Summer time means travel for many, and with airline baggage fees being through the roof, plus stringent TSA regulations, your packing game needs to be on point. Here are some tips that can help.
Know The Rules
Any liquids must be in a resealable container that is 3.4 ounces or less and all containers must fit in one clear, plastic, resealable 1-quart-sized bag. You will need to take this bag out of your carry-on luggage when passing through airport security. So either be super-efficient about packing all of your toiletries into one bag, or pay the fee and check a bag.
Get Creative
Many products can do double duty. For example, our Cosmopolitan Eye Shadow Palette can also serve as a highlighter (Angelic), blush (PS Pink) and contour (Kashmir). So you’ve really got four products in one small palette.
Sample or Travel Size
Sure our sample sizes are great for trying new shades on your skin, but they also make perfect travel companions. Five shades of eye shadow would take up quite a bit of room in your makeup bag. But you can pack lots of our little samples into a very small space, and not have to limit your color options. Also, our soap samples are perfect for those overnight stays where you don’t know what (if any) amenities will be available. And they’re great to take on camping trips.
Our shipping manager Karla got a nasty sunburn last year, and the only thing that soothed it was our Facial Toner. And personally, I can’t live without our Herbal Aftershave which I use to clean cuts and scrapes and any other malady I inevitably encounter while traveling. But why make room for bulky bottles, when you can use this trick instead: fill a small snack baggie with 10 cotton balls, and then pour in enough aftershave or toner to wet the cotton. Seal up the baggie and you’ve got a little first aid kit to go.
Have a favorite travel/packing tip? Share it with us!
So you may have noticed exfoliating shampoos popping up on your Insta feed or when you’re shopping on Amazon. Are we really exfoliating our hair now too?
Washing your hair less than daily has become a trend in recent years. As such, so has the use of oil-absorbing products like dry shampoos. Add in color processing hair on a regular basis and your scalp begins to have needs that traditional shampoos just can’t touch.
Exfoliating shampoos aren’t meant to scrub the hair shaft. They work on the scalp at the “root” of the problem. Ingredients such as sea salt, sugar, charcoal, corn meal, baking soda and fruit acids can break down the buildup on your scalp. This can help trigger new skin cell growth, clear away dead skin, and clean your hair follicles. A healthy scalp needs oxygen, moisture, vitamins and other nutrients to remain healthy. An added bonus? Scalp stimulation (exfoliation and massage) can increase healthy hair growth.
Do you often have a tight, itchy scalp? Do you have flakiness on your scalp, but know you don’t have dandruff? Then you may want to jump on this trend. How often should you use an exfoliating treatment? Up to once a week if you are a heavy product user and are starting to see signs of scalp stress (flakies). Monthly if you wash your hair more regularly and don’t often use lots of hair products.
Here are some recipes to try. You can either add each blend to your shampoo, or use the treatment alone before you shampoo.
Clarifying: 1 T. cornmeal, 3 drops peppermint essential oil
Gentle Scrub: 1 T. brown sugar, 1 tsp. olive oil
Cleansing Scrub: 1 T. apple cider vinegar, 1T. fine sea salt
Rub into your scalp vigorously but gently (as if you were exfoliating your face), then fully rinse and follow with conditioner.
Drinking water is so important to our health and wellbeing.
Water: we know we need to drink more of it, and we know it’s the healthiest drink around. Aside from keeping us hydrated, water aids in toxin removal, as well as regulating all of your major organs. It can also help benefit the biggest organ of the body: your skin. While water alone isn’t a treatment measure for skin disorders, getting enough of it on a regular basis can help keep your skin healthy overall. Consider the five major ways water is good for your skin.
1. Hydration to Prevent Skin Problems
Dehydration occurs when your body lacks the water it needs to function properly. According to the Mayo Clinic, your body is made up of about 60 percent of water. Still, you need to drink water in order to replenish lost fluids and to keep every part of your body hydrated. In fact, dehydration can also affect the skin by causing dryness, dullness, and even discoloration.
Coffee—although it contains water—has a diuretic effect which can lead to dehydration if you don’t drink enough plain water. Once you swap other fluids for water, you will likely start to see smoother, supple skin.
2. Increased Blood Flow for a Healthy Glow
In addition to hydrating your major organs, water can also help increase blood flow by removing toxins and helping to spread nutrients: this includes your skin. When you have better blood flow, your skin is more likely to exhibit that “healthy glow” everyone wishes for. In turn, this will also help aging skin look more youthful.
3. Reduced Thinness and Wrinkles
Dehydration coupled with decreased blood flow can also lead to a thin appearance of the skin. When your skin is less supple, it may be prone to more wrinkles. Furthermore, using water-based skincare products can absorb easily into the skin and make your skin look thicker.
4. Improved Skin Cell Turnover
Your skin is naturally evolving every day by shedding old cells and generating new ones. Unfortunately, this process isn’t always perfect. Oils can clog your pores and also trap old skin cells, leaving your skin with dry-looking patches. Drinking water can help improve skin cell turnover by promoting the right oil balance.
Improved skin cell turnover also leads to a correct moisture balance—overtime, you’ll experience softer, less oily skin overall.
5. May Alleviate Skin Discoloration
In most cases, skin discoloration is the result of either a disease of the skin or sun damage. While water can’t necessarily cure skin discoloration, the other benefits can lead to better skin tone. For example, consuming more water may decrease the prevalence of undereye circles and redness of the skin.
Bottom Line: Getting the Right Amount of Water
Drinking water can certainly offer many benefits to the skin, especially when compared with dehydrating beverages like sodas and sugary juices. However, the key to getting all of the benefits for your skin and other organs is to make sure you drink enough of it. The Mayo Clinic advises drinking a total of eight glasses of total fluids per day, at roughly 8 ounces each. You might need more than this on hot days or when you exercise. While other water-containing beverages can count towards your daily intake, swapping these with plain water will be the best plan for your skin.
You should also choose skincare products that contain water over synthetic substances. Water-based products are healthier for your skin, and they also tend to stay put without greasy side effects.
On the flipside, it’s also important that you don’t drink too much water. While the overconsumption of water is largely a rare occurrence, it tends to happen most often in athletes who drink too much water on a regular basis. As long as you are staying properly hydrated, drinking more than the recommended amount won’t do your body—or your skin—any good.
Resources:
Fetters, K.A. (2015, February 26). Does drinking water really give you glowing skin? Women’s Health Magazine
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2014, September 5). Water: How much should you drink every day? Retrieved from MayoClinic.org
The benefits of drinking water for your skin. (2016). Retrieved from UW Health
Water the magic drink: Learn how it helps glow your skin. (n.d.). Retrieved from Disabled World
Kristeen Cherney is a freelance health and lifestyle writer who focuses on preventive measures for a better quality of life. Cherney holds a BA in Communication, and is currently finishing her MA in English.
Most of my teenage and adult life, I’ve washed my hair every day. My hair is long and fine and looks yucky if I don’t. But lately there’s been a trend to NOT wash your hair as often, and I must say I’ve jumped on the bandwagon. So is this a healthy trend for your hair (and mental wellbeing) or not?
According to the experts, there’s no one good answer to how often people should shampoo. It usually comes down to the kind of hair you have and your personal preference.
Shampoo washes away natural oils on your scalp, so if you do it too frequently, you may dry your hair out, leaving it prone to breakage. For the most part, you definitely want some oils (sebum) to remain in your hair to provide moisturizing and a protective barrier on the skin and hair.
Really only a small group needs to shampoo daily. Those with very fine hair, someone who exercises and sweats a lot (or someone living in very humid place), or people with very oily scalps may need to wash their hair every day.
The type of hair you have matters too. The thicker your hair and the less oil, the less you need to shampoo. People with dry hair or curly hair can wash much less frequently without problems.
For the average person, every other day, or every 2 to 3 days, without washing is generally fine. And it’s also recommended to never go longer than 14 days without washing.
In recent years, more and more products have become available to extend how long you can go between washes. And people are coming up with different methods to keep hair looking good. Dry shampoos are powders that work to absorb oil, so it doesn’t sit on the scalp as much. Leave-in conditioners can help to reactivate your hair style. Some people even choose to skip the shampoo, just wetting and conditioning between shampoos instead.
Aside from products, there are other measures you can take to extend your time between washings without looking frumpy. Try parting your hair in a different place. Maybe try the chic braids that are so popular on Pinterest. Opt for a fun ponytail or bun with cute hair accessories.
As for me, I’m still trying to figure it all out. I have found that our Alcohol Free Hair Spray can make my Day 2 hair look pretty darned good. It’s water-based, so it safely reactivates my hair style without harsh chemicals which could dry it out. By Day 3 I’m attempting some sort of pony tail or poorly-created braid. I can’t go past Day 3. I just can’t. I won’t.
The concept of beauty is getting crazy. Every day, my Facebook newsfeed and my email inbox are filled with suggestions of what I should be doing to improve my appearance. From teeth whitening to getting Botox to having perfect eye brows, the obsession never ends. So I decided to take a look at all of the pretty straightforward things women are ‘supposed’ to be doing to meet this insane ideal of beauty we currently hold in society, how long it would take and how much it would cost. Here goes…
Let’s look at our bodies first. Now the concept that women are supposed to have her body look a certain way has been around forever. Skinny waist, big boobs, curvy hips…these are all pretty standard expectations (not saying they’re fair, but work with me on this). However in recent years, we’re now tortured with the thigh gap and bikini bridge. In case you don’t know what these are, thigh gap is a space between the inner thighs of women when standing upright with knees touching, and bikini bridge is a term for the space you get between your bathing suit bottom and your hip bones when you lie down. I don’t even want to put a price tag or time frame on these because quite honestly I think genetics play a big role in these even being a possibility for many women. Insane. Truly. However, let’s look at the other perfect parts that you’re supposed to have: six pack abs, sculpted arms, perky boobs, and small firm butt. For all this, you will need a gym membership. That should run you around $55/month and at least 4 days a week at an hour a pop to start to see a difference in your body after a few months. Oh and you’d better be on a diet or else all that working out won’t get you very far. Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, or Gwyneth Paltrow’s vegan gluten free organic raw made by virgins diet will hit your pocketbook for anywhere from $40 to $400 a month.
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Summer time means travel for many, and with airline baggage fees being through the roof, plus stringent TSA regulations, your packing game needs to be on point. Here are some tips that can help.
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