December 29, 2009
Posted by Sarah
Snow, for winter weather enthusiasts, is a happy sign of the season, but for those of us who don’t have our sleigh handy, it can make everyday tasks, including a trip to the drugstore, nearly impossible. If you’re unable to make it out of the house over the holidays, here are a few fast fixes that you can concoct from the comfort of your own home.
Drugstore buy: Chapstick
At-home solution: Honey-olive lip balm
This ingredient list for this tasty formula may sound more like a Mediterranean treat than a fix for scaly skin, but this potion packs serious emollient power.
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon canola oil, 2 teaspoons honey, 1 teaspoon orange oil or extract (optional), 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon oil or extract (optional)
Stir ingredients together in a bowl until well mixed. Apply to lips as needed.
Drugstore buy: Acne mask Read more...
November 25, 2009
Posted by copley
Better known as a starchy side dish than a skincare ingredient, potatoes are a turkey’s most loyal posse on the Thanksgiving table. But do they also warrant a place in your cosmetics? Potatoes are stuffed with benefits to help you achieve clearer and younger-looking skin. Its abundant vitamins and minerals (potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, vitamin B, and vitamin C among them) can be just as nourishing for your skin as your body. Should you be telling your skin to eat its veggies too?
Believe it or not, your skin may already be consuming potatoes behind your back. A couple of popular ingredients in skincare products are derived from the humble potato. Maltodextrin, a polysaccharide extracted from potatoes (as well as rice and corn), binds to other compounds and helps stabilize cosmetic formulas. But its uses don’t stop there. In 2002, Unilever filed a patent submitting that maltodextrin enhances the anti-aging activity of hydroxy acids and reduces skin irritation associated with weak carboxylic acids. Read more...
November 19, 2009
Posted by copley
Regardless of age or climate, all skin types can be afflicted with particularly visible pores. Some causes of pore enlargement include hereditary factors, pollution, exposure to sun, bad eating habits (consumption of sugar and fat), smoking (which increases sebum secretion), and poor skin hygiene. The accumulation of sebum and impurities around the edges of pores makes them more conspicuous. And improper exfoliation of skin cells lets pores get plugged up. As sebum is produced by the skin’s oil glands, it cannot reach the surface and starts accumulating inside the pore, expanding its diameter. Dead skin cells, oils, and bacteria pool in this follicular opening, often leading to the formation of blackheads (medically termed “open comedones”) owing to oxygenation. Read more...
November 4, 2009
Posted by copley
The Halloween holiday has put us in the mood to do some role playing. Whether it’s experimenting in our mad scientist labs or whipping up cauldrons of witch’s brew, we are getting serious about preparing potions from scratch. And it’s clear from all the comments and emails pouring in that we are not alone. We want to know what has worked for you, and what hasn’t, so we can all save time and money in the pursuit of the perfect Make Your Own cosmetic concoction. We’ve gotten a conversation started in the community area and are waiting for your recipe contributions. The best one will get a Halloween treat with a time-reversing trick! Read more...
October 28, 2009
Posted by copley
Black licorice is not exactly an acquired taste. Quite simply, you love it or you hate it. Either way, you will hardly get any therapeutic benefits from licorice candy, which contains little to no actual licorice. The roots of real licorice (otherwise known as liquorice, sweet root, and glycyrrhiza glabra) contain coumarins, flavonoids, volatile oils, plant sterols, and glycyrrhizin. Packed with hundreds of potentially healing substances, licorice root has been used worldwide to treat a variety of ailments including asthma, baldness, body odor, bursitis, chronic fatigue, dandruff, depression, gout, yeast infections, tooth problems, and of course, skin conditions.
In traditional Chinese medicine, licorice is one of the most common drugs, drawn on for everything from the common cold to liver disease. The herb is highly esteemed for its soothing effects on inflamed membranes and its expectorant properties in removing phlegm and mucus from the respiratory tract. In both East and West, it is popular for relief from respiratory ailments (i.e. allergies, bronchitis, sore throats), as well as acid reflux, heartburn, and digestive tract inflammation. A recent survey of Western medical herbalists placed licorice as the 10th most important herb used in clinical practice. Read more...
