Beauty Basics - Eight Tips For Naturally Beautiful Skin
By Ololade Franklin
Not sure what to look for when choosing cosmetics?
Need some advice on taking care of your skin? Here are eight tips
to help your skin look and feel it's best.
1) Select moisturizers made with vegetable oils. The
lotions, creams and body oils that you use should be made with vegetable
oils, not mineral oil. Vegetable oils, (like olive oil, sweet almond
oil, corn oil, etc.) contain fatty acids which help to moisturize
and soften the skin. Mineral oil is derived from petroleum and does
not contain anything that helps to nourish the skin.
2) Look for herbs and herbal derivatives in your cosmetics.
Herbs and their derivatives (essential oils, extracts, infusions)
contain natural chemicals which soothe, tone and help condition the
skin. Two herbs which are especially useful in natural cosmetics are
Lavender and Tea tree. The essential oils of both lavender and tea
tree are gentle, natural antiseptics.
3) Once a week soak your feet in warm water, and gently
exfoliate dead skin with a pumice stone. Follow up by moisturizing
your feet with a natural foot oil or foot lotion.
4) Every week soak in a tub of bath salts. Salt, especially
salts mined from the Dead Sea in the Middle East, are rich in minerals
and help draw impurities out of the skin.
5) After a shower or bath, seal in moisture by using
a body oil or lotion made from natural vegetable oils.
6) If you have blemishes and your skin is dry, moisturize
your skin in the morning and at night with products that contain vegetable
oils which are high in essential fatty acids. Essential fatty acids
help to soften and hydrate the skin and they can also help soothe
minor irritations. Vegetable oils that contain large amounts of essential
fatty acids are: corn oil, sunflower seed oil, safflower oil, borage
oil, blackcurrant seed oil and evening primrose oil.
7) Look for toners and astringents that are made without
ethyl alcohol, rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol. These ingredients
are solvents that are extremely drying to the skin.
8) Every time you wash your hands, moisturize them
with a natural lotion or cream to help them stay soft.
Ololade Franklin publishes Making Good Scents(TM), a newsletter
for people who make their own bath and body care products. For information
about Making Good Scents(TM) visit http://www.MakingGoodScents.com
