It is Time to Put Our Masks On!

Hello Ladies it has been a while since I wrote something but here I go again and promise to have more timely updates this time.   It is getting harder and harder to juggle managing a business, dealing with employees and customers, conducting seminars, and raising 2 kids.   Oh well!  Today let's talk about why masks are an important part of any skin care regime. 

The use of a high quality, appropriate  mask should be part of our beauty regime. That’s it.  There is no room for discussion or excuses such as – it takes time, or it is a boring procedure.

Whatever the needs of our skin may be, there is an appropriate mask that will provide the optimum care that our skin needs.

The benefits to our skin are numerous, and masks provide visible effects in a short time.  The only other types of products that offer greater concentrations of active substances are ampoules and serums (but we will talk about these at a later date)

As I mentioned, we have at our disposal a great selection of masks, which depending of the active ingredients they contain, offermany benefits to the skin. Masks can be creamy. In a gel, thick consistency, etc. Some masks can even be left on the skin without the need to remove them after a certain time.

 

My recommendation is that masks can be applied 2 or even 3 times a week.  I also recommend that once a week you perform a peeling prior to placing the mask.   Of course in all cases we clean our skin using a cleanser and tonic.  Depending on the mask, we let it take effect for 15-20 minutes and then remove with lukewarm water.

 
Let's See Some of The Choices of Masks - You can find more information about the products by clicking on the link. - Remember you enjoy 25%-35% discount on all products mentioned!

 

Special Care

Problematic skin and acne prone skins have a tendency for infections and irritations and as such demands effective but gentle care. These include specialized products which contain calming, antiseptic ingredients that will eliminate irritations, and balance the skin.

 
Products I recommend to my clients 


Silky Mask 40 ml

Silky Mask is a soothing mask which can be applied to impure problem skin with acne, oily skin, and combination skin.  
 
 
Sensitive
 
Sensitive skins usually suffer from luck of moisture and elasticity. The right products should be able to stimulate the natural skin processes, balance moisture, and improve the resilience of the skin.

 
Products I recommend to my clients

 

Sensitive Mask provides a pleasant, relaxed feeling. It leaves the complexion feeling smooth, younger and fr

 

Anti - Aging

Something I hear often from my clients, is the wrong assumption that masks, especially those with anti-aging ingredients, are only intended for older, more mature skins. The rule is simple! If the skin has a need for the ingredients that a mask offers then there is no age classification for the mask. Of course we would not recommend a strong anti-aging mask to an 18 or 20 year old, but certainly from the age of 25 onwards there is no problem, provided that the skin has a need for special care.

There are several choices for anti-aging masks using high technology ingredients, and which combine amino acids, vitamins, proteins, collagen, hyalluronic acid, and other excellent active ingredients. Depending on the mask they offer regeneration and rejuvenation, moisture, anti toxin activity, and active ingredients which visibly diminish wrinkles or in many cases make smaller lines disappear.

I present you only some of the many masks I recommend to my clients. 

ARTBIO STEM CELL MASK 200 ML A unique anti-aging mask which keeps the skin youthful looking thanks to the special ingredients of the extract of the alpine rose stem cells it contains. It’s active ingredients are promote cell rejuvenation and provide cell protection.	Oxygenium Mask 200 ml Oxygenium Mask is a fast- penetrating cream mask that will make your skin look radiant within minutes.	Caviar Mask 200 ml A true anti-ageing mask, rich in nutritional elements
Hyaluron-Silk Mask 200 ml The Hyaluron Silk mask is an extra moisturizing mask for demanding skin. Due to its extreme hydrophilic properties (2 % of hyaluronic acid can bind 98 % of water), it has an excellent filling effect on lines and wrinkles.	BioKur Orange-Ginger Mask 50 ml A rich and aromatic mask which refreshes tired skin.The ginger and orange extracts it contains stimulate the skin's metabolism while the shea butter and the valuable argan oil leave the skin soft, smooth and totally refreshed.	AND A MASK SPECIFICALLY FOR THE EYES Anti-Wrinkle Lifting Eye Mask 40 ml It moisturizes, refreshes and immediately tenses.

Don't forget that our skin is a living organism. Do not cut corners when it comes to the care of your skin, and do not miss out in experiencing the many benefits that the use of a good mask has to offer to your skin care regime!

Until my next post...Be Beautiful!

Cleansing is Absolutely Necessary!

Why Cleansing Is Important

Cleansing is perhaps the most important aspect in your daily skin care regime, as long as you use the right products for your skin and you do not overdo it.

 

If you think that cleansing your face is necessary only if you are wearing make up, eye shadows or lipstick, think again. Even if you have no make-up on, you need to clean your face to remove daily dust collection and air pollution.  You will be surprised as to how much dirt will be removed from an otherwise clean looking face.

 

Not using the right products may result in a dehydrated skin, with a tendency for peeling, and with an unbalanced pH.

 

Just as you choose the correct cream type for your skin, the same is true for the cleansing products you use.

Good Bye Summer…Time for Autumn Care

Hello ladies!

After all the hardships endured by our skin during the hot summer months, it’s time to provide it with the proper love and care it deserves and so urgently needs.

A combination of things such as the sun, the salt from the sea, and perhaps neglecting to do proper cleansing of our skin with a cleanser and lotion, are all factors that contributed to our skin being in need of immediate care and rejuvenation.

So today, let us look at some of the ways that will help us to restore vitality and radiance back to our skin.

Peeling (scrub)

Peeling is one very important step we can take that will lead us to a more bright and refreshed  complexion and a healthy looking skin.  Since dead skin cells and other environmental impurities  “block” the surface of the skin, it is understandable that no matter what products we use on our skin, they will not have the desired perfect result, since they will not be able to penetrate effectively into the skin.   

For Your Beautiful Eyes Only!

Hello ladies!

I thought I would share with you today a some information regarding the proper care of the eye area.

The area surrounding the eyes requires proper attention and specially formulated products. Many ladies will use whatever cream they use for the face (day cream, night cream etc) also on the eye area. DON’T DO IT. The skin surrounding the eye area is much thinner and thus much more delicate than the skin on the rest of our face. Using a regular cream that is not specifically formulated for the eye are ends up clogging the pores of the skin around the eyes, since these are usually thicker preparations, and also may contain ingredients that are too harsh and not appropriate for use around the eyes.

The skin surrounding the eye area is perhaps the one place where the symptoms of aging become first and most easily visible (crows feet), and since it is thin and delicate is also easily susceptible to damage. 

What are the benefits of Eye Products?

Body Fitness Part 4: The Neglected Back

Ok..Ok…I have delayed part 4 of our Body Fitness articles a little bit, and many of you have been sending me emails about it.  I promise the next parts will follow soon. I am very happy though to see that several of you are following these posts.

So….Here we go with the 4^th installment of our Body Fitness articles.

Today we will continue our daily exercise program with some very important but often neglected exercises for the back.

 

Our back consists of a complex of several muscles.  While our back is theoretically very strong it is at the same time very sensitive as well.

 

The vertebral column, our spine, which supports the muscles on our back, is already working very hard.  Our sedentary lifestyles and lack of exercise place extra burdens on our back muscles, therefore it is very important to strengthen them with appropriate exercises.

It is time for Peeling! And I don’t mean chemical peeling.

I know that most, if not all of you, try your best to take care of your skin using day creams, night creams, eye creams, and even the occasional mask and serum or ampoules. How many of you though, take the time to include in your skin care routine the necessary peeling that should be done once a week.

Why is Peeling/Scrubbing important?

It helps our constant struggle against aging. Now this should be a good enough reason to include it in our skin care routine.

Scrubbing removes dead skin cells so that your skin can “breath” . In addition, the process of scrubbing stimulates the blood and lymph flow which has a direct effect on cell regeneration.

Imagine how much more effective the various creams and masks you use on your skin would be, if you skin is clean of all the dead skin cells, and thus able to absorb better and faster those nourishing cream preparations you present it with.

When to use scrub or peeling?

Expression Wrinkles

Perhaps the most asked skin care question I get from my clients and of greatest concern to most women is about wrinkles, and in particular wrinkles caused by facial expressions.  

Expression Wrinkles?

Can you imagine if every time we laughed, frowned, cried, or got angry, we would stop to think about the wrinkles they are causing? 

Expression wrinkles are those lines that appear on our skin and are caused by the contractions of the muscles.  These include the radial lines that appear on the side of our eyes when we laugh or cry, - better known as "crow's feet", also the vertical wrinkles between the eyebrows when we frown,  the vertical wrinkles on the upper lip which are usually more prominent in persons that smoke – whence also known as "smoker's wrinkles", and the wrinkles that start from the two sides of the nose and ends at the sides of the lips.   All these wrinkles become increasingly more visible as times goes by and we gracefully age.  

Body Fitness Part 3: Chest exercises for the Perfect Breast

OK ladies, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! 

 

Just a few words before we get started.

The exercise program we will follow should be balanced and have a natural flow to it so that all muscle groups will receive the appropriate exercise. Furthermore, it will allow us to place emphasis in the areas that do require more attention.

The main purpose of our workout is to cause such biological adaptations as to improve our body.  The daily exercise program should combine energizing exercises along with stretching exercises.  The purpose of this is to restore the muscles to their original diameter, and allow the muscles to excrete the lactic acid that is generated during exercise.

Now…The key to success in anything we do in life is patience and perseverance.  The same is true for our exercise program.  No matter how great and carefully chosen the exercises are, unless we stick to it, and follow the program on a regular basis we will not achieve the desired effect we expect.

Body Fitness Part 2: Changeable Variables

Ok…here we go with the second installment of our articles which aims to show you that a better body is not as impossible as it seems, even for those of you who may have never worked out before.  What is important though is that YOU believe that you can do it.

So let us see what are those things that we CAN change about our body.

Weight
Your normal weight depends first of all on YOU (your dietary habits),  and then on your bone structure/ body type.  It is of course ideal to a have a normal and stable weight.  No one person is classified entirely on one body type. We usually have the dominant body type which combines certain features of a second type.  Recognizing which category you fall in, will enable you to better organize your workout program  for better results as far as weight reduction is concerned.  Always in combination of course with a good healthy diet.

Body proportions

As I mentioned, the general appearance of your body is determined by your body type, from the physiology of the muscular system to the overall distribution of fat on your body. The more sleek your body is, the closer you will be to the desired proportions that you will set as your goal.

What's Your Type? Sensitive

Hello again! 

Lets continue our talk about the different skin types, and talk a little about…..

Sensitive Skin  

Based on my personal experience with my clients, I am of the opinion that although in most cases sensitive skin is based on genetics,  there is a good portion of women that have sensitive skin, because they cause it themselves, by not taking proper care of their skin.   Now before you start sending me a ton of emails for saying this…let me explain myself.

Although in general our skin is resilient and is capable to quickly regain its form, it will react in a negative way with prolonged exposure to the strong sun, and the  pollutants that are so abundant around us every day. You need to remember, then, that your skin is also thin and delicate, and must provide it the proper care accordingly.

The sensitive and hypersensitive skins are typically found on blondes and redheads.

Body Fitness Part 1: Evaluate Your Body

I know you are anxious to get started but before we get into it, you need to evaluate your body, identify the “defects” and evaluate the improvement margins.

Fitness could be described as the cornerstone for beauty and health. The benefits of being physically fit are immediately reflected in both our outer appearance as well as our psychological mood. Good looks, a sense of confidence, a state of well-being and vitality are all reflected on our face and body as a result of being physically fit.

Our aim is to improve the overall appearance of the body by setting goals within the normal limits that nature allows.  There is certainly room for improvement present, as each body type meets it’s own proportions, determined by the rules of physical harmony. 

After you objectively evaluate your body, you must identify goals that you can implement, and adjust your workout accordingly.

For a Better Body

Hello to all! Today I will begin a rather big task in terms of preparing and blogging my next article series.  This of course will be done in conjunction with blogging other sections for face and body care.

I will start a series of articles whose aim is to show you that being fit, and making the most of your physical assets is not as impossible as it seems, even for those of you who may have never worked out before.  There is one prerequisite though….YOU have to believe that you can do it.

You will set your own goals that will serve as guidelines, and with a little confidence on your part you will be able to achieve it.

As my background is also in physical education, I am happy to share with you some information as to what we can do to make the most of what nature has blessed us with.

So are you ready to get started? Start with the Body Fitness articles that will be posted in 6 or 7 parts

Regular Soap: Friend or Enemy to the Skin?

A reader sent me a question today,  whether using regular soap for daily cleansing of the face is ok.

Hmm………I personally always advice my clients never EVER to use a regular bar of soap for the daily cleansing of their face.  The reason is that soap tends to dry the skin out, and usually regular bars of soap do not offer any additional benefits to the skin.  Again, this is my own personal opinion and what I tell my clients.

Having said that, the only time I would give in and feel a little comfortable with a client using soap is in cases of clients with acne.  In such cases, it may also used for cleansing of the back where acne can also be present.    Nonetheless, I would still recommend special cleansing products that are specifically for acne/problematic or oily skin.

If you do have to use soap (either regular bar or in liquid form) do so by first creating a rich lather on your wet skin, and then rinse thoroughly and carefully using plenty of tepid water.

DON’T’ use it to clean the area around the eyes! The skin in this area is very fine and sensitive, and special eye cleansing products should be used.

Needless to say that an appropriate tonic lotion should be used afterwards in order to remove any residues, and most importantly to balance the ph balance of the skin.

Please do send me any and all your questions…I promise that I will answer you as promptly as possible.

Until the next post….Be Beautiful!

Exfoliation is not just for the face

Many of my clients take absolutely wonderful care of their face, doing  all the right things including  weekly or bi-weekly exfoliation.  However, most of them forget that the skin on their body requires the same attention and love.

Even if they do use some moisturizing products or cellulite/slimming products to care for their body, they still leave out one important step in body beauty care.  Exfoliation!

Let me share with you some reasons why incorporating  exfoliation in your body care routine once or twice a week, is so beneficial for the skin:

• First and foremost, body exfoliation eliminates all impurities and dead cells which suffocate the skin, leaving it instantly softer and incredibly smooth.
• Exfoliation also encourages cell renewal and makes the skin more firm and noticeably more resilient and resistant to outside harmful elements. 
• If you carry out hair removal, exfoliation it prevents ingrown hairs and makes hair removal easier.
• Finally, it leaves the skin more receptive to skin care products applied after exfoliation.  Remember, if the pores are clogged and the skin cannot “breath” , it will not be able to absorb all those wonderful creams and moisturizers we apply to it?

So ladies...do go ahead and exfoliate, the benefits to your skin are too many to be ignored.

Until next time…..be beautiful!

What's Your Type? Oily / Problematic Skin

A lot of the questions I get on a regular basis, is people asking me to determine their skin type, and recommend to them ways that they can utilize to take good daily care of their skin.  

For this reason,  I would like to start a series of posts dealing with the various skin types, and the ways and means that can be used to take care of particular skin types and problems that can arise.

I thought I would start first with………..

Oily / Problematic Skin

In general oily skin, even though more flexible and elastic, tends to be more shiny combined with enlarged pores.  Most often it is also likely that is susceptible to blackheads and skin discoloration or spots.  Finally, oily and problematic skins are more prone to acne.

Oily skin usually feels greasy to the touch,  and this can often be the case even a short time after you have thoroughly washed and cleansed your face. 

In addition, make-up application can be a real struggle and can “slide  off”  easily if it is not properly applied.

What is it with Hyaluronic Acid?

Today I would like to discuss a little bit about the importance of hyaluronic acid in the skin

Have you noticed that the first signs of lines and wrinkles have begun to make their appearance, and that your skin’s texture is becoming uneven and the pores are getting bigger?

The reason for this is the degradation of hyaluronic acid in your skin - a completely natural process.

Hyaluronic acid is found in natural form in the human body and in all living organisms. In the human body is found in large quantities not only in the skin but also in the, eyes, the hair and the gums. It is largely responsible for retaining the moisture, volume and elasticity of our skin.

It is embedded between the network of collagen and elastin fibers in the skin as a filler substance that stabilizes the moisture and the normal inflation of the cells and which assists the proteins and skin elasticity .

Hello everybody!

Here I go starting my very own blog!  I am really excited that I will have the chance to chat with you and share with you my own experiences and know how on anything and everything that has to do with beauty!

I certainly welcome any and all of your questions, and I will try to answer them as thoroughly as possible.

I will be posting short tutorials on everything from the basics of cleansing, how to use peelings, masks, choosing the right creams, serums, and all that stuff that make our lives so much more interesting!

We will be talking about both face and body care, treatments, products, and so much more.

Also, we will not leave out nail care, make-up and color cosmetics. :)  Phew!! I think covered pretty much everything for now. 

While I am preparing my first "real" post, which I will try to have ready in a couple of days, you can start thinking about all those beauty related questions you always wanted to know the answers to but were afraid to ask. (just being funny).  


I will try to post as often as my hectic schedule allows (trying to run two companies plus raising 2 little monsters).    

I am making it no secret that my husband and I manage 2 skin care companies and we are distributors of skin care products, therapies, salon equipment, etc, etc.   As such you will see links and ads related to these websites.  However, the purpose of this blog is to become a venue for you to find answers to some or all of your skin care related questions. And as such, I will answer them for you as best and as honestly as I can.

I will not try to "sell" you on our products specifically (unless of course you see something you like and want more information about it). However,  since the products I work with are also the ones I have personally tried and can give a professional opinion about,  you will see recommended product links in my posts.

So....talk to you in a couple of days (or sooner). Until then...take care and be beautiful!

Xanthi