Frugal Way To a Younger Face

I have been doing face exercises with a video and book from http://www.facercise.com totally worth doing! Found the book and dvd also on amazon.com, was skeptical but now am an addict! It worked quick to tone my neck, where it was needed the most, as well as my face. I have started doing them in the car as well as home life tends to be busy with 4 boys (not counting my husband!)

Also, when looking for beauty products, I have to be very careful in choosing by ingredients. Besides avoiding gluten due to celiac / gluten intolerance, I have found myriad of ingredients to avoid - some of them cancerous! How do you know what is safe? Arm yourself with knowledge: go to cosmeticscop.com or cosmeticsdatabase.com

Here is a link to the direct list of mystery ingredients we have been accustomed to seeing, but perhaps never knowing what the bleep they are:

http://www.cosmeticscop.com/learn/cosmetic_dictionary.asp?id=6&letter=A

And finally, for now at least, a couple exerpts from one of my favorite beauty websites with safe ingredients you can find just about anywhere, and they won't break your budget:

http://www.thesavvygal.com/articles/2008/06/06/savvy_style/41style.txt - follow the link to read the whole story (besides baking soda, a few other great tools!

"Baking Soda
* One of the most versatile products is none other than baking soda. It's an excellent, old school exfoliant that keeps skin silky smooth and glowing. Simply mix three parts baking soda and one part water into a thick paste and gently massage the area that needs sloughing in circular motions. This paste is gentle enough for the face, yet strong enough for tougher areas of the body, including knees and elbows.

* Rather than spending $30 on dry shampoo, sprinkle some baking soda onto your scalp to absorb oil. Lightly massage your scalp with your fingers, then bend over at the waist and do a quick blast with the blow dryer (baby powder also works very well to freshen up your locks).

* Baking soda also helps you get dazzling pearly whites -- all you have to do is brush your teeth with a pinch of baking soda and table salt."

Sloughing Away The Excess:

http://www.thesavvygal.com/articles/2008/05/23/savvy_style/40style.txt - follow link for whole story

"Begin, for best results, by dry brushing your body every day with a sisal loofah. Dry brushing is an age-old method that stimulates collagen and our lymphatic systems, while exfoliating dead skin cells to allow our bodies to emit toxic waste. It also improves muscle tone and prevents fat deposits from forming. Brush upward, towards your heart, 30 strokes for each section of the body. If your skin looks pink, you are doing it right. The best sisal loofahs can be found at anti-aging guru Carole Maggio's Web store (http://www.facercise.com/store). She imports them from Germany, and they last for years. There is a convenient mitt loofah, as well as a strap version that makes reaching your backside easy, ($20 each) and a Beauty Face Mitt ($7.50). For these prices, it's a no-brainer, everyone should have a loofah."

I ordered the Beauty Face Mitt and Loofahs from Facercise, and they come with really useful instructions from Carole Maggio on the proper way to dry brush.