Aubrey Organics - The Rituals of Beautiful Skin

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The Rituals of Beautiful Skin

"We wait until something goes wrong before we start tending ourselves," Kathleen Maier, herbalist and director of the Dreamtime Center for Herbal Studies in Flint Hill, Virginia, tells reporter Jennifer L. Cook. "Taking care of our skin should be part of our daily routine, just as we do our regular walk or meditation. It's really acknowledging to yourself that skin care isn't just a treat, it's a priority."

There's no getting around the fact that truly beautiful, youthful skin demands rituals—daily rituals. If you use the right ingredients and truly natural cosmetics your skin will receive a wide range of anti-aging benefits, including reducing fine lines and wrinkles, age spots, dryness, rough texture, enlarged pores, and surface dullness. Here are six steps to beautiful skin.

Experts agree there are six key steps to daily skin care.

Step #1
Precleanse

The first step is to remove your makeup. We recommend that you use jojoba oil, which moisturizes without clogging pores. The ultimate precleanse is a facial steam, say Aubrey Hampton and Susan Hussey in their newly published The Take Charge Beauty Book (Organica Press 2000). Steaming relaxes the tissues, helps detoxify the complexion and opens the pores, preparing them for cleansing. To create your own natural herbal potion for steaming, use one cup of Aubrey's homemade herbal base.

To make the herbal base use: benzoin gum (2 Tbsp.); calendula blossoms (2 Tbsp.); camomile flowers (3 Tbsp.); coltsfoot leaves (1 Tbsp.); comfrey root (1 Tbsp.); echinacea (1 Tbsp.); eucalyptus leaves (1 Tbsp.); elderberries (2 Tbsp.); fennel (1 Tbsp.); horsetail (1 Tbsp.); lavender flowers (2 Tbsp.); marshmallow root (2 Tbsp.); nettle leaves (2 Tbsp.); rosemary (1 Tbsp.); sage (1 Tbsp.); St. John's wort (1 Tbsp.); natural grain alcohol (1 pint); and distilled water (16 oz.). Pour the grain alcohol into a clean container; add the herbs and allow to reamin in the liquid for four hours or more. Next, pour herbs and alcohol blend into a pint of boiling water and steep for 30 minutes.

Strain the mixture by pouring through a clean towel, squeezing towel to get all of the liquid. Store in a clean container in the refrigerator and use as needed. Pour 1/2 cup grain alcohol and 1/2 cup witch hazel into a mixing bowl. Add the Herbal Base and then 1 Tbsp. of Aubrey Organics Lemon Blossom Body Splash. Put three or four tablespoons of this concentrate into a bowl of steaming water. Then place a towel over your head, creating a tent. By the way, Hampton and Hussey note that since the Herbal Base formula contains alcohol and witch hazel, it won't spoil and need not be refrigerated.

Close your eyes and allow the steam to flow over your factor for about one to two minutes.

If pressed for time, do a quick steam or use compresses, say Hampton and Hussey. A quick steam can be done with a hot towel, wrung out until damp dry, then placed on the face for one to two minutes.

You may also use cold- or hot-water compresses. Using a washcloth, dip a soft clean washcloth into a basin of water (hot or cold) and place on face. Do so 10 times. Hot water is good for improving circulation, relaxing, stimulating glandular action, and hydrating. Cold water relieves inflammation and also hydrates.

Recommended brands:

Aubrey Organics Herbessence or 100% Pure & Certified Organic Jojoba Oil.

Step #2
Cleanse
Next, cleanse your skin. Your choice of cleanser makes an important difference in the health of your skin. Avoid bar soaps. Many bar soaps have paraffins and wax, which can be drying to the skin and unnecessarily remove the skin's natural balance of beneficial bacteria. Cleansers made with castile soap from olive oil are both mild and nurturing, while vegetable glycerin aids the skin in retaining moisture. Be sure your cleanser is free from triethanolamine (TEA), which can cause cancer-causing nitrosamines to form in products.

Recommended brands:

For really sensitive skin, use Aubrey Organics' Sea Ware Facial Cleanser with soya protein, coconut oil with a blend of aquatic herbs such as seaware, chlorella, and kelp. Another formula for sensitive skin, Aubrey's Mandarin Magic Mandarin Orange & Cucumber Facial Cleanser uses herbal fatty acids together with cucumber oil and eight traditional Chinese herbs: angelica, magnolia blossoms, chrysanthemum, ginkgo leaf, ginseng, orange peel, earth smoke, and morus root. Jason Naturals Super-C Cleanser and Ester-C Citrus Facial Wash and Scrub may also be used.

Step #3
Exfoliate with Facial Masks or Gentle Scrubs
Gently exfoliating your skin once or twice a week is important for removing dead skin cells and debris. Doing so with a gentle mask also helps to deeply nourish and hydrate the tissues. Recommended brand:
Aubrey's Blue Green Algae Herbal Antioxidant Clay Mask with Grape Seed Extract or Green Tea & Green Clay Rejuvenating Facial Mask.

Step #4
Tone
Toners and astringents are important for restoring firmness to the skin. Look for products that contain natural astringents and toners such as benzoin gum, the resin extracted from the bark of various Asian tree species. A rich source of antioxidants, benzoin gum has been called a "superb" astringent and antiseptic. Hamamelis water is a very mild form of witch hazel with added water and alcohol. Toners should also contain beneficial herbs such as ginkgo, kelp and aloe vera.

Recommended brands:
Aubrey Organics Green Tea & Ginkgo Facial Toner, Alba Botanica Sea Kelp Facial Toner, Jason Vegee Tonic Facial Astringent, Zia Cosmetics Sea Tonic Rosewater & Aloe Toner.

Step #5
Moisturize
Next, moisturize. Doing so helps to nourish your skin and restore moisture. Apply a small amount of moisturizer to your fingertips. Work gently into face and neck, lightly massaging your skin. Moisturizing creams used during the day should also contain sunscreens such as titanium dioxide and protectants like green tea and vitamin C.

Recommended brands:
Aubrey's Green Tea & Ginkgo Daily Moisturizer.

Step #6
Hydrate
A hydrating spray can be used to enhance the benefits you receive from your moisturizer.

Recommended brand:
Aubrey Sparkling Mineral Water Herbal Complex Mist.

Beneficial Cosmetic Ingredients

Cosmetics containing glucosamine sulfate can help to facilitate the creation of hyaluronic acid, the body's natural moisturizer. L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) can help to promote healthy elastic collagen.

Bioflavonoids such as quercetin strengthen collagen and guard against capillary fragility to accelerate healing.

Laminaria, bladderwrack and other sea vegetables have vitamins and trace minerals that the skin absorbs, providing healing and restorative properties. Laminaria also contains calcium and magnesium to detoxify the skin, while at the same time re-mineralizes, hydrates and helps vitamin A and E absorption, two vitamins found in seaweed.

Rose hip oil (e.g., Rosa Mosqueta rose hip seed oil from Aubrey) helps diminish fine lines and is best when used in masks and moisturizers.

Oatmeal is well known for its soothing and softening properties and its ability to draw out skin impurities.

Chamomile helps soothe inflamed skin.

Green tea protects against sun damage.

Papaya is rich in the enzyme papain, which helps the skin to slough off dead skin cells.

The Doctors' Prescription

Skin care isn't just about surface aesthetics anymore. Women want products that not only provide skin beauty benefits, but also improve skin health, notes one beauty expert.

No wonder. The skin is a major target organ for pollution. From trucks and buses that belch diesel exhaust to factory particulates, microscopic bits of tire tread, soot, to too much ultraviolet radiation from the sun, the skin has become the body's "sacrificial organ," says Rebecca Gadbury, health and beauty consultant and instructor of cosmetic sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The products that we have recommended are, for the most part, what we call antioxidant cocktails. Healing antioxidant herbs and nutrients such as sea buckthorn, rose hip seed oil, blue-green algae, coenzyme Q10, milk thistle, grapeseed extract, vitamins C and E and beta-carotene truly aid the skin in maintaining its youthful appearance by acting as free radical scavengers and nourishing cells, reducing wrinkling and fine lines, as well as protecting against drying and more dangerous cancerous processes.

Yet, the use of such ingredients may not indicate a truly safe cosmetic product. Many products contain harmful ingredients—especially preservatives, wetting agents, and cleansers. This includes products sold in drug stores, supermarkets, and even at high-end department store cosmetic counters.

One reason we recommend Aubrey Organics is that their philosophy is to avoid harmful ingredients. This is especially important when purchasing leave-on products such as moisturizers where there is a long duration of skin exposure and the opportunity for dangerous chemicals to be transported into the body.

Please note: Our skin care line has a new look.
Herbessence
Sea Ware Facial Cleanser
Blue Green Algae Herbal Antioxidant Clay Mask with Grape Seed Extract
Green Tea & Green Clay Rejuvenating Facial Mask
Green Tea & Ginkgo Daily Moisturizer
Sparkling Mineral Water Herbal Complex Mist

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