Prevent Razor Bumps & Ingrown Hair

Many men and women have dealt with ingrown hairs or razor bumps at one point or another. Ingrown hairs occur when your hair curls over inside the follicle and doesn't make it to the surface. The result is an unsightly, "bump" on the skin.  Razor bumps form when a growing hair exits the follicle and bends back towards the skin surface. When you shave, you help sharpen the hair ends, making it easier for them to penetrate the skin. We can agree that razor bumps itch, burn, can cause scarring and can make shaving horrible!  I remember my dad using Magic Shave and it seemed to work better than blades - but some of these creams or mixtures, if not used correctly, can actually irritate the skin, and make it worse. Here are some helpful shaving tips that may help ease some of the pain and more importantly, save your face. Happy Shaving!

1. ALWAYS use a clean and sharp razor blade (electric razors too) and throw it out after 3-4 uses. Might seem excessive, but dull blades cause men to go over the same area of skin, causing irritation and improperly cutting hair. If you’re using electric shavers, remember to replace the rotary blades or foil after a couple of months. Of course if you're required to shave daily, you may have to replace them sooner.

2. REDUCE the amount of times you shave to every other day. Give your skin time to rest and heal, doing this allows hairs to grow straight through the skin's surface and won’t force the too-short hairs back into the skin.

3. EXFOLIATE with a gentle scrub to remove the top layer of dead cells and allow hairs to grow out easier. Exfoliation also helps soften skin, clears pores and evens out blemishes.

4. SHAVE THE WAY THE HAIR GROWS! Always shave in the direction of the hair growth. This is also critical around the neck areas since shaving against the grain is one of the main causes of pointy, sharp hairs that can burrow back into the skin. Use your hands to feel the direction of the hair. Shaving upward may give you a closer shave, but you want to reduce irritation and the likelihood of hairs growing back into the skin.

5. NEVER stretch your skin while shaving. Pulling your cheeks, chin or neck while shaving in order to get a closer shave, may cause darkness and discoloration of underlying skin tissue.

6. SOFTEN the hairs before shaving. Begin your routine by washing with a mild cleanser gently massaging the area with warm water, then apply a shave cream or shave oil and allow it to sit on the face for a minute or two to completely coat hairs before shaving. This will soften any stubble and remove excess dead skin cells providing a smoother surface for shaving.

7. AFTER-SHAVE solution with hydrating ingredients like aloe, witch hazel and tea tree extract after shaviing to help cut down on redness and discomfort. Tea Tree is a natural antiseptic, anti-fungal and well-rounded essential oil and a personal favorite! Stay away from products that contain alcohol!

8. DON’T PLUCK! Plucking ingrown hairs out will just cause another hair grow again and you'll be facing the same exact problem.

9. TAKE YOUR TIME! Everyone's been guilty of the quick out the door shave, but taking your time can spectacularly reduce nicks and cuts that can irritate razor bumps.

10. WATCH WHAT YOU EAT Many skin irritations may subside if certain foods are avoided. Fatty foods, foods containing oils, cholesterol and sodium, can make your skin more prone to damage when shaving.

11. GROW A BEARD! This may not be the right solution for those required to shave daily, such as the military and other business professions, but if you can handle this style, go for it! You will totally eliminate the razor bump worries and ingrown hair issues. Even better, you can get rid of those sharp blades!

Easy Homemade Laundry Soap

Ingredients:

6 C Borax

8 C Baking Soda

1 C Coarse Kosher Salt

1 Bar Zote Soap (shredded)

1-2 TSP of Fragrance or Essential Oils

Directions: 

Mix all ingredients together and store in a container.  Use 2-4 ounces per wash, depending on load size. 2 ounces for smaller loads and 3-4 for large loads.

Notes:

* Washing Soda maybe used in place of Baking Soda. I personally use Baking Soda because is less harsh.

* Zote soap can be found in the laundry isle and it's a big pink bar with a white and pink wrapping.

* Coarse Kosher Salt is a non-iodized, granulated salt compacted into coarse flakes. This product contains a water soluble anti-caking and water softening agent.

* Can I use in a HE (High Efficiency) Washer?  I have heard from others that it works fine in their HE machines because the homemade laundry soap has almost no suds, which similar to how HE detergents are formulated. I don’t own a HE washer but if I did, I would feel comfortable trying the homemade laundry soap in the machine.

Strawberry Yogurt Honey Mask

2 Tbsp. Fresh Strawberries (cleaned and mashed)

1 Tbsp. Greek Yogurt

1 Tsp. Honey

Mix Strawberries, Yogurt and Honey until smooth.  Apply to face and leave on for 30 minutes. Rinse with lukewarm water.

Strawberries:  Strawberries contain salicylic acid that removes dead skin cells, minimizes pores and creates a brighter and happier complexion. Strawberries gently refresh and exfoliate the skin, remove impurities, and reduce redness and swelling, and the antioxidants in Strawberries help to repair skin damage and counteract aging effects.

Yogurt: lactic acid and enzymes in yogurt help to hydrate and sooth the skin, leaving it soft and smooth. As a sunburn remedy it soothes the pain and improves redness. When combined with honey, yogurt makes a moisturizing and exfoliating mask, great for softening the face and neck and minimizing discoloration.

Honey: a natural antioxidant and anti-microbial to help protect the skin from the damage of the sun's rays, support the skin's ability to rejuvenate and refresh depleted skin, leaving it feeling silky soft and supple. Honey is a treatment of minor can and absorbs impurities from the pores on the skin, making it an ideal cleansing agent.

Avocado Yogurt & Honey Mask

Treat yourself to an avocado facial. Beauty, they say, is only skin deep. Luckily, avocado has moisturizing power to help make your skin more beautiful. For years, people have used avocado as a natural facial treatment, especially for dry skin. It's easy to do in your own home.

2 Tbsp. Avocado (mashed)

1 Tbsp. Greek Yogurt

1 Tsp. Honey

Mix Avocado, Yogurt and Honey until smooth.  Apply to face and leave on for 30 minutes. Rinse with lukewarm water.

Avocado: rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin K, fiber, folate, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, copper and potassium and have been used in treating a ton of skin ailments.  They are known to have a anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties.

Yogurt: lactic acid and enzymes in yogurt help to hydrate and sooth the skin, leaving it soft and smooth. As a sunburn remedy it soothes the pain and improves redness. When combined with honey, yogurt makes a moisturizing and exfoliating mask, great for softening the face and neck and minimizing discoloration.

Honey: a natural antioxidant and anti-microbial to help protect the skin from the damage of the sun's rays, support the skin's ability to rejuvenate and refresh depleted skin, leaving it feeling silky soft and supple. Honey is a treatment of minor can and absorbs impurities from the pores on the skin, making it an ideal cleansing agent.

Avocados offer remarkable benefits for skin health

(NaturalNews) Avocados are Mother Nature's skin moisturizer. With their healthy fats and phytonutrients, they offer remarkable benefits to human skin -- both when eaten and when used topically.

Here, we present a collection of supporting information about avocados from some of the top authors and personalities in the natural health industry, including David "Avocado" Wolfe himself.

Check out the quotes below, then pick up some avocados for yourself. They just help you save your own skin!

Avocados and healthy skin

Treat yourself to an avocado facial. Beauty, they say, is only skin deep. Luckily, avocado has moisturizing power to help make your skin more beautiful. For years, people have used avocado as a natural facial treatment, especially for dry skin. It's easy to do in your own home. Just remove your makeup and wash your face with warm water and soap or your favorite cleanser. Mash some avocado and mix it with a little milk or oatmeal and apply it to your face. Leave it there for 10 minutes, then rinse it off with lots of water.

- Eat and Heal (Foods That Can Prevent or Cure Many Common Ailments) by the Editors of FC&A Medical Publishing

Eating half an avocado every other day would probably help your own cholesterol drop some. A rather remarkable twofold approach towards relieving the itchy misery of psoriasis is by eating half of an avocado daily and applying an extra-rich cream of chamomile flowers extract to the skin. The oils in the avocado will work internally towards the surface of the skin, soothing deep muscle inflammation. The oils in CamoCare Soothing Cream help the skin to literally repair itself from the damage done by psoriasis.  

- Heinerman's Encyclopedia of Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs by John Heinerman

There's more to avocado than guacamole. Its oil is actually patented as a treatment for some forms of dermatitis and arthritis. According to Aubrey Hampton, author of Natural Organic Hair and Skin Care, long-term treatment with avocado oil helps relieve eczema. I'm not surprised, as avocado oil is rich in vitamins A, D and E, all of which help maintain healthy skin. I suggest applying it directly to any itchy, red or irritated areas.

- The Green Pharmacy: New Discoveries in Herbal Remedies for Common Diseases and Conditions from the World's Foremost Authority on Healing Herbs by James A. Duke, Ph.D.

Avocado oil has been used extensively for its ability to heal and soothe the skin. This use is based on the high hydrocarbon content of the pulp and oil, which may help dry skin. Avocados are frequently included in health diets, and recent evidence suggests they are effective in modifying lipid profiles. In a randomized study, women chose either a diet high in monounsaturated fatty acids enriched with avocado or a high complex-carbohydrate diet. After 3 weeks, the avocado diet resulted in a reduction in total cholesterol level from baseline (8.2%). 

- Guide to Popular Natural Products by Ara Dermarderosian

Throughout Central and South America the avocado is not only consumed with great relish, but also highly regarded for its extremely nourishing properties. It is a favored saying among the Maya Indians inhabiting the Yucatan Peninsula and the highlands of Guatemala that where avocados grow, "hunger (or malnutrition) has no friends." Too many of us think only of avocados in the traditional Mexican sense of guacamole. But among the Mayan the avocado is considered to be a food which keeps the joints of the body moving freely and the skin young and supple.

- Heinerman's Encyclopedia of Healing Juices by John Heinerman

The expressed oil of the avocado seed nourishes and maintains skin tone. It softens rough, dry, or flaking skin and, massaged into the scalp, improves hair growth. Avocado is very nutritious and makes an excellent baby food. Indigenous to Central America, avocado is widely cultivated for its fruit in tropical and subtropical areas, including Israel, Spain, and South Africa. It is propagated from seed. The leaves are harvested as needed, and the unripe fruit is picked when fully grown.

- The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants by Andrew Chevallier

Mashing an avocado and rubbing it into your hair for five minutes after washing will add luster to your hair; rinse afterwards. In South Africa, an avocado mask made of mashed avocados, honey, and lime juice is applied to the face as a moisturizing treatment to counteract the drying effects of the hot sun.

- Timeless Secrets of Health & Rejuvenation: Unleash The Natural Healing Power That Lies Dormant Within You by Andreas Moritz

Every part of the avocado has been used at one time or another to tackle a few of life's inconveniences. Throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, and South America, the avocado has been put to use in unique ways. A powder made from avocado seeds has been used to control dandruff. Some people have chewed the seeds to reduce toothache pain, and even the skin has been used as an antibiotic for intestinal parasites and dysentery. The flesh has long been used to condition dry hair and as a soothing shaving cream.

- 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life! by David W. Grotto, RD, LDN

Olive, wheat germ, safflower, sesame, almond, apricot kernel, and avocado oils are closer in composition to the natural secretions of the skin. Most of them are also rich in linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid that aids in skin-cell renewal. Some manufacturers have also replaced synthetic coloring and scents with herbal extracts and powdered flowers, such as rose, iris, orange blossom, lavender, and chamomile.

- Menopause Without Medicine: The Trusted Women's Resource with the Latest Information on HRT, Breast Cancer, Heart Disease and Natural Estrogens by Linda Ojeda

The same vitamins make avocado good for the skin. To help reduce the itching, dryness, and inflammation, apply the mashed fruit directly to patches of eczema, or (if green's not your Avocado color) apply the oil.

- The Herbal Drugstore by Linda B. White, M.D.

The mild oil pressed from the luscious avocado is known to be soothing to the skin. Avocado oil is used for gourmet cooking, so look for it in well-stocked grocery stores as well as health food stores. To magnify the moisturizing effects of the oil, use it when your hands are still a bit damp from washing, Dr. Bihova says. The oil will form a protective seal that will retain the moisture that your dry digits are so thirsty for.

- The Doctors Book of Home Remedies II: Over 1,200 New Doctor-Tested Tips and Techniques Anyone Can Use to Heal Hundreds of Everyday Health Problems by the Editors of PREVENTION

To soften and nourish the skin, mash half of an avocado and apply it to your face. Leave it on until it dries, then rinse off with warm water. Avocado contains essential fatty acids and other nutrients that help prevent premature wrinkling. To tighten and refine pores, whip up the white of an egg with a pinch of alum and apply it to your face as a mask. After fifteen to twenty minutes, rinse it off with lukewarm water. Wrinkle lines from the lips toward the nose may be due to a deficiency of vitamin B2 (riboflavin).

- Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/027509_avocado_skin_health.html#ixzz1oG8nUQpf