Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The Best Lip Exfoliation Without Paying The Big Bucks

Greetings! I know this post is late, everybody in my house has been dead sick for the last week and a half (there is nothing worst than a sick toddler let me tell you), but I'll make up for it by letting you in on my DIY lip exfoliation secret. All the ingredients are cheap and you probably already own them and use them on a regular basis, just not on your face. All you need for soft and smooth lips is olive oil and brown sugar. That's it, no hard to find powdered clay, no super specific type of salt or essential oils. Just olive oil (any kind, I use extra virgin since I always have a gallon of it in my kitchen) and some brown sugar.

Mix about a teaspoon of brown sugar with enough olive oil to make a paste and apply to your lips in a circular pattern, gently scrubbing away the dead skin. The oil will serve as a moisturizer, leaving your lips feeling smooth and looking great. As an added bonus it won't taste horrible or make you sick if you get some in your mouth, as I always do. Easy as can be and won't cost you a dime assuming you already have olive oil and brown sugar in your kitchen.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Vaseline: Cheap, readily available, and mulitpurpose

Let's start at the beginning, shall we? The very base of any beauty routine should be items that keep your skin looking great, such as lotions and cleansers. Now I don't know about you guys, but its currently winter where I live and the temps are freezing or below which means my skin is dry and wind burned if I braved the elements enough to leave my abode. The cause of dry skin during winter is how dry the air is, which will pull moisture from your skin. Regular cream lotions will help put moisture back in but you need to seal the moisture in to really solve the problem. Now you can spend big bucks and buy special nighttime emollient lotions or extra hydrating tonics, or you can spend a buck and a half on a giant tub of Vaseline and do the same thing.

Vaseline is one of those multipurpose items that people seem to forget about all the time. Just Google Vaseline beauty uses and you'll get over half a million hits. I know people who use it to keep unruly eyebrow hairs at bay (use it like you would hair gel, just a little smear), you can use it on your cheekbones to highlight them, works as a lipgloss/chapstick, I've even heard of people using it on their split ends before. But my favorite is to use it on my dry and wind burned skin before bed so I wake up to softened knees and elbows and unchapped lips and hands. You can even go the extra mile and put cotton gloves or socks on to really enhance the effect while you sleep.

And the great thing is Vaseline is cheap and available everywhere! I have a giant tube of knock off brand I bought for under $2 (I bought it originally to protect the skin on my face, ears, and neck from hair dye when I use to dye my hair blue or purple. Worked like a charm and kept the bleach from giving me a chemical burn) and a smaller jar that is perfect for throwing in my bag when I go places. Both were purchased at my local Rite Aid, but you can buy them at just about any store, even the dollar store! Use a generic brand for even greater savings, and you'll really be feeling luxurious.