Tag Archives: skin

Clothing & Accessories, Fashion Forum

Clean Your Stinky Head Scarf…and other things – Part 1

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I listen to the TJMS on the way to my day gig. I believe it was the week of December 12th (2011 when this was originally posted on my prior blog) I heard my fellow, native South Carolinian J Anthony Brown improvising a blues song about women needing to wash their head scarves because it was making the back of their heads stink.

*Update: Try as I might I couldn’t find an audio clip online. If anyone happens to find one please leave a link in the comments. Thanks ❤

It got me thinking that’s not the only thing that probably goes uncleaned for far longer than it should.  Here’s my quick list of beauty care and other items that perhaps go overlooked but should be cleaned at least weekly:

  • Nightly head scarf (of course)
  • Combs
  • Brushes
  • Makeup brushes and sponges
  • Nail clippers
  • Tweezers
  • Glasses (prescription or stylish shades)
  • Pillowcases
  •  Cell phone (because unless you’re 100% hands-free ALL the time, it will touch your face at some point)

More specifics on why it’s important (besides just being clean) and how to clean some of these items quickly and easily in future posts every other Wednesday!

Fashion Forum

Weekly beauty tip #6 – Super Smooth Legs

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Score silky-smooth legs and sandalworthy toes with these vitamin-packed scrubs that buff off dead skin with natural exfoliants.

Clove Almond Foot Scrub
Mix 2 cups of Epsom salt, ½ cup almond or vegetable oil and 1 tbsp of ground cloves together in a foot tub or a large bowl. Rub the mixture over your feet for 5 minutes (paying extra attention to rough spots), then rinse with warm water. [Courtesy of Jennifer Jaqua]

legs

Super Salt Blaster
Mix 1 cup of salt and 1 cup of olive oil together in a bowl. Rub on legs to exfoliate; rinse. Mash together 1 avocado, 1 cup of mayonnaise, 1 banana and 1 tsp of olive oil in  a bowl and microwave for 10 seconds. Smooth the mixture on your legs and wrap a towel around them for 10 minutes. Then wipe off with a damp cloth. [Courtesy of Lenny LaCour, director, Spa de LaCour at the Bannockbum Club in Illinois]

Physical

Weekly Beauty Tip – Week 2: Sugar Body Scrubs

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It is full blown winter all across the US this week.  Earlier this week the polar vortex sent freezing temps even into Florida.  Sunday the local temperature topped out in the 70s and by Monday afternoon it had fallen 30 degrees.  Regardless of where you are, this frigid winter weather can wreak havoc on your skin.  Not to mention the hot showers, which honestly even though we know it’s bad for our skin who is really going to give them up?  So this week’s tip is an at-home treatment to loosen those dry, dead skin cells and take your skin back to feeling baby soft.

Body Buffer
Dip half a grapefruit in sugar and gently scrub over clean body. Do not use over freshly shaved legs.  Shower off, then moisturize.

I personally like to do the whole exfoliating process in the shower. You can also use an orange if you don’t like grapefruit.

grapefruit

The nice thing about this at-home treatment is this is the season for grapefruit here in Florida so trying this is an Value exfoliant. Right now grapefruit are about $4 for a 5-lb bag or free if you know someone with a bumper crop of grapefruit from the tree in their yard like I do. So that’s between $0 – $0.50 for a grapefruit and 1/4 cup of sugar out of your cupboard for an at-home body scrub.

The C2 option (common commercial) is a body scrub that can run you about $10  from Victoria Secret’s or Bath and Body Works. The nice part is you do get whatever scent you prefer as opposed to just a citrus scent.

The Extrav options can cost up to $28 for a sugar scrub exfoliant that contains  essential oils, vitamins and other ingredients that combine the physical exfoliation with a low-level chemical exfoliation through the use of various acids (i.e. salicylic, lactic, etc.).

Another suggestion for added skin health that I heard from one of those doctors with a TV show was to take 500 mg of evening primrose oil daily.  I’ve been taking it for about 25 days now.  I forgot to take a photo of my skin before starting but I will say I don’t see any increase in this mysterious skin condition that’s been stripping me of my pigmentation.

And no, I don’t have vitiligo. The dermatologist and my doctor were able to rule that out.