Now as an Aesthetician, this floored me.  I couldn’t figure out why this was the belief from so many of you.  So I asked!

The thought pattern was that your melanin was your gift from God and you didn’t need any particular regimen for your skin.  Some of you had very strong opinions about this, to the point of hostility.

But all of a sudden Anti Aging is the new buzzword and now you feel that you should be using all of these products.

Now the big question is, are they the right products for your skin?  Do the companies that are showing up in your space really have your skin in mind or is it a cover up to get your money.

As an African American woman, it’s not like you’ve just gotten here.  So why all of a sudden are you being marketed too?  Is it because there are big bucks in appealing to your vanity or do they really have caring for your skin in mind?

Anti-Aging and Black Skin Care

Yes you do need a good skin care regimen for your beautiful black skin.  One of the things that happen when we “Mature” is that cell growth slows down.  So those beautiful new cells don’t rise to the surface as quickly as they used to.

And you need a regimen that will slough off the dead skin cells so that your skin can have a much more radiant and younger look.

A good exfoliation treatment keeps your skin looking youthful and it removes the dead skin cells that can cause uneven skin tone.  That’s right!  Dead skin cell build up can cause your skin to have a dull, ashy gray look.  And this is attributed to a lot of what we see as uneven skin tone.

As we “Mature” hormonal imbalance and medications can also attribute to the appearance of uneven skin tones.  If your skin is not taken care of properly, you will begin to experience that tired, worn, aged look.

Nutrition and Mature Black Skin

While topical products are typically what we run to first, it’s the lifestyle change in nutrition that will give you the greatest boost in how well your skin matures.

Remember, true beauty is from within and anything that’s applied on top of your skin is to enhance what ‘s coming to the surface from within.

The best black skin care regimen is to combine nutrition and a skin care product that’s made specifically for your beautiful black skin and make it a lifestyle change.

Dedicated To Your Beauty,

Juliette Samuel

Author/Esthetician/Publisher

To browse our complete catalog click —> Nyraju Skin Care

One of them was about a major cosmetics company’s “New Face”.  She’s feisty, fashionable and 90 years Old.  I love that about her and I got no problem with that.

The New Face is the result of the Baby Boomer’s refusing to go away.  The Baby Boomer population is actually where the money is for the next 12-15 years and the Beauty Industry wants its share.

But the entire report was showing women of a mature age and not one of them looked like me.

Okay, I’m a bit sensitive when it comes to beauty and fashion, especially when African American women are always left out of the equation when speaking of beauty.

So am I to believe that mature African American women are not beautiful or model worthy?

I hope not!  Yes beauty is in the eye of the beholder but as we live on this planet we still face that second-class status in beauty.  Unless you’re racially ambiguous, your beautiful black skin is still looked down upon.

Who Defines Your Beauty?

I asked this question once before and it seems as though I should ask it again.  Who defines your beauty?  I hope You define your beauty!  Because if you wait for your face to show up on a Magazine cover validating your beautiful black skin or your magnificent sense of style, you’ve got a long wait.

I remember when Essence Magazine used to open every year with the January Issue paying homage to Ageless Beauty in African American Women.  What happened?

Black women haven’t died off or loss their sense of style and grace.  These women were profiled from age 40 to 104.  There are plenty of African American women alive and in this age group.

And Maturing doesn’t mean wearing frumpy clothes or letting yourself go.  Ask Ernestine Sheppard!  She’s in her mid 70’s, she’s a body builder and she doesn’t look like a Dude.  She looks amazing, definitely worthy of a fashion magazine cover!

Expressing Myself!

Why my rant, you ask?  Because every little brown girl in the world gets subliminal to overt messages that she is not pretty or smart.

Will it ever stop? And if it doesn’t, what will you teach the young black girl that crosses your path?  Will you teach her to appreciate her beautiful black skin and her natural hair?

Or will you teach her that it’s alright for her to bleach her skin and add someone else’s hair to her head.

Whether you are a mature black woman or a maturing black woman, you will not always find support from the beauty industry.

If you do as you’ve always done, you will create, invent and support companies that are devoted to you and your beauty.

Annie Malone, Madame C.J. Walker, Johnson Publishing, Dudley and Bronner Bros., just to name a few, have established a foundation for you to follow.

Love your beautiful black skin and hair with boldness!

Dedicated To Your Beauty!

Juliette Samuel

Author/Esthetician/Publisher

To browse our complete catalog, click —–> Nyraju Skin Care

But when you’re in the beauty business as I am, I speak to a lot of you about your beautiful black skin, hair and image. I’ve learned so much from you!  When it comes to living beauty, you show me a greater inner source of beauty that you project outwardly.

So I’d like to share some of what I’ve learned from you as African American women about living your beauty.

African American Women Expressing Selfish Acts of Beauty

I’ve learned that you appreciate the idea of learning to perform what’s known as a selfish act of beauty.

For a lot of you that selfish act is taking leisurely time every night and winding down with your bath. It helps you to reduce the stress of the day and helps you to sleep much more soundly.

Another thing I’ve learned is that taking “down time” is important.  We forget!  Taking down time for me is being able to step away from the business, go to the beach and have those leisurely walks on the warm sand.   This enables me to think, clear my head, talk to myself without anyone knowing it and gather fresh ideas from the creator.

One of the greatest beauty regimens I experienced was just sitting in the sand and covering myself with it. Exfoliating myself with nature’s essence, which was the sand on the beach. What a wonderful experience.

As I got up and walked the shore between the sand and water and as the water came up and rinsed the sand off, it was the most sensual feeling to my skin. The sand had exfoliated all of the dead skin cells, naturally.   It left my skin feeling smooth as a baby’s bottom.

Beauty and Style of African American Women In Home Decor

Another way of finding down time that I’ve learned from a lot of you is that when you have an assortment of scented candles as most of us do, you can set up a space to reflect and communicate with your spiritual essence.

I have candles in all shapes and sizes, that I use for different moods. A good friend of mine uses a back room in her house for a relaxation environment in which candles play a major role. She lights her candles morning and night.  In the mornings she uses it as her prayer space and at night it’s used to wind down from her hectic days.

This space has grown in its beauty as she’s added color through pillows, area rugs and mirrors as well as color in the candles themselves.

Finally…

What you find in living your beauty, not only does it come with what your skin and hair look likes, but it’s also a part of your lifestyle.  It becomes a total package.

So whether you have a black skin and hair care regimen, take a tranquil bath or find solitude in a candle lit room, expressing your beauty and style as an African American woman can be extremely rewarding.

These are simple acts but do take time out and experience them for yourself.

Dedicated To Your Beauty!

Juliette Samuel

Author/Esthetician/Publisher

Nyraju Skin Care

Do the dark spots on your face and body have to be there forever?  I know throughout life you’ve seen article after article and tried product after product, trying to remove the dark spots.  A lot of what’s offered on the market doesn’t always work for African American Skin.

Hyperpigmentation is the result of an overproduction of melanin that’s either caused by the sun, hormones or inflammation.

Although the sun is accused as being the culprit for most causes of what is seen as hyperpigmentation, that’s not necessarily so in African American skin. Should you still run into the sun at high noon just because you have the great protection of melanin?  Absolutely not!

The disadvantage of your melanin, if you want to call it that, is that when you spend a lot of time in the sun, the damage that it causes doesn’t show up on your skin as quickly as with other races.

Hormonal changes and inflammation caused by acne, eczema, cuts and burns can also cause discoloration. Pimples, blackheads and incorrect removal of facial hair with tweezers will also cause hyperpigmentation to your skin.

Who Is Affected By Hyperpigmentation?

All skin types are prone to hyperpigmentation but it’s more common in darker skin because there’s more melanin.

What happens when your skin becomes hyperpigmented?  You experience discoloration that either looks dark black, brown spots appear or patches of dark spots appear.

How Is Hyperpigmentation Treated?

A good skin care regimen is the key to treating all skin challenges, but the traditional treatments have included hydroquinone.   Not so fast,  hydroquinone has been known to cause serious side effects in people.

Peptides are also being used.  Peptides contain amino acids that may be able
to lighten hyperpigmented skin. Peptides have been shown to be more potent than
hydroquinone.  But what’s in a Peptide?

Natural ingredients such as barberry, licorice, arbutin and kojic acid have been proven to lighten pigmented areas.  These ingredients are not as strong as a
hydroquinone but strong is not always better, especially for African American
skin.

Natural ingredients have been shown to offer strong results but through milder applications. Your skin is a natural element and welcomes natural ingredients to its aid when it comes to caring for it.

When you treat hyperpigmented skin with skin lighteners and bleaching creams, what you’re really doing is stopping the production of melanin, the very component of who you are.

Any ingredient whether it’s natural or not is used to suppress tyrosinase, which is the melanocyte that creates melanin.  Sounds scary, doesn’t it.

When it comes to treating dark spots or uneven skin tones, tread waters lightly when you choose a product and/or form of treatment.  All peels, products and prescriptions aren’t made equally when it comes to caring for your beautiful black skin.

Dedicated To Your Beauty

Juliette Samuel

Author/Esthetician/Publisher

To browse our complete catalog … Click —-> Nyraju Skin Care

The photo in this article is the perfect representation of personal style.  These beautiful black women photographed by Lorenzo Agius for O Magazine, give you an example of how personal style can be reflected in different personalities.

So since we’re here let’s talk about your personal style in fashion for a minute. I took a survey while doing a workshop on black skin care this week,  about personal style. And what we all learned from the results is that as women, especially African American women, personal style changes like the direction of the wind.

How African American Women Find Personal Style in Their Wardrobe

Typically the categories are, Dramatic, Romantic, Conservative/Classic and Natural.

What the survey showed with this group of ladies was that everyone felt that they were one of these types at least once or twice a week.

One woman even felt she could be all of them in the same day.

This was a fun and revealing exercise! Why? Because what we all learned was that none of us likes being put into one category.

Here’s how you can be all styles in one day:

Natural and classic would be wearing a pair of relaxed silk pants. You know the ones that have the somewhat wide leg and have that sensual flow as you move about. Let’s choose gray for the color. Natural fabric-silk, classic look-somewhat wide leg.

Romantic would bring in an off the shoulder soft silk tunic top that flows and moves every time you do with grace and ease. Let’s choose teal, orange or hot pink for its color. Allow your inner voice to tell you what’s hot and what’s not.

Dramatic is where your accessories work their magic. That to die for pair of earring that you couldn’t leave in the store when you saw them, can now take center stage, giving you that touch of drama needed to make your look pop.

African American Skin and Hair Care – Finding Your Personal Style

The same “Rules” often apply to skin and hair care for African American Women. You’re told what you should be and you quickly tell the world who you’re going to be.

One of the rules that must be part of your daily activity is a good black skin care regimen.

Your skin is like a blank canvas waiting for you to create your work of art with the make up that you apply.

But your skin must be in good condition in order for it to reflect  the work of a masterpiece.  So to cleanse, tone and moisturize on a daily basis is a must.

Natural and Classic for your beautiful black skin would be a day of wearing a good moisturizer and bronzer with a neutral lipstick. Light mascara and brown/bronze tone eye shadows.

Romantic would be wearing the same look of natural and classic but enhancing it with lip colors of pink, red, plums or sheer color gloss.

Dramatic is when you step completely outside of the “Rules” and your eye shadow becomes teal green with a navy blue eyeliner. Your make up is also a bit more pronounced and obvious in appearance. If not berry red, your lips will certainly be plum, brown and maybe even orange.

Finally …

The point to all of this is that as African American women, while there are certainly “Rules” that must be adhered too, you can step outside the box.  Those rules apply especially in your work environment,  but it doesn’t mean that you have to box yourself into a specific category when it comes to personal style.

You’re a creative being, now handle your business when it comes to creating and flaunting your personal style!

Dedicated To Your Beauty!

Juliette Samuel
Author/Esthetician/Publisher
Nyraju Skin Care

As quiet as it’s kept, people of color do suffer from sun damage and overexposure in the sun can definitely cause trauma to your skin. If you are a dark skinned person, you are one who is fortunate and blessed to have more melanin.

When you’re looking at skin on African Americans or people of color, you’ve got a variety of complexions.  So those that are fairer skinned, you’re going to see changes in your skin from the sun in ways that will present what’s technically found on Caucasian people as age spots.

But on African American skin, depending on your skin complexion, you will find age spots as well, especially with your hands and the left side of your face if you’re a driver.

If you drive a car you will find that the left side of your face is typically darker than the right side and for some reason the sun always manages to cast on that side of the body when you’re out in a car.

The reason a lot of people experience age spots is because your hands are exposed on steering wheels, especially on cars. That’s if you’re typically a fair skinned person.

If you range from the medium to darker side, you might see sunburn or definitely a darkening of the skin and there are those of you who actually get freckles. Freckles can show up on your complexion if you’re fair skinned and if you’re of a more brown hue of the complexion scale.

Those are considered forms of hyperpigmented skin. Most of you know hyperpigmentation as dark spots caused by a popped pimple. That is a hyperpigmented skin spot and acne is considered the same.

Nutrition and How It Helps in Skin Care

Nutrition plays an important part when it comes to acne. If you stop sodas, high greasy foods, a lot of sugars, eat a lot of green foods and drink more water, your system will internally begin to cleanse and eliminate a lot of those particular trauma-causing foods to the body. You’ll see a great difference in how your skin looks.

So don’t be so quick to run and grab a product for acne to use externally and if you do, it will help you if you use a nutrition guide with your eating habits so you can balance it out from within and without.

What Else Causes Hyperpigmentation?

Some of the other things that cause hyperpigmentation are birth control pills and prescription medication. You’re taking a product into your system and this becomes a part of your blood stream.

When you don’t know what the chemical composition of this prescribed medication is and how it affects your body, your blood stream starts showing you through the reaction of what your skin shows within a given mirror.

If you spray perfume on your skin that’s been exposed to the sun, you will experience sun trauma.

Most perfumes have a lot of alcohol in them and when you’ve been in the sun, and spray yourself with a perfume, it will traumatize the skin simply because the alcohol is hitting a part of your skin that’s been exposed to the sun for a while.

One of the simplest ways to deal with basic hyperpigmentation (uneven skin tone) is a good skin care regimen for black skin, that includes an exfoliation treatment.

This is a good way to assist your skin in returning to that youthful glow and that softness where your skin looks as though it’s dewy and moisturized.

That’s because you’ve taken those dead skin cells off of that top layer. Your skin can now breathe and it’s showing you that top layer that was lying dormant because of a simple process of exfoliation.

Not all hyperpigmentation is trauma. Trauma comes in when the medication sets in or you’ve picked through your face with tweezers and pulled the hair out the wrong way.

On the lighter scale, just not exfoliating your skin will have you looking as though your skin is uneven and a good cleansing and exfoliation will help to remedy that particular discomfort.

As with all skin care regimens, cleansing, toning and moisturizing, and exfoliating at least once a week will give your skin a very youthful and clean glow.

To eliminate a lot of what we know can cause hyperpigmentation at this time is just a matter of not bringing trauma to the skin.

In talking to nutritionists and physicians, what you eat has a lot to do the appearance of your skin.

So if you combine nutrition with a good skin care regimen you’ll be a lot more pleased with what you see staring back to at you in the mirror.  And hyperpigmentation will be less of a challenge to your ski

Dedicated To Your Beauty,

Juliette Samuel

Author/Esthetician/Publisher

To browse our complete catalog … click —–> Nyraju Skin Care

Genetics

Most of you have genetics on your side.  The right gene pool is a plus for your beautiful black skin and health. Your mother and grandmothers have or had great skin and you’ve some how managed to be fortunate enough to inherit their gift.

You’ve been told ‘the apple don’t fall far from the tree’ or ‘you’ll know the health of a tree by the fruit it bares’.

While these are all true statements, it still takes concentrated effort to maintain your beauty in all of its blackness.

A simple skin care regimen of cleansing, toning and moisturizing will help you keep that beautiful glow that you’ve managed to inherit from your ancestors.

Eating Your Way To Beautiful Black Skin

I was watching an interview of a woman who’d been diagnosed with cancer and while she’s opted for alternative medicine treatments, her greatest change has come in what she eats.  It’s been 10 years since her diagnosis.

She talked a lot about her body being more alkaline than acidic.  In essence the more green foods you take in to your body the better your health will be.  The better your health, the better the condition of your beautiful black skin and hair.

So if you’re able to begin your day with a nice green drink – spinach, cucumbers and kale-you’re off to a great start.  It might mean developing an acquired taste for this type of breakfast but you’ll love how you feel as the week’s progress.

A nice salad with romaine lettuce, broccoli, zucchini and yellow squash for lunch will enhance your breakfast meal.  If you feel you must have some flesh, a small piece of grilled salmon brings in the omega 3 oils that are great for skin care.

Don’t forget your water intake.  Some say that spring water is best, others say distilled water and some even say filtered water.  One thing I know for certain, you don’t know the process so called spring water has gone through to get to you in that plastic bottle on the shelf.

You can filter your own water as well as distill it, but more importantly, you can pray over it and know for sure that you’ve asked a higher power to help you through your journey.

Will Exercise Enhance the Beauty of Your Skin?

If you read any of my work, you know that I love to recommend walking and dancing as forms of exercise.  You don’t have to pay to do either of them.

You can step outside of your front door and enjoy the beauty of the day and your community with a stroll around the block.

As for dancing, Soul Train is in syndication and runs throughout the day. One show a day will have you in tip top shape.  You can also pop in a CD and get your grove started in your living room.

The key is to move your body.  This circulates your blood and feeds your skin.  That beautiful bronze glow that you’ve been looking for was lying dormant from lack of motion.

It’s no secret that you can have beautiful black skin whenever you want it. But are you willing to invest the time to achieve and maintain it?

You’re worth it, Do it!

Dedicated To Your Beauty,

Juliette Samuel

Author/Esthetician/Publisher

http://www.nyrajuskincare.com

No?  Well you can change your life at any age and be better than ever.  This means changing the look and feel of not only your wardrobe but your hair and makeup as well.

While skin care plays a very important part in your transformation, it will also play the most crucial part.

As you mature, the role of your black skin care regimen will set the stage for how well your skin reacts to its cycle of aging.  Whether you’re 25 or 65, you’re maturing! And the way you care for the beautiful black skin you’re in, will set the tone for every phase of your life.

When wearing make up, less is always more and gives you a more radiant and youthful appearance every time.

As you mature, your lashes and brows will thin and need a bit more attention but this is where you can add that extra bit of time.  A little more mascara, just enough pencil to fill in your brows and a light liner will do the trick.

Now you can concentrate on the fun part and that’s working your magic in putting your wardrobe together.

Style and The Black Woman

Did you know that your street styles have set the tone for designer looks?  As quiet as it’s kept, your eclectic beauty has been the inspiration for top designers for years.

As long as you Do You, you’ll remain the Trendsetter!  It’s when you begin to copy what you see mainstream fashion doing that you loose your edge.

Yes, you’ll look different but isn’t that what fashions all about.  It’s the one space where you can step into your uniqueness and express your true self.

When I worked in the retail world, I remember wearing a pair of black pleated, wide leg, wool gabardine pants with cuffs to work.  I had on a 1 1/2 inch square toe suede shoe.  My shirt was made of denim with pewter buttons and had French cuffs. That’s right a French cuffed denim shirt.  I topped it off with a silver and black belt.

Now for me, this was the norm, I loved to experiment and when I dared to wear this look into work, I was stepping completely outside the box at the time.  I must add that we’d moved from New York to ultra conservative Atlanta, where you dressed by the rules or you were quick to be gone.

Hey, I figured I wasn’t showing T & A, so I was safe.  When it comes to dressing, rules can be boring especially if you’re the creative type.  Well I wasn’t called into the office so I figured I was safe.

The very next day I saw a clone of my very outfit on one of the other managers.  I dared to Do Me and it worked.

Depending on where you work, you can always add your special magic into your wardrobe.  It might be a beautiful scarf or shawl, an eclectic pair of earrings or a signature lip color that only you can carry off.

Beauty, Style and Makeovers

With beauty, style and the world of makeovers, your skin care regimen is just as important as your wardrobe choices.  They are both part of the complete package.

The key is to find your path and walk it with complete confidence.

Dedicated To Your Beauty,

Juliette Samuel

Author/Esthetician/Publisher

To browse our complete catalog, click —–> Nyraju Skin Care

Does the notion of healing your skin and your self from within by bathing in an essential oil or other substance seem far-fetched to you?

If it does, then bathing in Epsom salt water for your muscle strains and sprains wouldn’t be considered an alternative, would it?  Don’t forget those mustard and castor oil poultice that your grandmothers used and taught you about.

Even though they are applied to the outside of your body, the results occur from within.  Why do you think this is so?  Well, your skin is the largest organ of your body and it acts as a conduit from the outside to the inside.

A bath will not only help you tap into your power within and access the great energies that can heal your pain, a bath can also restore your sense of well-being.

Beauty and The Bath

When using your bath as a point of caring for your beautiful black skin, it can often be the one moment of tranquility in your busy life.  For centuries the bath has been used to seduce and heal.

As a woman of color it doesn’t take much for you to have radiant looking skin but that’s only if you take care of it and don’t assume that your melanin has given you a pass from skin challenges.

A good black skin care regimen is still necessary for you to maintain your youthful appearance.

Something as simple as Coconut Oil and an few drops of essential oil such as Rose, Sandalwood or Rosemary, are excellent oils for obtaining soft, smooth and younger looking skin.

Coconut oil will solidify in cooler climates but can easily transition into its oil base when placed in the sun or allowed to sit under warm to hot running water for a few minutes.

This bath makes a great all-purpose bath for your beautiful black skin.

Are You Challenged With Acne or Inflamed Skin?

For Acne a blend of :

• 20 drops of Bergamot oil,
• 5 drops of juniper oil,
• 4 drops of cypress or
• 15 drops of tea tree oil …

Place these essential oils in 2 tablespoons of Jojoba oil and this will give you some relief for acne challenges.  To blend these oils ahead of time and store them in a cool dry place is recommended.

For Inflamed Skin

• 8 drops of Sandalwood oil
• 4 drops of blue chamomile oil
• 4 drops rose oil

Place these essential oils in 2 tablespoons of Jojoba oil and this will give you some relief for inflamed skin challenges.  To blend these oils ahead of time and store them in a cool dry place is recommended.

There are many combinations that can be worked in treating skin challenges but these will give you an idea of how to begin your healing baths for your beautiful black skin.

Dedicated To Your Beauty!

Juliette Samuel

Author/Esthetician/Publisher

To browse our complete catalog, click —-> Nyraju Skin Care

When your skin care therapist focuses on techniques that will provide light manipulation to your skin, especially those designed to increase blood flow, you’ll see a great improvement in your beautiful black skin.

Black Skin Types and Product Choices

Depending on your skin type different products will be used for your treatment.  For instance:

• If your skin is dry it might benefit from a cream or oil based product for your facial massage.

• If you’re challenged with Acne a gel-based product might be used. Some skin care therapists have used products that contain lactic acids with great success on skin challenged with Acne.

• If your skin is a combination skin type, it can benefit from products that are similar to light lotions that absorb nicely without leaving a heavy residue on your face.

The key will be in the choice of product your skin care therapist uses to perform your facial massage.  Slip is an important term in massage in general and it simply means how smooth the product glides across your skin.

If the product being used does not have adequate slip or a glide in its stride, your skin is going to feel as though it’s being pulled and tugged.  This is Not a good thing.

Facial Massage Ingredients for Your Beautiful Black Skin

Every product used on your skin, but your face in particular, should be capable in improving the health and function of your skin.

• Sweet Almond Oil- is a light moisturizing oil that can nourish and give proper slip when used for facial massages.

• Vitamin E- is an antioxidant that helps in fighting free radicals when caring for your beautiful black skin.

• Grape seed extract – is an antioxidant and improves circulation of the blood, which gives your skin a youthful glow.

• Coconut Oil – smooths and moisturizes and promotes elasticity

• Jojoba Oil – Although Jojoba is actually a wax, when processed into oil, it has the same composition as the oil naturally generated from your skin.

The bottom line is that you as the client want results.    Any combination or single use of these oils is going to provide a great product for your facial massage.

So, the next time you book your appointment for your facial, be sure to have the massage included.  A good skin care therapist will already have the facial massage as part of the service she offers.

Enjoy!

Dedicated To Your Beauty,

Juliette Samuel

Author,Esthetican/Publisher

Nyraju Skin Care