All-in-one Anti-Ageing Cream

Being an advocate of natural skincare I have certainly worked my way through a hefty number of natural moisturisers. It was time to try a new one.
Enter All-in-one Anti-Ageing Cream by Human+Kind.

This cream is designed for women who lack the time for lengthy beauty rituals. It is a multifunctional product designed to work as:

• an anti-ageing cream
• an eye cream
• a protective moisturiser
• a night cream

It evens out skin tone reduces fine lines and wrinkles, softens the skin and reduces the appearance of age spots. The cream is packed with concentrated active natural ingredients which are designed to heal and rejuvinate.It contains jojoba oil, marshmallow, onopordum, centella, rosehip oil and shea butter. It also contains achmella oleracea, which is apparently known as nature’s botox.
Results?
I have been using this cream for ten days. I’m quite impressed. Not only is this a great all rounder it also helped even my skin tone. It didn’t break me out but left my skin soft and moisturised. This one is definitely for normal to dry skin types. If you’re oily I recommended stearing clear of creams and looking at lotions, gels or serums instead.
It costs €29.95 which is a fair price for a product that contains so many good ingredients.

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Lancome Hydra Zen Neurocalm Moisturiser: Is it Worth it?

I have mentioned Lancome Hydra Zen Neurocalm Anti-Stress Moisturising Cream (what a mouthful) a few times on videos and M&B posts. I have re-purchased this cream 3 times. Instead of telling you that this works for me I thought I would investigate a little further.

Lancome claims that this moisturiser hydrates the skin and helps it maintain optimum moisture balance. It was designed (or marketed rather) to help skin exposed to environmental conditions that have a negative effect on the skin.
The reason I have re-purchased this product repeatedly is due to the fact that it doesn’t make my skin break out. That aside, I’m not sure that it has any other positive effects on my skin. I decided to check out the ingredients to see if there is any benefit to it at all.
According to the experts (impartial experts) this cream is very basic and ordinary. It doesn’t contain anti-oxidants which help prevent free radical damage. It doesn’t contain and SPF, this means I need to apply to creams every morning. It’s relatively unhygienic since it comes in a tub, exposing the product to bacteria on your fingers. It also exposed the product to oxygen and light which can effect the performance of certain ingredients. It’s also expensive.
A few positives are  that it is light weight and non-comodogenic which means it doesn’t block pores and this particular product is not tested on animals.
Since mentioning this product to a dermatologist and getting the inside scoop, I won’t be repurchasing. It doesn’t do what it claims. It’s a basic moisturiser and sure I can find one of those in the chemist for under €10! I’ll be looking for a product that contains SPF and antioxidants next time.

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How to: Make your own almond milk lotion

Almond milk has been used on the skin since ancient Egyptian times.  It’s  full of linoleic acids and minerals which help nourish and cleanses the skin. It leaves the skin soft and improves clarity. This is suitable for all skin types but particularly useful for those with normal to dry, dry or ageing skin.
It’s quick, easy and cheap to make. When I make a bottle of this lotion I use it twice daily for one week. I throw out the remainder after this time. I make a new bottle every 2 – 3 months and use as a treatment.
Ingredients

• 40g ground almonds (almond meal)
• 1.5 tablespoons of organic honey
• 400ml of still bottled water

Add the honey and almonds to the water. Stir until the honey has dissolved. Leave to rest for 2.5 hours. Filter and pour into a covered bottle (I once used a small airtight lunch box). Store it in the fridge.
Apply the lotion morning and evening to clean skin and let it work it’s mag

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How to Make your own Cleanser: Normal Skin

Well ladies, here’s another DIY skincare recipe that’s so easy to make and leaves your skin fresh and cleansed.
Yoghurt and strawberries are gentle cleansers, whilst lavender soothes skin.
The ingredients your need to make this gentle cleanser for Normal skin types:

• 1 Fresh Strawberry
• 1 Tablespoon plain whole-milk Yoghurt
• 1 drop Lavender essential oil

Crush the stawberry and combine the yoghurt and juice. Add the lavender and mix together well. Dampen your face with warm water and massage the mixture in for one minute. Rinse with warm water.

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Make Your Own: Warm Cuticle Oil

I am plagues by rough cuticles. I like to whip up my own oil on the weekends. Why spend money when you don’t have to!

• 60ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 5 Drops Lavender Essential Oil
• 2 Drops Lemon Essential Oil

Warm the olive oil gently until it’s warm (not hot or you’ll scald your fingers off!) Stir in the essential oils. Leave your finger tips to soak for a few minutes. If you cover the mixture when you’re finished you can reuse it a few times.

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Make you own: Aromatherapy Moisturising Oil

If you’re sick of spending your hard earned cash on expensive creams and fancy taking a stroll down the natural route I have just the thing. I made myself a batch yesterday and my skin in soaking up the goodness as we speak (while I scoff banoffee)
This recipe makes a moisturising oil for normal skin. You only need three ingredients:

• 7 drops Lavender Essential Oil (high quality)
• 3 Drops Geranium Essential Oil (High quality)
• 30ml Jojoba Oil

Jojoba mimics the skins natural oils and doesn’t leave a greasy residue whilst Lavender and Geranium soothe the skin. Pour the ingredients into a small, sterilized glass bottle. (a tincture bottle from the chemist will do fine. You can also get these on ebay)

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Make You Own Skincare: Yoghurt Hand Mask

This mask is my favourite for smooth and soft hands

• 1 Tablespoon Rolled Oats
• 1 Tablespoon Plain Full Fat Yoghurt
• 1 Teaspoon Almond Oil
• 1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
• 2 Drops Frankincense Essential Oil

Use a blender or pestal and mortar to grind up the oats. Add all of the other ingredients  and mix well. Apply the mask to damp, freshly washed hands. Relax for 20 minutes. Wash it  off with warm water and finish with some moisturising cream.

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How to Make Your Own: Oatmeal Bath

This is a simple way to soothe sensitive skin. This bath is great for dry, itchy skin. It will also soothe a rash.

• 10 Drops Chamomile Essential Oil (or Lavender Essential Oil)
• 200g Rolled Oats

Use a blender to grind down the oats until they look like powder. Add them into your bath water.Add the essential oil and stir the bath water. Relax for at least 20 minutes in the bath. It’s best to avoid any other bubble bath, shower gel, shampoo and other products with chemicals as they may irritate your skin and negate the effects of the oil and oats. Pat your skin dry.
I love baths like this when it’s cold out. It feels like heaven and my skin feels so soft afterwards.
Check out more posts from this series if you are interested in making your own skincare.

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Make You Own Skincare: Body Scrub Puree

This recipe makes a rich moisturising scrub. I think it’s particularly good for dry or sensitive skin. Instead of using salts or sugar, the almonds in this scrub exfoliate the skin gently. The cucumber soothes any inflammation. All you need is

• 110g Ripe Avocado
• 40g Ground Almond
• 110g Cucumbers

Whip the advocado and cucumber together in a blender, add the almonds and smooth into a puree. Massage into damp skin to slough off any dead skin. Rinse and pat the skin dry.
I make this every once in a while whenever I fancy a gentle body exfoliator.

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Jojoba oil – Beauty benefits & uses

My skin has recently been reeping the rewards of Jojaba oil. I add a little to my soaps and my night serum. Since it’s so widely accessible I thought I’d share a little about its benefits and uses. I’m all on for affordable ways to improve  my skin.
What is Jojoba?
Jojoba is a liquid wax obtained from the seeds of a Mexican shrub. Native Americans once used it to heal wounds. Now it’s mainly used for beauty purposes.
The benefits of Jojoba

• It’s gentle and non-irritating
• The composition of Jojoba is similar to skins natural sebum so it absorbs quickly leaving no residue
• Non greasy
• Prevents the skin from becoming too oily
• Reduces sebum production which is great for acne sufferers.
• Very moisturising, improves the skins condition
• Promotes healing
• Contains antimicrobial properties which prevent the growth of many bacterias and fungus
• Allergic reaction is very rare.
• Doesn’t clog pores
• Suitable for sensitive skin
• Acts as an environmental barrier for the skin
• Contains Vitamin E, B complex, chromium, zinc, iodine and copper

The uses for Jojoba

• Excellent moisturiser: Makes an excellent non-irritating moisturiser. It doesn’t evaporate like water based moisturisers. Use it alone or add to your own  moisturiser.
• Anti Acne - reduces sebum production and antibacterial
• Hair conditioner: use it on its own or mix a few drops of jojoba oil into your conditioner. It can be added to dry hair to make it shiny. Jojoba moisturises the scalp, helping prevent dandruff.
• Lip Balm: Use at night on the lips
• Make-up Remover: Doesn’t irritate or clog pores
• Treatment: For acne,sensitive skin, psoriasis, eczema and dermatitis
• Shaving: Helps prevent razor burn whilst nourishing the skin
• Soap: Use a few drops in homemade soap or add a little into a liquid soap
• Massage oil: Use a small amount, it won’t clog your pores

I picked a bottle of Jojoba from my local Natures Way shop. I recommend a certified organic variety to avoid pesticides.

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Scrub for a Blemished Back or Chest

There is nothing worse than a breakout on the delicate skin on your chest or your back. I know this a common problem but that we ladies tend not to bring it up.
I hate the idea of applying a shower gel designed for breakouts. They can dry the rest of your skin. It also means that you are using plenty of chemicals that you don’t need.
I have come across quite a few men that suffer from breakouts on their back. In my experience this tends to be diet related. One of the worst culprits are protein shakes (for men who are trying to build muscle). The body reacts to excesses of any food. The skin often breaks out when the body is trying to get rid of these excesses. In these cases you will often see boils and blind pimples that are coming from inside the body rather then a blocked pore.
If you regularly suffer from large, painful boils or acne or your back it could be down to a reaction to your skin care products. If in doubt, try organic products for a month and see if there is a difference. Many of our shower gels, shampoos and creams contain known skin irritants (used by manufacturers because they are cheap).
Here is a gentle scrub designed for your back and chest.
All you need:

• 1 handful Oatmeal
• 1 handful ground almonds
• 2 Drops Lemon Essential Oil
• 2 Drops Thyme linalol Oil

Lash it all together in a bowl and apply to damp skin. Massage well and rinse with warm water. Repeat a couple a times a weeks if you’re breaking out

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Rasberry skin brightener

This is an old favourite of mine. My friend and I used to make this when we were 14 before the kiddie disco on a Friday evening, ah the memories (at that time I took my fashion inspiration from the Spicegirls, Baby Spice to be exact).
This recipe is best suited for normal to oily skin which makes it great for  those prone to breakouts. You only need three ingredients, occasionally I have done it with only two (leaving out the essential oil). This recipe contains AHA’s and lactic acid. The AHA’s in the raspberries act as a gentle exfoliator and the lactic acid in the yoghurt (yes, that’s how we spell it this side of the Atlantic) brightens the skin.

• 2 tablespoons of plain yoghurt
• 75g raspberries
• 2 drops Sweet Orange essential oil

Mash up the raspberries or pop them into the blender. Sieve the pulp over a bowl. Add the flesh of the rasberries and the seeds into the yoghurt with 2 drops or sweet orange essential oil. Cleanse your face, apply the mixture all over, leaving the eye area clear. Put your feet up for 20 minutes. Rinse the mask off with warm water and a pat with a damp muslin cloth (if you use an ordinary face cloth be very gentle). Avoid rubbing your skin dry, instead pat.

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Make your own Peanut butter Scrub

I’m having a Saturday night in. Sad, I know but I’m determined to enjoy my night regardless. Whilst many of you are out painting the town red, I’m elbow deep in peanut butter whilst wearing a t-shirt that reads  “and so the lion fell in love with the lamb”. Twilight nerding aside this mask is really delicious and I only used 3 ingredients from my kitchen. It left my skin silky smooth.
All you need:

• 40g crunchy peanut butter
• 20g finely ground sea salt
• 25ml almond oil (use olive oil instead if you don’t have any)

I mixed the peanut butter with the sea salt. Then I stirred in the almond oil. I rubbed it on damp skin and massaged well.
Whether you’re out on the town or curled up on front of the tv I hope you have a spectacular night.

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Make your own hot oil hair treatment

I’m on a mission to look after my hair. As you know I had the 12 week blow-dry a few weeks ago so I need to keep any type of sodium away from my hair. That means using organic haircare or making my own. I have limited access to ingredients here in the Canaries but I do have a few essential oils and some olive oil.
I have it on good authority (the professional kind) that this DIY hot oil treatment will do the same for your hair as a salon treatment so off I go, let the mission continue.
All I used was…

• 40 ml Olive oil
• 8 drops of sandalwood essential oil

This treatment is great for dry, colour treated, frizzy, course, unmanageable or permed hair. My hair is quite brittle so I’m onboard with this one.
I warmed the olive oil gently in a saucepan until it is warm. I then added the sandalwood and stirred. I covered my dry hair in the oil and combed it through in sections, root to tip. I also massaged some of the oil into my scalp. I marched around the villa with my hair wrapped in a huge towel for about 20 minutes, glass of wine in one hand, bar of chocolate in the other. I then shampooed twice with my shampoo and conditioned as normal.
The results were better than I expected. My hair is smooth and feels silky. The ends of my hair look much better. I will never buy a hot oil, chemical laden treatment again. No more laziness Amy!
I highly recommend this treatment. It’s well worth it!

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How to: Make your own almond milk lotion

Almond milk has been used on the skin since ancient Egyptian times.  It’s  full of linoleic acids and minerals which help nourish and cleanses the skin. It leaves the skin soft and improves clarity. This is suitable for all skin types but particularly useful for those with normal to dry, dry or ageing skin.
It’s quick, easy and cheap to make. When I make a bottle of this lotion I use it twice daily for one week. I throw out the remainder after this time. I make a new bottle every 2 – 3 months and use as a treatment.
Ingredients

• 40g ground almonds (almond meal)
• 1.5 tablespoons of organic honey
• 400ml of still bottled water

Add the honey and almonds to the water. Stir until the honey has dissolved. Leave to rest for 2.5 hours. Filter and pour into a covered bottle (I once used a small airtight lunch box). Store it in the fridge.
Apply the lotion morning and evening to clean skin and let it work it’s magic.

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Egg white & cucumber mask for dry or ageing skin

Make your own skincare time. I tried this one myself yesterday.
This mask is great for dry, combination, ageing or damaged skin. It tones, cleanses, reduces inflammation and hydrates the skin – all from ingredients in your kitchen cupboard.
You also get the added benefit of knowing exactly what you are putting onto your skin.
All you need:

• 1 large egg white
• 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tablespoons of grated fresh  cucumber
• Witchhazel
• Still bottle water

Beat the egg until it forms still peaks. I’m a weed to I use the electric mixer. Fold in the orange juice and cucumber, stir gently.
Smear the mixture onto your skin and leave for 20 minutes. I wiped mine off with cotton wool pads and bottled water. I like to finish diy masks by applying a little witchazel to the skin as a toner.
It keeps for 1 day in the fridge so I tend to apply the mask twice or share with my mum :)

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Miracle Whip – a Miracle Beauty Cream! Skin Rejuvination

A friend of mine once told me that her mother swore by using Miracle Whip, yes the icky salad cream, as an exfoliator. This woman has the most amazing skin so I put my mild revulsion aside and decided to give it a try. Nobody said make-up and beauty blogging was pretty! I was informed that the ingredients in Miracle Whip remove dead flaky skin. It also helps normalise excessively oily skin.

• Firstly, tie back your hair – unless you want to experiment with the effects of Miracle Whip on the hair! If you do, let me know how you get on :)
• Next, apply a thin layer on your face and neck, avoiding the the eye area.
• Leave on for 10 minutes and then massage gently. The dead skin cells roll off with the salad cream.
• Rinse your skin with warm water. Follow with your usual skin regime.

A word of warning – it stinks to high heaven! Vinegar is responsible for the smell but is probably responsible for the amazing effects too so I can’t complain. It also feels oily and weird but after 3 minutes it melted onto my skin.
My skin was in such a state, thanks to the flu. I am delighted to report that all of the flaky dry skin is gone and my skin feels smooth and tight. I’m quite surprised.
I also heard that Miracle Whip can be applied a few times a week for 5 – 6 weeks to reach skin rejuvenation.
Consider me on board! I’ll keep you updated on my progress.
Maybe the manufacturers should rename it – ‘Miracle Cream’ has a nice ring to it!

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Remove product build-up from your hair

If you are a hair product junkie like me you are familiar with the downside to this addiction – Build-up. It makes your hair look dull and lifeless. You can use a clarifying shampoo to sort out the problem but if you have colour treated hair I wouldn’t recommend this.
One of the quickest ways to remove product build-up from the hair naturally is to use Baking Soda. A baking soda hair wash cleans out the excess product, remove impurities, and cleanses your hair naturally.
All you have to do is put two tablespoons of baking soda into a cupful of warm water. Mix with a fork until the mixture resembles  a paste. Then apply the paste to damp hair. Massage and ensure even distribution. I wash it out immediately after massaging it in.
It feels weird  at first, especially when you are used to suddy shampoo. It feels a little gritty, exactly what you expect from putting baking powder in your hair I suspect :)
Take your time when rinsing to make sure the baking soda is completely washed out of your hair. You want to avoid any residue. You don’t have to follow with shampoo and conditioner as your hair should feel squeaky clean. That being said, I usually do. I’m not entirely sure what -probably because I’m a slave to routine.
Hair products work so much better after some clarification so I like to do this once a month to clear gunk out of my hair. Some people use baking soda as a shampoo. Personally I wouldn’t go that far but I’m happy with the effects once a month.

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Make your own Healing Mask

This blend can be used on damaged, dry, mature or sensitive skin. The recipe will last for one month and it only takes 5 minutes to prepare. The ingredients are very especially beneficial for ageing skin. Expensive skin care products often use these ingredients, but in minuscule proportions. Making your own treatment costs a fraction of the price, you have the benefit of knowing exactly what your putting on your skin and you have everything you need to make the treatment again.
You need

• Still bottled water
• 9 drops Geranium Oil
• 6 Empty Evening Primrose Oil Capsules (the oil inside)
• 20ml Wheatgerm Oil
• 20ml Rosehip Oil

Pour rosehip, wheatgerm and evening primrose oil into a dark, clean bottle. Add the Geranium oil, close and shake.
This treatment mask can be used twice a day. Apply to damp, clean skin using cotton wool. This recipe is suitable for the eye area. Apply a thin film and leave it to absorb for 20 minutes.
If you have dry or mature skin you can go ahead and apply your make-up after the allotted time. If you have normal skin I recommend some oil blotting paper first.

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DIY Thigh, Bum & Hip Scrub

This scrub contains oils that are perfect for bums and thighs. This is amazing for sloughing off dead skin on these areas, revealing fresh skin. The combination of cornmeal, which acts as a great natural scrubber, oils and massage stimulate lymphatic drainage which helps the body eliminate toxins.
All you need:
- 2 tbsp Grapeseed oil
- 6 Drops Juniper Essential Oil
- 3 Drops Lemon Essential Oil
- 80g Cornmeal (from your local supermarket)

Mix the oils by shaking them in a bottle or jar with the lid on. Shake well. Pour the oil over the cornmeal and mix until it looks like a gritty paste.
Apply it to damp skin and massage well for at least two minutes. The more energy you put into the massage the better the results. If you want to increase the effects you can use a muslin cloth or massage mit instead of your hands.
You can also use this scrub on your upper arms and feet.
This is one of my favorites. It stimulates my circulation and lymphatic system. It also leaves my skin baby soft for weeks. If your skin is in a bad way and in need of some rescuing try this twice a week for a few weeks.
I keep on top of exfoliation weekly so I only resort to this mask when my skin is in a bad way, usually once of twice every season.
Have you any exfoliation tips you can share with us?

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