Gorgeous Affirmations Just For You:
“Today is a wonderful day. My inner and outer selves are radiantly beautiful right now. I see and feel the beauty, joy, and love that surround me. I love my beautiful self.”
What Type Of Flower Is A Couperose?
Okay, okay, I’m being silly, I know. Even though a touch of couperose can impart a rosey flush, I do know that it’s a skin condition that can leave you a tad red faced (much like my bad jokes, right?). The skin condition called couperose is largely caused by very small, dilated, fragile but rarely broken capillaries (blood vessels) laying superficially just below the skin. Couperose generally occurs around the cheeks and very occasionally across the nose and chin and can give the appearance of localized or diffuse redness in these areas. Couperosing is most visible in fair skins and in skins that are exceedingly thin.
Couperose skin conditions are often caused by taking very hot showers and placing one’s face directly under pressure of the jets of the hot flowing water. This causes the blood vessels to overdilate which triggers fragility. Unprotected exposure of the skin to harsh elements and extremes of temperature like chilling winds etc. for a prolonged period of time can also produce couperose. Our ever familiar foe the free radical can also incite couperose conditions to develop if only to add insult to injury to all the other damage free radicals can bring about. Smoking, alcohol, poor nutrition, and ingesting excessively hot drinks may also cause the skin to couperose.
Unfortunately, if you do have couperosed skin, there really isn’t anything that one can do to reverse the fragility of the capillary wall once it has occurred. Luckily though, the skin does respond to being supported and protected, which seems to reduce the visible appearance and spreading of it. Topical antioxidant use and ingestion seems to lessen the effect and prevent couperose, especially when paired with good nutrition and avoiding extremes in temperature on the skin, which is great. Choosing beauty products that don’t involve over zealous scrubbing or harsh ingredients will also help to prevent couperose or won’t exacerbate an existing couperose condition. At the risk of stating the obvious, I will mention and pay tribute our best mate Mademoiselle Sunscreen as she will always keep us protected when used liberally and often. *idea* There are things that you can do to manage and prevent couperose, which is great. I suspect the trickiest thing about this condition is identifying what can cause it. But now you know all about a rose by another name that definitely doesn’t smell as sweet.
Affirm Beauty.
There wouldn’t be too many folks around who didn’t know that Beauty Marked! is Coo Coo for powder puffs, beauty inspirations, and great products and services. But did you know that I am also a huge fan and firm believer in the power of positive affirmations? Yes, sirree Bob! Not only do I personally practice by saying positive statements daily, but always recommend loving and approving affirmations for my client’s use as well.
It’s amazing how powerfully effective and life enhancing it is to affirm one’s gorgeous self by saying several positively worded truths daily that will profoundly assist to manifest their infinite beauty and light. Saying and believing in positive affirmations each day is akin to planting and nurturing the most treasured seed and watching it grow into an extraordinarily healthy and robust tree that is forever ripe with precious fruits. This life force laden tree will not only nourish and inspire, but also positively change the thoughts that powerfully create the consciousness and the future of the grower and absolutely everyone in its miraculous presence!
Positive affirmations used daily are soon transformed into beliefs that will always produce long lasting results and beneficial change. Marvelous isn’t it? You get all this from just a few positive words affirmed daily. Nice!
A few positive affirmations for today and always:
“Today is a wonderful day. All is perfect, whole, and complete. I love and approve of myself. I am beautiful. I use my affirmative thinking to create exactly what I want. I expect the best and I deserve it…everyone does!”
Wednesday Is Selenium Day.
Well actually every day is selenium day where a healthy diet that supports great skin and health is concerned. But for today, this Wednesday, Beauty Marked! has decreed it to be Selenium Day! *happy dance*
Selenium is a trace mineral that is a big league player on Team Antioxidant and is metallic grey luster in colour (it’d make a nice eyeshadow colour actually). This powerful trace mineral and the antioxidant enzymes it makes play an important role in many of the body’s varied processes and without it, not much is smooth sailing. Selenium is only required in very small amounts, but its potent antioxidant presence helps to fight damage caused by free radicals (a by-product of oxygen metabolism) in the body. Selenium’s main partner in crime is vitamin E and betwixt them both, they work flawlessly to assist in correcting UV-A damage.
Scientific research has also proven that Selenium’s presence has a protective effect on the heart, which seems to decrease the risk of heart disease as well as lowers the risk of many different cancers. It’s certainly worth noting too, that when selenium is in chronically low levels or absent within the body, one is at a much greater risk of illnesses of the immune system, mood disorders, thyroid dysfunction, degenerative disorders, and skin problems to name a few.
So where do you get Selenium? Luckily, there are many natural food sources rich in Selenium:
Shellfish, whole grains, Brazil nuts (but don’t over do it as the Selenium content is mega and you only need a little), fish such as tuna (canned in oil) and cod, meats (turkey, beef, and chicken), garlic, eggs, foods grown in soil rich in Selenium, Brewer’s yeast, and natural spring water are all fab sources of Selenium.
Many quality supplements will also have the perfect daily amount of Selenium present in it too. Just check the ingredient listing thoroughly before purchasing. But if your anything like me, you’ll go the food option, as any excuse will do to eat something yummy and (of course, Selenium-) rich!
Happy Selenium Day!
-BM! xx
Times When A Breakdown Is A Good Thing.
I often get asked if it is really necessary to remove all of one’s makeup from the day’s adventures if you are going out for the evening and still wish to wear makeup. To be honest, I don’t feel it is always 100% necessary to remove all of your makeup and cleanse, but if you’ve got the time and energy…go for it! If not, this is when I’d go “the breakdown”. Breakdown the bits of your makeup that are looking a bit battle weary and blot, perhaps powder and reapply. This treatment, of course, doesn’t really extend to mascara as that’s a whole other kettle of fish altogether.
So for everything non-mascara related, just lightly remove or take back by gingerly wiping off with a tissue and or cotton bud. When you’ve done this ever-so-gently, blot your entire face (t-zone especially) with cosmetic blotting paper or film. *whispers* One square of single-ply, super cheap loo paper works fantastically by the way. After you’ve blotted away any excess oil or perspiration that would have naturally managed to creep to the skin’s surface after a day’s wear, just barely powder your entire face (loose or pressed powder is fine). When you’ve finished your ‘barely there’ powder, feel free to reapply your makeup to your beautiful heart’s content.
Carefully breaking down your makeup, blotting, lightly powdering, and reapplying will often give you a nicer looking and longer wearing base for your colour cosmetics than would freshly applied. Go figure? I suspect it has a lot to do with the artful building up of makeup and removing the excess oils, which leave mainly pure pigment behind. (Much like the Beauty Marked! technique for getting your lip to stick.) But don’t be tempted to skip the blot step, because it’s the buildup of oils that actually cause the cakey and flakey thing to happen, which is definitely not the effect we’re after. It’s now, after I’ve done the above, that I adore a quick and ultra indulgent spritz of rose water. Quite frankly, I can’t think of a better and more luxe way to set my makeup. Mmmm.
Now on to the matter of mascara. You know, generally, I am tempted to just leave it alone. I rarely reapply new over old, as that just seems to tempt fate, especially where the potential for clumping and flaking is concerned. But if you reckon there’s only a weensy bit or no bit on, then by all means reapply. Just be extra vigilant for clumps and ensure the lashes stay separated. You can carefully re-curl your lashes with a non clamp-style curler if you’ve got one. If not…use your finger to gently press the lashes towards your lid and hold for about 30 seconds or so before the mascara is dry. Sometimes the finger trick works so well that I often wonder why I bother searching for my curler in the first place, which, oddly enough, always seems to grow legs…especially when I’m in a rush.
So there you have it: Times when a breakdown might just be a good thing. Ultimately though, the most important thing of all to remember is to blot and don’t stress…because you’re beautiful!
What’s With All The Fruit?
I just had to squeeze in a post about this current fruit-filled frenzy going on in skincare these days. Well, I’m please to let you know that there is, indeed, a method to this fruit-a-licious madness. Here’s an ever-so-brief bite of info about a few of the gorgeous fruity bits finding their way into our skincare:
Apple Trés soothing on the skin and is chockers with tartaric and malic acids which gently exfoliate.
Grapes Also very soothing on the skin and act as a mild toning astringent.
Cantaloupe/Rockmelon Most excellent for hydrating and soothing inflamed and agitated skin.
Lemon Contains a bumper amount of citric acid that counteracts an overly basic skin PH that is often a result of product buildup and endeavors to clarify skin that has fallen prey to the excess alkalinity. The citric acid in lemons also acts as an anti-bacterial and astringent agent. It can also be mildly bleaching over extended period and in larger undiluted quantities.
Papaya/Paw paw Contains the active enzyme papain which is incredibly effective at dissolving keratin and can be used to rid the skin surface of expired skin cells especially when used in combination with other known exfoliators. Papaya is also soothing to angry skins.
Pineapple Bromelain is the effective exfoliating enzyme in this fruit which also rids skin of expired epidermal cells and can dissolve keratin over time.
Passionfruit Very refreshing to the skin and can be mildly hydrating.
Strawberry A scrummy smelling fruit that is ever so mildly bleaching thus has a slight brightening effect on the skin when used over an extended time and is wonderfully soothing and toning.
Tomato A mildly astringent fruit, thus its toning abilities are effective on oilier skins.
Mother Nature sure is one clever chook!
On Target With Your Saturday Night Special.
I’m thinking eyes that are packing pure, smoked-out, shimmery gorgeousness for the evening’s festivities. What do you think? Maybe a goer for tonight’s makeup look? Here’s a few product suggestions to get you going:
M.A.C. Paint Pot in Blackground to eyelid as a base, M.A.C. Blue Brown Pigment to set and blended fabulously up to the crease. M.A.C. Club pressed eye shadow to crease and outer V. M.A.C. Vex pressed eyeshadow lightly applied as brow highlight and blended impeccably. Black gel or kohl eyeliner to water and tightlines for both upper and lower lash lines. Finish off with the requisite lashings of black mascara on celestially curled lashes.
The what’s next…
Groomed brows, cheeks that are very much a supporting act for those killer eyes and a low maintenance lip that is lightly stained and slicked with a YLBB (your lips but better) nude. C’est tout. Just prepare to slay ‘em!
