Monat: August 2020

The discovery of a new virus, COVID-19, has put us in a strange situation that created more problems than we originally had. There’s a coin shortage, food supply chain breakdown, and I haven’t seen a can of Lysol since March. In the beauty world, we were introduced to a new, but no so new skincare ailment- maskne. Formally know as acne mechanica, it’s a form of acne that occurs due to friction. Maskne is a more compound form of acne mechanica- take the friction of the mask and add dirt and bacteria from wearing an unwashed mask day in and day out and you have maskne! So how to care for it? Three steps: 1. Don’t abandon your skincare routine. Keeping your face cleansed, toned, moisturized and protected is key. If you have a routine, keep going. If you don’t, now is the time to create a routine to help your skin gain strength and remain healthy. 2. Wash that mask. What can I say? Your mask is filthy. And paper masks are wasteful and filthy (not to mention they are NOT reusable). Purchase a few cloth masks and wash your mask during your evening skincare routine. Stop washing your masks with the laundry. Hand wash in warm water using your facial cleanser. Your facial cleanser is capable of removing dirt, oil, makeup and bacteria from your mask. If you are dedicated to oil and cream cleansers, purchase a clarifying gel cleanser just for your masks. 3. Be proactive- spot treat. Before maskne, the skincare industry was full of spot treatments. Add one to your routine during the day to destroy bacteria and keep your skin clear. Here are my top 7 favorite acne spot treatments: Let’s talk about maskne! Are you currently suffering from maskne? Have you won the battle?

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Image Source: Unsplash Murphy’s law states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and this applies to all situations, including beauty blunders. Even if you feel like you’re all prepped and dolled up, once you step out of the house, you can’t anticipate when a beauty faux pas will happen. Think a colossal zit discovered mid-day, a sudden spill on your outfit, or an unplanned social event right after a long day at work. For these situations, you will want to have a set of tools within arm’s reach to rectify any beauty emergencies that come your way. You will need an emergency beauty kit that contains all the essentials that can take you from drab to fab when you’re on the go. And just as with a real emergency kit, emergency beauty kits have non-negotiables or staples that you must absolutely have at all times. To help you put together a kit that can rectify all your beauty troubles, take note of these essentials: Safety pins and double-sided tape While these items aren’t exactly considered beauty products, this duo can prove to be lifesavers when your outfit rips or refuses to cooperate. Shape highlights how when you’re out and about you don’t exactly have the time for sewing, but a safety pin and/or double-sided tape can come to the rescue to fix whatever needs repairing. Whether it’s a busted button on your shirt or a rip in your bottoms, these essentials can offer an easy fix. Face mists Now, this product isn’t at the top of people’s minds when they’re listing essentials, but this underappreciated wonder can make the difference between looking dull and appearing fresh. They’re multifunctional — you can use them as either a skin booster or a makeup setter, a refresher when you’re feeling particularly icky after a yoga class, or a hydrator when your skin looks parched. With just a few spritzes here and there, you can instantly improve your look. In case you’re not too familiar with face mists and want recommendations on what to get, you can check out our 2018 roundup of the best rosewater facial mists. Anti-hangover pills A beauty emergency kit is called an ’emergency kit’ for a reason. As previously mentioned, you put it together for the sole reason of having beauty items to use for unforeseen events such as an impromptu night out. When that happens, regardless of whether intended to or not, hangovers are bound to occur. To mitigate any form of future discomfort, anti-hangover pills are a great option to have on hand. Taking these during the night will help ensure that you are still functioning the next day and feeling just as fresh. Pretty Me’s review of WrecOver anti-hangover pills highlight how the ingredients include vitamins and minerals that can help the body recover after consuming too much alcohol. Not only that, but they can also help in cleansing your body of toxins, resulting in positive effects on your liver and skin. Clear nail polish A nice clear polish is useful for smoothing out any smudges or accidental chips on your new manicure, but it also serves other functions. It can stop the run in your pantyhose from growing further and it helps keep not-so-fancy jewelry from turning your skin green. Thrifty Fun notes that all you have to do is paint over the run and let it dry, and you’re pretty much good to go. Hairspray Even if you take your sweet time in the morning to do your hair, there’s no guarantee that it will stay that way until the evening. Say you’re exposed to humidity, your straightened hair could quickly turn to frizz, and your curled locks could unfortunately droop. STYLECASTE outlines how having hairspray in your emergency kit will keep your hair the way you intended it to be. It’s recommended to always keep one handy in case you need to do a quick patch-up job. Additionally, dry shampoo will also help, especially if you want to keep your scalp feeling fresh and hair smelling great after a long day. You can’t predict when beauty blunders will happen, but having these essentials with you at all times will help you stay fresh all day and night.

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This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx on behalf of EltaMD. Skin health is dependent upon many things, but today we are going to talk about two- protection from the environment during the day and restoration at night. Think about your skincare routine during the day- it should be composed of antioxidant-rich skincare ingredients and a broad spectrum UVA/UVB SPF to protect against the sun and other environmental stressors. At night, your routine should be composed of skincare ingredients to repair and restore your skin while you sleep. Remember, sleep is important because your body works to repair organs, cells, and muscles when you drift off into a deep sleep, and your skin is the body’s largest (and most visible) organ. It is imperative that your skincare routine contains a night cream to aid in repair while you sleep. EltaMD Skincare PM Therapy Facial Moisturizer works to restore skin while at rest. It contains ceramides to strengthen the skin’s moisture barrier, niacinamide to improve skin tone, antioxidants to speed the metabolism to maximize the repair process and peptides to stimulate cell growth. I gave this facial moisturizer a spin for more than a few nights to get a feel for how it works, and most importantly, to see if I would see a difference in my skin. I love the airless pump bottle design, it makes for easy, clean dispensing. EltaMD PM Therapy dispenses like a gel-cream. I applied the moisturizer as directed- pearl-sized dots on clean, moist skin and massage using circular upward and outward motions. It is lightweight and melts into the skin with a non-greasy finish. I woke up to refreshed, visibly healthy, nourished skin. My skin was touchably soft, bright, fresh and most importantly- moisturized. This peptide moisturizer is awesome enough to be used as a daytime moisturizer as well. Just don’t forget the SPF! So, does this moisturizer have what it takes to fit into your nightly skincare routine? Absolutely! EltaMD PM Therapy Therapy Facial Moisturizer retails $32.50. Click here to purchase and check out more information on the product.

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission. Thank you for your support. This refresher on Transepidermal Water Loss (TEWL) is dedicated to the person that does not have profound respect for their moisturizer (ie, a whole bunch of you) and the role that it plays in your skincare routine. It’s for the person that washes entirely too much. The person that washes with a harsh soap and does not follow up with a hydrator or moisturizer. Your relationship with moisturizer is vital to your skincare routine for a multitude of reasons, but its most important function is to prevent the skin from losing water. When the epidermis loses water via evaporation, it’s called Transepidermal Water Loss, or TEWL. TEWL accounts for roughly 1 pint of water loss per day. That’s a lot of water! Skin affected by TEWL tends to be dry, rough, itchy, cracked and prematurely aged. Luckily, there’s something you can do about it. Keep reading to learn about 6 ways to prevent TEWL from happening to you. 1. Limit your contact with cleansers As strange as it sounds, contact with water should be limited to avoid skin barrier disruption. Cleaning too often, and using hot water, washes away the skin’s natural oils that hold water in the epidermis. It is important to hydrate and moisturize skin after making contact with water. 2. Ditch the high pH soaps Cleansers with high pH levels strip the skin of its natural oils. Use gentle cleansers and if you have to use a very strong cleanser, hydrate and moisturize skin ASAP. (source) 3. Plug in your humidifier TEWL does not fare well in humid environments. If your climate is dry, help your skin stay hydrated skin out by using a humidifier in your office, bedroom or home to increase the amount of water in the air. 4. Pick moisturizers that include emollients and occlusives Occlusive substances such as Vaseline help the skin retain water by simply keeping water out. It’s why we love slugging so much! Emollients such as jojoba seed oil, keep the skin smooth and moisturized while reducing water loss. source 5. Add products that contain Niacinamide to your routine Niacinamide, a member of the vitamin B family, has been clinically proven to reduce TEWL. In one study, 2% Niacinamide use reduced TEWL by 24%. In addition, fatty acids and ceramides were boosted as well (source). Check out some of these serums available at Ulta. 6. Attract water with humectants Humectants, such as hyaluronic acid, sorbitol, glycerin, and propylene glycol, draw moisture from their surroundings to keep skin hydrated.

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Prosacea for IZEA Worldwide. All opinions are 100% mine. The winter months are harsh on everyone’s skin. The air outside is very dry and cold and the air inside is very warm and dry, making it difficult for humectants to draw hydration to keep the skin hydrated, and even harder for moisturizers to give skin the moisture it needs and deserves. If you suffer from rosacea, what is bad for the average person tends to be worse. Keep reading to learn about rosacea, and some essential tips to achieve healthier-looking skin. Rosacea is a very common skin condition that causes redness and small, red, bumps on the face. It is a chronic condition, and while treatment can help, it’s a condition that cannot be cured. Chances are, you’ve scoured your local drugstore looking for something to help with the symptoms, but only found products that conceal the redness and irritation. Maybe you changed your lifestyle and diet in hopes that something will help. Here’s another ally you can put in your corner to help with rosacea. Meet Prosacea, a medicated gel that helps heal the symptoms of rosacea to achieve healthier-looking skin by soothing facial redness and reducing pimples and irritation. Prosacea contains the active ingredient Sulfur 1X, along with aloe, suspended in a lightweight, fast-absorbing gel that can be used alone, under moisturizer or under makeup to help treat and heal your redness. Check out this infographic, courtesy of Prosacea about rosacea 101, the basics. Prosacea is available at the following retailers: CVS, Walgreens, Amazon,and others.

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Pexels – CC0 License As a parent, or someone leading a family, it’s important to set a few important standards for yourself. For example, many parents find it important to keep their home well cleaned and in a thoroughly organized state, because this teaches good practice to their children and ensures they take those habits on when they live independently, and this is of course in addition to living in a beautiful, pristine home. The same could be said for many other practices you may keep. Cursing or showing road rage while driving will also make your children believe this kind of behavior is acceptable, or permissible within the right context. This is a bad habit you should try not to pass down. These impressions also last regarding the health of your family. An overweight parent will often raise overweight children, due to the dietary habits or lack of exercise they promote. Of course, this is not always the case, but it’s important to consider what you are teaching your children through these daily practices. Setting your familial health standards can be an important thing to consider, and we have some advice for this as follows: Family Checkups Family checkups can serve as a very important first step when ensuring your family’s health standards. They need to be regular, and they need to be thorough. Finding the right dentist for your family is the first, most worthwhile step. From there, ensuring that your children ensure they keep on top of their teeth, know how to brush well, and can look forward to these visits rather than dreading them will show them the benefit of regular health maintenance. Great Nutrition Great nutrition and dietary literacy can be the first, perhaps most effective means of setting up your child for a healthy life. You needn’t prevent them from ever eating at McDonalds or enjoying a sugary soda from time to time, but you can help them learn that oven-frozen simple carbohydrate meals are often quite bad for you, that they should always eat their greens, or what the best portion control means. Teaching them about the important food groups can also help them gain a degree of understanding when it comes to the meals they are served. Activity It’s important to be an active family. You needn’t have to train to be athletes or enter the olympics as a family acrobatic team in order to stay healthy, thank goodness. However, heading on bicycle rides, walking for long distances on vacation, taking a hike from time to time, playing sports in your back garden, encouraging that your children stay active and go outside with their friends or investing in them joining a community or physical lessons (such as a martial arts class) can be a very important thing to consider and take care of. This can help your family remain no stranger to physical activity, and that’s always important to keep as the norm. With this advice, we hope you can better settle your family’s health standards.

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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Best Buy for LG. All thoughts are my own Knock knock! Who’s there?Me! Me who?Me and my fancy fridge to become the life of the party! Seriously though…. Have you seen the new fridges by LG? LG’s newest InstaView™ Door-in-Door® refrigerators have everything you need to become the ultimate home entertainer. Dual ice makers with Craft Ice™ automatically create crushed, cubed and LG’s exclusive slow-melting round ice on demand, for upscale, craft drinks at home – helping beverages taste their best longer. Keep reading to learn more about the Craft Ice, Instaview Door in Door features, fresh innovations and where to buy CRAFT ICE LG brings one of the hottest beverage trends home with the Craft Ice™ maker that automatically makes batches of slow-melting round ice—without the work No more messing with expensive and time-consuming molds that only produce one or two at a time A game changer for home entertainers, Craft Ice™ opens a new world of high-end drinks and keeps your soft drinks, lemonade and iced coffee tasting their best Additional ice maker on the door produces traditional cubed or crushed ice LG’s exclusive round, slow-melting Craft Ice™ – helping beverages taste their best longer INSTAVIEW DOOR-IN-DOOR The LG InstaView™ design lets you see inside your refrigerator without ever opening the door—simply knock twice on the unique glass panel Offering quick and easy access to favorite foods, the popular Door-in-Door® design gets even better with an adjustable bin that fits snacks and drinks of all sizes Bin glides smoothly up and down and locks into place with minimal effort FRESH INNOVATIONS Keeps produce fresh up to 2X LONGER* Only LG offers 3 innovative cooling technologies that work together to extend the life of fruits and vegetables and help keep all foods fresh and flavorful Linear Cooling maintains consistent temperatures within 1°F of the setting Smart Cooling uses digital sensors and an array of vents for total cooling control Door Cooling + delivers blasts of cool air that reach all areas of the refrigerator Click here for more information and to purchase

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Niacinamide is finally getting the recognition it deserves and for good reason. Also known as B3 or Nicotinamide, Niacinamide is a water-soluble vitamin that can improve the look of pores, brighten skin tone, improve fine lines and strengthen the skin’s barrier, thus reducing the impact of environmental damage. Niacinamide is a great addition to any skincare routine because it works for every skin type and is compatible with every product in your skincare stash. Needless to say, if you do not have niacinamide in your routine, now’s a good time to start using it. PCA SKIN Vitamin b3 Brightening Serum PCA SKIN Vitamin b3 Brightening Serum promises to reduce the appearance of dark spots and uneven skin tone while improving skin barrier function. It effectively reduces skin discoloration, redness, and skin yellowing while leaving the skin’s complexion even and bright. PCA SKIN Vitamin b3 Brightening Serum is packaged in a 1 fl oz silver, airless pump bottle. The pump dispenses a semi-opaque product with a thick, gel-like consistency that applies like a serum. This product’s texture is reminiscent of PCA SKIN Hyaluronic Acid Boosting Serum. PCA SKIN Vitamin b3 Brightening Serum absorbs quickly into the skin leaving behind no residue or scent. Check out this before and after. The top photo is before, the bottom photo is after 21 weeks using PCA SKIN Vitamin b3 Brightening Serum as part of an integrated discoloration regimen. We have discussed in the past that PCA SKIN does not release products unless they can show that it actually works. My thoughts It’s always exciting to see PCA SKIN release new products, and this is by far my favorite release from the brand since the Hydrating Toner. I was initially under the impression niacinamide was a product for teens only, boy was I wrong. This is not your teen’s niacinamide. The packaging is smart and innovative (as always). Airless pump bottles are great for properly preserving the product and dispensing product with ease. The ingredients list is an all-star line-up sure to deliver results and improve the overall health of the skin. The star, of course, is Niacinamide to brighten the skin, reduce yellowing and reduce transepidermal water loss (TEWL). It also contains glycerin to hydrate the skin, plankton extract to aid in evening skin tone, and Oligopeptide-51 to decrease the production of unwanted pigment. It only took one week of use to see a glow in my skin that I haven’t seen in a very long time, thanks to all but abandoning my skincare routine due to time constraints. I can say without my doubt that I aged my skin, and this turned back the clock in just a week. I love this product so much, that I had to add it to my PCA SKIN Pigment Perfecters Kit, which we will talk about really soon, so sit tight. Where to buy PCA SKIN Vitamin b3 Brightening Serum retails $115. If you shop at pcaskin.com, use Aprill18 and receive a full-sized Facial Wash with any purchase of $125 or more. Save an additional 5% off every product by signing up for auto-replenishment.

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If you run a law firm, then you will probably be fully aware that it is much like running any other kind of company, at least from the business side of things. For that reason, anything that you can think of which is going to make running your law firm much easier on you is going to be something that you can think about – and you can look to pretty much any business in the world for some inspiration on that. A major part of running any business, law firms included, is marketing. You need to be able to draw in those clients as and when you need to, and that means knowing how to sell the company to the general public. Let’s look now at some of the best ways to market your law firm. Credit Google Ads You will find that much of your marketing relies upon digital marketing, and in particular it’s likely that you are going to want to go straight for the big guns. One of the biggest is of course Google Ads, and it would be silly not to make use of this particular tool if you were hoping to get more people interested in your law firm and aware of the services you offer. Many people find Google Ads a little difficult to use to begin with, but the truth is that you can easily get to the bottom of how it works, and you should be able to make things a lot easier for yourself by finding someone who provides clever automation for Google Ads. With that kind of help on board, there is no reason to worry about this not working out – and if anything, it is bound to make your law firm much better known in no time. Community Focus While building an online presence is certainly valuable, you should not allow it to completely overshadow what you are doing in your local community. In all the things you do, you should first and foremost make sure that you are working for your local community, which is something that you are going to find particularly easy compared to many other means of marketing. With the right kind of community focus, you will draw people in who are much more likely to use your services, and this will effectively be a great way to hone in and make your marketing much more powerful on the whole. Focus on the community more than the internet and it will likely pay off. Credit SEO Going back to online, however, you should make sure that you are making good use of SEO in your website. This is where you tailor your site so that it appears more highly in the results pages of search engines, and it is something which you can work on yourself, or hire a professional SEO team to do for you. In any case, it will prove a valuable way to market your law firm, and you’ll find you soon have the clients rolling in much more readily than before.

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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by American Heart Association I completely understand that May is slowly coming to an end, but anytime is a good time to talk about High Blood Pressure, especially if you are a black woman. Did you know that 60 percent of non-Hispanic African American men and women suffer from high blood pressure? There isn’t a clear understanding of why we have it either-theories include obesity, diabetes, and genetics. High blood pressure is known as the silent killer, and for good reason- because there are no signs or symptoms. The headaches, dizziness, nosebleeds, sweating and/or facial flushing that people report? These are not common, or are because of extremely high pressure. The only way to know for sure is to know your blood pressure numbers and your risk factors. Check out www.heart.org/bplevels to access an interactive blood pressure chart to understand your risk. Here are a few examples of things that can raise your pressure: Family history- If mom or dad have it, you could get it too Age: The older you are, the more likely you are to get high blood pressure Gender: Until 64, men are more likely. After 65, women are more likely Race: African Americans develop it more frequently, and earlier in life, than any other racial background Kidney disease: Not only will it occur as a result of kidney disease, but it may also cause more kidney damage Lack of physical activity Diet high in sodium Drinking too much alcohol Sleep apnea Smoking and tobacco use Me? I’m fat, used to smoke (I quit 2 years ago!), have sleep apnea, used to LOVE salty and sweet foods and severely lacked physical activity until this year. Am I at risk? Sure, but have I experienced high blood pressure? Absolutely. I spent every pregnancy (5) with severely high blood pressure. It was so bad, after the birth of my last son, I fainted after labor. They cut my salt intake and encourage me to be as physically active as you can ask a pregnant woman. You know how they stereotype pregnant women- round, lazy and always eating junk food. Not me. I tried to make my meals healthier with simple changes, like adding tomato to my sandwiches and cooking with olive oil. Make changes that matter Here are a few tips that will potentially lower your numbers and save your life: Change your diet. Cut the salt, keep it well balanced. I’ve heard that cutting a gram of salt per day can drop blood pressure by as much as 5 mm Hg. Reduce how often you drink alcohol Enjoy regular physical activity. Get out there and get to moving! Manage stress. Quit smoking Learn your risks, know your numbers, treat the problem, save your life. Challenge your friends and family to know their numbers too!

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