#BeautyTipTuesday: Nose Peeling - Prevent and Heal

I suffer from hay fever, sinusitis, a handful of other allergies and I currently have a cold. Sniff. On a great day, I don't touch my nose at all except when I'm doing my usual beauty routine. On a bad day, I go through and entire box of tissues and/or a toilet roll and my *sneeze* sentences *sneeze* go something *sneeze* like *sneeze* this.*sneeze* *tears* Damn, I knew I shouldn't have thrown away all those rolled up tissues before I took a picture for you guys. If I put it all into a pillow case, I'm sure my Cocker Spaniel would have a comfortable pillow-bed.

This fading cold doesn't help much. Because of all the nose-blowing and nose-rubbing, my skin goes through a lot of friction and irritation. And boy does she express herself and let me have it. The skin around my nose dries out and peels, I breakout in the perioral area, my lips become dry and sometimes, my skin even starts flaking from my nose to my chin. This makes any skin care product application uncomfortable and makeup can emphasize all that is wrong, and sometimes burns.

There is a simple solution, really: Apply a layer of balmy moisturizer onto the skin around your nose BEFORE blowing it. This way, there's a layer between the tissue/toilet paper and your skin, and there's less friction and direct irritation and rubbing of your skin. You can use any petroleum jelly-based product, or a rich, emollient cream. Here's the deal, though, it can't contain alcohol and/or fragrance. These are two known skin irritants (and we should cut it out of our routines, completely, in my opinion). It doesn't matter how little of it there is in the product. Your skin's already going through a lot, why put it under additional stress and prolong the healing process, especially if the skin's already dry and peeling?

I use (and LOVE):
1) Eucerin's Aquaphor Soothing Skin Balm

source: longevitylive.com

It smells like nothing, and feels pretty much like petroleum-jelly. It enhances your skin's natural healing process and forms a protective barrier. It contains 41% petrolatum (active ingredient), mineral oil, panthenol, glycerin and a few other ingredients. Nothing "special", right? Back to basics, yo. I bought this specifically for my nose, but now use it on my lips, cuticles, hands and feet. And have gladly shared it with The Man, for his feet. I remember to use this before blowing most of the time, but when I forget and my skin's already peeling, I apply it to the dry skin anyway, and I've seen a great improvement in the healing time and appearance of my skin. It also makes a big difference when applied to peeling skin before makeup application, but remember to rub it (or press it) in gently before makeup application.

2) Balm Balm Face Balm, fragrance-free

source: balmbalm.com Currently available on rubybox for R149,95*

Balm Balm's Fragrance-free Face Balm contains shea butter, sunflower oil, beeswax, calendula oil and jojoba oil. It's super moisturizing. I only use this when my nose is blocked and I can't smell a thing. I don't know what it is, but I really battle with the smell. It reminds me of the smell of old, used oil that my grandmother used to pour into a bottle from the pot because she didn't want to throw it down the kitchen sink drain. I just can't deal. I feel like I'm Jim Carrey in Liar Liar doing "The Claw" on myself when I apply this when my nose is not blocked. Other than that, it's good, and a great option for those who don't like that "vaseline" texture. Although this is a balm, it melts onto your skin, and feels pretty much like an oil-based serum. This kind of texture is better for pre-makeup-application use once the skin is already peeling. It melts onto the skin and "glues" down the dry flaky bits so it looks like nothing was ever wrong. Remember to conceal the redness, though. And like Eucerin's Aquaphor, this balm can be used a multitude of ways. I actually prefer this one for my cuticles.

You could also use petroleum jelly if you want. PLEASE DO NOT USE Vicks VapoRub, or any other other menthol-y products (incl. Zambuk and Cuticura). It will burn, and all that camphor, menthol and eucalyptus is not great for your skin: known skin irritants. Camphor can cause dermatitis with long-term use. All these irritants are counter-irritants, producing one kind of inflammation to replace another and impairs your skin's healing response, which is what you want at it's best when your skin's peeling, or recovering from any other injury. Remember that just because you're not feeling or seeing the irritation, doesn't mean it isn't happening and damaging your skin over time. By all means, get some eucalyptus/peppermint oil and use it for aromatherapy purposes and to help clear a stuffy nose, just don't apply it directly to the skin.

What do you use when the skin around your nose is peeling and sensitive?

Miss B
*At the time of publishing

Sock Bun Tutorial

Hey hey hey!

Happy Friday. :-)

I made another hair tutorial for rubybox. Yay! This time it's a sock bun...with a twist. The lazy-girl-guide, even. Not because I'm super lazy, but because after trying to do the traditional sock bun with all the wrapping and rolling for a few days (and still didn't get it right), the hair breakage became too much for me to handle, and my hair was everywhere. EVERYWHERE! My hair was as visible as my dogs' hair. I have 3 dogs, one of which is a Golden Retriever.



In the video I used the Marc Anthony Oil of Morocco Argan Oil Volume Shine Hairspray and rubybox Hair Pearl & Satin Alice Band Duo as well as their Flower Alice Band. The one I have is more like a head band (elasticated), not that I used it that way, anyway.

Products I used on my hair:

Kerastase Dermo-Calm Shampoo
Kerastase Cristalliste Conditioner
ghd Heat Protect Spray
PARLUX Eco-Friendly 3800 Ceramic Ionic hair dryer
Some extra-large barrel brush my mom gave me. She doesn't remember the details.
Kerastase Elixir Ultime


Hope you have a great weekend. Try this easy-peasy sock bun and let me know how much you love it or hate it. I love pics, too. Of your hair and sock buns ONLY, please.


Miss B

#BeautyTipTuesday: Sunscreen

If you don't know by now, I am in love with sunscreen. Not like that, eeuw! I am a sunscreen enthusiast. And proudly so.

I am all for sun protection, and I honestly don't understand why more people aren't. Well, I have an idea: laziness. So you have enough time to make a cup of coffee in the morning and put on your makeup, maybe do your hair, but you can't spare 5 minutes (even less) to add sunscreen into your daily routine? I mean DAILY, not just Monday to Friday. I've made a few last minute decisions to leave the house and even then, I'd rather protect myself from harmful UV radiation than apply makeup. And no, makeup with SPF is not enough. I apply sunscreen every day, at least to exposed skin, but mostly I apply it to my entire body. Including hands and feet. And ears. And many of my hair products have UV filters in them, too. 

A few clients have "confessed" that they go to the store with the intention to buy sunscreen, but once they arrive, they get overwhelmed with all the options, promises, SPF numbers and price options. It is totally understandable, the same thing happened to me the other day. My sunscreen is currently less than half (freak out sesh. Kidding.) and I went in with a list of sunscreen ingredients to look for, and then realized that every single sunscreen available at the Clicks closest to where I stay either had alcohol and/or fragrance in it. Some of which had it in the top 5 ingredients. No, thanks. Pass. It's frustrating, as alcohol and fragrance (even "natural" fragrance) are known to be irritating to the skin. And there's no way your skin can function at it's best when it's irritated. I'm still searching, though, and I'll be happy to share if I find one that's got all the good stuff with none, or much less, of the bad stuff. :-)

In the meantime, here's a list of sunscreen ingredients to take note of, and refer to, when next you go shopping:

• titanium dioxide
• zinc oxide
• butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane a.k.a avobenzone and Parsol 1789
• Mexoryl SX a.k.a ecamsule. Technical name: terephthalylidine dicamphor sulfonic acid. Great facial nerve exercise.
• Tinosorb

These ingredients should be listed as "active ingredients". Not many products in SA list the active ingredients separately from the rest, so it would be good if one of the above is listed in the first few ingredients. It would also be SUPER if you could find a formulation that is alcohol- and fragrance-free (and if you do, please share in the comments below). Cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol and other fatty alcohols are not bad for your skin: they are emollient and can benefit dry skin. If fragrance (may also be listed as "parfum" or "pthalates")  is listed in the last three ingredients, I wouldn't worry too much, if the rest of the formulation is great and the active sunscreen ingredients are present.

Waste no more time procrastinating this protective measure, y'all. It's one of the simplest things you can do to protect yourself from the sun's damaging UV rays. 

And don't skimp on the sunscreen. Seriously. Pretend it's your favourite drink and you just want it all over you. Wow, that's not a great example. You get the picture. 

Miss B

#BeautyTipTuesday: Contouring/Shading

Source: kimkardashian.celebuzz.com

Contouring is very popular, and a daily must for some, and I see it often. I don't want to SEE it, though. I wish I didn't, but alas. The point of contouring is to give parts of the face more depth, "fake cheekbones" (we all have cheekbones, just to be clear) and make the face, or part thereof, appear slimmer. It's all well and good until someone uses the wrong shade and doesn't blend enough.



The most popular product used to contour is, no doubt, bronzer. Bronzers are nice, and often it makes the world of difference to clients when I use it on them. The thing with bronzer, though, is that most of them contain golden, orange, yellow and bronze (duh) tones; when layered incorrectly this looks all kinds of wrong, most notably muddy and dirty. "Vuil" is more accurate.

It's always better to start of lightly, and then layer. I know many people advise on using a shade that's about 2 shades darker than your complexion, but I've used shades way darker than my complexion (and the complexions of clients), I'm just very light-handed. Good tools help, too.

The image of Kim K, above, is a great guide in where to contour. But you should also check out Maskcara's guides to highlighting and contouring specifically for your face shape. She's super awesome!

Another GREAT tip I've come to learn, is to use a grey-toned powder for contouring. Think about it: you're trying to create "shadows" on your face, especially for the cheek contour. Have you ever seen a shadow that's orange-y? I haven't. For those who prefer contouring with liquid products, it's harder to find grey-toned liquid products, because not many people (if any) have grey toned skin (or maybe I just haven't come across many people with natural grey tones in their skin), but you can use your regular liquid contouring products, and go lightly over it with a grey-toned powder product for added definition and staying power.

And where do you find these grey-toned products?

I love NYX Powder Blush in Taupe (matte). Available in Clicks stores.

source: makeupgeek.com

Truth is, you don't HAVE TO use bronzing powder to contour, you could use any matte or semi-matte powder product whether it be a blush, eyeshadow, powder foundation or a finishing powder. Always remember to be light-handed and layer. And then blend x100. And then blend once more.

And maybe once more before you leave the house. ;-)

Do you have any tips when it comes to contouring? Share in the comments. :-)

  Miss B



P.s. I am not saying you should use grey eyeshadow to contour your face, but if you can find a grey-toned product, like the NYX blush, it would make a difference to the overall effect and result. Think "dull brown" shade. There's also a Yardley blush with grey-tones I've seen in Clicks a couple of times, but I don't know the exact name. I'll check it out and update this post. :-)

#BeautyTipTuesday: Oops, I squeezed out too much product...

...brought to you on a Wednesday because my laptop loves me sooooo much.

Sometimes we're in a hurry, and you know how it goes: you get toothpaste on your cleavage and in your hair, you wash your hands and end up with water splashed on your clothes in your pelvic area, you put foundation in your hair and your hair serum on your face, you squeeze out waaayyyy more product than you need. Of course, you don't have to be in a rush for these things to happen, as I have proven to myself almost daily.

My hands are sometimes stronger than I realize and I end up squeezing/pumping out too much product and then I swear at myself and let out a few heavy sighs. Even my dogs have picked up on this, and they do it before I even get the chance. Kids. Smh. Well, since you can't put it back as that will compromise the hygiene of the product, as well as increase and promote oxidation, we have to find ways of using it, right? It doesn't have to be the end of your product-economy-world. Here's what you can do with "extras":

1. Cleanser: If it's good enough for your face, it's good enough for the rest of your body.

2. Eye product: Apply the excess to any potential perioral lines (around your lips) and nasolabial folds (from the "outside" of your nostrils to the outer corner of your lips). You can also apply it to your cuticles, especially if you're using a richer, creamier eye product.

3. Moisturizer: Your facial care routine should extend to your neck and decollete, but if you don't already do that, any extra moisturizer should definitely go there. And if you still have left, your boobs and shoulders can get some lovin', too. In that order. Or not.

4. Sunscreen: No such thing. Put it everywhere. More! A little more than that. EVERYWHERE!

5. Hand cream: Elbows, knees, feet. It hardly ever happens, but when I squeeze out too much hand cream, my elbows do a happy dance. And can your heels ever get enough cream? C'mooon.


What do you do when you squeeze out too much product? Have any other tips and tricks?


Miss B