Category: Skin care

Five for Friday: Five Natural Beauty Solutions for Women at 40

Aloe Vera Gel for Age Spots - Women at FortyOn Wednesday I shared my thoughts on celebrating earth day, simplifying our lives, and living more naturally.  I also shared that I’m developing an eBook of natural beauty solutions for women at 40. The eBook, the first in my new 40 for 40 series, is tentatively titled, Radiance: The natural guide to radiant, healthy skin at 40 and beyond. It will include 40 tried and tested simple alternatives (or enhancements) to commercially available beauty products.

I’m not a member of the anti-aging brigade, with its endless wrinkle cream demonstrations and elusive fountains of youth. I find aging, and almost everything that comes along with it, far superior to the alternative. I also don’t buy into society’s narrowly defined standard of beauty or the notion that we can, or should try to, “buy” our way to happiness. If I’d accepted every botox, lipo, and plastic surgery business that wanted to advertise on this site, I’d be writing this post from somewhere in Bali. But I’ve made a conscious decision not to because we deserve better.

So, what’s a woman at 40 to do?

I think it’s good to always want to look and feel our best.  Our best. Untarnished by the expectations and definitions of others, and unsullied by comparing ourselves to others or even to our former selves. It’s quite a balancing act – the desire to push against societal pressure to look 21 all our lives versus the fact that we do want to look our best selves for as long as we can. One of the ways we can do it is by making smart, conscious decisions about the products and ingredients we put on our skin.  We can buy more responsibly, and we can find solutions in our own home.

So whether it’s a remedy for dry skin, age spots, or a good moisturizer you seek, here are 5 simple, natural solutions you can probably find in your pantry…

1. Banana Skin for Adult Acne – You thought your days of acne were over. Not so much? This acne remedy is as easy as it gets. You know that banana peel you’re about to throw away? Don’t. Take the bottom half, cut one segment off and rub the inside of the peel against your acne spots until the inside of the peel browns. Leave the residue on your face for anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight and then rinse. Continue daily until the acne subsides.

2. Aloe Vera Gel  for “Age Spots” –  Because we begin noticing these darker pigmented spots on our skin in our 40s, they’ve been dubbed aged spots. But age spots can happen at any age, because they’re (for the most part) caused by sun exposure over many years.  Age spots aren’t dangerous, but if you’d like to lighten them, applying aloe vera gel is said to do the trick.

3. Coffee Grounds Exfoliant  – When you’re done with your morning cup of Joe, don’t dump those coffee grounds, use them to exfoliate. Mix 1/4 cup used coffee grounds and one egg white.  An alternate recipe calls for mixing 1 Tbsp coffee grounds with 1 Tbsp of water or olive oil. Massage onto face, let it dry and then rinse with warm water. When used as a body scrub, caffeinated coffee grounds are also said to help relieve cellulite.

4. Vitamin E Moisturizer – I know several women with flawless skin who swear by this easy, inexpensive facial moisturizer. Simply break open vitamin E capsules and gently massage into your skin. I find that in the winter especially, Vitamin E does a great job at keeping the dryness away.

5. Dry Brush Scrub – Our bodies detoxify in a number of ways, including through our kidneys, lungs and skin. Our skin is responsible for a quarter of our body’s daily detoxification. Dry brushing stimulates the lymphatic system, improving circulation and detoxification. Dry brushing also helps remove dead skin cells, softens skin, and helps reduce cellulite. Always brush skin when it’s dry,  moving from your feet upwards, and before a shower or bath. If you don’t already own a body brush, Fantasea Natural Bristle Body Brushis an affordable and highly rated option.

 Do you have any natural beauty solutions that work wonders for you? Share them here, or on the Women at Forty Facebook page.

Note: If you have allergies, or are sensitive to any of the above ingredients, do not apply them to your skin.

Women at Forty Reviews “Striking Skin Care” – Part 2

Editor’s Note: On Tuesday, Kim gave The Striking Skin Care line of products a thumbs up, today Rachel gives us her take and sheds some light on what the line did for her skin. Continue reading Women at Forty Reviews “Striking Skin Care” – Part 2

Women at Forty reviews “Striking Skin Care”

Striking Skin Care System Editors Note: On Women at Forty, we talk about what’s beautiful on the inside as much as we talk about the outside. But as beautiful as we may feel on the inside, we’ve all had that conversation in front of the mirror where we wondered “what’s up with that?” So, when we got an email from Kelly with Striking Skin Care, asking if we’d like to try their line of products for women 40 and over, we said “we’d love to!”

To get different points of view, we recruited two of Women at Forty’s contributors, Kim and Rachel, shipped them the Striking Skin Care System and asked them to give us their honest opinion – Love it or leave it?  Today, Kim shares her take on the product line, and on Thursday you’ll read Rachel’s point of view. Continue reading Women at Forty reviews “Striking Skin Care”

Skin Care at forty and beyond: Galvanic Therapy Facials

Jeffrie Ann Hall is back with more advice on skin care for women at forty. An Esthetician specializing in Anti-Aging Skin Care for women 40+, Jeffrie focuses on helping women stay fresh and vibrant at all stages of life. Today she introduces us to the Galvanic Therapy Facial.

One of the most effective facials for over 40 skin or premature aging is Galvanic Therapy. Nothing has been shown to provide the results of Galvanic without shots, pain or invasive procedure, yet so few women have heard of it. Galvanic cleanses, purifies, tones, tightens and lifts as well as reduce signs of aging such as wrinkles and fine lines. When I was working in a spa this was my favorite treatment to perform.

So what is Galvanic Therapy?

Galvanic Therapy is a low level electric current that is applied to the skin with a specifically designedGalvanic Spa devise for use by Estheticians. It’s been in use for over 50 years in facial services. Sophia Loren has known about it for a very long time, and that lady has some pretty amazing skin for a woman of a certain age.

Galvanic has the ability to stimulate the circulation of oxygen and blood in the facial skin supplying an elevated level of nourishment. Galvanic also creates an environment in the skin that allows for up to a 70% increase in the efficacy of the skin care and anti-aging products you use after the treatment for up to 24-48 hours.

During a facial procedure a negative charge is used to deeply cleanse and purify the skin. This first part of  the treatment is called Disincrustation. A negative charge in the instrument will repel a negatively charged cleansing gel and push it deep into the skin. Toxins and impurities are neutralized.

The second and positive charge cycle is called Iontophoresis. This positive charge pushes positively charged anti-aging ingredients into the skin where they can do the most good. Deep in your skin, in the dermal layer you have something called a fibroblast. This is where your collagen and elastin is produced like a little youth factory, I like to say. And that is where you want anti-aging and cell Handheld Galvanic Spacommunicating ingredients to reach. Having a product just sitting on top of your skin isn’t even close to as effective.

Getting this done in a spa can get quite costly especially since the treatment needs to do be done regularly to see and maintain results. Spa costs can range from $150-$220 per treatment and each treatment needs to be repeated at least 1-2x per month. Home versions of Galvanic Therapy are available and are more cost effective.

As an Esthetician, I’ve done my research and use and endorse a particular at home Galvanic Therapy product that has a patented ingredient in the positively charged gel that attacks an enzyme in the skin that causes aging. It’s excellent for all ethnicities and skin types. I use it regularly and absolutely love how my skin looks and feels.

To learn more about Galvanic Therapy, check out this article at Beauty and the Blog. You can read the whole thing or just scroll to the bottom to learn about the ingredients and see a video demonstration.

Be Happy!

Jeffrie Ann Hall is an Esthetician specializing in Anti-Aging Skin Care for women 40+.  Through her blog Beauty-and-the-blog, and sales of innovative science based skin care, Jeffrie focuses on helping women stay fresh and vibrant at all stages of life.

Skin Deep – Great skin care advice for women at forty

Be Happy!

Today Women at Forty welcomes a new contributor, Jeffrie Ann Hall. Jeffrie’s an Esthetician specializing in Anti-Aging Skin Care for women 40+.  Through her blog Beauty-and-the-blog, and sales of innovative science based skin care, Jeffrie focuses on helping women stay fresh and vibrant at all stages of life. In her first post she covers everything from microdermabrasian to chemical exfoliation, and shares  some secrets about facials and finding ingredients that will slow the onset of wrinkles…

So you’re 40…

So you are 40. And when you look in the mirror do you feel like saying “hi mom”? Seeing little lines and sags creeping up that you never thought would happen to you? And OMG, that’s mom in the mirror. Not that your mom isn’t lovely, mine is. But maybe you aren’t exactly ready for your face to start showing its age. I wasn’t! And I still am not, even now that I am way past 40.

Well, sit tight because we have an advantage that our moms didn’t have. Skin care for women in the 40+ group now offers so much new technology, product and ingredient advancements. The number of products and choices can be confusing and mind boggling though.

So I am going to give you a few tips and recommendations for keeping your skin glowing and fresh. Plus tell you what ingredient you need to look for in skin care to slow the onset of wrinkles, and improve the appearance of the ones you may already have. By the way, I am an Esthetican (facialist) with advanced training from The Aveda Institute in Minneapolis.

The importance of exfoliating

The first thing you absolutely must be doing is exfoliating your skin. Dead skin cells must come off in order to glow. There are a number of ways to do this. What you choose will have much to do with your skin type and how much time you want to spend on this step. There is manual exfoliation which involves you spending time with a product that has mild abrasives in it. Think “at home microdermabrasion kit”. In my skin care experience this is best for medium to fair skins. There are also various scrubs with particles that gently remove dead skin cells. You will need to gently massage these products with very light pressure over your entire face. These are generally recommended for strong, thick and oily skin, any ethnicity. Just be sure to stay away from scrubs containing nut shells. Those are fine for your body but a major no-no for the face!

You can also choose to do a chemical exfoliation using products that contain one of the three effective ingredients that remove the dead cells from your skin by dissolving them. These are Alpha, Beta and Poly Hydroxy acids. This works well for all skin types and only requires a few seconds to apply the product. The difference between the three is that Alpha works best for mature skin that lacks radiance, Beta is best for skin that is oily, and Poly is the best choice for sensitive skin. They all work well and are great for any ethnicity. I personally use the Alpha Hydroxy. And keep in mind that Alpha and Beta come in different strengths, start low and build up.

Exfoliation is the number one most important thing to do for your skin at and after 40 to keep a radiant glow. The aging process involves a gradual slowing of the natural sloughing of dead skin cells and regeneration of fresh new cells. Exfoliation helps to keep this process working at a faster rate. And if you aren’t removing these dead cells, anything else you use on your skin is just sitting on top of dead skin. It’s not penetrating, it’s a waste.

The truth about collagen and elastin

Next you need to consider what is in your treatment serum, if you use one, and/or your moisturizer. The most important thing to remember here is that collagen and elastin molecules are too large to enter your skin’s pores. You will not be adding collagen or elastin to the structure of your skin. Just using a very expensive moisturizing ingredient. What needs to be in your product whether it is a serum or a spa-facial moisturizer is Peptides. Peptides are amino acids that have the capability to get into the skin. They are “cell communicating”. Peptides can restore normal function in the skin to keep producing collagen and elastin naturally, from the inside out. Wrinkles are really only symptoms of the aging that is going on at a deeper cellular level.

A good facial is also another great tool in keeping fresh and glowing skin. You can go to the spa and pamper yourself or it can be as simple as giving your skin a good steaming and applying a moisturizing masque. If your skin tends to be oily, use a clay masque followed by a moisture masque.

When at the spa, go for things that are not too exotic. These are generally just money makers for the spa. Stick with the basics. A good Esthetician can customize a basic facial to meet your needs. Anyone who says they can’t is just looking to make extra money.

There are also a variety of tools you can use for an at home facial. My personal favorite is Galvanic Therapy. This is low level electric current that actually pushes moisture, peptides and nutrients into your skin. It also increases the efficacy of any skin care you use, allowing it to penetrate deeper into the layers of the skin. Galvanic also has the ability to firm the skin as well as giving it a lift. I used to do these facials in the spa when I was still working in one. Now I can do this at home as there is a home version that is very effective. I do it twice a week for 15 minutes and am very happy with how my skin looks!

And by the way, nearly any facial is fine for any ethnicity as long as it is tailored to your skin type, meaning dry, oily or sensitive.

If you are interested in more information on how the skin ages, what products I recommend, what to avoid, or some advice, visit me at my own blog, www.Beauty-and-the-Blog.com. It’s all about Anti-Aging and Skin Care Solutions.

Photo: Jeffrie Ann Hall – happy and beautiful!