Welcome to Nishi's A Dream I Dream section on Beauty and Skin Care! I love taking care of myself and believe it says a lot about you when you're willing to take the time to love yourself and care for yourself. Below are a collection of hair and skin tips I've gathered for myself over the years. Maybe they'll be useful to you? Either way it's just fun! :) *DISCLAIMER* Neither I nor this page set out to be authorities on anything recommended below. If you have questions about your skin or body it's best to see a dermatologist or your doctor. BASIC SKIN CARE When to wash your face: in the morning when you wake up and at night before you go to sleep <-- if you don't before sleep, you'll definitely get pimples! Wash your face before and after a work out. What to use: a good cleanser that's gentle on your face - try Biore, Oil of Olay or Neutrogena - each has special brands for specific facial care needs - like acne or skin discoloration for example. You should exfoliate your face once or twice a week. Use a washcloth with your favorite cleanser and warm water to rub your skin GENTLY in circular motions or try St. Ive's Apricot Scrub or any brand which has "micro beads" and rub gently to remove dead skin cells and dirt. You always wash and rinse with warm water (not hot) and final rinse with cool water to close your pores. Always moisturize your face and neck and hands after washing. Never forget your neck! It ages fast too and should be well lotioned. At night, before bed, it's a good idea to use a cream that will provide intense treatment for your skin while you sleep. I love Nivea's or Oil of Olay's night creams. EXTRA SKIN CARE I love to use Biore nose strips once a week at night after I've had a shower. If you wax any part of your face, make sure they remove wax residue with oil, and when you go home, DON'T wash your face until right before bed or you'll irritate your skin and break out with a rash or pimples. ALWAYS use moisturizers with SPF during the day! By age 25, your skin has many of the wrinkles and damage that will show up in your 30's and 40's. Once you turn 22/23, it's a good idea to start using anti-wrinkle cream (try Nivea's Q10 or Oil of Olay or Neutrogena) at night before sleep - spread it all over your face with EXTRA cream on these key points: 1) under your eyes, 2) on your forehead, 3) sides of your eyes (to prevent crows feet), (4) sides of your mouth and (5) upper lip (top of the mouth). Once you're in your teen years or starting college, people usually start waxing or tweezing their eyebrows - get it shaped nicely by a professional first and then just upkeep it yourself by tweezing or go back every 2 weeks. Eyes are the most important feature you have and the way your eyebrows look can make you look childish or beautiful. I had bushy eyebrows till I was in law school! HAHAHA it just never occurred to me to get them tweezed or waxed cause my mom always told me I had a nice shape, so I thought that was enough. Now I have a nice shape AND they're just beautiful - I love to get waxes every 2 weeks now. LIPS Use Vaseline Lip Therapy with SPF 15/30 or Chapstick SPF 30. I like to use the either one of them in the liquid jelly form so my lips have a nice shine and feel like I actually put something on them. The regular solids just aren't enough for me. Once a month, spread some vaseline or petroleum jelly on your lips and use a soft cotton cloth in round circular motions over your lips to exfoliate them. Try to do it at the first of the month or the end of the month, every month. To keep your lips beautiful every day, put Vaseline Lip Therapy or Chapstick on your lips at night before you sleep so they can work overnight to keep your lips gorgeous and soft and you won't have chapped lips! BASIC HAIR CARE After shampooing and conditioning with warm water, always rinse your hair with cool water to close the cuticles of the hair and limit any frizzing. Don't vigorously rub your hair with the towel - that will cause damage and leave your hair dull and frizzy when it dries! Instead, pat your hair with the towel and squeeze the water out and wrap it up "turban-style" for 10 minutes. Always comb wet hair with a wide-tooth comb and never over-brush! Over-brushing actually damages cuticles! My sisters all have curly hair and I know they take care of it after showering by putting gel through it to soften the curls and make everything gorgeous. Use sprays or leave-in conditioners which have UV-ray filters like Pantene's line of hair products has, if you're out in the sun often to protect your hair from damaging rays. BASIC BODY CARE Shower at the time of day best for you but if you can, it's a good idea to shower both before you go to bed and whenever you start you day. Showering at night gives you the chance to take care of your body well before you go to sleep. Along with soap or a body cleanser, I use a back-scrub-brush every time I shower all over my body. It gets rid of old cells and makes my body perfectly smooth, soft and clean. To protect your back and shoulders from ever having acne, shampoo and condition first and after that, clip your hair up with a big barrette or butterfly clip so all your hair is off your shoulders or back and then you can clean your body perfectly. Jergen's/St. Ive's or Eucerin's line of body lotions are excellent - AHA's or super moisturizing lotions are your best bet and lotion up every time after you shower. Make sure to lotion your elbows and knees and ankles VERY WELL as they get driest fastest. BASIC HANDS, FEET AND NAILS CARE Whenever you wash your hands, you MUST lotion up! Water dries out your skin and if left unlotioned, you'll wind up with white/grey dry and peeling skin around your nails - it looks awful. Always lotion your feet and toe nails well after showering. Get a manicure or pedicure (or both) once a month (more if you like) to prevent build up of callouses and to keep your hands and feet looking beautiful. If you have callouses on your feet, buy a pumice stone or a callous file and use it in your shower or after you shower to remove hardened callouses and keep your feet soft. To remove nail polish - use only NON-ACETONE remover! Let your nails breathe for 2-3 days between polishes - meaning leave them with no polish! Invest in a manicure (and/or predicure) kit - THE COLOR INSTITUTE has a beautiful set for $12.50 I believe (or at the most $30) and it has the BEST Hand Lotion and BEST Cuticle Cream/Nail Buffer Cream. It also comes with nail clipper, file, buffer, etc etc. New Beauty Tip for Hands and Feet For the Fall and Winter This is from a beauty newsletter I get every day. With fall here and winter around the corner, these two tips might ward off the effects of dryness and maintain your skin during these months... Hand mask... One teaspoon warmed olive oil. 1 vitamin e capsule. 1 teaspoon owdered milk Pierce the capsule and mix it with the olive oil and the milk. Massage it into the hands. Put on a pair of cotton gloves and sleep in them if you can. (I don't bother with gloves - I just lather it up on my hands and go to sleep) Softer feet... Warm 1/4 cup of petroleum jelly just until it starts to melt. Do not liquify. Add 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice. Massage well into the feet, top and bottom. Put on a pair of cotton socks and sleep in them overnight. BASIC NUTRITION TO KEEP YOU BEAUTIFUL Drink water - often! Eat oranges, bananas and apples - strawberries & peaches are good too - as are cantaloupes and honey dew melons. Eat carrots, spinach, eggs, salmon, and lean beef and poulty if you eat meat. Try to limit muffins and bagels as they have a lot of carbs and will help store fat. Eat in healthy small portions of veggies, grains (rice/bread/cereal) and fruits. Your stomach can hold 16 ounces of food/drink - keep that in mind when you're eating so you don't over-eat. Eat ONLY when you're hungry and ONLY eat until you stop feeling hungry - NOT till ur full - that means you over-ate. If you're not hungry but still have a craving to eat something fattening, try a glass of water first or munching on baby carrots or fresh fruit. If you still have the craving, treat yourself. Never deprive yourself of foods you love - just eat and drink in moderation - with moderate portions. EXERCISE You need to exercise at least 3 days a week. If you're in better condition, you should be exercising 5-7 days a week. To lose weight you need to do a full hour of aerobic activity. It's a good idea to shed some weight first before hitting heavy-weights like bench press etc. In the meantime, couple aerobic workouts with crunches, push-ups and leg lifts. Drink a glass of water 5 minutes before you work out. Drink water after your workout and during it if you need it. Always stretch after you've warmed up a little and definitely after you've finished your work out. Below are a few of the things I do to take care of myself. If you have any tips you'd like to share of beauty and skin care, please email them to me at be83398@yahoo.com MY SKIN Right now I use Clearasil Cream Cleanser Face Wash< or Biore Warming Pore Cleanser and moisturize with Neutrogena Healthy Skin SPF 15 if I go out in the sun, Oil of Olay Total Effects Facial Moisturizer in the pump style if I'm not going out in the sun, use the following different skin lotions and creams at night alternating: OIl of Olay Regenerist Perfecting Cream, OIl of Olay Total Effects Intensive Restorative Treatment and I lather on Nivea Q10 Anti-Winkle Night Cream - I began doing this at age 25 and keep going at age 26 - it's never too early to start preventing wrinkles! I don't really like caking my face with foundation or make up - it always feels like I have stuff on and I feel like I break out more easily but I sometimes use Elizabeth Arden's foundation in COPPER but usually just stick to one of my day moisturizers and Cover Girl's Pressed Powder in Creamy Beige to control shine and N.Y.C.'s Strawberry Lip Gloss or Lip Lite's Cappuchino Lip Gloss. I like mascara sometimes and prefer Max Factor or Maybelline to define my lower lashes. I have yet to find lipstick that's perfect for me! It's so hard to for me to find make up and lipstick that suits me perfectly for day and evening and with certain outfits....I wish I had a personal make up artist! MY HAIR Because my hair is straight-to-wavy I sometimes have flyaways and some frizz in the back so the blow dryer and straightener are my best hair friends. I found these awesome products though to help keep your hair beautiful! I always use Pantene and Thermasilk 2-in-1 and started using L'oreal's Hydravive and Curlvive 2 in 1 and an extra conditioner on top of that (usually Pantene) to make my hair super soft and smooth. And that keeps the hair gorgeous under the blow dryer's heat. It only takes 5 minutes to blow-dry my hair on a medium heat setting, then I use a cool setting quickly to just "set" the hair, and then run a hair straightener - I only use HOT TOOLS - quickly through my hair - I hate the thought of the heat from the straightener damaging my hair but it helps straighten the frizziness that comes in the back of my hair from blowdrying. Takes about 2 minutes and then I finish with BONAT's "Lanolin Perfection" Conditioning Lusterizer which is a conditiong spray I bought from a NYC salon - it smells like heaven and you just mist it lightly on your hair and it conditions the hair from the heat and controls any frizz! I use a big flat brush because that's the best for my straight hair. Total hair time? Probably 10 minutes tops! MY PERFUME I recently fell in love with CHANCE by Chanel but I like Red Door (Elizabeth Arden), Jean Paul Gautier and Lady Stetson to name a few (yes Lady Stetson - it smells yummy!) :) I also love Bath and Body Work's lotions and sprays in Toasted Hazelnut, Coconut and Vanilla. MY NAILS I love to get manicures and pedicures! And I have my own kits for both! I love to use a nail buffer and cuticle cream. My favorite way to polish nails is usually clear, a french manicure, and when in the mood ANY color under the sun I love :) Usually a shade of dark red or pale pink or lilac. MASKS FOR YOUR FACE It's a good idea to use items like Biore's Nose Strips and masks to clean your pores! I try new masks all the time! :) Here're some homemade mask recipies I found. These are great to use in winter when your skin is at its driest and could use a good mask! A Vitamin C Mask for Sensitive Skin This is a vitamin C mask that lubricates the face and calms down redness or sensitivity while moisturizing the skin. 2 tablespoons plain yogurt 2 teaspoons orange juice 1 teaspoon sweet almond oil Cleanse your face and neck with a mild facial cleanser. Apply the mask and leave on for 20 minutes. Rinse with lukewarm water, pat dry gently, and apply a moisturizer...Yogurt calms down inflamed skin, Orange juice (vitamin C) reduces fine lines and wrinkles, and almond oil is a great skin lubricant... Oatmeal, Honey and Almonds Mask for Dry Skin 1 package instant oatmeal 2 tablespoons honey 2 tablespoons buttermilk 1/2 cup skinless blanched almonds Mix all the ingredients except the almonds in a blender. Don't overblend. Pour into a bowl and then put the almonds in the blender for about a minute. Add the almonds to the oatmeal mixture. Apply the mixture to a cleansed face and neck. Leave on for 10-15 minutes. Rinse well and moisturize. The oatmeal soothes skin, the buttermilk moisturizes, and the almonds gently exfoliate. Toning and Deepcleaning Mask for OILY Skin 1 tablespoon honey 1 egg yolk 1 tablespoon cornmeal Mix ingredients and apply to a cleansed face and neck. Massage gently in circular motions and leave on for 25 minutes. Don't be alarmed if there is a tingling feeling on your face. Rinse well with lukewarm water. Follow with a toner and light moisturizer. The honey naturally moisturizes skin. The egg yolk not only cleanses skin, but helps eliminate blackheads. Cornmeal is a natural light exfoliator which is needed to get rid of dead skin cells. Hope you guys have enjoyed this :) - Nishi Return to: A Dream I Dream . . .