Howard Murad's Blog, page 29

Seasonal Foods + Tips on Eating Healthy at Work

Seasonal eating is in vogue right now, but it’s hardly a new trend. Eating a diet that follows nature’s rhythms is what people have done throughout history, long before supermarkets and processed foods became the norm. Here are a few of the benefits of eating seasonally:

It saves money. When produce is in season, the abundance of the crop makes it less expensive. It’s the basic law of supply and demand, and when crops are in season, you’ll be rewarded financially by purchasing what’s currently growing.

It tastes better. Produce harvested at the peak of its season is simply delicious. The flavors are stronger and more developed, and the textures are as nature intended. Compare a dark red, vine-ripened tomato still warm from the summer sun to a winter hothouse tomato that’s grown and ripened indoors. There’s no comparison!

It’s healthier. Produce picked and eaten at its peak has more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants than foods harvested before they’re ripe and then shipped long distances. Studies have shown that some crops have up to three times more nutrients when grown in season.

It’s good for the environment. Eating seasonally often means eating locally grown foods. By doing so, you’re supporting local farmers, cutting down on pollution from shipping and trucking food, and reducing your carbon footprint.

To find out what’s harvested seasonally in your area, go to: http://www.sustainabletable.org/seasonalguide/seasonalfoodguide.php

 

5 Tips for Eating Healthier at Work

Eating healthy at work can be a challenge when there’s birthday cake, donuts or pizza tempting you. But if you’re prepared, and have a healthy selection of snacks on hand, you can resist the temptation. Here are five tips:

Plan ahead. Plan your meals and snacks for the workweek, and then prepare them at home on Sunday night. Put them in containers or zip lock bags so they’re ready to go.

Bring leftovers. Make an extra portion when you’re cooking dinner each night, and you’ll have a healthy lunch to take to the office the next day. You’ll also save money by not eating lunch out.

Keep healthy snacks on hand. This will keep you from reaching for junk, running to the vending machine or giving into temptation when the birthday cake shows up. Just a few ideas for healthy snacks are: nuts, fruits and veggies, string cheese, hard boiled eggs, hummus and rice cakes, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, dried fruit and protein bars.

Invest in a good insulated lunchbox or cooler. This way you can keep your perishable snacks fresh and crisp — and within arm’s reach.

Hydrate. Always have plenty of healthy liquid options at the ready. Examples include green tea, fruit-flavored water, coconut water and organic juices.

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Murad Employees Train to Beat Cancer

We are proud to announce that we have an official Murad team participating in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training (TNT) program. Their efforts will raise money to help find a cure for blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

Employees Gloria Hernandez, Tiffany Nihipali and Priscilla Sadakane are lacing up their running shoes and training for the Tinker Bell Half Marathon at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, on May 10. The Leukemia and Lymphoma’s Team in Training program has prepared over half a million runners, walkers, triathletes, cyclists and hikers, and their participation has raised over $1.4 billion to fund lifesaving research.

AP Specialist in Finance Gloria Hernandez says she’s taking part to honor the memory of a loved one. “My mother battled multiple myeloma. She fought hard, but unfortunately, she lost her battle in 2005. In memory of my mother, Maria Martinez, and all who are going through this nightmare that we call cancer, I am participating to help raise money to find a cure.”

Statistics show that every four minutes someone is diagnosed with blood cancer, and every 10 minutes, someone dies. Leukemia kills more children than any other disease. By being a part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training charity program, Gloria, Tiffany and Priscilla are supporting an excellent cause and fighting for a cure to these aggressive cancers. We are so proud of them! Good luck, ladies — we will be rooting for you!

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Feel worthy on your birthday

Birthdays are more than just joyous occasions for celebration. Each birthday is a wonderful opportunity to remind ourselves that we are worthy on every level. After all, each of us is the most important person in our own life. One of my favorite ways of remembering my own birthday is to spend it doing something I love—helping others. There are so many ways we can be of service. Whether it is helping within our own family or social circle, reaching out to our larger community or helping totally strangers, giving of ourselves is a rewarding exercise that strengthens our human connections. And those strong human connections are one of the keys to maintaining mental and physical health.

For decades, I have been volunteering my time and medical skills to help veterans and children in need.   Through those efforts I have met so many wonderful people and I have had the privilege of changing so many lives. But I must admit that on my birthday, my charitable impulse strikes closer to home and my favorite volunteer activity is to volunteer to take my grandchildren out to the park. It makes life a little easier for their parents and I get to enjoy infectious energy that pours out of the children. It’s a wonderful way to be reminded of how important it is for all us, no matter what our age, to find time to play.

Article by Howard Murad, M.D., FAAD, a world renowned skincare expert and founder of the Inclusive Health movement. Click here to learn more about Dr. Murad.

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What is Your Skin Type?

Just as we all have different hair colors, eye colors and skin tones, we also have different skin types. Knowing yours can help you choose the skincare products that are right for you. For example, is your skin oily, dry or a combination of both? Using the appropriate products formulated specifically for your skin type will make a difference in how your skin looks, feels and repairs itself. Our expert team here at Murad has put together this simple flow chart to help you identify your skin type.

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Product Spotlight: Renewing Eye Cream

By Jen Harmatz, Senior Manager, Retail Education

For many women (and men), it’s all about the eyes. Since the skin around the eyes is 10 times thinner than that of the rest of your face, it’s no surprise that this area needs lots of special attention. That’s why Renewing Eye Cream has become one of Murad’s best-loved products.

Renewing Eye Cream is formulated to help firm, brighten and hydrate the eye area to minimize the appearance of aging and dark circles. It also helps reduce the appearance of crow’s feet and puffiness for a more refreshed look. Do you sometimes wake up looking like you stayed out all night? Add Renewing Eye Cream to your nighttime skincare regimen to wake up looking like you had the perfect night’s sleep.

Renewing Eye Cream is also the perfect choice for anyone who is sensitive to eye creams with sunscreen. How do you know if you’re sensitive to sunscreen? If you have experienced a stinging sensation or any discomfort around the eye area while using an eye cream with SPF, this generally means you’re sensitive to the SPF.

Makeup Mixology – Pro Tips

You can also blend Renewing Eye Cream with some of your favorite cosmetics to amp up your look:

Mix it into your favorite concealer to smooth and add an extra boost of brightness. Use 2 parts concealer with 1 part Renewing Eye Cream.
Mix it into a heavier concealer to sheer out the makeup so it doesn’t appear cakey. Use 1 part concealer with 2 parts Renewing Eye Cream.
Dip a fluffy brush into a small dab of Renewing Eye Cream to quickly freshen up midday or before a night on the town.
Sweep Renewing Eye Cream on the high planes of the face for a soft, subtle highlight, resembling a soft-focus filter.

Jen Harmatz is a seasoned makeup artist and skin specialist who has worked on the GRAMMY Awards and the Oprah Winfrey Show. She knows from experience that perfecting the “canvas” lets you put your best face forward. She has created education initiatives to empower people across multiple channels to improve their skin, life and overall well-being.

 

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4 Reasons to Add Invisiblur™ Perfecting Shield to Your Beauty Regimen

One of our newest products, Invisiblur™ Perfecting Shield Broad Spectrum SPF 30 | PA+++, has been called “an Instagram filter for your face” by FITNESS Magazine. Refinery29 Beauty Writer Maria Del Russo also said Invisiblur™ Perfecting Shield is “essentially poised to reinvent the entire game with its new invisible sunscreen.” So we wanted to know what Murad Market Educator Heather Lantz had to say about it. Heather trains and educates other skincare professionals about our products. Here, she shares four reasons to add Invisiblur™ Perfecting Shield to your beauty regimen:

Base Coat that’s perfect to apply before I put on my “face art.” I find that it gives a beautiful, airbrushed look, so I can skip foundation altogether. And I love that SPF 30 is included in the formula.

Layering. Invisiblur™ Perfecting Shield can be layered with any Murad treatment. I always use Advanced Active Radiance® Serum in the morning and Intensive Wrinkle Reducer® with Durian Cell Reform® at night. Now I can layer Advanced Active Radiance® Serum and Invisiblur™ Perfecting Shield during the day.

Less Makeup. Murad’s technology is upgrading at a fast pace. The Invisiblur™ trio—treat, blur and protect—adds a quick finishing step to my morning skincare regimen. I’m noticing that my skin is upgrading too, and I haven’t been using my makeup primer and powder. Invisiblur™ Perfecting Shield has improved my skin’s overall texture, so all I use now is makeup on my eyes, lips and cheeks.

Inseparable Addition. Invisiblur™ Perfecting Shield goes perfectly with the rest of my morning regimen products, and it has become a permanent addition to my morning routine.

Thanks, Heather, for sharing your personal experience with Invisiblur™ Perfecting Shield.

Benefits of Invisiblur™ Perfecting Shield:

Treats | Blurs | Protects

• 71% saw fewer fine lines and wrinkles*

• 94% saw improved smoothness and texture*

• 100% invisible SPF 30 protection

*In a Murad sponsored study. Results after 1 week. Individual results will vary.

Purchase Murad’s Invisiblur™ Perfecting Shield >

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Around #MuradHQ: Inside Our New Product Development Library

To give you a peek at what goes on behind the scenes at Murad, we’re starting something new here on the blog called “Around #MuradHQ.” In this blog series, we will take you inside Murad headquarters to highlight various components of our space and corporate culture.

Last year, Murad moved into its new global headquarters, which created an opportunity for a space specifically dedicated to New Product Development.

Our Director of New Product Development Kristen Robinson came up with the innovative idea for a New Product Development Library.

“The team agreed this would be a great way to carve out a space for brainstorming, presentations, quiet research, supplier meetings and slideshows. Plus, it would allow for a fun, creative, interactive, playful collaboration across all departments when designing our products,” explained Kristen.

“In our old office space, there was no central location for the myriad of items related to new product development,” she continued. “Our ingredient brochures, benchmark formulations, prototype submissions, fragrance library and packaging samples were hidden and divided among colleagues’ filing cabinets, office shelves, closets and storage cabinets.”

Murad’s Creative and Merchandising departments collaborated to design a space that was creative, fun and organized with a clean, fresh aesthetic. Kristen explained that choosing the décor was important. “We selected furnishings inspired by fixtures and cabinetry you find in pharmacists’ workspaces and architects’ drawing desks. We also found unique ways to maximize cubbies, shelves and nooks to openly display bottles, caps, tubes, cleansers, masks, fragrances and store literature.” The New Product Development Library was also designed with a wet station area to test prototype submissions.

The space is now complete, and it’s everything the New Product Development team had hoped for and more! It’s functional and fresh, and it is utilized throughout the entire product-development process. “It takes what used to happen behind the scenes — work that may have seemed tedious or nerdy — and puts it on display for all to enjoy and be inspired by,” said Kristen. The space has already played venue to New Product Development presentations, supplier meetings and regroup sessions. It’s used daily to reference materials and prototypes, and it will continue to serve as hub and ideation laboratory for new product creations. Stay tuned on the blog for more “Around #MuradHQ” posts.

 

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Multifunctional Murad Products

By Jen Harmatz, Senior Manager, Retail Education

You may not realize it, but there’s actually more than one way to enjoy many of Murad’s products. Whether it’s an extra benefit you didn’t know about or a clever mixology tip to add into your makeup routine, there’s sure to be something here to spark your imagination. Check out some of my favorite ways to multitask with Murad products.

 

Invisiblur™ Perfecting Shield Broad Spectrum SPF 30 | PA+++

Apply a little extra to your deeper lines.

Gently tap or press a dab into your deeper lines. Let it set for approximately 2 minutes. Follow with your favorite liquid foundation and watch lines virtually disappear.
Make your foundation go farther when you apply it as a base.

Application and blending will take less time and work.
Foundation will go on more smoothly.
Floats on top of the skin to blur texture.


It keeps oils from breaking through and separating makeup.

No touch-ups needed for hours.


Smooth it on top of makeup to refresh your look.

Blot makeup and apply it before you touch up for an airbrushed finish.


Mix it into your favorite foundation to create your own CC cream for a lighter look on “no-makeup” days.
It looks beautiful on all skin tones—from light to deep.
It’s unisex-friendly. It’s great for men because of the velvety, clean finish.
It helps with color correction. When you transition between your winter and summer foundations, it will keep the color looking natural until you need to switch to the lighter or darker foundation.
It can be applied with fingers or a synthetic brush.

 

Hydrating Toner

Use it to tone after you wash your face day and night.
Use to set your makeup for the day.
Use it before you freshen up your makeup during the day.
Spritz it on for added hydration if your face starts to feel dry during the day. Summer tip: Chill it in the fridge during the warmer months to cool off while you hydrate.

 

Rapid Collagen Infusion

Mix it with a cream blush to create a “just pinched,” healthy cheek look.
Mix it with a highlighting cream if you’re concerned about powdery highlighters accentuating fine lines.
Mix it with a shimmery powder or pigment to create a soft, subtle candlelit glow when you apply it to the high planes of the face.
Mix it with your favorite foundation to create your own CC cream.

 

Age-Balancing Moisture Broad Spectrum SPF 30 | PA+++

Mix it with full-coverage foundation to get the coverage you want without looking cakey.
Mix it into your favorite foundation to create your own CC cream for a lighter look on “no-makeup” days.

 

Hydro-Dynamic® Ultimate Moisture

Layer it under makeup to create a luminescent look, as seen on the fashion runways this season.
Layer it with Essential-C Day Moisture or Age-Balancing Moisture for:

A highlighted, dewy skin created by using layers of moisturizers, rather than using shimmery makeup.
A fresh, just-walked-out-of-a-facial glow.


Layer it with another moisturizer for an extra boost on those dull, dry skin days.
Mix it with Sensitive Skin Soothing Serum® to give an instant glow and some extra hydration.

 

Soothing Skin and Lip Care

Dab a little on the eyelid to create the perfect gleaming lid for a high-fashion, chic look.

 

Body Firming Cream

Mix it with a body makeup or body bronzer to get flawless-and-firmer-looking skin.
Mix it with a loose pigment powder to create glowing, sun-kissed skin.

 

Jen Harmatz is a seasoned makeup artist and skin specialist who has worked on the GRAMMY Awards and the Oprah Winfrey Show. She knows from experience that perfecting the “canvas” lets you put your best face forward. She has created education initiatives to empower people across multiple channels to improve their skin, life and overall well-being.

 

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Tips to De-stress For National Stress Awareness Month

Remember back in January when you made those resolutions to take better care of yourself? Exercise more, eat better, stress less. Since April is National Stress Awareness Month, we wanted to give you a gentle reminder to take some time today to take care of you.

Yes, stress is a daily occurrence, but it’s important to keep it in check. When left to its own devices, stress can lead to — or exacerbate — a number of health problems, including heart disease, acne, obesity, depression and anxiety.

Stress is so prevalent in our modern society that Dr. Murad tackles the topic in his latest book, Conquering Cultural Stress: The Ultimate Guide to Anti-Aging and Happiness. It’s a great read, and the perfect book for anyone who has ever felt stressed out or overwhelmed and is curious about how stress can affect your skin and overall health.

For now, we offer you these quick stress-busters that you can do right away to help you look, live and feel #BetterEveryDay.

Laugh. Fire up a funny YouTube video and laugh yourself silly. The benefits of laughter include lower blood pressure, increased energy levels and decreased levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Meditate. A still mind is a stress-free mind, so take a deep breath, quiet your thoughts and let the stress melt away. Just five minutes a day can make a difference.

Put a Positive Spin on It. No matter what challenges you may be facing, do your best to think about it positively. If you have a negative thought, make a conscious effort to transform it into a positive one.

Exercise. Moving your body is important to combat stressful reactions and prevent them from arising in the future. Any form of physical activity can lead to the release of endorphins, the so-called “happy hormones.”

Sleep. When you’re well rested, you can approach stressful situations more calmly. The key is making sure you’re not only getting enough sleep, but that the quality of sleep you’re getting is restful and restorative.

Eat Chocolate. We’ve all heard that dark chocolate has health benefits for the heart. But research has also shown that eating dark chocolate can help lower stress by decreasing levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

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The Importance of Deep Breathing

As it turns out, deep breathing is not only relaxing, but it’s also scientifically proven to benefit the heart, brain, digestion and immune system.

Studies show that a few mindful tweaks to the way we breathe can improve health and reduce stress.

Consider the profound difference in the benefit of a deep breath versus a shallow one. Slow, deep breathing that engages the diaphragm causes one’s heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure to drop. Quick, shallow breathing that fills the upper chest alone does not.

Oxygen is Good. More Oxygen is Better.

Deep breathing encourages healing. Studies have shown it promotes recovery for a host of maladies, such as chronic pain, asthma, digestive issues and depression. It’s worth considering that last condition. Deep, steady breathing is a simple way to glide into a state of calm and relaxation.

Traditions as varied as Zen Buddhism, martial arts and yoga, all teach a variety of breathing techniques to boost strength or cultivate inner peace. Almost all of these methods begin by simply becoming aware of one’s breath. Here’s the good news about deep breathing or breath work: there’s nothing to buy; air is free; you can do it anywhere; and you don’t have to take it on faith. Breathe deeply, fully and mindfully for as little as five minutes and see if you feel a difference.

Sure, breath work can be done lying down with incense lit in a hushed room with a playlist of tunes by Enya. It’s brilliant to do this from time to time, because you may discover that while five minutes of deep breathing works, 20 minutes of it transports you into a state of nirvana. The other thing you may find compelling about full, mindful breathing is that it can help you regain your composure after a stressful situation.

A Quick How-To Guide

Lying down or standing, allow the diaphragm and rib cage to expand as your lungs fill with air. Sip the air. No need for big gulps. Then exhale, allowing — but not forcing — the air to completely leave the lungs.

Rinse and repeat.

Deep diaphragmatic breathing requires focus. It’s a bit like riding a bicycle: get used to it, and it becomes natural.

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