For me, the scariest part of Halloween often happens the morning after- and no, it’s not waking up with a horrific hangover or having to do the walk of shame wearing my Slutty Zombie costume. But you know what is scary? Taking a hard look at my face in the magnifying mirror on November 1st. Between the previous night’s Halloween makeup and cold, windy fall weather, my complexion starts to look downright frightening. So today I’ll share a few of my favorite ways to stay all dewey and fresh during the greyest, coldest days of fall and winter. We’ve got a little bit of everything here, from home remedies and hippie voodoo to fancy products that are actually worth paying for. Even better, we’ve got two fantastic giveaways from Murad and Melvita that you can enter to win! Yay free stuff!
- Crisp, fall air may be nice when you’re outside jumping in piles of rust-colored leaves, but when it has your entire body feeling dry and itchy, it kind of sucks. As temperatures drop, plain old lotion doesn’t seem to cut it anymore, so I start slathering myself with coconut oil. Not only is it the new healthy cooking fat, it’s a great, all-natural and really affordable way to keep your skin soft. Bonus: it has a really subtle coconut scent, which is kind of helpful when you’re trying to imagine you are sitting somewhere sunnier. You can buy cheapest online, or at soap-making stores like Zenith.
- If you’d rather buy your lotion, or just aren’t a coconut fan, the Skin Smoothies from Rainwater Soap Company are great for chapped skin and come in amazing scents hand-crafted by local Seattle soap magicians- buy them online or from Becky herself at Pike Place Market.
- In my search for a lotion that wasn’t full of chemical nastiness and actually kept my skin soft throughout the day, I got turned on to Melvita’s Ultra-Nourishing Body Balm. The nice folks at Melvita sent me a sample, and I am happy to report that it gets a big thumbs-up. It feels like frosting, melts into your skin and lasts all day. Next week they’ll be introducing a new version that adds honey to the already stellar ingredient list. You know how we feel about honey here at Yay-Today (we’re kind of obsessed), so we’re extra excited to be giving away a jar of the NEW Melvita Ultra Nourishing Body Balm with 3 Honeys. Rules for entry are at the end of the post!
- Another thing that gets dry and icky as the weather gets colder is your face. And that’s a lot harder to hide under pants and tights for the next six months. Barrie, aka YayUnicorns and the author of most of the DIY posts here on Yay-Today, turned me on to this amazing and ultra-simple DIY face scrub recipe last year, and I cannot tell you how much it rocks my world. This mixture of wheat germ, cornmeal and oatmeal is uber-cheap and is better than any expensive scrub I’ve ever bought. Make it and thank her.
- The winter wind storms that show up in November don’t just mean possible power outages, they mean chapped, ruddy skin. Rosy cheeks are nice, but chronic red-face is not tres chic. Most products that are moisturizing enough to calm my skin end up turning my face into a shiny oil slick, but Murad’s Hydro-Dynamic face and eye creams do the trick so well that I don’t mind shelling out cash money for them. (Also, right now they’re donating 10% of profits City of Hope for breast cancer research. Good skin, good cause!) But the nice folks at Murad gave us a full-sized jar of the Hydro-Dynamic face cream to give away to a lucky reader, so you may get your skin-smoothing fix for FREE. Again, instructions for entry are at the end of this post.
- For acute problems caused by winter weather- extremely chapped lips, Rudolf-esque red noses caused by too annoying runny noses, cracked elbows, cuticles and rashes- I have two magic bullets that you need to keep on hand. One is another Murad product: the Soothing Skin, Lip and Cuticle Care stick. This tiny tube keeps lips from cracking and makes your cuticles look like you just came from the spa year-round. The other small-but-mighty must-have is Gaia Goo Healing Salve by Wild Carrot Herbals. I use this stuff on just about everything when I need any skin problem fixed fast. (Actually, I need to give big props for just about everything in the Wild Carrot line- it’s made in Oregon with the best ingredients by one of the nicest ladies I’ve ever met. Buy it online or at local Whole Foods stores and Madison Market.)
Now that you’ve read my recommendations, it’s time to find out how you can win one of two fabulous freebies- Melvita’s Ultra Nourishing Body Balm with 3 Honeys and Murad’s Hydro-Dynamic Face Cream.
- Leave a comment below telling us your favorite budget beauty secret- what keeps you looking gorgeous that doesn’t cost a fortune? Each comment will enter you in both giveaways.
- For an extra chance to win Melvita’s Ultra Body Balm with 3 Honeys, hop on Twitter and RT the following: “I want to win Ultra Nourishing Body Balm from @MelvitaUSA & @yay_today http://bit.ly/sqG2PF”. (Make sure you’re following both @yay_today and @MelvitaUSA!)
- For an extra chance to win Murad’s Hydro-Dynamic Face Cream, head to Twitter again and RT “I want to win Hydro-Dynamic face cream from @yay_today & @DrMurad http://bit.ly/sqG2PF”. (Again, make sure you’re following both @yay_today and @DrMurad.)
What are you waiting for? Enter now so you can keep looking good until it finally warms up again… probably sometime in August. And make sure you are telling all your friends about Yay-Today- I mean, where else can you get tips on skin care AND free tacos? Contest closes Thursday, 11/3/11 at midnight and we announce the winner on Friday.
(Important legal stuff: Federal law requires me to tell you that Melvita and Murad both sent me free samples of the products we mentioned- but if they sucked, I wouldn’t recommend them. Even I don’t love free stuff that much. Also, the thumbnail image for today’s post comes from flickr user PinkSherbert.)
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Fav beauty tip: I love dry shampoo, but if I’m out or don’t have it with me, I use a little bit of baby powder ( a little goes a long way) to take care of greasy roots between washes.
Drink lots of water! Makes a big difference for Winter skin.
My winter trick (requirement) is washing my face every night. I know, I’m a freakin’ hippie and don’t shower as much as I should, and sure I can get away with not washing my face in the summer, but the combination of chapped face + lotion + scarves requires a good scrub. Woe is me, having to wash.
This is my first winter here in Seattle since I moved from Atlanta. Now I am interested in hydrating and protecting my skin more than ever. I don’t have too many budget beauty secrets yet, but I use a good conditioner, leave-in for several minutes, and rinse in cold water. My mom told me that cold water closes the hair cuticles and gives extra shine.
Moisturize, Moisturize, and then Moisturize!
I carry a waterbottle with me at all times to stay hydrated all day! Also, every night I remove my makeup, moisturize, and slather on a lip treatment to keep them smooth and protected from the cold Wisconsin winters!
Softlips lip balm doesn’t cost a lot and us a real good lip softener with SPF to reduce cracked and dry lips
Beauty Tip: Drink lots of water and make sure to change your pillow cases regularly! This will help make sure bacteria or other nasty stuff doesn’t get all over your face while your sleeping causing your skin breakout. Another thing I love to do is to make sure I exfoliate a couple times a week. Moisturizers can penetrate much better on exfoliated skin and you will also use less product this way.
Tweeted about the Melvita’s Ultra Body Balm with 3 Honeys giveaway
https://twitter.com/#!/neeha323/status/131847478533300224
I absolutly cant live without philosophys purity made simple wash. Its so gentle, it doesnt seem to strip any moisture from my face
I think water is very important to drink in winter, but a cold glass of ice water makes me shiver! I like to drink it hot with lemon to take the chill off of cold mornings.
Budget Beauty Tips:
1. Hydration….Drink Water, the more the better!
2. Baby Oil Gel, apply after shower, prior to drying off with towel…a little goes a long way.
3. Wash face 2 times a day, never go to bed with make up on!
4. Wash your make-up brushes in baby shampoo.
Budget beauty secret – don’t wash your hair every single day – it will dry out too much. Rinse it daily in the shower, but only wash it every other.
My fav budget beauty secret is using Vaseline on my feet to make them soft. Before bed, I smooth Vaseline all over my feet and cover them with cotton socks. The next morning my feet are super soft.
Drink lots of water and always use sunscreen.
Tweeted about Dr. Murad Hydro-Dynamic face cream
https://twitter.com/#!/neeha323/status/131847676533817344
water!
I use sugar mixed with olive oil to exfoliate my face twice a week, and after I use a toner….wonderful for winter
I use vasoline on just about every inch of my body. It helps to get rid of ingrown hairs, smooths my lips and my hair. I love that its cheap and odor free.
Head & Shoulders Classic Clean Shampoo is amazing for a pesky pimple. After cleansing face, dab a bit on the spot, let it sit for about 2 minutes, then wash off. It’s amazing.
I use vaseline to remove my eye makeup.
I have two great money saving tricks for fighting the winter dryness (and I have SUPER dry skin year-round so winter is awful for me). One (like many have said!) is TONS of water-nothing better! The other, believe it or not, I use chapstick or vaseline on my lips and dab a bit on the end of my nose to prevent it from peeling! Such a sensitive spot that needs some extra love!
RT : https://twitter.com/#!/neeha323/status/132159260883824640
https://twitter.com/#!/neeha323/status/132159260883824640
I love the hippie oatmeal scrub I made for my face and use in the bath. It’s moisturizing and exfoliating. Yes.
water water water. When its bad, I go to straight Vitamin E oil for a few days and I usually get back in order
I think my best beauty tip is to be outside in the sun and fresh air. To that end I use lots of sunscreen and a big umbrella.
Moisturize!
Cheap-o body scrub: for exfoliation in a pinch I mix olive oil and either salt or sugar, depending on how course you want it to be. Don’t do it all the time though, or your shower drain will hate you!
Aquaphor! Useit for everything!