Head-to-Toe Beauty Secrets: Skin

Beautiful Skin Secret #1: Top secret to great skin? WATER ~ drink it up!

Did you know that:

1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half the world population.)
2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.
3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as 3%.
4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.
5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain or up to 80% of sufferers.
7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a ! printed page.
8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

~ shamelessly lifted from Bits & Pieces

Beautiful Skin Secret #2: sleep ~'tis called beauty sleep for a reason. Turn the computer off and go to bed.

Beautiful Skin Secret#3: Remember how amazingly light and pretty your windows were after you washed them? It's the same with your skin after you exfoliate. Get that dead skin out of here! You know, don't you, that dust is mostly dead skin? If you don't want it sitting around your house, why on earth would you leave it clinging to your skin? There are a zillion products to try. I recommend using something mild enough to use daily. Because an exfoliant does not stay on your skin long enough to be absorbed -- as compared to lotions -- you should use the cheapest one you are happy with. Just use one.

In case you care, I use LUSH's Angels on Bare Skin Cleanser, but as we are on a real tight budget right now I probably will replace it with a drug store product when I run out. I use it every day or two.

Beautiful Skin Secret #4: lotions and potions ~ buy the cheapest make-up (except foundation) you can get away with and the best skin-care you can afford. Lotions, creams, and foundations are absorbed into your body and you don't want junk in there. I used Clinque until I was 30, Lancome until I was in my early 40s, and LUSH for the last few years. I'm pretty happy with my skin. I switched over to LUSH from Lancome because it was cheaper and the ingredient list is more wholesome and I like the results better. I use these: Mirror Mirror, Gorgeous, and Skin's Shangri La Moisturizer.

Beautiful Skin Secret #5: If I could only have one beauty product it would be Dream Cream Body Cream. It is hands-down the best body cream I have ever used. It soothes bug bites and sunburns and miscellaneous rashes that I am prone to, softens crusty feet, makes sun & chlorine dried skin look glowy, and can be used as a make-up remover in a pinch. I can never have too many little pots of dream cream (hinty-hint-hint).