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All Entries Tagged With: "Creme de la Mer"

Four Winter Skin Care Tips and Products

Are you ready for winter skincare? Winter is upon us and your skin care treatments may need to change. The right winter skin care regimen to keep your skin looking beautiful all winter long.

Winter has its own seasonal challenges when it comes to keeping your skin fresh and beautiful and winter weather can be damaging to your skin if it is not treated properly. Those winter harsh wind and sun conditions are as challenging as the summer sunny days. Below are four skin care tips for winter.

1: Don’t quit on your sunscreen. Colder temperatures and less daylight may lead you to believe that you do not need sunscreen in the winter. But the sun at this time of year is just as damaging. If you hit the ski slopes, you are in even more danger, as the reflection of the sun bounces off of the snow and can cause sun burn. Now is not the time to skip the sun protection.

2: Moisturize! Winter wind and cold air strips skin of its natural moisturizers. The air is drier as well. Thus, you have to work harder to keep your skin moisturized. This may be true even if you have oily skin. If oily skin gets at all dried out, it tends to rebound by producing extra oil. That can lead to clogged pores and acne. Many moisturizers will include sunscreen, so you can kill two skincare birds with one stone.

3: Try a humidifier. Indoor heating strips moisture out of the air. By putting it back, you avoiding creating dry skin. This is also great for winter hair care. A humidifier will go a long way toward preventing frizzy hair (I hate the winter hair frizzies!)

4: Stay hydrated. Water flushes toxins from your body and keeps your hydrated. Drink eight glasses of water every day and your skin will love you for it.

Winter Skin Care Products

Here are Four moisturizers with sunscreen, and one without, that I recommend for winter skincare treatment. I have tried each, and they are all favorites of mine:

For dry skin: Elizabeth Arden Intervene Pause & Effect Moisture Cream SPF 15 : When I had dry skin (lately I have suddenly become oily instead) I loved Elizabeth Arden Intervene. It has a rich, luxurious feel to it and gives deep moisture, yet it absorbs well and isn’t greasy. I also love the Elizabeth Arden Intervene Eye Cream (link is to my review).

Without sunscreen: CREME DE LA MER: Creme de la Mer is fairly expensive. But a tiny bit goes a long way and it is one of the best products out there for dry skin. The stuff is amazing. Look for sample sizes on Ebay if you want to try it out first.

For normal skin: Canyon Ranch SPF 30 Moisturizer : I got a Canyon Ranch moisturizer in my last Beauty Fix sampler and love it. It feels great and smells great, yet the fragrance is not overwhelming—it is light and fresh. Canyon Ranch is well worth the price in my opinion.

For oily skin: Murad Vitalic Energizing Pomegranate Moisturizer SPF 15 : When my skin is oily, regardless of the season, Murad Vitalic is a favorite for me. I haven’t tried it since they switched it to a pomegranate formula. But I also love Murad’s other pomegranate items.

Budget for all skin types: Eucerin Everyday Protection Face Lotion, SPF 30: This is a good all around moisturizer that works for all skin types, including sensitive skin, and is very affordable.

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Five Great Uses for Creme de la Mer (Psst.. It Can Actually Be a Good Value)

Oh the joy of Creme de la Mer. Some swear by it. Others say it is over-rated. Most agree that it is expensive, and yes, if you use it as your daily face creme it is.. But if you use it for more limited purposes, it actually can become a pretty good value. I never apply it to my full face. Instead I stretch an ounce of the lovely thick creme for over a year using it in the following ways.

* As an eye creme. La Mer makes an expensive and rather small eye balm, but the creme works just as well. In fact it is one of the best dry skin eye creams I have found. A teeny tiny bit is all that is needed for some wonderful overnight hydration.

* Condition your lashes and brows. While you are putting a bit under your eyes, rub some into your lashes and onto your brows. It will not irritate your eyes and will condition both lashes and brows.

* As a sore skin treatment. Consider that terrible feeling and look of a nose that is raw and red after a bad cold. Regular lotion stings on the dry skin. But Creme de la Mer does not. I have found nothing better to treat a raw nose. Use it at the first signs of a cold and you can prevent it altogether.

* Dry skin spot treatment: Got patchy areas of super dry skin? Use a bit of Creme de la Mer on only those areas.

* Soften calluses. To help remove calluses, rub some high strength glycolic acid such as AB Skin Care Happy Feet (read review) on them and apply a bit of Creme de la Mer to seal it in and provide moisture.

Creme de la Mer is available online and in better department stores. For use in small areas, look for the smaller and much cheaper .24 Sample Size. A small tub will last quite a while if you are only using it as an eye or lash cream. My last sample size tub lasted 3-4 months because I only used it for my eyes.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

Kill Calluses and Soften Feet with AB Skin Care Happy Feet

I am a foot killer. I wear shoes that rub, I cram my feet into Irish dance shoes and pound them around for hours on end, and sometimes I cram them into ice skates. The result is dry heels and nasty calluses. But I have found a few fixes. One of those is AB Skin Care Happy Feet.

AB Skin Care is a line created by Dr. Craig Austin, M.D. that focuses mostly on glycolic acid products. They also have some great sunscreens (read review). Because Glycolic Acid is a great exfoliator, it works quite well at assisting in callus removal. At 20% Glycolic, AB Skin Care’s Happy Feet has a nice concentration of it. The packaging is also quite nice, with individual use wipes.

I combined Happy Feet with a bit of Lac-Hydrin Cream (read review), which also contains the exfoliator lactic acid. I rubbed an AB skin care wipe on my calluses and let it dry, then rubbed in the Lac-Hydrin. Another option, albeit more expensive, is to seal in the glycolic with a touch of Creme de la Mer. For a cheaper option, Profoot cream (read review) also works well.

This combo did a good job of softening my calluses. When I combined it with use of a Ped Egg, my calluses basically disappeared. What is a Ped Egg? Well, it is a wonderful little tool for callus removal. Watch for my review of it here tomorrow!

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Update: Read the Ped Egg review.