5 Reasons to Start Dry Brushing

First of all, what is Dry Brushing?
Dry Brushing is exactly what it sounds like - the process of taking a dry, natural bristled brush and brushing your body. There's a specific way you can brush to ensure you're getting the most out of it, and that is to brush daily from the ankles up, towards your heart, in long smooth strokes. When you're ready to do your back, brush from your neck down. Avoid harsh strokes and brushing back and forth - you want the skin to feel tingly at most, no where near inflamed. Take a good shower afterwards to wash off any dead skin and completely refresh yourself. I bought my brush from Whole Foods, but you can get it at many different stores - Shoppers Drug Mart, Wal Mart, or The Body Shop. If you really want a treat, pick up a nourishing dry oil with it and use it after the shower. I like Caudalie's Divine Oil and Neutrogena's Light Sesame Body Oil. The Body Shop just came out with a new Argan Oil line, so now's the perfect time to start!

So why do it?

1. It Exfoliates. Everyone is telling us to exfoliate these days - it's the best way to keep your skin healthy and ensure cell turnover. Many people exfoliate the easiest and most common way, with a loofah or bath sponge. Others have found a sugar scrub to use in the shower. Regardless, here's another way you can exfoliate that will not only leave you feeling smoother, but also make you glow from the inside out.

2. It increases circulation. When you dry brush your skin, it increases circulation, which encourages the elimination of metabolic waste. Chances are, when you're done, you'll feel the blood flow freely throughout your entire body. It's invigorating, like a good stretch.

3. It helps you detox. Stimulating your lymphatic system, dry brushing directs the toxins in your body to the lymphatic nodes where they can be eliminated. Experts have even been said that dry brushing helps with digestion and kidney function because it aids the elimination of excess water and toxins. Of course this would be a long-term benefit, so you'd have to stick with it (not that it's hard to do - dry brushing is addictive!)

4. It reduces cellulite. Who doesn't want to get rid of cellulite? Here's a way to do it without gimmicky creams, lotions, or gels. Because dry brushing boosts circulation, it pushes the body’s ability to eliminate toxins through the lymphatic system. This elimination process also helps break down fatty pockets, responsible for cellulite. So in essence, benefits 2, 3 and 4 are all individual benefits you'll experience, but they're also tied together in how they improve your health and appearance overall.

5. It's stress relieving. Taking these 5-10 minutes before your shower literally means you're taking 5-10 minutes to do something for yourself. You'll have complete privacy, which means you can be absolutely alone with your thoughts. You can always shower with your favourite relaxing body wash to keep the experience going - all a matter of personal preference.

The Ingredient Corner: Sea Buckthorn

You've probably never heard of this itty bitty orange treasure - but let me tell you, now's the time to pick it up. I discovered it as a skincare ingredient spontaneously while browsing Whole Foods last year and I've been hooked ever since. I'm constantly reminded of my rosacea, where my face gets flushed and irritated in the middle of the day, so it's usually something that's top of mind when I'm shopping in beauty or skincare sections. There are certain foods, drinks, and temperatures that make it worse, but sometimes it's a flare-up that I just can't blame on anything. Rosacea isn't something that can be cured (yet), but it's something that can be managed.

Sea buckthorn has been used in Asia and Europe, particularly noted in the Himalayas, as a part of a healthy diet as well as a topical ointment. Here are some benefits you can take advantage of:

• Calm skin with its anti inflammatory properties. More than anything else, this is my number one reason for promoting sea buckthorn. Topical ointments with a high concentration of sea buckthorn leave such a cooling sensation that I can feel the heat and itch from a rosacea flare-up dissipate immediately.
• Stay healthy from the inside out with a glass of juice. High omega fatty acid content including 3, 6, 9 and the rare 7 (an essential fatty acid vital to collagen production and healthy skin, hair and nails) helps to make sure your gastrointestinal tract is clean and free from blockages.
• Firm skin with a boost of Vitamin C (more than you`ll find in an orange!) - it even helps with wrinkle prevention.

If you're looking for ways to introduce sea buckthorn into your skincare routine, I recommend checking out SBT SeaBuckthorn. They have a variety of products to try! I'm currently using their Soothing Salve for Rosacea and it usually makes an appearance in my purse when I'm on the go. Sibu has also been featured in O Magazine for it's "radiance enhancing, antiaging" line.

If you've tried it or will be trying it, let me know how it worked for you in the comments below!

The Ingredient Corner: Rice

It's so accessible, it's almost crazy how it's not in the make-up cupboards of women everywhere. You'll read the same thing on a number of blogs - rice has been an inexpensive addition to the Asian skincare routine for ages, and now you can find out how it can help you too.

Rice Water - soak or boil a cup of rice, strain the water (twice) and bottle it. Pour it on a cotton pad and it'll make an amazing toner for after you've cleansed. Make sure to keep it in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.

Rice Bran Powder - it's a simple and gentle way to exfoliate that dull layer of skin away. Although it's gentle, you can find rather course bran at grocery stores, so not to worry that it isn't tough enough to really make a difference.

Rice Bran Oil - of the three ways to use rice listed here, this is probably the easiest to use consistently. You can use it directly on your face or body, or mixed in with your favourite moisturiser. Rich in fatty acids and vitamin E, rice bran oil is easily absorbed into your skin and helps to keep you well hydrated from the inside out. Rice bran oil nourishes skin cells with vitamins and antioxidants, slowing down and preventing the aging process- which means it will help improve your skin's texture, overall complexion, and even your skin tone.

Rice is high in antioxidants and a combination of any or all of these should help you see these results over time:

• Brightened complexion
• Tightened pores
• Softened skin
• Regenerative cell growth
• Prevention for hyper pigmentation and age spots

And guess what? Natural rice treatments have been said to stand out amongst many skin treatments for wrinkles, acne, rosacea, and eczema. Be adamant about its use and I'm sure you'll see results. Let me know down below if you've tried anything from this post and how it worked for you! 

April Favourites

Kiss My Face Peaches and Cream Moisturizer Every girl needs a spring and summer scent. Mine is peach. Ever since falling in love with Sephora's Apricots and Cream moisturizer, I had to find a lotion that hydrated my skin well and still had a long-lasting peach smell. This one is great if you love the smell. The pluses? It'll keep you moisturised for more than 24 hours (you'll still feel it when you jump in the shower the next day), it isn't heavy at all since it has a watery consistency, and oh, it smells great. Some downsides are that it isn't fast absorbing, you have to leave it on your skin for a little bit, and that it's pricier than your average lotion. Though, I find that it has some great benefits with the alpha hydroxy ingredient.

• improves even severely dry skin
• helps unblock & cleanse pores
• speeds up the exfoliation process
• allows new healthy skin cells to emerge
• reduces discolouration and age spots

Alpha Hydroxy Acids are all natural, safe and gentle substances found in fruits and sugar cane. This 4% AHA moisturizer is recommended for daily use on the face or body.Whole Foods ~$15

Johnson's Honey Apple Baby Lotion I didn't stop at one spring lotion. This one smells like organic red delicious apples and it's wonderful. The fact that it's gentle enough for a baby really draws me in. I love being able to grab a lotion that smells great and won't irritate my skin. I love to use this after a long bath in the night time, just when I'm winding down to sleep. Maybe it's a psychological thing, but it's comforting to use. Shoppers Drug Mart ~$8

Super Fluid UV Defense SPF 5 I had my makeup done recently and discovered that the left side of my face is darker than the right side. This is all due to driving in the sun, where most of the sunlight is hitting my face through the driver's side window. Huge disappointment, but it makes me glad that I bought some facial sunscreen now that the weather is warming up. I already use Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream, so I figured I would just buy the sunscreen instead of purchasing a whole new moisturizer with built-in SPF. Besides, this is apparently a customer favourite. It has a water consistency that makes it really easy to apply before any makeup hits your face. The non-greasy formula is definitely a plus too because I hate feeling like my face is hidden behind oil, dirt, makeup, etc. Point being that my face still feels fresh even after I apply a layer of sunscreen (which almost never happens with other brands I've used before). Kiehl's ~$42

Lavender and Vanilla 3-wick Candle Aromatherapy? Yes. Smells good? Yes - a gentle lavender scent that is reminiscent of clean laundry. Not like cotton, just like a lavender fabric softener. Enough fragrance to fill a room? Yes. Long-lasting? Yes. A strong recommendation for someone who is looking for a "wind-down and relax me" candle. Bath & Body Works $20

Eucerin Aquafor I've been battling with this irritating eczema patch right above my lips for a long long time. I've heard of this product for years but never really sought it out. I've been missing out. This is great for flareups, when your skin decides to get really hot and then red and then dry. It also works great as a lip balm. I would suggest that whatever you're using Vaseline for, substitute it for this. It will calm down redness and smooth out the texture of the eczema patches overnight. One thing to remember is that it doesn't absorb right away, so it'll look a little greasy upon application (like a Kiehl's/Carmex lipbalm). Not that you'll really care at that moment when you're looking to calm a flareup. Shoppers Drug Mart ~$12

SBT Seabuckthorn Soothing Salve Certain parts of my face are really dramatic and decide to flush whenever they want. At these points in time, I usually go looking for something cold to put on my face - cold hands, cold water, ice cubs - anything to soothe it. This salve works really well for immediate relief. It has a balmy texture that sits almost like a wax in the tin, but warms up when you rub it between your fingers. Once applied, it'll appear a little bit like Vaseline, but that shine goes away pretty quickly. I would definitely recommend this to anyone with rosacea or any other type of red, inflamed skin. It does have a slight medicinal smell, but nothing irritating. One other thing to note is that I find this to be a temporary relief product. It hasn't decreased the frequency of my flareups, but in conjunction with a long-term solution, it can really do wonders. Whole Foods ~18

When Less is More: Reviewing Your Skincare

True beauty lies within, but let's not lie to ourselves, the way we present our "outside" speaks volumes as well. For me, it's never been as exaggerated as changing my physical make up. I've never cared to change the shape of my lids, to inflate my lips, or chip away at my nose (okay, maybe a few times with the nose). I've always tried to highlight my natural features, which meant taking good care of what I do have - including thick hair, thick eyebrows, and highly sensitive skin. I've always thought, my skin is my largest organ, I can't hide it even if I want to. I better take good care of it. It hasn't been an easy road by any means, but let me try to explain to you the evolution of my skincare.

When I was a child, I forever had dark eczema marks on the insides of my elbows and knees. And being a child, I didn't care, other than for the fact that it itched and was irritating.

Fast-forward to my teenage years. I had cystic acne which left scars on my face for years. It lasted from about when I was 16 until I was 18 years old. It was terrible because my confidence was way down low and I honestly didn't know what to do with it. I didn't know how, or even if I should, cover it up, and I had even less of an idea of how to get rid of it. So I did what every person with cystic acne probably does at some point - I tried a bunch of different cleansers, toners, and moisturisers, to no avail.

Finally, the acne slowly began to fade, but in it's place came patches of eczema. For those of you that don't know, eczema is a skin condition that causes redness, dryness, itching, scaling, and scabbing. If you itch, it gets worse, raw, and infected. By the time I had gone through a bunch of different skin cleansers, toners and moisturisers all over again, I was at the point where I felt nothing would ever work and I'd just have to live with it for the rest of my life. "It" being swollen, ugly, dark patches of skin on my face and neck. I felt so ugly and nothing anyone could say would make it better. I went to two different dermatologists who did a solid nothing for me. I visited a naturopathic doctor who did an assessment and...long story short, I was supposedly allergic to everything aside from potatoes and rice. Following that diet, my eczema improved, but by no means disappeared.

At a last attempt, which was only really brought on by my wonderful mother, I visited a third dermatologist. To my surprise, she took one look, prescribed me antibiotics for what she deemed was infected skin, and then set me up for a regimen of facial peels for following months. Of course there were the famous topical creams, hydrocortisone and clotrimazole, but nothing heavy. At last, the eczema disappeared.

What happened next reminds me of a study that was done involving the psychology behind children with anaphylaxis. As a child with anaphylaxis discovers their food allergy, they are vigilant about staying away from it - staying away from anything that could be a threat. As they become more familiar with their diet, they let their guard down and become less vigilant than the average person. They end up trying a variety of foods that could very well trigger a reaction. Similarly, as my skin has stayed clear from eczema (for the most part) for a few years, I became excited about experimenting with skin products again. More excited than the average person.

Not only have I been trying cleansers, toners, and moisturisers, I've expanded my collection to include deep cleansing masks, smoothing masks, exfoliators, spot treatments, and serums.  Things have been going well, and I have found some great ones, but ever since trying a huge cult favourite, Josie Maran's Argan Oil, I've realized that perhaps I need to get back to the basics.

Turns out I think I'm allergic to 100% argan oil - it gives me hives. Which makes me realize that I don't really need all these products. In fact, I'm fairly certain some of them are making my skin worse. When I fall back to my staples, a cleanser, toner, and moisturiser, my skin is wonderful and free from spontaneous break-outs of rash, redness, and acne.

Based on my experience, most dermatologists will tell you to cut out all the unnecessary products that you're using. If you're hard pressed for a treatment, stick to natural mixtures that you can whip up in your own kitchen. Oatmeal makes a great cleanser, honey is a great moisturiser, and yogurt has anti-inflammatory benefits. Trust me, I know.

So the next time you feel like you have to start using yet another product on your face because it's a top seller, think about if it's really important. Chances are, your skin might be better without it.