Making your own cosmetics, it seems as though everyone is at it. The internet is swarming with DIY recipes and websites with complete instructions on how to make creams and shampoos. Het Parool asked me for my thoughts on this subject. Can it do any harm to make your own cream, lip balm or scrub?
“If you really want to know the age of a woman, look at her hands, don’t look at her face. The face may trick you, but the hands never do.”
That melancholy virus always takes a hold of me just before the New Year. It is such a cliché phrase, but how time flies! When I was telling a journalist recently that I have four children, I suddenly realised that they aren’t so little anymore. My oldest is at secondary school now and regularly borrows my shoes…which I’m not always so happy about!
My blog is not so young anymore either: I wrote my first one 6 years ago in 2009. Even though I have the impression that, over the last few years, people are becoming more and more conscious about their choice of skincare products, there is still a lot of work to be done in ridding the world of all these cosmetics myths. As I believe that I will one day succeed, I would like to share with you an interview I gave for Gezond-nu, about myths and facts in the cosmetics world.
It is already a few years ago that I met Marianne van der Gaag and Freek Koster of Touché Models. We started talking about our work as well as other things and we just clicked. It happens sometimes with people! Although, at the time, we didn’t have any concrete ideas, we did agree that, at some point, we would like to do something together. We kept in contact and now, at long last, it has happened. Yesterday was the launch of Freek and Mariannes Modelhouse, and I am thrilled, in my expert capacity, to be able to make a blog or vlog there each week.
No other subject within skincare causes so much confusion as the application of sun cream. Inaccurate reports on the internet and in the papers, false product claims and unfounded regulations have led to us all going about it in the wrong way! And as a result of this; lying on our beach towel in the sun probably causes more damage than if we’d put on no sun cream at all. To put it simply, we spend too much time in the sun because we think we are protected, which we are not. Therefore giving us a false sense of security!
Titanium dioxide is not only found in sun creams, but also in make-up, toothpaste, and even food. We take in a vast amount of titanium dioxide through products such as chewing gum, ice-cream and marshmallows…Is that actually safe though?
Vitamin E miracle or marketing?
It is no longer a great secret that anti-oxidants are an essential part of my skincare products. Everybody is, of course, familiar with Vitamin C, which I have written about previously in my blog. But another heaven sent gift is Vitamin E. Quite some miracles are being attributed to Vitamin E cream, such as the disappearance of scars, just as snow melts in the sun. But is this really the case, or is it mainly intended to entice us into buying all those expensive pots? Time for the truth…
Salicylic Acid; sister of the already discussed Glycolic Acid, is a Beta Hydroxy Acid (BHA) and is obtained from the bark of the Willow tree. Some time ago I wrote a blog about the effects of Glycolic Acid on the skin. As with Glycolic Acid, numerous independent scientific investigations have been carried out proving the effectiveness of this acid.
Redness, swelling, spots, itching and a burning sensation on the skin, these are just some symptoms of a sun allergy. Often people think they have a sun allergy, but a true sun allergy is relatively uncommon.
I’ve written endless blogs about sun protection cream. Even so, I still receive questions on a daily basis, asking advice on the best way to use sun protection products. A frequently asked question is whether you should apply it over the top of, or simply underneath, your day cream. Today this “burning” question will be answered!