BEAUTY 101 | What is a serum?

What is a serum?

A SKINCARE serum is a thick liquid-like, (generally) oil-free product with a high concentration of active ingredients and is often moisutrizing, although is not necessarily a moisturizer. They are often used after cleansing and before applying moisturizer or night cream as a sort of supplemental product. They’re commonly used in targeted skincare for anti-aging, anti-oxidation, hydration and plumping, brightening, evening skin tone and to help with acne. Some claims say that the molecules in serum are smaller than in lotion therefore they penetrate the epidermis (top layer of skin) more readily and quickly, but I haven’t found scientific evidence to back-up that claim.

Generally speaking, cosmetics companies are free to use the term however they please (there’s no regulation) but this is the general lay person’s definition of a serum versus, say, a day cream or face balm.

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Image credit: http://www.virospack.com/en/

HOW TO | The at-home facial

FACIALS ARE a necessity, not a luxury. Many American and British women don't think so, but the beautiful complexions of continental European and Asian women show otherwise. Respect your complexion and do more than just pat on cream and quickly cleanse at night. The secret to wonderful skin is constant maintenance, not a wonder-cream you find in a store.

Ideally, you should have a facial monthly. Make room in your budget for three to six professional facials a year — buy them in bulk to save money — and do the rest at home because it's easy...

Read more or print the steps to use yourself at home!

Originally written for Sears Inc. at managemylife.com. Image credit: flickr.com/photos/40929849@N08/3762846985/sizes/m/in/photostream/

HOW TO | Pop a spot

YES, I'M really doing a post on how to pop a spot/zit/pimple at home. Having been prone to acne my entire post-pubescent life, I've learned a thing or two about how to and how NOT to pop a spot.

Every magazine you read, every dermatologist you visit will simply say don't do it because it's bad for your skin. Guess what? NO S**T! Did you need a medical degree to figure that one out? Those of us with acne can give you the exact medical reasons WHY it's bad. We pore (heh) over articles and studies about it. We, maybe even more so than you, understand. Yet we still choose to get rid of them because, boy, let me tell you, I'd rather pop it than have a giant whitehead waving hello to the PR Director of a skincare company while I'm walking in for a meeting. Counter-intuitive? Not at all. We ARE judged by our appearance, like it or not. Acne has a detrimental affect on that appearance, especially post-secondary school when it's not an acceptable trait to have. [editor's note: Fully aware that full-on acne is different from an occasional spot. Not downplaying how awful acne can be!]

And, really, you silly dermatologists, where do you get off? Did you go to the George Bush School of Abstinence Is The Only Way? As with teenagers and sex, you can teach them that they shouldn't do it, but it ain't going to stop them from bumping uglies.

Same with acne (although clearly without the resultant illegitimate child)... teaching people to simply not pop a spot because it's bad for your skin results in all sorts of heinous skin atrocities being wrought on poor, undeserving complexions at home due to simple ignorance. I've met people who literally scrape off the whitehead with their fingernail (ew), will go at it with unclean hands and fingers, who don't know what they can and can't pop and thus attack everything on their face with the same zest for destruction. I've even known someone to try to pop... a mole. Preaching pimple-popping abstinence leads to to all sorts of unmitigated skin disasters. Shame on you

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