Tips to Ease Dry Skin/Hair Problems

Received another question about relieving dry skin, hair and nails. The question came from a young lady who just moved from to a new state for college and is having a heck of a time dealing with Eczema, a skin disease that deals with the inflammation of the outer layer of the skin. Many suffer with Eczema which produces scabs and patches of raised skin that itch like crazy on areas such as arms, legs and back. I suffer from a less severe case of Eczema which combined with my allergies, affects my skin on a more internal level. I felt her pain.

It is common for your skin to change when you move to a new environment. Sometimes its for the best other times...the worse:( I have the same trouble with my skin as well as my allergies. There are different plants, trees ect. in every state and this affects both the skin and your allergies. You can have it all under control and then move one state over and your skin now has to get used to a brand new environment. Ultimately, your body will get used to its new environment but it will not be over night...in fact..it could take years. The bad thing about that is..just as your body gets used to the new environment, you will probably be ready to graduate and move again...even if you move back home...your body has to start the adjustment period again. I know it sucks! But that's just what ppl who have suffered with allergy and skin problems have to go through. There are products that help us with these type of adjustment but most are treatments and not preventive.:(

Here is what you can do for your skin.

Try:
Lotion COMBINED with a body oil. My favorites are Eucerin combined with Light or Virgin Olive Oil

Make sure to do the combo right after a shower (wait no more than 5 mins)..right before bed is a great time!

Sleep on silk or satin sheets...these are naturally hypoallergenic and they sooth the skin as well. Doing the oil thing as said above and then going to sleep on satin...ohhh awww...so nice!

Take a bath in milk. Its an old remedy that does sooth and soften the skin and will help relieve that skin condition as well. Do a google search on milk or oatmeal baths. If you can take a bath then put a little milk in a bowl and use it on your wash cloth in the shower.

Use the olive oil on your hair as well as your scalp. Place a little sea breeze in a spray bottle and spray your scalp with it every day. Add some lavender and or rosemary if you can to the bottle as well. Hibiscus leaves will work too.


I will write more later and update this blog in a bit.

The Splash Method and HomeMade Skin Products Explained

I decd. to post a natural untouched photo that shows off my skin and natural hair:)


Someone wrote me and asked what she could do about breakouts on her skin. She told me that she tried everything she could and even stopped eating her favorites like chocolate and coke. She mentioned products like Neutrogena, ProActive and Clearasil. I hear things like this all the time so I decided to go more in debt with my beauty regime and share with her my the exact recipe to achieve that perfect skin. Hope it helps her and someone else.

First off..its probably NOT something you are eating. It is a MYTH that eating certain foods (unless you are allergic to that food) will cause your skin to flair up. So chocolates, sodas, sweets...are NOT the culprit.

From the sound of it...it instead sounds like you are doing too much to your skin! A lot of those products you have mentioned dry out the skin or causes irritation. I actually LIKE proactive but every product is not for EVERY one.

When you are constantly using a lot of different products on your skin, you are not giving it proper time to heal without using chemicals and stuff. You are instead...drying out your skin which makes you produce a greater amount of bacteria and oil...the bad kind! Which also makes you break out more.

Here is a trick that I would like you to try. Its going to sound strange but it really works and it cost WAY less than any of those other products you have tried. Its the natural way of bringing your skin back to health and getting rid our ALL or MOST of your breakouts. Its also my secret to perfect skin.

Here is what you will need:

Light or Extra Virgin Olive Oil-this is the weird part
Sugar
Honey (organic when possible)
Black Soup
*Optional Apple Cider or Witch Hazel


Ok, so I KNOW it looks like you are preparing yourself to cook something in the kitchen but all of this will go on your skin.

Prep:mix about 1cup of sugar-white or brown into a container that you can close or seal up later with about half a cup of the ORGANIC honey (regular honey if you can get to this) and half a teaspoon of olive oil. You will have to adjust this as you go so it you want to start with a smaller amount and build up...you can do this. The object of this is to make the consistency of the mix..grainy enough to gently scrub the skin. Dont put too much honey in it or it will be too soft to remove dead skin from your face. You want to saturate the sugar with the honey but not over do it. No worries...messing this up WONT harm your skin...if you put too much honey, add sugar until its right and you can put the mixture on your skin and feel the graininess of the sugar still. Pour a little extra of the oil in a new mini container, and place a cover on it...place it to the side. You can pour as much or as little as you like in this container.


Put the mixture above to the side. Pick up the Black Soup (you can get this at the Asian Beauty Supplies or CVS or Rite Aid or African Shops online. I prefer the black soap with oatmeal or something else grainy in it. This should cost you no more than $2-3). You will now be doing something called " The Splash Method". I have altered it a little bit to make it less messy and time consuming.

Splash Method: Wet your face with warm water. Dont turn off the water (or turn it off but remember how warm the water is and go back to that exact temperature when you start to splash.. Take the black soap and rub it over your entire face. After you use the soap a few times, the white grainy stuff will pop up out of it which is great for exfoliating the skin. Make sure your face is really wet when you do this. Put the soap to the side but DONT rinse your hands! Cup your hand under the warm water for just a second and then rub the soap left in your hands to your face, mixing it with the soap on your face already. Rub all over your face, skipping the eye area. Then its time to splash! Cup your hands in the warm water careful not to rinse all the soap out and dip your head in the sink and splash the residue from your face. Keep doing this 19 more times. No more or no less than 20 splashes will do. By dipping your face down in the sink, you are promoting blood to rush to the face which...for some medical reason unknown to me..promotes healing and closes the sores faster. By the last splash, there should be no more soap in your hands or your face. You may have to adjust the splashes to different parts of your face to get the soap out of your hair and from your neck if some has fallen there. The important thing it that you do this the full 20 times. Pat your face dry with a clean face towel and wet it a tad and wipe the remanding of the soap or any makeup gently from your eye area.


Do the splash method and wash your face with the black soap every night. Use the scrub on your face 3 times a week in replace of the black soap at night. Simply scrub the mixture on the skin and SPLASH it off until its all gone. No need to do both the soap and the scrub on the same night. Use the black soap AND THE slash method every morning. Try not to use the scrub in the morning so much because your skin will be slightly red after using it.

Once your face is clean, take the olive oil in the other sealed container and with clean hands, dip into it and place this on your face. Oil on the tip of your finger tips should provide you with enough oil for your entire face. Rub this into the face until it doesn't look drippy. It will look oily on your face but this is fine...you should go right to bed after doing this and just allow it to soak into your skin naturally. There is a reason why this method works..its doing the opposite of all those products you are using. Its replacing natural oils back into your skin instead of drying the skin out. Therefore, the skin heals fast and the acne starts to decrease in size as well. In the morning, just wipe and residue off and or do the black soap splash method, put a light moisturizer on or sun screen (made for the face) and you are good to go.

The optional apple cider can be used after the splashing but really isn't needed unless you need extra help with makeup residue. Witch hazel seems to work the same way..just remember to dilute both with water. I recommend mixing it with water and a dried flower like lavender (you can buy at most herb stores) or hibiscus which promote hydration. For the recipe...just google natural skin tonics and you should find it. I would skip this step until your skin balances out more.

I know the use of olive oil on the skin sounds none productive but i REALLY does work. If the things I have stated do not work after a week..you can stop if want to. I found that not only did it decrease acne activity on my skin...but it gave my skin a glow that I have never had. Its a weird procedure that uses all natural products that should cost you a fraction of the cost of other stuff you use on your skin over all.

Using OLIVE OIL to clear up your skin

Photos of ShayShaunte, all rights reserved



I was on my way to bed the other night when my roomie stopped me and asked me, "You sleep with foundation on your face now?"...He's a guy, so I had to excuse him for just not knowing...but it made me take a double look at the progression of my skin since I'd started using something I'd read about online 2 months earlier. Yes, he was right..my skin was very clear and looked like I had touched it up a tab just before hitting the sack. However, I knew the real reason and it lies in my pantry cabinet and probably in yours as well.

My one cant live with out beauty secret: The olive oil treatments that I preform on my face at night. Ok, so you REALLY cant call it a "treatment" since the only ingredient is simple olive oil...but it REALLY does work! So, I'm sharing it with you and I hope you have similar or even better results then me. Here is what you will need:

Facial soap or wash, nothing fancy-skip the stuff with the Salicylic Acid & Benzoyl Peroxide Acne Medicines...this method should reduce your need for those all together.

I use Black Soap. I purchase mine at the local store that sells natural face products but you can get it just about anywhere, including your local beauty supply. Using the SPLASH method, i clean my face at night time with this. This is inexpensive and easy. Splashing the water on the face improves circulation to the face and also aids in healing. More on that in my next blog.

You will also need olive oil.

Extra virgin olive oil works best..or light oilive oil. Its like 3-6 bucks at the grocery store for the smaller bottles. A use those small ziplock cups and fill those about 1/3 of the way and just recover it once I'm done. I prefer to pour the oil into something first in order to not contaminate the olive oil in the actual bottle. I cook with the same oilve oil so this is just me putting some to the side for my face:)

Wash your hands. never use unwashed hands with this method because that same dirt will end up in your olive oil and on your face..yuck!

Right before bed, clean your face, pat it dry, apply a thin layer of the oilve oil to your entire face (avoiding the entire eye area completely) and go to sleep. Try not to sleep on your sides before the oil has evaporated into your skin. Wake up and gently wipe any residue off..there should not be any left over after a good night sleep but you should wipe and clean your face anyway.

The splashing method can be a pain to clean up in the morning when you are rushing so I usually just wash my face with my normal face wash or use the black soap for a quick wash off in the shower in the mornings. Just be gentle...your face should be super soft and any breakouts you had the day before should already be reduced in size. Place a light moisturizer on your face and some eye cream and you are good to go. Your normal beauty routine should follow and in a few weeks you should be looking at a nice smooth, clear canvas to work with!

WHY THIS WORKS:

Simple..you are so used to drying out your skin with meds and serums aimed at reducing the appearance of ance and pimples... Olive oil is natural and it works with your natural oils to REPAIR the skin. No, it wont clog your pores! So no worries there...it works twice as fast as most acne meds or pimple creams and it super cheap! Why spend $75 bucks on something that would cost you less then $10 and give you better results? Your skin should not only feel soft and less dry (if you are having problems with dry skin) but it will heal your acne prone skin and the scars you have lived with in the past can also start to heal a tad and lighten naturally. This method works on oily-dry skin. If you prefer and are skeptical like I was when I heard about this...try ONLY using it on your problem areas for a few weeks. You will notice a difference this way as well but your skin will feel so nice, you will want to use it all over.

Just TRY it..and let me know if it works as well for you as it has for me:)