Tag: Susan Merrick

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Makeup Free Month Day 27: bad skin day and ingredients

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Bad skin today. A combination of not enough sleep (thanks to excited children who decide they only need a few hours when on holiday!), red wine last night (my excitement when on holiday) and the time in my cycle.

It’s a day when I would normally want makeup. So I feel like this is a good time to look more at the ingredients of the makeup I’ve been using for years…. Maybe to put me off a bit 😉

To do this I thought I could pop into a shop and look at the labels. Hmm not so easy. The boxes often don’t have ingredients on, and many bottles/containers currently seem to hold their ingredient list on the inside of there labels. Which you wouldn’t normally peel off until you had bought the product!

So… It seems easier to use the good old internet for the ingredient lists for each type of cosmetic product. However as I started to search and see the huge long lists of ingredients I realised that I’d not only potentially bore you all, but I was just replicating what we have available already! So here is a very thorough website where you can check not only the ingredients of your specific product but it also has it’s own ‘safety’ guide/rating.

I will start with their list of foundations, and if you click on one of them you can see what is in it.

http://cosdna.com/eng/product.php?q=Foundation

I have asked another company specialising in homemade products to send me an ingredient list for their products. When I get it I will share it with you so we can do a comparison.

Ok. Off for water and sleep now- hopefully improving my skin for work tomorrow!

If you haven’t yet seen my Street Art video – Skin- please take a peek!

If you would like to donate to Macmillan Cancer Support please do so via my Just giving page or via text as described below. xxxxxx http://www.justgiving.com/Susan-Merrick

or text MMFM 50 £1 to 70070

 

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Makeup Free Month Day 26: Some recommendations and a plan!

 

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Yesterday I asked about Suncream and gained a couple of great recommendations for organic/natural products.

Mineral Sunscreens

organic sun protection

Another friend recommended renskincare.com for general skincare but I couldn’t find a sun cream product. I want to add too that I haven’t personally tried any if these products or companies, they are recommendations from others 🙂

I’ve just realised (yes a bit slow…) that I only have six days left of my challenge. I want to get some skin products to try before I finish! However, if I don’t in happy to get them after and report back here with what I find.

I’m not going to continue to blog each day once my make up free month is over. But I do want to continue to talk about both my art alongside issues such as skin/health/chemicals etc. My art journey has taken such an exciting turn in the last year that I’d like to start talking about it more here. Perhaps I can manage a blog post every few days??? Don’t hold me to that though!

I’ve also decided that I’m going to produce another piece of makeup art with my left over old makeup. Rather than just throw it in the landfill I will use up my makeup in a piece of art that I will describe and photograph it here. I will then do my best to recycle the left over bottles/packages!

Right, best get planning!

If you haven’t yet seen my Street Art video – Skin- please take a peek!

If you would like to donate to Macmillan Cancer Support please do so via my Just giving page or via text as described below. xxxxxx http%

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Makeup Free Month Day 25: Success and Suncream

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I’m reading a book at the moment about women, business, goal setting, success etc. Some of it I have to take with a pinch of salt. Having had my very british upbringing it’s enthusiasm makes me giggle/raise my eyebrows at times. But some of the tips are good old common sense that are easy things to forget/good habits to break/make. However one line just jumped out at me!

“Looking and feeling great can have a direct impact on your earning potential. Women who are well groomed earn more, it’s a fact.” P167 “Get Rich, Lucky Bitch” Denise Duffield-Thomas

So…. (Some?) people really believe this. She does go on to say thag it’s about confidence. And this I definitely see as true. But ‘well groomed’? And what does this mean?

I know my husband has commented that he rarely sees unshaven, stubbly faces in the men at higher levels where he works. That being well groomed is certainly part of looking/being or being seen to ‘look’ professional. So for women, what does this include? Hair and Clothing as with men… And makeup? I’m aware it often includes piercings and tattoos too. And weight?

I guess this really depends on what your work is, the culture of your workplace or profession. Can your confidence outweigh your appearance? I’d love to read more about this. Any links would be greatly appreciated!

On a personal note today we had some lovely sunshine and wind here on the coast. My freckles are coming out and my face feels a little overcooked! Which leads me to another product issue. Sun Cream! Who uses it? Who doesn’t? I have friends who do and don’t. Being a freckle-some redhead I’ve always been told to wear it. And when I haven’t I’ve occasionally burnt. Not something pleasant, it’s very painful and potentially according to some research increases my chance of skin cancer.

Application of sun cream however, depending what product you use, means using chemicals, and some other debates I’ve heard include the potential harm to your skin from using this too! Argh!! Bloody product debates. It’s easy to be sceptical about research, when often it’s done or funded by the product companies or their alternatives. But I know I DO burn, and I don’t want to, and I like being outside in the summer and having some sunshine. I guess I could wear long sleeves and hats as I often suggest my children do. But I love my dresses/shorts …. Even if it does often mean blinding people with the reflection of my bright white legs 😉

So… No answer, more questions and a slightly pink face today. Maybe I can see if those who produce gentle or homemade makeup also do some sun protection products or advice. Or some kind soul who reads this may respond…… Please?

Night night x

If you haven’t yet seen my Street Art video – Skin- please take a peek!

If you would like to donate to Macmillan Cancer Support please do so via my Just giving page or via text as described below. xxxxxx http://www.justgiving.com/Susan-Merrick

or text MMFM 50 £1 to 70070