Taking Care of Your Feet

Did you know that you put enough weight on your feet every day to crush a diamond? That's why it is so important to take care of your feet. Here are a few tips to get you started.

• Wash your feet every day in warm water. Make sure you dry them well, especially between the toes.
• Use a foot file to gently smooth away calluses. This works best right after you have soaked and patted your feet dry.
• Rub lotion on to the tops and bottoms of your feet, but not in between toes. When applying lotion in the evening, wear socks over night to help keep the moisture in longer.
• Wearing socks and shoes will also help to protect your feet from extreme hot and cold and from anything getting stuck into your skin.
• Trim your nails straight across. You can use a nail file to gently smooth the side edges down.
• To keep the blood flowing to your feet, don't keep your legs crossed for long periods of time and make sure to wiggle your toes and rotate your ankles several times a day.
• Make sure to wear proper fitting shoes.

Check out Avon's extensive foot care products. They have everything you need to keep your feet looking and feeling their best.

Spring Cleaning

It's that time of year again when we come out of hibernation and start getting our gardens cleaned out and go through our clothes to bring out our shorts and t-shirts. This is also a good time to go through our makeup bags and throw out any old items that are still lingering around. Here are a few tips to help you figure out what can stay and what needs to go.

Face Makeup - Toss it time: 6 months for liquids, 2 years for powders. Dipping brushes and fingers into liquid makeup can increase bacterial growth and cause breakouts and other skin irritations. Liquid makeup can separate over time, causing an uneven, streaky finish. Powder makeup with botanical ingredients like jojoba and aloe can become crumbly and harder to blend over time as the tiny amount of water they contain evaporates.

Mascara - Toss it time: 3 months. Mascara tubes are dark and wet, a great breeding ground for bacteria. As mascara ages, it can start to break down and become clumpy.

Eye Shadow - Toss it time: 6 months for cream, 2 years for powder.

Eyeliner - Toss it time: 3 months for liquid, 2 years for pencils. Just like mascara, liquid eyeliner tubes provide a good environment for bacteria to grow. Pencil liners tend to last longer because sharpening them creates a clean surface. Just remember to clean your sharpener regularly with rubbing alcohol.

Nail Polish - Toss it time: 1-2 years. Nail polish can become gooey and stringy so toss it as soon as you notice that it doesn't apply smoothly.

Lipstick/Gloss and Liner - Toss it time: 2 years. The moisture in lipsticks and glosses can become potential breeding grounds for bacteria. Plus, with age, they dry out and may not go on smoothly. Long-wearing lipsticks may not last as long as they can have ingredients that evaporate quicker, making your lipstick dry out faster. Like eyeliners, lipliners last a long time because sharpening them removes the old surface.

Skin Care (cleansers, moisturizers, eye creams, serums, etc) - Toss it time: OTC products that contain drugs are regulated by the FDA and should have an expiration date. Cosmeceuticals (products that claim to be anti-aging and skin changing) should be tossed in 6 months. As the base ingredients start to break down, the active ingredients, like retinol and glycolic acid, can become more potent and cause skin to become irritated.

Sunscreen - Toss it time: 6 months. Once the tube is opened, water will start to evaporate, causing the ingredients to become unevenly mixed. This can mean uneven skin protection when you are out in the sun.

Hair Care Products - Toss is time: 1 year. Keeping the caps completely closed will keep your products at their best for a longer period of time. Aerosol cans will keep the product fresher longer.

Perfumes - Toss it time: 2+ years.