Top 10 Foods That Will Give You Great Skin - via Skincare Beauty Zone

Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about food. Now, if you know me, this shouldn't come as a surprise, but the difference this time is I'm paying a lot more attention to foods that improve overall health and appearance. Call it vanity, getting older or becoming wiser but I've been contemplating  things like antioxidants, omega-3 / omega-6 ratios, healthy fats and vitamin packed foods that all benefit your skin.

I've been meaning to write a healthy-foods-for-beauty type post anyway, and I will, with my own twist, but I wanted to pass along this article I stumbled across from the Skincare Beauty Zone, because I thought it was direct and informing. Besides, these foods are great and I (try to) eat a lot of them frequently. C'mon! Dark chocolate? Pomegranates? Avocado? Salmon? Green tea? All very yummy. So read the article and let it inspire to you go shopping and before you know it, you'll have better skin than you used to!

I Don't Like Proactiv and Here's Why [Part 2]

[04/30/10 - with makeup]

Continued from Part 1:

In a span of 3 months my skin problem went from moderately bad to severe. And the severe result is not something I’d experienced even in puberty. Yes, I had always had bad skin (and I know “bad” is a relative term, but you see what I mean now by bad) but this time it was WORSE! To be 25 years old battling severe cystic acne was probably among the worse and most painful, -emotionally and physically- experiences of my life. And for those who think that this could have been brought on by stress? Again, I say bullshit. Yes, hormonal changes (i.e.: menstrual periods) had an affect on my skin, but the breakouts I’d get were minimal and were easily manageable. I could wait 4 days or, just use the Proactiv sulfur mask as a spot treatment, and boom! Problem solved. Not to mention another devastating and stressful event I had been through a few years prior to my Proactiv fall-out that took a further emotional toll on me, and my skin remained intact and unaffected. 

I Don't Like Proactiv and Here's Why [Part 1]

As I type this, I am watching an infomercial on QVC rolling my eyes and getting, unreasonably upset. Now I shouldn’t be so upset, but I have my reasons. Listening to the callers-in and QVC “hype-ers” talk about this product like its a miracle is, well, frustrating for me...

I’ll explain.
I was a faithful customer of Proactiv for 4 years. I grew up with terrible skin and battled it from ages 10 to, well, currently. Now when I say bad skin, I don’t mean typical pubescent breakouts, I had a face regularly littered with pimples (not zits) and it’s remaining dark acne scars for most of my teenage life and into my early 20’s, which is well, now (OK, fine, I’m in my mid 20’s now but whatev). I had seen the infomercials for Proactiv since I was 16 and always wanted to try it out, but didn’t have the means. I had tried everything I could think of at the time to try and get rid of my breakouts: from washing with this gentle cleanser to that harsh cleanser and using a home remedy instead to expensive over-the-counter products and they were always unsuccessful. But then I got older, and I got a job, moved away and was issued a credit card, so I decided to finally try Proactiv because everyone I knew had great things to say about it, family included and they all had great skin. So I with all the hope and prayers I could think of, I tried it and... it worked! I was so happy! It didn’t take too long for me to notice a change in my skin. My breakouts receded, and after a while (a long while; how long, I don’t remember) the scarring started to go away, tho it wasn’t permanent.

10 THINGS to do to get great skin

[Image sauce]

It’s the beginning of the month and the 2nd half of the year! How are your New Year’s resolutions going? That bad, huh? Yeah, me too. I thought I’d try to re-instill my resolutions in a new series I’m calling 10 Things. 10 Things will focus on 10 good habits I will try to carry out every month for a whole month that will revolve around beauty, skincare and most likely, health care as well (since they tend to go hand in hand). Feel free to try them too, or make up your own 10 beauty related things!  [I stole this idea from the InStyle.com beauty segment called 10 Ways]    
                                 

10 Things to do to get better skin

The First Time: Buying Foundation

One of the things I really wanted to tackle was how to pick out the right makeup colors for your skin tone and choosing the right foundation colors. I remember always being fascinated with makeup as a kid, but as a young teen the thought of how to pick the right shade for your skin and then what to do with it was overwhelming. It was at this age that I made a major makeup faux pas: wearing the wrong shade of foundation. I wish that when I was younger I had youtube tutorials and instructional blogs to turn to about how to buy and apply makeup. I’m sure I would have avoided many makeup blunders, like wearing a dark brown powder foundation with red undertones while I was a medium tan with yellow undertones or the dreaded makeup line. And don’t get me started on over-plucked eyebrows...

So let’s get started!

SPF (Part I)

I was hoping to get this post about SPF out sooner, but the truth is, doing a lot of research on the topic has made it difficult and time consuming for me to review, but here it is!

I love any product with SPF, but the truth is, shopping for sun block can be daunting, and believe me, I know. Have you been down the sun block aisle? SPF 50, 70, 90+, Ultra Defense, Sensitive Skin, Ultra Sheer Finish, Oil-Free… it’s enough to make anyone give up! I try to always buy products that have a high SPF and I try to avoid the sun, which is not easy living in South Florida. The higher the SPF, the more likely it is that I'll buy the product. I stock up on that stuff the way that most beauty addicts always leave the beauty aisle with a lip-gloss or eyeliner pencil. I'm always looking for the perfect sunscreen, but I have yet to find my favorite kind.

Home Remedies: Olive Oil

I love home remedies. They are inexpensive and just plain old fun for me to experiment with. As a beauty addict with special skin care needs I've tried a few of these remedies in hopes that they'd alleviate my problems and oh, the home remedies I've tried… Most home remedies, while well meaning, didn't do anything significant for my skin, but had immediate benefits that I've loved. Many of them have failed. OK, maybe "failed" isn't the right term, so much as that they just didn't do anything of significance, but one thing (or one product) that always seems to never let me down is Olive Oil.