What are YOUR beauty secrets?

K

I discovered some miracles along my journey for beauty. But they all left me asking, "Why didn't someone tell me this sooner!!" So I want to ask you- what are your beauty secrets?? What worked miracles for you? What is something everyone should know? I put down a couple of mine:

1. I have really really dry skin- WITH breakouts. I've spent most of my life longing for the perfect skin care routine- but mainly the right moisturizer. I FOUND IT!!!! Raw, unfiltered coconut oil. I got it at the health food store. It is solid at room temperature but liquefies on skin contact. My face is so soft, supple, not greasy at all, and my breakouts are GONE. After the shower, before I dry off, I rub some onto my arms and legs. It's WONDERFUL!! It is THE perfect moisturizer.

2. The best exfoliant ever is baking soda. Make a thick paste with your cleanser and rub over wet skin and lips. So gentle, and perfectly polishes your skin to baby's bottom softness.

3. Once a week, after cleansing and exfoliating, squeeze FRESH lemon juice and rub over your skin (not eye area). Let it sit for 10 minutes or more. The acid in the lemon is an exfoliant, antibacterial, and does all sorts of wonderful things- like depositing vitamin C.

K

I should have been more specific- look for UNREFINED coconut oil. A little goes a VERY long way- especially on your face!

Left Brain

Great topic! I'm curious to see what other people have to say.

Janis

Hm -- WEAR YOUR HAIR UP. That's the biggest one that's made the most difference to me. The best-kept secret in the world: handling matters more than anything when it comes to hair. Wear it up, handle it gently. There is no miracle product. It's so simple and so silly, but when I started adhering to that basic idea, my hair began growing past my waist for the first time in my life, after a DECADE of no growth whatsoever. It's now nearly knee-length. I ended up putting the whole story plus handling tips and office-appropriate styles for super-long hair on my website at http://www.io.com/~cortese/hair/ -- the whole shebang.

It still sound silly to me, but the difference it made in my hair was night and day. HANDLING is the problem and the solution, and there is no such thing as a miracle product.

Also? When you get your hair off your face, you will get fewer breakouts.

Everything else, in my experience, is just DNA.

taiwanesegurl

sleep - best beauty secret ever. They don't call it "beauty sleep" for no reason.

Ally E.

castor oil on my lashes - look thicker and plus NO CIRCLES under the eyes in the morning :) and jojoba oil in the winter for my dry patches of my silly combination skin

mirjambastian

I mix my own body oil. For a good moisturizer I mix Almond oil, coconut oil, oliveoil (not the edible stuff), aloe vera (I grow it in a pot as it's purer than most stuff you can buy) most seed oils, caroten, vitamin E and sometimes I add Royal Jelly when I can get my hands on it. I apply after showering when skin is still wet.
It doesn't look good on the shelf as the Aloe tends to sink to the bottom so you have to shake it up good before applying.
it works wonders on dry itchy flakey skin and has anti ageing properties.

Apomes

Coconut is highly comedogenic for most people.

After years of struggeling with acne and pigmentation problems and several try-outs of Roaccutane, Minocycline, Tetralysal, differin I found the perfect skin regim thnx to loads of research

- cleanse mild: Clinique Extra Mild or sometimes Jan Marini Biogyloic cleanser (which I keep on my skin for several minutes before washing it off, so the glycolic acid can do his work)
- Serum: Skinceuticals CE Ferulic: this really helped to sooth my skin and give my sunscreen that AOX extra it needs! Although I'm aware that sensitive skins can't tolerate Vit C very well, it helped alot!
- Serum: Skinceuticals CF Phloretin: altough the CE ferulic is also promoted as anti-pigmentation, I think this one does the trick better
- Moisturize: Clinique Age Defense Hydrator spf 15(really good for summer use) or Tri-Silc Sunscreen SPF50+ with TiDiO or La Roche Posay AntHelios SPF50+ extreme fluide with Mexoryl SX & XL (for summer use)

Evening: Cleanse with the same cleanser and then my retinoids for mo/we/fri/sun! The other nightsI use replenix CF enriched with caffeine and Paula Begoun AOX concentrate

When I have dry patches I just use some Cheap ass cold cream! OR! I use those mineral water sprays like from Evian and spray it on my face and I immediate follow with my Moist so a reservoir is being formed.

I can honestly say that my skin is flawless, even toned , no pigmentation, no scars, no pores! *knocking on wood*

Oh what really helped me with my acne is using ZINC supplments! 90 mg a day!

K

Thanks for the tips Apomes! I always thought Coconut was comedogenic, but my acne went away once I started it! My boyfriend's did too when he tried it. Everyone is different, but between Pure by Philosophy cleanser and coconut oil- all my extremely dry skin problems (dryness, flaking, dullness, tightness, itchyness) went AWAY, along with my acne!

I'm curious to try some of the products you suggested! The zinc is interesting!!

Also- I should have mentioned in the first post the miracle that is makeup primer. Smashbox Photo Finish is amazing. Apply it after your moisturizer has absorbed, and let the primer sit a few seconds to set. It seals in moisture, reduces shine, and your makeup goes on like butta! For powders or liquids, your makeup will apply flawlessly, you'll use less product, and it will wear better than ever! Plus it smooths over large pores, acne, fine lines, and for an airbrushed look. Try a sample from Sephora! LOVE IT!

tsunamino

Olive oil, olive oil, and more olive oil. Also Monistat anti-chafing gel as a primer, and sleeping with my hair in braids and a satin head scarf at night.

One thing that I do to reduce redness on my face (rosy cheeks and nose.. it's perpetually "winter" in tsunamino-land) is to mix some honey and olive oil in a mask. I let it sit on my face for about half an hour, wash off with face soap, and apply olive oil again, rubbing it into my skin. The next day = much more even and glowy! You can also add white sugar before washing it off to make it a scrub that's tasty too. Crushed strawberries also work, but they're big and pulpy, so I find that they slide down my face and I end up eating them before I use them.

silkenpaw

Stay out of the sun.
Go easy on the makeup.
Get enough sleep, exercise, balanced diet.
Laugh with your friends and pet your cat/dog/pet rat/fill in your own. (Maybe this one should be first).

JamiSings

I wouldn't say it's a "beauty secret" per say, but just something weird I do. When I have a lot of dry, flaky skin on my face - usually due to trying to dry up my acne - I find scotch tape is better at removing it then those peel off masks. And once it's gone makeup sure goes on nicer.

trueblue

after cleaning the skin with makeup remover, I use rose water as a toner(which I found in an indian food store)-gentle on the skin..

crystalcricket

Once a week olive oil and salt scrub. Only takes about a tsp of oil and a sprinkle of salt, rubbed gently on the face, wipe off with a damp cloth, warm water rinse. Immediately apply a non greasy moisturizer. Your skin will suck up the moisturizer like you wouldn't believe because all that dead skin is ex-foliated beautifully. Skin glows! If you have blackheads, leave the oil and salt on that area for about 30 minutes- salt has drawing properties that will clean your pores. I use this on my hands everyday to make them look younger too. Just a cautionary note- if you use hydroxy acids or retin A, you should skip them on the day you use the salt scrub, cuz it stings like the dickens if you don't.

Ally E.

salt is comedogenic

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