Healthy Skin Care

Before I tell you about the wonderful advancements in healthy skin care in the past year, I want to share with you some exciting news for me.

First of all, Utah is having its first significant snow storm this week which means that there will be enough snow base for great snowshoeing this season. We went snowshoeing twice in November up at Alta, but the snow was so thin that we were often trekking on rocks, rushes, and soil. So, as they say in that Christmas song, “let it snow.”

Next, I have two new books arriving on bookstore shelves this winter. One in January, one in February. You can preorder today at http://www.amazon.com/Lucy-Beale/e/B001K8AZP6/ref=sr_tc_2_0. The January book is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Glycemic Index Weight Loss, 2nd Edition. The first edition of this book has sold so well, that my publisher asked me to update it with all new recipes, exercise recommendations, and recent research on how the glycemic index works and how to easily incorporate it into your daily meals and snacks at home and at restaurants.

The February book is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well on a Budget. You’ll learn how to eat healthfully while on a food budget –how to purchase food, deal with school lunches, set up a food coop, plan menus, and more. I wrote this book with my daughter-in-law, Jessica Partridge who compiled over 150 budget conscious yet delicious recipes for you and your family to enjoy. You can also preorder on the amazon.com link above, or find at your favorite bookstore.

If you’re stumped at not losing weight and wondering what in the world could be preventing you from shedding the pounds, I can help. In a one-hour coaching session, we can discuss your lifestyle and health needs and design a program that will work for you. The cost is $100.00. Send me an email to set up a session.

I am so excited about skin care offerings this year. In past issues, I’ve bemoaned the dearth of healthy, yet effective skin care treatments. Seemed all the products were filled with parabens, petrochemicals, fragrances, synthetic color, phthalates, and other toxic chemicals. Just the thought of putting those concoctions on my face, hair and body made me shudder. Seems beauty products should be beautifying, not scary and ominous. If you want to check on the safety of a skin care ingredient, go to http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php. They list ingredients as well as many skin care products by brand.

You won’t find truly healthy products at department stores, cosmetic stores, drugstores, hair salons, or discount stores with a few rare exceptions. But you will find them at, of all places, day spas. And on the Internet. That’s where I’ve found the following luscious brands:

Eminence Organics. Try their Stone Crop products. They heal the skin and actually reduce the appearance of dark pigmentation. Which is the one thing that makes your skin look older than you feel. I love all their products. It’s hard to choose which ones to purchase. There are two spas in Utah that sell Eminence, Mountain Body in Park City and Sego Lily Spa. You can go to the website at www.eminenceorganics.com to find a spa near you or to order directly. I especially love the Stone Crop Serum.

I need to tell you that none of my endorsements are paid advertising – I purchase all the products myself and use them to see results before I tell you about them.

Blinc mascara is the most clever product I’m in love with. My eyes burn when I apply regular mascara and as with almost all mascaras, it smears as the evening progresses. Not Blinc. It coats each lash in a tiny “tube” and doesn’t come off until you wash your face. Which means I now faithfully wash my face after an evening out, which I wasn’t so faithful about before. As you wash, the tiny tubes come off, which is kind of cool in an odd way. Sold in Utah at Clarity Spa. Also sold at Sephora. Check out their website http://www.blincinc.com/.

The one department store skin care product I can’t wash my face without is Erno Laszlo bar soap. In the warm months, I use Sea Mud Soap, in winter I use Active Phelityl Soap. This is the most unique way to wash one’s face. Apply a couple drops of Active Phelityl oil or pure olive oil to your skin. Fill basin with warm to warmer water. Lather. Then splash face 20 times with basin water, then 10 times with warm to warmer running water. The splashing exfoliates, pulls out toxins, adds moisture to skin, and rebuilds collagen. A bar of soap lasts about 9 to 12 months. The bars are mostly free of the scary ingredients.

Mineral makeup by Bare Escentuals is sold virtually everywhere. The original is free of all scary ingredients and provides an SPF 15. The minerals make your skin glow and lightly cover discolorations, redness, and minimize the appearance of lines. Plus it’s so easy – just brush it on, glow, and you’re off for your day. This stuff is so safe you can sleep in it.

Dr. Hauschka, a German skin care line, is super healthy. I especially love their toner, and lipsticks. I purchase the toner at Whole Foods, and purchase the lipsticks at their store in Park City. Lots of websites sell Dr. Hauschka products, often at really good discounts. Buy at Whole Foods on Tuesdays – that’s the day they discount health and beauty products 15%. The Dr. Hauschka system is elaborate and comprehensive, so take some time with it to purchase the products that will work best for your skin. Their Rose Day cream is great, too.

For the most modern skin treatments, try Skin 2 Skin Un-wrinkle Forehead and Crow’s Feet Cream. It contains Snap-8, an ingredient that acts like botox to eliminate forehead scowl lines and smile crinkles without the botox or the price of regular botox treatments. Online at www.skin2skincare.com. They also offer a healthy version of the popular Strivectin, Anti-Sagging Renewal Serum which rebuilds collagen.
Strivectin has a red-zone high hazard score of 7-8 on www.cosmeticsdatabase.com. Ick.

For facial moisturizer and hand cream, I’m hooked on organic shea butter. A huge tub – 8 ounces – costs $22.00 and lasts a year. At www.shea4me.com.

Hair care offerings aren’t great yet. Most shampoos, conditioners, sprays, and gels are full of scary ingredients. Dr. Hauschka has healthy shampoo and a couple new companies are beginning to care about protecting your health while making your hair look gorgeous. Perhaps next year I can share better news with you.

Ditto shower gel. Ditch it. You’re healthiest choice is bar soap. Be careful here. Some companies promote their products as natural, which has no legal definition. Don’t trust the sales clerk on this. Read the ingredients. Look them up on www.cosmeticsdatabase.com.

Fragrance. Oh, my gosh. How much I wish theatre and symphony goers would ditch the perfume. I haven’t found any fragrances except for pure essential oils that aren’t classified as hormone disrupters. Pure essential oils aren’t so beautifully marketed with such promise for a gorgeous and glamorous life. Nor are they so profitable. Most fragrances also contain phthalates, which are not healthy. I’ll let you know when healthy fragrances appear. Fingers crossed on this one. But horrors, hotels and cruise ships are now pumping fragrances into their lobbies and public areas. They’re calling it their “signature scent.” Guess we won’t be guests at those establishments.

Congrads to Salt Lake County’s Dimple Dell Recreation Center where I take Pilates classes and work out. They post requests that folks don’t wear perfume to the center.

Check out dryer balls. They take the place of fabric softeners while eliminating static and shortening drying time of your clothes. Your clothes will smell truly fresh and not like you bathed in Bounce. The balls last for years. Available almost everywhere.

For skin care, I’m also loving machines. One home machine, www.LightStim.com, is a hand-held LED light anti-aging device that rebuilds collagen and elastin. Firms and tones skin, too. Costs about $350.00. Is pricey but sure beats a weekly spa habit for LED therapy that runs about $100 per session. The LightStim works and is easy to use when reading or watching TV.

The next machine treatment I love and see terrific results with is the Laser Genesis. Relaxing and calming, it gently zaps your face to rebuild collagen and can also zap red and broken capillaries. Right now I go to Clarity Spa for quarterly treatments. The good news: coming this year is a hand-held home use device that will cost way less than those spa treatments. You don’t want to know what the spa treatment costs and neither does my husband who subscribes to this newsletter.

Please let me know if you’ve found healthy hair care products or skin care products that work for you. Wishing you a beautiful Holiday Season.

Love,

Lucy Beale
Author, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Glycemic Index Weight Loss and
The Complete Idiot's Guide Glycemic Index Cookbook
www.Lucybeale.com
801-501-8240