Christmas Beauty Routine: for Glowing Skin & Radiant Soul!

CHRISTMAS BEAUTY ROUTINE: FOR A GLOWING SKIN AND RADIANT SOUL!

1. Winter Skin Roller Coaster.
2. Countdown to Christmas.
3. Pumpering Beautifulness.

In the end it really happened to me!!!
I was in one of those tricky situations …

In the moment I needed the most beautiful skin EVER… I found myself to deal with pimples, blackheads , redness and super dry skin!

Isn’t it a PANIC situation?

My beloved skin was getting crazy when I needed a glowing and radiant complexion.

Count down to Christmas on and none could save me.

Let me tell you what happened.

It was the end of November 2017 and I was working a lot at my Boutique & Spa in central London.

Crazy hours, stress level up and bad food habits … at 4:00pm I was having lunch or dinner?

In addition, I had to deal with the November London climate, I walked the streets facing the freezing winds from the north and then found myself in the super crowded and over heated Oxford Circus underground station.

For sure the SKIN DISASTER was just around the corner.

One morning, about 4 weeks before Christmas, I looked in the mirror and thought to my self,

“Oh noooooooo this skin doesn’t belong to meeee”

Me that I should  be an example for clients and staff, I found myself having dark circles, pimples and dry lips and dull skin.

My confidence level was going down, down down…

How I got there I knew it very well, “mea culpa” as the Latins say.
But how could I fix it?

I needed to reverse the situation, I could not reduce my working hours but I could be more careful with myself and my skin.

In that moment I decided to follow a simple but super effective beauty routine.

A beauty routine with a twist, non only for a glowing skin but also for a rardiant Soul.
Yes, THE SOUL you understood it well.

Because when you take care of yourself you shine inside and out.
And there is no better time to shine then Christmas.

Let me revel you THE PUMPERING SECRET …

01.WINTER SKIN ROLLER COASTER.

First of all, we need to understand what happens to our skin in winter and why it needs different care than in summer.

The autumn and winter seasons can be a real roller coaster for our skin.
It has to deal with important physiological mechanisms of cold and wind but also humidity, sunny days, and in closed environments heating and fireplaces, hot subways etc.

In addition, there is also a change in diet, we start to prefer fatty foods, we eat more but above all we are inclined to drink less water.

Another fundamental thing  is the STRESS  that assails many of us because we are returning at full speed to daily commitments.

What happen to our skin?

With the cold, the skin implements vessel constriction mechanisms to preserve the heat.
This leads to a slowdown in cell renewal.
Slow cell renewal = dull skin.

The cold also slows down the production of lipids.
What are lipids?
A fundamental component of the hydrolipidic film which constitutes the natural barrier of the skin.
It therefore helps us to prevent redness and irritation.

WHAT CONSEQUENCES DO WE HAVE?

• The skin is dry and rough to the touch.
• It is opaque and not very bright.
• It often tends to flake.
• We have red areas especially in the cheeks.
• Sometimes we feel itchiness.
• The fine lines around the eyes appear.
• The already existing wrinkles are highlighted.
• Lips become dry.

STOOOOOP! Stooop, stoooop ..

I know what are you wondering now:

“ Nicole you wrote that you had also skin impurity,

how in the world this can happen if in winter we have less lipds? “

First notice that the skin has its own monthly cycle based on the cycle of our hormones during our 28monthly menstrual cycle.

Second the skin has its own rhythms Day & Night.

(If you want to know more about this topic please let me know in the comments ).

02.COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS.

Here is my strategy, the one that worked for me.
But be careful that miracles do not exist and to have beautiful and healthy skin you need to take care of it constantly.

However, these steps certainly help as a boost treatment to be done in the month before Christmas to see improvements.

Fundamental premise: I will suggest the steps to take but not the specific products,
because specific products can be recommended only when you know your skin type.

How do you find it out?
In addition to the various online tests that can more or less give general indications,I strongly recommend that you check your skin with a specialist. By now, consultations are almost free in beauty centers.
And if you haven’t done it for a long time, try to double check it because the skin tends to change over the years.

My experience advice is also to use NATURAL AND CERTIFIED ORGANIC products not only for the Christmas Beauty Routine but for your own care in general.

I won’t go into this too much on this topic because I wrote a nice article that helps you understand. the differences between synthetic, organic and natural cosmetics and to know how to read the ingredients.

SPOILER ALERT: the silky effect of the Silicones is a rebound effect since their protective film in the long run makes the skin asphyxiated and poor in nutrients.

Important is also DRINK as much as possible and be honest with yourself about the BAD FOODS HABITS that sometimes you can avoid!!!

Ok, NOW LET’S START THE MAGIC:

1. First step – Cleansing Milk

In winter you must  prefer the cleansing milk to gels and mousses that are too astringent.
According to your skin type there are excellent cleansing milks even for oily skin that avoid the rebound effect.

The cleansing milk MUST BE RINSED with warm water, unless otherwise indicated by the manufacturer.

Absolutely avoid for the haste to use make-up remover wipes and micellar waters for the face.
A good micellar water can be used but to remove eye and lip makeup and this too must be rinsed.

2. Second step  –  the toner.

For me the toner is a fundamental product and the natural and organic ones work really well.

• The miracles of this product are:
• It helps us to remove the last residues of impurities after cleaning.
•  Counteracts the limescale of tap water.
• Helps maintain skin moisture and hydration.
• Its active ingredients give vitality and tone the skin, hence the name tonic.
• Makes the skin more receptive to receiving subsequent products.
• It has a lightening and compacting action of the pores for a luminous Glow effect.

The best toners are water-based ones enriched with mucilage, aloe, chamomile, rose, lavender and hydrolates of essential oils.

MY SECRET ?
I never let it dry completely but with the skin still damp I start applying the third product, the Serum.

3.Third Step – Serum

The serum is often more expensive than the cream even if in a smaller format, usually 30 ml because it is a real concentrate of active ingredients.

It is a product with a light and fluid texture that is technologically very advanced.

It is a real pumpering treatment.
I always recommend it to always be included in your Beauty Routine after 30 years for anti-aging treatments, but there are serums are of different types, calming, purifying, moisturizing, therefore to be used whenever the skin is undergoing a imbalance regardless which is your age.

In winter, I use moisturizing and soothing serums with anti-aging active ingredients ( as I am now close to forty).
Such as hyaluronic acid, glutathione, vitamin c, vitamin e, retinol.

4. Fourth step – Cream.

To be chosen according to your skin type.
Even oily skin needs the cream which can be in gel or light formula.

For dry and sensitive skin types, richer formulas are usually preferred, perhaps with shea butter, coconut oil and argan.

The cream is very important because it maintains the hydration and elasticity of the skin also acts as a protective barrier and can help reduce or prevent wrinkles.

In fact, it is proven that those who use moisturizers every day have younger and more elastic skin than those who never moisturize the skin and do not protect it from external agents such as the sun, cold and wind.

If you have two extra pennies, I also recommend that you have a day cream and a night cream because, as mentioned above, the skin has different cycles.

THE SUM OF THE BEAUTY is :

Cleansing milk + Toner + Serum + Cream = Glowing Skin.

Prescription: Do it MORNING & EVENING.

PLUS + If you have eyes dark circles or puffiness or a lot of wrinkles in the eyes area you can use also a specific EYE CONTOUR products.

But “When the going gets tough, the tough get going” they said right?

There is something more … keep reading

0.3 BEAUTIFULNESS

In my experience working in the holistic field I notice that to do that extra mile for our beauty we must look after also to our Mind and Soul.

BEAUTIFULNESS  that is, well-being for the skin but also for the SOUL.

That extra pampering, which is needed every now and then and that we can do every 20 days or so.

If you can, for time and money, I also suggest at least once every 3 months you can receive a professional Deep cleansing facial and 20 days after that my home suggestion.

I prefer to do this treatment in the evening on Friday or Sunday.

FIRST I prepare a relaxing herbal tea and since it is a holiday season I try to drink my Spicy and special Christmas mix.
(If you want the secret let me know).

I also usually play relaxing music in the bathroom and then I start the pumper with my usual cleansing milk.
SECOND. After the milk I apply the toner.

THIRD. I proceed with the exfoliation with a good scrub.
At home I prefer to make mechanical scrubs in granules, on the market there are wonderful ones that can be used together with a little cleansing milk or shea butter ‘to gently exfoliate even the lips.

For me, a scrub is good when it exfoliates and brightens but is not too aggressive, when rinsing it must leave the skin smooth and radiant but not tight and not even, on the contrary, too greasy.

FOURTH. After washing and drying the skin, I proceed with a nice facial massage with a vegetable oil. For the face massage I try to follow some Ayurveda techniques and do some face yoga passages.
I usually slide also crystal rock stone into the energy points.

As vegetable oils I use different ones depending on the case, in winter since I have mixed skin but which tends to redden on the cheeks I like to use the wonderful rosehip vegetable oil.

If you have vitamins vials , you can add half a vial to the massage oil for an even stronger effect.

FIFTH.  I proceed with the mask, the real star and booster of the extra treatments.
I usually prefer masks made with osmotic and remineralising natural muds or white clays that are embellished with calming botanical extracts that illuminate and deeply hydrate the skin.
There are many types and many can also be created with homemade ingredients.

In addition, I embellish my mask with a drop of essential lavender oil.

If you have them, you can also use patches or a specific mask for the eye contour.
And apply a generous veil of lip balm.

For the shutter speed of the mask I move to the bedroom and carry two cotton pads soaked in toner.

SIXTH. In the room I usually turn on the diffuser and diffuse an essential oil, during the holidays I usually love orange, cinnamon, patchouli, ylang ylang.
If you don’t have a diffuser you can apply a few drops on a tissue and take a few deep breaths.

For 10 minutes I prefer to relax with my eyes closed, wrapped in a soft blanket, covering my eyes with the pads soaked in tonic.
The secret of these 10 minutes of relaxation is to focus on positive thoughts or let yourself be carried away by relaxing music.

SEVENTH. After the necessary time, I conclude my beautifulness routine by rinsing the mask with warm water and applying a second time toner.

EIGHT.  The final touches are the serum and cream.

The use of Aromatherapy, if you like, can obviously be done every day, especially to have results on good mood and to have a good sleep, which is also one of the fundamental factors for beautiful skin.

I hope my advice may have been helpful to find your skin balance.

If you try my routine I would love you to share your results in the comments or if you have your routine that is working please let me/us know!!!

For more information please check my other social media or send me an e-mail.

With Love Nicole