lotion

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Protect it!

As I write this, the sun is shining gloriously through my window, lighting up the new spring leaves and making everything warm and beautiful. And while I do love the sun, its warmth, and the cheerful shine it brings to life, I do not love the wrinkles, sun spots, and cancer that lounging in the sun unprotected can cause.

I’ve been watching a good deal of trash television lately, and I’ve noticed a disturbing trend. Over-tanning! Jerseylicious features a lot of big hair, bad eyeliner, and over-the-top tans. Over the weekend I watched a health show about people who are addicted to strange things, and one girl tanned so often that her skin was orange and she no longer resembled her family members. Why? In a time when the health risks associated with tanning are widely known and much too real to be ignored, why are people still (literally) baking themselves in the sun?

Now, I’m not saying we should all march around looking pasty and pale. There are plenty of sunless tanners out there that look natural and are actually good for you skin. (Check back later this month for a post on self-tanning!)

A lot of people just love being outside in the warm weather, and I don’t blame them at all. It’s wonderful, and getting out to enjoy nature and the fresh air is a perfectly healthy thing. Just please, think of your skin. It holds you together and can make you look radiant and youthful or saggy and old. So protect it!

In the warmer months, I don’t leave home without some SPF. Many beauty products, from powders to glosses, contain sunscreen that you can apply without thinking about it. But as soon as I get out of the shower, I slather on a body lotion with SPF from head to toe. My current favorite? Vaseline Aloe Fresh Protecting Lotion. It smells fresh, smooths skin, and keeps me safe from daily sun damage, all at once. As for my face, I vary the moisturizer, as long as it has SPF 15 or higher. I’m liking Eucerin Redness Relief Daily Protecting Lotion. It soothes redness while also providing protection from the sun.

A tip to keep in mind when applying sunscreen: don’t forget your neck, chest, hands and feet. These parts are often neglected and can give away your age. Nobody wants a youthful face to be accompanied by a turkey neck.

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A Simple Pleasure

My apologies, loyal readers, for slacking lately in my posting. Like most people, I’m finding less and less time to complete all the things I need to get done. Holiday get togethers and increased work hours mean less time to blog about beauty. Add a little illness and a blown transmission, and I have just not been as on top of things as I would like.

Obviously my past couple of weeks have been bumpy, but in all of the stress and catastophre I have been pleasantly surprised by a body wash and lotion duo that I bought recently, simply because they were the first that I saw when I went to the drugstore.

Johnson’s Body Care Melt Away Stress Lavender and Chamomile Relaxing Body Wash and Lotion both come  in a pleasant light purple bottle and are lightly perfumed with a  lavender scent. The body wash is creamy and moisturizing and the lotion absorbs quickly and leaves skin silky. Every night I rub some on my feet right before bed, and maybe it’s all in my head, but I really do feel the stress melt away.

Thank goodness for simple pleasures.

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Hand Help!

The ice and snow that coated the roads today on my morning commute confirmed what I already suspected – winter is on its way. Another clear (and very unfortunate) sign that the dreaded cold season is rolling in is that, no matter what I do to remedy the situation, my hands are painfully dry.

Cold air and dry indoor heating can wreak havoc on would-be pretty hands, and the fact that frequent hand sanitization is a necessary part of my job does not help.

I’ve tried various lotions and creams, but nothing seems to keep my cuticles from cracking and little rough patches from forming on the palms of my hands.

Readers, I implore you, if you have a secret hand-saving weapon, please share it!

I recently tried Fresh Brown Sugar Body Cream, having heard great things about it and the accompanying scrub. I have to say, I was very disappointed. The cream itself wasn’t any more moisturizing than anything else I’ve tried, and the smell was just plain weird. Very lemony, in a cleaning product way.

On a more positive note, I recently received a sample of Murad Energizing Pomegranate Lip Protector, and I am definitely a fan. It’s not waxy or glossy, but a nice, light pink balm that smells fresh and feels nice on the lips.

If only I could find something like that for my hands…