How to exfoliate for better, brighter skin

Brand new year means brand new beauty habits right? Well I learned a pretty great one from TBD. I had actually heard of this "exfoliating dry face technique" before but I was a little scared to try it. Wouldn't that harm my skin? Actually NOT! It has changed my skin for the better. Just wet your finger tips, take a face exfoliator and rub onto your dry face. Keep in mind when you exfoliate your face you don't need to rub extremely hard to make that "penny shine." Just rub your forehead or your chin for a little longer you'll get those great results without the rug burn. You can even use your palms to rub your cheeks if you need to for a little better coverage. This technique promotes new skin growth and puts your best face forward. So all those pesky dark spots or that dry skin, be gone! After one use you'll feel the difference.

oil DOES fight oil

If someone had told me a while back that you could wash your face with olive oil I would've called them crazy straight to their face. I mean come on my t-zone is oily enough, why would I put oil on top of oil?

DON'T be afraid of applying oil to your face. Oil, alone, will not bring you blemishes. Pimples, blackheads, & whiteheads are caused by different things including hormones, bacteria & dead skin cells.

The thing is, when you use soap or cleanser on your skin, you are stripping your skin of its natural oils. But those oils have a purpose - they make your skin softer and more supple and they provide a protective layer to keep dirt out of your pores. Oil pulls out the gunk and debris from your pores and moisturizes your skin. It can remove excess oil, but it doesn't throw your skin out of balance. Just remember all skin types are different. My skin loved it, hopefully yours will too!

 

Unclog Those Pores

I don't know about y'all but during the summer my pores get clogged like crazy. All that sweat & sunscreen, yuck! I've found a few easy ways that helped save my skin this summer. These treatments help remove all that dead skin & dirt. Say bye bye to blackheads & hello to healthy, glowing skin!


1. Heat up some water, right when the water starts to boil take it off the heat. Place your face over the boiling water & drape a towel over your head. Keep your face over the boiling water & let the steam open up your pores. Your face will start to sweat, that's a good thing! Keep your face over the water until all the steam is gone. Splash some cold water onto your face immediately afterwards to close your pores back up
2.  Put 3tsp of clay powder into a bowl, add 1 tsp lemon juice, 1tsp water & 3 drops of essential oil (your choice) stir to combine. Add more water if needed to make a paste. Grab a washcloth run it under hot water & drape it over your face for 1 minute to open up your pores. Pat your face dry & start to smear the mask over your skin.  Clay masks pull oil & water out of your pores, giving your skin a tightening sensation which means your pores will appear smaller

a FRUGAL gals dream!

I'm what you call a frugal gal. I don't like to spend a lot of $ & if I can make it I will. So this post was & still is PERFECT for me. It requires no time @ all & you need just two ingredients. By the way did I mention it cost nearly nothing! Homemade Biore Strips are the latest craze, ok so I just made that up but it has saved me a ton of $ & trust me they really work!

Sugar Baby

First off there's something I need to say. Katy is a GENIUS! (that is probably the only time I'll ever say that too) She is the mastermind behind all the graphics on the blog. We come to her with an idea & bam she goes above & beyond our expectations. Thanks Katy the blog wouldn't look as good as it does without you. Now excuse me while I go wipe my "brown nose" :) Now back to the post. This scrub is my absolute favorite homemade body scrub. It makes my skin feel so radiant & healthy. It's so easy to make & did I mention it's cheap. (that's a word I love to hear) It's made up of products you can find right in your kitchen. The brown sugar exfoliates & clears away those dry, dead skin cells. Plus the brown sugar gives you a youthful glow & it moisturizes & conditions your skin. This scrub gets extra bonus points because it smells so yummy! This is an all over body scrub but it can also be used on your face every other day. Just make sure to be extra gentle when you use it on your face. Trust me I use this on my face & every time I do I get some kind of compliment, who doesn't want that?

*this scrub lasts for a good while @ room temp no need to refrigerate it

How to keep SUMMER going all year long.....

Happy Magazonday!! How many of you out there have wanted SUMMER to never end? #raiseshand me toooo....but I wish I could spend it somewhwere other than this TX heat. SUMMER jsut brings you those "happy" chemicals that you don't want to go away. So when I found this article in Redbook that gave me tips on "how to keep that SUMMER feeling all year long" I bit the bait. And realistically its not hard @ all. Just follow these few steps (which you're probably doing already) and you'll enjoy that SUMMER feeling alllll year long!

I'm pretty excited about making my SUMMER last how about y'all?

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Happy Feet

Hi there ladies! I'm sure all of you have been busting out your cute wedges for summer....I know we have! If I had it my way I would buy every cute sandal I see but I don't think my wallet would be very happy with me. So instead of buying tons of shoes lately my mission has been to keep my feet as smooth as a baby's bottom. That's where this post comes in handy. Just a few tips for that killer pedicure at home.

    Now get ready to show off those gorgeous feet of your's!

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*all these products are available at Sephora, Philosophy, Soap and Glory and Gap

Everybody's out surfin'......

We have something very exciting coming up this summer on The Style Dossier. Drum roll please...............It's our SUMMER SERIES!! We're gathering all our summer favorites........cocktails, fashion, beauty products, food and putting them all together for one special series. We're very very excited about it and we can't wait to share all our summer fav's with you. But more importantly we want to know what your favorite summer activities are? What's your summer go to pieces? So come on gals take out that sunscreen, beach balls and coolers and let's get ready to hit the beach!

Way to go AVOCADO!

I don't know about y'all but during the summer my hair gets really dry, I've recently learned of a new homemade deep conditioner that only takes 3 ingredients. Most of it you might have in your own kitchen. Just gather 1 avocado, 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp honey. Mash the avocado in a bowl with a fork then add the olive oil and honey, stir together and voila a very moisturizing deep conditioner. It's that simple! I like to put it on my dry hair, really focusing on my ends and leave it one for 15 to 20 minutes. Then just jump in the shower and wash it out. When you get out of the shower your hair will feel soft and silky. I couldn't stop running my fingers through my hair afterwards. I would highly recommend this conditioner to anyone especially during the summer when our hair is exposed to all the heat and chlorine. This deep conditioner will definitely help restore moisture. The best part is if you use this conditioner once a week your hair will only keep getting better. Here's to beautiful summer hair!

Burnt much?

Last weekend I went on a kayaking trip with a friend and well to make a long story short I got typical kayaking sunburn. I blame my instructor, we only stopped once and for some reason I failed to reapply. Thankfully I am peeling now and my legs are very tan! Having this sunburn got me thinking about tips to make sure you dont suffer like I did. My Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual has all the tips to make sure you protect your skin.

First and Formost AVOID tanning beds at all costs!! Unless your going to be the Jersey Shore cast for halloween orange is never a good look for ANYONE! And not to mention completely unsafe!

Apply liberally- A teaspoon to your face and about an ounce or a shot glass full to the rest of your body everyday. The face, hands and back of the knees are high risk areas for cancer so make sure to apply liberally to those areas.

Protect your eyes- Wear sunglasses that wrap around your eyes and have 100% UV blocking lenses. Most sunscreens are to harsh to use on this sensitive area around the eyes. Im obsessed with RayBan and these glasses are perfect. So cute and what a great fun color for summer!You need to protect your skin all year around even when its cold or cloudy outside. The times between 10 am-2 pm are when the rays from the sun are the harshest so make sure to reapply frequently. Wear sunscreen with an SPF 15 or 30, depending on the season and length of the time your skin will be exposed. Hats and long sleeved shirts help as well but remember the sun likes to penetrate through loosely woven and wet clothing so protect your skin even when your covered.

These two sunscreens protect your skin amazingly. The Shiseido UV protection Cream is great. Its an SPF 35 and water resistant so its great if your sporty or just strolling in your city. If your on a budget the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer is also a great choice. It may not be water resistant but it makes up for that with the helioplex, which stops UVA and UVB rays from burning your skin.

I am a personal fan of the Neutrogena brand its lightweight and fragrance free so your skin feels soft and never greasy. Its also comes in SPF 70 and 100 which means less reapplying and since im in Texas,where we have 8 months of summer, the higher SPF is great for me!

**Just a little side note water resisntant sunscreens need to be applied/reapplied 20 minutes before entering water so the product can bond with the skin.

If you have sensitive skin use a cream based product and avoid sunscreens with tretinoin, which can dry out the skin. This Clarins Sun Care Cream is absolutely wonderful its an SPF 30 and is fragrance free which is great if you have any allergies to skin products.

I hope you can take away some info that you may have not known or regained some knowledge of how important sunblock is! Be safe this summer ladies!