Face Good

Spending long hours in an office environment is unhealthy for anyone in the long run, and particularly has detrimental effects on skin. Office ladies who don’t bother to take the appropriate precautions will soon find themselves the epitome of Plain Janes. Being able to hide yourself in the office doesn’t mean you can neglect your image. These health and skin problems will continue to plague you, even if you leave office life behind. It’s wise to keep the problems under control while you can. In this post and the two coming ones, I’ll discuss these problems and ways to keep them at bay.

Problem 1: Dry skin
For ladies who do use make-up, you may find it difficult for your make-up to blend or stay on. The moisture level of your skin has a direct impact on the adherence levels of your make-up. Air-conditioning and radiation from the computer cause water loss, resulting in rough, flaking skin that easily creases into wrinkles.

Hydrate your skin
The natural solution is to keep your skin well moisturized. A moisture spray allows you to effortlessly hydrate your face directly. Before using it, dab away oil from your face and use a clean, wet cotton pad to wipe off dirt on your face. Spray some water evenly over your face. It’s a good way to stay awake too! Alternatively, you can place several pieces of clean cotton wool soaked in water over your clean face.

Drink water
It is common knowledge that you need at least 8 glasses of water per day for your body to function properly. If you are often too distracted by work to drink, make the effort to drink lots of water before you go to work. Do not try to make up for the requirement by drinking at night as it will have detrimental effects instead, and you’ll experience disrupted sleep from frequent trips to the toilet.

Blend moisturizer with liquid foundation
Mix 2 to 3 drops of your regular moisturizer with foundation in the amount that you normally use. It’s hydrating and makes it easier for the foundation to stay on.

Problem 2: The Computer Affliction
Computers are a source of radiation emissions and prolonged exposure to it can disrupt your secretion system. If your cells are not regenerating properly, spots and pimples will emerge. Magnetic fields from the radiation also accumulate dust and impure air, causing skin to be clogged, yellowish and dull. In addition, ladies with oily skin will find that their oil glands have become even more active, resulting in pimples and enlarged pores, while those with dry skin will end up with even drier skin that can give way to wrinkles and dark pigmentation.

Keep your skin clean
No matter how late you get home, remove your make-up and wash your face thoroughly. Use a hot towel to steam your face for 30 seconds before you begin your cleansing ritual. It helps to open up clogged pores and makes your skin more receptive to the cleanser.

Salt water exfoliator
Scoop a teaspoon of salt into your palm, pour some warm water (warm, not hot. You don’t want to scald your hand!) over the salt and rub the mixture so that it becomes liquid enough to be applied on your face. Rub the mixture gently in circular motion over your T-zone for thirty seconds and wash off. You can do this twice a week.

Problem 3: Panda eyes
Due to poor blood circulation, eye bags easily emerge, a problem escalated by staying up late to work overtime. Wrinkles also develop easily due to exhaustion and dryness. Fortunately, the onset of wrinkles and permanent eye bags can be pushed backwards given the right treatments as early as possible.

Milk Massage
Gently massaging milk on the skin around your eyes helps to reduce dark circles. If your dark circles are serious, you can use a more intense treatment by soaking a clean, absorbent cloth in milk and put it over your closed eyes for up to 10 minutes.

Wolfberry tea
Wolfberry is widely known to be good for eyes. Wolfberry tea is a sweet, fragrant tea with a mellow sweet taste that would be gladly consumed by many even if not for its health benefits. To make wolfberry tea, you will need a small amount of wolfberries (half a fistful should be sufficient) and 3 to 4 red dates. Add these ingredients to a glass and fill it with boiling water. You can consume it when it cools.

Eye Exercises
Eye exercises originating from China are designed based on how applying pressure on various accu-pressure points helps to regulate your body system. These eye exercises are conducted in schools to reduce the occurrence of eye disorders. This website has very detailed instructions and clear illustrations for doing eye exercises!

In recent years, home remedies derived from flowers has become a trend in some Asian countries. Many people who indulge in these DIY flower teas are inspired by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners using flowers in their medicinal herbs. They believe flowers help to fade dark pigmentation and reduce rate of ageing. But there is really no scientific evidence that consuming flowers results in healthier and better skin.

There are indeed some flowers with health and skincare benefits, such as Jasmine. But there are also flowers that are poisonous, and would have to be taken in moderation, prescribed with antidotes when used in TCM or only prescribed in response to a certain illness. Some flowers may even evoke serious side effects. The Carthamus flower for example, when consumed without proper prescription, can cause hemorrhage or cardiovascular problems, which may in turn lead to death. Some flowers also cause diarrhea and allergy reactions.

In addition, nurseries often add chemicals like insecticides and fertilizers to their flowers to make them grow faster and better. During the transportation and handling processes, these flowers may once again be contaminated. Usually, TCM practitioners will sanitize the flowers by boiling them before using them for medical purposes. However, those who use flowers for home remedies tend to neglect this step and simply soak the flowers and consume them right away. This may cause food poisoning and in the long run, the accumulation of chemicals is certain to harm your body. Furthermore, if you’ve been prescribed medication at a Chinese Medical Hall, the physician usually prescribes you a variety of herbs, because different herbs are supposed to complement each other to produce the required medical effect. Flowers alone are not going to have substantial effects.

Some flowers that, when consumed on its own, do have health benefits. For example, white jasmine and honeysuckle, when brewed together, are known to keep one’s throat clear of phlegm and impurities. But do remember that in any event that you decide to use flowers in your home remedies, consult reliable sources about your concoction and always boil your flowers to sanitize them before use!

I’ve been looking for a good nude lipstick for a long while and I think I’ve finally found it! This is a rich and creamy lipstick that looks like velvet on my lips. It gives great coverage for a reasonably long time and stays on reasonably well even after a long day’s out complete with drinks, conversation and lunch (nevertheless, don’t take this for granted. Few lipsticks stay on long after meals so remember to touch up anyway).

Although this is a nude lipstick, it has hints of pink to balance out the plainness of a nude lip. This lipstick is certainly perfect on its own for a professional or natural look. If you’d like something more glamorous, you can use it as a base and add some shimmery lip gloss over it. This lipstick also goes great with dramatic eye makeup as it is ideal not to use rich colours for lips if you’re already putting great emphasis on your eye makeup.

However, while this lipstick produces a great nude colour for fair-skinned people, it may be too light for people with darker skin tones.