DIY: Sensitive Skin Rub

Check out this homemade skin scrub by Dr. Debra Jaliman,  a world-renowned dermatologist with a private practice on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. She was kind enough to share it with me, but you can find more of these in her book "Skin Rules: Trade Secrets from a Top New York Dermatologist" available online here.

Sensitive Skin Rub

1/4 cup Coconut oil or macadamia nut oil 

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 T honey

1T oatmeal 

Mix the dry ingredients first. Then drip the oil slowly and mix in a glass bowl. Then add the honey. (You can heat the honey in hot water to make it easier to mix). You can save the extra mixture for up to 4 weeks in a glass jar with the lid tightly closed. 

Can be used on the body in a circular motion to exfoliate dead skin. Then take a wash cloth with warm water to remove residue. 

Dr. Debra Jaliman is internationally recognized for her research and work in clinical and cosmetic dermatology, she is known for her ability to give her patients beautiful, youthful skin and her large celebrity clientele.

Hair Tip How To: Home Blow Out

I recently asked, "What is your biggest hair challenge" and got some great responses on Facebook. Here's the next one!

"Doing a blow out at home.  I can never get it quite right!"

Make sure that your using the shampoo and conditioner that fits your hairs needs most. 

Then after towel drying your hair, put in a nice leave in conditioner from your ponytail down. I like A/G Fast Food. 

Then depending on your style and texture, you'll want to put in a mousse or a smoothing cream. 

First use your Blowdryer and your fingers to get most of the moisture out. Make sure to blowdry the hair in the direction it grows because if you blow up at the hair it ruffles the cuticle too much and you deal with making it fuzzy. 

Then when the hair is 85% dry, take sections starting from the bottom and use a round brush or prattle brush to smooth out each section. 

When you get to the top, use your round brush as a hot roller and let it sit for a few seconds after each blowdry. To set the volume you can push the cool button then let the section out. 

To finish the look, tease the crown a little for added volume then use a smoothing polish and hairspray to set the look.

Photo from Hair How To

Hair Tip How To: Beachy Waves

I recently asked, "What is your biggest hair challenge" and got some great responses on Facebook. I'll be posting several of them here!

Jamie responded, "Curling my hair to be slightly wavy. I always look like a hot mess after my attempts."

A little tip to help you out is to section your hair starting at the bottom in (about 2 inches thick). 

Spray with a thermal spray (Spray Starch from Redken in good) and run a 1 inch curling iron over a section of hair once through to smooth out the cuticle.

Then either wrap the hair around the barrel (hold curling iron horizontally) and hold for a few seconds or curl it in a vertical curl. Go half way down, wait, then go to the ends and curl the rest. 

When the whole head is done break it up with a smoothing serum and your fingers. 

Enjoy your beachy waves!

Picture found online here

The Urban Bend

There's definitely a new hair trend around San Diego. Even though the "beachy" wave is still popular and pretty, the new urban bend is a more loose curve of the hair that is a little more cityscape-hip. Simply blow dry, apply a super subtle curl, tousle, and hit the streets.

Photos from Hapers Bazaar

How To Tease Your Hair And Create Volume

An easy way to add life and volume to hair is simply to tease it. But before I give you a few tips on how to do it, I thought I'd share a little history on this style.

I went all the way back to the early 1900's and found it interesting to find that women used to wear Hair Frames, which consisted of adorning their head with heart and crown shaped cushions. Then they would top that with a wig. And I thought the “Bump It” was new for this day and age. . . I guess all fashion comes around full circle.

As I went through each era I clearly saw the evolution of shape, volume, and silhouette of a woman’s hairstyle. I recognized the trend of the Finger S wave that started out soft with little volume and close to the face in 1910 and gradually became more voluminous over time all the way up to the 1950’s. From 1960’s to the 1990’s big hair was in, but a little out of control in my opinion. You can definitely have too much of a good thing. What I can take from the time evolved trends is that you can do one of two things: flatter, or take away from, the symmetrical beauty God has given you. I say lets flatter your long, round, square, oval, or your heart shaped face.

Here are some tips on how to tease your hair:

1- Thoroughly wash and dry your hair, drying the roots while hanging upside down to encourage volume. If you tease your hair while it's wet you are increasing the chances of damage. S

2- Start with a section of hair about 1 inch wide. Separate the section, moving and clipping the rest out of the way.

3- Use one hand to hold the section straight up, and gently touch a brush or a fine tooth comb to the back of this section of hair. Begin lightly brushing downward towards the scalp while continuing to hold the hair up tightly. This is called teasing! Keep teasing until you feel the cushion that starts to form at the base. You may also want to spray the teased section with hairspray before letting down the section.

4- Carefully brush the un-teased section of this strand while using your fingers to make a loose "cage" around the teased part, hiding and holding the tangles in place without flattening them.

5- Repeat as necessary on other strands of hair.

6- Create a hair style with your newly teased hair. One of my favorite looks is a low ponytail with all that fun lift in the crown. After teasing, suspend hair into low or high pony and then create a cage once again and grab the crown of your head while you pull up.

7- Then to polish the look gently smooth the surface of the hairstyle using a shine serum. Be careful not to squash your newly created volume.

Don’t forget, practice makes perfect. You should give it a try.


Photos from Wikihow.