Update - Red LED Light Treatment for my Eczema and Chemical Peel

I haven't talked about my eczema in a while, that's because it hasn't reoccurred.  I pull out my red LED light occasionally to use it when my skin feels irritated but honestly I haven't used it in over six months.  I am so thankful I discovered that light.  It has really kept me sane.  I am again in the middle of a chemical peel treatment series.  Last night was my third treatment.  (I used a 35% Glycolic-Lactic acid mixture)  I didn't do my neck or my decolletage area this time.  I'll save that for this weekend.  My skin this morning feels soft, smooth and tight maybe a little raw (my cheeks have a slight red tinge) but I know that those are signs that the peeling is about to commence in the next few days.  For this series I'm going to do six treatments, once every week to a week and a half and then my girlfriends and I are going to get together at a spa in a couple of months to do a microdermabrasion treatment.  The microdermabrasion should get rid of any stubborn excess flaky skin that might still be clinging to my face.  I can't wait!  This weekend I also need to take care of my hair.  It's in desperate need of a lot of things; color, hot oil treatment, a trim...etc...  I'm not sure I'll be able to accomplish all but I'll certainly try.

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*Allene Angelica*

       =^_^=

My False Lash Experiment

About a week ago I got the bright idea to try wearing false lashes. I've never worn them before and to tell the truth have never really been interested. I've always been the swipe on a few layers of mascara type of gal. But one day a few weeks back I was out to lunch with a girl friend and she complimented our waitress on her false lashes and asked where she purchased them. After the waitress mumbled that she couldn't really remember but maybe bought them from some accessory shop somewhere before walking off with our order, my friend confessed that she never uses mascara, she always wears false lashes that set my mind reeling. 'Really?' I thought to myself. I know I'm a bit sheltered but that was news to me. Women really wear false lashes on just a regular day like a work day? I can understand special occasions but on regular days too? Well that day replayed itself in my mind for the last few weeks. The waitress with her thick black false eyelashes (they did really look quite nice and brought out her exotic eyes) and my friend's confession. So one day a week ago while I was at the drug store ambling from aisle to aisle dropping feminine essentials into my basket I came along the false lashes section, I stood there for a while staring at the display not really knowing why. They had so many different lashes to choose from I didn't know where to start. Those long spiky lashes of different lengths and thickness in those clear plastic cases intimated me. I thought to myself how could I be afraid of some synthetic little hairs when I faced down two bullies in an alleyway in the sixth grade protecting my little sister (that's a story for another day)! So with my shoulders back my spine rigid I reached out and pulled the starter kit from the shelf. After making the purchase I drove straight home to try them out. The first couple of tries were horrendous. I got glue everywhere, all over my eyelids, fingers and even my eyeballs but I think I now have the gist of it after watching a couple of how to videos on YouTube. I still need a lot of practice before I can wear the suckers in public but I'm sure I'll get there eventually.

I've attached a link to one of the how to videos I watched...Kandee Johnson...she's so cute...I started following her YouTube videos.  She has great make-up tips.

How to Apply False Eyelashes by Kandee Johnson

Update:  I'm getting the hang of it.  Of course I'm not practicing everyday just the weekends.  I'm attaching a couple of before and after pics of me using false accent lashes. :)

Before

After

*Allene Angelica*
=^_^=
Sent from my iPad

FYI...Red LED Light Treatment

Just to update regarding the red LED light treatments for my eczema.  I no longer have the eczema issue on my face.  It's been completely abolished and has not relapsed since my last posting about the subject.  I am still doing the red LED light treatments on my face a couples of time a month.  Usually during the week after I do a chemical peel.  So far so good.  Really happy with the results.

My Spa Weekend at Home Part 2

Ok, compared to today yesterday was a breeze. How many of you have heard of coconut oil? To use for the face, body and hair? Well if you have then I must have been living in another dimension for the last few decades because apparently coconut oil has been known and used worldwide for quite a few centuries. Why didn't I know that? I don't want to get into all the specifics, you can google it yourself, but it has been proven to be a healthier oil to cook with and use as part of a beauty regimen for the hair and skin. There has been some controversy regarding using it on the face. If you read the reviews some people have benefited from it's antimicrobial properties but some claim that it's comedogenic. I think it just depends on the person and how their body reacts to it. So, I spent most of this morning googling coconut oil and by the afternoon I was excited enough to go run to the nearest Whole Foods Market and purchased myself a jar. When I got home I was dubious as I looked at the white solid oil. It smells delicious but it looks a lot like that Crisco lard that people use to fry some fried chicken in albeit the coconut oil looks a lot prettier. So standing in front of the mirror I had to plan my strategy. I wanted to use the oil as a pre-shampoo treatment so I used a clean spoon and scooped out about a teaspoon full and warmed the oil between my hands by rubbing my palms together. It melts quickly. As soon as it was melted I saturated my hair with it concentrating on the ends and working my way up to my scalp and then massaging my scalp with the oil. When I was satisfied that I had slathered on enough to saturate each strand I rolled my hair up and secured it on top of my head and covered it with a plastic cap. While the oil was doing it's thing I prepared my face for the fourth installment of my chemical peel treatment. I did the treatment leaving it on for five minutes and then rinsed it off with cold water. I then got in the shower and did a sea salt and honey body scrub. I massaged my entire body with the scrub. It felt invigorating. I then took off the plastic cap, let my hair down and shampooed it. After rinsing the shampoo and all of the scrub off. I got out of the shower and towel dried my hair, while it was damp I scooped out maybe 1/3 of a teaspoon, melted it by rubbing my hands together and softly ran it through my hair concentrating on the ends and avoiding my scalp. I don't want my hair to look too greasy and then I scooped a little bit more of the oil, melted it and massaged it on my face. I know I'm taking a huge risk experimenting with an unknown product right before Thanksgiving but I'm just too curious to not give it a try. Hopefully I don't wake up Thanksgiving morning with a break out of acne or pimples. Knock on wood. So here I sit on my bed feeling soft, relaxed and smelling like dessert. My dog keeps sniffing me and looking like he wants to take a bite...

*Allene Angelica*
Sent from my iPad

My Spa Weekend at Home Part 1

Saturday:

During my teenage years I used to indulge in weekly hot oil treatments for my hair because I used to change the color of my hair on a monthly if not weekly basis. I was never into the out of the spectrum of natural hair colors like green, blue or pink but I did range the shades from jet black to red and every shade in between. No matter the abuse I managed to do to my hair it felt and looked healthy because I conditioned it well on a regular basis. As I got older I started falling short on the regular conditioning treatments and my hair just became another extra nuisance I tried to ignore. Eventually my hair started showing it's dislike of the neglect by becoming dry and frizzy. There was nothing I could put on it that would ease the dryness or eliminate the frizz. Until one day after getting my hair color touched up a couple of weeks ago by my hairdresser, I asked her about hair cellophane. She had no idea what I was talking about. I told her I used to go to another salon a many number of years ago that would cellophane my hair every few months and my hair would turn out smooth and shiny. She had never heard of it but she suggested doing a hot oil steam treatment for my hair. I thought why not might as well try it. She took some oil and a heavy cream conditioner and mixed it together in a bowl and slathered on my hair. Then she rolled my hair up on top of my head and put a plastic cap on and stuck me under a steamer. I was under the steamer for a good 30 minutes. After it was done she rinsed my hair out and dried it. My hair felt soft, supple and healthy. And no frizz. Amazing! She suggested I do the treatment once a month. I agreed because I loved the results but I knew a month would be too long so I started doing a similar treatment at home. Because I don't have a steamer I did the treatment in the shower. I mixed a plant based oil with a heavy cream conditioner, slathered it on all over my hair then secured my hair on top of my head and put a plastic cap on. I left it on my hair for about as long as it took me to soap and scrub the rest of my body, then removed the plastic cap and rinsed my hair thoroughly. Right now this very minute as my hair is air drying it feels wonderfully soft. I plan on doing this every weekend because I've decided it's time to stop neglecting my poor head of hair.

*Allene Angelica*
Sent from my iPad

Third Installment of My Chemical Peels

Just finished my third round of a series of five DIY at home chemical peels.  I'm getting better at applying the chemical peel, more confident.  My hand was steady and knew exactly where it wanted to go and what areas it wanted to concentrate on.  My previous two applications I was a little apprehensive and was much more timid with the acid.  My skin must be getting used to it because it didn't burn as much as the last time.  I left the acid on for a total of five minutes before washing it off.  We'll see how my skin does in the next couple of days.  I also want to mention that after the last chemical peel I thought the peeling had ended after about the third or fourth day but I noticed over a week after the peel that my skin was still peeling in random areas on my face.  I feel really good about doing the peels at home.  If I would have gone to a salon it would have cost me $100 per treatment so not only am I giving myself a beauty treatment my skin really needs but I'm saving money in the process also I am able to control the procedure so that if things go well I have only myself to thank but if things go sour I also have only myself to blame.  So far so good though.

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*Allene Angelica*

Update - Chemical Peel Part Deux

Just wanted to give you an update on the chemical peel results.  As I expected I haven't noticed any dramatic changes.  I still have the two dark skin discolorations from the two large pimples I had months ago on my right cheek, although they have faded a little they are still noticeable.  It's hard to determine any minute changes since I see my face everyday all day long.  My skin did peel, not obviously but it did peel just the same.  The second day after doing the peel my face was covered with a layer of dead skin cells that I scrubbed off with a washcloth in the morning and again in the evening.  The same on the third day.  Today I didn't feel too much dead skin on my face when I woke up so maybe that's it for the peeling.  We'll see.

Chemical Peel Part Deux

I just completed doing my second application of the chemical peel. The first one was three weeks ago. I followed the same procedure as the last time. I wasn't expecting the chemical to burn as intensely as it did tonight. Maybe because my skin isn't as thickly layered as it was three weeks ago. It was pretty bad back then. Exfoliation was definitely in need. I left the chemical peel on for four minutes this time before rinsing it off. My skin feels good but I probably won't see any results, any real improvement anyways, until the fifth procedure.

*Allene Angelica*
Sent from my iPad

Chemical Peel

With the rain today I feel the summer is officially over and with that the sun over exposure. Although I did my best to always wear sunscreen and wear hats I wasn't always consistent. I took a good long look at my skin this weekend and noticed that my skin was looking pretty ragged. It was time to exfoliate. But with the economy the way it is I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars at a salon for chemical peels because truly that was what my skin needed. So, being me...I'm not afraid to experiment on myself. I bought a 15% chemical peel solution and a neutralizer. Due to my Asian skin coloring I decided to go with a Salicylic Acid Peel at 15%. I didn't want to over reach so I went with a lighter solution and the neutralizer is to neutralize the acid once the time is up. Now I've had chemical peels done before and I watched the esthetician closely while she performed the service. So I basically knew what to do. I started with washing my face with a non soap cleanser, then swiped on some alcohol free toner to make sure I got rid of all the residue. I let my face dry for a couple of minutes then swiped on the chemical peel solution quickly never going over the same area twice, avoiding my eyes and mouth. I set my timer for 2 minutes. I felt a tingling sensation. I didn't wait for the two minutes to be up. I applied the neutralizer after about 1 minute 30 seconds. Again I didn't want to over extend since it was my first time doing it by myself. After the neutralizer, I splashed my face with cold water repeatedly, after patting my face dry, applied moisturizer. I've read on several websites you need to do the chemical peel several times to see results so I'm mulling it over whether I want to do another application in three weeks to a month. Some sites tell you to do it once a week for 5 - 6 weeks but that sounds a little much so I'm thinking once every month for 5 - 6 months should be good. We'll see... I'll keep you updated on my results. I'm not saying for you to go out there and do what I just did. I'm not afraid to try things myself because I'm pretty hands on but I'm also very cautious. So please research and get advice before trying to do this yourself. This is acid we're talking about. Always use with caution.

Beauty

What is it about beauty that drives us women to torture ourselves with needles, chemicals and brillo pads!  I admit I'm guilty of at least 2 of the above.  I haven't resorted to needles yet but I've definitely thought about it.  I can see it happening in my foreseeable future.  And it costs money...tons of money to keep it all up.  I've tried almost everything out there and has it helped?  I don't know.  Honestly, I don't know.  I look at myself in the mirror and I don't know if I would have looked the way I do regardless if I did anything about it or not.  I should have taken a before picture 10 years ago so I can compare of course I was thinner then and I have to admit, I was more attractive.  I'm 10 lbs. heavier now.  Ok ok, I lied more like 20 and I hate myself for it but we'll discuss that another time.  The one thing I do see as really beneficial/necessary to the skin is regular exfoliation.  It has to be done.  There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it.  It has to be done.  If I don't exfoliate my skin for a month, I look like a horrible mess.  My skin is lined and very very dull.  I look like I've aged 10 years!  I do one exfoliation treatment and 'voila!' my skin looks smooth and radiant.  Amazing!  (I sound like a commercial.  Hehehe...)  And exfoliation doesn't have to be expensive.  There are all kinds of homemade recipes out there on the internet world that you can try and may save you money and look great at the same time.  I've tried most of them.  Although, I have become very fond of the chemical kind (glycolic, lactic acids).  I've become hooked to those because it's instant gratification.  The effect is almost instantaneous and I love it.  So, like I said we women will do just about anything to stay beautiful and we'll pay just about any amount if we have it.  Does it really work?  I think to some extent it does but is it worth the amount of labor and money we invest in it?  Who's to say.