How To Recover After the Party

With spring & summer warm weather at hand, weekend parties with friends become the norm. I’ve “partied” two weekends in a row now and seem to have recovered gracefully by Sunday morning. Whether you’re drinking Red Bull or Red Bull with vodka (or your party vice of choice…), after a night of stimulants and/or depressants wrecking havoc on your system it’s necessary to have a recovery regimen. Your body (and mood) will thank you!

How to Come Down After the Party

Drink plenty of water. If I told you to drink water on top of alcohol, caffeine, whathaveyou you probably wouldn’t do so. So please, at least drink up while you’re sobering up. Water rehydrates your system and cleanses toxins from your body. You will also look better-rested the day after.

Take your vitamins. My friends are amazed when I break out my vitamins when the party’s over! They don’t understand the benefits. Vitamins, such as fish oil pills and especially B-complex, will help your mood over the next day and metabolize your way to a speedy recovery. I take two fish oil pills and a B-complex pill over a glass of water.

Eat something. This is difficult sometimes, I know it. Even if it’s just a handful of sunflower seeds (with water), replenishing your system with good fats and protein will prevent malnutrition and help rid water weight (sunflower seeds have very little carbohydrates).

Get some rest. If you have trouble sleeping, take a melatonin pill. Melatonin is a natural chemical in your brain that triggers feelings of wellbeing and restfulness. You can get an inexpensive bottle of melatonin sleeping pills at your local drugstore.

Skincare: Best Skin Brightening Solutions

I admit to being obsessed with purchasing brightening and clarifying skin care products. At worst, my complexion is dull with random discolorations from prior zits (my skin scars easily). Therefore, I’ve shopped the market for all sorts of skincare products that promise to brighten, soften, and clarify your skin. These are the best that I’ve found! Yes, I have used all of these and am here to report to you only the best:

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My Evening Skincare Routine

A few have inquired about my skincare regimen and the products I use on my skin. Here goes!

To describe the calamity that is my skin, it is combo-oily with a tendency to shine and break out on random occassions. Breakouts leave discolorations, so at its worst my skin lacks that glowing, radiant look. This is the routine that I use in the evenings to beautify my skin before getting that much-needed beauty sleep! On top of a healthy diet, of course.

Cleansing

First, I drink a tall glass of water and take an omega-3 pill. Drinking water throughout the day will purify your skin and body of dulling toxins. Omega-3 moisturizes skin from the inside. In front of my mirror, I cleanse away my makeup using a gel cleanser. My favorite is Lancôme’s Gel Clarte Cleanser. It leaves my skin clear and smelling fresh. Every once in a while I will use St. Ives Apricot Scrub for a more deep scrubbing clean. After I’ve washed my face, I apply a toner such as Lancôme’s Bright Expert Toner using a cotton ball. This lifts away anything that cleansing missed and helps to brighten my skin.

In the shower I like to do a brightening mask; Clinique’s 15 Minute Facial, as the rest of the Clinique’s Turnaround line, has done wonders for my complexion.

Tip: If you haven’t been wearing makeup, a great, gentle way to wash your face is to gently buff your skin with a very warm washcloth. This opens up your pores and allows them to breathe while cleaning your skin. Afterward, pat your face with a cold washcloth to tighten your pores for a perky complexion.

Pampering

To prevent undereye bags and dark circles, I like to treat my eyes to a rich eye cream. Currently I dab Clinique’s All About Eyes cream around my eyes. By tomorrow morning, the bags are gone. Next, I slather on a brightening serum to baby my complexion. Clarins Bright Plus Serum is amazing: it makes my skin look and feel flawless. To finish off my PM beauty routine, I apply Smith’s Rosebud Salve to my eyelashes and lips to condition my lashes and soften my lips.

Spritz some lavender oil on my pillow and say my prayers and I’m set for the night!

Voila! New layout; what do you think? I’m still adding some things.

Dilemma: Beat the Winter Blues

Call it early, but I’m preparing myself for cooler weather woes such as flaky skin, lackluster hair, and seasonal depression. We could all benefit I’m sure from some prevention methods as well as a few techniques to stay looking - and feeling - fabulous throughout the cold weather season.

Supplements

We often make the mistake of primping only our outside, when beauty really comes from the inside out. That’s where a sensible diet and beauty supplements come into play.

Fish oil capsules, taken daily, will keep your skin, hair, and nails moisturized and glowing radiantly as well as improve your mood. The essential fatty acids in these pills also aid in accelerating weight loss. Perfect, I’d say, when our bodies are taking a weather beating and we’re prone to holiday binging.

B-complex vitamins are universally known to alleviate depression, provide energy, and enhance energy metabolism (and weight loss).

Water intake is often neglected when all we’re craving is hot cocoa or those Starbucks Pumpkin Spice cappuccinos. However, h2o remains crucial to flushing our bodies of dulling impurities and keeping us well-hydrated.

Moisturizers and Conditioners

When we’re set on supplement intake, the next step is to coat our outside with lavish moisturizers and conditioners for hair and skin.

Everyone has their staple facial and body creams (and there are so many to choose from), so I’ll share mine:

Simply put, Origins A Perfect World Body Cream, $30 with white tea is my favorite body cream. It is immensely moisturizing and smells wonderful.

Dry skin will benefit from a richer, creamy facial moisturizer. These are normally found in jars (Cetaphil, $13) but I like the convenience of a pump (Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion with pump, $23). Clinique’s version works with your skin’s chemisty to deliver the perfect amount of moisture, and Cetaphil is a long time cult favorite.

Oily skin benefits most from a serum or gel moisturizer which will not feel too heavy on the skin. Chanel makes an amazing serum (Chanel Precision Hydramax+ Serum, $72) that smells like a cocktail and moisturizes luxuriously, then there is Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel with pump, $23, which is suitable as well.

All hair types should reap the benefits of an olive-oil based shampoo and conditioner. This will leave your hair beautifully shiny and supple without weighing it down. Plus, if you planned on using your same hair care products year round, now would be a good time to give your hair a refreshment.

My favorite olive oil shampoo and conditioner are of a Dominican line: Nacidit Olive Oil Shampoo and Nacidit Olive Oil Conditioner. Upon using this, I fell in love. Fair-skinned gals will love the absence of dry hair and flyaways, and ethnic ladies like myself will adore their new bouncy, well-moisturized tresses.

Spa Services

For me, summer is the time of year to sport DIY manicures and pedis. Body fuzz also grows faster, making impromptu shaving sessions a must. However, it’s easier to lose yourself during the winter when the last thing you want to do is paint your nails or lose warm down comforter time shaving your legs late at night and early in the morning.

Spa treatments are not only relaxing, but when you want to stay looking your best during this lazy time of year, they’re a must. Lower leg waxing, mani/pedi’s, and full-body massages will be on my agenda on a monthly basis.

How To Whiten Teeth Naturally

Yesterday, the unthinkable happened to me. It’s every high-maintenanced girl’s nightmare: I accidentally left the house without makeup! Let me explain.

Some people consider it taboo for a woman to do her makeup on-the-go or in public. I consider it a necessity. Because I am chauffeured around everywhere I go (the elegant way of saying that public transportation - or my boyfriend - are my primary means of transit), this is a prime opportunity to do my makeup as I tend to wake up late and hurry out the door on most mornings. To my horror, when I reached in my bag yesterday morning in the car for my Lancome cheetah print makeup tote, it was MIA! Fortunately, there was stray lip gloss in my bag. It was my only resource. My bare eyes made me look tired the whole day, despite the fact that I was awake and cheerful for the most part.

I now contend that the bare minimum a girl could need on an occassion like this are lip gloss, eyeliner or mascara (which I WILL keep spares of in my purse from now on)…and pearly whites to distract attention away from dark circles.

Which brings to me to this fabulous, all-natural teeth whitening remedy.

How To Whiten Your Teeth Naturally

We will be using strawberries! Not only are they fabulous and tasty in smoothies, the malic acid in them helps to whiten your teeth. Combine one strawberry (crushed to a pulp) with a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and spread across your teeth with your finger or a clean toothbrush. Leave on for 5 minutes and then rinse well. Your teeth will be sparkling in no time.

NY-based Adina Carrel, DMD contends, “This is a fast, cheap way to brighten your smile. Be careful not to use this too often, though, as the acid could damage the enamel on your teeth.”

Loves it! Maintain your pearly whites with a white-enhancing toothpaste: GoSMILE Lemonade Smile Whitening Protection Fluoride Toothpaste. I love lemon flavored toothpastes!

Dilemma: PMS

Ahh, the luxuries of being female…including an all-inclusive monthly ticket to Pre-Menstrual Syndrome land! But wait, we didn’t sign up for this! Alas, it’s free. And we must go through with it.

But not without a fight. In addition to donning my incognito sunglasses, unruly hair, terry tube dresses, and flip flops for this special event, I’ve also got a survival kit to get me through the week.

Dilemma: Yucky skin
Solution: When our skin becomes an oil slick (and breeding ground for zits), it’s always helpful to have Clean & Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets at our disposal. They’re the perfect size to carry around in your pocket or handbag, and after a few blots your skin is shine-free. To keep the shine at bay, I love Burt’s Bees Complexion Mist for oily skin. It’s infused with all-natural mattifying ingredients including purified water, lemon & lime oil, and rosemary oil: perfect for clarifying yucky skin.

Dilemma: Bloat and discomfort
Solution: I have an array of Traditional Medicinals teas stockpiled in my cupboard. These aren’t your average teas; the herbal, organic formulas found in TM teas are excellent remedies for things like colds, stress, and even PMS symptoms. Traditional Medicinals PMS Tea is a perfect caffeine-free formula to alleviate bloat and soothe the body - much-needed relief!

Dilemma: Moodiness
Solution: This one doesn’t need an explanation. Pop some Vitamin B-Complex pills (for stress and anxiety), take a warm bath, drink some aforementioned tea – spiked with a teaspoon of whiskey if we’re that bad – and relax. Now is not the time to lash out on our boyfriend, mom, or coworker! We’re not in any position to be saying things that we don’t mean.

Chill, girlfriends! We’ll get through this.

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