Jewel & Jewel

When it comes to caring for your skin, vitamins and good nutrition can be just as beneficial as a good skin care treatment. Vitamins are important in keeping your skin looking and feeling healthy. They can also help prevent and treat any problem areas and skin disorders. A bad diet that is lacking in vitamins can make your skin blotchy and lifeless. When looking at your overall skin care, pay attention to your diet and ensure it includes the right vitamins good for skin care.

Vitamins and Minerals

Here are some of the best minerals and vitamins for healthy skin. Including these skin rejuvenating vitamins in your diet will help keep your skin looking healthy and free from problems.

VITAMIN A

Vitamin A is a very good vitamin for healthy skin. It helps strengthen the skin and repair tissues. It can be taken in foods, as a supplement or as a topical cream. Vitamin A can help prevent dry skin and acne. It can also be used to treat wrinkles.

VITAMIN E

Vitamin E is an antioxidant that can help prevent free radical damage to the skin. Vitamin E is a good vitamin to take when your skin is suffering some damage from the sun or other factors.

VITAMIN C

Vitamin C helps with healing wounds and other damage to the skin. There is some evidence to suggest it may rejuvenate the skin. Vitamin C will also help the immune system fight off illnesses.

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Avoid the use of tap water when cleansing dry skin. The deposits are too drying on the skin. And never, ever use hot water. Use mineral water to freshen your face. Don’t use a washcloth-a rough texture can irritate. In the morning, apply a spray of mineral water on your skin misted on with a plant sprayer. (Do not use a sprayer that had been used for spraying insecticides.) Lightly pat dry.

Dry skin needs plenty of thorough but gentle cleansing, regular stimulation with massage and generous quantities of oil and moisture. It also needs extra careful protection. Washing dry skin with soap and water not only removes grime but also the natural oils protecting the skin. A moisturizer increases the water content of the outer layers of the skin and gives it a soft, moist look.

Use nondetergent, neutral-pH products to cleanse your skin. Avoid using any commercial soap. And always touch your face gently. Double-cleanse with a cream, leaving a light, thin trace of it on the skin after the second cleansing.

Follow a bath or a shower with a mild application of baby oil. Massage your face with home-made nourishing cream every night before retiring. Be generous with the cream in the areas surrounding the eyes where tiny lines and crows feet are born.

Avoid coming in contact with highly alkaline soaps and detergents like washing sodas and powders which contain highly alkaline and drying ingredients.

Moistening with water, then applying a thin film of air-excluding moisturizer, restores the suppleness of the dry skin.

Morning Skin Cleanser

Every morning 15 minutes before taking your bath

1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon orange juice
1 teaspoon olive oil and 
few drops of rose water 
few drops of lime juice

Mix the above ingredients together and apply on your skin.

Beauty Mask for Dry Skin

1 egg 
1 teaspoon of honey, 
1/2 teaspoon of olive oil and 
few drops of rose water

Mix the ingredients thoroughly and use as a mask.

Night Moisturizing

After you clean and tone your skin, apply a splash of water or a water-misting. Pat almost dry with a soft towel, then smooth moisturizer from bosom to hairline. Allow five minutes for immediate absorption (cover your face and throat with warm washcloths to hasten penetration), then blot off any excess moisturizer with a tissue. 

Men can skip the toner but should moisturize the delicate skin around the eye area.

Day Moisturizing

Apply a touch of your natural moisturizer over the freshly cleansed, toned, and dampened skin on your throat, cheeks, and around your eyes. Men should follow a two-step process. Apply moisturizer immediately after shaving. Wait ten minutes. Then moisturize again.

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Due to age and other causes like vagaries of weather, pollution and other toxins in the atmosphere, the face and other parts of our body start to sag and show wrinkles. You have to tone your skin for a youthful, rejuvenated feel. The epidermal cells gradually lose their capacity to produce new cells while the dermis that produce collagen loses its elasticity, resulting in a dry skin and wrinkles on the face. Toners can be used to clean the last traces of oil from the skin. They do not close or open pores. Sometimes they cause a slight skin irritation which makes the skin feel tighter. Skin toning lotions freshen the skin. They also stimulate the blood supply to the skin.

Tips for toning

• Use astringent lotions with a piece of cotton wool but if your skin is looking worn off and tired, pat it on with a brisk slapping movement.
• Moisten cotton wool with skin toning lotion and pat on the cheeks, chin and neck.
• If you have normal, combination or dry skin, use very delicate and light preparation to refresh the skin. Never use a harsh astringent lotion for this purpose. Rose water based product is preferred.
• For dry skin use rose water diluted with mineral water. Apply it gently with cotton wool avoiding the eye and upper cheek area completely.
• For combination skin, light toning lotion should be used all over the face, except for the eye area. Then apply the astringent on the greasy areas with cotton wool. Never let the astringent spill over the dry cheek and eye areas.
• Oily skinned people should tone with an astringent lotion, applying particularly to the oiliest places, i.e. sides of the nose, chin and forehead.

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Can you imagin life without perfumes? i can’t imagine my life without perfumes. I have a dozen of them and still want to have more. I am so glad that most designers share my point of view and try to renew their famous scents in order to make them so summer-like )))

So, top 5 summer fragrances 2008: 

• Very Irresistible Givenchy Summer Cocktail

The previous version was a bit simple. But this one is amazing. The fragrance offers adorable combination of pomegranate pink and cooling freshness. The only one thing reminding about the old Very Irresistible is the original rose-infused fragrance.

Fun, romantic, and spontaneous…

• Aqua Allegoria Guerlain Figue-Iris

My personal fav from Guerlain is L’Instant. I adore it. Really. Incredible scent. But this limited-edition of Aqua Allegoria fragrance with fig and iris scents together with bergamot, vanilla and pink grapefruit is brilliant.

Hot, stylish, and sophisticated…

• Classique Summer Fragrance Jean Paul Gaultier

Gaultier scents are for extremely cool and really fashionable women. The scents reminds of Africa multiplied by citrus notes and a charming bouquet of Arabian jasmine, ylang-ylang, and white iris.

Exotic and provocative…

The Sleek Side-part

One could argue that the side part never goes out of style. But having just had a 70s revival of long flowing hair with centre parts, it’s worth noting that sleek side parts were big on the runways for Spring / Summer 2008.

Masculine

On the other extreme to the super-soft and feminine hairdos, masculine styles also hit the runways as as forerunner to 2008. Agyness Deyn’s trademark boyish crop was the perfect playground for creating masculine styles, and Yves Saint Laurent slicked the hair of their models back into 50s rockabilly men’s dos. We’re not expecting this to be too mainstream, but to be picked up by the more alternative types on the street.

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Oily skin

Oily skin is characterized by shine and enlarged pores. On account of the high levels of sebum, the skin has a greasy shine and tendency to break out into acne. This is because oily skin tends to attract more dirt and dust. Oily skin can be a result of heredity or hormone levels. Generally teenagers are plagued with oily skin and acne breakouts. But sometimes-oily skin can continue way into adult years.

With age the flow of sebum decreases and the skin becomes less oily. Humidity levels can also be a cause for excess oiliness on the skin. Other causes can be cosmetics or birth control pills. Since there are more sebaceous glands around the nose, women with oily skin will notice that there is a tendency to develop blackheads around it. Some women experience oily skin only in some areas. This is a condition of combination skin.

Oily skin care
The first basic rule for oily skin care is to keep it clean so as to kill acne-causing bacteria. It is essential to unclog the pores with exfoliation to prevent breakouts. Washing your face with warm water and cleanser is preferable to using harsh soaps. Warm water helps in keeping the skin oil free. Antibacterial cleansing lotions can also be used to keep the skin acne-free. Mild acne medications have a drying effect on oily skin.

Choose cosmetics and facial care products with care. Oily skin make up items must be water-based since oil-based cosmetics can aggravate the oiliness and create blemishes. Clay masks and mud masks work well for oily skin. They remove the excess oil that is found in the skin. But do not excessively dry the upper layer of the skin with chemical products. Use of harsh products can leave the skin feeling taut and dehydrated. This may be counterproductive since the skin will produce more oil to compensate the loss. This is a reaction called ‘reactive seborrhea’, where the oil glands work at a frenetic pace to compensate for the loss of natural oils.

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Fruits

Face masks refresh and rejuvenate the skin. They provide intensive nourishment to the skin ? nourishment that your skin is thrusting for, so make sure you use face masks regularly on your skin. Almost every seasonal fruit can be applied on the skin. Some fruits like peaches and avocadoes are rich in moisturizers and can be applied to dry skin, while other fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, strawberries, apples, are good for oily skin. Bananas too nourish and soften the skin. So the next time you sit down with a fruit, take out a small piece, mash it and apply it to your face. When you start looking a decade younger than your real age, you will be glad you persevered. For some serious skin firming and nourishment, mash a banana, add honey, and apply this on your skin, and all over your body

Egg

Egg white tones the skin, while egg yolk nourishes it and prevents wrinkles. If your daughter has an oily complexion, she can put egg white on her skin, while you use the egg yolk on yours. Once you cross the age of 35, start applying egg yolk regularly to your skin. Whole egg mayonnaise too is excellent for the skin, since it is rich in skin nutrients like egg, vinegar and oil.

Essential oils

Essential oils too are excellent for the skin, and they have therapeutic benefits as well. When you are using two oils on your skin, you should make sure you mix them together a while before applying them, to give them time to energise each other. Jasmine, Lavender, Myrrh, Patchouli, Sandalwood and Ylang-Ylang all have effective anti-wrinkle properties and work very well when mixed with a moisturizer.

Massage

Every day and night, while you apply your moisturizer, massage your face for at least ten minutes. Massage it from the neck upwards, because you don`t want a clear, wrinkle-free face to rest on a wrinkled neck as you age, do you?

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There are five fashion essentials for 2008. Whether these pieces have already found their way into the closet or a shopping trip is needed, each of the following is a must-have for their versatility and freshness.

1. The Sheer Shirt

Spring (and now summer) fashion this year has embraced sheer fabrics as well as lace, cut-outs and eyelets. The go-to shirt for summer is a sheer one, whether in girlie gauze or more sophisticated linen. Pick a light, neutral color that compliments the warm climate. These shirts are perfect to wear over a tank top – embracing the coolness of a tank without being so exposed. If the shirt gets worn, by the end of the summer, use it as a bathing suit cover-up. But sheer shirts can last a long time if they’re treated gently and hand-washed.

2. The Floral Dress

Yes, the summer staple: a floral dress. For 2008, the shape of the dress doesn’t matter so much – it can be a shift, a full skirt or belted at the waist. What’s important and what makes the dress modern is the pattern itself. Dainty little flowers are out; bold patterns are in. Bigger, brighter flowers (as long as they’re not gaudy) look sophisticated and elegant. Pick dark flowers on a light background – dark gray or navy on white, for example – for an extra grown-up look.

3. Casual sparkles

The shimmery trend from the past year continues – but for summer, keep sparkles from being too glitzy by making sure the piece of clothing is a casual one. Pair a sequined top with jeans or khakis or a lightweight jeweled cardigan over a plain shiftdress. Sparkles have even been showing up on the beach. Teen Vogue recently featured a beach-wear spread that included a sparkly shirt. Who says shine has to be limited to the city?

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