Vintage Skin Care Tips

Most vintage skin care techniques have been forgotten unless you specifically search for them on the Internet. A product that is a personal favourite of mine that not many people turn to these days is cold cream. But before I start to describe the uses of this product, I need to talk about how important moisturiser is to a skin care routine. If you have bad skin (which you shouldn't been ashamed of because it happens to everyone at some point in their lives) the worst thing you can do, in my personal opinion, is to try to dry your spots out. I can understand how you'd think it would be the opposite, because in some cases spots are caused by dirt and excess grease, but if you start using products like harsh facial exfoliants that overly dry out your skin, your face is going to naturally produce more oils to fix it, and this, guess what? Creates more spots. That's why after you've cleansed your face, morning AND night (especially night, because skin cells repair themselves while you sleep), you should always moisturise. Eventually, when your skin gets used to regular moisturising (be patient!) it stops producing so much oil. Including moisturiser in your skincare routine is what most celebrity make up artists recommend. As I've stated in the Marilyn Monroe make up post, it also helps to create a nice base for your foundation in the morning.
You don't have to buy a particularly expensive moisturiser either. According to the Burlesque star, Dita Von Teese (who has skin like Snow White!) her dermatologist told her that all moisturisers do the same thing,  you just need a basic one.

Okay, back to cold cream. It's a very, very old concept. And it's what beauties like Lana Turner used. She had famously flawless skin. Cold cream looks like a moisturiser-mousse type thing, and it's named so because once you've put it on your face it stays feeling cold. You can get a lovely, rose-scented one from Boots from their traditional skin care line that absolutely saved me during my first year at university. It's quick and easy to use- all you need is a face flannel and warm water. It even does a nice job of removing your make up. You apply a fair amount on to your face and rub it in (it'll feel a bit weird at first because it's like applying moisturiser over the top of your make up). Obviously, try not to get it in your eyes. Leave the cream to sink it for a couple of minutes. Then soak a flannel in warm water and wash the cream off your face. Because you're rubbing with the flannel, you're also exfoliating your skin, which is always good for cell reproduction. Just be gentle or you'll irritate your face instead of helping it. Once you've washed off all the cream, your face should feel clean because your make up and impurities are removed, but also really soft due to the moisturising properties in the cream. And that's it. One more tip is to leave your face ever so slightly damp after you've washed it, because moisturiser soaks into wet skin better.

If you don't want to go out and buy a cold cream there are alternatives. As I mentioned before, Lana Turner loved to use the cold cream technique and the product she swore by was Nivea Creme, the original purpose of which was to use as a cold creme. I've tried it and it works just as well, your skins feels and smells lovely afterwards. You can buy a massive tub of Nivea for £2-3, but if you do make sure it says on the label beneath that it's produced in Germany, as the Mexican version has petroleum in, which clogs up pores.

Lots of Love,
Jessicat X