Exfoliation: Anti-Aging Secret!

Exfoliation: Who needs it?

So who needs exfoliation? What is it and why should you care? Here is the real truth: everybody needs exfoliation - men and women, young and old, dry skin types, oily skin types - everyone.

Exfoliation - this is the one crucial skin care step that's most popularly underrated and underused. What is it exactly? It's the step between the cleanser and the toner. It's the one step that's so critical to beautiful skin that it's remarkable to see how often it's brushed aside or off altogether in skin care regimens. Although many people already know what this is or that it is a necessary cleansing step, exfoliation continues to get skipped. This is mostly true for men, who often believe skin care treatments are for women only. One advantage men have is that they shave their faces...thereby exfoliating in spite of themselves! Women, on the other hand, often skip this important step, reasoning it takes too much time, but this is a mistake. Exfoliation is a technique that can and should be used by both men and women at least every other day in order to maintain healthy, vibrant-looking skin. This is because daily, hourly, minutely, dead skin cells are accumulating on the epidermis (outermost layer of skin) which then causes the skin to become dull and thicken. But via exfoliation, whether you choose to use a gentle scrub, glycolic acid or a washcloth, those very same dead skin cells that form on the top layer of your skin are removed to reveal the glorious skin underneath. By removing dead and dry skin cells from the surface of your skin, it allows the growth of new moisturized cells to surface, creating a glowing look for your skin. Your routine can include a gentle scrub, or can be alternated with a glycolic acid mask or clay mask. The combination of both techniques can be most beneficial for keeping your skin clear, and smooth.

When selecting the right product remember that using the most gentle products available. You wouldn't take a scouring pad to your delicate face, nor should your products have harsh exfoliants. A good organic base with tea anti-oxidants and gentle jojoba beads might be a good choice. When using masques, there are a couple things to keep in mind. Glycolic acid is a remarkably effective product for the clearest smoothest skin, but this active ingredient also causes a higher sensitivity to the sun, so you have to be very careful by using sunscreen after using a glycolic acid product. When you look at clay masques, ingredients matter! Masques can be a very effective way of deep cleansing and exfoliating, especially if they contain Vitamin E, DMAE or other active ingredients known to produce spectacular results for skin clearing.

Exfoliation is a critically important step in any good skin care routine. Remember the other pillars of skin care: careful cleansing, proper moisture and SUNSCREEN always! If you combine these elements with a healthy diet, plenty of rest and water, and regular excercise, you will have glowing skin well into your later years, and you'll be glad you did!

Visit our skin care page: www.pureblissessentials.com

Natural Beauty and Anti-Aging

There is a lot of interest these days with all things natural. What is natural beauty? I would define it as optimum health: a balanced lifestyle, pure, organic food in as "unprocessed" a state as possible, proper excercise, fresh air, quality loving relationships, and meaningful contribution to the world. We don't all just have these elements, but many people strive to keep these elements and integrate them.

The very same elements that contribute to overall health, also create great skin. There is a recognition that we are not just a mind, or a body, or some emotions, or a spirit, but we are an integrated system, and that when we follow healthy practices our whole being benefits from it. Anti-aging technologies are everywhere....clearly a rapidly aging demographic trends have a lot of people pursuing ways to stay younger or younger looking and feeling.

Your skin is the largest organ you have. When you take care to use pure, and mostly organic products on your skin it can be beneficial to you. Thorough cleansing, gentle exfoliation for the dead layers on the top of your skin and careful moisturizing are the elements of any good skin care ritual. When combined with a healthy lifestyle and diet, you will give yourself the very best chance to keep looking youthful and healthy well into your later years!

Summer Madness!

I love summer in Portland...warm, green, lush and delicious. I was thinking of all the ways we can take summer in wherever we are: enjoy the outdoors, the water, the mountains, the desert. One of the things I love about the Northwest is that it is a year-round "outside" kind of place. Rain does not stop us in the winter from biking, hiking, and tromping around the art galleries. Summers are glorious...tons of live music in the parks and wineries, great cultural events, lots of things to do.

I was thinking we should find ways to indulge and pamper ourselves regardless of our climate or the time of year. I was recently inspired to create luscious summer scrubs and a new solid lotion bar to really enjoy either getting ready for the day, or to pamper and relax at the end. Starting with a fresh shower scrub and delicious juicy orange, grapefruit, lemon and botanical essences...it's just one of those things that make you glad to be alive! A small thing perhaps, but when life feels tough like it sometimes does, this is one thing we can each do to just take a few moments and enjoy the feel, the scent, the freshness. Follow up with a touch of a lotion bar...and you can launch into the day feeling like you are ready for anything!

Stay tuned...I'll be blogging about the rich butters and oils that I've found to have truly amazing effects on parched summer skin...it's been a rigorous learning curve!

Till next time....do something great for yourself today!

What it really takes for success

I've been a life-long entrepreneur....and as much as anything I believe entrepreneur ism is about personal growth. I've seen over the years my relative success from year to year has more to do with how I'm developing myself, and less to do with economics, conditions or all the outside influences that can convince us that it is not a good time to be successful.

I started my financial advisory business out of a complete business failure in real estate. Back in the 80's when real estate was booming, it seemed like a good business to be in. The money was good, but I never loved it. When the first big economic collapse of California happened, I got caught in the massive implosion of that industry and I knew that more than anything I had to change...not conditions alone, but me.

I dug in and applied myself to the situation at hand. The first thing I did was go seek the advice of two respected mentors, who both, independently advised me that a career in financial services was the place to build long term stability. They were right. I also had to get up every single day and apply myself to re-train in this new profession. There were times I felt the task at hand would overwhelm me. I learned that I had to take one day and one step at a time. The slow, steady self-discipline and establishment of a disciplined work ethic is what pulled me out of that catastrophe, and set my course that did indeed, over time, give me the stable, meaningful career it has become.

This is what I've learned....when faced with great adversity, it is a challenge for us to look INWARD, not outward to see how we can think differently, tap our own resiliency and creativity, seek counsel from wise people, and get comfortable with change and living outside our comfort zone.

This is the formula I believe for success...no matter what your job status is or station in life. We can rise to our circumstance... and find what we need. Those answers are not in looking for a person, the government, our illusions of the "secure" job to bail us out. Those answers exist eternally right inside your own heart and intuition. Times of great crisis are our best opportunities to find our strengths, then apply them in a new direction.

Here's to your success! Find your passion, learn new skills, and be willing to be coach able by those who have gone before you. You success is guaranteed if you will. The biggest foe we face is our own negative self-image and thinking. Believe you can, or believe you can't...either way, you'll be right.

Remarkable Rhassoul

One of my favorite skin routines is an organic Rhassoul Clay Mask. Never heard of Rhassoul? Here is a bit about it: Rhassoul clay, found only deep beneath the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, has been used for over 1,400 years as a natural beauty treatment for skin and hair-even nobles in ancient Rome and Egypt took advantage of this remarkable beautifying clay. To first look at this reddish-brown cosmetic clay you would not think it was anything spectacular, but looks can be deceiving.What Makes Rhassoul Clay Unique?This clay is a smectic (or swelling) clay, which means that it's extremely absorbent-much more so than other cosmetic clays. In fact, it's made up of three layers with a water layer sandwiched in between. This clay has a unique ability to absorb tremendous amounts of water, which makes it ideal for cleansing and detoxifying the skin.Further, Rhassoul clay contains higher percentages of silica, magnesium, potassium, calcium and other trace minerals than other clays. These minerals make the clay highly detoxifying as they can actually exchange themselves for toxic compounds like metals in the skin. So the clay not only works to remove impurities from your skin-it also replaces them with nourishing trace minerals. And, the clay's high level of ions exchange makes it ideal for toning and enriching the skin.But perhaps the best part about Rhassoul clay is what it doesn't contain: no petrochemical derivatives, no synthetic preservatives, no surfactants or artificial colors ... all of which are common in commercial soaps and cleansers.How is Rhassoul Clay Used?Rhassoul clay can be used as a soap, skin conditioner, shampoo or mask for the face and body. It acts like a soap but leaves a sweet scent behind. One note of caution here: if you use it in shampoos, it will strip your color. If your hair is not colored, it is tremendously clarifying.Two U.S. labs have conducted clinical studies on Rhassoul clay. After just a single use, users reported the following results in their skin:Less drynessLess flakinessImproved skin clarity, elasticity and firmnessImproved skin textureLess surface oilSmoother skinIn short, Rhassoul clay is a superior compound for removing oil and impurities from the skin and hair, and that's why top spas around the world offer beauty treatments that contain it.Here is the recipe I use: one part Rhassoul, one part Aloe Vera Juice, and add some avocado oil till you get the texture you like. Mix well, apply to clean face, and let dry. Remove with warm water and follow with your favorite moisturizer. I use my Regenerate Serum and my Anti-Oxidant Renewal Creme...and this combination makes my skin feel like it must have been when I was 6 months old! It is smooth, clear, plump and soft.Try it...you'll be amazed!!

www.pureblissessentials.com

Entrepreneurism and the spirit of service

I've been thinking about the call to national service...and what I've learned about service during my life.I've been a life-long entrepreneur. I started as a realtor in S Cal back in the 80's when real estate was a pretty good business to be in. When both the economy and my business totally crashed by the end of the 80's I was left wondering: "is this all there is? How do I start over?" I realized that re-inventing my career and my personal life would involve some deep introspection. I learned that I could no longer just work for money...but that what I chose to spend my life energy on had to have meaning and purpose. I found my way into financial services after leaving California...a painful choice as I was totally broke, did not know a soul, and had to dig out a living minute by minute. I was scared a lot of the time, just like I imagine so many are scared now. But I persevered, and today I have a business that has given me so much. I partner with talented third party active money managers who have the staff and resources to monitor the global markets. I was marvelling at my new crop of client statements that arrived this week. Accounts that not only did not lose money over this devastating recessionary cycle, but actually eked out some small gains. These statements are not pieces of paper to me: they are the widow who counts on this income to survive with her small daughter, the trust fund that two children count on to fund their college, the small retirement account for the divorcee that cannot afford to lose a dime. Real people. I'm proud of what I've been able to do, to help real people navigate during these very tough times.

I'm also thrilled about my new entrepreneurial business, PureBliss Essentials. I started this as a hobby and born out of my life-long fascination with the science of skin care, and love of creative endeavors. I can get lost in figuring out new ways to make delicious things that make people happy. I never did it for the money. My biggest thrill is to know someone has used my products and they made them feel good. I think people need that these days. In my very first year of business, I vowed that PureBliss would be a business that gave back. Every year, PureBliss will donate 10% of profits to a local charity that supports self-sustainability in our community. The Bradley Engle House for battered women and children were the recipients in 2008. I'm also launching a new program "Girl Power"...an entreprenurial course for young girls. I'll teach them how to make simple soaps and scrubs, let them sell them and make money, and teach them how to do simple bookeeping, and run a business. Who knows what could come of it for them? I think our young people need to know how to be self-sufficient. Also, a requirement of the program is that they save 10% of everything they earn...for college, or to expand their business.Both of my businesses give me as much as I give to them. They are filled with meaning and purpose. It was never about the money, but amazingly, the money comes. This is the year we've been called to serve our communities. There can be no loftier goal, and the real secret of service is that the ServOR benefits far more than the ServEE