Second Week at the Beauty Camp

Sometimes, life becomes so hectic that you have to shift your priorities. I had so many presentations and exams during the last two weeks that I couldn’t find time to blog! Now that my exams are over and I have a rest time of more than two weeks, I am back to blogging and I am continuing the beauty camp thingy…

Well…the second week According to Dr. Loretta is all about knowing the ingredients in our various cream and learning purpose of various ingredients. I would list the important ingredient which she has given in her book, the tricks to read labels and some tips of their usage. Here you go…

Tricks of the Label-Reading Trade

Trick #1: As a rule of thumb, if an ingredient is one of the last five in the list of the product label, then you won’t be getting enough of the ingredient to make a difference in your skin. The exceptions are Retinoids; they will always be less than 1%, and always appear last on the list.

Trick #2: Learn to know the common preservatives in skin-care products. ( by law, skin-care products must contain preservatives) Among the common preservatives in skin-care products:
--Caprylyl Glycol
--Citric Acid
--Diazolidinyl Urea
--DMDM hydantoin
--Parabens
--Pentylene Glycol
--Sorbic Acid

Trick #3: The internet is a valuable resource for tracking down information on uses and effectiveness of a particular ingredient.

Trick #4: For shopping trips and explorations, you may want to buy: Milady’s Skin Care and Cosmetic Ingredients Dictionary, by Natalie Michalun. Noth are available in paperback and handy.

Favorite Ingredients:

The ingredients which have an asterisk(*) before a particular name is a must-have thing. You may want to include it in your daily regimen.

Algae Peptides:
(Brand name: Apt; INCI name: water, Butylene glycol, ahnfeltia, concinna extract)

Peptides in skin-care are quite a rage. It can penetrate the epidermis to reach the skin layer. IT helps in rapid, visible changes- tightening and appearance of firming.

Aloe Vera: it is effective in soothing and reducing inflammation, healing wounds; it exfoliates the skin, and acts as a natural calming agent.

*Alpha Hydroxy acid: is the chemical description of a group of ingredients that includes glycolic, lactic and malic acid. Glycolic acid is a very popular anti-aging ingredient. It acts as an exfoliant, gives a glow to skin.
*Antioxidants: It also prevents aging and skin cancer as a result of sun exposure, pollution or smoking.
Bentonite: Also known as American white clay, it can absorb oil and tighten skin.
Benzoyl Peroxide: Tried and tested acne treatment
Camphor: tightening ingredient and is wonderful for short-term use.
Chamomile: this flower imparts a calming effect
*Glycerin
Hyaluronic Acid: its an effective moisturizing agent without any potential for irritation.
*Hydroquinone: is a chemical that prevents skin cells from making new pigment. It’s a very effective bleaching agent- the best in any fade preparation – and works well on age spots, brown dots. IT also works well on under-eye circles.
Papaya: dissolves dead cells from skin’s surface
Peptides: for tighter, firmer skin
Retinoids: are vitamin A derivatives that act as antioxidant, antipigment, and exfoliant agents.

Hmmph…that was a long list! I think I am done with this book now. It’s more of an ingredient and their advantages than anything else…Now that we know the basic ingredients found in our face creams, let’s move on!

Tomorrow, I would write tips from another book on beauty and I am finding it much more interesting and useful than this one…

Till then…

The first day at beauty camp

The first day activity in the so-called beauty camp would be:

----Taking our pictures in various poses- laughing, listening, talking, and smiling. The point is to capture your face at the best angle. You don’t need to show them to anyone. It would be required to compare with your picture after the last day at beauty camp you see.

In Dr. Loretta’s own words,

“When a patient focuses on an almost invisible detail- a few thin lines above her lips, pores that seem too large, a chicken pox scar from childhood- then I know she is examining herself with a high-powered magnifying mirror. She isn’t seeing her whole face anymore.”


----Second activity is to analyze the photo and try to find our best face features and also some uninvited elements on our faces. By uninvited elements, I mean anything you want to get rid of – blackheads, freckles, wrinkles, fine lines, redness, flaking, scales, dark circles…etc.

And the most important activity: Facial exercises!

• The smiling exercise: this is terrific for firming your jawline, minimizing lip lines and lifting the corners of the mouth. Begin by pressing your lips tightly together to form a wide closemouthed smile. Then slowly part your lips into a broad grin. Open your mouth wider-and wider still. Hold for 4 minutes! (Now that would be a task!)

• The meat-chewing exercise: Extend your neck upward to tilt your head back as far as it goes comfortably. The muscle that you feel stretched is called platysma. Keeping your head tilted back, open and close your mouth until you feel a pull on your neck.
  
  Other things to learn and do this week:


• Get 30 minutes more sleep each night.


• Use 400-thread count, all cotton pillowcases- most of us sleep with our faces scrunched against our pillows. Basically, the pillowcase is our mask for that 8-hour of sleep. Therefore, the surface should be fine enough and soft enough not to cause any irritation!
  Wash your pillowcases, towels in all free clear laundry detergent to avoid any kind of irritation.

The first day at the camp ends! Basically, it was nothing but preparation for the days ahead. Tomorrow, I would write about various ingredients in our face cream and significance of each of them.

On beauty and my apprehensions...

The other day, I was looking at myself in the mirror, preening, observing and feeling smug-“oh, now that I have started drinking lots of water, my skin feels hydrated…yeah, the under eye dark circles look better now…hmmm…but why do my face still looks dry? Is it the weather? Or is it the sun? Oh not again! Now that I am looking carefully, I think I still have dark circles…sigh…and these brown spots, yuck! They are so ungainly! Why is my face not glowing? That last Neutrogena cream I used promised so! What do I do about them???? …..and the self-criticism goes on and on…It always starts with feeling good about myself but stealthily takes an abrupt turn towards the road to apprehension…

So after this experience, I decided to deal with this apprehension once and for all. I searched the web for tips on ‘healthy skin’…I went to the EP library and picked up two so-called bestselling books on healthy skin. Since I was so driven to get rid of this problem, I read both the books in a day’s time!! Am I not wonderful? ;)

Having read those books, I felt empowered to tackle the ever-increasing problem of us women. So, I have decided to put down the important tips or technical details given in those books for everyone to read. Instead of putting it in my book blog, I am putting it here because it is more like my experience!

The first book I read was: 6 weeks to sensational skin: Dr. Loretta’s Beauty Camp Handbook for your freshest face by Dr. Loretta Ciraldo, M.D.

I picked this book because I thought who would know better about skin than a lady dermatologist? So, here it is! The best thing about this book is: it’s divided into chapter talking about days in beauty camp. The main things which it covers are:
· How to read product labels to spot the best and worst ingredients
· The Survival Basics- five steps to keep your skin problem-free
· How to choose the most flattering hairstyle and makeup
· Two facial exercises that really work to reduce lines and wrinkles
· How 30 minutes of extra sleep at night- on the right kind of pillow case – can dramatically improve your skin

So I would deal with these topics one by one everyday starting from tomorrow.

Beauty begins....