The Beauty Bar Blog

Category: Skin Care

Tips for Keeping your Skin Beautiful in the Summer

Here are some tips to keeping your skin looking healthy during the summer.

Everyone is looking for that sun-kissed skin in the summer, but many end up red like a lobster. Peeling skin, acne, and bug bites will make your outer layer look very unflattering. Take a look at these tips that will keep your skin looking healthy this summer.

Tip #1 – Deal with Sunburn ASAP

If you should get some sunburn on your skin, you need to treat it right away. To reduce pain and swelling, take two aspirin or ibuprofen as soon as you can. Another way you can sooth your sun burn is to do a milk compress. Soak a washcloth in a bath of ice cold while milk and drape it over the burn.

Tip #2 – Keep the Mosquitos Away

Summer means mosquitos. So if you are going camping, on vacation somewhere with a lot of bugs, or just hanging out in the yard you will want mosquito protection. If you feel like mosquitos are always targeting you, take vitamin B12 supplements daily. Research shows that B12 will cause your skin to give off a scent that repels mosquitos.

Tip #3 – Avoid Acne from Sunscreen

If your skin is already prone to acne, sunscreen can make it worse. When sunscreen is absorbed into the skin it can make you break out. You should use a mineral sunscreen with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide because they sit on top of the skin. Water-resistant sunscreen can be hard to wash off and the residue left behind can clog up your pores. Use an oil-based cleanser to help break down the sunscreen and wash it away.

Tip #4 – Reduce Razor Burn

Even the best shaver can get razor burn. Next time you get razor burn, apply a thin coat of one percent hydro cortisone cream or Aquaphor to the irritated area to sooth the inflammation. The sun’s UV rays can worsen the bumps and irritation, so keep that area out of the sun until it heals.

Summer Beauty Tips

Here are some summer beauty tips that will help you keep your skin looking and feeling healthy in the hot sun.

Summer is almost here! That means it is time to get your body into bikini shape and your hair and skin shining as bright as the sun. Keeping your hair, skin, and body healthy during the summer can be difficult. The hot summer sun can cause flaky skin or dry hair. To keep looking beautiful you have to protect yourself from the sun. Here are some tips for having radiant skin and healthy hair this summer!

Tip #1 – Antioxidants are your Friend

Research has shown that antioxidants could be your skin’s best friend during the summer. They prevent collagen destruction, inflammation, and wrinkles in human skin cells. Antioxidants will help protect your skin from being damaged by the sun’s harmful UV-B rays.

Tip #2 – Exfoliate!!!!

Over exposure to the sun can cause flaky, peeling skin. By exfoliating regularly you can remove the dead skin cells from your body and keep your skin looking healthy. You can make a great natural exfoliant at home by brewing a green tea pouch in ½ cup of hot water. After the tea cools, mix 2 tablespoons of the green tea with 2 tablespoons of sugar. When they combine, add another 2 tablespoons of sugar. Lightly rub the mixture into the skin and you will be exfoliating and protecting it at the same time!

Tip #3 – Moisturize with Coconut Oil

Keeping your skin moisturized is just as important as exfoliating. Coconut oil contains lauric acid, a fatty-acid that fights off bacteria and viruses. It will also moisturize and smooth your skin without leaving you with an oily or sticky feeling.

Tip #4 – Stay Hydrated

Proper hydration is key to staying energetic and healthy during the summer months. With higher temperatures comes more perspiration. Whether you eat fruits and vegetables high in water content or just chug down some bottled water, stay hydrated.

Tip #5 – Less is More

Wearing thick foundation, creamy lipsticks, blushes, and eyeliner is much easier in the fall and winter. In the summer, the heat can turn your makeup into a sticky and suffocating mess. The heat will cause the pores on your face to open up and be more receptive to whatever is applied to the skin. This means that your foundation and creams can clog up your pores and cause acne. To avoid this, use light all-natural products.

The Best and Worst Sunscreens for this Beach Season

Make sure you are using the best sunscreen this summer to protect your skin from the sun’s dangerous rays.

Nothing ruins a vacation or day at the beach like burnt skin. This summer you need to make sure that you choose the best sunblock available so your skin won’t turn bright red. The Environmental Working Group recently released its 2013 Guide to Sunscreens, letting you know which ones to use and which ones to avoid.

The EWG found that only 25 percent of products on the market offer both broad sun protection and low-risk chemical ingredients. While sunburns are usually caused by intense ultraviolet B rays, longer UVA rays penetrate the body more deeply and can cause cancer.

Let’s first look at what the EWG says should be avoided when looking for the perfect sunscreen:

Sunscreen Sprays or Powders – Sprays and powders pose serious inhalation risks. They also make it easy for a person to apply too little or miss a spot, leaving skin exposed to the sun’s dangerous rays.

SPF Values over 50+ – SPF refers only to protection from UVB radiation, not the potentially cancer causing UVA rays. High SPF numbers may trick you into staying in the sun too long, because you will be protected from sunburns. However, you will be increasing your risk of other kinds of skin damage.

Dangerous Ingredients – You should avoid sunscreen products that use oxybenzone. This ingredient can penetrate the skin, cause allergic reactions, and possibly disrupt hormones. You should also avoid retinyl palmitate, because it’s been found to possibly speed up the development of skin tumors and lesions.

Here are some of the top sunscreens available, according to the EWG:

• Coppertone Kids Pure & Simple Sunscreen Lotion
• CVS Baby Sun Lotion Broad Spectrum Sunscreen
• Sunbow Dora the Explorer Sunscreen
• Coral Safe Broad Spectrum Face Stick
• Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen, Sensitive

Beauty Tips Celebs Learned from their Moms

In honor of Mother’s Day, here are some beauty tips that some women in the beauty industry learned from their mothers.

Mother’s Day was yesterday and in honor of all the amazing mothers out there we are going to look at some beauty tips that celebrities and fashionistas learned from their moms. Every little girl learns a few beauty tricks from the one who brought them into this world and you can never know too many. So without further ado, here are some tips that some people who know a thing or two about beauty learned from their moms.

Georgia May Jagger, Daughter of Jerry Hall

“Red lipstick. Me and my sister love red lipstick. That’s something that my mom passed on to us. I guess full hair, we all love having long hair. She uses avocado oil and olive oil in her hair – that’s quite a good one, kind of a cheap thing to do. Another thing would be to put lip balm on your teeth to stop the lipstick from going on your teeth.”

Gabriella Perezutti, Candela Designer

“My mother had four children, including twins, and still to this day she has a really flat stomach. So when I got pregnant with my twins the first thing she told me was, ‘The moment you give birth start wearing a girdle for at least a month so that everything goes back into place.’ I did exactly this and it worked! One of the few times I actually listened to my mother.”

Ying Chu, Executive Beauty Director, Glamour

“My mother has some great DIY skin secrets. One is to use rice water to rinse your face – she said it would brighten skin and boost clarity. Clearly she was onto something…look at all the rice-infused cleansers and serums now.”

Aerin Laude, Granddaughter of Estee Lauder

“My grandmother always said,’You only have one face, take care of it’. No matter how tired you are, cleanse and moisturize, stay out of the sun and drink water.”

Hayley Phelan, Senior Editor, Fashionista

“My mom is all about being natural, and she definitely passed that ‘less is more’ ethos down to me when it comes to hair styling and makeup. It’s about looking effortless. That being said, she also instilled the importance of a good hair colorist – having the right shade can totally lift your whole complexion and then you can get away with wearing even less makeup.”

Beauty Treatments you can do at Home

Here are some beauty tips that you can do at home.

Everyone wants to look their best, but sometimes it is hard to get that salon manicured look at home. There are some home beauty treatments you can do on a budget that will keep you looking gorgeous. Try some of these home beauty tips if you can’t make it to the salon.

Beauty Tip #1 – Sugaring

This Arabian treatment involves using sugar cooked a few other ingredients to make an all-natural wax for removing unwanted body hair. The great thing about this recipe is that you can make a batch, use what you need, and then store the rest in a plastic container in the fridge until you need it again.

Beauty Tip #2 – Threading

Using twisted lengths of thread to remove body hair has become a popular method in India and the Middle East, and now the United States. It is typically used on facial hair around the chin, upper lip, and eyebrows. This method of hair removal is popular because it allows you to go longer between removal sessions than traditional tweezing. While many salons are starting to practice this method, with a little practice you can do it yourself at home. Look up some instructional videos online and having a friend help can make things much easier.

Beauty Tip #3 – Dry Brushing

Using a dry brush against your skin will both exfoliate and stimulate circulation. The trick is to use a medium bristle body brush with natural bristles. You can purchase a bath-style brush with a removable wooden handle and strap on the back of the brush and it will work great.

Beauty Tip #4 – Hot Oil

Your hair takes quite a bit of abuse every day. A good hot oil treatment will help your hair stay healthy. When you want to give your hair a little boost, put some oil (could even be oil you use for cooking) in a measuring cup and heat it in the microwave or in a sauce pan before application. Once the oil is warm (don’t make it scorching hot), apply it to damp hair and work every strand. Once you are done rinse your hair and shampoo it.

Airbrush Makeup is great for girls to use when getting Senior Portraits done. No more retouching makeup in-between outfit changes!