combines well with yogurt and aspirin in masks, and with sugar as a scrub.  The possibilities are many, and the results are great––it's moisturizing, anti-bacterial, and it smells and tastes nommy!

Jojoba Oil
Used as: Moisturizer, hair treatment
Good for: Everyone
Bad for: No one
Jojoba (apparently pronounced hə'hoʊbə, who knew) oil is very similar in composition to the sebum and oil produced by your skin, so it can help convince oily skin to stop producing so much oil by making it think there's enough already (I have yet to try this, so cannot vouch for it, but am intrigued!), and its moisturizing properties make it good for normal and dry skin, too.  It's also great for moisturizing hair and reducing frizzies.  You only need a leetle beet, no more than a few drops, which is good because it can apparently be expensive.  It should be available at natural food and health stores, and if you've ever used it, I'd love your input!

Tip Tuesday: DIY Beauty Solutions A-G

For a summary of Tip Tuesday, see here.  For reviews of diy beauty I've personally used, see here (or click on the "diy" tag at the bottom of this post).

There are many appealing things about diy natural beauty.  For one thing, you get to feel like a mad scientist, and who doesn't love that?  (If you don't, go away, this post is not for you.)  For another, you have control over exactly what you're putting on your skin, which means you can avoid ingredients you know irritate you, and don't have to worry about the negative effects from chemical additives.  This does not mean, however, that diy beauty is without its hazards, so please, use caution!

So, here is the first half of the many ingredients you can use in your beauty concoctions (though there are even more that I'm not covering here!), as well as what problem areas they address, and the major concerns to keep in mind regarding side effects and the like.  I hope this is helpful to you, and I welcome any diy suggestions of your own in the comments!  H(oney) through Y(ogurt) will be posted next week.

Apple Cider Vinegar
Used as: Toner, hair treatment
Good for: Acne-prone and/or oily skin
Bad for: Sensitive skin
ACV, as it's known in the biz, is used as a toner to restore the pH balance of skin and help combat acne.  I've never used it, but the intertubes say: it smells nasty, though the smell dissipates after application; you should mix it with water (start with a 1:8 ratio of ACV to water, then increase the amount over time); organic is generally gentler than conventional ACV; and tread with caution if you have sensitive skin.  If you pour it through your hair, it helps get rid of residue and build-up from hair products, though unless you want to smell like a salad, you should probably shower and wash your hair afterwards.

Aspirin
Used as: Mask, toner
Good for: Acne-prone, oily, and/or sensitive/red skin
Bad for: People who are allergic to aspirin
Aspirin, it is claimed, is a source of salicylic acid once it breaks down, though the Beauty Brains did a post about this and said the science isn't really there to back the claims up.  I've tried mixing aspirin in with a yogurt mask, and saw a decrease in redness and swelling, but that could have been due to the other ingredients in the mask.  To use, crush 4-6 uncoated aspirin tablets (uncoated can be hard to find, though health food-type stores often have them) and add a few drops of water to make a paste.  As a mask, you can either spread it over your face like that and let it sit until it dries, or you can mix it with yogurt or honey.  I prefer to do the latter, because the powder has a tendency to fall off as it dries, and mixing it with something else gets rid of that problem.  Some people swear by it as a toner, though when I tried it as such, I got really annoyed with the little pieces of aspirin that stuck to my face.  Do not use this if you have an allergy to aspirin (though I hope that would go without saying!).

Tip Tuesday: Nail Care

For a summary of Tip Tuesday, see here.

Nails have been on my mind lately, since I've been testing and wearing a lot of nail polish.  My nails are generally weak, peel-prone, and soft, and my cuticles are often dry and I get lots of hangnails.  This post is as much for my benefit as for yours, though I certainly hope you find it helpful!  (Psst: leave a comment here or on the TT summary page about what other topics you'd like to see covered!)

Tip Tuesdays and Recommendation Thursdays

I'm going to try out having several weekly features, because that will give me the structure and routine I love while also making sure that I cover a wide variety of topics and hopefully serve your needs better!

Tuesdays will be the temporal home for makeup and beauty tips and tutorials, but for it to work, I need your input!  (Yes, I'm asking for even more comments, but I promise, it will be worth it!)  I ran a post on eyebrow maintenance and grooming awhile ago at the suggestion of a friend, and my hope is to do other features like that on Tuesdays.  You can ask for any kind of help or guidance for any kind of makeup or beauty problems or questions you have, and I will do my best to answer.  Some possibilities: how to apply eyeshadow, how to make lipstick last longer, basics of hair color, how to do facial contouring, what to do for healthy nails and cuticles, how to choose a lipstick color, etc., etc.  There are no limits.  Ask anything, and I will do my best to answer!

Recommendation Thursdays (because "R" is the abbreviation for Thursday on the UO class schedules) will be a chance for me to suggest products, and ask for suggestions in return.  While Tip Tuesday will focus on how to do beauty things, Recommendation Thursday will emphasize what to use.  Since I haven't actually tried that many products, contrary to what my plentiful reviews would suggest, I'll be relying a lot on other sites to help make my recommendations (Makeup Alley, Sephora, Total Beauty, and other beauty blogs).  Some things you could ask for recommendations for: red lipstick, finishing powder, lip balm, foundation for dry skin, shampoo for fine hair, nail treatment to strengthen nails, volumizing mascara, cream blush, etc.  The possibilities are pretty much endless.  I'll also ask you what suggestions you have for a given product category, because I love hearing what other people use and why they like it!

I'm hoping these two features will allow me to put my mad researching skills to good use, and result in you having a better grasp on beauty-related things and being able to make informed purchasing decisions.

To let me know what topics you'd like to see covered, you can:
Leave comments on this post (a link here is posted under "basics", in the left sidebar)
Leave comments on future Tip Tuesday/Recommendation Thursday posts
Shoot me an email at beyondjustbeauty (at) gmail (dot) com

So!  What do you want to know more about?  Comments are love (and help me make the blog better for you)!