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5 Tips To Winter Proof Your Skin

Posted on December 16, 2022 by Melanie Brown

Have you noticed how harsh the winter weather is? đŸ€”
It has been bitterly cold and this in turn can have an adverse effect on your skin.
Here are 5 tips which are going to help you to protect your skin during the winter months:
1. Moisturise đŸ’†â€â™€ïž
Ensure that you are moisturizing your skin daily. Twice a day will help your skin to become perfectly hydrated. Use lotions, creams or body butters with rich skin loving ingredients such as shea butter, mango butter and cocoa butter. These ingredients are rich with vitamins which protect and revitalise your skin. If you have sensitive skin, be sure to avoid the moisturizers which have fragrance. In addition, when you apply the moisturizer, apply it to damp skin as this locks in the moisture.
2. Limit the use of hot water 💩
Avoid using hot water as this dries out the skin. The best water to use is lukewarm water.
3. Humidify
As soon as it gets cold, we tend to crank up the heat and this dries out the moisture in the air. This has a knock on effect on your skin. Try using a humidifier which introduces moisture to the air.
4. Protect you skin from the sun 🌞
The winter sun can be the most dangerous sun. Remember to protect your skin with the use of sunscreen.
5. Protect your skin from the wind 🌬
Cover your face from the bitter wind and use a lip balm to prevent your lips cracking and drying out.
 
Mel's Little Luxuries has a beautiful whipped body butter which is fabulous for hydrating and moisturizing the skin. It is made with shea butter which is renowned for being packed with antioxidants which fight off the free radicals which damage the skin. It leaves your skin looking radiant and feeling soft. It is a gorgeous pamper treat. Check the link here to find out more:

Posted in 5 tips to winter proof your skin, antioxidant, body butter, free radicals, humidifier, hydrate, limit hot water, lip balm, lukewarm water, moisturise, protect the skin, sun protection, sunscreen, wind protection

5 Secret Steps To Glowing Skin!

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Melanie Brown

5 Secret Steps To Glowing Skin!

Posted by Mel's Little Luxuries on Tuesday, 15 December 2015

Posted in Aluminé, Anti-Aging, Beauty, drink water, Flawless Skin, hydrates, Hydration, Moisturise, Peter Lamas, Skin, skin care, Skin Care Basics, SPF, Sun Protection, Sunscreen, Vegan

Don't Forget The Sunscreen!

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Melanie Brown

I don’t mean to be a nag but I have to write this blog again.

I am on holiday and it’s roasting hot. Every day I cover the children with sunscreen. As soon as they jump out of the pool I put it on them again. When they walk along the beach, they have a massive cap or sun hat to ensure that they do not get burnt.

However, my husband is a totally different story.

The children are always trying to persuade him to put it on but he won’t.  Why? I have no idea. Today he got so sunburnt that one of my children commented that he looked like one of the red faced villains from the film, ‘The X Men – First Class’!

As I looked around today, I noticed lots of people relaxing on their sunbeds, but they were so brown from having been out in the sun the whole day.

This is pretty worrying. We have all heard over the years the risks of over exposure to the sun. So just why aren’t we being more careful about how we treat our skin?

Well, here are 5 reasons why we need to look after our skin in the sun by using sunscreen:-

  1. Sunscreen decreases the risk of developing skin cancer.
  2. If used before going outside and exposing the skin to the sun, sunscreen can help with keeping the skin looking young. The number one cause of premature aging to the face is over exposure to UV rays.
  3. Sunscreen keeps your tone even and prevents facial brown spots and skin discoloration
  4. It protects the skin from sunburn
  5. The ozone layer is a sun shield for the earth which absorbs harmful UVB rays. This layer is depleting and means that the body is more vulnerable to exposure from the sun.

So these are my simple reasons why I ask that you all please consider wearing sunscreen. And that includes you Adrian! (My beloved husband).

Posted in skin care, Sun Protection, Sunscreen, UVB

What Sun Protection Do I Use?

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Melanie Brown

I have to say I really do get confused with which sun protection to use for my children. It also doesn't help when you aren't getting accurate recommendations on what's the best product to use. If you've been listening to today’s news, you've probably heard about two well-known brands of sun protection products not doing their job. This is really quite dangerous as customers are left exposed to harmful sun rays which can lead to permanent skin damage.  

During Easter, I went on holiday with my children. I have an obsession about protecting their skin with the right products, so I spent a great deal of time covering them from head to toe. They didn't like it one little bit and thought it was hilarious as I chased them first around the apartment to put it on, and then again around the swimming pool each time they got out.

However, this year they had a miserable time with the sun and in particular my eldest as she was burnt. She spent a lot of time in the pool and when she did come out, I reapplied a lot of “water resistant” sun cream with an “SPF of 30”. It made me wonder if this sale description was really true when she started showing signs of redness on her face.

I think my whole lesson from this experience was before you buy any sun protection product, take a serious look at the quality of the ingredients.  SPF indicates protection from UVB rays and not UVA, however both kinds of ray are damaging to the skin.   There really needs to be a UVA blocker in products combined with UVB ingredients to prevent sunburn.

Look for a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher, with some combination of UVA-screening ingredients and hopefully you will enjoy your holiday, sunburn free!

Always ask your GP or a good pharmacist for their recommendations.

Posted in SPF, Sun Protection, Sunscreen, UVA, UVB

How effective is sun block?

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Melanie Brown

Recently I went on a trip with my children and went full armed with sun protection. It was for sensitive skin and it had an SPF of 50+. I plastered the kids from head to toe with it as I was determined that they would not be burnt. They spent an incredible amount of time in the pool but I still reapplied the product to them all. Imagine my surprise when my eldest caught the sun on her face and my second daughter got irritation on her forearm. How could this be? I had spent a fortune to make sure that they were properly protected from sun burn. Boy was I disappointed! So my question is, does sunscreen/sun block really work? After my experience I have come up with the following 7 tips to ensure that we can all have a happy holiday free from sunburn:

  1. Don’t be over confident with sunscreen with a high SPF. Research has illustrated that sunscreen that is at least SPF 15, blocks 93 percent of UVB rays. SPF 30 only provides an extra four percent protection—the difference isn't as huge as you'd think, so don't be overconfident in your number.
  2. Stay away from sunscreen containing vitamin A. Whilst this is ok for diets, it is not good on the skin as it has been found to increase the risk of cancer.
  3. Avoid sunscreens that are said to contain parabens. These have been found to be detrimental to skin care.
  4. Look for sunscreens which contain physical sun blockers in particular zinc oxide and titanium dioxide which are safe to use. They create a physical barrier between the skin and the sun’s harmful rays
  5. Try to use a sunscreen without fragrance as this can cause skin irritation
  6. Quite simply you can say out of the sun during the peak hours between 11am to 4pm. Stay in the shade and wear long sleeves and sunglasses to protect the eyes.
  7. Always reapply sunscreen after you or the children have come out of the pool. Although the label on the bottle says that the product is “waterproof” it will easily wash off.

Follow these tips and you will be sure to have a fabulous holiday!

Posted in Sunscreen