A Mother's Journal ~ A Bit of Birdsong

Happy Winds-day, dear readers.  I say it every week!  How can we be at the middle of yet another week??  The weeks are flying by!

I so wanted to do a little video for the skin care post, and may do one yet.  I just might.  In fact, I think a nighttime skin care post may be the one to do a video for, but for now the skin care post will be a regular old post with pictures, to share with you a little about my skin care ideas.  Not that I have perfect skin.  I don’t!  And I was a child during the time period when parents thought a good dose of the sun — right on up to deep tan — was good for you.  I have had my share of burns.  Yikes!

First we will get hair put up and out of the way, into one of my “new” favorite styles!  It is one that is very retro inspired, with lots of bobby pins and a few pin-curl-style curls on top.  First we brush the hair out and section it so that there is a section of hair in the front on both sides that will hang loose while we put the back up.

A lot of my hair “brushing” is actually done with my fingers as a comb.  Then I use a wide-tooth comb so that I don’t pull and break hair.  Whatever works best to avoid breakage and pulling!

1 — you can see front sections to put up later, with a deep side part

2 — put the back section up in loose bun (I have a certain way I twist hair up and you can check the sidebar for a video hair tutorial to see that if you like)

3 — bobby pin side sections of hair to sides of head behind ears and then pull the rest up, pinning into pin curls and bobby pin into place

4 — use a hair stick to put under all hair in back section to pull up evenly and give the height you want

The finished updo:

And now, for what we started out to do.

SKIN CARE REGIMEN

First of all:  Clean skin.  I wash my face every night before I go to bed.  I do not always use the same thing every night, but I also don’t jump from one cleanser to another to another.  I alternate mostly between two things.  The Oil of Olay Pro-X battery-powered skin care circular brush and Dove soap — the pink bar — that I have seen used by generations.  My sister uses it, my mother uses it, and my grandmother used it.

On the nights that I do not use Dove soap and the Olay Pro X brush I use a cold cream.  And besides just for cleansing, cold creams are wonderful relaxers.  Just massage into skin and neck after a long, hard day, stretch out and close your eyes.  Afterwards, gently clean skin with warm water and moisturize.  Sounds so 1950s, doesn’t it!

My grandmother used Pond’s until she was 90, and she had gorgeous skin!  Radiant.  In fact, a nurse said once of my grandmother’s skin, after caring for her in the hospital as a patient in her 80s, that her skin was the most beautiful and soft skin she had ever seen.  Genetics are partly to thank for that, and I do not have my grandmother’s olive skin, but I am happy to use cold cream.

I keep Pond’s on hand, though I do wonder about their current formulation and the chemicals therein.  It is actually on my to-do list to call the company and ask about this.  On the other hand, I have heard good things about Walgreen’s Cold Cream and CVS cold cream, and my favorite skin care company of all time makes a cold cream.  We will get to them!

Let me share with you an ad from one of my vintage Good Housekeeping magazines.

Or two.

And now, WELEDA.

As far as MOISTURIZING, there is one product that I am totally absolutely head-over-heels in love with, and that is anything Weleda.  Weleda is made in Germany, and from what I can tell is pronounced Va-leeda.  It may seem expensive, but it is so rich and full of plant extracts, it lasts a long time and it is worth ever penny.   I can feel and see a difference when I use Weleda.

I use their Wild Rose Soothing Eye Cream.

Their Iris Hydrating Day Cream.

Their Iris Hydrating Night Cream.

And you already know that I use their Rosemary Hair Oil.

The one thing I can say about all of this is OIL, OIL, OIL.  I think we need good fats in our diets and on our skin.  The other thing is PLANTS, PLANTS, PLANTS.  Inside and outside.

I feel that I often fail miserably, but the more fruits and vegetables you can eat and get into and onto your skin — especially fresh, organic — the better.  Smoothie above has coconut milk, banana, yogurt and blueberries.

As far as makeup goes, I think you all know that I am NOT a makeup person, though I do sometimes use a light layer of foundation to protect my skin and even it out.  But I never want to appear “made up.”  My choice for a long, long time has been Maybelline Age Rewind.

It has a light SPF to protect from the sun.

Another makeup tip?

Again, not wanting to appear “made up” or even always be “made up,” but if I do decide to use a bit of blush, I choose a natural looking cream blush.  Powder just works its way into fine lines at my age.

In closing, I will list my skin care tips.  I am sure this post will get added to over and over again as I think of things, and as you, the best readers ever, share ideas for skin care.

SKIN CARE TIPS:

• Protect skin from the sun.  I cannot stress this enough.
• Eat a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables.
• Stay hydrated and drink herbal teas.
• A steeped and cooled teabag from a green tea brew is very refreshing to rub gently over face and neck. (Then moisturize.)
• Get vitamin D — seems paradoxical as vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin.  So use common sense.  You need to protect your skin.  You need your vitamin D.
• Get vitamin C to make sure your skin produces collagen.  Collagen is what we lose as we get older.  That and elastin.
• For that matter, make sure to take in foods to get all the vitamins skin needs, including A and the B’s.
• Eat lots of omega fatty acid and GLA rich foods like fish, avocado, coconut, greens, and vegatables (I am not a doctor, so this is not health advice)
• Get 8 hours of sleep each night.
• Exercise regularly!  Exercise does absolute wonders for the skin.  Really.
• Moisturize.  Always.
• Stay away from the “whites” — white sugar, white flour.  For juice I invest in real, unsweetened juices (see bilberry juice pictured below) and mix with pure water.

I will close with that!  I just know that we will keep adding to this post, including a video some time in the not-too-distant future.

May 11, 2012:

Adding some information today!  I just this morning bought the most dreamy-feeling body lotion ever!  I am not sure I would have tried it, but Weaver Street had it on sale and they also had a tester!  (Retailers, expect more sales if you put out testers.)  It is Alaffia Virgin Coconut Hydrating Body Lotion.  Ingredients are:  Lemongrass, Virgin Coconut, Handcrafted Shea Butter, Vegetable Glycerin, Vegetable Emulsifying Wax, Palm Stearic Acid, Potassium Sorbate, Fragrance, Lemongrass Essential Oil, Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C).  It smells so good!!

Feel free to share opinions here about Alaffia.  Also, I will let you know what I think of this lotion and the results I get!

New bottle of Alaffia and a bottle of bilberry juice.

And how about a few vintage skin care ads!  From 1894 issue of The Cosomopolitan!

THE BEST FOODS FOR SKIN:

GREENS:  “Greens such as spinach, cabbage, kale and watercress are simply magnificent for your skin. Packed with antioxidants and vitamins A, C, E and iron, they keep your body healthy and your skin radiant. Leafy greens also contain B vitamins, which are known to boost energy levels and give you an extra healthy glow.” Ref: Women Sport Report

ALMONDS:  “If you want a healthy, glowing complexion, these nuts are good additions to your diet. Consider eating walnuts and almonds as part of your overall skin care regimen.” Ref: Live Strong

TOMATOES: “There is a magical component in tomatoes that research is beginning to show could protect our skin from UV damage from sunburn.” (wow) Ref: BBC Science and Nature: The Truth About Food

Enjoy this day!