Tag: Skin Care

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.

Winter Beauty on a Budget

Keep Your Hair, Skin, and Nails Warm and Healthy This Winter With These Helpful Tips:

Winter is definitely here, and along with it, icy winds, freezing snows and thermostats set to high. The extreme temperature fluctuations most of us face daily as we navigate our way from home to school to office and home again are hard on our hair and skin. It can make it challenging to look our best, but with the holidays (and all the photo ops that come with them) right around the corner, we obviously want to appear fabulous, not frizzy and frazzled. And we want to do it without spending a bundle.

Fortunately, it’s possible to look and feel beautiful all season long without breaking your budget. We’ve put together a few expert tips to show you how.

A Strong Winter Hair Game

That warm blast of air coming from your home or office heating vent might feel good after your freezing commute, but it’s also drying out your hair and making it more prone to split ends and breakage. Experts suggest combating this seasonal increase in dryness in a number of ways:

* Shampoo less frequently to avoid stripping away healthy natural oils. With the right tools, including dry shampoo and cute hair accessories, you may be able to stretch your time between washes by several days. Ask a Creative Images Institute hairstylist to help you develop a strategy.

* Once a week, hydrate your hair overnight with a moisturizing oil or serum.

* Never skip conditioner after shampooing and use a leave-in product to extend hydration and guard against static. While you’re at it, line your course-fabric winter hats with silk or satin fabric to reduce split ends and breakage. You can often find inexpensive vintage silk scarves at thrift stores.

* Keep up with those trims. You might be tempted to just let your hair grow all winter long, but having it trimmed regularly to remove dry, brittle ends will help reduce breakage and keep your style looking beautiful and healthy. Schedule an appointment with a Creative Images Institute hairstylist and you’ll save a bundle off of regular salon prices.

Radiant Winter-Proof Skin

Remember those temperature extremes and dry air we mentioned earlier? Well, they also tend to wreak havoc on skin if you don’t guard against them. From chapped lips and ragged cuticles to overall dullness, experts suggest protecting and perfecting cold-weather skin in a number of ways:

* Cracked, dry lips are a common winter ailment. Keep them baby soft with regular exfoliation. It’s as easy as massaging a generous coat of honey or balm into your lips with a super-soft toothbrush, then wiping away the excess and flakes with a tissue.

* Swap out your light summer moisturizer for a richer product. Avoid petroleum-based varieties as they’re more likely to dry out delicate facial skin and instead choose an oil-based solution for lasting hydration. While you’re at it, treat your face to an intensive hydrating mask twice a week. It’s easy (and inexpensive) to whip one up at home using ingredients such as yogurt, avocado, honey, aloe and almond oil.

* While it’s easy to remember to exfoliate in the summer when you’re naturally showing more skin, it’s just as important during the winter months. Keep a sugar or salt scrub in the shower and give your body a thorough buffing once or twice a week. Even better, visit the Creative Images Institute spa for an aromatherapy body scrub treatment at a budget-friendly price.

* Dry, ragged cuticles can lead to painful hangnails. Keep them moisturized by massaging in hand cream or even inexpensive Shea butter every time you wash your hands. This will also keep your hands soft and hydrated as well as encourage nail growth.

Whether you want to freshen dull winter hair with a new color, nourish and brighten skin with a facial, or get your hands holiday party ready with a fun manicure, the artists at Creative Images Institute of Cosmetology are ready to help. Give one of our conveniently located campuses a call today and enjoy luxury service at a bargain price.

By Angela Rose for Creative Images Institute of Cosmetology