Beauty Lab Focus: Skin Care Routine

Since my late 30s I have really committed to a skin care regiment. I am not saying I am loyal to the same routine, but I have begun to:

Wear an anti-aging day cream with SPF 50 every day by c-booth called Derma-42 Anti aging daily defense cream ( I really like it, retails $19.95, no coupon :( probably can get it on line cheaper)

In the morning, I use a cotton ball and a mild astringent, I hate getting my hair wet and all that with a full face wash!
In the shower: Wash with a good cleaner ( I am using Skin Appetit which has lots of anti-oxidants in it, at Rite Aid. I exfoliate with the Rite Aid Skin Polisher I wrote about a while back. It has glycolic acid and peptides, it is awesome!)
Wash off my makeup at night (always, even if I REALLY don't want to)
Apply a night time anti-aging cream
Apply an eye cream that SUPPOSEDLY helps reduce puffiness, lines, and dark circles.

The night treatments are what I will address today. I really don't mind the wrinkles around my eyes when I smile...I think it shows the world that I have smiled a lot in my life, and I have! What I do mind is the one deep set wrinkle I have right between my eyes and the dark circles and puffiness under my eyes (sometimes I tend to not get enough sleep, I am working on that, but the years of sleep deprivation have caught up with me!)

SO, I had been reading ALOT about ROC products and how effective they were. In the many magazines I peruse (TIP: I go to the local library and there is always a stack of cool magazines people are done with, i save them for long car trips. I do subscribe to PREVENTION and WOMEN'S HEALTH), there were several write ups about ROC. ROC is made by Johnson and Johnson, so I am not sure if they just have lots of muscle and money in the industry to persuade the media, or enough money to devote to some very effective research which results in effective products?

To research this for all of you, I bit the bullet and bought the new ROC BRILLIANCE (Retail $49.95, but there is a $20 mail in rebate on roc.com). The reason I gave in finally to my curiosity is that there has been a buzz about the technology it offers. According to the package, E-PULSE are micro-currents which become activated and reduce puffiness. It claims fine lines are reduced in 3 days. I have been using it for 4 days, but skipped a day. Since I never paid attention to fine lines, I don't know if it worked on them. I am interested in the puff and dark circle feature. ROC claims it will work on them in a few weeks. There are other products with this new technology, so feel free to try them and let me know! I will be diligent in the application of this and get back!

I also had another coupon (also on roc.com) for $3 off the ROC Nighttime Anti-Deep Wrinkle cream (Retail $21.99). For that pesky one between my eyes. By the way, Marilu Henner in Total Health Makeover has a section on reading faces to interpret health, and she says this line means basically that you drink too much! Geez, I didn't think I drank that much! I have been studying the faces of some that I KNOW drink too much, and some of them don't have the line, so....:)The best thing health wise would be not to drink at all, but I am not there, nor do I want to be at this time.

Keep you posted on the results!

A QUICKIE: In the morning I have been making this shake and it is so good for breakfast or when you want something indulgent:

1 package chocolate instant breakfast or protein mix (i used carnation)
1 8 oz FROZEN (stick it in the freezer) vanilla LITE yogurt (yoplait is the best i think)
Soy Milk
1 TBS Peanut Butter
Banana (half) optional

Blend all. Add some crushed ice if you'd like but that frozen yogurt makes it cold enough! It is awesome. I used a dannon yogurt last time (also good) and I poured it right back in the cup and drank it up (that is 8 oz which is what you should have more or less. Throw the extra in the freezer for a treat later! YUM

Guilty Pleasures....Aerobic Exercise??

I consider this blog to be one of my guilty pleasures. How do I define that? In my mind, it is something I am always thinking about (there is SO much to write about), something I do on the sly (I feel like in my real life there are more pressing matters to deal with), and something I absolutely love doing (it's nice to get some of my MANY thoughts in writing). It's even nicer when people comment, can relate, etc. Thank you for that all who have done so.

One of my other guilty pleasures of late is ZUMBA. I label it as such because I am always wanting to work on a routine and for the above reasons. The good news is I FOUND IT. I found something that I love doing, that is good for me, AND that I can make money at. (i love eating chocolate chips cookies and drinking wine but that won't get me very far.) At this stage of the game, it is a good feeling to having something in my life that inspires (besides my family of course).

THE REALLY GOOD NEWS ABOUT MY ZUMBA (AKA AEROBIC EXERCISE) HABIT: Everyone knows that aerobic exercise significantly improves your cardiovascular health but did you know that it also helps to slow the aging process: (pay attention ZUMBA clients)

* It makes skin look younger because of improved circulation
*Reduces lenght of hot flashes (not there yet, but good to know :)
*Cuts your odds of getting ill (studies suggest that regular exercisers have higher levels of immune cells that can fight off certain cancers. Plus (knock on wood) I haven't been sick all winter!
*Sharpens your mind (jury still out on this one for me..:) helps to maintain the size of the hippocampus where memory resides
*Improves mood and staves off depression (TRUE). That will keep you thinking younger and more optimistic.
*Helps control weight
*Improves digestion (try to have not eaten at least 2-3 hours before you exercise though, or your food in your system will interfere with your workout, if you know what i mean :)
*May raise HDL, good cholesterol and improve other heart disease risk factors
*Keeps the body young: lowers the rate of telomeres (sites at the end of chromosomes on all cells) erode, which means overall body wear and tear happens at a reduced speed.
*Lowers Blood Pressure
*Normalized fasting insulin levels (reducing risk of diabetes).

IS THIS ENOUGH FOR YOU? Are you ready to commit to REGULAR exercise. I exercises on and off for years, but now that i found my exercise GUILTY PLEASURE I will never go back.

AS IF YOU NEEDED A FEW MORE REASONS: My facialist says my pores are very clean thus requiring very few extractions (if you have ever had these, you KNOW they are painful). She and I attribute it to sweating it out (the toxins, pollution) through regular exercise. The aerobic kind makes you sweat the most. IN MY OPINION, EXERCISE IS THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. MY SKIN HAS NEVER LOOKED BETTER NOR HAVE I FELT BETTER, SO GET MOVING!

Beauty Lab!

Okay, People! Don't say I never did anything for you! For the good of this blog, I conducted a risky experiment. I am a big label reader, not only when it comes to food but also to beauty products. I've done enough reading to know some key ingredients, in what order on the label, etc. Many of the key ingredients these days are natural including many foods, herbs, etc. Why, i ask myself, can't i make my own beauty products out of these materials? I know why. Because it is easier and less messy to buy a pre-made lotion containing avacado oil, caffeine, grapefruit, whatever the ingredient is. The drawbacks of buying these products are the expense and the fact that you cannot control the other ingredients they add, most of which we can't pronounce. Well, I happened to have some
organic coconut oil around and I was dying to try a home remedy. If you recall, a while back I got an espresso body scrub which was supposed to help detox and tighten my skin. I really wanted another one, but didn't want to shell out the $100 plus for it. SO, here is what I did and the results:

Mix: 2 Tablespoons coffee grounds (yes, already brewed, good way to recycle them. Also, they are supposed to be good for the soil you plant in, why not your skin?) plus 2 Tbs unbrewed coffee (I was afraid I brewed most of the caffeine out of the coffee, and that is the major point of using the coffee in the first place) To this add 1/2 cup Coconut Oil or Olive Oil, and 2 Tablespoons Sugar.

PROBLEM: WHERE THE HECK WAS I GOING TO APPLY THIS WITHOUT MAKING A COMPLETE MESS? While I do live in a private setting, the idea of doing this outside and hosing off DID NOT appeal to me. So, I opted for in the shower. PROBLEM: HOW MESSY WAS THIS GOING TO GET, AND ARE YOU REALLY SUPPOSED TO LET COFFEE GROUNDS GO DOWN THE DRAIN? In the interest of science, I had to proceed (without letting my husband know of course) Does anyone know if I irreperably damaged by septic system. Does the water from the shower go to the septic system?

THE ACT: I APPLIED THE WARM MIXTURE (i HAD TO NUKE THE COCONUT OIL, IT WAS SOLID IN THE FRIDGE), AND EXFOLIATED everywhere...it felt really good even if i was the one applying (i don't know why i like the idea of a total stranger rubbing it on even better...it just feels good when someone else is doing the rubbing!)

THE MESS: NOT AS MUCH AS i thought. The shower did get slippery from the oil, so make sure to do this before you have to wash the shower anyway because you will have to afterwards.

THE RESULTS: I THOUGHT IT WORKED GREAT. My skin looked and felt smoother, even my husband noticed. (I fessed up to him telling that i did this treatment, but he never asked how, why or where, so i left it ALONE!) At first my skin was a bit greasy, but I used a little bodywash, and I felf fantastic afterwards. I figure this treatment would be beneficial about once a month!

SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE: In the mood for ice cream but not the calories? Try this: Freeze a whipped yogurt. It tastes just like Ice Cream with only about 70 calories.

NEXT TIME: TWELVE BENEFITS OF AEROBIC EXERCISE!!!!