Showing posts with label Skin-Care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Skin-Care. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Anti Aging And Cosmetic Surgery

Cosmetic SurgeryThere is no doubt that one of the most effective ways for individuals to get anti aging help is to use cosmetic surgery. The term cosmetic is used to describe something that is done to repair the look of something rather than the function of it.

Perhaps with cosmetic surgery, though, the goal is more than just repairing the way that your skin looks but also the way that you feel about yourself. If you feel that your wrinkles bring down your self esteem, it can be quite beneficial to your well being to invest in some form of cosmetic surgery.

What Is Spent

Currently, the cosmetic surgery industry is growing by leaps and bonds. Each year there is an increase of drastic proportions in the number of procedures done. Both men and women will experience these procedures. In addition, there is no doubt that the cost of doing so will rise from $20 billion in 2003 to well over $50 billion by 2007 and up to %100 billion by 2010 , or more. The most common age group that uses cosmetic surgery is that of 35 to 50. But, is this a bad thing?

Is It Bad?

There can’t be anyone that says that cosmetic surgery is definitely bad, unless it puts you at risk from other health problems that you may have. But, there are risks involved. Without a skilled surgeon you may have to have more than one procedure done. There are always a number of surgical errors each year, too. In addition, there is nothing cheap or inexpensive when it comes to this anti aging solution.

But, cosmetic surgery does improve the self esteem, which many doctors and scientists believe can help an individual to improve their health across the board. If you are positively motivated, you can do more physically and mentally. If you are depressed, illness and disease set in even more so. For this reason, there are health benefits to cosmetic surgery that will improve the outlook that the patient has.

Is cosmetic surgery for you? Weighing the costs, the risks and the overall benefit can only be done by you. If you do go down this route, you will need to invest in researching to find the best doctor for your procedure. In the right hands, risks are minimized and procedures are more effective.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Choosing The Best Skin Care Product

Choosing The Best Skin Care ProductThere is really nothing like a best skin care product. There really can’t be anything like ‘The best skin care product’, because skin care products work differently for different people based on the skin type to some extent. A product that is the ‘best skin care product’ for one person might end up being the worst for another person.

So, a more logical question to ask would be ‘What is the best skin care product for my type of skin?’ However, this still is not completely logical. We tend to segregate people into 4 groups based on their skin types i.e. dry skin, oily skin, normal skin and sensitive skin.

However, this classification is just too broad to be used definitively in determining the best skin care product. We can say ‘best skin care product for a dry skin’ or ‘best skin care product for an oily skin’ are better statements than just ‘best skin care product’. But really, that is what it is ‘better’; still not accurate.

So, it really comes to rephrasing the question to ‘What is the best skin care product for me’. Yes, this is exactly the question that you should be asking, and unfortunately there is no easy answer for this. Arriving at the best skin care product for self will need some effort on your part.

First of all, you need to understand how the skin care products work. This is simple. You can consider all skin care products to be composed of 2 types of ingredients Active and inactive. The active ingredients are the ones that actually work on your skin. The inactive ones just help in delivering these active ingredients to your skin. Both the ingredients need to work for your skin, in order for the product to be effective and move on to become the best skin care product for you.

Besides the ingredients, the way you apply your skin care products is equally important. In fact, this is even more important. If you do not know how to apply skin care products, you might forever be hunting for the best skin care product for yourself, when that has already passed you.

Moreover, it’s also important to decide on the frequency of application of the skin care product. The environmental factors - temperature, humidity and pollution level, also affect the selection of best skin care product. Here are a few rules that you could use to ensure that your best skin care product is really the best for you:

* Cleanse your skin before applying that best skin care product.

* Use a makeup remover instead of plain water and remove your makeup before going to bed.

* The effectiveness of active ingredients is reduced when applied over another product e.g. over moisturizer. So apply that best skin care product first and then apply a bit of moisturizer if needed.

* Apply the products on moist and warm skin.

* You will have to experiment with a few products before you arrive at the one that is the best skin care product for you.

* Do not exfoliate too much or too hard.

* Vary your skin care routine as per the seasons (winter/summer etc), changes in environmental factors and changes in your skin type

Note that the best skin care product cannot be determined overnight. It’s only through experiment and awareness that you can find the ‘Best skin care product’ for you.

Vitamin C An Elixir for Your Skin

Vitamin C An Elixir for Your SkinVitamin C is often regarded as a wrinkle fighter or an anti-aging agent. The main objective of ‘Vitamin C skin care’, in scientific terms, is to increase the synthesis of collagen (a structural protein that is found in skin). The additional benefit of ‘Vitamin C skin care’ is related to its capability of countering free radicals which cause damage to the skin.

Vitamin C skin care, however, faces a major challenge today. This is related to the oxidation tendency of Vitamin C skin care products. On coming in contact with any oxidizing agent (e.g. air), the Vitamin C in the Vitamin C skin care products, gets oxidized; thus making the Vitamin C skin care product useless (in fact counter-effective).

The oxidized Vitamin C imparts a yellowish-brown color to the Vitamin C skin care product. This is something that you need to check before buying a Vitamin C skin care product. Even after you buy a Vitamin C skin care product, you need to store it properly and keep checking that it’s still good to use (i.e. it hasn’t attained a yellowish-brown texture).

The manufacturers of Vitamin C skin care products have tried to deal with this (oxidation) problem in multiple ways (and research on Vitamin C skin care products is on the top of their list). One such method of retaining effectiveness of Vitamin C skin care products for a long term is to keep a high concentration (say 10%) of Vitamin C.

However, this makes the Vitamin C skin care products even more expensive. The Vitamin C skin care products are already pretty inexpensive and making them even more expensive will throw the product manufacturers out of business. The other way is to use Vitamin C derivatives (like ascorbyl palmitate and magnesium ascorbyl phosphate).

These are not only more stable but also inexpensive. Even though the derivatives based products are not as effective as the Vitamin C skin care products, their stability against oxidation is a very desirable feature that makes them very attractive. Moreover, these are known to be less irritating too.

Talking of effectiveness of Vitamin C skin care products, it’s important to mention that not everyone responds to Vitamin C treatments. So it’s not a magic potion in any way. If you don’t see a noticeable difference in your skin, it might be because of your skin not responding to Vitamin C treatment and the Vitamin C skin care products might not be at fault, at all. As more research goes on, one can only keep our fingers crossed and wait for a complete solution to the challenges faced by ‘Vitamin C skin care’ today.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Top 10 Skin Care Tips

Top 10 Skin Care TipsHealthy skin is really one of the most important ingredients for beauty enhancement. This article on skin care tips is an effort to bring the 10 best skin care tips to you. The list of skin care tips has been restricted to 10 because anything more that that would not only be difficult to remember, but also shadow the more important skin care tips. So let’s see what these top ten skin care tips are:

Knowing your skin type is one of the most important skin care tip. This is important because not every skin care product suits everyone. In fact, all the skin care products specify the type of skin they cater too.

‘Drink a lot of water’. This will not keep your skin moist but will help in overall upkeep of your health (and in turn your skin). It might seem a bit awkward to some, however, this is an important skin care tip.

Cleanse your skin regularly (1-2 times everyday). A very effective skin care tip that helps in getting rid of the dirt and other harsh elements from your skin. Cleansing is especially important when you have been out of your house (and hence exposed to pollutants, dust etc). This skin care tip also advocates the use of Luke warm water for cleansing (hot and cold water, both, cause damage to your skin)

Be gentle, after all it’s your skin. Don’t scrub/exfoliate too hard or too often. Similarly, don’t apply too much or too many skin care products.

A must-to-follow skin care tip.

Keep your skin moist at all times. This is one of the most important skin care tip. Don’t let your skin get dry. Dryness causes the outer layer of your skin to break, leading to a rough and unattractive appearance. Use moisturizers/ emollients. Moisturizers work best when applied while the skin is still damp.

Avoid the use of soap on your face. Soap should only be used from below the neck. A small but important skin care tip.

Use sunscreen to protect yourself from sun’s harmful UV radiations. You can use day-time moisturizers that have sunscreen built into them. Use them even when it’s cloudy. UV radiations are known to cause skin cancer, so follow this skin care tip without fail.

A bit of exercise and good sleep are essential too, not just for skin care but for your health as a whole. Lack of sleep can lead to formation of wrinkles below your eyes and lack of exercise can cause your skin to slack. Moreover, exercise and sleep also help in beating stress. So besides being a skin care tip, this is also a health care tip.

Treat skin dilemmas with care. This skin care tip is about not ignoring any skin dilemmas. Consult your dermatologist before you go on to use a skin care product (lest you do end up harming your skin even more).

Beat the stress. The harmful effects of stress are known to everyone, however, sometimes stating the obvious is essential too (and hence this skin care tip found its place here). Yes, stress harms skin too. So, take a break or indulge in a warm bubble bath or just get good sleep.

Tips For Make Up And Skin Care

Tips For Make Up And Skin CareMake up and skin care is generally regarded as women’s forte. Men seldom indulge in Make up and skin care. Many men do care for their skin but make up is really alien to most men. Treating make up and skin care as different topics wouldn’t make sense; after all, make up will work only if the skin is healthy. So how do you exercise make up and skin care, together? Here are some tips for make up and skin care:

Always have skin care on mind, whether you are buying products for make up or actually applying them onto your skin after you have bought them. So what you are buying is a ‘make up and skin care’ product, not just a make up product. Check the ingredients to see if it contains things that you might be allergic to. Also check if it contains high concentration chemicals that can harm your skin.

Make up and skin care is also about testing the products before using them. So, apply the make up on a small patch of skin e.g. earlobes and check how your skin reacts to it.

Keep track of expiry date on your make up products and never use them beyond the expiry date. In fact some products (e.g. vitamin C based products), if not stored properly, get spoilt much earlier than the expiry date.

Cleanliness is an important part of make up and skin care procedure. Sharpen your eye-liners regularly and keep all your makeup equipment clean at all times. You might fix a date, each month, for overhauling of your equipment. As part of cleanliness, your make up and skin care procedure should also include keeping your hair clean at all times.

Nail care is another important aspect of make up and skin care. Use a good quality nail polish and always keep your nails clean. Once you are done with cleaning and polishing your nails, you should rub in cuticle oil at the edges of the nail.

If you have deep-set eyes, you should use a liquid eye liner instead of a pencil one. This will prevent smudging at the deep edges of your eye-lid.

If you have a skin disorder e.g. acne, you should not apply heavy or chemical based make up. Consult your dermatologist if you are not sure about the make up products that you can use while you have acne or other skin disorder. Never try to squeeze pimples/ acne. Remember that make up and skin care should not conflict each other.

Use a mild make up remover (instead of just washing it away).

Another important make up and skin care procedure is the following golden rule: never sleep with your make up on

While applying a deodorant, make sure that you maintain the recommended distance between the nozzle and your skin (as mentioned on the deodorant pack).

So, make up and skin care should always go hand in hand. Do not try to treat make up and skin care differently.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Oily Skin Care : Facts To Consider

Oily Skin Care : Facts To ConsiderTo start the discussion on oily skin care, it’s imperative to first understand the cause behind oily skin. Put simply, oily skin is a result of excessive production of sebum (an oily substance that is naturally produced by skin).

As is known to everyone, excess of everything is bad; so excessive sebum is bad too. It leads to clogging of skin pores, resulting in accumulation of dead cells and hence formation of pimples and acne. Moreover, oily skin spoils your looks too. So, ‘oily skin care’ is as important as the ‘skin care’ for other types of skin.

The basic aim of ‘oily skin care’ is the removal of excessive sebum or oil from the skin. However, oily skin care procedures should not lead to complete removal of oil. ‘Oily skin care’ starts with the use of a cleanser. However, not all cleansers will work. You need a cleanser which contains salicylic acid i.e. a beta-hydroxy acid that retards the rate of sebum production. Cleansing should be done twice a day (and even more in hot and humid conditions).

Most of the oily skin care products are oil-free; however, it is always good to check the ingredients of the product, before you actually buy it. This is especially important if a product is marked as ‘suitable for all skin types’, instead of ‘oily skin care product’.

Oily skin care is also dependent on the degree of oiliness, if you aren’t too oily, so some of these ‘suitable for all’- type of products might be work for you too. For extremely oily skin, only oily skin care products are suitable. Your oily skin care routine can include an alcohol based toner (for an extremely oily skin). This can be the second step in your oily skin care routine i.e. just after cleansing. However, excessive toning can harm your skin.

The next step in your oily skin care routine can be a mild moisturizer. Again, the degree of oiliness of your skin will determine whether you need to include this in your oily skin care routine. If you do decide to include a moisturizer, be sure to use one that is oil-free, wax-free and lipid-free.

You could also use a clay mask (say once a week) as an oily skin care measure.

As far as the oily skin care products go, you might need to try out a few before you arrive at the one that is really suitable for your skin. In case these measures don’t give you the desired result, consult a good dermatologist for advice. He could prescribe stronger oily skin care products like vitamin A creams, retinoids, sulphur creams etc , which can help counter the problems of oily skin.

Skin Care For The Most Common Skin Conditions

Skin Care For The Most Common Skin ConditionsA glowing and healthy skin is an asset. Skin is not all about beauty but also health. So, skin care treatment should be treated with all seriousness. If you develop a skin related dilemma, you need an appropriate skin care treatment.

Skin care treatment, for any skin disorder, starts with actions that are aimed at prevention of the disorder what we can also call as proactive or preventive skin care treatment.

Building and following basic skin care procedures is what one could classify as preventive/ proactive skin care treatment. Skin disorders can occur even if you have followed this preventive skin care treatment. Preventive skin care treatment just reduces the probability of occurrence.

Let’s check the skin care treatment for some of the common skin conditions.

Acne is one of the most common problems. Again, the first type of skin care treatment is to control acne and prevent it from getting worse. So avoid tight clothes; they are known to cause body acne by trapping sweat.

Do not touch the blemishes over and over again rather don’t touch them at all, you might end up aggravating the condition. Also, do not try to scrub too hard or squeeze them. Use of mild cleansers is a recommended skin care treatment for acne. Obtain an over-the-counter skin care treatment for faster treatment of acne.

Skin care treatment of dry skin is generally easy. Moisturizers, applied in the right way and in the right quantity, are the best form of skin care treatment for dry skin. For best results, apply moisturizer while your skin is still damp. Also, do not apply too much or too little moisturizer. In exceptional cases, where you don’t notice any improvements in 3-4 weeks, you might have to visit your dermatologist for skin care treatment of your dry skin.

Brown spots, which appear on sun-exposed areas of skin i.e. face and hands, are caused by over-exposure to UV radiations. As a skin care treatment for brown spots, use a sunscreen lotion which has a high SPF (sun protection factor), say 15. This should be used irrespective of weather – sunny/cloudy. Another form of skin care treatment is covering up the exposed areas with clothing (caps, full sleeved shirts/t-shirts, and umbrella).

Also, if the general skin care treatment or the over-the-counter medication is not working for you, you should immediately consult your dermatologist for professional skin care treatment.

You should also inform the doctor about the skin care treatment that you have undertaken till that time. So take the details of the till-date skin care treatment (and products) along with you.

Based on the skin condition and the details of your till-date skin care treatment, the dermatologist will prescribe a skin care treatment e.g. oral antibiotics, chemical peels, retinoid etc and you will be on your way to recovery.

The Importance Of Caring For Your Skin

The Importance Of Caring For Your SkinPackaging is as important as the gift itself – it’s something that most of the gift manufacturing companies follow very closely. The same holds good for you too. Your outer-self i.e. your skin is as important as your inner-self. A lot of people do realize the importance of skin care. Well, this is one reason why there are so many skin care products in the market and most of the skin care products seem to do pretty well. We generally tend to associate skin care to just good looks.

However, there is more to it than just that. There are multiple benefits associated with a healthy and glowing skin.

Firstly, it has a good effect on you yourself. It makes you feel fresh and energetic. You are able to do more work and are quicker with everything you do. More importantly, the freshness adds to your enjoyment and makes your day. So a healthy skin too plays its part in building confidence. Yes, you can take most of the credit for having achieved that however, do leave a little for the skin care products too.

Moreover, this flow of positive energy is experience by people around you too and you observe that even they are friendlier with you. You get more respect from others. They are more responsive to your queries.

They themselves experience the freshness that you are exuding. They love working with you and for you. Yes, that’s how it works. Some people might even go ahead and ask you about the skin care products you use you might or might not reveal those secret skin care products to them. Thus, a healthy skin can be instrumental in creating a pleasant and friendly environment around you.

On the other hand, carelessness or negligence on this front can make you look unattractive and dull. You will not only look dull but also feel dull. Your work efficiency is reduced. Even the people you meet might not be as friendly. In fact, it might lead to the aging process getting started much earlier.

Thus the importance of skin care cannot be ignored. However, skin care is not that difficult at all. There are a lot of skin care products available and you can choose the ones that suit you the best. There are various ways in which skin care products are classified and the knowledge about these classifications will help you understand them better and make a selection.

* The first categorization is based on the skin type – so you have skin care products for oily skin, skin care product for dry skin, skin care products for sensitive skin etc.

* Another way is to categories skin care products based on their use e.g. you have moisturizers, cleansers, skin care products for exfoliation, toners etc.

* Then you have skin care products for treatment of various skin dilemmas i.e. skin care products for acne, skin care products for stretch marks, skin care products for anti-ageing etc.

* Another classification is based on the ingredients e.g. herbal skin care products, synthetic skin care products, cosmetic skin care products etc.

However, skin care products are not the only way of skin care. You also need to build some basic skin care procedures in your day to day life as we discuss in the other article on personal skin care.

Pros And Cons Of Skin Care Cosmetics

Pros And Cons Of Skin Care CosmeticsA beautiful and healthy skin is a big confidence booster. Some people are naturally beautiful and hence don’t use any ‘skin care cosmetic’. Then there are others, who don’t use skin care cosmetic due to their laziness.

Still some feel that skin care cosmetic can harm their skin, and hence abandon the use of any kind of skin care cosmetic. However, there are a large number of people who do use skin care cosmetic that’s why the business of skin care cosmetic is prospering.

So, is skin care cosmetic useful, or is it harmful? Well, the opinions seem divided. However, one thing is for sure Looking beautiful is surely nice and very desirable. Also, too much skin care cosmetic can surely be harmful as such, excess of anything is harmful. So, what does one do?

The first thing is to formulate and follow a skin care routine that will help keep your skin healthy and disease-free. The general recommendation is to cleanse and moisturize everyday, and tone and exfoliate occasionally as and when needed.

Next thing is the skin care cosmetics that you would be using additionally as beauty enhancers. These skin care cosmetics could either be part of your skin care routine or be applied only on special occasions e.g. when attending a party etc.

The most important thing with skin care cosmetic is its selection. Here is a set of rules that you should use when selecting any skin care cosmetic:

* The general rule is to use products that suit your skin type. This is true both for the routine products and for the skin care cosmetic. So check the label to see what it says e.g. ‘for dry skin only’ or ‘for all skin types’ etc.

* Test the skin care cosmetic before using it. This can be done by applying the skin care cosmetic on a small patch of skin e.g. ear lobes and checking the reaction of your skin to the product

* Check the ingredients of the skin care cosmetic for chemicals that you are allergic to. Do not use products that are very harsh on skin e.g. products with high alcohol concentrations; such cosmetics might work for once but cause a long-lasting damage to your skin.

* ‘More isn’t better’. Ensure that you apply the products in right quantity neither less not more. Also, be gentle with your skin and follow the right procedures for application of skin care products. Rubbing too hard or trying to squeeze a pimple can lead to permanent damage to your skin.

* Finally, if you have a skin disorder e.g. acne etc, you should consult your dermatologist before using any skin care cosmetic.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Personal Skin Care Is A Routine

Personal Skin Care Is A RoutineWe all know the importance of personal skin care. The opinion on how-to (for personal skin care) differs from person to person. Some people believe that going to beauty parlors every other day is personal skin care. Others believe that personal skin care is just a matter of applying some cream or lotion on your skin, every now and then.

Then there are people who think that personal skin care is an event that happens once a month or once a year. Still others busy themselves with personal skin care all the time. However, personal skin care is not that complicated and neither is it that expensive, considering how beneficial it is. Personal skin care is following a routine or a procedure for attending to the needs of your skin.

Even before you start with a routine, you need to determine your skin-type (oily, dry, sensitive, normal etc) and select the personal skin care products suitable for it, you might have to experiment with a few personal skin care products. Here is a routine that should work for most people with normal skin.

The first thing on personal skin care routine is ‘Cleansing’. The three main ingredients of a cleanser are oil, water and surfactants (wetting agents). Oil and surfactants extract dirt and oil from your skin and water then flushes it out, thus making your skin clean. You might have to try a couple of cleansers before you find the one that suits you the best.

However, you should always use soap-free cleansers. Also, you should use Luke warm water for cleansing (hot and cold water, both, cause damage to your skin). Take care that you don’t over-cleanse your skin and end up damaging your skin in the process.

The second thing on the personal skin care routine is exfoliation. Skin follows a natural maintenance process wherein it removes the dead cells and replaces them with new skin cells. Exfoliation is just a way to facilitate the skin in this process.

Dead skin cells are not capable of responding to personal skin care products but still consume these products, hence preventing them from reaching the new skin cells. Thus removing dead skin cells is important in order to increase the effectiveness of all personal skin care products. Generally, exfoliation takes it place just after cleansing.

As with any personal skin care procedure, it’s important that you understand how much exfoliation you need. Exfoliate 4-5 times per week for oily/normal skin and 1-2 times per week for dry/sensitive skin. Exfoliate a couple of times more in hot and humid weather.

Next thing on personal skin care routine is moisturizers. This is one of the most important things in personal skin care. Even people with oily skin need moisturizers. Moisturizers not only seal the moisture in your skin cells, but also attract moisture (from air) whenever needed. Use of too much moisturizer can however clog skin pores and end up harming your skin. The amount of moisturizer needed by your skin will become apparent to you within one week of you using the moisturizer. Also, applying the moisturizer is best when your skin is still damp.

The last thing on personal skin care routine is sunscreen. A lot of moisturizers, day-time creams/moisturizers come with UV protection so you can get double benefits from them. Such moisturizers are recommended for all days irrespective of whether it is sunny or cloudy.

Again, experiment with various personal skin care products and also with the amount you need to apply. What gives you best results is the best personal skin care recipe for you. However, if you have some kind of skin dilemma, it is best to consult your dermatologist before you actually start using any personal skin care products.

Skin Care: The Herbal Way

Skin Care: The Herbal WaySkin care is not a topic of recent times; it has been in practice since ancient times, when herbal skin care was probably the only way to take care of skin. However, skin care has transformed in a big way. Herbal skin care routines have been replaced by synthetic/chemical-based skin care routines.

The herbal skin care recipes which once used to be common place are not so popular today and even unknown to a large population. This transformation from herbal skin care to synthetic, can probably be attributed to two things – our laziness, or just the fast pace of lives and the commercialization of skin care.

Even herbal skin care products have been commercialized. These commercial herbal skin care products have to be mixed with preservatives in order to increase their shelf-life, hence making them less effective than the fresh ones made at home. However, it seems that things are changing fast and more people are now opting for natural and herbal skin care routines. But still, none want to make them at home and hence the commercial market of herbal skin care products is on the rise.

So what are these herbs or herbal skin care mechanisms?

Aloe Vera, which is an extract from Aloe plant, is one of the best examples of herbal skin care product. Freshly extracted aloe Vera is a natural hydrant that helps in soothing skin. It also helps in healing cuts and treating sun burns.

A number of herbs are known to possess cleansing properties. Dandelion, chamomile, lime flowers and rosemary herbs, are a few examples of such cleansers. Their herbal skin care properties get invoked when they are combined with other herbs like tea.

Antiseptics are another important part of Herbal skin care. Lavender, marigold, thyme and fennel are good examples of herbs that are known to possess antiseptic properties. Lavender water and rose water also form good toners.

Tea plays an important part in herbal skin care. Tea extracts are used for treatment of skin that has been damaged by UV radiation.

Oils prepared from herbal extracts present another means of herbal skin care. Tea tree oil, Lavender oil, borage oil and primrose oil are some popular oils used in herbal skin care. Some fruit oils (e.g. extracts from fruits like banana, apple and melon) find use in shower gels as a hydrating mix

Homeopathic treatments and aromatherapies also come under the umbrella of herbal skin care remedies.

Herbal skin care is good not only for the routine nourishing of skin but also for treatment of skin disorders like eczema and psoriasis. Most herbal skin care products don’t have any side effects , the most important reason for preferring them over synthetic products.

Moreover, herbal skin care products can be easily made at home, hence making them even more attractive. So, herbal skin care is the way to go. However, this does not mean that you totally discard the synthetic products. Some people go to the extent of debating with their dermatologist, if he/she suggests a synthetic product. You should accept the fact that some skin orders might need usage of clinically proven non-herbal skin care products.

Anti-Ageing Skin Care

Anti-Ageing Skin CareAnti-ageing skin care is a very poplar concept in today’s world. Today everyone wants to hide their age using anti-ageing skin care procedures and a number of people are successful too. However anti-ageing skin care is not achieved by any magic potion. ‘Antiaging skin care’ is about discipline. It is about being proactive. Antiaging skin care is retarding the ageing process.

Here are a few tips for proactive anti-ageing skin care:

1. Maintain healthy eating habits: A well balanced diet is the key to maintaining a proper body metabolism. Eat a lot of fruits and raw vegetables , they are the best source of fibre and have a very refreshing effect on your body. Avoid oily and fatty food; not only do they lack in essential nutrients but also cause obesity and other diseases which aid the aging process

2. Beat stress: This is probably the most important anti-ageing skin care measure. Stress disturbs the body metabolism and accelerates the aging process. Sleep, exercise and a relaxing bath, are all good ways of beating stress. Aroma-therapy is also known to bust stress.

3. Drink a lot of water: Antiaging skin care can’t be any simpler than this. Water helps in flushing out the toxins from the body, hence keeping it clean and making it less prone to disease. Around 8 glasses of water (per day) is recommended by all doctors.

4. Regular exercise is a wonderful anti-ageing skin care procedure. Besides toning your muscles, it also helps in cleaning the skin by flushing out the toxins in the form of sweat. Exercise should be followed by a warm shower in order to completely remove the toxins.

5. Avoid the use of strong, chemical based products on your skin. Natural skin care products are a good option. Use of organic skin care products, home made or commercial, can be a very effective anti-ageing skin care measure.

6. Do not overuse skin care products. Excessive and harsh application, both are harmful.

7. Do not ignore skin disorders; it can lead to permanent skin damage. Try over the counter medication and if that doesn’t help, immediately visit your dermatologist and seek his/her advice.

8. Vitamin C based skin care products are very popular means of anti-ageing skin care. However, these seem to oxidize very quickly, which makes them harmful for the skin. So store them properly. If the product turns Yellowish brown, it means that vitamin c has oxidized and the product is no longer suitable for use.

9. Protect your skin against UV radiation; UV rays are known to speed up the aging process. So, a good sunscreen lotion should be a part of your anti-ageing skin care routine.

Extra Care for Sensitive Skin

Extra Care for Sensitive SkinSensitive skin care is governed by a few basic rules. However, even before we delve into the rules for sensitive skin care, it’s important to understand what a sensitive skin is.

Sensitive skin is one which is unable to tolerate any unfavorable conditions (environmental/other), and which easily gets irritated on contact with foreign materials (including skin care products).

For this reason, some products are especially labeled as sensitive skin care products. The degree of sensitivity can however vary from person to person (and depending on that, the sensitive skin care procedures vary too).

Generally, all skin types respond negatively to detergents and other chemical based products. However, the damage starts generally beyond a defined threshold (or tolerance level). This tolerance level is very low for sensitive skin types, leading to skin getting damaged very easily and quickly. Sensitive skin care products either avoid the potential irritants or keep them at very low concentrations.

Here are a few tips for sensitive skin care:

  1. Use sensitive skin care products only (i.e. the products that are marked for sensitive skin care only). Also, check the instructions/ notes on the product to see if there are specific restrictions/warnings associated with the product).
  2. Even within the range of sensitive skin care products, choose the one that has minimum preservatives, colorings and other additives
  3. Do not use toners. Most of them are alcohol based and are not recommended for sensitive skin.
  4. Wear protective gloves when doing laundry or other chemical based cleaning. If you are allergic to rubber, you can wear cotton gloves below the rubber ones.
  5. Another important tip for ‘sensitive skin care’ is to avoid excessive exposure to sun. Apply sunscreen lotion before getting out in the sun.
  6. Avoiding exposure to dust and other pollutants is also important for sensitive skin care. So, cover yourself adequately before going out.
  7. Use hypoallergenic, non comedogenic moisturizer as a sensitive skin care product (if there is none specifically labeled as a sensitive skin care product)
  8. Use soap-free and alcohol free cleansers. Cleanse your face whenever you return from spending time out doors.
  9. Do not scrub or exfoliate too hard. It can cause reddishness and even inflammation.
  10. Do not leave the makeup on for too long. Use hypoallergenic makeup- removers.

So, sensitive skin care is very different from the normal skin care. Sensitive skin care is more about being careful with your skin both in terms of sensitive skin care products and protection against environments atrocities on skin.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Improving Your Skin's Look

Improving Your Skin's LookWhen it comes to reducing wrinkles, one of the first things that you should do is determine how you can improve all of your skin on your face and neck area. Although some wrinkles are due to aging, the health of your skin is an important factor, too. In many ways, it is necessary to take the time to improve the problems with your skin if you are to improve the way that wrinkles effect your looks. In fact, healthy skin will be benefited in the long term with fewer wrinkles if you improve its health now.

One thing that you should do to do this is to give your skin the right nutrients. Now, most of the diets that Americans eat are not the highest in quality and sadly, even when they are thought out and well planned, they still do not pack enough of a punch to improve our health. In many cases, it will be necessary to consider adding additional nutrients to your diet to find real improvement.

You will want to add in a good multivitamin. Visit your local health foods store, or better yet find a reliable source online. Purchase a very good quality multivitamin.

Those that are geared towards providing for aging adults are not necessarily going to be better for you. Whatever you do, consider adding in a good concentration of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E. These are good quality antioxidants.

In your blood stream, something called free radicals exist. These can be thought of as small particles that you breathe in. They not only can build up and produce life threatening conditions, but they also clog your cells and cause your skin to look unhealthy.

To reduce the wrinkles on your skin, improve the health of your skin by giving it the nutrients that it has to have to thrive. The good news is that this process doesn’t have to be difficult at all.