Now I Have A Few Questions For You…
- What makes you feel most beautiful?
- If you could have three beautiFULL wishes fulfilled, what would they be?
- What moves and inspires you?
I’ve always wanted to know this about you…so I’d just thought I’d ask. Please email me your answers or post them as comments below. I am, so very much, looking forward to reading all about them. *happy dance*
-BM! xx
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.
Post Waxing Wonder.
Here’s a quick and super effective little essential oil number to apply to your skin after waxing which not only soothes your skin, but act as a natural antiseptic too. Just mix the following bits of gorgeousness in an amber or similarly dark coloured bottle, cap, and gently shake. Be sure to store in a dark, cool place, out of reach of children. Not a bad drop this one. Enjoy!
- 75 ml of organic sweet almond, jojoba or apricot kernel carrier oil
- 25 ml of Calendula infused oil
- 25 drops of True lavender essential oil (lavandula angustifolia)
- 10 drops of Tea Tree essential oil
- 5 drops of German chamomile essential oil (the blue one)
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
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!
For The Travelling Man.
Just because Beauty Marked! knows precisely how important it is to keep our men gorgeously groomed both home and away, we had to point you in the direction of this great travel kit from VitaMan. The VitaMan Travel Kit contains a stellar lineup of holistically minded skin and hair care products that are based on traditional native Australian plant and herbal extracts that have been expertly used by indigenous Australians for thousands of years. Every VitaMan product uses organic aloe vera as its base as opposed to mineral oil or lanolin which is pretty nifty within itself.
The VitaMan Travel Kit contains six 50-ml travel-sized tubes of great grooming products comprising of VitaMan Face & Body Cleanser, Face Moisturizer, Shave Crème, After Shave Balm, Shampoo, and Conditioner. But wait, it gets even better as all of this fabulousness comes in a soft and easily packable water-proof travel case with 6 internal pockets for the products and plenty more room for other grooming incidentals as well. He’ll just adore it…nearly as much as he adores you!
Who Deserves A Holiday More?
There would be no shortage of folks that routinely swap around their skincare products because they feel that their skin is in need of a change. After all, change is as good as a holiday…right? In fact, it is often said that one’s skin starts to develop a tolerance for any extended use product and starts to look lackluster or even breakout as a result of prolonged use of a singular product or system and that’s just par for the course. The truth, in fact, is that in most cases, your skin is not developing a tolerance, so to speak, but is actually falling prey to the dreaded product buildup. It’s as simple as that. This unintentional buildup can cause the complexion to dull, pores to block, lack of healthy oxygenation and reactions to occur, even in the face of regular and seemingly thorough cleansing. Go figure? A lot of the time, the little sneaky bits of petroleum based ingredients (e.g. mineral oils), silicones, and synthetic clays can form a barrier across your skin which can prevent deep cleansing, exfoliating and much needed vitamins, minerals, and other assorted bits of goodness from having a positive effect on your skin. Who would have thunk it?
So what do you do? Besides being as fastidious as possible with the ingredients you are willing to allow in your skincare product before purchase, just ensure that you are attending to a clarifying cleanse at least weekly. A great way to clarify the skin naturally, is by using a clean water dampened cotton square and further moisten with a few drops of organic cider vinegar or lemon juice and wipe across your face in much the same way as you would a toner and finish up with a rinse of water and moisturize as per usual. Again, this once weekly trick should cut through any buildup that’s threatening to take hold and free you to at least finish up the product your digging at the moment.
Did you know that the leading cause of pimples and congestion on your back is due to a buildup of hair care product? Yep, back bumps are a dead giveaway of the nuisances of product buildup. *Sigh* Luckily, the treatment’s the same as for the skin on your gorgeous face.
So by all means have a holiday, but just make sure it involves lots of sun, sea, surf…and a few of those cute little cocktail umbrellas thrown in for good measure!
