Product Review: Boscia Luminizing Black Mask

I've been a big fan of the Boscia Skin Care line for a few years now. The entire line of products are preservative-free and sulfate-free and have always left me with calmed, soothing skin.What I love most is that  you won't pay more than $26.00 for the average 4.6 oz bottle. How many department store skin care products can you say that about?

I was lucky enough to win a free bottle of the new Luminizing Black Mask from the company's facebook page. (I used my special telekinetic superpowers. Ha!) So, trying out this mask proved to be even more fun.

The first time I applied the mask, I didn't make sure to apply a thick, even layer which made for a harder time peeling it off.  So, lesson learned.  Second time around: starting with a clean and dry face, I applied a thick layer of the mask first.  (When applying masks, make sure you stay clear of the delicate peri-orbital area around your eyes.)

The Luminizing Black Mask goes on feeling very soothing and slightly cool.  The texture is like a thick, gooey black glue.  No burning sensation or itchy, tight feeling on my skin which was surprising because I had some areas around my nose and mouth that were slightly inflamed from eczema. Not having to worry about a quick rinse off from irritation allowed me to relax with the mask on for 10-15 minutes for the product to dry.

The peeling off of the product was tricky for me because I couldn't get it all off in one or even two pieces but I guess it take a little practice. I also didn't make sure to brush away a few strands of hair from my face before applying which required some warm water and a facecloth.

Boscia claims  the mask "delivers powerful detoxifying, purifying, and brightening effects" and they don't lie. My pores looked smaller, flaky skin gone and most surprisingly my skin really did look brighter and healthier. I think this is a product especially good for those with oily skin since it 'sticks' to the pores and draws out impurities. Also, ingredients like witch hazel and rosemary leaf oil prove to be soothing to most oily skin types.

My only complaints are that it's required you use a lot more of the product that I had planned. I like to skimp and stretch out my more high-end products and you just won't be able to do that with Boscia's Luminizing Black Mask. You need a generous amount just for one good application. I plan on using this once a week instead of twice a week as suggested. 

 Active Ingredients (as listed on Sephora.com):

 -Vitamin C (Ascorbyl Glucoside): Delivers healthy, younger-looking skin by dramatically brightening, minimizing hyperpigmentation, preventing free-radical damage, and reducing fine lines and wrinkles.


-Calcium Montmorillonite Clay: First discovered in Montmorillion, France in the 1800's, it is considered the premier-quality clay, containing 67 minerals. It absorbs excess oil, dirt, and toxins from the skin; exfoliates dead skin cells; and leaves the skin purified, nourished, restored, and immaculately clean.

-Maritime Pine Bark Extract (Pinus Pinaster Bark/Bud Extract): Extracted from the bark of the maritime pine trees, it provides exceptionally powerful antioxidant and soothing benefits as well as long-lasting conditioning.

-Witch Hazel (Hamamelis Virginiana): An anti-inflammatory and natural antiseptic extract that kills blemish-causing bacteria while it helps restore skin  suppleness, tighten pores, prevent whiteheads and blackheads, and provide a firming effect.

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Shea Butter Works Wonders

 

Because I find it better than petroleum jelly, mineral oil and lanolin.  I will always sing the praises of shea butter. I try to keep it on my shelf for not only my skin but for my hair as well. I've made a number of mixtures with other natural oils with shea butter as its base. 

Shea Butter is Better

• Shea butter is the natural fat extracted from the seed of the African Shea tree.
• 
  Containing the vitamins A, E and F, it's a great natural emollient.
• 
  It has natural wind and sun protecting properties with up to an SPF of 6.
• 
  Shea Butter is also anti-inflammatory, which can be soothing for itchy,dry skin.
• 
  Shea butter has been known to fade stretch marks.
• 
  It's inexpensive! You can purchase a pound of more for 5 dollars depending on where you shop.

Here's a recipe for my Sweet Cream Shea Butter Mix that I've made for my mother and myself.


1 cup of pure Unrefined Shea Butter
2 tblsp of Grapeseed Oil
3 tblsp of Olive Oil
2 capsules of Vitamin E

You can blend these all in an clean empty jar left over from one of your cosmetics to save money or purchase a travel sized jar from some place like Walgreens of CVS.
The shea butter should soften as you stir. I often use a chop stick but do what works for you.

I've made this for my mother who after working  in the yard during the summer months came back with darkened, itchy, scaly skin.  We both had hydrocoritsone and other steroid creams in the house but she said this natural shea cream worked better for her than anything else. I hope you guys get a chance to try it and let me know how it goes.



DuchessGabrielle on Youtube gives an awesome overview of what shea butter is and isn't.

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Ooo Wee Whats Up With That? : Pine Bark Extract

photo taken by Jean-Pol GRANDMONT

Pine bark extract is made from the bark of the maritime pine tree. The maritime pine is native to the western Mediterranean, with a range extending over Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, and Morocco.1.

Pine bark extract is considered a pycnogenol just as grape seed extract is. In a previous blog I mentioned that my doctor recommended I try OPCs (oligomeric proanthocyanidins) to help the condition of my skin. Pine bark extract falls under that group of supplements.

Pycnogenol (Pik-nah-gen-all) / Pine Bark Extract has been proven to be helpful in reducing inflammation of all kinds. Minimizing the risks of sun damage (UV-radiation). It also lightens dark spots and reduces the signs of aging, promoting collagen production, 2. pine bark extract also acts as an antioxidant. It's been know to eliminate free radicals better than vitamin C and E.

I looked around the web and saw that there isn't yet a huge boom yet in the beauty industry like that of skin healthy vitamins like Vit C or E, at least not in the US but I suspect it will come. Dr. Perricone already offers a more expensive serum & cream made with pycnogenols but I am not trying to pay $95.00 for it.  I plan on  taking 50 mg. a day and using a cream with only natural ingredients to "preserve my sexy" (c) P Diddy. We'll see how it goes.



I can only write about what this supplement does for the skin but I urge you guys to look into it and ask your doctors since pine bark extract can have benefits to many conditions from diabetes to arthritis.

More about pycnogenol:

http://www.drugs.com/npp/pycnogenol.html

http://www.pycnogenol.com/health/

Pine Bark Extract at Cancer.Org

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Those Itchy Trigger Fingers or Why Do We Itch?

If I had a dime for every time someone without eczema has told me not to scratch I would be balling with P. Diddy and Oprah. Okay, not really. I'll just say I've been told to stop scratching many times in my life. It can be frustrating to hear when your body is telling you to stop everything you're doing and just scratch.

So, why do our bodies do this? What is that itchy feeling anyway?

The itchy (pruritus) feeling is our body way of telling us that there's something irritating the skin. Scratching is a response to activation of our sensory neurons in the epidermis (the outermost layer of skin). Nerve receptors from the skin send signal to our spinal cord to the cerebral cortex in our brain.  The same way we react to pain - (with withdrawal) is somewhat similar to how the body reacts to an itch. Both are an unpleasant feeling and our bodies want to do away with these sensations. So, scratching is actually a very natural defense mechanism.

Receptors in the dermis of your skin send signals up your spinal code via your nerves and then to your brain.

Scratching may give some relief either by telling the body that the irritant has been removed. The other trick is scratching may cause pain to the skin, diverting attention away from the itchy sensation. The problem is that this relief is usually only temporary and itch/scratch cycle repeats itself.
Furthermore once we keep scratching, histamines are released from the body and this is where redness, pain and swelling come in to play. Our bodies release the chemicals (histamine) from the cells cause by reaction of our immune system. Again, the body's normal reaction is to protect itself from allergens no matter how harmless they may really be.

click to enlarge image

Now we know why medications like Claritin, Zyrtec and steroid creams such as hydrocortisone are used. These are all known as anti-histamine medications. These sort of  medications block the histamines from attaching to the receptors/mass cells that cause the allergic reactions. 



Since this blog is called "Natural and Factual" I should be including some known 'natural' anti-histamines that may help:

Vitamin C
Grape Seed Extract
Green Tea
Dong Quai
Milk Thistle 
Pycnogenol
Flax Seed Oil

Don't take my word for it though. Do your research and ask your doctor and/or nutritionists about what alternatives may be best for you. (Pycnogenol, grape seed extract and flax seed oil were all suggested to me by my primary care physician.) I will also make sure to give a break down on each of these natural alternatives  in future blog posts.

Knowing the science behind why we itch and scratch can be a great start to understanding your bodies better, helping to decrease the pain and irritation we can cause ourselves. I want us to take control of what we can. For instance if you feel an itch coming on, reach for your cream and emollients instead of scratching.  Scratching causes tears and bleeding in the skin, which then requires an antibiotic to prevent infection.  Dr. Neal Schultz even suggested placing a cold compress or menthol emollient onto the skin, which alleviates itching and distracts those ready receptors from taking more action.

I hope this piece helps as much as I intend it to.
Here's to becoming the master of your domain!

The pH Balance of your skin

' The Power of Hydrogen' or 'Potential Hydrogen'

When we talk about the pH of a thing, we're referring to the measure of acidity and alkali in it. The skin's acid mantle has a layer of lactic acid, amino acids and free fatty acids that protect our skin and body from absorbing bacteria it doesn't need.
The level is scored on a scale from 1-14. Anything under 7 is considered acidic, above 7 is alkaline while a score of  7 is considered neutral. When your skin's pH balance is off this leads to dryness, oiliness and other irritations.

It may seem like its best that the skin remain a good neutral 7 but that's not the case. The best pH balance for your skin falls at about 5.5 on the scale.

Once I learned about pH balance, I began to understand the marketing of skin care products with alpha-hydroxy acids in them as well as the reasoning behind milk (lactic acid) facial treatments. Skin needs a bit more acid than it does alkaline.

What does this mean when purchasing skin care products? 
Firstly, I always suggest  staying away from 'soaps' the average pH of soap is 9 to 10.5. As I mentioned in a previous post; soaps containing dyes, fragrance and sodium laureth sulfate are not beneficial to the skin. These ingredients can contain too much alkaline. Chose a creamy, mild cleanser.

Using a toner can also help swing back the scale to a more acidic level if needed. I prefer using plain old witch hazel. I've also heard of people using a mixture of apple cider vinegar and distilled water to restore the pH balance after cleansing.


Moisturizing for me means applying a mixture of jojoba oil, olive oil and coconut oil to my face at night. These oils are similar to the natural sebum in our skin and can help soothe and protect it from dryness and irritation. This is just what I personally use because I know its safe for my skin. I encourage you all to give it a try.

Lastly, I should mention that diet plays a huge role in the pH balance of skin as well.  Two things I really enjoy are desserts and coffee. Both sugar and caffeine help contribute to boosting the body's acidity level and can be too much.

Deirdre Earls, RD, LD writes:

When you are trying to recover naturally from disease, it is good to have a diet that is ~80% alkaline-forming and ~20% acid-forming. This is challenging but to the extent that the vast majority of your diet is built around whole grains, vegetables and fruits, you will alkalize your system. This will enhance the ability of your immune system to rid your body of toxins and create natural healing. After symptoms are resolved, you still want a majority of your intake to be alkaline-forming. A general guideline for maintaining optimum health is ~60% alkaline forming and ~40% acid forming.

A few of the alkalizing foods you may want to eat more of include:

• Broccoli
• Lentils
• Dark leafy vegetables such as collard and mustard greens
• Molasses

Some highly acidic foods to avoid:

• Beer
• Beef
• Sugar
• Coffee

As always, it is important to drink lots of water throughout the day, not only to flush toxins but to raise alkalinity as well.

http://www.dermaharmony.com/skinnutrition/ph.aspx

If you ever want to get your 'Mad Scientist' on and test the pH balance of your products, testing strips can be purchased at most health and drug stores or even here online. Also, shout out to fellow natural hair enthusiast and vlogger KimmayTube for making pH test strips available at her online store LUVNaturals.

Bring Life to Your Skin with Dead Sea Salt?

The Dead Sea is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel to the west.  The Hebrew people called it 'Yam ha Maved', meaning "Killer Sea" because no fish or aquatic plants can survive in the dense, salty waters.

But apparently this is what makes the water so great. The salt found in the Dead Sea are highly concentrated mineral salts collected from other rivers and streams leading to it. When it gets hot, the water evaporates and leaves behind the dissolved minerals.

Although I have never used any dead sea bath products yet I became very interested in researching the salt baths after watching a news story on CNN. The story specifically mentioned that it helped those with psoriasis a great deal but also can be beneficial with treating other dry skin conditions like eczema.  

Treatment includes ultraviolet B phototherapy  (which I have done under the care of my dermatologist) and bathing in dead sea salt. Dr. Jeffrey Altman at Mavena Derma Center here in Chicago touts a 75% success rate which I think is pretty good for a condition that has no known cure.




Have you tried any Dead Sea Salt products? How did they work for you?

Bathing for Beautiful Skin