Hi Everyone,
My name is Gemma from Lovingbeauty.co.uk and I am yet to add a post to this blog! I’ve been toying with the idea of blogging for a while, and, after having a look at other bloggers, decided to finally give it a go. After having a look through the thousands of beauty blogs out there, (without sounding too self important!), I’m slightly worried about the information that’s being relayed to all of you beauty enthusiasts.I don’t think of myself as a beauty expert as such, as I believe we can all continue to learn as we grow through our careers, however I do have certain experience and training over the years. With ten years experience as a beauty therapist, owning my own Beauty salon, being a qualified teacher in beauty therapy and, in the new year, ready to learn to be a trainer for Jessica Cosmetics and Universal Contour Wrap, as well as some other leading brands (which I’m not yet allowed to tell you about, but as soon as I can you’ll be the first to know!)
I am always on some sort of course, and love researching and gaining new information about products and treatments. I’m no beauty junkie, but I suppose maybe a bit of a beauty snob. I don’t like gimmicky products or treatments, and I’m more concerned with the results and ingredients than the packaging and celebrity endorsements. That’s not to say I love everything expensive; far from it, I love mixing and matching brands I believe are the best through trial and error. What I’m hoping from this blog is to impart a little wisdom; to educate and help all you beauty lovers to give you the tricks of the trade that I’ve learnt along the way, and confirm the myths and gossip behind the products and treatments.
So, first things first, my clients ask me similar questions on regular occasions, as there seems to be much confusion about what’s right or wrong in terms of products and their ingredients. They say they hear so many different opinions from so-called beauty experts and bloggers, who are all great beauty enthusiasts, but seem to have had very little training or none at all. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this, however it can lead to an amalgamation of misinformation and lot of confusion.
What I hope to do is give you a run-down of the facts and the fictions. Here’s a few to start us off with:
You should never wax the top of the eyebrows?
FICTION - it is perfectly fine to wax on top of the eyebrow as long as you don’t take hair from the eyebrow its self, instead you take what I like to call the bum fluff hair (not the most technical term I know!) which is the soft downy velus hair. By removing this hair, you will achieve the desired shape of sharp, defined eyebrows.
Facials will cause breakouts?
FICTION – a facial may cause you to have a few break outs, however if this is the case, it’s more than likely that these would have appeared with or with out the facial within the next few days anyway. The facial would only bring the underlying blemishes out more quickly, so hopefully they will disappear a lot quicker. A facial is a great treat for the skin and should leave your skin glowing and beautiful.Sun beds or the sun heal spots and blemishes?
FICTION - Whether under the sun or under the tanning bed, baking in the sun to clear breakouts can actually worsen breakouts and is never a good option to deal with such. All this may do is intensify your chances of long-term scarring and hyperpigmentation (dark spots). While you may experience temporary drying up of breakouts after a day in the sun, you’re actually triggering future incidences of breakouts. When there’s an increase in skin cells after the skin is exposed to UV light, this further clogs follicle openings, which leads to the development of breakout bacteria. Don’t forget tanning also puts you at an increased risk of skin cancer, so it’s best to avoid altogether.Blackheads are dirt inside my pores?
FICTION - Blackheads are merely whiteheads that have undergone the process of oxidation (so no, blackheads aren’t dirt!)
Oxidation is merely a chemical reaction happening inside your skin. Think of what happens to an apple when you cut it open and it darkens: this is oxidation.
When the follicle (pore) opens up, oxygen enters, causing the oil and dead skin cells within the follicle to undergo oxidation. This leads to the dark colour you see.
Toothpaste dries up breakouts?
BIT OF BOTH - Stress doesn’t directly cause acne or breakouts, but it does act as a trigger for the factors that contribute to acne development (excess oiliness). The balance of school, work, friends and relationships can contribute to chronic stress. This constant, continued and heightened level of stress throws adrenal glands into overdrive. Adrenal glands are in charge of regulating stress, and when stressful situations arise, adrenal glands stimulate sebaceous (oil) glands to secrete more sebum (oil). This excess oil sets the stage for acne development.
Stress also causes increased blood flow and expansion of capillaries, which makes skin appear more red and inflamed. Stress can also cause poor assimilation of nutrients in the diet and can lead to slower healing because of a lowered immune system.
Yoga, deep breathing, exercise, sleep, aromatherapy… even a quick walk with a friend or co-worker during the day can help de-stress your life and help manage adrenal spikes. Cutting back on caffeine and sugar (which also spike adrenal gland activity) can also help manage breakouts. A daily and nightly skin care regimen can help keep fluctuations in check.
In-growing hairs are caused by bad waxing?
FICTION - In-growing hairs are not caused by ‘bad waxing’, however waxing can cause them to get worse. In-growing are caused when a hair cannot push through to the follicle and, as a result, curls back on to itself underneath the skin. This occurs due to the hair becoming weaker, which is caused by waxing that destroys the hair follicle. Some people are lucky and can get waxed as many times as they wish, never suffering with one in-growing hair, whilst others can get waxed once and become smothered in them depending on the skin type of the client.
I’ll leave you with this information for now, but if you have any more questions or queries, please leave a post in the comment box and I will get in contact asap.
Stay Beautiful
Gemma xx
