For Your Beauty | Jacksonville, FL

3 ways to transform your morning routine.

Don’t you just love that elusive perfect morning?

You know what I’m talking about…when you’ve accomplished so much, only to look at your phone and discover it’s only 10 a.m.!

Suddenly, you start wondering what everyone is always complaining about. This morning routine thing is a piece of cake, you say to yourself.

Then tomorrow comes and brings reality with it. You’re quickly reminded just how rare those productive mornings can be. Did yesterday really happen? Was it a dream? How do you get back to that perfect place?
Fear not, it’s possible to transform your morning routine in 3 simple steps, sans stress, and I am going to tell you how.

Get out of bed, sleepy head!
First things first, you have to get up early. Making more time in the a.m. gives you breathing room to actually enjoy getting ready. This isn ’t hard if you know how to go about it. Set goals and start small.
Try setting your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier for a week or two, then up it to 30 minutes for another two weeks. Remember … slow and steady wins the race.
Making more time in the a.m. takes the stress out of getting ready.
Enjoy those MOMENTS of GRATITUDE.
Now that you’re up, don’t check your phone or turn on the TV unless youabsolutely have to – like your job requires it kind of have to – and resist the temptation. YOU CAN DO IT!
Consider the first 15 minutes of your day as sacred. Sit outside, read something that inspires you, write, meditate, do some light yoga … just be in your body and, most importantly, be grateful.
Spending the first waking moments of your day in gratitude makes the morning – and life – better.
HYDRATE – and we aren’t talking caffeine.
Hungry? No matter what your diet grab a big ‘ol glass of room temperature water, preferably with lemon, and down it as soon as you get up. You’ve been sleeping for, hopefully, seven to nine hours and you haven’t had anything to drink. Your body needs hydration.
Don’t drink any coffee until you drink water and eat something!
Coffee (fuel) is the first thing we want, but pouring caffeine into an empty system is major adrenal overload. Water and a smoothie or toast or eggs gives your body a solid foundation and a better landing spot for caffeine.

These suggestions will take no more than 30 to 45 minutes, and in that short timespan you can set yourself up for a super productive morning.

Add some time for exercise and cuddling with your family, and you’ll be amazed by the newfound pep in your early morning step.

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You’re prepared. Made the list and even checked it twice.

Little black dress? Check.

Cute strappy heels? Check.

Undergarments designed to lift, tuck, hide and enhance? Check, Check, Check!

Unfortunately, no magic material can enhance the look of our arms, as they are often exposed in our strappy holiday dresses. If you don’t want to spend your evening hiding that dress behind a sweater or wrap…try these quick and easy exercises to get those arms toned up and ready for a night on the town!

Try performing this trio of arm busters in sets of 15, (3 times each, at least 3 times a week).

1. Traditional Push-Ups

The old stand-by still rules as an effective way to get those arms into shape.

Regardless of your state of fitness, push-ups can do wonders for your arms. New exercisers or those still building core strength should perform the push-up with the knees on the floor, keeping hips in line with the shoulders. Varying the position of the arms will challenge different parts of the arms (wide, standard or close).

2. Dips

Preventing the saggy underarm means working on the triceps!

Find a chair, bench, bed, or any raised area so you can position yourself with arms
behind, fingers facing your body. Walk out your feet and remain balanced. Bend at the elbows and lower your upper body keeping the core tight and shoulders back. Challenge yourself by moving your legs further away from your center or straightening them.

3. Prone Reverse Flys

An all around great arm toner, lie face down on the floor with arms extended laterally, palms facing down.

Pulse the arms up, back and forward in staggered sets. If you don’t have weights, simply holding a can of soup or a small water bottle will add leverage and make these exercises even more effective!

Repeat these simple exercises a minimum of three times each week and you will be on your way to celebrating with awesomely toned arms–this holiday season’s hottest accessory!

Good Luck!

– Deborah Farwell (Center), Certified Group Trainer, Body Control/Jacksonville

Present-day society presents many challenges that can lead to loss of sleep –– stress, emotional turmoil, and environmental factors. For women approaching menopause this is exaggerated even more by hormonal imbalances. Hormones are needed to fall asleep and stay asleep. Without the correct balance, many chronic health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease become more likely to occur.

Sleep and Disease Risk

The cost of poor sleep is greater than previously expected. Studies have found that it may have profound effects on a person’s mental health, heart health, and even life expectancy. Not getting enough sleep raises blood pressure, causes mood swings, inhibits the immune system, and takes years off of your life. So how much sleep should you be getting? According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) adults need 7-8 hours of sleep. For many women beginning or undergoing menopause, estrogen dominance makes it even more difficult to get a good night’s sleep.

Menopause and Hormone Levels

Women entering menopause are typically between 40-50 years old. Their bodies are creating lower than normal levels of estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and DHEA. Even with these low hormone levels, estrogen is still being produced at 40-60% causing these women to become estrogen dominant. While estrogen is an essential hormone, too much is debilitating to the body. Symptoms of estrogen dominance include insomnia, night sweats, fatigue, weight gain and depression. Besides these symptoms, estrogen dominance also puts you at an increased risk of breast and uterine cancer.

Factors that can make this situation worse, are the everyday hormones that women are exposed to in the United States and other industrialized nations. Women come into contact with these man-made environmental estrogens via hormone injected meats and poultry, pesticides and fungicides, plastics, fuels, car exhaust and industrial waste. Fifty-one commonly used chemicals have been identified as hormone disrupters. In other words, to regain a balance in hormones a change in lifestyle may be necessary along with hormone treatments.

Regaining Hormonal Balance

The solution lies in taking the necessary steps to balance your hormones naturally. This may begin with over-the-counter bioidentical progesterone, vitamin-mineral supplements and herbal remedies. Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy helps balance estrogen levels and maintain a healthy hormone balance to help you sleep at night. The experienced team at Dr. Randolph’s Ageless and Wellness Center will prescribe the hormone treatment that is right for you based on your symptoms and age. Add this treatment along with regular exercise and a diet free of added hormones and estrogen levels should become balanced once again. Sleepless nights will turn into wakeless nights as your fatigue disappears and sleep becomes easier and more regulated, adding to your overall health and reducing the

risk of chronic disease

Toss This Now!

Four Products That Don’t Last as Long as You Think.

Who can’t resist the newest contouring kit or the mascara that promises to give you 10 times the volume? Beauty product trends feed the soul but that also probably means you have a ton of products in your bathroom that have been sitting there for way too long.

The secret hoarder in all of us has a hard time parting ways with the piling products in our makeup bag but it’s time to get over it! Spring clean your cosmetic collection and get rid of those products that could potentially be endangering your health.

Here are a few products that need to be replaced more often than you think.

Mascara

Did you know the shelf life for mascara is only about three months? Mascara tubes are dark, and wet places are a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. The more air that gets inside, the quicker the product will expire.

Here are a few tips to help keep your mascara fresh; do NOT pump the wand! Pumping the wand pushes air into the tube and helps bacteria grow faster. Also, make sure you close the lip tight. To avoid clumping, run the tube under hot water for a few minutes prior to using but when you notice lots of clumping (more than normal), it’s usually time to toss it!

Foundation

Finding a perfectly-matched foundation is the golden ticket to a flawless look but don’t let the fact that you finally found your one true color to cloud the fact that it might be past its prime.

When you start to see a separation in the bottle or tiger stripes along the sides, your makeup is ready for the trash and you need a new one…ASAP!

Makeup brushes

Grunge might look good on the runway but it does not translate well onto your makeup brushes. Grungy bacteria is hard to see and even harder to get rid of! Having an unexplained breakout? Your makeup brushes could be the answer. Most dermatologists suggest you wash makeup brushes twice a month and if it’s been months since your brushes saw soap and water then you might be better off ditching them and starting new.

While there are many options for cleaning your brushes, you don’t have to break the bank! Try using an anti-bacterial soap and some baby shampoo for an affordable way to gently clean the brushes.

Here are a few FYB staff picks for affordable cleanser options: Clinique Makeup Brush Cleanser ($15, Clinique.com), Cinema Secrets ($8, Sephora), ULTA Professional Brush & Sponge Cleaner ($10, Ulta).

Toxic Nail Polish

Nail polish is considered the Twinkie of the beauty world. It won’t go bad from bacteria but can host a different kind of danger. Take a good look at your nail-polish collection and get rid of any brands that contain formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl phthalate. These ingredients have been shown to cause cancer and reproductive complications. That should be enough information to make you toss those toxins!

The beauty market is flooded with all sorts of products with all sorts of ingredients with claims that they will prevent and/or reduce wrinkles. They use attention grabbing phrases like “scientifically proven” or “#1 Doctor Recommended”, but who are these scientists and what doctor recommends it? We turned to our local Hormone and Wellness expert, Dr. Randolph of Ageless & Wellness Medical Center in Jacksonville to get the facts on how hormone treatments can improve your skin.

Dr. Randolph explains, one of the many roles of estrogen in the body is to increase the synthesis of collagen, which is the skin’s underlying support structure. Collagen also promotes skin thickness and elasticity. As men and women age, collagen production is reduced throughout our bodies, causing facial wrinkles and skin sagging. Restoring hormone balance can restore the body’s ability to produce collagen, which ‘plumps’ your skin and helps retain its youthful appearance. Collagen atrophy is a major factor in skin aging. In fact, Dr. Randolph says, “There is a strong correlation between skin collagen loss and estrogen deficiency at menopause.”

He recommends using Bioidentical Estriol face cream, which is available by prescription at Ageless & Wellness Medical Center. This face cream has been shown to boost collagen and reduce wrinkles. Dr. Randolph gave us the facts about how and why this product works for so many women.

Dr. Randolph breaks down the ingredients that make this Bioidentical Estriol cream so effective. He explains the importance of these three active ingredients:

Estriol: Considered a type of “weak” estrogen which can be derived from plant sources. It assists in maintaining a youthful plump appearance by increasing the synthesis of collagen

DMAE: (AKA Dimethylethanolamine)This ingredient is a nutrient that occurs naturally in our brains, in small amounts, and facilitates the synthesis of acetylcholine. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that helps in establishing communication between nerves and muscles, and also in carrying messages between brain cells. Because of this property, a DMAE cream has been used by some patients to address sagging skin. The active ingredient helps stimulate the production of acetylcholine, and that enhances the skin tone by firming and tightening its appearance from beneath the skin. Another way that DMAE helps the skin is by reducing the accumulation of lipofuscin deposits inside cells. Lipofuscin is a skin pigment that can create discolorations. It has a brownish color and is a result of molecular waste when fatty acids are not metabolized properly by the body. This pigment oftentimes shows up in the form of liver spots or age spots, especially in people who are at a more mature stage in life.

Hyaluronic Acid: This is an active skin care ingredient that retains moisture and creates a cushion to help plump the appearance of aging skin. Hyaluronic acid also helps to heal and soothe inflammation. A pure hyaluronic acid serum can prevent fine lines and wrinkles, providing effective results on prematurely aged or mature skin types.

Dr. Randolph shared with us the results of a recent study on the effectiveness of Bioidentical Estriol face cream. Researchers found that those treated with Estriol obtained superior results showing “elasticity and firmness of the skin had markedly improved and the wrinkle depth and pore sizes had decreased by 60-100%.