Ant in your pants? It could be itchy skin!

Unless you are truly tough (or the owner of lots of fleece or flannel shirts), you probably have been toying with turning on your home's heat. (Maybe you already gave in to temptation some cold morning.) If you haven't turned that dial yet, you soon will as November chilly winds start blowing. And you know what that means (besides the smell of burning dust in your ducts and a heating bill that will cross your eyes)...dry skin.

As the moisture leaves your epidermis, it causes little cracks and eventually you start getting itchy. Besides keeping a long-handled back scratcher beside your bed and favorite chair (find one here www.backscratcherworld.com) what can you do about that itch?
Here's a few tips:
Buy a humidifier: Either go for a whole-house one (expensive, but it helps your whole family) or at least one by your bedside that will run quietly for eight-hours or more. Most importantly, buy one that is highly-rated for being mold resistant. A great selection can be found at www.allergybuyersclub.com.
Keep fats in your diet: Smart fats with omega-3 oils like those in walnuts, salmon, sardines, soy, flax and eggs can help keep you hydrated.
Water yourself like a thirsty plant: Oils and creams can't produce moisture, only help it stick around. Drink water constantly. It's not only good for your moisture levels, but helps flush toxins out of your body and every part of you benefits from that.
Stop parboiling yourself: Cut down on those great-feeling-but-tough-on-your skin steamy showers and long hot baths. You are stripping your skin of oils each time. Make the water less hot and the showers or baths shorter. Use soap only on the truly necessary areas and just warm water wash the others. If you are a bath lover, soak a few minutes before you add bath oil to the water. You need some moisture to be absorbed before you seal off your pores.
Use moisturizing soap: ZUM's Dragon's Blood is a perfect choice. It breathes life into scaly skin with the restorative resin of the Dracaena tree,and infused olive, coconut, palm and castor oils, in a goat's milk base. With pure essential oils, it even smells earthy and sweet while it's slaking your dry skin's thirst. (Yes, we sell it at Believe.)
Slather yourself with moisturizer: Don't let more than a few minutes pass after that bath or shower before you fill all those open pores with delightful moisture. For your body or face, we recommend ZUM Organic Body Lotion with essential oils.
Exfoliate weekly: Get rid of the little pieces of skin (often invisible) that keep any moisturizer you apply from soaking into your skin. Slough it off with Zum Sea Salt Soap. Invest in a long-handled loofah to scrub your back (just make sure to dry it thoroughly between uses.)
Take menopause into account: If you're a “woman of a certain age,”menopause may be part of your dryness problem. As estrogen diminishes and the ratio of hormones change, not only does your body's oil production slow down, so does its ability to retain moisture. (You'll probably see this first on your elbows or the T-zone of your face—but it may show up on your legs, scalp and nails.) Talk to your doctor about HRT therapy if the problem gets bad or consider natural alternatives like adding Black Cohosh to your diet.
Don't forget the sunscreen: Just because its getting colder and the sky looks overcast, don't think those harmful rays went away. Put an ounce of broad spectrum sunblock SPF 15 or higher on all exposed skin.
Start now and get a jump on those winter winds. You'll be able to face the season silky, smooth and much-less itchy (and we all need a little more comfort.) See you soon at Believe.

Say Goodbye to Summer Hair & Skin

Whoosh! Hear that sound? That is summer flying by (does it get shorter every year or just seem that way?) The start of classes is right around the corner, parents are rushing everywhere to get their kids off to school (or—gasp--college) and the lazy days of beach-going and sun-tanning are soon to be behind us...But, even in the midst of this seasonal insanity, you can start getting your hair and skin ready for autumn.

Here's a few hints and tips to try until you can get in to see us at Believe for a good cut, a deep conditioning treatment, some new (not bleached out) color and some fabulous products to hydrate your skin:

Remove the buildup: Between sweat, salt and all the conditioning creams gels, pastes and waxes you've been using to keep your hair from turning into summer straw, your hair cuticle is filled to the brim with products—making it less receptive to even welcome additions. Use this quick at-home recipe to clear out the buildup and get your hair ready for some much-needed moisture: Mix ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar with a quart of distilled water and one tablespoon of nettles or comfrey root (grab it from your garden or a health food store.) Boil the herbs and water together and let them steep for 20 minutes. Cool, strain out the herbs, and mix in the vinegar. Pour it through your hair, let it work for a couple of minutes and then rinse it out. (By the way, if you use this same infusion—in larger quantities—in your bath, you can take the sting out of late-season sunburn and make it turn brown by the next day.)  Then schedule a deep conditioning treatment with us and get our recommendations of what to use to start replacing some of your hair's vital moisture with products like  AESTELANCE PROTEIN & MUD OR AGADIR MOISTURE MASK (smells delicious) and SHINE TREATMENT VIALS that we carry at Believe.

Exfoliate summer scales: Your skin has its own summer version of scaly skin (tanning and peeling create a million little flakes you can't see, but certainly feel in the form of constantly itchy skin.) Use a natural loofah to scrub your skin down every shower and when you have a moment to yourself, put a handful of leftover nuts or seeds (pumpkin or sunflower) along with fresh herbs (like lavender or rosemary) into a clean coffee grinder. Grind till they are a coarse meal. Pour ¼ cup of the meal into a bowl, mix with enough yogurt to make a paste, and rub all over your body. Dry skin left from the summer sun will scrub right off. Once you are smooth as silk, keep it that way with GOAT'S MILK AND ESSENTIAL OILS ZUM BODY LOTION, a fabulous product we have here at Believe. 

(Btw, Goat's milk is very similar to our own skin's PH, so it works awesomely with our bodies.)

Emergency hair conditioner: If you cram in that last-minute day at the beach and your hair tells the tale, use this emergency conditioner until you can get in to see us at Believe for that deep conditioning treatment your hair really needs: Pour a shot of vodka and a few drops of any essential oil, a half of a ripe avocado and some mayonnaise into a blender. Mix it together, slather on your hair, wait 20 minutes and rinse. Voila! Shiny, healthier hair (but this is only a stop-gap measure. Your scalp and hair cuticle need a serious assessment and long-lasting products. We've got both at Believe.)

Way too soon the cool winds of autumn will come along, ready to play havoc with your hair and skin (followed closely by that time when we cover all exposed part with mufflers and scarves and hide our much-abused hair under scratchy hats, compounding the damage.) Call us for an appointment at Believe, now! Make the time to give your hair and skin the deep conditioning, moisturizing, cut and color you need to face the changing seasons looking and feeling your best. 

Enjoy the last days of summer and we hope to see you soon at Believe.