Tag: Skin Care Products

Save Your Skin!

Tips for Preventing Summer Skin Damage

Do yourself and your skin a favor; apply a small amount of sunscreen daily to avoid burns, blisters, and diseases!

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, more people are diagnosed with skin cancer each year in the U.S. than all other cancers combined. In fact, one in five will develop some type of skin cancer by the time they are 70 years old.

Basal cell carcinoma is the most common, accounting for an estimated 4.3 million diagnoses each year. Squamous cell carcinoma accounts for more than 1 million cases annually. Melanoma, the skin cancer most likely to be fatal, kills more than 7,000 people each year.

While even non-fatal skin cancers can cause disfiguration if left untreated for long, squamous cell carcinoma can metastasize and spread to other tissues and organs, becoming life-threatening. Fortunately, the easiest way to prevent developing any type of skin cancer is to protect your skin from sun damage.

The vast majority of skin cancers—including 90 percent of nonmelanomas and 86 percent of melanomas—are caused by UV exposure. However, this doesn’t mean you have to spend your summer indoors. Regular use of sunscreen or sunscreen-enhanced products with SPF 15 or higher has been shown to reduce the risk of developing skin cancer by as much as 50 percent.

Consider the following tips to keep you sun-safe this summer:

· Apply sunscreen every day. Look for a broad-spectrum UVA/UVB product with an SPF 15 or higher for daily use and SPF 30 or higher if you intend to spend extended time outdoors.

· Apply sunscreen liberally. If applying to your entire body, you’ll need at least two tablespoons—don’t skimp. Reapply sunscreen every two hours or after swimming or sweating.

· Apply sunscreen early. Don’t wait until you’re at the park or the pool to put your sunscreen on. For best results, apply the product 30 minutes before you go outside.

· Seek out shade. Whether you’re at the beach or gardening in your yard, shade will provide additional protection from the sun’s harmful rays. If natural shade isn’t available, make your own with an umbrella and a hat with at least a three-inch brim.

· Cover up between 10 AM and 4 PM. These are the hours when UV rays are strongest, so be sure to protect your eyes with UV-blocking sunglasses and your body with ample clothing. Tightly-woven linen is both cool and protective. Beach skirts and sarongs allow you to catch a breeze while shielding your skin from the sun.

· Don’t forget your scalp and hair. If you’re not wearing a hat, it’s easy to sunburn your scalp in mere minutes outdoors. While you can use any spray-on sunscreen for protection, those made specifically for the scalp will leave your hair feeling less greasy and gunky. Consider COOLA’s Scalp and Hair Mist SPF 30.

· If you do get a sunburn… treat your skin gently. A cool bath will temporarily sooth sunburned skin, as will liberally applying a moisturizing aloe vera lotion or gel. If blisters form, leave them alone and continue to moisturize even if your skin peels. Most important: stay out of the sun until your sunburn has healed.

By Angela Rose for Creative Images Institute of Cosmetology

Wake Up Your Makeup

It’s Time to Spring Clean Your Makeup Stash

Spring clean your makeup bag. Out with the old and in with the new. Do your skin a favor and upgrade to this year’s products.

Whether you store your makeup in a bag, drawer, bathroom cabinet or Caboodle (they still exist!), spring is the perfect time to purge that space of old, expired products as well as those you never wear. Consider the following tips as you sort through your stash and make room for new items that will keep you looking fresh all spring and beyond.

Throw Out Old Makeup/ Products

Nothing lasts forever and that goes for makeup as well. Start by looking for any expiration dates on your products. If you find one, and that date has passed, it’s time to pitch it. Liquid foundations and mascaras past their expiration may have become breeding grounds for bacteria. Skincare products like moisturizers, serums and sunscreens may be less effective after their expiration date. When in doubt – especially if the product has developed a foul smell – it’s safer to throw it out and replace.

For makeup products without expiration dates printed on their packaging, experts recommend the following replacement cycle:

· Powdered eye shadow – up to two years

· Blush and bronzer – up to two years

· Powdered foundations and setting powder – up to two years

· Lipstick and gloss – up to one year

· Eyeliner – up to one year

· Mascara – three months

· Moisturizers and serums – up to one year

· Liquid foundations and creams – up to one year

· Nail polish – up to one year

If you’re not regularly washing the brushes, sponges and other implements you use with your makeup and skincare products, you will dramatically decrease their shelf life. Brushes should be washed at least weekly and replaced if they begin to lose bristles. You can clean brushes with a gentle shampoo and allow them to dry or, if you’re in a hurry, use a quick-dry spray cleanser like this one from Ulta.

Toss Products You Don’t Use

If your makeup storage area is overflowing, chances are you have quite a few unused products taking up space. It’s generally a safe bet to ditch anything you haven’t used in four months, with the exception of your summer (or winter) shade bronzer or foundation. If you’ve been holding on to glittery New Year’s Eve eye shadows or other rarely used special occasion products, consider storing them in a separate bag in your cabinet or a closet.

Wash or Replace Your Makeup Bag

Whether you use your makeup bag every day or only on overnights, now’s a good time to give it a once over and a thorough cleaning. If it’s plastic, rinse it out in the sink. You can generally throw fabric makeup bags in your washing machine. However, if your makeup bags are really old, stained beyond repair or otherwise destroyed, replace them. You can find tons of affordable makeup bags and organizers at retailers like Target.

Fill in With New Spring Trends

What to do with all that extra space now that you’ve purged your expired and unused products? Add a few new touches for spring! A new lipstick, gloss or nail polish in one of spring’s hottest shade will put you on the fast-track to a fresh look. The spring nail polish collection from Essie includes several pinks, peach and lavender as well as a surprising metallic teal. For lips, Chanel’s Rouge Allure Liquid Powder was all over the spring runways, especially in this season’s Electric Blossom, a vivid coral.