Know your Skin Type
The first step towards beautiful skin is working out what your skin type is. This is necessary so that you can work out how to care for your skin, and what products you should use. Below are the features of the 5 main skin types which you can compare to your own skin type. Once you have decided what type your skin is you can find out what the best way is to look after your skin.
Which of these do you think is the closest match to your skin?
Normal Skin Type
Normal skin does not feel dry or oily.
Pores are visible but not large or clogged.
After a wash it feels smooth and comfortable.
At midday it still looks fresh and clean.
Only occasionally break out in spots.
Caring for Normal Skin Type:
To care for normal skin you should start with a gentle foaming facial wash. Massaging it into your face will give you a rosy complexion. Cool your skin with a refreshing toner. to finish dot moisturiser onto your skin and massage it with your fingers in light upward strokes.
Dry Skin Type
Dry skin has a thin and papery texture.
It feels dry to touch.
The pores are very fine.
After a wash it feels tight, as though it is too small for the face.
By midday flaky patches appear.
Hardly ever break out in spots.
Caring for Dry Skin Type:
For dry skin use a creamy cleanser to melt away dirt. Leave it on your skin before sweeping it away with cotton wool. Splash cold water onto your face to clean and refresh your skin. Use a thick cream moisturiser to seal in as much moisture as possible.
Oily Skin Type
Oily skin feels very greasy.
The texture is often very thick and coarse.
There are large, visible pores.
After a wash it feels fine.
By midday it looks shiny.
Often break out in spots.
Caring for Oily Skin Type:
To care for oily skin you should start with a gentle, foaming facial wash. This will remove dirt and oil without stripping away moisture. Soak cotton wool in a gentle astringent lotion and sweep it over your skin to refresh and cool it. Even oily skin needs a moisturiser, but chose a light, watery fluid; this will be enough for your skin. Allow the moisturiser to sink in and then absorb the excess with a tissue to prevent shine.
Combination Skin Type
Combination skin is normal with a few dry patches and a few oily patches.
Dryness is usually on the cheeks.
Oiliness is usually on the T-zone.
After a wash some areas feel dry and some smooth.
By the midday the T-zone is shiny.
Often break out in spots in the T-zone.
Most women have combination skin.
Caring for Combination Skin Type:
If you have combination skin use a foaming facial wash in the mornings to cleanse your skin. This will keep the oily areas clean to prevent blackheads. In the evening use a cream cleanser to soothe your dry areas. This will keep a balance between excess dryness and excess oiliness. Use a strong astringent for your oily areas and a mild skin freshener for the dry areas. This is not an expensive option, as you will only need a little of each. Use moisturiser on your whole face, but make sure you concentrate on your drier areas.
Sensitive Skin Type
Sensitive skin can be easily irritated.
Typical reactions are itching, burning, chafing and stinging.
After a wash a wash it feels dry and itchy in places.
By midday there are flaky patches and some redness.
Occasionally break out in spots.
Caring for Sensitive Skin Type:
If you have sensitive skin do not use facial washes or soap; instead use a light, hypoallergenic cleansing lotion. Use a moisturiser to strengthen your skin and provide a barrier against irritants. Make sure you use an unperfumed moisturiser so as not to irritate your skin.

Hope is the Thing with Feathers
By: Emily Dickinson

“Hope” is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea,
Yet never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

“Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.”
~William E. Channing~
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“It is surmounting difficulties that makes heroes.”
~Louis Kossuth~
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~Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.~
~Bernice Johnson Reagon~
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“Men take only their needs into consideration, never their abilities.”
~Napoleon Bonaparte~
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“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.”
~C. Malesherbes~
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“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
~Dale Carnegie~

Thoughts on Life:

“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.”

~ Groucho Marx

“I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker. ”

~ Helen Keller

“Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day is all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterdays.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.”

~ Mother Teresa

Allow Your Own Inner Light to Guide You
There comes a time when you must stand alone.

You must feel confident enough within yourself to follow your own dreams.

You must be willing to make sacrifices.

You must be capable of changing and rearranging your priorities so that your final goal can be achieved.

Sometimes, familiarity and comfort need to be challenged.

There are times when you must take a few extra chances and create your own realities.

Be strong enough to at least try to make your life better.

Be confident enough that you won’t settle for a compromise just to get by.

Appreciate yourself by allowing yourself the opportunities to grow, develop, and find your true sense of purpose in this life.

Don’t stand in someone else’s shadow when it’s your sunlight that should lead the way.