Search Results for: blog frugal beauty care for your skin

Homemade Honeydew Skin Care

Forget the expensive spa products. Make your own beauty products at home and save. it is easy when you have a food processor and just a few minutes. You can whip up your own products, and maybe even gift, trade or sell them. Of course, you’ll want to take advantage of using these great chemical free beauty products yourself. Let us start with the honeydew skin care. I choose this type to start the homemade skin care series for a number of reasons. The first is that honeydew is a hot beauty ingredient right now. It seems that every major … Continue reading →

Reading Beauty Labels: Petrolatum

You may run across petrolatum as an ingredient in some of your favorite skin care products. Or, you may be familiar with petroleum jelly — a staple in many medicine cabinets. Moisturizers in beauty products fall into two categories: humectants (which draw moisture out of the air and into the skin) and occlusives. Occlusives trap water in the skin and prevent it from evaporating. Petrolatum is most definitely an occlusive, reducing water loss from the skin by as much as ninety-eight percent in laboratory tests! Other studies have pointed out that petrolatum can help fill in spaces between skin cells … Continue reading →

Reading Beauty Labels: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Laureth Sulfate

It’s funny how things filter into your brain. I remember hearing that either sodium lauryl sulfate OR sodium laureth sulfate was bad for you — but didn’t remember which one or why it was bad. Thanks, brain. Good to know you’re looking out for me! It turns out that in 1998, an email forward started circulating that claimed that sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) caused cancer. As with many email forwards, it was incorrect. Sodium lauryl sulfate is a surfactant (wetting agent) and detergent (cleaning agent) that is found in small amounts in many personal care products. It’s such a good … Continue reading →

Reading Beauty Labels: What is Glycerin?

I’m a reader; always have been, always will be. You put something with words on it in front of me and I’ll end up reading it. I was reading the ingredients on a bottle of lotion (usually I’m looking to see what kind of fragrance it has — natural or synthetic) when I noticed that the second ingredient was glycerin. I’ve you’ve tried making your own soap at home, you may already be familiar with glycerin (or glycerol). It’s popular in soap because it acts as a humectant — it attracts moisture to the skin. Check your labels — glycerin … Continue reading →

Best Beauty Products at the Best Prices

(CC)image by Akira Ohgaki/flickr The Today show recently did a show segment about the best cosmetics on the market. The best part about it was that none of these products the prices that the rich and fabulous pay for their cosmetics. It is good to know that even those on a budget can look beautiful without breaking the bank. Here are some of the great products they mentioned plus a few of my own personal secrets. St Ives Apricot Scrub is a product I have been using since my teenage years. I had no idea it was one of the … Continue reading →

Weight Loss: Feeling Self-Conscious In Your New Skin?

Bravo! You have lost some weight and are starting to feel pretty good in fewer clothes once again, but how good is good? Summer clothing season is at our heels and it is a mad rush to beat the extra poundage so that we can wear shorts for those of us who are brave enough. Wearing shorts for the ones with extra weight is sometimes intimidating. You are feeling better because you lost some weight, but you are still self-conscious because you are not a pencil. Why, oh why can’t we look really good in a little pair of shorts, … Continue reading →

Economical Beauty: Scrubs

I was at a party this weekend — one of those Tupperware type parties, where you get to check out an entire line of products and shop while you socialize. I tried out an “instant manicure” and quite frankly, loved it. It was an exfoliating scrub for hands, cuticles, and nails that left my skin feeling super-soft afterwards. So I asked the consultant if it was a sugar scrub — the exfoliating bits were finer than the salt crystals I’ve used in making body scrubs for years. She said yes, and then helpfully rattled off the list of ingredients. And … Continue reading →

Skin Care Myths: Chapstick Addiction

Have you heard people say that Chapstick and other lip balms are addictive? Pay attention to the folks who use those products, and you might see the products getting a lot of use. But are lip balms really addictive? No! One popular theory is that lip balms include ingredients that make your lips dry out faster — so you have to reapply frequently throughout the day and restock more often. But it’s just not true. Then why do some folks reach for the lip balm over and over throughout the day? (I’ll confess — I’m never far from a tube … Continue reading →

Walking Barefoot is Good for Your Feet!

I love to be barefoot. As soon as I walk in the door, I take off my shoes — it’s a good way to keep contaminants out of the house, but I just do it because I’m more comfortable barefoot! Walking barefoot can actually be good for you. Wearing shoes can make your foot muscles weak; going barefoot can stretch and exercise your toes and arches. Walking barefoot also helps improve balance! (I do find that I have better balance without shoes — I once climbed some rocks at a lake and was surprised at how much easier it was … Continue reading →

Spring Beauty Tips: Hands and Nails

Spring is the season of rebirth… of rejuvenation. Don’t forget your hands! Over the winter, your skin may have gotten rough and dry thanks to forced-air heat. It’s time to renew your hands and nails. Want a good idea of someone’s age? Look at their hands. Hands are often a truer judge of age than any other part of the body. You can keep your hands looking healthy and young with these tips: Keep moisturizer handy — all year round. Apply lotion after you wash your hands to help lock in moisture. Pick a hand cream that includes sunscreen. A … Continue reading →