Taking a new life direction

A long time passed by since I've posted something on the blog, and for that I'm sorry, for those who started following. My life have taken a change, and that distracted me from the blog. But now I'm ready to start posting again, writing about all the new products I've been using, to let you guys know if it's worth spending money on, and if they are suitable for guys.

This blog is especially directed to men, since it's still a little hard to find good male blogs about lifestyle, personal care and maybe a little fitness.

So thank you for those who are still hanging on, and I'll post soon.

Cleanse

The first step on achieving great skin is washing it and to understand the big necessity of it, besides the fact that it helps remove the dirt, it helps prepare your skin to receive the treatments you’re going to put on after. Even if it is only a moisturizer, it’s still a treatment, and by the way, a very important one.

So you can pick different types of cleansers, like gel, a cream, foam, etc. And choose between some mild washing one’s, and others that can be harsher. It will depend of your skin type. But for combination to oily skin, you should use an oil-free, non-comedogenic cleanser that foams up. This means it has good washing properties, and if to that, you add salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide, it will be better, because it will help prevent breakouts.

When washing your face, you should also, not use cold water, because it will difficult the remove of the dirt and oil out of your face, but you shouldn’t also use hot water, because it may not only burn your skin, but will dry out too much. You should instead, use tepid water, which is kind of just warm water, at your body temperature.

The face should also be washed two or three times per day, being one in the morning and the other one in the evening before going to bed. If you feel the need to refresh by mid day or when you get home, you should do it too, but you have to be reasonable. If you feel that you may be drying out your skin too much, you’ll have to moderate this third wash, or see if it is because of your face washer. Dry skin will increase the production of sebum, and then lead to more breakouts and aggravate your oily skin.

Don’t go over 12h without washing your face and treating it, that’s one of the secrets.

You also need to be careful about the fragrances, so look at the ingredients and try to find products that only have the word Fragrance on the bottom. Otherwise you can have an allergic reaction if you have sensitive skin.

So this is the first step, and a major one, because it’s the beginning of all the next following ones. So you want to leave a clean slate otherwise it won’t work as effectively, and as a matter of fact if you don’t wash your face properly, and put on a moisturizer and other kind of treatments, it will only add up to the dirt existent and aggravate all your skin conditions.

There are some things that inspire me to look out for my skin, and take care of it, and trying to invest more time, on it. We all know that college can be very overburdening, or even if you’re working, sometimes you just don’t have the spirit or the time to just go and take some time in the bathroom, going through all those steps. So, to help you with that, I’ll try to inspire you, and suggest some tips on how to make you look good for the holiday season. Every man wants to look good in the pictures… 

So when I think of skin care I immediately think of that glowing skin… yes, we men should have a glowing skin, meaning that, if you have dry skin, oily or combination, you should balance it so we all can meet in between, with a healthy look.

A guy who I think appears always with healthy skin, especially on “Nurse Jackie”, is Peter Facinelli. He must keep his skin very moisturized, and take care of it, because of the demanding roll he has on the vampire movies, Twilight, that I believe, may require him to keep his complexion spotless and even looking, even without all the make-up to turn them pale white.

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So Trying to achieve that goal, and the look, of other celebrities that always sport perfect skin, I’ll go by steps, to create a solid skin care routine. I may also say that I’ll aproach combination, and oily skin types, that are the major concern of skin, in men. So the major topics for perfect glowing skin are:

• Cleanse
• Exfoliation
• Tonic
• Moisturize
• Protect
• Intensive at home treatments
• Life style

The combination of all these topics, will lead you easily to perfect healthy skin. For the beginner trying to find basic information, at first it may sound complicated, but once you turn it into a personal routine, and personalize your own skin care habits, It will be much easier.

In the next few days I'll discuss the topics one by one, so, keep visiting

Schwarzkopf Gliss Asia Straight Serum

Well, being always in search for something that may tame frizzy hair, without making it look oily or stiff, awhile ago, I found this product, that is not new in the market, I'm sure some of you have tried it already. Being Schwarzkopf a professional brand, with a big reputation among professional hairdressers, I thought I would take it to consideration, so I bought it and tried it.

I did used serums already, claiming that they worked on frizzy hair and split ends (which I don’t have, my hair is too short to get split), and I t was a cheap one, and by the end of the day, my hair would collect grease around the full coat of silicone that the serum left on my hair, so I didn't really loved it. Only when, after washing my hair every single day, it felt a little dry, I would put some of it, but only a little amount, very very little.

After this experience I was expecting this new serum to do the same. And I was wrong! This serum has a runny texture, with a bit of a berry smell, which is not very manly, but it fades right away (which can be a down side), and after applying it to towel dried hair, and then blowdry it, will leave your hair feeling very smooth, and natural looking.

This serum hasn’t really made the frizz walk away totally, but it certainly made the hair much easier to manage. Definitely a staple!

Dove Visible Effects body lotion

Well, over with the summer, and beginning with the winter, it's still important to keep your skin moisturized. Now that the moist level in the air is lower, the dry and cold wind on your skin, can be quite drying and damaging, therefore the importance of hydrating your skin, even though it's covered by the winter layers of clothes. This moisturizer, I've bought, a few moths ago, will help you do that.

The Dove Visible Effects body lotion, it's a moisturizer that claims to help moisturize the deep layers of your skin, where the beauty of skin begins. It has a multi-layer complex, that at first analysis, can be perceived as a heavy moisturizer on your skin, that will leave you with a greasy feeling, but it's quite the opposite. The texture of this lotion is a bit thick, but it's well absorbed into skin, and fast, leaving you with a soft feel , and with what it seems to be a barrier, maybe caused by the dimethicone. The smell is the part I don't really appreciate, because at first it smells good, like every dove lotion use to, by after a few applications it starts to be a bit overpowering, because I prefer a more fresh scent. But overall the lotion it's quite good, specially when you need that little boost of moisture.

Brad Goreski Grooming secrets

Well, as you may have seen, one person that inspires me in the look department, is Brad Goreski. For those of you that don’t know who he is, I’ll make a little presentation.

Brad Goreski is a stylist, former-assistant of stylist Rachel Zoe, that was born in Ontario, Canada. He then moved to LA to study History at the University of Southern California, and while doing so, he had the opportunity to intern for Vogue and W magazine in New York, following up, after he graduated, to be Vogue West Coast assistant. After that, and with some admiration of the Star Stylist Rachel Zoe, he managed to get a spot as an assistant, achieving this way, an amazing resume, that a few would desire. To add to that, he has become quite popular in the media for his incredible personal style, being a breath of fresh air into the male fashion world. The eyewear and the bow-ties are a staple!

But what does he do to maintain a good skin and nice appearance. Well, there are a few things that he shared, and that you could use.

Natura Bisse: NB Ceutical Intensive Tolerance Booster: Well this serum that he loves, he say’s helps reduce the redness on skin. And that is what the product is for, and to solve some other skin problems, like, skin sagginess, anti-wrinkle, anti-oxidant and is skin soothing. This product has some key ingredients on it to achieve those effects, has Fermentus Glaciarum extract (anti-wrinkler), Pikea Robusta (anti-inflammatory), Amaranthus Causatus Seed extract (source of anti-oxidant) and Vitamin F (Omega 3 and 6).

The price is around 197€

L'Oréal Elnett Satin Hairspray: A very famous hairspray, well loved by the stars, that will hold your hair and taking care of it at the same time. Brad uses this product to stle his hair as higher as possible. “The higher the hair, the closer to GOD... Isn't that what they say?”

Price 6€

Bliss Steep Clean Mattifying Toner Pads: He uses this to deep clean his pores before he cleanses his skin. This are mattifying pads that help you achieve an oil-free and shine-free look, and preventing blemishes.

Price, 47€

Byron B Putty: He uses this product to give his hair texture, from the line of hair care of his own hairdresser Byron Williams.

Clairisonic brush: Well, I’ve never tried this one, but I’ve heard great reviews about this. It gives you a great exfoliation, helping you remove any dead cells and dirt out of your skin. “It actually makes you feel like you’ve had a facial”.

Crème de la Mer: Well this product needs no introduction, as it is super famous for its properties of soothing the skin, and actually healing. This crème is used by a lot of celebrities, including Brad. “I'm a huge Crème de la Mer person”

Neutrogena dry body oil: It’s a light body oil, that claims to quickly absorb into skin and locking the moisture, leaving your skin soft.

Other than this, on the show, Brad Goreski mentions, that he does some treatments with Lactic acid and Glycolic acid too, which are chemical peeling agents that help to renew your skin, making it look more even.

To keep his body in shape, Mr. Goreski likes to go to the gym early I the morning before work, and in the afternoon, he goes to Pilates. It’s a routine that seems to work…

I just would like to say, that this are product that I didn’t tried myself, so this is not a review, I just wrote what they claim to do, and why Brad Goreski chose them. Except for the peeling agents, that I did tried myself, and maybe later I’ll do a review on it.

Garnier Essentials Tonique

Well, this is not an essential item in your skin care routine, because it doesn't add much as a skin care product, it only makes you feel fresh, smells good, and may have some active ingredients that might work, but not make a huge difference. If you have a sensible skin type you don't want to build up much to your face.

So I wanted to try this product as it says it has pro-vitamin B5, which is panthenol that in contact with the skin and absorbed, transforms in pantothenic acid. This component helps lock in the moisture in the skin, retaining water, resulting in a much softer and elastic skin. So no harm in that, only making your skin look good and healthy, I would say.

After I applied the product to my face, having an oily skin type, I actually noticed that the smell was quite refreshing, and not overpowering, very pleasant, and the effect on the skin, was actually a bit moisturizing. Not very much so, because it will not do as much as a lotion, but enough. It also helps remove the dirt out of your pores, which is something good, after a day in the city.

The only thing I didn’t like was the fact that, this actually leaves my skin oily quicker, but not that much, so I started to apply it only at night. So I would say this is a product more suitable for dry to normal skin, and a good one. Not excellent, but good.