smartskin101

Hello everyone – SmartSkin101 is back!  For a number of reasons, the site has been without updates for some time. I hope you accept my apologies and from now on you can look forward to more regular postings!  If you’ve read previous articles, you will have noted that I am a huge fan of oil and all its great skin benefits.  Just the other day I was once again reminded of how useful kitchen cabinet items can be when looking for DIY remedies.

The exfoliation of topical dead skin aids the turnover of skin cells.  And when your skin – whether on your face or elsewhere on your body – begins to look dull, or even flaky, finding the right exfoliating regimen will help your skin get its glow back.  There are many ways you can shed those dead skin cells with the myriad of products on the market.  I’ll delve further into those products in upcoming posts, but today I will focus on an ‘au natural’ tip.

Most of us have been in situations where we’ve run out of our favorite products, or worse, are on a tight budget and are waiting for the next paycheck to buy our oh-so-spendy, must-haves.  So ff you are ever in of jam with an exfoliating product, this tip should help you in those in-between periods.  All you need is a bit of oil and sugar.  For the face, try to use no more than a tablespoon of oil.  You can use different oils, depending on your skin type.  My recommendations are as follows:

• Dry skin – avocado/almond oils
• Normal skin – almond/avocado/olive/sunflower seed oils
• Oily skin – grape seed oil

Keep in mind, the less processed (the more virgin) the oil, the better for your skin.  On dry skin, rub the oil over your face, keeping it out of your eyes.  I generally will take the time to massage the face for a minute or two, as this works down into the pores to dissolve dirt and – yes – other trapped oil.  Next, work about a teaspoon (max) of sugar onto your skin until you have most of it spread evenly.  Sugar granules are a bit larger so massage them gently around with your fingertips, otherwise it will irritate and even hurt your skin.  As long as your face doesn’t have water on it, the sugar shouldn’t dissolve, so keep massaging for about 3 minutes.  When you’re ready, take a face towel and run it under hot water.  Wring the towel out, and make sure it’s not too hot before placing it on top of your face.  Press down and leave it there for a few seconds before doing it one or two more times.  This step will dissolve all traces of the oil.  Next, splash your face with cold water to close the pores.  For much drier skin types, you can rinse without the towel, which will leave some oil to naturally moisturize your skin; just pat the excess off.  Et voila – brand new skin!

For the body, I like to do this towards the end of a bath, but you can also do it in the shower.  Use your discretion on how much oil and sugar to use. Also note that if you’re in the shower, it’s helpful to turn the water off while you’re exfoliating.  For extra smooth skin, only rinse the skin; do not wash the oil off.  Finally, pat the skin dry.

For a slightly less messy experience, Lush sells some great bars that offer similar benefits.  The oils are in solid form, but melt against warm skin in the shower.  Sadly, they’ve discontinued one of my favorite products for the face, Sweet Japanese Girl (although, it seems as though it’s still offered in Australia).  For the body, however, Buffy is just as sweet.