Make your own DIY Face Masks with everyday household ingredients. Here's a list of the 10 most common and how you can use them.
Face Care
Healthy Skin Month: Tips for that Beautiful Face & Scrumptious Lips
Healthy Habits, Lip Care, Face CareCommentEVERYDAY TIPS FOR HEALTHY SKIN.
👩 For That Beautiful Face 👩
Wash your face when waking, before bed & after sweating.
Washing when you wake up in the morning removes the dirt & bacteria that settle on your face while sleeping. Before bed, you want to remove all makeup & grime, such as smog, smoke, or dirt. Need we explain why washing your face is good to do after sweating?
IMPORTANT! Gently wash your face.
Gentle cleansing helps skin look its absolute best. We’re serious!
To gently cleanse your face, wet it with lukewarm water. Then apply your cleanser of choice, applying the cleanser in a circular motion with your fingers. Complete your routine by rinsing off the cleanser & patting your skin dry with your favorite soft, clean towel.
Wear sunnies to stop under-eye wrinkles. 😎
Use a jade roller for your under eye bags.
Sweat it out! 🚴♀️🧘♀️
GET CAFFEINATED TO LOOK WIDE AWAKE.
Your best bet when it comes to getting rid of puffiness? Try a shot of caffeine – and we don’t mean the one in your morning latte. Caffeine constricts the vessels beneath the eye, which are responsible for causing the darker appearance.
Look for an eye cream with caffeine near the top of the ingredient list – that way you know it plays a starring role in the formula.
Massage your face for circulation.
A Face massage can boost circulation & help tone the muscles in your face & neck. Spending even just
5 minutes a night will help improve skin’s elasticity.
Just like your body, the muscles in your face can become lazy with age. Adding this simple step to your routine will hugely improve the firmness of your skin.
E X F O L I A T E ! E X F O L I A T E ! E X F O L I A T E ! E X F O L I A T E ! E X F O L I A T E !
Exfoliate for smaller pores. Enlarged pores are actually one of the most common skin complaints for men & women.
Pores appear larger when they're filled with dirt, oil, dead skin cells & keratin (a protein that lives on the surface of skin). Remove that yucky build-up so your pores have the ability to shrink.
To clear out the gunk, exfoliate 2-3x a week. Reach for a gentle exfoliator–like our Coconut Ambre Vanille Body & Face Scrub with activated charcoal. The charcoal will help you suck out the yuck. Hello, glowing skin!
👄 For Those Scrumptious Lips 👄
Coat Your Lips With a Lip Butter Before Applying Lipstick.
This will ensure you that your lips are moisturized in spite of the Lipstick. Apply a Lip Butter for a moisturizing pout or even one of our Moisturizing Lip Tints. If you choose to wear Lipstick, avoid Matte (as they tend to dry out lips). Try a Crème or Satin finish.
Or TRY one of our delicious Lip Tints!
S C R U B - A - D U B ! S C R U B - A - D U B D U B ! S C R U B - A - D U B D U B ! S C R U B - A - D U B D U B !
EXFOLIATE FOR soft, smoochable lips
Lip scrubbing helps you to get rid of dead skin cells and leftover makeup. It helps your lip balm penetrate and re-balances that lipid layer. There are two steps to effectively exfoliate your lips:
Using a damp cloth or soft-bristled toothbrush, gently rub off any leftover makeup residue, dead or dry skin. This technique will also boost circulation to your lips.
2. Once you’re done sloughing your lips, smooth on a hydrating lip butter or conditioner to lock in moisture. When going outdoors, make sure to apply a lip butter that has an SPF to protect your lips from the harmful sun (we recommend ours)!
Moisturize with Aloe Vera …
You can purchase pure aloe vera gel or even crack a leaf from an aloe plant in your home for this remedy. Aloe vera has soothing & healing properties, helping lips to look their best.
OR with Vitamin E!
If you have vitamin E capsules, you can simply cut one open & apply the product right to your lips. Vitamin E boosts circulation & may help generate new skin cells, making your lips softer.
Quit LICKING your lips WHEN THEY FEEL DRY.
apply A GENEROUS AMOUNT OF lip butter before bed.
🍋 Wake up lips with citrus 🍋
Using a few drops of lemon juice, you can make your lips appear brighter and slough off dead skin. Just rub the lemon juice on to your skin and watch your skin brighten up before your eyes. You can also try using our SPF 30 Grapefruit, Citrus or Key Lime Lip Butter for this purpose as well 🥰
Have any suggestions? Leave your advice in the comment section below!
Healthy Skin Month: Why Your Skin Microbiome is Essential for a Beautiful, Healthy Glow
Healthy Habits, Face Care, Skin CareComment
WHAT IS SKIN MICROBIOME?
Just like your gut, your skin is home to an eco-system of billions of beneficial living microorganisms (bacteria, fungi and viruses) which live in and on your skin. This eco-system is our skin microbiome. A well-balanced microbiome works to keep your skin healthy and in good condition.
How does your microbiome affect your skin?
Your skin microbiome impacts what your skin looks and feels like day-to-day. A diverse microbiome is associated with skin health and can lead to more glowing, radiant and healthy-looking skin. The skin microbiome can assist in wound healing, limits allergen and UV radiation exposure, minimizes oxidative damage and helps keep the skin barrier intact and well hydrated. It also fights off threats by external factors such as bacterial transfer from external surfaces, certain cosmetic products, detergents and antimicrobials such as hand sanitizers. Keeping these microorganisms in balance may help to protect skin from certain conditions.
What happens if your microbiome is out of balance?
Inflammation can arise as the result of an imbalance or lack of diversity of the microbiome and manifest as acne, eczema or rosacea. When the balance shifts towards the bad bacteria, skin irritation or blemishes can develop.
How to nurture your skin biome for glowing, healthy skin
Nurturing your microbiome starts with being gentle to your skin. Here are some hints:
1. Stop using harsh soaps. Our growing soap usage may overly strip the skin which leads to redness, sensitivity and dryness. Avoid antibacterial soaps and eliminate harsh synthetic chemicals like sulfates (SLS/SLES). Sulfates are harsh detergents used for their foam-building properties and can cause skin irritation. Choose natural soaps for a kinder, gentler cleansing. Natural Inspirations has two gentle soap options that you might like — a bar soap and a liquid soap. They are sulfate free and still deliver a beautiful, moisturizing, skin-loving lather.
2. Don’t wash too often. Our obsession with cleanliness may be doing more harm than good for our skin microbiome. Clean only when you really need to – before bed to remove makeup, after a workout or an especially sweaty day -- to help maintain the skin’s natural oils and microbial balance.
3. Don’t use hot water in your shower or bath. Hot water washes away skin’s protective oils and can damage your skin cells which can cause broken capillaries and rashes. Rather, aim for lukewarm water and limiting your time to 10-15 minutes.
4. Hydrate – inside and out. Regular underhydrating can negatively affect your skin’s microbiome. Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day and use a microbiome-pampering moisturizer with humectants like glycerin. We have wonderful moisturizers that will LOVE your skin!
5. Sweat often. There is evidence that sweat may contribute to healthy skin bacteria.
6. Go natural. Wear natural clothing fibers like cotton, linen, hemp and bamboo to keep the skin flora in balance with other parts of your body including the armpits and groin area. Man-made synthetic fibers like polyester provide a welcoming environment for odor-causing bacteria and may harbor bacteria that are out of balance with the normal skin ecosystem.
Our skin is the largest organ of our body.
Most of us don’t give it enough credit for the incredibly efficient, exceedingly complex protective job it does for us. Anything we can do to create a healthy environment for our skin microbiome will help us to look our positively glowing best!
