Welcome to Beauty Secrets from Rhea

Hi to everyone out there, my name is, Rhea. I'm 23 years old and love make-up. I'm also married to a wonderful man and have one cat, whose name is Stardust. Life has been pretty crazy for me. I began life as a music education major and soon realized that that was more than I could handle. I next moved on to Social Studies Education.
One day I realized that I no longer wanted to be a teacher. After that I went to college to just a general A A degree. Even that has lost all glory to me. Then my sister Rachel starting working for BootsRI. This is a company that sells cosmetics, they hire out girls to help promote their products here in the US. I used to go in and get make-overs from her. Over this time people started to ask me for beauty advice. I started to really enjoy it.
Right now I'm hoping to attend Regency Beauty Institute in the fall. There I will continue to learn more about make-up, skincare and even hair. That way I can help people look nice and feel good about themselves.
I enjoy watching tv sometimes and a list of a few of my favorite shows are Ugly Betty, What Not to Wear, and many more. I hope that you find this site helpful.

Rhea Nelson of Champaign,IL

Cleanse, tone, and moisturize

I'll admit it, I didn't start cleaning my face every day until I started working for a cosmetic company. It's nothing to be ashamed of until you've found that perfect skin-care regime! For a few years I used a scent free facial bar from Neutrogena. This kept my skin less oily, but did not make my skin glow and look very pretty like Boots does.

In the long run it pays to keep your face clean. Genetics play a huge part in wrinkles and skin imperfections, but there are things we can do to help. I spoke to many older people while I was a Beauty Advisor and usually the ones who had kept their faces clean most of their lives had nicer skin that the ones that had not.

There are 3 main steps in caring for your skin: Cleanse, tone and moisturize
*there are additional steps you can add in

1. Cleanse. Find the perfect cleanser for your skin type and use it twice a day, every day. It will keep your skin looking amazing.

2. Tone. Many people hesitate to try out a toner. I have found that most toners burn my face and dry out my skin (such as ProActiv and Neutrogena). Toner is worth the extra money and effort. It makes your skin-care regime more thorough. I love Boots toner.

*Treat. After cleaning your face feel free to buy a treat for your skin. A treat can be a serum, mask or exfoliant. Your skin will thank you for it!

3. Moisturize. For the longest time I never moisturized my face. I thought I couldn't moisturize because my skin was too oily. I was wrong. What I needed was the perfect moisturizer for my skin type. Once the ph was balanced in my skin, I needed a moisturizer or my skin would dry out.

My personalized skin-care regime (I have oily skin):

1. Beautifully Balanced Cleanser
4 squirts, usually lasts me 4 months

2. Beautifully Balanced Toner
3 squirts in a cotton ball (cotton balls are great from the dollar store!), usually lasts me 4 months

*no treats right now, but I have used Restore and Renew

3. Rebalancing Day Gel
I use this on my forehead and my chin. It has zinc and sea weed extract in it to help keep down oil.
3. Day Moisture Lotion
I use this on my cheeks and my nose. It's a great, moderate moisturizer that helps with my dryer areas. My husband uses it as an after-shave.

If you would like a personalized skin-care regime from Rhea or I just leave a comment with your skin type and any skin concerns you have.

What exactly is that in ProActiv?!?

One of the most common complaints I had while I was a Beauty Advisor was that ProActiv dries out a person's skin. I was never able to understand why this was such a problem until Rhea and I were looking over the ingredients of ProActiv. We noticed that the revitalizing toner has glycolic acid in it. Glycolic acid is an ingredient in a glycolic peel. According to Boots, a glycolic peel is supposed to be used twice a week on non-consecutive days. You are not supposed to use it with any exfoliants. I think we found the reason why ProActiv dries out skin so much! This harsh ingredient is applied to the skin every single day.

If you have severe acne or have a very oily T-Zone there is a solution for you. If you want something that is very natural and plant based, use something with rosemary and burdock extract in it. Boots' Botanics line has a Complexion Refining regime that works well.

Another option for extra sensitive skin, is the hypoallergenic, scent free No7 Beautifully Balanced Cleanser and Toner. I've found this is worth the $7.99 and has kept my skin shine free and balanced.

Welcome to Beauty Secrets from Rachel

My sister and I created this blog so that we could write about one of our greatest passions, cosmetology. I never saw myself entering this field of work until I stumbled across the company, BootsRI. A friend of ours used to work for them as a Beauty Advisor. She was unable to keep this job and offered it to me. I was currently working at Macy's and I was very unhappy there. I applied and interviewed for the job...and I got it! I had not been able to wear make-up or use skin-care products up until I found this company. My skin was too sensitive. for most other products. Before I knew it I had bought as many Boots products as I could afford and was using them daily. I loved my job and the people I worked with. As a Beauty Advisor for Boots I worked in the Boots aisle inside of Target. It was my dream job. I shared my love of Boots and cosmetology with Rhea and she quickly found a love for Boots that I have. We learned so much from my time at Boots and we are going to learn more when we enroll at Regency Beauty Institute. Here you will find our tricks for curing eczema, wrinkles, pimples and much more. We will warn you about what we believe to be dangerous products and point you towards safe ones.

I would not be where I am today if it weren't for my loving family. I have an awesome husband who has stood faithfully by my side for over 2 years now. We have the cutest daughter named Emma. I am actually adopted, but I look just like my mom anyways! My family is very open and accepting.

Enjoy!!