Oats skincare
Oats in Your Skincare: What Does It Do and DIY Tips

In my previous blog I promised to bring you some Oats Do-it-yourself tips. Oatmeal contains lots of different active properties, making it very versatile. You’ll discover this if you search the internet; oatmeal is used for treating athlete’s foot, chicken pox, insect bites, itching, eczema, dry skin, allergic reactions, ichthyosis, sun burn and skin irritation from using Vitamin A Acid (research).

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Oatmeal in Skincare
Oatmeal in Skincare

Kris Verburgh of ‘De Voedselzandloper’ can be proud of me: for years I have started my day with a bowl of porridge oats and almond milk. If I am to believe him, this will give me healthier veins, lower blood pressure, better metabolism and more energy. I do believe him, but I also enjoy it anyway. What many people don’t realise is that porridge oats have been used for centuries to treat skin problems. People suffering with eczema or burns would sit in a bath of colloidal oatmeal: the powder which is left after oats have been ground and refined. This relieves burning, itching and redness.

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tea_tree_oil
Tea Tree Oil

You see it in more and more cosmetic products: tea tree oil. It sounds lovely and green and natural, but is tea tree oil really such a fine ingredient? Today some information about this essential oil…

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skin secret
My Little Secret…

The question I mostly get asked in interviews is to solve the secret of which products I use on my skin. Maybe not so surprising but… I use my own products daily, morning and night. In the first place I developed them for myself; with ingredients I could tolerate, which had proven effectiveness and in the correct concentration. Having said that, I do also have a number of other products on my bathroom shelf as well as my own creams. And most of them cost very little! So I am a fan of the old fashioned tube of Vaseline, but another one in my collection, which I am very fond of, is 100% vegetable oil. A good quality vegetable oil is a must in your beauty regime, and I am going to tell you why…

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Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera

After an around the world trip with husband and kids (lucky me), I find myself sitting behind the computer once again. I couldn’t forget my work altogether on holiday though. Whether it was somewhere in the Jungle of Indonesia, the Australian Outback or a forgotten island in the South Pacific; there was nothing nicer than to quiz the locals about which ointments and plants they used to look after their skin. Just like Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I came home with piles of information but unfortunately, unlike Willy Wonka, I still haven’t found that “miracle remedy”! My children felt that they had. As after one of the locals had shown our children how to use the sap from the leaf of an Aloe Vera on a wound, no plant in the area was safe! If the Aloe Vera suddenly becomes an endangered plant I know nothing about it okay…

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Mineral Oil in Your Cosmetics. What You Really Need to Know!

There are still many myths about skincare! Not so long ago I heard a sales consultant trying to convince a customer that, if she still wanted to look good in twenty years time, she should buy a particular cosmetic product containing that special ingredient costing more than two hundred euros.

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Argan Oil: the New Wonder Drug?
Argan Oil: the New Wonder Drug?

Last Autumn, in need of some quality time with my husband, we escaped for a few days to Marrakech without the kids. After taking in the atmosphere of the medina: the snake charmers, the rattling of the donkey carts and the calls of the street vendors, we were ready for a day of relaxation and natural beauty.

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Natural Cosmetics
Natural Cosmetics. Safe or Unsafe?

It is really satisfying being able to read your own story in a magazine! It is about ‘natural cosmetics’ and can be found in the Estheticienne (a Dutch journal for professional beauty care and cosmetics). I have written before about natural cosmetics in my blog, but here the subject is more extensively covered.

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Cosmeceuticals
Complicated Words, but with a Meaning

Cosmeceuticals and derma pharmaceuticals. They look like jumbled words that don’t really mean much. Yet the terminologies are used daily by specialists.

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Green Tea
Green Tea

I really enjoy a cup of green tea. Apart from it being a tasty drink, this ingredient has an absolute proven track record in scientific literature! There is no doubt about the fact that green tea can have a positive effect on your skin…

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