LOOKS OF THE DAY...AREN'T THEY CHARMING ....

WELCOME TO 'CHARM' FAZES MAKEOVERS: How to care for dry, sensitive skin

WELCOME TO 'CHARM' FAZES MAKEOVERS: How to care for dry, sensitive skin:   November 7, 2012 by Agency Reporter Dry skin is common especially during the harmattan season. As the season sets in, it is good for ...

How to care for dry, sensitive skin

 November 7, 2012 by Agency Reporter

Dry skin is common especially during the harmattan season. As the season sets in, it is good for people that have dry skin to learn better ways of managing the condition because dry, scaly and dull skin could be unsightly and uncomfortable. Dry skin is most common in lower legs, arms, sides of the abdomen and thighs. Its symptoms include scaling, itching and cracks in the skin.

Many factors are responsible for dry and dehydrated skin. They include over-exposure to the elements which can be environmental factors such as winds, sun or indoor causes like heating and air-conditioning. Dry skin can also be genetic. Some people naturally have drier skin conditions than others.

 Age is another factor. In general, as people age, their skins become more dehydrated. Also, experts claim diuretics such as alcohol and caffeine can cause dry skin because they draw water away from the body, hence people that consume fairly high level of alcohol could have dry skin.  And as good as soap is in cleaning the body, it may leave the skin dry.

Just recently, the Managing Director of GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceutical, Mr. Lakan Asuni, said laboratory and epidemiological studies showed that severe weather conditions could lead to the depletion of the ozone layer and high levels of UVBs to the earth surface. This can affect the skin, causing acne breakouts and itchy dry patches of the skin.

To him, the present state of the nation’s poor environmental health precipitated by extreme weather conditions due to flooding, cold and hot situations prevalent in the country in the last one month could encourage dry skin.

He spoke in Lagos on Thursday at the official launch of physiogel range of products into the Nigerian market and the introduction of Stiefel, a GSK company to the media.

According to him, physiogel was introduced to the Nigerian market to address the problem of dry skin among Nigerians.

Describing the product as an innovative face and body care for dry, sensitive and reactive skin, he said it was produced with high-tech methods and modeled after the natural skin barrier.

 The technology, Derma Membrane Structure, is specially formulated with growing amount of skin-identical lipids to mimic the skin. With DMS technology, lipids essential to skin are embedded in a lamellar structure matrix, which allows the avoidance of conventional emulsifiers. Creams with DMS technology support the natural barrier properties of the skin and can be used on all skin types, including very dry, sensitive, and irritated skin.

He said that the company was configured to continue to innovate to ensure   that high quality pharmaceutical and non prescription products are released to the nation’s rapidly growing industry – the media and health fraternities.

He said the brand had a range of skin care products including moisturizers, anti-irritants / soothing moisturizers, and cleansers, specially designed for daily care of dry, sensitive, or irritated skin.

But according to online resources, the first step in skin care regime for glowing skin is regular exfoliation to rid the skin’s epidermis of dead skill cells. This will result in smoother and more radiant skin.  Once the dead cells are removed, you can cleanse the skin with a soap-free wash and warm water. The warmth will open the pores, allowing for better absorption of a nourishing face   cream.


culled from Punch Online
http://www.punchng.com/health/how-to-care-for-dry-sensitive-skin/

Desire Sexy cheek bones.....TGIF

Good cheek bones never go out of vogue. Not only do they sculpt your face and draw attention to the eyes, they just make for a more exotic look. Whether yours came naturally or you achieved it through facial exercise, firm and toned cheeks give a refreshing but youthful appearance.

So, how do you go about getting that sexy look? Just try a bit of these exercises:

Fish face

Using your cheek muscles, lift the corners of your mouth into a smile. Hold this for 30 seconds, then repeat the exercise three times.  According to www.wikihow.com, you should feel the warming of the muscles from the extra circulation.

Satchmo

Sit with the spine erect. Take a deep breath and fill your cheeks with air. Move the air from one cheek to the other. Keep moving this ball of air back and forth until you’re out of breath, then blow it out. Repeat five times. You should feel the burn in the muscles and a flush from the circulation boost.

Balloon blowing

This exercise engages your lips, cheeks, and throat, leading to improved muscle tone and elasticity which helps shape your face and ultimately your cheek.

Smile push-ups

This will lift the middle of your face and builds the muscles in your cheeks to give more prominent cheek bones. Sit in front of a mirror and, keeping your mouth closed, first pout, smile and then suck your cheeks into your jaw. Repeat this until your muscles are burning.

Perfect pout

Attaining and maintaining perfect cheek bones relies on developing and maintaining the cushion of muscle beneath your skin, which naturally diminishes with aging. To combat this sign of aging, close your mouth and push your lips out in a pout, checking that your cheek muscles are engaged. Hold for a count of 10, then relax, and repeat 10 times.

Hand-Press

A simple, effective exercise, press the heels of your hand firmly against your cheek bones and hold them there while opening and closing your mouth. Repeat these 10 times to help firm and tighten your facial muscles.

Blush for sexy cheek bones

•Smile into the mirror to find the apples of your cheeks. The apple is the rounded part of your cheek right below your eye that protrudes when you smile. Your cheek bone is at the top of the apple.

• Choose a pink, beige or peach shade of blush that most closely matches that colour for a natural look. Avoid blush colours that match your lipstick or your natural lip color. Choose a lighter blush shade for daytime and a darker one for evening.

• Apply light-coloured under-eye concealer above your cheek bones, even if you don’t need it. This will help to define your cheeks.

•Apply blush to the apples of your cheeks, sweeping the colour up toward your hairline if you’re using a brush. Stop before the hairline so you can blend it for a natural look. If you’re using cream, liquid or stick blush, put a few dots on the apple of your cheek and blend it in, making small, circular motions with your fingertips. Start with a small amount and add more colour if needed.

Blush colours

•Pink: Any kind of pink is a good choice for lighter complexions, while cool berries and plum shades will work for deeper skin tones. Don’t use cool blush with lipsticks in brown or orange shades.

•Orange: Warm-coloured blush with orange undertones give definition to the face. Choose a shade ranging from delicate apricot, for a fair complexion, to burnt orange, for a deep skin tone. Don’t use brown or orange blush with lipsticks in cool shades.

•Neutral: Suit any complexion, and for any lip colour.

Enjoy Your Weekend Friends!!!

 

Those Dark Splotches are Age spots....

Age spots can appear any time from your thirties on – yet some women don’t get them until well into their fifties or sixties and may even escape them altogether.
No matter when you first notice them – most women hate to see those darker patches on their skin. It’s not just the fact age spots don’t look good – we associate them with aging and they seem like a constant reminder that we aren’t so young as we once were.
The truth is that age spots have very little to do with aging – they are small patches of hyperpigmentation from sun exposure and we get more of them as we age because our skin tends to have been more and more exposed to the sun the older we get.
The more time you spend out in the sun during your life the more chance you have of getting age spots – golfers, gardeners, and general fresh air fiends are all more at risk. Naturally the risk is worse if you live in a generally sunny climate – California or Florida say or most parts of Australia – the more sunlight hours the worse for your skin unfortunately.
Nowadays we are all educated to take care of our skin in the sun – most of us know we need to wear sunblock to protect from UV damage and many women wear a moisturizer or makeup base with a built in sunscreen. The problem is for many of us that the damage may have been done years ago – long before sun protection became the norm – and sun damage takes years to emerge.
Heavy sun exposure over the years – more delicate or more vulnerable skin will result in earlier age spots. The thinner skinned areas on your face and body will likely show the damage first – the backs of hands, around the eyes and the chest area.
Genetics also matter as in most things – if your parents had little sun damage despite a life outdoors then it is likely you may inherit their inbuilt resistance. Diet and lifestyle matter too – a high antioxidant diet with plenty of flavonoids from highly colored fruit and vegetables increases your bodies ability to resist the damage from free radicals like UV rays. Smoking on the other hand does the opposite.
Most age spots are painless and harmless – there’s no health risk.
On the other hand – most of us hate the look of them and they can make us feel self conscious about the way we look. Don’t put up with age spots if you are unhappy – taking action to deal with them can be a huge boost to your self esteem. Here’s a quick guide to your options for age spots treatment:

1. Topical treatments: Your first option would be to look at a cream with a high strength active ingredient for removing age spots. One route to go is a fade cream – a topical treatment that contains a skin lightening agent. In America fade creams typically contain hydroquinone but in Europe hydroquinone is not an approved ingredient and so natural alternatives like liquorice extract are often used to lighten the skin.
Alternatively topical remedies would be creams and serums with high strength ingredients to accelerate skin cell renewal. Retinol products at high concentration, vitamin C serums or skin care formulations with high levels of glycolic acid are all used to treat age spots. The appearance of hyperpigmentation is likely to lessen over time with these remedies.
The effect of a skin lightening cream or fade cream will be gradual so they become less noticeable over time. The effect of a good fade cream will be greater if combined with other anti aging products – face serums or skin peels and exfoliants which all work together to reduce the age spots.

Quality brands like skinceuticals, Skin Medica and Obagi sell high strength products in kits which are a very effective way of repairing and restoring sun damaged skin.

2. Skin resurfacing treatments: your options for removing age spots include chemical peels and microdermabrasion. You need to find a good skin clinic and discuss the best approach but bear in mind that skin peels and exfoliation are not targeted treatments – they will resurface the skin over the whole of your face. Deeper or darker areas of hyperpigmentation is unlikely to be removed this way. 

3. Laser treatments: Increasingly nowadays laser treatments are seen as the best way of removing age spots – especially where they are more severe. Laser resurfacing works in a simular way to a chemical peel by removing the outer layers of skin including the age spots or hyperpigmentation. The difference is that lasers are precisely targeted and can be directed to only the dark area of skin avoiding the unaffected skin around it. There is a downside to this precision though. The skin that grows back over the age spot after removal is likely to be much lighter than the skin around it. Instead of a dark age spot you could have a lighter spot where the hyperpigmentation has been removed. This new skin will need high sun protection and may take a while to blend in so you have even skin tone. If you have laser treatment on your face then you can use make up to achieve an even skin color and tone – but the effect of age spot removal will be more visible on other areas like your hands.

4. Cover them up: If you don’t want to spend too much money on trying to get rid of your age spots – you can always hide them from view. You’ll need a heavy duty high pigment concealer – or try a makeup made for hiding scars or skin blemishes. Match to your overall skin tone and blend with a brush before applying your normal makeup and blusher. Concealer is a good option for age spots on your face and decollete but won’t work on your hands or other areas where makeup would rub off.
Spending money on effective treatment to remove age spots is well worth it – but don’t forget to protect your skin from further damage.

Apply an anti aging sun block before heading outdoors – whatever the weather. Look out for moisturizers and make up with high SPF and make sure your sun block has both UVA and UVB protection. Boost your diet, stop smoking, moderate alcohol intake and treat your skin with the best anti aging skin care you can afford.
Age spots don’t have to make you look older than you feel.

Other home remedies

Lemon juice:

Wet a cotton ball with the lemon juice and apply the juice to your spots. It is very simple yet effective at the same time

Honey: Can be applied to an entire area, or only to the age spot. You could add a small amount of lemon juice to its application

Onions:  Simply rub a slice over the dark spot for a short time, twice a day, over a two week period, and you will notice a lightening of the spots.

Aloe Vera: Apply straight from the plant’s leaves, to your skin. It will not only give you a fresher, younger looking skin, but will also help age spots to fade.

Rosehip seed, lavender or almond oil: Massage the oil well into your skin just before bed time

Apple cider vinegar: This is an organic natural remedy. It is important that you use raw, organic apple cider vinegar rather than inferior apple cider vinegar products. Take a cotton swab, and liberally apply this solution to the affected areas, several times per day.

Sabina memorable moments....catch a glimpse of some of her wedding pictures....enjoy

The wedding photos of Nigerian actress Uche Jumbo have been released....Enjoy!!!

Caring For Dry Skin ...Enjoy and Keep Da Charm......

Dry skin is a common problem ladies face. When the skin is dry, it looks dull and rough and can cause itches.

This skin disorder could be caused by too much exposure to the sun, harsh soap and cleansers, age and even, diet.

Guides to good skin

* Ensure you moisture your skin on daily basis by using oily lotions or creams

* Apply coconut oil on your body daily

* Drink a lot of water to avoid dehydration

* Exfoliate your skin at least once a week by using a body scrub to remove dead cells

* Go for Vitamin E enriched creams

* You can also take Vitamin E capsules to strengthen the skin from within

* Take balanced diet