Skin Beauty Tips

Skin Tightening Face Lift Results Without Surgery

2009-11-07T13:10:00.001+07:00

It doesn't take much convincing to persuade anyone to reduce lines and wrinkles and try to restore some of the smooth skin attractiveness of youth. Who could've imagined 40 years ago that you could turn on radio frequencies, just below your skin, and see the sort of skin tightening improvement that would seem like age in reverse.

Just Like A Face Lift Without The Scalpel. Getting face lift like skin smoothening results without surgery sounds too good to be true. However, such body image possibilities are quickly sprouting within the cosmetic enhancement industry due to the crushing demand for younger more attractive looks and body shape. Different kinds of light-energy devices have emerged which exploit the therapeutic potentials of modified energy devices as well as a respectable fear-of-surgery angst in the wider population.

Option: The Thermage Face Lift. When conventional electrical energy is modified into radio frequencies, all sorts of interesting targeting and body metabolism changes can be created. Radio frequency energy moves through the thermage transducer device to be targeted just below the skin on your face.

At this sub dermal depth, this sudden increase in energy causes your body to react in curious and beneficial ways. For one, even middle aged skin known for being slow growing, thin and wrinkled typically responds (like an inflammatory response) by triggering the production of more collagen. You ask so what? Well, this collagen increase is your skin's equivalent of filling-in-a-ditch. Only in this case a new supply of collagen results in a build-up which pushes up onto your face skin, filling in small lines and wrinkles.

What about deep furrows and wrinkles? Realistically, it would take a full radio spectrum of thermage like radio frequency therapy devices to treat the seriously deep facial crag and crevasses. For these extreme cases, traditional face lift or brow lift plus liposuction surgery might become the most practical aesthetic and economic solution.

Option: Cold Light Laser Skin Resurfacing. When your local skin care clinic doesn't invest in trend-setting equipment such as the thermage treatment, you'll want to look at equally useful technologies such as non surgical laser skin resurfacing, or even microdermabrasion.

In these skin rejuvenation treatments, the outer most layer of your face or forehead skin is lightly resurfaced, using light. Result? Rough dry patches can be smoothened, acne scars and age spots diminished, even broken blood vessels treated. New fresh glowing skin is released into the light of the day, meanwhile the finer lines, crows feet and wrinkles are markedly reduced. You'll get pain-free treatments, repeating weekly, without any significant down time, plus you'll avoid the discomfort and health risks of surgery.

Option: Peels, Astringents. Over 100 years of history supports the variety of astringent chemical peels now available as non surgical face lift enhancements. Think of sun damage, age spots, acne scars, fine lines as the target to these semi-corrosive skin lifting treatments. Basically, astringent chemical are lathered on you face, allowed to permeate the upper tissues areas. What happens next is that the outer facial skin tissue layer simply separates from the lower tissues. Treatment over and you're looking into the mirror at a decidedly wrinkle reduced face. And, all during your lunch time break.

Option: Grinding Down Skin Flaws With Dermabrasion. Healthy yet rough dry skin can take on the impact from the brush-and-burr diamond treatment and skin polishing impact of dermabrasion, and create fairly remarkable results in terms of skin smoothening and wrinkle reduction. Dermabrasion doesn't work for skin that is cut, unhealthy or infected with acne bacteria. Also, darker-skinned persons need to understand that the outer facial skin surface is being physically altered with dermabrasion, therefore may give rise to discoloring or uneven pigment patches.

More resources for non surgical face lift and skin rejuvenation results can be researched at:

Radio Frequency Face Lift: http://www.beauty2morrow.com/face/laser-thermage.htm

Dermabrasion: http://www.beauty2morrow.com/face/dermabrasion.htm

Author Robin Derry is publisher for http://www.beauty2morrow.com/, a specialty information site that gives solutions to body image and body shaping needs.

The Suntanning Association for Education

2009-08-10T23:16:00.001+07:00

The SAE aims to instruct the people engage in indoor tanning so that they become trained professionals. It will educate tanning bed users so that they will use the indoor tanning technology responsibly and moderately. At the same time, the association will release scientifically-based information about indoor tanning so that it can equalize the biased negative view of using tanning beds.

Members of the SAE are well-informed about the FDA regulations, the potential benefits and risks of exposure to ultraviolet radiation, the importance of eye protection and other tanning accessories, the concept of photosensitivity, the proper maintenance of tanning beds and tanning booths, and the ethical management of a tanning center.

Specifically, a trained professional of the SAE will advocate the following practices:

1. Provide the clients of tanning salons a consent form before they use either the bed or the booth. These forms should be carefully read and then signed by each customer.

2. Deny any request made by clients to stay inside a tanning unit longer than what is suggested by the manufacturing unit. Overexposure to ultraviolet radiation can increase the potential risks of tanning.

3. Advise clients to always wear tanning goggles. Any person who insists on not using the protective eye wear will be refused by the trained professional and by the tanning salon.

4. Post on a clearly visible part of the salon all the necessary precautionary reminders and warning signage. The patrons of the salon should easily see and read the messages of these signage.

5. Display an accurate, complete, and updated chart of photosensitizing agents. The chart should be readily understandable. If a client has questions about the chart, the SAE professional should be on hand to answer the questions as best as he could.

6. Utilize tanning beds, tanning booths, accessories, and replacement bulbs that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Any equipment or accessory that does not comply with the standards of the FDA should not be used.

7. Purchase and use cleaning agents or sanitizing solutions that are specially manufactured for the tanning equipment. The us of inappropriate solutions, like a bleach, may damage the parts of the tanning bed or tanning booth.

The practices of SAE professionals are commendable and they contribute greatly in making indoor tanning a safe process.

Grace Palce is writing articles for her own site about home tanning beds and natural remedies articles for her other site.

7 Tips for Beautiful Skin

2009-05-18T19:10:00.001+07:00

For most women, part of their morning and evening routines involve a skincare regimen of applying creams, moisturizers, tonics, lotions, and the like. Why do women put themselves through this? To combat the signs of aging, and to maintain youthful looks and beautiful skin! However, how many women consider what is in the products they are using?

Some women probably do not realize that what they are putting on their skin may actually be undermining what they are trying to prevent to begin with. In fact the average woman puts twelve products on her skin daily, most of which maintain harmful chemical preservatives. Dr. Myron Wentz, founder and chairperson of USANA Health Sciences has this to say about beauty in the June/July 2005 issue of the USANA Health Sciences magazine: Some say that beauty is only skin deep. Nonsense! I believe that true beauty is a reflection of true health, and true health begins deep inside each and every cell in the body. But true health and true beauty have an outer component, which is why we require protection from environmental insults such as solar radiation, pollutants in our environment and the drying effects of air. . . The fact is, you simply cannot contain a healthy body if your skin isn't healthy. And your skin can't be healthy if your are subjecting it to toxic substances that are ultimately absorbed into your body.

So, what can women do? How can they combat environmental pollutants, the affect of solar radiation, and the drying effects of air? How can they be sure they are using the very best products on their skin so they can be healthy inside and out? Here are 7 tips to assist in this process:

1. Be very aware of what is in skincare products. Use products that are all natural as much as possible.

2. Look for products that contain Dermal Surface Renewal Technology. DSR smoothes away existing signs of aging such as laugh lines, crows feet, and dullness.

3. Use products that have regenisomes. Regenisomes penetrate the skin to speed cell renewal after sun exposure. They also use the light of photosomes to undo sun damage, and have ultrasomes to renew skin while sleeping.

4. Find products with Proteo-C and Proflavonol-T. These two vitamins protect the skin from premature aging caused by the sun, pollution, and other environmental factors. They also provide advanced nutrition to the skin to keep it appearing smooth and firm.

5. If possible, use products that are paraben free. Parabens are synthetic chemical preservatives that are widely used in personal care products such as shampoos, conditioners, hair styling products, make-up, facial masks, skin lotions and creams, and deodorants. They also are typically found in baby lotions, shampoos, and other personal care products for infants and children. In addition, parabens are in many foods and pharmaceutical products. Researchers are beginning to find parabens in benign and malignant human breast tumors. While some studies have challenged their toxicity in many products and question their long term affect on humans, using products that are paraben free can eliminate the risk of exposure to this harmful chemical.

6. Drink plenty of water! Water hydrates skin and hair as well as flushes toxins out of the body.

7. Limit stress or learn to manage it effectively. Stress is harmful both emotionally and physically. Find that stress reliever activity that works best and use it on a daily basis!

Follow the above 7 tips to true beauty and health.

Monique Hawkins is an associate with USANA Health Sciences. One of her passions is supporting and encouraging others to maintain optimal health and wellness. She also has recently started an online store selling music boxes. Visit her USANA site http://www.whyusana.com/mhawkins and her music box site at http://www.my-music-box.com

Spa ? For Relaxation and Rejuvenation

2009-05-15T01:04:00.001+07:00

It is really a task to find out the type of spa that wholly suits you. You must firstly determine what type of spa you would like to visit depending on your expectations. There are different types of spas available depending upon your needs such as relaxation, rejuvenation or conditioning etc.

There are four distinct spas that are available and they are the following:

1.Fitness: they are designed for people who want to stay fit and relax. Therefore activities such as aerobics and outdoor sports take place here. The people who are interested in sports etc, are bound to enjoy this program because they get a chance to take part in many new activities.

2.Wellness: the people who have an eventful medical history are treated here. The people, who conduct tests are licensed health care specialists. Different treatments are administered to the patients. The visitors here are usually persons who are recovering from operations or trying to quit smoking, alcohol, drugs etc.

3.Day spa: Visitors here are usually the beauty-conscious people. They come here to beautify themselves and also relax here.

4.Holistic: Most of the folks join this circle to learn more about spirituality. It is a center for self-realization. Different meditation techniques are taught here ranging from different cultures such as Chinese Tai Chi meditation, Indian Yoga etc.

Visiting a spa is good if you want to relax and rejuvenate.

Paul has been providing answers to lots of queries through his website on a wide variety of subjects ranging from satellite phones to acne. To learn more visit http://www.askaquery.com/Answers/qn1598.html

You are welcome to republish the above article only if you add our hyperlinked URL.

Vitamin A For Better Eczema Control

2009-05-12T15:34:00.001+07:00

We?ve all seen the scaly itchy skin associated with eczema. Perhaps you?ve even had eczema at some point or suffer from it chronically. This condition, thought to be hereditary attacks about three out of every hundred people and can manifest itself as a rash with scaly, dry, itchy and/or red skin. Either way, you?ll want to do something to relive it fast!

You can get eczema medication from your doctor and if your symptoms are severe you should follow his instructions and use it as recommended. You might notice that some of this medication has Vitamin A in it. Vitamin A is a powerful antioxidant that can help to alleviate symptoms of eczema and has many health benefits for your body including its ability to fight against heart disease and other cardiovascular problems as well as cancer and many other chronic diseases.

Most importantly for eczema sufferers is the vitamins ability to boost and develop the immune system. Dietary and supplemental sources of this vitamin seem to help your body produce antibodies and lymphocytes. These are essential to a healthy immune system. In a recent study, for example, diets lacking Vitamin A were compared to ones rich in vitamin A, beta-carotene, and lycopene and the Vitamin A rich diets has better results on the immune systems of mice.

Foods that are high in Vitamin A include many of your favorite fruits and vegetables! Look for veggies and fruits that are orange in color like carrots, cantaloupe, mango, aprictos and sweet potato to get the most bang for your buck. Other foods that are good sources of Vitamin A include broccoli, turnip greens, spinach and yellow squash.

Taking a Vitamin A supplement can be a good idea for control of eczema, but if you are also taking fish oil supplements, you may want to add more vitamin A to compensate. Vitamin A is fat soluble and the fish oils are, of course, fat so the presence of fish oils can deplete the amount of vitamin A your body gets.

Good supplements, however, will provide the right combination of Vitamin A and fish oils so you can take both in one pill, provided it is a quality vitamin. Fish oil also has added benefits which stem from the omega-3 fatty acids. Along with skin problems, omega-3 is thought to help with depression, dementia, heart disease, Alzheimer?s and many other conditions.

If you suffer from eczema, think about asking your doctor if adding Vitamin A to your regime might help. It?s easy to take and can help protect you from a host of other illnesses and disease as well.

Lee Dobbins writes for Acne Articles.com where you can learn more about acne, skin problems and caring for your skin.

Skin Care Advice At Any Age

2009-05-12T15:28:00.001+07:00

We've become a society obsessed with our looks.

It's been noted that we spend more on beauty products in the west than we do on education.

Why are we so obsessed? Because it's easier and more affordable than ever before.Anti-aging skincare technology has progressed leaps and bounds. We know more about the skin today than we ever did. There are advanced skincare products that can erase years, and of course, the plastic surgeon has perfected his trade such that procedures are easier and cheaper than ever before.

Are we justified in our obsession?

They say that beauty is only skin deep, and while I believe this to be true it's also important to do what feels right for you. If keeping up appearances gets you through the day then, by all means, that's what you need to do, however I must add that I'm not a fan of going under the knife. With the huge advances made in skincare products today, I'd much prefer taking the less invasive route.

Here's a few age related tips and remedies that will help boost your skin's appearance at any age without needles and knives.

20 Something

Your skin is at its peak of beauty in your twenties, however nurture its beauty and always use at least an SPF 30 sunscreen. Of course this should continue at any age.

Avoid oily makeup and coverups. Use an oil free moisturizer every day. This is also a good time to begin using an eye cream under the eye area at night.

Try using products that contain green tea which have shown to help reduce the risk of skin cancer.

30 Something

Your 30's is when your skin is beginning to become a bit drier and sun damage may begin to appear. It's time to start using thicker moisturizing creams so as to lock in high contents of moisture. Continue with eye creams at night and use your sunscreen religiously. Also, skin bleaching products may need to be used to diminish dark spots from sun damage. Hint: Put your moisturizer on over damp skin. This helps lock in more moisture.

40 Something

It's time to kick it up another notch. Your forties is when your skin loses much of it tightness. It may begin to look dull and your pores may become larger. Blotches, freckles, age spots, discoloration, and changes in skin color may become much more visible. Retinoids, anti-oxidants and alpha hydroxy acids can improve the look of your skin and your 40's would be a good time to begin using them. Of course it's essential that you continue using a thick moisturizer and eye serums on a daily basis.

Home microdermabrasion kits are also an option that can result in a smoother more even appearing skin texture and tone while rejuvenating your skin's texture and color.

50 Something

Changes in your skin have reached high gear. Menopause has assisted in the loss of Estrogen which is what has given your skin its elasticity and kept it hydrated, however since those estrogen levels have diminished, you will begin seeing wrinkles form around your eyes, drooping eyelids and expression lines around the mouth and forehead.

Begin using anti-aging or wrinkle reducing formulas such as vitamin A (Retinol) or Glycolic acid products. Retin A has proven to reduce fine lines and wrinkles while improving skin texture, skin tone and color, as well as your skin's hydration levels.

Glycolic acid will trigger new formation of collagen to plump cells and reduce wrinkles on the skin?s surface. Postmenopausal women can also use a cream containing progesterone that may improve skin elasticity and firmness.

60 Something

By age 60 all types of collagen are significantly below their youthful levels. There are, however wonderful hydrating creams that contain Alpha Hydroxy acids (Glycolic acids), soy, green tea and retinol (vitamin A) which your skin will need now that it is drier and showing major signs of age. The alpha Hydroxy acids will help reduce droopy skin and the retinol will reduce your fine lines.

60 Plus

Your skin's texture will become visibly less smooth and you will most likely begin to see age spots. You'll appreciate the early care you've given to your skin because the signs of aging will be minimal, however, if you haven't started early you'll clearly notice the effects of neglect.

While it's never too late to take care of your skin the damage you already have will be difficult to reduce without special medical treatments such as botox or perhaps surgical procedures. All the above should continue to be applied but it is wise to consult your physician on advanced treatments.

If you haven't yet reached 60, the best skin care advice is to follow a good skin care regimen at an early age. It's an easy habit to get into and best of all, you'll thank yourself later on.

Elizabeth is an online skin care consultant who features and reviews fine beauty and serious skin care products. Sign up for her free tips, products and specials newsletter at: http://www.fine-skin-care-products.com

Tips to Choosing a Tanning or Sunscreen Agent

2009-05-05T19:25:00.001+07:00

Remember the days of ordering a coffee at your favourite caf? -when your most difficult decision was to choose between an espresso, a cappuccino or a flat white? Today of course, your choices are much more diverse ? throw in Affogattos, Machhiatos, Viennas, Melloccinos, and Mochas (to name but a few). Of course, your choices don?t end there. Will that be with skim milk or whole? Decaf or regular? In a mug or a cup...?

Now of course that?s just a simple example using coffee. But how do you feel about your choices when it comes to selecting a tanning or sunscreen agent?

Not surprisingly, when faced with the variety and range of products on the market today, the average consumer can find this selection process a little more overwhelming than ordering a cup of coffee.

Tanning products or sunscreen agents are not only available in multiple forms including sprays, lotions, sticks, gels etc.: they can also be targeted to different activities, age ranges and skin types. They are produced by both smaller (less familiar) manufacturers, as well as by the more popular brand name manufacturers such as ?Banana Boat', 'ChapStick', 'Clarins', ?Clinique?, ?Coppertone?, ?Estee Lauder?, ?Johnson?s?, ?Neutrogena?, ?Oil of Olay?, and ?Vaseline?.

In response to the demands of consumers, manufacturers continue to provide an ever increasing number of products for you to choose from, with many targeted to specific markets. However, the variety of choices doesn?t mean it makes the selection process easy.

So where on earth do you start?

Besides your skin type, here are some simple tips to consider when making your selection from the variety of tanning and sunscreen products available:

a) Chosen Activity: ? Being outdoors is not the only element to take into consideration when factoring in your amount of exposure to the sun. You also need to note the intensity with regards to climate, the season, location and time of day.

For example, just because you may be hiking in a cool mountain region or snow skiing, doesn?t mean you should throw all caution aside. Wind and UV rays still reach you, so protection would be wise. Consider also any exposure to surfaces with reflective qualities (i.e. snow, water, sand, etc.), as these can intensify UV ray harm. Activities that make you work up a sweat or those involving water (e.g. basketball, jogging, sun bathing on a hot beach, biking, water skiing, jet skiing, parasailing, outdoor work and exercise etc.), have the potential to wash off your sunscreen, and therefore need to be addressed also.

Choose a sunscreen product for these activities with both UVA and UVB protection and an SPF of 15 or higher, when possible. As for water / sweat activities, choose a product that offers a waterproof or water-resistant agent.

Tip: Where appropriate, you should also consider dressing to cover up as much skin as possible (e.g. wearing long sleeves, a scarf or hat, slacks or jogging pants).

b) Age: ? There are only a few words of caution about age. First of all, health care providers do NOT recommend using alcohol-based sunscreen products on children. And they do NOT recommend using sunscreen agents of any type on babies under the age of 6 months. For children older than 6 months, a lotion is the preferred form of sunscreen, over a spray, for example. And the SPF should be a minimum of 15.

c) Use on Your Body: ? Your choice of tanning product also depends upon where you are going to apply the lotion, gel, spray or other form. And it also depends upon the health of the area of the body.

For example, there are lip balms with sunscreen (solid or gel-based ones), which not only help the lips, but can also touch up spots in a hurry. Also if you?re trying to apply protection to fingers, ears, nose and other small areas, a physical sunscreen agent, lotion or gel may be easier than a spray. If you have dry skin, you might want to try a product in lotion or cream form. For oily skin, gel-based or alcohol forms of sunscreen might be better choices. N.B: A word of caution: Do not use alcohol-based products with inflamed skin or eczematous.

Keeping the above considerations in mind, should give you a great starting point from which to choose your tanning product or sunscreen agent.

In addition, a recommendation from a friend for a particular product, (assuming they have similar skin type and circumstances), - or even a particular brand name (remembering that the more popular manufacturers produce products catering to different skin types, activities etc.), can sometimes also be helpful in narrowing down your choices.

Ultimately the choice should be based upon your individual situation, your skin type, and your personal preferences. What works for one person may not be the most ideal for another.

Once you've done some basic research and have found a particular product you feel is suitable, then why not just start with that product. If you find it doesn?t offer you the results you expected, then simply be prepared to do a little more research, look around further and modify your choices accordingly. While there may be some trial and error involved initially, by becoming more familiar with your preferences and the types of products available, you're sure to find the product that?s right for you.

Angela Perin is author of the comprehensive new guide Your Personal Guide to Tanning - covering everything from your skin, uv light & sun-tanning, to sunburn, skin cancer, sunburn, sun protection and sunless tanning. Discover Safe Tan - The Ultimate Experience in Natural Sunless Tanning and download your free copy of this guide including bonus homemade recipes for sunburn relief, sunscreen and exfoliation!

5 Myths About Protecting Yourself from Skin Cancer

2009-04-28T19:19:00.001+07:00

Sara spends much of her summer near the beach. She lives in a mild climate and is very athletic. She loves to swim, bike and play games outdoors. Sara knows the dangers of the sun and so she opts for tanning salons to get her 'golden glow' while being sure to apply sunscreen every day before heading out.

Joseph lives in a cooler, northern climate. The summers can be very humid, but most of the year is mild or even below freezing during the harshest winter months. The beach has never been much of a draw for him and he spends most of his time doing indoor activities or at his job. Joseph doesn't worry about sunscreen and only had one sunburn that he can remember and that was when he was a child.

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Which of these examples do you most associate yourself with? Did you know that Sara and Joseph are both at risk of developing skin cancer? We have all heard the warnings about the dangers of sun exposure. We know all about the importance of wearing sunscreen and hats. But are YOU protected from skin cancer? Consider these myths and facts:

MYTH ONE: Tanning Beds are Safer than the Sun

20 minutes of exposure in a tanning bed is roughly equivalent to four hours in the sun. Although sun beds use UVA rather than UVB rays, 'The Skin Cancer Answer' states that UV-A penetrates more deeply into the skin than UV-B, can cause skin cancer, and may suppress the immune system.

MYTH TWO: Wearing Sunscreen at the Beach is Protection

85 percent of UV rays can even make it through on cloudy days. That means you are equally at risk in the car, walking the dog or letting your children out to play at any time of year - even when you're not at the beach. Of course, you are usually less attired at the beach and so covering up is recommended even when wearing sunscreen. Sunscreen also wears off with sweat and water and should always be applied every two hours or after getting wet.

MYTH THREE: Taking Care Of Your Skin Now Will Protect You

Sadly, skin cancer can take 20 or more years to develop. The Skin Cancer Foundation states that most people receive about 80 percent of their lifetime sun exposure before the age of 18. Just one blistering sunburn in childhood is estimated to double the risk of melanoma later in life. Taking better care now will reduce the risk, but not eliminate the damage already done.

MYTH FOUR: Having a Tan Means You're More Protected

Dark skinned individuals are less likely to develop cancer, but tanned skin is actually damaged skin. Repeated tanning injures the skin and increases the risk of skin cancer.

MYTH FIVE: You Can't get Burned on Overcast Days

Just because the sun is hidden by some cloud does not mean that you don't need protection from the harmful effects of the suns rays.

So how do you plan to protect your family this year? Some suggestions are to limit exposure to the sun - especially for infants. Examine your skin for early signs of damage. Use a sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher and apply it at least 30 minutes before exposure and every two hours after that. Teach your children good safety habits and be sure you and they are covered up when outdoors. Have fun and be safe.

The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to medically diagnose, treat or cure any disease. Consult a health care practitioner before beginning any health care program.

Emily Clark is editor at Lifestyle Health News and Medical Health News where you can find the most up-to-date advice and information on many medical, health and lifestyle topics.

Facial Skin Care Products

2009-04-24T12:34:00.001+07:00

The face is the first physical asset that people will notice in every person. So, keeping the facial skin clean and clear of any blemish is of very important.

To start with, the best facial skincare product is water. Water acts as a detoxifying and nourishing agent for your skin. And if you have at least eight liters of water a day, your skin will automatically start to glow and will have a healthy feel to it. In addition to drinking enough water to maintain healthy skin, you can also use proper skincare products.

There are a variety of skincare products available in the market today, including exfoliating cream, moisturizers, facial hair removal cream, and the like. There are many companies that manufacture these products, and it can sometimes be difficult to choose the right product. To help yourself know which product is right for you, you will need to get a skin patch test done from a good skin clinic or a dermatologist. This way, you will know which product suits your skin and whether you are allergic to any certain type of product.

Once you have had a skin patch test, you will know which product suits you the best. You can also ask your dermatologist to suggest a particular brand of facial skincare products. Sometimes, even grossly expensive brands might not suit your skin type. So be very sure of what you apply on your face.

The choice of facial skincare products is abundant, but the secret to having beautiful skin is to use only a few products rather than ten products on your face in one sitting. The best combination of facial skincare products is as follows: a facial wash with a deep-pore cleaner, moisturizer, and a skin toner or sunscreen. Other facial skincare products such as wrinkle-lifting cream need proper dermatological consultation before being used.

Skin Care Products provides detailed information on Skin Care Products, Facial Skin Care Products, Natural Skin Care Products, Best Skin Care Products and more. Skin Care Products is affiliated with Natural Skin Care.

The Science of Skin Care

2009-04-13T18:40:00.001+07:00

Research and development departments of many cosmetic companies use the science of aging skin to come up with state-of-the-art products that address many of the reasons why skin appears to age as well as taking into consideration the proper daily procedures necessary to maintain healthy, radiant skin.

The first step is determining the essential steps in one?s daily routine that maintain healthy skin:
?Cleanse - remove makeup and impurities.
?Exfoliate - remove the dead surface cells that dull the skin.
?Freshen - refine the pores as well as tone the skin.
?Moisturize - keep your skin hydrated, soft and supple.
?Protect - your skin from the environment (sun and pollution).

Then they develop products that address all the factors in the aging process:
?The breakdown of collagen and elastin in the skin.
?The chronic loss of hydration and the skin?s diminishing ability to retain moisture.
?Protection from the most damaging factor of all ? the sun.
?And lastly, providing antioxidants that protect the body against free radical damage.

So, why does skin age?
Many people watch (for the most part) what they eat? Why? ?Because, they know that proper nutrition and a balanced diet help maintain a healthy weight and provide their organs with the ?Fuel? they need to function properly?Right?

That?s great, but what about your body?s largest organ? The only organ visible to the eye?YOUR SKIN! It?s amazing, but the skin is your largest organ and it is largely ignored. Well, your skin needs to be properly cared for, for it to function properly as well!

Your skin is an ever growing organ that keeps the good things in and the bad things out. Formation of new, healthy skin cells requires good nutrition, protection from harmful environmental stress, and proper daily skin care.

As we grow older the proteins in the skin called collagen and elastin begin to diminish. Collagen is a tough protein that protects the skin against tearing and elastin provides the skin with its ability to return to shape after pressure is applied, in other words, its elasticity. Therefore, in our quest for more youthful looking skin, it is essential that we use products that help protect and replenish these proteins.

A second reason why skin appears to wrinkle has to do with the loss of hydration. As we age, our skin loses its ability to retain moisture. Therefore it is critical that we replace the lost moisture and use products that help the skin retain the new moisture we have just given it. Many people tend to confuse oily skin with moisture in the skin. The two are not the same. It is possible and even common to have oily skin that is improperly hydrated or even dehydrated.

The third element that acts as a major factor in the aging process of the skin is, of course, the sun. Excessive sun exposure damages the immune system in the skin, destroys both collagen and elastin production and kills normal skin cells. Heat and cold also damage skin and reduce its functionality. It is highly recommended that both men and women use a sunscreen product specially formulated for your face area with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 15 or greater on a daily basis. This will help protect your skin from everyday, incidental sun exposure as well as give you necessary summer-time protection. We all know it is important to use sunscreen during the summer months. However, the UVB rays of the sun that cause the more subtle long-term breakdown of the skin are present in full force from sunrise to sunset, 365 days a year. It is, therefore, important to use sunscreen products daily, during the entire year.

The last element that has become more and more of a danger to the skin as well as the rest of the body, both inside and out, is pollution. With more and more pollution in the air, the body is increasingly exposed to nasty chemicals called free radicals. A free radical is a chemical with a very reactive chemical bond. The chemical bonds, which hold atoms together to make molecules, contain pairs of electrons. A free radical essentially has no pair, therefore it will steal an electron from other molecules in order to gain a pair for its? lone electron. The structure of the molecule that loses the electron is then changed, thus causing damage resulting in speeding up the aging process of the skin. Antioxidants such as vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E help protect your body's cells, including your skin cells.

I personally use Mary Kay's anti-aging skin care system because it works. The research and development team has has taken all of this into consideration and developed a product line that when used all together significantly improves the natural aging process, helps bring moisture balance back to the skin and protects the skin from environmental stress factors that damage and thus pre-maturely age the skin. And this is the system that I recommend to my clients as well.

Have a great day!

Dawn Hull Professional Skin Care Consultant http://www.MaryKay.com/ShopOnline

Sign up to receive a FREE monthly beauty newsletter: Beaut-e-News - Discover what's new, what's now ? what's changing the face of makeup and skin care! You'll find beauty secrets revealed and tips and techniques that will help you look your beautiful best. Click here to register: http://www.marykay.com/PWS/MyMK/Login.aspx?Moniker=SHOPONLINE

Real Beauty Comes From Within

2009-04-12T17:34:00.001+07:00

Since real beauty comes from within, it's important that your beauty products bring out your best natural qualities. Natural beauty product reviews can help you choose which products are best suited to your own individual needs.

One popular type of natural beauty product is stretch mark removal cream. Since stretch marks are pretty common--their causes range from pregnancy to body building--a lot of people can be helped by a natural, effective treatment for them. While reading natural beauty product reviews, I noticed that the best stretch mark remedies contain high amounts of Emu Oil, Aloe Vera Gel, Collagen, Elastin and Vitamin E. When these key ingredients are combined in a highly concentrated cream, they can not only help reduce stretch marks you already have, but actually help prevent new ones from forming!

One of the most helpful things about natural beauty product reviews is that they tell you about the ingredients in the best beauty products out there. Whenever you're looking for skin treatments--whether it's cellulite cream, spider vein therapy, sunless tanning or stretch mark removal--you want to make sure that the ingredients are safe and actually make your skin look better, not worse. What's the point of diminishing stretch marks if the skin around them becomes red and irritated? Natural beauty products tend to be safer, because they don't include a lot of harsh chemicals in their ingredients.

If you're fair skinned like I am, you know how hard it can be to enjoy the great outdoors. There's nothing unusual about stretch marks or cellulite or spider veins. They are the natural effects of having bodies that grow and change. Using natural, high quality products to safely improve your skin's appearance can help you feel less self-conscious at the beach or in the bedroom.

Then your natural, individual beauty can shine through!

David Stanton
Dermaglow provide natural and organic skin care products to help stretch marks, cellulite and spider viens. http://www.dermaglow.co.uk/index.html

Fighting the Visible Signs of Aging

2009-04-02T12:52:00.001+07:00

YOUR SKIN

The skin is the largest organ of the body, and is significantly affected by the aging process. Estrogen receptors have been detected on the cellular components of the skin and lower levels of estrogen influence the skin-cell metabolism. Changes in the skin collagen leads to diminished elasticity and skin strength. There is a distinct reduction of collagen production after menopause. Changes in vascularity are found following menopause. Dermal blood flow decreases significantly in postmenopausal women.

Repair functions in skin are regulated by a group of chemicals called 'cytokines.'. Included in these are epidermal cell growth factor (ECGF), transforming growth factor (TGF), and angiogenesis factor. AF stimulates the rebuilding of the microvascular system within the skin. TGF and ECGF stimulate rapid cell proliferation for the replacement of dead or damaged cells.

Excessive exposure to UV rays causes oxidation of the collagen and elastin fibers in this skin. This, in turn causes 'crosslinking'. Cross-linking causes the collagen in the skin to become tangled and stiffen. This results in sagging and loss of skin elasticity, and allow facial expressions to put deep lines and wrinkles in the skin. Some of this UV damage can be prevented by the use of sunscreens and sunblocks. Some of this damage can be reversed by the use of 'peels' - where the outer layer of the skin is removed by the use of mild acidic formulas, which removes the damaged layers and stimulates the production of a stronger, thicker layer of skin.

Free radicals are molecules created by oxidative chemical reactions within the body. These free radicals damage cellular DNA and cause mutations of the skin cells. Free radical damage can be prevented by the use of anti-oxidants, both internally and topically. Antioxidants attract and bind these free radical molecules, rendering them harmless.

Premature skin aging can be avoided by preventing excess exposure to sunlight and pollutants, as well as providing with skin with the nutrients it needs to repair itself. Provide your skin with the building blocks it needs by maintaining adequate consumption of the following nutrients:

NUTRITION FOR AGING SKIN

ZINC: Zinc is required for collagen production and elastin synthesis, as well as DNA repair. Zinc is required for DNA duplication, which is required for cell division. Zinc is required for the production of certain proteins that remove damaged or mutated tissue as well as for superoxide dismutase, a power antioxidant.

COPPER: Copper helps to stimulate the production of collagen and elastin, helps to thicken the dermis, increases vascularity and oxygenation and works to stimulate superoxide dismutase.

SULFUR: Sulfur is a component of the protein Keratin found in nails, hair and skin. Sulfur is essential for the production of collagen and it is required for the production of the connective tissues.

Vitamin A: The vitamin necessary for healthy skin. A serious lack or excess intake can cause dry, rough skin, among other problems. Ascorbyl palmitate applied on the skin decreased the level of formation of free radicals*.

Vitamin C: Known for its antioxidant properties. Photoprotective properties of topically applied vitamin C have also been demonstrated, indicating its use in the prevention and treatment of skin aging. Topical applications of 5% vitamin C cream is an effective treatment, clinically shown to improve photodamaged skin.**

Vitamin D: Vitamin D has been shown to reverse skin damage, increase wound healing. Vitamin D is produced in the body in response to sunlight, and has been shown to have a beneficial affect on skin repair and hair growth. Vitamin D rarely requires supplementation, and 15 minutes of daily low-sun exposure should stimulate adequate production of this hormone-like vitamin.***

Vitamin E: Vitamin E is a power antioxidant. Experiments show that that it may protect against the degradation of collagen, and prevent skin damage by environmental insult and aging.***

CoQ10 (Ubiquinone): Internal and topical application of CoQ10 has a beneficial effect of preventing photoaging. CoQ10 penetrates into the viable layers of the epidermis and reduces the level of oxidation. Reduction in wrinkle depth following CoQ10 application has also been shown in clinical trials. CoQ10 prevents oxidative DNA damage and suppresses the degradation of collagen.****

References:

*Skin protection against ultraviolet induced free radicals with ascorbyl palmitate in microemulsions. Jurkovic P, Sentjurc M, Gasperlin M, Kristl J, Pecar S. Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

**Topical ascorbic acid on photoaged skin. Clinical, topographical and ultrastructural evaluation: double-blind study vs. placebo. Humbert PG, Haftek M, Creidi P, Lapiere C, Nusgens B, Richard A, Schmitt D, Rougier A, Zahouani H. Department of Dermatology, Hospital Saint Jacques, University of Franche-Comte, Besancon, France.

***Vitamin D enhances mitogenesis mediated by keratinocyte growth factor receptor in keratinocytes. Gamady A, Koren R, Ron D, Liberman UA, Ravid A. The Basil and Gerald Felsenstein Medical Research Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Petah-Tikva, Israel.

***Age-dependent increase of collagenase expression can be reduced by alpha-tocopherol via protein kinase C inhibition. Ricciarelli R, Maroni P, Ozer N, Zingg JM, Azzi A.Institut fur Biochemie und Molekularbiologie, Universitat Bern, Switzerland.

****Coenzyme Q10, a cutaneous antioxidant and energizer. Hoppe U, Bergemann J, Diembeck W, Ennen J, Gohla S, Harris I, Jacob J, Kielholz J, Mei W, Pollet D, Schachtschabel D, Sauermann G, Schreiner V, Stab F, Steckel F.Paul Gerson Unna Research Center, Beiersdorf AG, Hamburg, Germany

Fawn Bales has studied and practiced natural and alternative medicine for over 20 years, and has also studied aesthetic technology and cosmetology. She is the co-author of two natural beauty reference books and a managing editor and partner of Botanical Beauty Lab, a women's reference for natural health and beauty information located at http://www.botanicalbeautylab.com You can reach her by email at fawn@botanicalbeautylab.com

How to Gain Weight and Build More Muscle!

2009-03-30T13:17:00.001+07:00

For many thin guys around the world, gaining weight without using illegal steroids has been a challenge. For thousands of lean young men, the dream is to gain weight, but no matter how much they eat they remain thin. Some people are naturally thin; that means their genetic makeup is in such a way that the body burns more calories than others. The very basic method of weight gain is to eat more calories than your body burns off. By providing the body with more calories, this balance can be altered and body mass can be increased. Weight training is of great importance in this context, which enables the body to absorb more nutrients from the food by increasing the level of certain hormones and increasing the muscle mass.

There are many incorrect beliefs and theories bout building muscle. The type of food to be eaten is an important factor which decides the type of weight gained, whether it is muscle mass or mere accumulation of fat. Some types of calories are not equal to others for gaining muscle; because most processed junk food contains empty, totally nutritionless calories. These foods promote accelerated fat storage, and do not provide the body with the correct nutrients essential for gaining muscle. High quality protein, which the body breaks down into amino acids, should be the centerpiece of all your meals. Intense exercise increases demand for amino acids, which support muscle repair and growth.

Another factor is the selection of the right type of weight training. Resistance exercises will help with muscle growth. Whereas aerobic exercises can result in the reduction of weight. For maximum muscle gain, the focus of your workouts should consist of free weight exercises, rather than machines or bodyweight exercises. To get a very effective workout, you must stimulate as many muscle fibers as possible, and machines do not do this. The main reason for this is a lack of stabilizer and synergist muscle development. Stabilizer and synergist muscles are supporting muscles that assist the main muscle in performing a complex lift.

The results of weight training can vary from person to person, and will usually depend on your consistency and commitment to your program. You should have the patience and motivation for building a powerful body with a consistent diet and exercise schedule.

Exercise Guidelines for building muscle:

Weight training involves the use of equipment that enables variable resistance. This resistance can come in the form of free weights like barbells and dumbbells, machines that use cables or pulleys to help you lift the weight, and bodyweight exercises like pull-ups or dips. The more stabilizers and synergists you work, the more muscle fibers stimulated. The exercises that work the large muscle groups are called compound (or multi-joint) movements that involve the simultaneous stimulation of many muscle groups. These compound exercises should be the foundation of any weight training program because they stimulate the most amount of muscle in the least amount of time. Multi-jointed free weight exercises like the bench press require many stabilizer and synergistic muscle assistance to complete the lift.

Free weight exercises like the dumbbell press or squat put a very large amount of stress on supporting muscle groups. You will get fatigued faster and not be able to lift as much weight as you did on the machine. But you will gain more muscle, become stronger very quickly and have a true gauge of your strength.

If you use machines in your program, they should be used to work isolated areas and only after all multi-jointed exercises have been completed. Beginners should begin with a limited combination of machine exercises, bodyweight exercises and multi-jointed free weight exercises. Before increasing the weight levels, they should work on becoming familiar with the proper form and execution of each.

The following are some proven basic exercises to encourage muscle and strength gain unlike any other exercises.

Bench Presses - works the chest, shoulders, triceps

Overhead Presses - shoulders, triceps

Pull-ups/Barbell Rows - back, bicep

Squats - legs, lower back

Dead lifts - legs, back, shoulders

Bar Dips -shoulders, chest, arms

To build mass, you must weight train with heavy weights. To consider a weight heavy, you should only be able to do a maximum of 4-8 reps before your muscles temporarily fail. A weight is considered 'light' if you can do more than 15 reps before muscle fatigue sets in. Heavy weights stimulate more muscle fibers than lighter weights which result in more muscle growth. Heavy weight training puts a huge strain on your body, so adequate rest and recuperation after your workouts is essential.

Eating guidelines for building muscle:

A high protein diet is an inevitable part of any weight training programme, importantly, protein derived from animal sources. Proteins you need to be concerned with are those found in whey, casein (cottage cheese), eggs, beef, poultry, and fish. Soy protein, tofu and bean curd are some alternatives. Eating the right amount of foods consistently will force your body to grow beyond what you may think possible. The diet also should contain an adequate amount of carbohydrates (potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, oatmeal, cream of wheat, cream of rice, rice, beans, bread, pasta, all cereals) and fat. Green leafy vegetables and fruits also should be included.

When you train with weights, you should eat a minimum of 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. You also must have protein at every meal. To enable your body to actually assimilate and use the all the calories you will ingest, you have to reduce your meal size and increase your meal frequency. Splitting your calories into smaller, more frequent portions will enable food absorption and utilization of nutrients.

During the past 20 years there have been great developments in the scientific understanding of the role of nutrition in health and physical performance. Studies shown that adequate dietary carbohydrate should be ingested (55-60% of total energy intake) so that training intensity can be maintained. Excess dietary saturated fat can exacerbate coronary artery disease; however, low-fat diets result in a reduction in circulating testosterone. So the balance between protein, carbohydrate and fat should be maintained.

So the focus on weight gain programmes must be on two components, lifting heavy weights, which will stimulate the largest amount of muscle fibers. Your body responds to this stimulus by increasing your muscle mass and secondly eat more calories than your body is used to. When you overload your system with plenty of protein and fats, your body has no other choice but to gain weight.

A Mass Gaining program is incomplete without the timely measurements to monitor your progress. Without it, you won't know how exactly your body is responding to your diet and training routine. Just looking in the mirror and guessing is not acceptable. If you want to start getting great results, you must develop the habit of accurately tracking your progress. This also provides the motivation to continue with the weight gain schedule and for the further progression. So even though you have a very thin body type, and haven?t been able to gain weight no matter what you try, you will definitely succeed with a well planned weight gain programme.

References:

1) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part1eating.htm

2) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part2weights.htm

3) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part3muscle.htm

4) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part4suppl.htm

5) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part5monitor.htm

6) http://www.skinnyguy.net/tips.html

7) Lambert CP, Frank LL, Evans WJ. Macronutrient considerations for the sport of bodybuilding. Sports Med. 2004;34(5):317-27

Former skinny guy Anthony Ellis is the author of Gaining Mass. The most widely used weight gain program in the world. This unique program designed to help people gain weight and build muscle, is currently being used in over 90 countries. For more information on how to gain weight and build muscle, check out his website at http://www.fastmusclegain.com

Good Skin Care ? Bacteria is Your Best Medicine

2009-03-29T19:50:00.001+07:00

By now, most of you probably have heard of ?good? bacteria and 'bad' bacteria. Good bacteria help digestion and keep pathogenic substances in check. Bad bacteria compromise the digestive and immune systems. Did you know that the presence of good bacteria could be the most important element of your skin care routine?

At the turn of the century, Dr. Elias Metchnikoff, a Nobel laureate who discovered many immune system components, wrote a book called Prolongation of Life. In this book, he documented the direct connection between longevity and maintaining a proper balance of beneficial microorganisms (bacteria, protozoa, algae, and fungi) within the body. The book inspired what came to be known as the Probiotic Revolution. Although his theories were not immediately accepted, scientists and health and medical professionals are now proving and extending many of his findings on healing, immune system enhancement, disease prevention and life extension.

The precise number of microorganisms in our body is not known, but it is thought to be in excess of 100 trillion. In a healthy, well-balanced body, these create an intestinal ecosystem that protects us against parasites, harmful bacteria, yeast, and viruses - our lives literally hang in the balance of this ecosystem.

The two most prevalent types of microorganisms in the body are bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. Not only do they guard against harmful bacteria, they also are involved in the production of certain nutrients such as Vitamin K and the B vitamins.

The most common food source for probiotics has been yogurt. However, yogurt does not contain the full range of probiotics needed, and the amount contained in most brands has been found to be negligible. Decades ago, before our crops and soil were inundated with chemicals like pesticides and herbicides, our food contained all the probiotics necessary to maintain health. Organisms from soil, called homeostatic soil organisms (HSO), are still our best source of probiotics. A good blend of HSOs, from clean soil without pesticides, herbicides and other pollutants, can be found in health food stores.

Good health begins in the gut. If it?s not in good shape, it will compromise your overall health. And that, of course, will manifest in every organ of the body ? including the skin. So, good skin care also begins in the gut, and it is vital to keep your internal ecosystem balanced.

Author, Gloria MacTaggart, is a freelance writer for The National Skin Care Institute. More information can be found at http://www.skincarenet.org

5 Common Beauty Mistakes That Age Your Skin Prematurely

2009-03-27T19:44:00.001+07:00

What you do now can affect how quickly you age 10 or 20 years down the road. Prevention is better than cure when it comes to premature aging of your skin. Whether you look 10 years older than your peers or 10 years younger than them a few decades from now all depends on what you do now.

These 5 mistakes are

1. Too many late nights.

Whether you party all night long or work through the night to meet deadlines. Not getting enough sleep at night is going to affect your skin. In the short run, you look terrible the next day without makeup. In the long run, your skin ages faster. Some of the women who stay beautiful into their twillight years have always gone to bed early every night since they were young.

2. Too much crash diets.

Lose weight suddenly then gain it back and lose it again quickly, over and over again. Your skin has to readjust to all that weight gain and weight loss so often it loses its elasticity. Result.. you end up looking older than if you had lost weight gradually and kept at a certain weight.

3. Too much junk food

All that sugar, salt, additives, artificial flavouring, cholesterol, fat and unhealthy stuff in your junk food all adds up. It gets worse if for lunch, you have a pack of M & Ms on the go. Not only do you get fat, stretching your skin further, you deprive your body of the nutrients you need. Your skin needs vitamins, minerals, proteins and other nutrients you get from fresh fruit, vegetables, meats, grains and wholesome food. The women who look younger than their actual age tend to have healthy diets. Snack on fresh fruit and nuts instead of junk food. Eat proper nutritious meals.

4. Getting a real tan

No doubt, lots of A-list celebrities sport that glowing tan. The gorgeous crowd is often a tan crowd. You can get that tan too, but do it without the sun or UV lamps. You see, a real tan is produced when the UV rays of the sun damage your skin. It might look healthy but someone who tans regularly when young usually ends up with leathery skin decades later, more wrinkles than their peers, and that is IF they are lucky. Some even end up with skin cancer. The smart way to get that gorgeous tan is use sunless tanning products.

5. Not using sunscreen.

You might use all the anti-aging skin care products you can find, but if you skip sunscreen, all is in vain. Sun damage is one of the biggest culprits in the premature appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Whether you are at the beach or going out to get some groceries, your skin needs protection from the sun. Each morning, as part of your skin care routine, apply a sunblock moisturizer.

The writer is the webmaster of http://www.cosmetics-online.net, where you can find cosmetics, skincare, makeup and all the beauty products from your favourite beauty brand.

Fibromyalgia

2009-03-26T14:36:00.001+07:00

See your doctor, this information is educational. This is intended to complement conventional medicine, not to replace it.

What is fibromyalgia? There has been much confusion about this condition in part because it has been given many names. It used to be called fibrositis, or myofascial pain, myofascial pain syndrome, psychogenic rheumatism, fibromyositis, myofasciitis, tensionmyalgia, or psychological muscle disorder.

Chronic muscular pain is just one facet of this syndrome; it runs much deeper than just sore and aching muscles or joints. Just living with gravity and our modern day stress can cause much of the soreness and muscle tension that most people experience. However, when we have the condition of fibromyalgia, or myofascial pain syndrome, all of the stress and tension is intensified ten-fold.

The chronic pain can be regional, myofascial pain syndrome (in the connective tissue or muscles) or widespread fibromyalgia with overall aches and pains accompanied by neurological and other problems. The condition can be very severe and has many faces.

Since mostly women suffer from fibromyalgia, most experts think it is connected to the hormone estrogen. It could be an estrogen insufficiency or certain hormonal changes that affect the muscle pain. It?s usually found in women over thirty.

I have never heard of males with this condition in my thirty years of experience. I have known only a few women that actually were diagnosed with this condition.

The pain of fibromyalgia is different in every individual and has no limits; sometimes it?s a dull pain and other times sharp. It can be numbness on the surface of the skin or deep, muscular aching that is dull, shooting, burning, throbbing or stabbing, sharp pain. Most often, the pain and stiffness are worse in the morning, and it?s not unusual to hurt in the muscle groups that are used more often: upper neck, shoulders, low back, hips, and legs. In fact, often every joint may hurt. Here again it varies with the person. Their activities or jobs, as well as their mechanical postures, can dictate where they will suffer most.

The Chronic fatigue has been described as ?feeling unmotivated? or ?having mental fatigue.? Some patients told me if they could get the strength to get out of bed then they could deal with the rest of the day.

Chronic Headaches Recurrent migraine or tension type headaches are seen in about 50-60% of fibromyalgia patients and can pose a major problem. Just dealing with the daily activities of life can be a struggle for these patients.

Most have a sleep disorder called the alpha-EEG anomaly. This means that they don?t get to the deeper levels of sleep and they are constantly interrupted by awakening brain activity. Thus, when they wake up they feel that they didn?t get any rest and the body did not get a chance to recover. This condition creates added stress, which keeps them in the vicious cycle. One of my patients said she felt like she?d been run over by a truck when she got up every morning. Another one is Myoclonus or PLMS (nighttime jerking of the arms and legs), restless leg syndrome, and bruxism (teeth grinding).

Temperomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome (TMJ) is connected with the headaches or face pain in 25-30% of FMS patients. Research indicates that as many as 90% of fibromyalgia patients may have jaw and facial tenderness that could produce the same symptoms of TMJ.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) It?s common for many of these women to have bowel problems, constipation or diarrhea. Frequent abdominal or chest pain is also not uncommon. These symptoms are found in 60% to 70% of fibromyalgia patients, according to the research, in addition to PMS and painful menstrual periods (dysmenorrhea).

Other common symptoms include muscle numbness and or tingling sensations; muscle twitching; swollen extremities, dry skin or skin sensitivity, dry eyes and mouth; dizziness and impaired coordination. Often patients experience sensitivity to weather or wind, rain, and changes in temperature. Hormonal fluctuations (premenstrual and menopausal states), depression, anxiety and overexertion can all contribute to symptom flare-ups.

The holistic approach seeks to approach the problem on all levels-- mental, nutritional, and physical. Each aspect of these problems needs a specific modality or therapy. We recommend the use of conventional medicine with nutritional, herbal, biochemical nutrients, bio-mechanical body therapy, and mind-body methods designed to enhance the body?s own natural healing systems.

We know that the best way to approach a vague disease is to use conventional holistic practices such as good nutrition, lower fat intake (especially the saturated fats), less sugar and fewer junk foods. Increase water intake for flushing the system and increase intake of anti-oxidants Vitamins C, E, beta carotene, and a good multi- vitamin, with increased doses of cell salts and selenium. Some medical experts say phosphatigylserine, which is a lipid (fat processor) and gingko biloba can also help ease the condition. Also, adding fish oil capsules.

From a natural perspective, GABA itself is available from the health food stores over the counter. Again, I just want to caution anyone self-medicating, even with natural substances.

Magnesium-calcium and selenium supplements also may help by acting on some of the same neural and muscle receptor sites that GABA influences.

About 80% of our chronic pain patients are deficient in magnesium. That?s because physical pain (and also mental anguish) cause the muscles to overwork and the muscles use up much more magnesium than normal. This is a reason why many athletes need extra magnesium as well.

Ironically, the muscles really need that magnesium to function and not having enough of it increases muscle spasm and pain, as well as the general vulnerability to stressful stimuli such as loud noises, chemicals, and emotional distress. So this hyper-sensitivity puts people in that kind of vicious cycle.

Many of these patients have hypoglycemia or blood sugar control problems as well. This is normally due to the stress of their illness on the glucose/insulin system. Excess stress causes the body to be on high alert. Consequently, the dietary guidelines described above could be very helpful in conjunction with a few quick and helpful nutritional tricks. A small supplementation of olive oil, chromium, or glutamine can usually reverse this common complication.

Natural remedies to help sleep are valerian root, 5-hydroxy tryptophan, passion flower, GABA, and melatonin. Relaxation or meditation training and other natural approaches can do much to restore good sleep. This is a bit more complicated than it sounds; we advise that you consult with a professional. Of course, some medicines can also help with sleep as long as care is taken to not create a habit or dependence on these drugs. Reducing alcohol as well as reducing caffeine and sugar will help the body sleep better.

The most interesting recent research is that the kinds of medicine that work best for fibromyalgia and myofascial pain are not the traditional narcotic pain suppressors such as vicodine, codeine, or the highly potent, non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory medicines such as Celebrex or muscle relaxers such as Flexeril.

The best medicines acrording to Dr. Podell to use instead are those that act on our nervous system and neurochemistry to reduce and reverse allodynia, the body?s abnormal increased sensitivity to that pain.

The most surprising news is that many of the best new medicines are actually old standbys that have been used for many years for other conditions. Because of the complexity of fibromyalgia, we are just re-discovering the beneficial effects for helping the neuro-chemistry. Some of the common medicines used are Baclofen, Elavil, Flexeril, Gabatril, Klonopin, Neurontin, Paxil, Sinequan, Serzone, Xanax, and Zofran.

The above medications, of course, can cause some side effects in some people, so see your doctor for any questions you may have.

Biochemistry and Metabolism

Since every body is very individual there are laboratories specializing in diagnosis that can help us detect metabolic imbalances and dysfunctions.

1. Essential fatty acid analysis which often shows a deficiency of omega-3 essential fatty acids. Certain amino acids analysis often shows a deficiency of the chain relationship of amino acids, with glutamine, taurine, tryptophan or tyrosine being the most common.

2. Other theories pertaining to alterations in neurotransmitters like serotonin and nor epinephrine. As mentioned before, substance P has an immune system function. Substance P is a pain neurotransmitter that has been found by repeat studies to be elevated three-fold in the spinal fluid of fibromyalgia patients. Two hormones that have been shown to be abnormal are cortisol and growth hormone (HGH).

3. A comprehensive digestive and stool analysis can point to digestive enzyme deficiencies, yeast, candida or Epstein-Barr, bacterial overgrowth, or even parasites, which most people will have. The key is your immune system can usually handle it and when it can?t then you succumb to worse problems. I feel that enhancing or strengthening the immune system is the best way to improve health with any disease.

4. Food allergies can be tested for as well or detected by going on an elimination diet. ?Sensitive? food allergies can be identified that can make pain symptoms worse. Be careful with cleansing diets as I have found most people need building foods first due to poor eating habits. Urine tests for milk- or wheat-derived opioid peptides can pinpoint digestive abnormalities that lead to toxic by products. We have found most people are allergic to dairy products as well as to gluten found in wheat products.

5. We used to do hair analysis or DMSA provoked urine testing to detect high levels of toxic metals like mercury or lead. Now we have many other systems for diagnosing and finding problems of that nature.

6. Checking the liver functions and enzyme levels is another way to find problems as the liver is a key organ for cleansing the body.

7. Ordering a screening T4/TSH is a good first approach as well. Many of the symptoms of fibromyalgia mimic hypothyroid muscular disease. Your doctor should order a screening thyroid test as part of the initial workup of fibromyalgia.

8. Checking for hyperthyroid is also done quite easily in the laboratory. Just make sure you are working with someone that takes the time to eliminate other potential problems that could appear as FMS.

Body-Therapy and Mind-Body Therapies

Great relief may come with just getting massage, however, it can also aggravate your condition so usually gentle massage is recommended and not deep tissue work. One of the best techniques for these painful bands is DTF (Deep Transverse Friction), made popular by Dr. James Cyriax. You should see a professional massage therapist trained in this technique.

Trigger point therapy is another technique that helps reduce the stress in the tissues and also should be done with great care. As you will find, within these taut bands of muscle are extraordinarily sensitive pain points.

There is in the realm of body-mind techniques several that have proven effective in neurological balancing. The most popular and widely used are Traggering and Feldenkrais created by two extraordinary people who were pioneers in body-mind therapy. Milton Tragger was an M.D., a neurosurgeon who created a movement type of treatment that is gentle and achieves deep levels of relaxation through rocking motions. He was a friend and I got to know him in Honolulu and experience his work directly. We exchanged a few sessions with each other. It is very great, gentle system of work, soothing to the nervous system.

Feldenkrais was once associated with Ida Rolf, the mother of Rolfing. Rather than doing deep body work on the fasciae like Rolfing, Feldenkrais worked with certain body postures and movements to free up the patterns in the body since it often falls into poor posture and pain. Using movement and re-education of the body was his approach. His theory was to break up the neurological patterns of pain and restrictive movement.

There are a few others that are similar: Aston patterning, Alexander Technique, and certain types of polarity therapy can all be helpful. Often it?s not the technique as much as the belief of the effectiveness of the therapy by the patient.

More Mind Techniques

Of course, one of the best mental treatments for chronic pain and chronic illness, which takes a psychological toll on the mind as well as the body, is bio-feedback training, or some kind of relaxation or meditation techniques. These systems have been around for thousands of years, and only in their application do we think they are new.

There is a very useful technique call Neuro-Linguistic Programming or NLP, another mental tool that changes the physiology by focusing on a positive new pattern rather than on the old problem. And all of Tony Robinson?s work is very powerful for transformations. I was lucky to have met him in the old days when I gave him a treatment and took all his seminars.

Just good old-fashioned deep breathing can do wonders for the pain and the stress level of any individual. Yoga and all the many forms of movement as we talked about before, tai chi or ballroom dancing, for anyone for that matter, may be helpful.

What To Do If You Have FMS

In the long term, the most important thing you need to understand is that the first step is to understanding your fibromyalgia syndrome. We know that it can be chronic, but the symptoms or your episodes may flare up - or mellow out. This, we feel, can depend on your stress level, as well as what you have been doing to work on improving your condition. The impact that FMS has on daily living as well as activities is going to be different with each individual. It is commonly accepted that FMS can be as serious as rheumatoid arthritis in disabling people from working fulltime jobs.

Many patients have felt helpless or hopeless, and generally get very little relief or poor results. We must remember the best results come from using all the tools and methods available. It takes knowledgeable people as well as your commitment to becoming informed to begin getting better. Know that FMS is not a life-threatening disorder, although we can?t say it?s harmless. Some on the far end of the spectrum may feel like they can?t live like this, but on the other side, some people can do well and live a good life.

Get your doctor to do the laboratory tests to rule out other possible maladies that can overlap or appear as FMS. One is hypothyroidism; it can be over-diagnosed but most commonly it?s misdiagnosed. Fibromyalgia patients must have a good and thorough clinical diagnosis. Qualified medical doctors or osteopaths must make this diagnosis and ideally rule out other possibilities.

This disease can be confused with or be similar to MS (multiple sclerosis), lupus, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and even heart problems. You may have TMJ (temperomandibular joint syndrome), candida, Epstein-Barr syndrome, or CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome), or even Lou Gehrig's disease, a brain tumor, spine disease or a whole bunch of other problems. The only way to know it?s FMS is to rule out some of these others, and only a qualified medical or osteopathic doctor can do this.

Fibromyalgia Network for a listing of patient contacts and physician referrals. www.fibromyalgia.com The phone number is: (800) 853-2929.

For Othon see http://www.molinamassage.com for more information and other articles.

May health be with you in all ways. . .

Othon Molina Ph.d. c LMT has been involved in the health field as a manual therapist and personal trainer for over thirty five years. He has studied with some of the top doctors and healers of our times. His specialty is treating sports injuries, back problems, and teaching others how to improve their health or athletic competition using nutrition and fitness technologies.

One of his specialties is Kinesiology, and sports training. He has been a runner all his life, and competed in many triathlons, 5k's, 10k's and marathons. Competing at an elite level gave him the experience to help train others. Recently he coached and worked with the female champion of the German team of triathletes.

Some of his clients include: Bob Hope, Jane Seymor, Essam Kashoggy, Jim Nabors, Tony Robbins, Mark Victor Hansen, Carol Burnett, San Francisco Ballet, Allvin Alley Dance troupe, some of the top Olympic and international elite athletes, team doc and new trainer for the German professional triathletes. He also trains massage teams as well as health professionals worldwide.

Vitamins For Dry Skin

2009-03-25T12:59:00.001+07:00

Dry skin can be caused by a variety of factors. For people suffering from dry skin that has been inherited, there is no permanent solution except to take care of the skin with creams and lotions to avoid aggravating the condition.

Dry skin is also caused by old age. The body then cannot produce sufficient amount of oils and fluids as required. The oily layer on the skin then tends to become dry and often scaly.

Dry skin can also be caused by extreme climate and improper diet. Also, the amount of water intake is proportional to the fluid being retained in the body. All these lead to loss of requisite vitamins from the body.

The skin tends to look dry if Vitamin A and Vitamin B are deficient. Leafy vegetables, fish, and other foods can help in replenishing these vitamins in the body. Juices from citrus fruits can also be of a lot of help in this process.

Dry skin tends to look dull due to lack of Vitamin E in the skin. This can be taken care of by using the lotions that are rich in vitamin E. This produces a glowing and healthy skin.

Olive oil and almond oil are very rich in Vitamin E. Regular massage with these oils can prove to be very beneficial. Olive bath oil can also be applied on the wet skin right after bath, and the excess blotted out with tissue. This helps block the moisture from escaping soon after the bath and provides a soft and smooth skin.

Dry Skin provides detailed information on Dry Skin, Dry Skin Care, Dry Skin Treatment, Dry Skin Lotion and more. Dry Skin is affiliated with Natural Acne Skin Care.

Tips For A Glowing Skin

2009-03-24T12:08:00.001+07:00

Do you know how and where to moisturize? Here are some helpful hints?

MOISTURISING our skin is essential to maintain that 'young, beautiful' look. On another note, is it necessary to moisturize all areas of your skin? The answer is NO. Many models actually go to private 'beauty' classes to learn how, when and where to moisturize their skin. So, learn your skin type, don't be 'afraid to try many products before settling on one.

1. Do not over moisturize as it can lead to clogged pores. Your forehead and cheeks tend to be the drier areas. There is no need to moisturize your chin if it is not needed.

2. Most women misdiagnose their skin type. This can cause improper moisturizing. You also need to change your techniques of moisturizing with the changes of seasons. Know about the various moisturizers - http://beauty-cosmetic-guide.com/moisturizers.htm

3. When using a moisturizer, always apply it to the skin in a circulatory motion. Pat your skin with the tips of your fingers gently as if playing a tune on a piano. This is also a great stimulant for your skin.

4. Tired of buying moisturizers too often? Here is how to make them last longer. Use a small amount of natural vegetable oil as a base first. This will help make your moisturizer last much longer.

5. Use a moisturizer as a base before applying your foundation. For best results, wait until the moisturizer is dry and then apply foundation. However, if your foundation is somewhat dry; then apply it right away; your moisturizer will help it to loosen up a bit.

6.To get the best results from any of your facial products, rub it between your hands, this helps to heat it up, and hence, becomes easier to apply.

For more tips and article on beauty and skin care - http://beauty-cosmetic-guide.com/

About the Author: Nikhil Jain MBBS is an editor and author (http://www.beauty-cosmetic-guide.com), skin specialist and veteran dermatologist whose passion is guiding others to solve their skin problems and enhance their beauty.

Salicylic Acid Acne Treatment Information

2009-03-23T10:16:00.001+07:00

Salicylic acid treatment is as natural as steeped black willow bark. That of course would yield a chemical equivalent. One of its forms is a main ingredient in aspirin. Why then is this one of the four FDA approved ingredients for over-the-counter acne medications?

One of the guiding principals in facial skin care is the word gentle. Other areas of the body are thicker skinned but the face has thin and more delicate epidermal layers. So whatever the purpose of the medication it must be gentle enough to perform its function without damaging the skin in any way.

This ingredient is often used in soaps of all forms. Cleansers for acne use salicylic acid treatment to gently exfoliate. The strength of the solution used may vary widely from medicated soap or cleansing cream to the next.

Solutions of salicylic acid treatment as low as 2% can provide antibacterial and exfoliating functions. Some companies market products containing salicylic acid treatments with solutions ranging from 5%, 10%, 20%, or 35% depending on level of exfoliating properties desired.

The very concentrated solutions are deep peeling and are not designed for daily use. Perhaps as infrequently as twice a month or less is the proper recommendation for these very high concentrations of this ingredient. You don't want to leave the stronger percentage Salicylic Acid peels on your skin too long or you could end up with a painful chemical burn.

So it seems that the difference between gently cleansing and removal of fairly deep layers of skin is simply the strength of the solution of the same ingredient. Whether weak or strong the theory of exfoliating in the routine treatment of acne is the same.

Removal of outermost layers of skin is intended to free up the plugs that clog pores and allow them to become dislodged. This is the reason that they are so often included in cleansers. Once dislodged they can be quickly washed away.

Mrs. Party... Gail Leino is the internet's leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies, using proper etiquette and manners while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. Free info. on Adult Acne and skin care treatments.

Psoriasis Skin Inflammation & Psoriatic Arthritis

2009-03-22T16:33:00.000+07:00

A person affected might first mistake it for fungal infection, a disease that also causes white patches to appear on the skin. A big difference between the two is the inflammation of the affected area and the silvery white scale that covers it. These patches are called ?lesions.? The coverage area of these lesions can range from minimal to widespread depending on the person affected. For most people, though, psoriasis tends to be mild. Unlike fungal infection also, psoriasis is not contagious. Contrary misconceptions, it cannot be passed on to another person by skin contact.

Psoriasis can develop on any part of the body but it commonly appears on the scalp, knees, elbows, and torso. The appearance of lesions is often symmetrical. That?s why when a lesion appears on the right side of the body, the person affected should expect one to appear on the left also.

Psoriasis rarely appears on children. It usually develops at the age of 15 to 35 and occurs equally both on men and women no matter what race.

Occurrence of psoriasis can range from mild to moderate to severe. When three to ten percent of the body is affected, it is considered a moderate case, but when more than ten percent is affected, it is already considered severe. Whatever the case of psoriasis a person has, though, it always affects his or her quality of living because of the health complications it entails. The skin, which is its primary target, can appear to be discolored if severe psoriasis occurs.

Another health complication that is linked with psoriasis is psoriatic arthritis. It may develop anytime but, mostly, it occurs in the adults. Although having psoriasis does not necessarily mean that psoriatic arthritis will follow.

I hope this has given you a better understanding of the condition psoriasis.

Psoriasis facts in plain English by Jason Herbert the webmaster of Vitiligo
Info. http://www.vitiligoinfo.com/

The Protection Against Solar UV Rays is Not a Fairy Tale!

2009-03-21T22:05:00.000+07:00

Solar UV radiation (UVA and UVB) produces reactive oxygen species (ROS), within both dermal and epidermal cells. The reactive oxygen resulted from a dissociation of molecular oxygen in atomic oxygen has high affinity for different organic molecules, increasing their potential for oxidation, which can affect proteins structure, causes local inflammation and initiates several unfavorable skin cell reactions.

Both layers of the skin, epidermis (the upper layer) and dermis (the lower layer) are affected by UV rays. UVB radiation easily penetrates the epidermis and stimulates melanocytes, one of the cells types on the epidermis to produce a brownish pigment called melanin. Melanin protects the skin by absorbing and scattering ultraviolet rays. UVB rays are shorter and are responsible for the sunburns we feel when our skin is unprotected. UVA goes deeper into the skin and cause major changes in the dermis. The collagenous constituents of dermis, responsible for the skin?s strength, show marked alterations in their composition. This radiation is responsible for the acceleration of the skin aging process by breaking down the collagen and elastin tissues. UVA rays cause skin tanning, age spots, and wrinkling of the skin, as well as contribute to the development of skin cancer.

Sunscreen agents with SPF of 15 or greater are considered sun blocks because they may absorb more than 92% of UVB radiation. Currently, there is no standard method to assess sunscreen agents for UVA protection.

Usually, it is recommended to use creams, lotions and mineral make-up with sunscreen capabilities to protect your skin against UVB radiation. However, sun UVB blockers constituents, such as the derivatives of cinnamon (cinnamic aldehyde, cinnamic oil, octyl methoxycinnamate), PABA ( para- aminobezoic acids) and esters or salicylates (octyl salicylates , triethanolamine salicylate) can cause allergic reactions, irritation and might photosensitizes your skin. Titanium dioxide and Zinc oxide reflect radiation and reduce the chance of an allergic skin reaction. However, the researches have been shown that microscopic particles of titanium dioxide, also called nano-particles, may increase the formation of free-radicals (reactive oxygen species) onto the skin.

Topical antioxidants can be effective in protecting against and reversing photodamage of the skin. Researches have been shown that topical vitamin C and E, as well as the mineral selenium can protect against sunburn, suntan and skin cancer. Only certain forms of these antioxidants are stable and active after absorption onto the skin. For example, vitamin C must be non-esterified and has to be acidic, vitamin E must be non-esterified and has to be the isomer, D-alpha tocopherol. Selenium is active only when applied topically as L-selenomethionine. It was also shown that topical application is several times more effective than oral administration of these antioxidants.

Antioxidants found naturally in their milieu, such as herbal extracts or oils are most likely more active than the same isolated antioxidants. For example by looking for vitamin C you may find it in active form and substantial quantities in Rosehip seed extract or oil. Further Sea Buckthorn oil is extremely rich in carotenoids, vitamin E and selenium. It has been already shown the important role of carotenoids in prevention and treatment of different cancer types due to their antioxidant capabilities. There is no wonder that the Russian cosmonauts have been using Sea Buckthorn base creams to protect themselves against cosmic radiation. Grape seed extract is rich in flavonoids and phytochemicals that have antioxidant properties, which some consider are even greater than vitamin C and vitamin E. The most valuable flavonoids in grape seed extract are proanthocyanidins, commonly called PCOs. The experts compare the therapeutic qualities of grape seed extract with those of Pycnogenol, a very powerful and expensive antioxidant used as an alternative treatment for heart and cancer disease.

In conclusion, be careful when select your sun blocker creams, lotions and make-up. They might not be appropriate for your skin type and they can trigger skin damage. For highly UV protection, I recommend the usage of skin care products based on complex combination of antioxidants. Not all antioxidants act in the same way to protect your skin. The richer environment in antioxidants, the greater protection against free radicals (ROS) is expected.

Here is the Best Acne Product

2009-03-17T14:04:00.000+07:00

Acne is that irksome, soul destroying affliction which presents itself usually when we approach adolescence and which can continue well into our adult years - sometimes persisting for a lifetime for an unfortunate few. The frustration and embarrassment caused by this malady transposes into a never-ending search for the best acne product to help alleviate the problem.

Needless to say, the condition of acne is something shared by almost everybody at some time in their lives and, as would be expected, the number of products on the market is legion; because of this it can be very difficult to find just what may be the best acne product for you personally. The problem is that everybody is different. You may have a normal skin type, dry or even oily, as this will have some bearing on what type of product and treatment may be suitable for you.

In the search for the best acne product it just boils down to trial and error. Products should be chosen with your particular skin type taken into consideration and you may have to search considerably until you find success. Another thing to be aware of is that you may come across a product that will have an adverse effect so care must be taken: the last thing you want is to seek remedial treatment for a worsened skin condition.

In your search for the best acne product you may come to the decision that there is no one product that stands out. Perhaps a combination of one or more products may be best for you - again trial and error will tell. There are certainly plenty to chose from and some treatments include prescription products (which normally would have higher concentrations of the various ingredients) and various other products which can be bought at the local drug store without prescription. The best acne product can include face peels, exfoliants, washes and even make-up to help tone down existing conditions.

Alongside the various medications the very best acne product starts with your own daily regime of skin care. The skin must be kept scrupulously clean in order that bacteria are kept at bay. It is not recommended that spots and pimples be squeezed or picked as this may lead to permanent scarring which usually cannot be removed. Far better to prevent such condition than try to remedy it afterwards. Even with the most meticulous care of your skin, eruptions will still appear but by diligent attention to skin cleansing these can be kept to a minimum.

Now a word of caution; always bear in mind that all acne products bought over the counter contain chemicals and can have disastrous results if used on the wrong skin types. Before embarking upon any remedial action using these products it is strongly advised to check with your medical practitioner and follow any advice given. Your complexion is very delicate and any harmful results from inappropriate medications will decidedly show up. Certainly, facial scarring is something to be avoided at all costs.

To sum up; the best acne product is a combination of your own scrupulous attention to skin cleansing together with one or more of the products that work for your skin type. Once the correct combination has been found you may be one of those fortunate people who go through adolescence without the constant embarrassment suffered by many others due to acne - surely the dream of many an adolescent.

A. J. Hunter has been on the Internet for many years, and is currently the CEO of one of the most up to date sites on acne scar treatment available today. Find out more by visiting: http://www.acne-scar-treatment.co.uk

Skin Types Sunscreen Products & SPF

2009-03-15T18:56:00.001+07:00

Whether you?re outdoors for recreational or work purposes, repeated exposure to the sun will have its natural consequences for your skin.

Regardless of color, skin that is repeatedly exposed to the sun tends to become tough and thick. Beyond the middle years of adulthood, the results can include wrinkly, leathery skin.

Irrespective of the circumstances for sun exposure, selecting a sunscreen product that offers some degree of protection from the sun?s UV rays can be one way to protect your skin from these ageing affects.

Due to the variety and range of sunscreen products available, here are some basic factors to consider in making an appropriate selection:

1. Ingredients:

Sunscreen products can be made with ingredients to protect against UVA rays, and / or other ingredients to protect against UVB rays (which are in fact more harmful for sun burning than UVA rays). The best products offer ingredients for protection from both UVA and UVB rays. Consider also the actual ingredient list. (I.e. Are they naturally derived / safe, or do they contain potentially harmful chemicals?).

2. SPF (Sun Protection Factor):

The SPF number on the product?s label refers to the strength of protection, and the length of time a sun-screening product will allow your skin to be in the sun without burning - relative to the length of time bare skin (or skin without the product applied) would burn or redden.

To sum that up, the SPF number tells people how much longer they can last out in the sun with protection for their skin, without being burned. The higher the SPF number, the longer the period of protection against the sun.

For example, let?s say ?Joe?, a young student, would normally burn after 12 minutes of being out in the sun. He applies a sunscreen, also referred to as a sun block, with an SPF of 15. This means that he should be fine for 15 times his average amount of protection time. In other words, ?Joe? would be protected for up to 3 hours. Here?s the formula for calculating: 12 minutes x 15 SPF = 180 minutes (3 hours).

(Now if ?Joe? applied a sunscreen with an SPF of 30, he?d be protected for up to 6 hours. E.g. 12 minutes X 30 SPF = 360 minutes (6 hours)).

3. Skin Type:

When selecting a sunscreen, it?s important to consider the different skin types and how they react with exposure to the sun.

Young children: For ages 6 months+, consider a product with SPF of 15 or higher to protect against both sun tanning and burning. Also consider a product label that lists protection against both UVA and UVB rays (also known as the broad-spectrum).

Skin Type - Very Fair: This skin type generally burns quickly. Tanning is rare. Consider sunscreen products containing SPF 20 to 30.

Skin Type ? Fair: This skin type almost always burns easily. Some tanning can occur, although not much. Consider sunscreen products containing SPF 12 to 20.

Skin Type ? Light: This skin type burns in the moderate range. Tanning is normally gradual, yielding a light brown shade. Consider sunscreen products containing SPF 8 to 12.

Skin Type ? Medium: This skin type burns in the minimal range. Tanning happens much of the time, yielding a moderate brown shade. Consider sunscreen products containing SPF 4 to 8.

Skin Type ? Dark: This skin type rarely burns. Tanning occurs big time, yielding a dark brown shade. Consider sunscreen products containing SPF 2 to 4.

Skin Type ? Other: This skin type includes people with moles (or whose close blood-relatives have a history of moles), people with skin cancer in their family histories (including melanoma), and people with very fair skin and hair. As this is a high-risk category for health damage from too much UV exposure, consider using sunscreen products with the highest SPF available, combined with light to moderate sun exposure.

Once you?ve selected the most suitable sunscreen product, and regardless of your skin type, apply your sunscreen ?before? going out into the sun?s rays. To ensure the best possible UV protection, the sunscreen product should also be spread fairly thick, and in a uniform manner over all areas of the skin that will be exposed to the UV rays.

Whatever your current circumstances and choices are for going out in the sun, taking appropriate care of your skin ?now? will help determine a healthier and younger-looking skin in the future.

Acne Skin Care: 8 Simple Tips to Follow

2009-03-15T12:37:00.001+07:00

Commonly affecting the skin condition of people between ages 12 to 24 is a disease called acne. The cause of acne is hard to determine. However, over secretion of the sebaceous glands is pointed as the cause to trigger most acne outbreaks.

Pilosebaceous units are the combination of the hair follicles and oil glands in the skin. Except for the surface of the palms and the soles of the feet, pilosabaceous units are found on the skin tissue throughout the body . They are responsible in secreting the oily substance called sebum.

However, due to many factors (e.g. hormonal imbalances, stress and the skin's natural condition) the oil glands may be induced to produce more sebum than normal. When this happens, the excess oil plugs the skin pores. This process brings about bacterial infection and stimulate the reaction of the immune system. In the end, acne inflammation results.

Acne can strike at any skin type. An oily skin type is most susceptible to acne. Dry skin on the other hand, may not be as susceptible but serious outbreaks may occur during winter. Normal skin is equally susceptible to acne but the level of severity may not be as high.

Presently, acne is not yet totally curable but can be remedied with several acne skin care methods. Many seek the help of topical medications, which are applied on the surface of the skin. However, employing the use of acne skin care products like pore strip pads may remove whiteheads and blackheads but they would not have any effect on the excess sebum produced.

Nevertheless, for remedy and prevention, it is best to employ the following 8 simple tips:

1. A healthy, well-balanced diet must be observed. Therefore, your food intake must incorporate all the essential nutrients the body needs for efficient functioning.

2. Drink plenty of fluids like water, juices. Minimize the intake of carbonated drinks.

3. No make up is recommended.

4. Wash your face with mild soap and water. The logic is to not remove the dirt (as the majority of acne-inflicted person perceive) but to remove the plugs on the skin pores, which may be a combination of dead skin cells, bacteria and hardened sebum. Although dirt is not truly the cause of acne, it may contribute to further infection through its interaction with skin debris and particles and extra oil in the skin.

5. Use topical cleansing pads that may contain one or the combination of the following: salicylic acid, sulfur and benzoyl peroxide to remove excess oil. Another way to minimize the presence of extra oil in the skin is to wash the face with the hottest water you can withstand.

6. Minimize the use of harsh cleansers and use acne skin care items that exfoliate mildly. Do not scrub vigorously to the affected areas.

7. If your hands are dirty, refrain from touching your face.

8. If you have long hair, tie up your hair so that it is kept away from the face. This is especially so if the weather is hot and you have been perspiring.

Preventative acne skin care steps are just as important as the treatment of acne itself. With prevention, at least, you know how to ensure that your acne problem does not escalate and spread to a bigger infected area.

Kathelene Capelle is a writer for beauty tips and advice. Her blog includes useful information on acne remedy, natural skin care, natural remedies for skin care and anti-aging. She also provides step-by-step recipes for skin care that you can easily prepare from ingredients right out from your kitchen. Get updated on tips and resources at http://www.acne-and-skin-care.com

Wait! Don't Shower Yet!

2009-03-12T20:46:00.001+07:00

Although you may be aware of the contaminants in drinking water these days, have you ever stopped to consider that the same pollutants are in your shower and bathing water? Would it surprise you to learn that your body actually absorbs more chemical contaminants like chlorine during a quick shower than all the water you will drink during the day?

Our skin being the largest organ on our body will absorb anything we put on it. Lotions, perfumes, creams and even contaminants in shower water quickly move into the blood stream as they by pass the liver, actually they absorb much more quickly than if we are ingesting them orally.

If you are concerned about drinking chlorinated water and the high cancer risks associated with it than consider this..... Two-thirds of the harmful chlorine exposure actually comes from showering.

A 15 minute hot steamy shower is equivalent to drinking 8 glasses of water because of the vapors inhaled. The EPA states that Due to chlorine and showering virtually every home in America has a detectable level of chloroform in the air. This is because chlorine vaporizes in steam and combines with other organic compounds into chloroform which is a strong respiratory irritant and causes fatigue. A warm shower opens pores and allows a high rate of absorption. During a shower, 98% of the water goes down the drain, while 70-90% of the chemicals vaporize before the water hits the ground and the vapors remain in the air.

Bathing in chlorinated water also strips the natural protective oils in the skin and hair causing scaling and itching and is a major irritant for skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. It kills the beneficial bacteria on the surface of the skin that offer a natural defense against skin disorders. So if you or a loved one suffers from a skin disorder, the most important step you can take is to eliminate the greatest irritant which is chlorine by investing in a quality shower filter. You will also love how soft and less dry your hair and skin is. A shower filter will be one of the best investments in your health and your family's health that you can make, and all for a very reasonable price.

Dawn Kornels is the technical writer for http://www.ultimatewaterfilter.com which offers articles and whole house water treatment systems.

How to Exfoliate Dead Skin Cells

2009-03-12T17:38:00.001+07:00

Exfoliating dead skin cells is one of the simplest ways to achieve the fresh and healthy glow of new skin. After all, that's exactly what exfoliating is -- removing the top layer of dead skin cells and allowing the new and healthier skin cells to rise to the surface. Simply washing your skin with traditional soap and water isn?t enough. To remove those nasty dead skin cells you will need to exfoliate your skin on a regular basis.

There are several reasons that exfoliating is good for your skin. Regular exfoliating gives your skin a more radiant look and a smoother feel. Over time, it can help to reduce the appearance of fine lines and will contribute to your skin?s firmness and tone. It increases the blood circulation in the skin, helps to remove toxins, rids your skin of dry, rough patches, and can even help to break down and lessen the appearance of cellulite, something we would all be grateful not to have. It enhances the effects of daily moisturizing by allowing the moisturizer to penetrate the skin more deeply. Although exfoliating is good for your skin, it should be done in moderation. Depending on the strength of your exfoliating product, most dermatologists recommend that you exfoliate your face one to two times a week and other parts of your body about three times a week.

The reasons for exfoliating your dead skin cells are compelling but just how do you go about actually doing it. There are such a large variety of products on the market today that it can be quite difficult to decide where to start. First, there are several natural ways to eliminate dead skin cells. One such way is to use sea salts. Simply wet the face, or wherever you?re exfoliating, and apply a couple of tablespoons of sea salt to the dampened area. Using a washcloth or your fingers, gently massage the sea salts into your skin in a circular motion. Continue this for about two or three minutes and rinse with cold water. You can also make your own exfoliating cream by using 2 cups of brown sugar, 1 cup of Olive Oil, and ginger. Apply in the same fashion as mentioned above. The added benefit of these natural exfoliants is they are cost effective.

There are multiple products on the market today that you can choose from if going the all-natural route isn?t for you. Most of these exfoliates will contain Beta Hydroxy Acids and Alpha Hydroxy Acids. These are both non-toxic, herbal acids that are effective in sloughing off the dead skin cells on the body.

Brian Fong
http://www.NaturalVisage.com/

Exfoliating dead skin is one of the simplest ways to achieve the fresh and healthy glow of new skin.

Herbal Acne Treatments That Work

2009-03-11T14:25:00.001+07:00

In the United States alone, there are over 40 Million people who struggle with acne. Many of these people treat acne using chemicals such as antibiotics, prescription drugs, benzoyl peroxide, and salicylic acid.

However, there is a growing number of people who choose herbal acne treatments over traditional medications. Usually, herbal medications have far fewer side effects, and are not as dangerous as some of the prescription drugs.

The problem however, is that the United States does very little to regulate the herbal supplement industry. Unlike traditional chemical medications, herbal medications are not required to be clinically proven to work, or even to be safe. An example of this lack of regulation recently came to light with ephedra related deaths, and ephedras subsequent ban.

This lack of regulation results in many different acne products on the market. All of which claim to heal, prevent, or even cure acne with few, if any, side effects.

The truth is, there are very few herbal acne treatments that are scientifically proven to work. Traditional chemical treatments are still the most effective in stopping acne.

There are only 2 herbal treatments that have been clinically proven to help stop acne, tea tree oil and green tea cream.

Tea tree oil is a natural oil, derived from the Melaleuca alternifolia, a particular type of tea tree found exclusively in Australia. While it has been used from hundreds of years by the native aboriginals as a treatment for just about anything, it has only recently been accepted by modern medicine as being a viable anti-bacterial agent.

Even though tea tree oil has been suspected as an anti-bacterial agent for some time, A groundbreakings study was conducted in 1990 by I.B. Bassett, which compared tea tree oil to benzoyl peroxide in the treatment of acne. It was found that tea tree oil is as effective as a 5% benzoyl peroxide solution. It takes longer (6 weeks) for the tea tree oil to be as effective, but participants in the study reported none of the side effects associated with benzoyl peroxide, such as redness, skin irritation, or dry skin.

This study has helped tea tree oil become a recognized and legitimate herbal acne treatment. However, there is no need to purchase an expensive cream that contains tea tree oil. Just applying several drops of the oil directly on the acne has shown to be the most effective way to apply tea tree oil.

This was the only herbal acne treatment that had been proven to work until recently, when Dr. Jennifer Gan-Wong conducted a study that shows green tea can also effectively fight acne.

Dr. Gan-Wong compared a green tea cream with 3% green tea, to a 4% benzoyl peroxide solution, and found that the results in treating acne where the same for both the tea and the peroxide. These results were recently presented at the 2003 annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.

These findings are relatively recent, and are not yet corroborated by additional independent studies. However, this evidence does demonstrate that the natural anti-bacterial properties of green tea can be effective to treat acne.

For those of you who are confused by the plethora of herbal acne treatments available, there really are only 2 that have been proven to be effective in fighting acne. Green tea cream, and tea tree oil. While many other herbal acne treatments may be good to moisturize the skin, or reduce oils, these are the only two that should be considered truly effective acne treatments.

Greg Podsakoff is a former acne sufferer, and editor of http://www.acne-treatments-guide.com

Ten Habits of Flawless Skin

2009-03-10T14:32:00.001+07:00

1. Don't overdo the use of cosmeceuticals. With more and more beauty potions containing alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs), salicylic acids, antioxidants, and retinoids, mixing a cleanser from one line with a scrub or daytime moisturizer from another, then a night cream from yet another, can lead to over-exfoliation and irritation. This can add up to a real problem, especially for women with olive and darker complexions, who are more prone to discoloration when their skin is irritated.

2. Exercise. Twenty to 30 minutes of any aerobic exercise will give you a glow. Exercise increases blood flow, which brings more nutrients to the skin. But beware -- the buildup of oil and perspiration can result in sweatband acne, folliculitis, and prickly heat. The solution: Shower as soon as possible after working out.

3. Exfoliate. By mildly abrading your skin with exfoliating agents, you will remove the surface layer of dead cells. Afterward, fine lines will be less visible and your complexion will glow. A microdermabrasion cloth can do the trick. To find out more about microdermabrasion cloths check out www.youthfulskinsecrets.com

4. Check your body for spots. Any sudden or suspicious-looking bump, mole, or other growth is reason to see a dermatologist. But as skin-cancer rates rise, having a full body check by a professional is crucial -- especially for those of us in the baby-oil-and-iodine, pre-sunscreen generation. People in a high-risk group -- having a personal or family history of skin cancer, a lot of moles, fair skin, and/or light eyes or hair -- may need regular checkups starting in their teens, and probably no later than age 35, Even if you're not in a high-risk group, the American Cancer Society recommends that between the ages of 20 and 40, people have a cancer-related checkup, including a skin exam, every three to four years. Once you hit your 40s, begin having a cancer-related checkup, including a skin exam, every year.

5. Eat Healthy Foods. Antioxidants (vitamins A, C, and E) -- which help reduce sun damage and fight certain cancers, including skin cancer -- are essential to your health. A well-balanced diet filled with at least five servings a day of fruits and vegetables, plus a multivitamin that meets RDA standards.

6. Don't wear makeup to bed. We all know it, but we sometimes do it anyway. Layers of foundation, powder, and blusher left on overnight can clog pores and lead to acne or folliculitis, Take it all off before bed with a mild non-soap cleanser.

7. Handle pimples carefully. Poking, prodding, and popping can prolong a pimple's life and make the problem worse. Scarring and the spread of infection are two possible consequences. To speed up healing, cleanse your face, then apply a warm compress, such as a clean, damp washcloth. Next, dab on an over-the-counter cream or lotion containing a drying agent, such as salicylic acid, sulfur, or benzoyl peroxide.

8. Get plenty of sleep. Most of us don't get the eight to nine hours we need to avoid sleep deprivation. The effects aren't hard to detect -- namely, under-eye circles. The solution: Budget in sleep time, including a short afternoon nap whenever you can manage it

9. Drink plenty of water. Yes, drinking water does keep you hydrated, which helps skin look and feel better, Get in the standard 6 to 8 eight-ounce glasses throughout the day -- more if you're a heavy exerciser. Also, many of the new sugar substitutes are dehydrating, so drink more water if you're into low-cal liquids.

10. Use Natural Cosmeceuticals. To wisely to play it really safe, stick with one line of natural products which are formulated to work together. If you use any prescription products ask your dermatologist to advise you on how to combine prescription treatments with over-the-counter natural cosmeceutical products. Visit http://www.derma-c.com for a listing of their natural cosmeceutical product line.

Clifford Bond is the CEO/Naturopathic Doctor of DermaCeuticals Inc. DermaCeuticals manufactures and distributes skin care products that are dedicated to reducing the visible signs of aging and improving the overall health and appearance of the skin. Our product line consists of antioxidants, moisturizers, exfoliants, cleansers and toners-all designed, formulated, and tested for effectiveness.

Great Looking Skin

2009-03-09T01:01:00.001+07:00

Maintaining great skin can be a challenge if you don?t know the secrets to having perfect skin. Did you know that what you eat and what you use on your skin plays a tremendous role on the state of your skin?

Regardless of your skin type, all skin types should avoid eating fried foods because these foods contain free radicals that are toxic to the vital enzymes in the body.

Other foods that should also be avoided are alcohol and caffeine, especially on those individuals with dry skin. Alcohol and caffeine are diuretics that cause the skin to lose fluids and minerals. Basically, the diuretics dehydrate the skin making it look tired and dry leading to premature aging.

A great moisturizing secret is to use food from your kitchen on your skin. For example, avocado makes an excellent moisturizing facemask. It conditions the skin leaving it feeling moisturized and looking vibrant.

Try this recipe:

Mash ? avocado with 1 tbsp of plain yogurt.

Blend well and apply to clean skin.

Leave on for 10 ? 15 minutes and then rinse off face.

Proper cleansing of the skin prior to applying any moisturizer or facemask is always recommended. It's best that the pores are completely clean for the best results

If you want to learn more about having your own spa at home and healthy living, visit www.homespasecrets.com

Jan Johnson is the founder of http://www.homespasecrets.com offering free information on creating your own at-home spa on a dime. HomeSpaSecrets.com also offers healthy living tips and information.

Ayurvedic Medicine System

2009-03-08T02:04:00.001+07:00

Ayurveda medicine is a very comprehensive medicine system that is more that 5,000 years old, that is based on a holistic medicine approach that has its roots in Vedic Culture. Inside the word Ayurveda you will see the word veda, which means knowledge, tells us it's important role in ancient hinduism. Charaka Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita are two early texts of Ayurveda. There use to be a tradition of surgery associated with ayurveda.

For the most part Ayurvedic therapies are herbal compounds. This is largerly due to it's ancient roots. In later times alchemical preparations start to enter the ayurvedic pharmacopieia. Ayurveda also provides therapies to treat different vegetable and animal toxins. Examples of this are things like snake, spider and scorpion venom. In fact there is an entire branch of Ayurvedic medicine that deals with the science of toxicology.

The main idea behind Ayurveda is that an organsism adapts to the food and its environment. By then introducing small quantaties of food and or medicine, the organism can adapt to it and learn to resist it. This is quite a basic principle and illustrates the complexity of the immune system and of the body as a whole.

The information provided above is only a breif look at the medicine, and some of it's qualities and idea's. Ayurveda is an extremely interesting form of medicine; it is easy to see why it has stayed with us over the past 5000 years!

Feel free to reprint this article as long as you keep the article, this caption and author biography in tact with all hyperlinks.

Ryan Fyfe is the owner and operator of Ayurvedic Schools Treatment - http://www.ayurvedic-schools-treatment.com, which is the best site on the internet for all Ayurvedic related information.

Homemade Facial Mask Recipes

2009-03-07T02:35:00.001+07:00

Have you ever calculate how much money you have spent for beauty purpose in a month or a year? $200? $500? or maybe $1000 or more? Maybe it's time for you to stop wasting too much money by trying some cheaper beauty products which also will bring you the same results (or even more) compare with those expensive ones.

These are all natural homemade facial mask recipes, which you can prepare easily within minutes and the best part is: won?t cost you much!

* Normal, combination skin, oily and blemished skin

Mix one egg white, 1/2 cup cooked instant oatmeal, a teaspoon olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice until smooth. Spread on your face and neck, leave on for 15 ? 30 min then rinse with lukewarm water. Few drops lemon juice will help to reduce blackheads while egg white will leave your skin feel ?tight? after this mask application.

* Dry skin

Mix one egg yolk, a teaspoon honey and a teaspoon olive oil and some vitamin E oil. Spread over your face and neck, leave on for 15 ? 30 min then rinse in lukewarm water. You can add more olive oil if you still feel dry on your skin.

* Dry and spotted skin

Mix dry oatmeal (you may grind it in a blender), honey and plain yogurt to make a paste. Spread it over your face and neck, leave on 15 ? 30 min then rinse with lukewarm water. You may add a little salt and olive oil to make an exfoliating mask or scrub for your bocy dry skin area.

For more information about beauty, health and fitness, please visit http://beauty-health-fitness.blogspot.com and for beauty, health and fitness selected stuff, please visit http://beauty-health-fitness-estore.blogspot.com

Sunscreen: The Very Best Advice

2009-03-07T00:44:00.001+07:00

Exposure to the sun and its ultraviolet rays is the most harmful thing you can do to your skin. Many people have had skin cancer as a direct result of too much sun exposure. Imagine, you are trying to reduce the signs of aging or attempting to bronze the tone of your skin and you end up with a cancerous cyst on your face or body that has to be removed. Take great care of your skin?especially if you are going to be outdoors, even just for a little while.

They say that wearing sunglasses any time you are outside during the day is a very good idea. But you must choose carefully which kind of sunglasses you purchase, because if they do not have a certain percent of UV protection, they will not work as well as they should. You want the highest quality sunglasses you can get. However, as you know wearing a good pair of sunglasses does not take the place of wearing sunscreen. You will always want the sunscreen, and you may want both. Both methods of protection used together are the preferable, and most recommended course of action to take against the harmful effects of the sun.

Of course, the skin care manufacturers and professionals at the beauty counters in department stores or of the skin care products in the make-up isle of your local grocery store have caught on to this public spread of skin care awareness and have adapted their products accordingly.

Almost every make-up base has an SFP of some sort? some of them contain amounts of sunscreen as low as SPF 5, but usually the SPF level is somewhere in the vicinity of SPF 15. By this method, many make-up manufacturers believe that more women will buy their products instead of opting for a shiny face and smelling like the local pool.

The same is true for moisturizers. You can find daytime moisturizers in both expensive and inexpensive stores that also contain SPF levels, again usually SPF 15. It is recommended that you wear these moisturizers alone or underneath your make-up.

So that takes care of your face, whether you shop at inexpensive stores or at stores that are a bit more expensive?what you really need is that SPF. But now what about the rest of you? What about your arms and legs and belly showing in the sun? Remember to purchase plenty of sunscreen this season for you and your kids? protection. And, believe it or not it is recommended that one wear sunscreen even in the wintertime or on a cloudy day. The sun is still there, and as a matter of fact, it has been said that the sun can be worse on your skin when the sky is slightly cloudy because the UV rays have a sort of prism-effect as they penetrate the clouds, magnifying the UV damage that can be caused to the skin.

Mainly my point is, protect yourself and your family. No matter how small or seemingly trivial the errand may be?even if you are just running in and out of the store, use sunscreen and keep yourself safe.

Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching and gardening. For more of her articles on skincare and skin products please visit Skincare.

What You Need to Know About Acne

2009-03-06T21:29:00.001+07:00

Acne doesn?t discriminate. It can effect anyone irregardless of their age, race or ethnicity. It is unpleasant to have acne and can cause many social issues. Avoiding acne may be impossible, but there are things you can do to avoid a serious case of acne. If you already have acne there are many treatments available from home remedies to professional methods. Acne can really effect a person?s life so knowing everything you can about it can help you deal with it better.

Acne can occur anywhere on the body, but most often occurs on the face. It is caused by oil that get trapped in the pores. Acne comes in a few different forms: whiteheads, blackheads, pimples or swollen nodules. The most common cause of acne is hormone changes which is why teens are more likely to experience it. There are, however, other reasons that acne occurs. Clogged pores can trap oil and result in acne. Some people are genetically predisposed to getting acne. Once you have experienced acne you are probably likely to want to prevent it from ever appearing again.

Avoiding acne may be impossible. Almost everyone experiences it. There are some simple ways to keep your acne at bay, though, and prevent serious breakouts. Washing your face and body with a non-irritating soap is the best way to prevent acne. Eating right has also been shown to keep skin clear. If you use cosmetics or other products you should use water-based products that are less likely to clog pores. Lastly, avoid touching your skin or picking at your skin. Your hands are very dirty and can transfer dirt to your face easily. These few ideas can help you avoid many acne flare-ups.

Once you notice you have acne you are sure to want to get rid of it. Administer treatment when you feel it is necessary. A simple home remedy for decreasing the redness of acne is to apply a cream used to reduce the swelling associated with hemorrhoids or apply ice. Over-the-counter creams and liquids are easily found at a local drugstore. Most often these medications contain benzyl peroxide which kills bacteria and dries up the skin. If you have a severe case of acne you may seek help from your dermatologist. Most acne cases are easily cleared up with home remedies or OTC treatments.

Acne can be devastating to one?s self-esteem. Depending on the severity and our genetic background you may be able to avoid acne by keeping you pores clean from clogs. Treatments for acne range from simple to complex. If you are in doubt about how to treat your acne or it is really severe you should consult your dermatologist.

The acne article was written by Craig Dawber, The infomation found in this website can without doubt can help your acne and skin care check it out http://www.acnewebsite.info

Neuropeptide Amino Polypeptide Skin Care Comparison

2009-03-06T02:12:00.000+07:00

To determine why neuropeptide products are different from other effective antiaging skin care treatments on the market, we first have to determine the difference between neuropeptide and amino polypetide ingredients.

Neuro- and pentapaptides are both peptides but ?neuro? refers to the very specific functions of this peptide group, while ?penta? merely refers to the size of certain peptide molecules.

?Peptide? seems to be the ?IT? word in antiaging skin creams today. We have copper peptides, amino-polypeptides, hexapeptides, pentapeptides and now neuropeptides. And then there are all the variants like acetyl hexapeptide-3 and palmitoyl pentapeptide (a.k.a palmitoyl oligopeptide). The list is virtually endless and very confusing to the non-biochemist. Let me try to help you wade through some of the jargon.

A peptide is simply a small protein which is made up of amino acids. Peptides are active at very small doses, are highly specific and have a very good safety profile when used physiologically ? that is, to assist or change an organism?s physical processes. If we take apart some of the peptide labels above, we can begin to discriminate among them.

The use of ?amino? in amino-polypeptide is a bit redundant because all peptides are made of amino acids. The ?poly? just means this is a peptide of several amino acids. A ?hexapeptide? is a chain of exactly six (hexa) amino acids; a pentatpeptide is a chain of five (penta). One chemist working with a palmitoylated five-amino-acid-chain peptide named it ?palmitoyl pentapeptide?, while another chemist studying the same molecule called it ?palmitoyl oligopeptide?. This is a legitimate, though less specific, label since ?oligo? means ?few?. And so the confusion grows.

The term ?neuropeptide? is a bit more helpful in that it actually describes the function of the peptide. Neuropeptides act as neuromodulators, neurotransmitters, neurohormones, and hormones. Research into neuropeptides has exploded in recent years to the extent that there is a scientific journal named Neuropeptides whose aim is the rapid publication of original research and review articles, dealing with the structure, distribution, actions and functions of peptides in the central and peripheral nervous systems.

What is exciting about neuropeptides is their power and reach. Other neurotransmitters transmit central nervous system signals in one direction and along a path from A to B. Neuropeptides transmit omnidirectionally outward and can even direct transmissions in reverse. As neuromodulators, they can activate and deactivate other neurotransmitters. The scientific mind boggles at the potential.

The names of some of the neuropeptides may be familiar and help you to understand the potential of unlocking the secrets of these peptide molecules. Neuropeptides are grouped into families based on similarities in their amino acid sequences. There are the Tachykinins; the Insulins; the Somatostatins; the Gastrins such as cholecystokinin used to diagnose gallbladder and pancreatic problems; and the Opioids such as the enkephalins ? the body?s own opiates or painkillers.

As to how neuropeptides might affect the skin, an abstract in the July/August 2003 Brazilian Annals of Dermatology states: ?There is increasing evidence that cutaneous nerve fibers play a modulatory role in a variety of acute and chronic skin processes.

Local interactions between skin cells, skin immune components and neuronal tissues occur specially through neuropeptides ? Neuropeptide-related functions on skin and immune cells, as well ...nerve fibers in cutaneous inflammatory responses, hypersensitivity reactions and dermatoses, namely psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, leprosy and alopecia.

Now that you know that a neuropeptide has a function in the central nervous system and that a pentapeptide might also be a neuropeptide (having five amino acids in its chain) but not all neuropeptides are pentapeptides, how can you decide whether to pay the extra money for the exciting new neuropeptide creams? You want some evidence that they are sufficiently more effective to justify the higher price, right?

In sorting through all the peptides currently touted for antiaging skin care, I decided they can be placed into one of three groups depending on the amount and quality on the published research and development behind their use in skin care.

Some peptides have a lot of published scientific research behind them. They were developed for medical use and because of their success, found their way into antiaging cosmeceuticals. Copper peptide falls into this group since it has been studied and employed in wound healing since the 1970s. Palmitoyl pentapeptide also falls into this group. Doctors were already prescribing Strivectin-SD for stretch mark and scar removal when clinical studies of its superior wrinkle-reducing properties were presented at the 20th World Congress of Dermatology in 2002.

Other peptides have been developed within the cosmetic industry and quickly brought to market. The companies are careful to make no medical claims in order to avoid the lengthy FDA review process for a drug. Argiriline, a.k.a. acetyl hexapeptide-3, falls into this group. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that, similar to Botox, it reduces a muscle?s ability to tense and form deep lines of expression. Customer reviews are quite positive and more companies are incorporating the ingredient into their treatment lines.

In the third group are peptides that are very new or are proprietary and not widely available. Dr. Nicholas Perricone?s neuropeptide creams fall into this category. His neuropeptide variants all contain the prefix ?CL?. No research labs I could locate are studying or making the CL variants. Of course, as we saw above in the case of palmitoyl pentatpeptide, he may have just given an already known neuropeptide a different name.

The consumer has little to go on except Dr. Perricone?s word. That is, unless you consider his track record and broad following. He hasn?t yet failed to deliver. His previous antiaging developments have met with broad acclaim and his three books have been on the New York Times Bestseller list.

Dr. Perricone explains his work with neuropeptides in his third book The Perricone Promise thus. ?In 'The Wrinkle Cure' and 'The Perricone Prescription', I introduced a major theme of my research: the Inflammation-Disease-Aging Connection. Because inflammation is a great contributor to accelerated aging, it has been an important focus of my ongoing scientific research. And we now know that neuropeptides and peptides play an important role in mediating inflammation.?

Jean Bowler has been a fitness freak all her life. She has danced and taught ballet and been a personal trainer. Additionally she has sold skin care and nutrition products. Her articles on antiaging skin care products and cosmetic procedures, diet and nutriion, hair loss and more are available at http://www.ageless-beauty.com

Does Anti Wrinkle Cream Really Work?

2009-03-06T01:28:00.000+07:00

Wrinkles are signs of old age and for anyone who gives great value to beauty, wrinkles are simply upsetting. The first thing one would want to do is to get rid of those ugly lines and creases on her skin. If you are one of those who want to counter natural aging process and maintain a youthful glow on your face, you are probably thinking of buying an anti-wrinkle cream by now.

Anti-wrinkle cream and other anti-aging products are saturating the market nowadays and lots of people are patronizing them?men and women alike, young and old. Who doesn?t like to look younger and more beautiful, anyway? Even men now are conscious about the way they look and so many anti wrinkle cream advertisements nowadays aim at the men, too. They are usually marketed as part of grooming and skin care kits for men.

Apart from good looks, however, people use anti wrinkle creams for many other reasons. For one, an anti-wrinkle cream may be one?s solution to finding a job that demands an attractive and youthful appearance. Perhaps you?re dreaming of Hollywood but are less confident because of those ugly wrinkles that appeared too early in your life?an anti-wrinkle cream can do the trick for you. Moreover, it?s a lot cheaper to buy an anti-wrinkle cream rather than to avail of expensive cosmetic treatments like plastic surgery or even botox injection.

With all the anti-aging products available in the market though, it?s so hard to pick one that can give you your desired results. Each product promises to reduce or prevent wrinkles caused by aging, but then again, you can never be too sure which one really works?or do they all really work?

The answer is yes; however, effects of each anti-wrinkle cream vary. Some anti wrinkle cream and other beauty products may provide major changes to your skin while others only have a very little effect on the skin. Also, there are products that work effectively and quickly while others don?t. But in reality, no anti-wrinkle cream has really given a permanent rejuvenating effect as aging is a natural process nothing can really totally defy.

What an anti-wrinkle cream really does is it hides those ugly wrinkles and moisturizes your skin so you can achieve a more beautiful face. It has ingredients like oils, collagen and silicon dioxide whose molecules are smaller than those of the skin. They penetrate through the wrinkles and deflect light; thereby, making the wrinkles invincible to the naked eye.

An anti-wrinkle cream actually makes the aging process more pleasing and agreeable to you. It helps you cope with aging more gracefully by making you feel beautiful. And that great feeling about oneself actually does the work of making you look good. Remember that real beauty shines from within, so whatever kind of anti-wrinkle cream or anti-aging product it is that you use, always feel good about yourself and wear a smile no matter what life brings?only then you can be beautiful in every sense of the word.

Dave Poon is an accomplished writer who specializes in the latest in beauty care. For more information regarding anti wrinkle cream, please drop by at http://beauty.answerwisely.com

Acne and You

2009-03-05T22:30:00.000+07:00

What is acne? Acne is an inflammatory disease of the skin, caused by changes in the pilosebaseous units (skin structures consisting of a hair follicle and its associated sebaceous gland). The most common form of acne is known as acne vulgaris, which means common acne. (Wikipedia)

Acne data:

Acne is nearly a universal skin disease in western society.

Adolescents - 79% - 95% are affected

25 and older - 40% - 54% have some degree of facial acne

Middle age - 12% of women and 3% of men

Treating acne depends on the type and severity of your acne. There are numerous acne treatments available today that help combat acne breakouts. Also, what works for a friend may not work for you. You may have to keep trying different methods and acne products.

I had a friend who tried every possible home acne remedy, acne treatment and acne solution she and her mother could think up. Some were very strange such as using a carrot mask. They actually pureed carrots and poured the concoction on her face. Needless to say none of those home acne remedies worked.

I found that when acne broke out on my face the best acne treatment was to gently, and I repeat - gently - wash the acne area twice a day with warm water and soap. This helped to kill the bacteria. And please note that steady improvements in your skin condition takes time. Don't expect an over night acne solution.

For a more stronger case of an acne outbreak I found that proper skin care, such as gently washing my face twice a day with soap and warm water combined with a few over the counter acne cleansers went a long way to fighting acne.

Acne cleansers are used to remove oils, sweat and dirt from the skin surface. The most popular over the counter anti bacteria killer is benzoyl peroxide. Another thing you can do is reduce oils by using a gentle astringent toner to wipe the oils away.

There are hundreds of over the counter acne medicines available. Choosing the best one for you takes time and some research. For over the counter treatments always remember to read the labels and instructions. This helps you determine if the product is right for you.

For more severe cases of acne the best thing to do is always go to a dermatologist. A good dermatologist will subscribe the acne treatment that is best suited to you.

Dorothy Dunnawaye is a beauty journalist with a refreshing way of looking at life, aging and love. http://www.beautyprep.com/acne/

Acne and Adolescents

2009-03-05T18:07:00.000+07:00

It?s hard enough to be a teenager but if your teen is suffering from acne and adolescence at the same time you may have some questions. Acne and adolescence may go hand-in-hand but there are ways to improve the situation.

If acne and adolescence have become a problem at your house, read on.

Many people feel that acne and adolescence happen because the teen does not keep their face clean enough. This is not necessarily true. Sometimes acne and adolescence happen even when the teen washes his face faithfully. You could try a wash that is made for acne.

Acne and adolescence also is linked to diet. Reports vary on this topic with some believing that if the kids cut out chocolate, fried and fast foods all will be well. Others say that acne and adolescence have nothing to do with the diet.

Acne and adolescence can be minimized at times with a visit to the local drugstore. Chat with your pharmacist and see what she recommends for acne and adolescence.

Acne and adolescence can be improved when you see a dermatologist. A dermatologist may be able to work with the acne and adolescence situation and bring about great improvement.

Acne and adolescence can be made worse by certain medications like birth control pills. You should also avoid greasy creams and lotions if adolescence and acne are causing problems for your teen.

Make sure that the acne and adolescence problem is really not a reaction to allergies to food, cosmetics or other products.

Acne and adolescence may go together but it can be less of a problem with the correct solutions.

Timothy Gorman is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Clear-Skin-Solutions.com. He provides more acne clearing solutions, remedies and acne skin care products that you can research in your pajamas on his website.

Dark Green Leafy Vegetables And Dark Red Fruits Help Prevent Skin Cancer

2009-03-05T02:03:00.000+07:00

According to recent statistics the rising incidence of skin cancer is one of the main problems in United States. Considering that this condition appears to be becoming an epidemic, very critical is to develop new approaches to primary and secondary prevention. As consequences we can see many studies exploring the therapeutic value of natural ingredients and researches suggest that common fruit and vegetables extracts may have an important clinical benefits in lowering risk for skin cancer.

It is well-known that fruits and vegetables contain a variety of minerals and vitamins and other bioactive substances that include lutein, flavonoids, folic acid, vitamins C and E, and fiber. The folic acid has a key role in repair and synthesis of DNA, and all dark green leafy vegetables are very rich in it. So, new findings show with no doubt that higher intakes of green leafy vegetables may help prevent Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) tumors among patients who have prior skin cancers.

Another new finding is that pigment that gives certain fruits their dark red colors has an antioxidant activity higher than that of green tea and red wine. Researchers evaluated that pomegranate fruit extract (PFE) is capable of inhibiting conventional as well as new biomarkers of TPA-induced tumors and they may have chemopreventive action in a wide category of tumor models.

Anitta Viali is a freelance writer interested in issues such as a skin formula to avoid diseases.

Skin Toners: The Way Nature Intended

2009-03-04T02:24:00.001+07:00

There is a lot of debate surrounding the effectiveness and necessity of skin toners. Whether or not you choose to use skin toner within your own skincare routine is up to you.

Some people object to create their own skin toners as opposed to going out and buying it. The benefits of this method of creating your own recipes is obviously that you will know exactly what is going into you or skin toner concoction because you are the one designing it.

Obviously you should be fairly comfortable with reading your own toners if you're going to utilize this method. But for those of you who are might want to consider the costs associated with having certain natural ingredients such as rose petals and any number of organic natural recipes.

Some skin toners are made from harvest fruit or vegetables and will wide not only a natural solution for a toner but will make you look especially tasty, heh.

Just from reading the first few paragraphs of this article you should already begin to imagine the amazing number of possibilities not only in the creation of a skin toner or the acquisition of skin toner but in terms of the application. However if you simply just want to get this process done within your skincare regimen you should just go buy from your corner grocery pharmacy or supermarket.

Natural skin care product items that are home made may require an initial investment in time, but may be worth it for you. The choice is yours- please visit http://www.skin-care-1.com for more articles.

Using The Best Herbs For Acne Cures

2009-03-03T22:27:00.001+07:00

When it comes to curing your facial problems naturally, look towards the best herbs for acne cures.

There are many items found both locally and internationally that can solve any skin issues you may be experiencing.

Whether you choose use the complete plant or merely the extract when trying to cure your skin blemishes, there are many options available.

Perhaps the best herbs for acne cures are those found in your own backyard.

You can either grind these plants up and create masques or washes of your own or purchase professional products that include these plants that are available in your local drug store or department store.

Most herbal medications or treatments that will naturally control your acne are available at nature stores in your area.

Contact your local whole foods store that specializes in wholesome or organic goods in order to find the best herbs for acne problems.

Just as their food is wholesome and does not contain any preservatives or potentially harmful ingredients, the washes, creams, salves, and balms sold in these stores are a great way to control all your skin problems.

Furthermore, you may be able to find excellent products at vitamin stores that specialize in oral administrations that can control all issues using natural ingredients.

The Internet is a great place to search when looking for products that will control all your skin issues.

From one-time treatments to products you should use continually to achieve the best results, anything and everything is available at SkinStore.com and from Proactiv.

These natural products can be found at a variety of virtual stores specializing in herbal treatments for all types of problems.

Just as with any treatment, speak with your primary care physician before you try any item to control your skin problems.

He or she may be able to help you find the most appropriate product that will naturally solve your skin care problems.

'Discover the Remedies and Treatment regarding Acne and Skin Care', find some at Skin Care and Acne Control

Acne And Stress

2009-03-03T17:52:00.001+07:00

Stress - Since your skin in your largest organ, how you live can sure influence how healthy your skin is. And stress, not necessarily bad stress, but rather certain external and internal stressors, factor into this health equation. So let's take a look at how to handle these stressors with regards to acne prevention.

External Stressors- A goal of acne prevention would be to keep your skin pores clear from clogging and becoming infected and irritated, resulting in blemishes and inflammation. So you need to take a look at your external environment throughout the day for factors that could trigger skin pore clogging. Here are some examples of what to look for: grease, oils and sun, like being around open fryers in kitchen areas, or around machine oil and grease in workshops or factories, or out in the sun all day on a construction jobsite. Too much oil, grease or sun on the skin can clog pores and trigger acne and other skin irritations.

Minimize contact by wearing long sleeves and other protective wear and gear and discussing further options with your dermatologist or healthcare provider. With regards to being out in the sun, note that a small amount of sun each day can be fine and healthy. However, extended periods can trigger the sebaceous glands to create more oil as your skin dries out. At the same time, the dried out skin needs to be cast off or shed at a faster rate than normal. The resulting extra oils and dead skin make a wonderful environment for pore clogging. So here, too, use protective clothing for outdoor activities and apply sunscreen; oil-free products are best for acne-prone people, and those with a minimum protection of SPF 15 and both UVA and UVB protection.

Internal Stressors - Internal stressors like anxiety, fear, low self-esteem, depression and a variety of other internalized emotions, can trigger chemical reactions inside your body that can result in acne flare-ups and other skin irritations. What happens is that these emotions can set your adrenal glands to work creating more cortisol, the substance that in turn causes your sebaceous glands to produce increased amounts of sebum oil, excessive amounts of which can be blocked in pores. Same old story: extra oil + extra dead skin cells = blocked pores, triggering acne flare-ups. With internal stressors, though, the results are usually inflamed papules or small, solid inflammations (or skin elevations that do not contain pus), instead of whiteheads or blackheads.

To combat internal stressors and prevent acne problems, here are some suggestions. Get plenty of rest and sleep a recommended average of eight hours per night. Try to maintain regular hours each day, regardless of which shift your work. Some say to focus on reducing SWAT: reduce your stress, worry, anxiety and tension, so journal a little each day mentioning any SWAT stressors you've felt. And focus on those that may seem overwhelming or to be taking too long to end, seeking help from others or other resources as needed for stress management. Check with your dietician or healthcare provider to establish and follow a regular well-balanced dietary and exercise plan of action to keep your body healthy on the inside and outside. Keep a check list of Things that Calm You handy for stressful times, like reading a book, resting, listening to music, taking a walk, going out for an ice cream cone, etc.

Michael Raetford writes for http://www.acness.com. You will find a lot of very useful acne information together with news, articles and a huge range of resources. Take a look now!

How To Keep Your Skin Shiny and Beautiful?

2009-03-02T22:42:00.001+07:00

Most of us are gifted with beautiful skin but are not careful in preserving its original texture. Therefore during the climatic changes the tone of the skin changes and turns rough. If you regularly provide nutrition to the skin it is likely to remain glowing.

The food we consume also has a bearing on the way our skin looks. Foods containing greasy, oily and fatty substances make the oil glands overactive and therefore we are more likely to face various skin problems. Water is a very good as it cleanses the skin pores. It fights against all the toxins in the body. Therefore it is necessary to consume 8-10 glasses of water per day.

Besides, scheduling an exercise program everyday is very good. The excessive oily substances are drained from your body through the sweat that is produced when you exercise. The workouts also relieve you from all types of stress that reflect on your face directly.

Take care of your skin by applying the proper type of lotions or creams. Do not use the products that contain strong chemicals as it could ruin your skin. Do not smoke because it directly affects your skin and speeds up your ageing process.

You are welcome to republish the above article only if you add our hyperlinked URL.

Celebrities Who Suffer From Acne Do They Really Exist

2009-03-02T16:44:00.001+07:00

Is there any such thing as a celebrity who suffers from acne?

At first, it seems not? but that is only a myth - there really are celebrities out there who suffer from acne!

Many people envy those who have achieved celebrity status. They are viewed as rich and powerful? glamorous and sometimes even a little super-human.

When you see them on television, in movies or in the glossy magazines the men always look ruggedly handsome and the women look stunningly beautiful.

Seldom are we given the chance to see these celebrities, in the comfort and privacy of their own homes, as they wake up in the mornings. No doubt the envious population would change their options somewhat knowing that almost no one is particularly glamorous at that time of day.

Cosmetics, technology and advanced photo editing methods can easily make people look younger, thinner and magically cover up flaws such as freckles, scars and acne. This is just what the producers of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire have had to do.

All three adolescent stars - Daniel Radcliffe who plays Harry Potter, 15. Rupert Grint who plays Ron Weasley, 17 and Emma Watson 15, who plays Hermione Granger - have broken out with acne forcing the film makers of Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire to use special effects to hide their skin imperfections.

Celebrities deal with the same problems the rest of us do, acne being one of them. Britney Spears, Judith Light, Stephanie Seymour and Elle Macpherson have all publicly discussed how they have suffered from and corrected their acne problem.

By doing so, they have not only helped themselves, but millions of other acne sufferers around the world - they are positive proof that acne treatments work.

Your acne problem won?t be gone overnight, it will take time. But as you begin to see an improvement in your condition it is quite possible that you will begin to feel like a celebrity, too!

Acne Information :: Elaine Clay is the owner of Acne Treatments Online.com - get information, tips and articles to help you find proven and effective acne solutions that treat your condition safely and naturally

- Please feel free to use this article - provided it is published in it?s entirety, with my resource box and a ?live? clickable link to: Acne Information

Why The Best Acne Treatment May Be a Change in Diet

2009-03-02T01:18:00.001+07:00

Western medicine is notoriously sophisticated when it comes to drug formulations and targeted medicine approached from a perspective based in deductive science. It has, however, been largely a failure when it comes to being open to solutions to medical problems which come from outside the realm of deductive science. That is why for years western medicine failed to draw ties between diet and acne. Medical development, and treatments for acne sufferers, has progressed significantly within the last 15 years alone. Yet the problem of acne has remained largely uncurbed, until recently.

In the past few years empirical studies first trickled and are now flooding in indicating that there are links between acne and diet. The basic premise of the research is that eating refined carbohydrates and sugar is the ultimate culprit for many individuals? problems with acne. The scientific theory holds that when carbohydrates and sugar are metabolized they lead to an increase in insulin and an insulin-like growth factor called IGF-1 production. This growth factor then causes male hormones to begin being produced in the body in much greater quantities. These growth hormones lead directly to an increase the amount of sebum produced. Sebum is the grease-like substance that comes out in your pores which people often describe as ?oily skin?. Sebum then clogs your pores and ultimately causes to an accumulation of bacteria in those pores which cannot escape because of the sebum. This of course ultimately leads to acne.

That rather exhaustive explanation explains simply this; when you consume refined carbohydrates and sugars you may aggravate your skin, clog your pores, and develop acne.

So, what is the answer? Not surprisingly, it may be to cut back on sugars and refined carbs such as sweets and pastas. These foods provide us with very few of the nutrients we need while providing us with a great deal more by way of clogged pores. In fact, recent studies are showing that these foods may be so bad for you that your body actually fights them like it does a disease, through the production of white blood cells. Not only do these white blood cell expenditures temporarily lower your immune system, but they also cause your body to produce more waste, some of which is exuded through your pores.

But it may surprise you to know that giving up chocolate and spaghetti may not be the only way to go about getting clearer skin. Rather, there are a number of foods, in particular raw vegetables and antioxidants which can actively clear up skin. These foods act as a sort of mop within the body to soak up toxins, also known as free radicals, which are often expelled as bacteria through the skin.

So in effect, following a better diet can attack the problem of acne in two different ways, cutting back on sugars and refined carbs will cause your body to produce less of the pore clogging sebum, while increasing your intake of certain raw vegetables will significantly cut down on the amount of bacteria which is exuded through your pores. Combined, these two techniques will cut down significantly your propensity to suffer acne.

Ruth Stattmiller writes about natural health topics, including acne treatment. See http://www.myvitaminguide.com/public/603.cfm for more information.

Detoxification for Health & Wellness ? The Missing Key

2009-03-01T22:32:00.001+07:00

Detoxification is something our bodies do on a daily basis. It is the process of eliminating toxins through the five eliminatory channels:

Liver
Colon
Lungs
Kidneys
Lymph
Skin

In the world we live in today, with polluted water, air and food, our bodies regularly get overloaded with substances that do not support our body - toxins! Our bodies become overloaded and are over-burdened with eliminating toxins. So many undesirable substances stay our bodies. Surrounding these substances with mucous and fat is one way our system tries to shield us from these invading substances. a good portion is stored in our fat deposits! A detoxification program is a good way of assisting our body to eliminate and neutralize these harmful toxins.

Let us look at the 5 organs for detoxification:

Liver

The liver is the largest internal organ in the body and plays a crucial role in maintaining normal metabolism and detoxifying the body.

Colon

Disease begins in the colon. The colon is responsible for both carrying wastes out of the body and nourishing the body. Nutrients are absorbed in the colon. So if your body is storing toxins and excess mucous they will be stuck to the intestinal walls of the colon. Making it very hard for your body to absorb the required nutrients and eliminate the wastes traveling through the colon.

Lungs

Your lungs are responsible for helping your body get the required oxygen it needs by processing the air we breathe. The lungs are one of the first organs to intake toxins. A cold is usually a sign that your body is trying to rid itself of toxins and waste matter that has built up to the point of overwhelming your immune system.

Kidneys

The kidneys play an important role as a filter for the body as well. Water is vital to helping the kidneys do their job. The average person eliminates approximately 5 pints of water a day. Drinking adequate water is essential.

Lymph

The lymphatic system carries a clear fluid which contains excess proteins, wastes, and other elements. This fluid called lymph surrounds the cells of our body to bring them nourishment and carry wastes out of the body. Unlike the blood, the lymph does not have the heart to pump it through the body. It must rely on the movement of the body and stimulation.

Skin

As mentioned earlier, the skin is the largest organ of the body.

Benefits of Detoxification

There are several benefits of detoxification:

End your cravings for habit-forming substances such as sugar, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, and drugs.

Increase your energy by removing toxins that wear you down.

Shrink your stomach to its normal size, making it easier to control the quantity of food eaten.

Boost your mental clarity by flushing away chemicals, food additives and preservatives.

Break your bad eating habits to achieve or maintain your desired weight.

Lose weight. A detox program is the first step to safe and effective weight loss.

Cleanse your digestive tract of accumulated waste and bacteria.

Purify all your major organs allowing you to function at your best.

Reduce cellulite, allergies, acne and obesity safely and naturally.

What is a good Detox program?

A Good Detoxification program should be designed to help the body cleanse itself of toxins, mucus, and waste materials in the intestinal tract and liver, kidneys, and blood, thus helping your body function better. This not only restores new energy to your vital organs, but to the entire body as well.

Danielle Sims explored her library of alternative health, herbal books, and aromatherapy books and created a blueprint for making her own body wrap formulas at home. Now she offers this information in an e-book entitled Wrap Yourself Slim: Body Wrap Exposed. Monthly newsletter is also available at her web site. For more information go to Body Wraps Exposed.

5 Simple Tips for Your Makeup

2009-03-01T19:41:00.001+07:00

Have you ever been putting on your makeup and when everything is going well, you suddenly make a mistake that ruins all of your effort? Have you had to take off your makeup some time because, without meaning to, you?ve ruined your makeup? Surely you have; it happens to all of us.

In this Article, you will find five of the most common mistakes and the best tips to quickly fix them without having to take off all of your makeup?

We hope you?ll like them and that they?ll help you easily improve your personal image?

?I?VE PUT ON TOO MUCH FOUNDATION? This is a very common mistake that we all make when we put on makeup. If you are totally made up, to take off any excess foundation, do the following:

?Lightly moisten a clean sponge with water (the sponge should be almost dry and without any makeup residue) and sponge all of your face with downward movements.

TIP: It?s very important, most of all, to avoid excess foundation and concealer around the eyes. To eliminate any excess in this area, perform the same step and afterwards use your fingertips to softly blur the product in that area.

?MY EYESHADOW LOOKS TOO DARK?

If you?ve put on too much eyeshadow, or it looks too dark, follow these steps to quickly fix the problem:

?If it happened on your upper eyelid, blur the eyeshadow toward the edges with a clean brush to reduce the color. If it still looks very dark, apply a little bit of matte cream eyeshadow with a brush (if you don?t have cream eyeshadow, you can use translucent powder) and blur the eyeshadow.

?If it happened on the lower part of your eye, use a fine, clean brush to blur, or pat it softly with a Q-tip.

?If as you were blurring, you?ve left the contour of the eyelid and the shadow looks very dark, blur it with a clean sponge and afterwards apply a little bit of foundation, patting lightly to fix the foundation.

?I?VE PUT ON TOO MUCH BLUSH? If you applied too much blush, try the following tip:

?Stroke your cheek with a thick, loose powder bush?the brush should be completely clean. If you still have too much blush on, apply translucent or clear powder with the same brush, just over the blush. That way the two powders should mix, clarifying the original color.

?I?VE PUT TOO MUCH MAKEUP ON MY EYEBROWS? When we put too much makeup on our eyebrows, we look harsh and we can?t even recognize ourselves. Follow the following tip to quickly solve this:

?Simply brush the eyebrow with a clean Q-tip, going against the grain of your eyebrow. You will see how quickly the color you initially applied disappears.

?I?VE SMEARED MASCARA ON MY EYELID? That?s all right. Just follow these next steps and you?ll see how you can quickly fix the problem:

?Continue applying makeup and when you have finished, allowing enough time for the mascara to dry, apply a Q-tip right over the smudge. You?ll see how it quickly disappears and you don?t need to remove the makeup from your whole eye.

TIP: A good trick to avoid smudging yourself is applying makeup first to your inferior eyelashes and then to the superior.

Maria Llorente is qualified make up artist that writes on a regular basis in the spanish beauty site. http://www.tuimagenpersonal.com

Acne and its Causes

2009-03-01T15:58:00.001+07:00

There is no real understanding why humans develop acne, many reasons suspected but never proven. These include living conditions, the food you eat, the atmosphere you social in, continuous sweat from sports, make up, or from purposely picking at small spots which then start to spread. Not one of these suspected causes is a real factor and is only a presumption among specialists.

Technically acne develops in parts of the skin that produce oils, and these are called pilosebaceous follicles. The oil builds up in a blocked pore which in turn provides the perfect breeding ground for the skin bacteria named Propionibacterium to spread and multiply without any control. If the acne is formed and spreads deep in the skin, this can cause cysts, which is considered to be the worst form of acne as this can lead to scarring in future years. Therefore acne treatment as soon as possible so as to stop the spread and seriousness of the acne is vital.

Acne is mainly common with young teenagers, and the majority develop a milder form of acne. It is also found in young adults around the age of 30, but not as common as young teenagers. If you are going to get acne, it is best to get it out the way as quick as possible. Unfortunately in today?s society, having acne as a teenager, does not just visually effect you, but also leads to other teenagers bullying you mentally, and in some cases physically, which leads to added depression and suffering for the acne patient.

If you can cure acne by simply eating well, socializing in clean areas, do not drink a lot of alcohol and take drugs, wash using soaps that do not react with your skin, then you stand a much better chance of not leaving scars and damaging your health for the future, as medications that are prescribed by doctors now a days to kill off the acne, can have long lasting effects on your body, which can lead to additional illnesses in the future.

This author has many years of experience in the field of sports and nutrition, as well as having close friends who have had the unfortunate experience of suffering from acne From this has gained a lot of knowledge through learning and research, as well as from my friends research, and has put together a very informative resource site on acne treatment that can be located at http://www.abc-acnetreatment.info

The Secrets of the Centenarians: How to Live to 100!

2009-02-27T12:48:00.003+07:00

When Helen Boardman was still a girlish 99, she fell in love again--with a younger man.

?I robbed the cradle,? laughs the trim centenarian, who married a man twenty years her junior for ?companionship,? she says slyly. ?Bill was lonesome---I wasn?t!--but I enjoyed his company and we had the same interests. So we fell in love.?

It didn?t hurt that Bill Boardman had the same last name.

?That was a coincidence,?adds Bill. ?She kept getting my checks, I got her bills, so out of necessity, we had to get married!?

Nowadays, the twosome often perform together in plays at Friendship Village, an independent living facility outside of Chicago where they share a one-bedroom apartment. Helen writes, directs, and stars in the productions.

?I don?t get nervous...I?m over all that,? she shrugs nonchalantly.

She?s 107. He?s 86.

Still romance after eight years? ?A little,? Helen laughs, ?when he?s real nice to me, which is most of the time. He?s a good guy.?

?To be perfectly frank, ? notes Bill, ?Helen doesn?t seem 20 years older at all. She?s never acted like an old lady. Last New Year?s Eve, we stayed up until midnight dancing. I think she?s maintained her youth quite well!?

Indeed, decked out in pearls and a smart black-and-white checkerboard dress, nestled into a couch in her living room, the woman born in June, l896, says: ?I feel young inside...I?d say about 60.? She doesn?t even dye her still- auburn hair. ?My mother and father didn?t go gray either,? she says with pride. ? I guess I?m drinking from the Fountain of Youth.?

?Sometimes,? she adds, miffed by those around her in their 80?s and 90?s who complain about their health, ?I feel like a teenager in an old folk?s home!? An avid reader, book reviewer, and world traveler, with 12 trips to Europe under her belt, Helen also recites poetry, gardens, flower arranges, and lifts weights daily!

?Just one or two or pounds each arm,? she demurs of her bicep curls.

Her secret of longevity? ?Strawberry shortcake!? she smiles sweetly. ?One big piece, every day.?

* * * * *

The Centenarian Jackpot

The remarkable Helen Boardman is not alone. In the U.S. today, there are more than 50,000 centenarians, the nation?s fastest growing age group. Although the current life expectancy for the average American is 76.9 years, by the year 2050 there will be an estimated one million people living to 100. That?s substantial progress. In 1900, the average life span extended to age 47. In 1800, it was a mere 30 years-old.

?The secret to reaching 100 nowadays is a combination of genetics, lifestyle choices, mental acuity, and just plain luck!? notes Thomas T. Perls, M.D., author of Living to 100: Lessons in Living to Your Maximum Potential at Any Age (Basic Books).

This landmark book, written with Margery Hutter Silver, Ed.D. is based on the ongoing New England Centenarian Study, begun in l994, which reveals that old age can be filled with lucidity, mobility, and good health.1

?Of the 1,500 centenarians in our study,? says Perls, ?a great majority were in terrific shape the vast majority of their lives. Rather than accumulating damage, they?re actually shedding it.?

How so? ?Most people believe the older you get, the sicker you get, a very pessimistic point of view. The centenarians we?ve met demonstrate the opposite: the older they get, the healthier they?ve been. I call them centenarian jackpots. From a medical standpoint, they?ve been able to markedly delay or altogether escape diseases that we normally associate with aging--like heart disease, cancer, stroke, or Alzheimer?s.

?I haven?t had anything,? notes Helen Boardman. No diseases. No medications. ?I take an aspirin occasionally,? she admits, for hip pain.

?Freed from any major illness,? says Dr. Perls, ?many centenarians like Helen are cooking their own meals, balancing checkbooks, driving their own cars, lifting weights, playing bridge, and reading novels, and socializing with family and friends.

Some are even competing in the Senior Olympics. Take, for example, another remarkable centenarian, Marguerite Kuekelhan, born in August l897. At age 105, she?s the world record holder (in her age class) for shotput! Last July, at the Washington State Senior Games in Olympia, the 97-pound athlete could be seen hurling a 6 1/2 pound metal ball 6 feet into the air

Her secret? ?I think it?s the spirit within you,? she says crisply. Being 90 or 100 is no excuse for inactivity? ?Heavens no! I try not to let age keep me down at all. This year I?m trying to break my record and make it better,? says 4-foot 10 inch dynamo, who hopes to beat her best practice throw at 7?6?.

Is all this fun? ?No,? she groans. ?The ball is very heavy; I?d rather bounce a rubber ball.? In fact, she recently played exhibition basketball against the Seattle Supersonics, warning the crowd: ?Before I get started, I haven?t dribbled in about 100 years!?

That?s for sure. A widow after 55 years of marriage, Marguerite lives alone in a tidy apartment in an independent living facility in Olympia, does her own cooking and cleaning, always uses the stairs, and does her leg and ankle exercises each morning to maintain strength and balance for the shotput.

?And I still drive,? she says with pride, ?though I?m giving that up when I turn 106 this August. I just feel as if my reactions are not as quick as they used to be. But I still see very very well and I hear well too--though I had to get one of those things! [a hearing aid. * * * * * Genetic Booster Rockets

What in the world is going on here? A woman getting married at 99 and starring in plays? Another shotputting and dribbling a basketball? What Fountain are they drinking from?

?These centenarians,? notes Dr. Perls, ?are blessed with what I call ?genetic booster rockets?, a built-in biological advantage which boosts them above the norm. Anyone living to extreme old age has this genetic edge. They were endowed with the ?Rolls Royces? of genes, what scientists call ?super genes,?? which act as longevity insurance. These genes slow down aging and reduce the risk of contracting diseases. Centenarians in our study who lived to 105 usually died of pneumonia, or even a household accident--having never developed any chronic disease of aging. For sure, extreme old age runs in families.?

Both Helen and Marguerite?s parents lived into their 80?s, with close relatives of both topping 102.

Even with average genes, however, it?s possible to extend longevity more than ever before, says Dr. Perls: ?Not long ago, 85 was considered ancient. Now it?s relatively easy to achieve that age if you play your cards right. It all boils down to four simple things: not smoking, maintaining a healthy diet, strength training, and avoiding excessive sun exposure and alcohol. Those are the biggies.?

One such example is the nation?s oldest man, 113-year-old Fred Hale, born in New Sharon, Maine on December 1, l890, when Benjamin Harrison was President.

Up until age 107, the retired railway clerk lived alone in a three-story farmhouse in Maine, traipsing up and down stairs, shoveling snow off the roof, chopping wood, hunting, fishing, mowing grass, gardening, and beekeeping-- producing his own honey and bee pollen, a lifelong passion.

He was still driving his own car, making him the oldest American ever to hold a driver?s license according to the Guinness Book of Records.

At 113, Hale is in a special class unto himself, considered a ?super- centenarian,? defined as anyone living 110 or longer. There is one super- centenarian per million in the population, a total of 260 in the U.S. today. ?We don?t yet know what sets these people apart,? says Dr. Perls. ?They have no major illnesses, and even their hearing and vision don?t usually deteriorate until their late 90?s.?

Hale, both of whose parents lived to 91, has, in recent years, beat pneumonia and hip replacement and had cataract surgery. ?No diseases, no nothing,? he exclaims, ?except for some arthritis,? which is cured, he believes, with a teaspoon of bee pollen taken with each meal.

Although a few falls eventually forced him into the Syracuse Home, a retirement community in Syracuse, N.Y., he continued using a walker until age 112, hiking half a mile a day. His mental acuity and lively sense of humor remain undimmed.

How did he survive so long? ?Oh, I don?t know, punishment, I guess!? he jokes.

When reflecting on it, he credits his longevity to a good diet, lots of rest (up at 6 a.m., to bed at 8 p.m.) never smoking, and keeping busy.

?The secret is work,? he declares. ?Don?t sit around. Keep a good attitude. I always loved to work. When I went home, I got five hours sleep, and then went to work in my garden. I can still stoop down and pick up a handkerchief better than most of them!?

* * * * *

Use It Or Lose It

Until Fred Hale was 111, he studied the Reader?s Digest ?Word Power? vocabulary exercise religiously, testing himself on new words weekly. His work ethic and mental curiosity point to another key ingredient in the longevity marathon: exercising the brain.

?It?s definitely use it or lose it,? says Dr. Perls. ?The key to mental vigor is continually learning something new, which builds fresh connections between brain cells.

?For instance, crossword puzzles (verbal functions), bridge (memory functions) and intricate jigsaw puzzles (visual-spatial functions) all keep the mind sharp. Equally beneficial is painting,writing poetry, making sculpture, or learning a new language. We?ve also found that music is a powerful vaccine against dementia and the onset of brain disease. I knew a 102-year-old who was never in her room at the nursing home because she was too busy playing Mozart and Chopin recitals in the music room! Doing any of these things allows you to maintain attention and memory, and the ability to plan, organize, and exercise self-care.

?I think the mind has a lot to do with the way you feel,? says Helen Boardman, until recently a voracious reader who spent a lifetime writing book reviews for libraries and turning biographies into plays. Two years ago, she even completed her memoirs, titled: ?105 and Counting,? before her vision began to fail.

?Staying home and watching TV was never my pleasure at all,? says Helen, who does tune into C-Span for the book reviews. She believes the secret of longevity is: ?Curiosity. I love to see the world and I love people. Everybody has some good in them. If you?re curious about things, you?ll search them out.?

She marvels at the technological miracles spread over the three centuries which her lifetime has spanned, yet she recounts, with equal pleasure, her days in a horse and buggy: ?I drove to high school every day in my buggy. Maudie was a retired beige race horse and I loved her! When we got our first automobile, she was put out to pasture. We accepted the car right away, sure-- but isn?t a horse more fun??

Fun counts in Helen?s world. She even tried white-water rafting at 90: ?The ticket seller said that the only requirement was that you had to be at least eight years old. I told myself: ?If an 8-year-old can do it, I can!? * * * * * ?Good Training? and The Centenarian Personality

Although many may wonder if diet has much to do with the remarkable health of centenarians, ?it?s impossible to know because dietary habits have changed so dramatically over the years,? says Dr. Perls. Most processed foods did not exist during the centenarians? formative years; preserving was done by pickling, smoking, and salting; and fresh fruit was less available. ?Some ate very little red meat, others ate it every day with bacon and eggs!--and both types lived to 100.? Nowadays, however, there?s little doubt, says Perls, that ?good training,? -- exercise and proper diet--contribute mightily to living to 100.

?The secret of living a long life is lifestyle as much as anything,? thinks Helen Boardman. ?I?ve always taken exercise, I don?t go for liquor, and I never smoked.

?I?m not fond of red meat at all,? she continues. ?I prefer vegetables, fruit, chicken and fish. And when I?m not feeling too well, I have oatmeal. Growing up on the family farm, we always had it in the morning, and I still love it!? Chocolate cake? ?Unacceptable but delicious!? she laughs.

Fred Hale, at 113, also eats moderately and drinks no coffee or tea. His diet? ?I eat off my fork just the same as everybody else!? he teases.

?I always eat rolled oats with honey for breakfast,? he explains. ?Lunch is meat and potatoes. And at night, I eat very light--cottage cheese, apple sauce and toast. That?s it.?

Athletic competitor Marguerite eats ?very light, which is easier on the stomach,? principally vegetables and fruits: ?And I don?t use any milk products. I like soy milk instead. It seems to be easier to digest.? No desserts, she says. Such virtue! ?Well, look what the result is!?

Beyond genetics, lifestyle, and mental acuity, there is another profound, yet intangible, factor that influences anyone?s ability to live to 100. Dr. Perls refers to it as the ?centenarian personality?--a stress-reducing mindset that combines positive thinking with a fighting spirit.

?Inevitably, most centenarians are upbeat, funny,and gregarious,? he observes: ?It?s very rare I meet a curmudgeon centenarian! They?re not complainers. In our personality testing, they score very low in 'neuroticism,? the expression of negative emotions like fear, anxiety, guilt, anger, or depression. They?re positive and optimistic in their attitude and bounce back easily from life?s crises because they don?t internalize thoughts or emotions that cause stress.?

?I believe in positive thinking,? booms the athletic Marguerite, a founding and lifelong member of Unity Church in Olympia. ?Mental attitude,? says Marguerite, who meditates daily to take herself into ?a quiet place? is exceedingly important. ?I was always trying throughout my life to be positive, but I didn?t get to the peak until now....it was a matter of growth.?

Her close friend and shotput promoter, John Vlastelia, the president of the Washington State Senior Games, adds this: ?When Marguerite reads in the newspaper that ?Flu season in full bloom,? she always says ?I am not going to get sick,? and literally wills herself to good health.?

?We know,? says Dr. Perls, ?that stress--internalizing depression, anger, worry, fear--is an age accelerator. We?ve found that centenarians are able to shake stress off their backs like a duck shakes off water. Many have experienced great losses and hardships in their lives, yet they?d been able to recover quickly and move on.?

* * * * *

A Realistic View of Death

Perhaps some of these centenarians will reach even the grand old age achieved by Mme. Jeanne Calment, the oldest living person in recorded history, who died in l997, at age 122.

?The chances of living to 122,? says Dr. Perls, ?is 1 in 6 billion. Although I think the human life span could be eventually expanded into the 130?s, for most of us, reaching ages 100-105 is a reasonable number to hope for.?

Centenarians like Helen, Marguerite, and Fred, thriving in the present as they do, think very little about their limited futures.

?Death is something that is coming,? says Marguerite matter-of-factly, priming for competition this July at the shotput: ?I accept it as part of my experience in life, but I don?t think about it at all.?

As for Fred Hale, every time his physical therapist says ?see you tomorrow,? the 113-year-old answers: ?Perhaps! I?m not making long-term plans!?

His attitude toward death? ?What took you so long!? he quips merrily. Then, on a serious note, he adds: ?Can?t do anything about it. Why be afraid??

This attitude is typical, says Dr. Perls: ?I haven?t met any centenarian who feared death. If anything, they?re very thankful for every day they have and they just hope for more.?

As for Helen, ?sometimes,? she smiles, ?I get so sleepy. Anytime I sit down, I just close my eyes. My daughter was talking about death the other day and said she can?t wait to find out what happens. Well, I feel pretty much the same way. I have no fear of death. It?s just another phase when we?re finished with our work. I?m content to stop anytime now.?

But she brightens at the thought of her younger husband, Bill:

?He?s my incentive!? she says merrily. ?My children are all independent...they don?t need me. Bill does. He needs someone to boss him! I look forward to what is yet to come.?

All in all, is being 107 a blessing or burden?

?Both,? she answers calmly. ?It?s a burden because I was a voracious reader until I became nearly blind. So I?ve lost the thing that I enjoyed the most, though I can listen to books on tape. But it?s a blessing because of the things I still can do. Here?s my poem: ?My hearing and vision--neither one are very good; and I sometimes stumble when I walk; but when you ask me any question about my life, I sure am glad I still can talk!?

?So I?m an OPTIMIST,? she declares in parting, ?grateful for everything. Every day. At dinner, every bite is exciting because I never know what I?m going to eat. The cup is always full. I have never been in want. Everything is good. Nothing bad.

?After reading my memoirs,? she smiles, ?my nephew asked me if there was anything bad in my life, and I said: ?If there was, I forgot it!?

* * * * *

Side-Bar RX

In a culture obsessed by youth, ?people have got to realize,? says Dr. Perls, ?that your 70?s and 80?s can be the most fantastic time of your life. I see people go after second or third careers, or volunteer activities, enhance relationships with their families, while their experience and wisdom is at their peaks. Life is their oyster. And it still can be at 100!?

Here are a few health secrets for anyone on the road to 100, a prescription from Dr. Perls, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Boston School of Medicine, and geriatrician at Boston Medical Center.

Age accelerators to avoid: smoking, sun exposure, excessive alcohol , high- fat diet, ionizing radiation, toxic chemicals, excessive risk-taking, and mental stress. Make fitness, laughter, and relaxing recreation a priority in your life!

Age de-accelerators: Exercise (weight training, aerobics, meditation, yoga); a diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, with a minimum of meats and sweets, processed foods, and animal fat or butter.

Supplements: To prevent arteriosclerosis, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer?s Parkinson?s, vision problems, cancers, and rheumatoid arthritis, I recommend taking:

*Vitamin E [400-800 IU per day to prevent and delay cognitive deterioration;

*Vitamin B complex (with folate)

*Calcium with Vitamin D (to decrease the risk of osteoporosis)

*Omega Fatty Acids #3 and #6 (derived from flax seed oil or fish oil, availablein capsules, 1,000 mg daily

*Selenium [100-200 mcg per day.

*Baby aspirin (81 mg) each day which reduces the risk of heart attack by 50%.

*Green tea--noted by the Chinese culture for 3000 years as a health booster.

Author's note: Since these interviews were conducted, Fred Hale, documented as the world's oldest man, died at age 113 on November 20, 2004. He was physically active and mentally alert right up until the end says his son, an octegenarian.

Bestselling author GLENN PLASKIN is one of the nation's leading psychology reporters and celebrity interviewers. His specialty today is interviewing the nation's top experts in spirituality, motivation, happiness, and self- improvement. A contributing editor at FAMILY CIRCLE, the world' s largest women's magazine, he is available for TV, radio, and print interviews. He can be contacted directly at: glenfamilycircle@aol.com. He also coaches those interested in writing articles and books.

He is the author of two books--HOROWITZ--the biography of Vladimir Horowitz--and TURNING POINT: Pivotal Moments in the Lives of America?s Celebrities. His celebrity interviews have appeared in Family Circle, US, Ladies Home Journal,Playboy, the New York Times, the New York Daily News, and more than 50 U.S. newspapers.

My Kingdom For A Skinny Mirror!

2009-02-27T12:48:00.001+07:00

I took off for a few days of spring skiing in the Sierras, and after a wobbly first day, I settled into a groove and performed very well.

But back at the cabin, my athlete?s ego took a bit of a bruising.

The mirror, unlike what I have at home, displayed more than a head and shoulders shot.

It was the full Monty, as they say, and I had more than the expected number of slopes slaloming down my front side.

?This can?t be!? I told myself. ?I couldn?t have put on this weight between home and here!?

Calming down with a killer chocolate chip cookie I acquired the day before at an oasis on Interstate 5, I said, clearly, it?s the mirror?s fault. If my mirror at home tells me one story, and this two-bit, broken down, rent-a-mirror says something else, who am I to believe?

Heck, everything about cabin life is a little rough around the edges; I consoled myself. How can you expect any comfort, physical or psychological, from a place that groans more at night than Jacob Marley?s ghost?

Nah, don?t fall for this trick, I said.

I?ll just focus on my skiing and have a good time and then return to the funhouse I call home.

Where I have the good sense to have nothing but skinny mirrors!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone? and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, ?The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,? published by Nightingale-Conant. A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. Headquartered in Glendale, California, he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

For more information about coaching, consulting, training, books, videos and audios, please go to: http://www.customersatisfaction.com

Natural Skin Care Regime for Ethnic Differences in Skin Characteristics

2009-02-27T12:38:00.001+07:00

The world is a big place and there are many different cultures, Europeans, Scandinavians, Asians, Africans, Hispanics and many, many more. Each of these cultures tends to have certain characteristics such as eye colour, hair colour, skin colour, etc,. Inherent with cultural backgrounds is a difference in skin types. For example, western cultures such as the central and northern Europeans have a tendency to fair complexions, hair and eye colour, while southern Europeans dent to have darker hair, brown eyes and darker, olive skin tones.

Africans and African Americans, have very dark or almost black skin, usually dark or black hair and brown eyes. Genetically, this skin type is less susceptible to the UV rays, although their skin can still get burned.

Asians on the other hand have a yellowish skin tone and can have brown or blue eyes but have mostly dark or black hair. Yes, genetics does have its opinion on how we look. The cultural differences are reflected in the skin and the genetic factors play an important role in how well our skin looks, how ?tough? it is and how vulnerable it is to certain skin problems.

For example, cultures that have a tendency to body hair, also have a tendency to oily skin and therefore have a potential problem with blocked secretory glands resulting in pimples and other skin problems. On the other hand, the Irish, who have a tendency to red hair and very fair skin, have less of a problem with oily skin, but they do tend to get burned easily and thus stand a greater risk to skin cancers. Similarly the Scandinavians and other central and northern Europeans and Americans.

Below are some generalised characteristics of various skin types from different cultural backgrounds:

Skin Characteristics of people with Anglo-Saxon origins

Fair, dry thin-skinned

Scars heal well

Signs of aging appear earlier

Burn easily in the sun

Bruising more obvious

Increased chance of skin cancer

Skin Characteristics of people with Southern Mediterranean origins

Oily, olive dark complexion

Signs of aging appear later

Cartilage tends to droop

Darker, thicker scars more common

Wrinkles appear later and in more localized areas

Skin cancer is rare

Skin Characteristics of people with Northern European origins / German and Scandinavian

Fair, blue-eyed, blonde

Thin skin

Scars heal well

Signs of aging appear early

Bruising more obvious

Greater chance of skin cancer

Skin Characteristics of people with African/African-American origins

Signs of aging appear very late

Very little fine wrinkling

Formation of keloids is possible

Pigmentation changes may occur

Thicker cartilage hard to change

Skin cancers are very rare

Skin Characteristics of people with Northern European/Irish and northern England

Ruddy freckled complexion

Red hair

Scars usually thin

Signs of aging appear later

Bruises easily

Pigmentation problems

Skin cancers are most common in this type

Skin Characteristics of people with Asian origins

Signs of aging appear late

Fine wrinkling does not usually occur

Pigmentation changes may occur

Skin cancers are very rare

Skin Characteristics of people with Southern European origins

Dark, oily brunette complexion

Signs of aging appear later

Fine wrinkling less common

Bruising lasts longer

Scars may be thicker and darker

Skin cancers are less common

Identifying the correct, natural skin care system for your skin's characteristics is essential and may need to be adjusted depending on your specific genetic influences, as within each of these groups, there is a wide range in skin tones, which tend to overlap from group to group.

Each of the different categories of skin characteristics has various advantages and disadvantages specific to that group. However, the overall structures and functions of our skin are very similar and are therefore cared for in very similar ways. Knowing your skin?s particular strengths and weaknesses, you can tailor your skin care approach to your particular skin-characteristics.

Danny Siegenthaler is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and together with his wife Susan, a medical herbalist and Aromatherapist, they have created Natural Skin Care Products by Wildcrafted Herbal Products to share their 40 years of combined expertise with you.

Join our Natural Skin Care Newsletter ? it?s fun, free and Informative and you receive a free eBook on natural skin care.

Wildcrafted Herbal Products 2006

Tips on How to Make the Most of Your Beauty Budget

2009-02-27T00:33:00.001+07:00

Do you know that the 'average' woman spends about $600 a year on skin care and color cosmetics, according to the beauty industry? Whether she uses only cleansers and lotions or has an array of beauty products, shopping can be time-consuming and expensive. So, here are some quick tips on how to make the most of your beauty budget.

Part of the 'secret' is to insist on quality for those items that matter ... and the most important items are those that help you care for your skin. Look to see if the product line includes the following steps: cleansing, exfoliating, refining or toning and moisturizing. Then review the ingredients for compatability with your individual skin type and sensitivities. If you're not sure how your skin will react, ask for samples and test them on your forearm.

Quality isn't necessarily costly though you may spend a little more to find a product line that is the most effective for you. Conversely, expensive isn't necessarily the best choice. Very high-priced product lines typically contain rare substances that may or may not work for you. Unless you are already using optimum products for your skin, you should notice a difference within two weeks to a month of starting a new regime. Your skin should appear clearer, smoother and well-moisturized.

After skin care, the right foundation or powder and concealer are important beauty buys. Depending upon the amount of coverage you want, select a foundation, creme to powder foundation, dual coverage powder foundation, pressed or loose powder and concealer that blend as closely as possible with your face. (With foundation, test the shade along your jaw line to compare the color with both your face and neck; watch to see if it ?disappears? into your skin.)

Another part of the 'secret' to making the most of your beauty budget is spending less on color products that change with the seasons such as eye shadows, blushes and lipsticks. Most product lines will offer the lastest hot colors, which tend to be similar, so comparison shop. Another idea is to accumulate a palette of primary eye colors which can be mixed to create your own hot colors.

There's no need to spend too much to look your best!

Charlotte is an experienced independent beauty consultant with Mary Kay Inc.

Register on Charlotte's Mary Kay Inc. web site to receive a monthly email newsletter, Beaut-e-News(tm), with tips & techniques and a seasonal mailing of the The Look catalog with free samples plus the latest in skin care and color looks (complete privacy ensured).

http://www.marykay.com/charlottemaddox

Acne ? Back to Its Roots

2009-02-25T00:53:00.001+07:00

Acne, which is widely common throughout teenagers and as far a late twenties, can be started through several ways, and effecting not only the look of us but also the confidence, as well a the bullying and physical damage that can occur through some of the more serious cases.

Acne begins to breed and exist when the human body has accumulated more toxins than organs such as your kidney and bowels are able to remove. Bowels and kidneys both help to remove toxins from the human body as well as all other waste. The toxins can be caused by excessive fat that is unable to be washed out of your system, which may in turn have resulted from your body having trouble digesting fats that could stem from allergies from types of foods, or even hormonal issues. When these toxins build up so your kidney and bowels become over loaded, they then can become clogged up, which is not good for your body, and thus cause your bowels and kidney not to function properly.

Once your kidney and bowels go into the stage of been clogged up and over loaded, they then basically pass on or ?dump? what they are unable to handle onto the liver. The liver plays many parts in the successful and smooth running of the human body, and one of its major parts is to convert this excessive fat into energy that is useable throughout the human body. Since the bowels and kidney have become overloaded, and have dumped the excess fat and toxins into the liver, this causes the liver to work on over time, and then also causes the liver to become over loaded and over worked.

This is acne starts to creep in and acne treatment will then be necessary. Once the bowels, kidneys, and liver are all over worked and clogged, the human body then expels toxins through the lungs and into the skin, which is a second channel of elimination, and therefore your skin will start to see the unfortunate affects of acne.

To conclude, acne is basically a sign of the overloading of your organs, such as bowels, kidneys, and then you?re liver. It shows the liver is growing weaker as it is not performing as it should, and will also continue to grow weaker if the correct actions are not taken to remove as many toxins from the body as possible.

More information on Acne Treatment can be found at the author?s website at http://www.abc-acnetreatment.info

Exercise and Acne

2009-02-25T00:45:00.000+07:00

The best advantage exercise can yield is to improve the rate of blood circulation in the body and therefore provide oxygen to the skin cells. The pores are cleaned as you tend to sweat after exercising and this means that no germs will be present in the skin. Even scars and rashes that are formed due to inflammation disappear rapidly. It makes the cardiovascular system work smoothly and even your lungs are pumped with enough oxygen. It helps you fabulously in your routine work.

Concerning, the exercise activity, you should choose an exercise program which you find most interesting. Usually spend time with outdoor activities like swimming, cycling, jogging, rowing etc. Water games will clean off your skin automatically. Do not exercise for long or you might start to feel exhausted. Try out those exercises that will balance your moods such as yoga or a few relaxation exercises.

The value of sports and games in building your personality is really notable. When you exercise, the body releases a hormone called endorphin, which keeps you calmer. Your skin will glow and this in turn will assist you in having great skin, i.e., skin free from acne and other skin diseases. So don?t wait, go out and start jogging now!

Dead Sea Minerals Health from the Lowest Point on Earth

2009-02-20T22:25:00.001+07:00

A study involving a European occupational therapist suffering from psoriasis who had obtained compensation from her health insurance in order to undergo therapy at the Dead Sea has lead to great interest in health funds in Denmark, Germany and other European Countries. This has resulted in their subsidizing treatment from the Dead Sea for people suffering from both Psoriasis and other skin conditions. If Health Insurance companies can be considering coverage of treatment at the Dead Sea for relief and treatment of skin disorders, then it seems reasonable to advocate usage of products manufactured from the Mud and minerals of the Dead Sea.

Healthy skin and

Assisting to replace or remove electrolytes enables the body to maintain a good fluid balance thereby improving a feeling of relaxation, health and well being. Below is a list of the therapeutic physical and mental well being is dependent on the correct sodium and potassium or fluid balance in the body. This is regulated by the Adrenal gland, which in turn affect healthy function of the kidneys. The kidneys are responsible for controlling 28 chemicals in the body. An imbalance of these chemicals or electrolytes can result in certain skin or other symptoms and over an extended period of time results in various illnesses. benefits of the Dead Sea products together with the conditions or symptoms they alleviate.

The Dead Sea Salts differ from regular sea salt in 2 important ways.

1) They contain 10 times more minerals than sea salt.
2) The Dead

Sea salts absorb essential oils with ease, which enables them to be released into the bath water as they dissolve.

This is beneficial for those wishing to benefit from the Dead Sea in the privacy of their own home. Some of the minerals found in the Dead Sea are listed below together with their functions or benefits to health. This provides some insight as to why these minerals assist in cleansing, de-toxing and restoring a healthy status quo of the body, especially the skin and muscles.

Minerals and Chemicals found in the Dead Sea

Sulfur-is found in the amino acids cysteine, and methionine; as well as in cells, hemoglobin (of the blood), collagen (of the muscles), keratin (required for skin), insulin, heparin, biotin, co-enzyme A, (required for healthy hair, skin, nails, among many other biological structures). Sulfur is necessary for synthesizing collagen. It is required for the adequate digestion and absorption of carbohydrates and a number of vitamins e.g. thiamin, biotin and pantothenic acid; It is also essential to enable cells to breathe Sulfur is necessary for the secretion of bile from the liver and for converting toxins into non-toxins.

Chlorine is necessary to maintain the correct balance of alkaline and acid in the body, together with being vital for cell metabolism

Iodine is necessary for the production of the hormone thyroxin, and is also vital for both energy and cell metabolism is necessary to maintain the water balance in order for cell metabolism to take place, assisting the cells to absorb nourishment and expel waste products. An imbalance in potassium often leads to water retention.

Potassium also plays a vital role in regulating muscle contractions and the nervous system.

Sodium like potassium plays s a vital role in assisting the cells to absorb nourishment and expel waste.

Calcium is necessary in strengthening cell membranes and cleansing the pores. In addition it is vital for production and maintenance of healthy teeth and bones, together with regulating the heart muscles and nerves.

Magnesium is necessary in assisting the body to utilize other essential nutiens and in cell metabolism.

Bromine helps with the natural repair of the body together with cell metabolism and can be sued as a natural antibiotic. Saunas often use Dead Sea salts to evaporate the bromides thus creating and environment similar to the Dead Sea. Having a hot bath with Dead Sea salts and allowing the steam to collect in the bathroom will have a similar effect. Other than the benefits listed below for bath salts, steaming and using these salts in the bath can be beneficial for respiratory conditions e.g. asthma.

PELOTHERAPY The main healing property of mud is humic acid, which comes from concentration of organic matter. After the Ice Age the earth experienced a compression of plant and animal life resulting in transformation of various rocks and hence, muds. The parts of the earth, which suffered the most erosion, have higher deposits of humic acid. One of these areas is the Dead Sea, which has the largest concentration of humic acid, chloride salts of magnesium, sodium, potassium, calcium, bromine and various other minerals. Since the Dead Sea Mud (also known as Pelloid) has a high concentration of minerals together with an ability to hold heat, the mud can be used for certain healing benefits. Smearing the Pelloid onto the body in a process known as Pelotherapy provides cleansing and detoxing of the skin which has proved beneficial for skin, muscle pain and arthritic or rheumatic conditions.

BALNEOTHERAPY

Is an ancient healing form using water, usually with added salts, thereby distinguishing it from hydrotherapy, to condition, relax and revitalize the skin, body and muscles. Its benefits are seen in improving circulation, strengthening the immune system, reducing pain, stress and insomnia.

Yoav Cohen is an author for AHAVA Dead Sea products site.

Celebrate Mother Nature

2009-02-19T10:52:00.001+07:00

Mother Nature provides us with so many splendors. She supplies us with life, beauty, nutrients and sustenance to blossom. For instance, trees blooming in spring are phenomenal sights, the sun setting on the horizon will render one speechless, skin that radiates inner peace & happiness is beyond beautiful.

We need to celebrate what is given to us naturally. We are exceptional individuals that are equally unique. That is a gift from the ?Mother?; we should value our blessings and not abuse them. Our Creator provided us everything that we needed to survive on earth. Now, I am sure we have all heard this time and time again and why should this time be any different? Well, if you think about it from a logical position it is the only reply that makes sense. So, today let?s say, ?thank you? and I will do my best to care for what I have been given!

Today, there are so many beauty/body products on the market that contain harsh chemicals that cause deliberate damage to our skin, hair and nails. It is time that ?we? as consumers know what we are spending our hard earned dollars on. But, more importantly, it is imperative that we know what we are being sold (learn how to read ingredient labels). Most consumers don?t realize that their skin is the largest organ and that approx. 60% of what we put on our hair, skin and nails is absorbed into our system. Our skin needs to be cared for like your heart, kidney?s, liver and other vital organs. See, without skin we can?t live! Let your skin thrive and use products that are exceptional for your skin. After all, you deserve it!

Visit and shop today - www.mytouchofhoney.com

Keisha J. Jones is the Founder and Crafter of A Touch of Honey's product line. She has researched natural resourses for 5+ years and has done extensive research on natural body products. She writes various articles for beauty media and a bi-weekly ezine.

Don't Buy AntiAging Skin Products Without This Information

2009-02-19T10:42:00.001+07:00

For those consumers looking to invest in anti aging skin products, it is important to bear in mind that no two anti aging skin products are alike. With this fact in mind, it then becomes possible to become a prudent shopper when it comes time to purchase anti aging skin products: when looking for anti aging skin products consumers need to look for specific qualities within the anti aging skin products they are considering for purchase. What kind of ingredients does the anti aging skin products contain? How does the anti aging skin products work? Is the anti aging skin products you want to purchase really worth the money you plan on spending?

You will only want to purchase anti aging skin products that are backed by experts, researchers and other professionals. Don?t invest your money in anti aging skin products that throw a pile of promises at you and then never fulfill a one of them. Instead, levitate toward the anti aging skin products that have their claims supported by experts and professionals. Moreover, go for the anti aging skin products that are actually backed by thorough research and testing. View the tests conducted on the anti aging skin products you are considering and see the affects for yourself.

Another way to find the right anti aging skin products is to talk to others that have used the products you are considering. Ask them how easy the anti aging skin products are to use and whether or not they felt that such products were expensive. If you and a close friend are chatting about anti aging skin products, why not ask if they like the feel of the anti aging skin products they have purchased, the scent and whether or not they were happy with their purchase. Chances are, if they purchased a quality product with hydrating qualities and collagen infusion properties, they were more than happy with the product.

Alternatively, you can read reviews about anti aging skin products and thereby see what other people have to say about the product. Read about how other people rate the use of special anti aging skin products and if they felt their money was well spent. Just remember that no matter what anybody says, the only real way you can know for certain if the anti aging skin products you are thinking about really work is to examine the tests conducted on the products and try the product out yourself.

There are truly amazing anti aging skin products that you can use to help you look and feel young again. Researchers have worked diligently to create anti aging skin products that address a number of aging issues, issues beyond the appearance of wrinkles. Whether you want anti aging skin products to improve the appearance of your skin, or you want anti aging skin products to improve the appearance of your lips, there are anti aging skin products that can help you with beauty needs. Further, if you want anti aging skin products that can help you banish under-eye circles or you want to reduce unsightly cellulite, there are anti aging skin products that can address your beauty dilemmas.

For more information and articles on Anti Aging, Anti Wrinkle, and skin care products check out our website. Collagen and Hydroderm

Reasons for Joining a Gym or Keeping Fit

2009-02-19T10:30:00.001+07:00

I was asked by one of my friends a couple of days ago on the reason I personally am into bodybuilding/getting into shape.. Besides the obvious health benefits.. she wanted to know what drives me. Well, read on...

Hmm. I don't think I've ever really put much thought into this before.. but let me attempt to analyze. I decided to first surf around the net to see what motivated the OTHERS to pursue a similar goal, and here are some of the answers I came across:

Some Reasons People Join the Gym: 1. I'm sick of being skinny as a twig.
2. People say I look sick and unhealthy.
3. When I wear a sleeveless or body hugging shirt, I don't look impressive in it.
4. A muscular man attracts chicks like magnets.
5. I wanna look as fit as the Americans. They're more beefier than the locals.
6. Bodybuilding makes a girl like you!
7. It gives me self confidence.
8. I wanna turn women on.
9. I'm tired of being fat and unhealthy.

Some are just amusing.. but if you ask me, I'd say that I could relate to reason #7 the most. I believe that lifting weights to improve your physique portrays to everyone that you possess a desire for Self-improvement, to become greater than you are, that you're disciplined, and are dedicated.

In case you didn't notice by now, most people with strong powerful physiques exude a type of confidence not seen in regular people (dont confuse confidence with arrogance.. some may push it and be arrogant instead.. but thats no good and they deserve to be spanked). They don't need fancy clothes to look good or to show off. Their physique says it all, and at the end of the day, it DEMANDS a 'subconscious' respect because you know when you see a bodybuilder with an amazing physique - you know that he's got what it takes to improve himself to such an extent. You know that he's gone through the struggles. He's got discipline, puts up with the pain, the task of watching his diet, etc.

Now back to me.. I think somewhere along the road, just for a short period of time, I did sorta do it to impress the opposite sex (come on.. get real - who hasnt?). But very shortly after that, I began to realise that it wasn't working (ha ha) - or perhaps I was meeting the wrong kinda women? Anyway... I realised that there was definitely more to being fit and looking good than attracting others - it was personal satisfaction. Now that's something you can't buy from your pharmacy or supplement store.

Honestly - I got involved into this 'world' not because I wanted to... In fact.. I dreaded stepping foot into the gym for the very first time. It was my mom who persuaded me to join the gym.. (guess she didnt have the heart to say to me - Son, you're FAT!). It was hot, the air was dry (it wasnt air conditioned), the treadmill (yes, there was only ONE) and the three bikes were rusty..the carpet smelled like something died underneath.. it was all wrong. How could I ever grow to like such a lifestyle? Boy was I wrong.

So I guess.. to summarise - I got into this without realising what was in store for me. But once I tasted it.. I just couldnt get enough. I always tell people to never give up for at least 3 months. If you do everything right, and persevere for JUST 3 MONTHS - I promise you will see results. If you don't, THEN you can walk away, and tell the whole world it didnt work (which I still believe will be because you did something wrong).

I guess I'm lucky to be where I am today, and I'm glad that today, I'm doing it for the right reasons. I guess at the end of the day, it also boils down to what motivates you. If it's the opposite sex you're after.. and that drives you, then by all means, go ahead. Its the results that counts. Always do whatever it takes to get you there (I'm not talking about performance enhancing drugs though, cos that's cheating yourself and robbing you of your health).

Josh Stone, also known as DM, is the author behind the site http://www.dailymuscle.com which offers the author's personal views on real-life fitness, bodybuilding, sports nutrition, cardio, fat loss, training information, and on all things that surrounds fitness.

How to Eliminate Dry Skin Naturally

2009-02-19T01:15:00.000+07:00

Everyone wants smooth, glowing beautiful skin! How many of us can say that we actually posses it? We purchase countless products, undergo expensive treatments and still suffer with dry, flaky or ?ashy? skin. In order to see a long lasting change, you must examine your lifestyle. Take time to consider what impact your diet, sleeping habits, activity and skin care routine have on your skin.

1. Be sure to include fresh fruit, nutritious vegetables, whole grains and clean water in your daily diet. Your skin is a living organ. Give it what is needed to stay healthy.

2. Start the day with invigorating stretches. Learn basic yoga and practice it for 10-30 minutes each morning.

3. Cleanse your skin with cold-processed soaps. They contain plant oils that nourish the skin cells. Avoid products with Sodium Laurel Sulfate or other harsh detergents.

4. Exfoliate skin weekly to remove dead skin cells and toxins. Use a scrub with plant-based ingredients to restore moisture and elasticity.

5. After the bath or shower, moisturize the entire body with a mineral oil-free product. Be sure to read labels. Even some ?natural products? contain mineral oil. It is a cheap by product of petroleum and does not contribute the health of your skin.

6. Monitor the water temperature when bathing, extremely hot temperatures can be drying as well. 7. Use proper sun protection and limit your exposure to direct sunlight.

8. Retire by 10:00 pm each evening. This allows your body time to heal itself and restore all organ systems. In turn, promoting good skin health.

By following this holistic approach you should experience a significant difference in the health of your skin.

Chanelle Washington, BSN is a Certified Holistic Practioner. She is an honors graduate of Temple University and member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nurses. Ms. Washington is an informative speaker, inspiring author and owner of Indigofera ? Plant Based Body Care Collection?. Contact her at http://www.indigofera.com.

Natural Skin Care For Cracked Skin

2009-02-17T18:33:00.001+07:00

When you suffer eczema or psoriasis, your skin cracks, thus presenting you with painful slits or fissures. They cause agony even while doing simple movements. Your skin cracks and can give you a terrible pain. Hands and feet are the most vulnerable spots for this problem. But other spots like mouth, lips, cheeks etc. too can be affected. Usually the areas between toes and on the heels are affected. These fissures, if neglected can cause infection. Generally, women who wear open-backed heels and slides are affected.

Treatment for the cracked skin:
?Soak yourself: the best treatment for the dry skin is to have a good bath every night before going to sleep. This enables your skin cells to absorb water, since these cells are like sponge. You can also soak the affected body part for about 20 minutes in the warm water and then pat dry.
?Apply petroleum products: once you are through with your bath, apply a coating of petroleum jelly product. Then put on a pair of socks for your feet or a pair of light cotton gloves for hands to seal the moisture. These petroleum products work far better than the commercial moisturizers, since they do not have the same sealing effects.
?Stick the cracks: you can apply a glue to ease the pain caused by the fissures. This takes the air out of the nerve endings and thus sticks the slits. This procedure is completely safe for slits and minor cuts. However, avoid using this method on the deep wounds.
?Avoid tartar toothpaste: if you suffer from cracked lips, minimize your usage of tartar toothpaste. This toothpaste contains compounds that irritate the mucuous membranes and other sensitive tissues. These toothpastes leave the skin cracked and cause a rash which itches around the mouth.

Following some of the above mentioned steps can help you in preventing/curing cracked skin.

Kevin Pederson manages sites related to hair and skin care.Find information on hair care tips, skin care tips, guide to various skin types and much more.

Always Wear Sunscreen

2009-02-17T18:13:00.001+07:00

Always wear sunscreen. How many time have you heard it? The American Academy of Dermatology reaffirms its long-standing position that sunscreen protection is beneficial in preventing painful sunburn, photo aging and skin cancer.

Always wear sunscreen regularly as part of an overall sun protection program. Whenever possible wear a hat, sun protective clothing and avoid peak sun hours. For added protection against dry skin problems look for moisturizers with sunscreen in them.

To be most effective, sun protection should begin in childhood and continue throughout your life. Use sunscreen protection as part of a daily routine.

Here are some helpful tips when going outside in the sun:

. Try to stay out of the sun between 10am and 4pm when the sun is at its hottest.

. Apply sunscreen protection with at least 15 SPF and reapply every two hours when outside, even on overcast days.

. Wear sunglasses and a hat to protect your eyes and head.

. Stay in the shade as much as you can.

. Be aware of places that reflect the sun back on you, like pool water.

. Wear loose fitting clothes that allow your skin to breathe but protect you from the damaging rays of the sun.

. Be especially careful with children, apply sunscreen protection often and limit their sun exposure.

Commit yourself to a lifetime of healthy skin by developing good habits in skincare and teach your children about the importance of taking care of their skin.

The overall effects of the sun can damage your skin but remembering to always wear sunscreen is one of your best defenses in preventing it from happening to you.

This article as well as other informative articles and valuable tips similar to this featured on http://www.4bestshopping.com

Psoriasis and Acne Natural Treatment

2009-02-15T16:52:00.001+07:00

Dead Sea Minerals Products- Natural Psoriasis Treatment

The Dead Sea serves as a health and rehabilitation beauty spa. It holds many Beauty centers, Spa and Mineral pools that patients can rest in and cure their skin problems and achieve a mental relaxation.

Patients who suffer from: Psoriasis/Psoriasis-Arthritis/ Atopic Dermatitis/Vitiligo/ Arthritis/Asthma, have been using Dead Sea products to help relief their symptoms. The Dead Sea cosmetics and mineral products have proven to be greatly effective with reliefing symptomsof all Psoriasis, Eczema and other skin diseases.

Psoriasis patients around the world visit the Dead Sea very often and buy products for they found it the best natural treatment for their skin disease.

Unfortunately, Psoriasis, a chronic disease, cannot be cured and disappear forever.

Patients who suffer from Psoriasis must know that the Psoriasis treatment that is available today can only improve the diseases symptoms but cannot solve the problem forever.

This is why it is so important to maintain a healthy life style and know how to treat your skin so that the disease will stay under control and that the symptoms will be very delicate, almost in a degree to be ignored.

Psoriasis patients should use special cleaning and cosmetic skin care products that do not irritate their skin and cause them irritations of the skin.

Dead Sea Minerals are very popular among Psoriasis patients since they were proven very efficient in lowering the symptoms of the Psoriasis disease.

Obey Your Body's products are very good for people with sensitive skin and those who suffer from skin problems, such as Psoriasis patients.

Obey Your Body's Psoriasis Creams are very popular among Psoriasis patients, as the sooth the skin and make the symptoms almost totally disappear.

Obey Your Body Dead Sea Products

Unusual Barriers to Clear Skin

2009-02-14T00:54:00.001+07:00

Sure, we have all heard the typical advice for those seeking clear skin: wash regularly, keep your hands off your face, don?t pick at your zits, etc. However, there are a number of causes and contributors to acne that are not quite so well known. If you have sensitive skin that is prone to acne, it helps to be aware of some of these factors that often go unnoticed.

Besides creams and cleansers, what other products often come in contact with your skin? If you use makeup, taking care to apply it lightly and using only non-comedogenic products (products that will not clog your pores) should be a natural first step. For men that use aftershave, similar care should be taken not to use aftershaves that contain alcohol or other ingredients that could dry out your skin.

What are less commonly considered are those products that indirectly affect your skin, such as hair gels. Hair styling products are usually full of ingredients that can have negative effects on your skin. If you use these products on a regular basis, make sure to minimize their contact with the skin on your face. Try not to work these products in directly against the skin of your scalp, and always wash clean the skin along your hairline after applying a hair styling product. These products can also run down into the skin of your face and forehead when you sweat, so if you plan on exercising try to apply hair products lightly and wash the effected area afterward.

Speaking of sweat, the buildup of sweat against your skin, particularly when your pores cannot breathe due to sweaty clothing, can lead to acne. When trapped against the skin, sweat provides a perfect situation for bacteria to grow. Always change out of sweaty clothing quickly after you?re done exercising, especially if the clothing is tight.

Sweat and a lack of letting your pores breathe can affect you even without vigorous exercise. Do you spend a large part of the day sitting in front of a computer? If so, you may be inviting back acne if your back is always pressed against a chair. The heat and moisture that build up will lead to bacteria.

What about your diet? Many people notice that certain oily or sugary foods lead to a breakout the next day. This is because your metabolism is busy breaking down those foods instead of your excess skin oil. Minimizing junk food is always good advice, but what many don?t consider is another type of food that can have similar results for your skin.

Processed grains, such as found in processed breads and cereals, are easily broken down in the body and can lead to elevated insulin levels, which have been linked with acne. If you want to maintain a clear skin diet, many dermatologists recommend limiting your intake of processed grains. Instead, eat more fruits and vegetables, as these are rich in nutrients essential to healthy skin. A low-carb Atkins-like diet may be just the ticket for acne sufferers.

Another factor for your diet is to simply drink more water. Water helps flush out the toxins in your cells that can lead to acne, and keeps your skin cells full and supple. It is recommended that adults drink about eight glasses of water every day.

Since your skin can be affected by so many things, maintaining clear skin means taking a complete look at your lifestyle. Make sure you?re treating your skin right inside and out.

Don Amodeo is the webmaster of Acne-Vitamins.com, where you can find vitamin B5 clear skin products and a free guide to acne vitamins. You can also visit the clear skin blog which features helpful advice for acne sufferers. This article may be republished provided that the author's information and all active links are left intact.

Tips for Transitioning Your Skin Care and Looks from Summer to Fall

2009-02-12T00:17:00.001+07:00

Fall's the time to repair the price paid for ?fun in the sun? and prepare for cooler, dryer air. Then experiment with the season's new looks!

As healthy as being outdoors can feel, the ultraviolet rays of the sun can damage skin cells through sunscreens and sun blocks.** Chlorine and other chemicals in hot tubs and pools, salt water at the beach, and super-conditioned air can leach away nutrients and cause dryness. What to do? Have some fun ... create a ?spa? environment in your bath area and follow these simple steps.

Step one in reversing the effects of summer is to remove the dead surface skin cells that have built up. For your face, select a mask or microdermabrasion product that?s appropriate for your skin type (dry, normal, combination, oily, blemish-prone). Also pick an exfoliator made specifically for the lips. For your body, choose a scrub or buffing cream. If you have sensitive skin, avoid scents and perfumes since they can be irritants. Then follow the product directions for application and use, massaging gently.

Step two is to moisturize the newer, younger skin you've revealed. Liberally apply a facial moisturizer (paying special attention to the neck and d?collet?), eye cream, lip balm, and body lotion (or cream), allowing time for the products to be absorbed into your skin. You want to replace the moisture that?s been stripped away during cleansing, restore what?s been lost during the summer and start to protect against cold weather and dry indoor heat.

Now, after each cleansing, apply moisturizers and, if necessary, increase the intensity of the products. At night, use a specially formulated product for your face that works while you sleep. For problem areas such as elbows, knees, hands and feet, put on extra lotion or cream (wear mitts and footies to bed, as needed). During the day, continue to wear sunscreen or sun block to protect your skin from ultraviolet rays.

As sun exposure or a tan fades, adjust your foundation and/or powder to a lighter shade. Test the shade along your jaw line to blend with both your face and neck; watch to see if it ?disappears? into your skin.

The lighter, sun-kissed colors of summer typically transition to darker, earthier colors in fall. If you?re trying to adapt the season's shades or find the hues that work best for you, try these tricks.

For eyes, eye shadows with a base or elements of color opposite that of your eyes (on the color wheel) will make your eyes stand out the most. Consider a wide spectrum of the colors that are in style. If teal?s fashionable, experiment with different tints of blues and greens and blue-greens. Mix colors or tone them down with neutrals until you find the ones that complement your face and wardrobe.

For cheeks and lips, the most flattering colors are usually the ones that pick up the natural warm tones in your face.

Once you're ready, enjoy the season!

**For skin abnormalities, please consult a board-certified dermatologist.

Charlotte is an experienced independent beauty consultant with Mary Kay Inc.

http://www.marykay.com/charlottemaddox

The 4 Step Check For Skin Cancer Detection

2009-02-12T00:11:00.000+07:00

Moles can turn into cancerous melanomas so it's important you check your moles regularly and talk to your doctor if there is any sign of danger.

Follow this 4 step, A-B-C-D, guide when checking your moles and if any of the points are true, be sure to take appropriate action.

Asymmetry: If one half of the mole does not match the other half. A mole or birthmark that has skin growth which increases in size should be examined by a doctor.

Border: If the edge of the mole is ragged, notched or blurred. Moles with skin cancer may have uneven borders.

Color: If the mole is a mix of brown, black and tan rather than an even color you should ensure it is looked at by a doctor. A mole that appears red or blue should also be cause for concern.

Diameter: If the mole is larger than a pencil eraser (6 mm). An important sign of melanoma is a change in size.

Check your body thoroughly at least every three months and if you have quite a few moles be sure to keep an eye on any changes. If any of your moles stand out from the others or if a mole starts bleeding for no apparent reason you should always consult your doctor.

The good news is that there is a lot you can do to protect yourself from skin cancer, or to catch it early enough so that it can be treated effectively, so make sure you check yourself thoroughly and often.

For further advice on health care and support, visit http://www.curemequick.com.

This article was submitted by Jack Prime, a contributer to the http://www.curemequick.com website.

Clean Your Face With Ultra Botanicals Facial Cleanser

2009-02-10T23:52:00.001+07:00

Women are chasing down ultra botanicals facial cleanser in droves. Women are pretty darn savvy when it comes to their skin and cosmetics, so they immediately recognized ultra botanicals as the healthiest facial cleanser on the market, with the papaya facial cleanser being their all time favorite.

A facial cleanser cleans the top layer of skin removing makeup, pore debris, and air pollutants that have attached themselves to the skin. It also removes dead skin cells and oil, leaving the skin with a healthy glow.

A well balanced, gentle cleanser that maintains the skins natural PH, is very important to women. Women insist on skin cleansers that not only clean their skin, but make their skin look healthier and younger. That?s why the botanical facial cleansers have gained so much popularity. They are mild, they do not destroy the skins natural PH, and they replace important nutrients to the skin. After only a few weeks of use woman are seeing their skin look younger.

Just as their name indicates, these facial cleansers are made from natural products, rich in antioxidants including Vitamin C, and complete with anti aging properties. You will find ingredients such as aloe, coconut, jojoba, papaya, chamomile, orange blossom, yarrow, and even horsetail. No that?s not the tail of a horse, but a very powerful antioxidant herb.

Because these botanical cleansers are so gentle, they can be used daily, both morning and night. Evening cleaning is especially important as your face has had an entire day of abuse. Your make up needs to be removed, you need to unclog your pores, and you need to remove the pollutants that you?ve been exposed to during your daily travels. To complete your facial cleansing you should add a botanical astringent which you should use after using your facial cleanser. You should also add a botanical scrub for exfoliating which you can use two or three times a week.

Botanical scrubs include ingredients such as apricot husks, while the astringents often include ingredients such as tea tree oil or green tea. These natural scrubs will gently remove dead skin and expose the fresh new layer of skin just waiting to reach the surface. The will help keep you skin both free of acne and bacteria which can cause acne.

So how do women really feel about botanical cleansers and related products. Aren?t they like any other cleanser that?s been on the market. A whole lot of hoopla, with basically the same results.

Women will emphatically tell you ?no? botanical cleansers are different! They are gentler and more natural, and within two weeks you will not only feel the difference in your skin, you?ll see a new healthy glow.

And here?s the good news guys. There are full lines of botanical facial products available for men too. Those that have tried them are of the same opinion as the women. Now isn?t that a first?

So treat yourself and your skin the way you deserve to be treated. Wrap yourself in mother nature!

M.D. Stacener from The Acne Cure has been serving customers for over 20 years, providing valuable information to keep you beautiful and healthy. Please visit us at The Acne Cure

How To Apply Your Makeup

2009-02-10T23:48:00.000+07:00

How To Apply Your Makeup

STEP 1: FOUNDATION: After Cleansing, Toning and Moisturizing your face apply a small amount of foundation to the tip of your index finger, dot on forehead, nose, cheeks and chin then blend in an upward and outward motion without leaving a line. Be sure to apply foundation over your eyelids and blend without leaving a line. Glance in the mirror to ensure there's no line. You can use a concealer to cover imperfections such as blemishes and dark spots. You can use our NATU-CLEAR to remove dark spots, even skin tone and skin discoloration.

STEP 2: TRANSLUCENT POWDER: Using a Powder Brush apply Translucent Powder in a downward motion for a smooth finish. Translucent Powder helps eye makeup and blush to go on smoother and blend better. It also keeps your face looking fresh and your Makeup will last longer.

STEP 3 EYE MAKEUP: Starting at your lash line, apply your Base Color first, then apply your crease color in the crease area. Apply your Highlight Color in the highlight color area, below the brow bone. Finally, blend the colors with a cotton ball or your fingertip to remove any obvious line. If the colors are too bright tone them down with a little Translucent Powder then apply your Mascara, and dust your entire face downward with Translucent Powder.

STEP 4 BLUSH: Your Blush should go on the apples of your cheeks to radiate when you smile. It should go no closer to your nose, but directly beneath the iris of your eye; below nostril-level and into your temple hairline. A good Blush Brush that's tapered for precise placement, is a must.

STEP 5 LIPSTICKS: Define the outline of your lips with a professional lip brush or lip liner pencil that closely matches the color of your lipstick. Then apply your lipstick and blend the liner with a lip brush. Start from the center working outwards.

For more HOW TO Makeup and Skin Care Tips and advice visit http://www.beautysensation.com

Julia Anderson, Beauty Consultant and Makeup Artist
Free Newsletter http://www.beautysensation.com

AntiAging Natural Skin Care Treatment Advice and Recommendation!

2009-02-10T23:46:00.001+07:00

As you get older, your body's energy needs drop and demands for nutrients increase. While aging is inevitable, many of the degenerative changes that prevail past middle age can be easily prevented. Recent medical research confirms that good nutrition can prevent, or slow, conditions such as osteoporosis, diabetes and heart disease. Proper nutrition is an important part of any 'aging well' strategy.

Our Recommendations

Although nutrition is important, healthy eating isn't just about taking the right nutrients. Remember:

. If you dislike eating alone, organize regular potlucks meals with friends and neighbors.

. Select foods that supply contrasts in color, texture and flavor. Avoid adding salt to improve flavor; instead, use herbs and spices.

. It helps to gather a good mix of ages around you- it will make the transition to old age more varied and enjoyable.

. Maintain old friendships and make new contracts. Go for walk to the nearby park.

. Eat at least five servings a day of fruits and vegetables such as carrots, peppers, melons and berries. These contain compounds that protect against aging ailments like heart diseases and cancer.

Must Read: How do i prevent Wrinkles? Anti-Wrinkle Tips and Strategies at http://www.weightloss-health.com/prevent%20wrinkles.htm

. Opt for foods not supplements. Beta carotene-rich foods are one of the top sources of key nutrients promising anti-aging.

. Cook vegetables in as little liquid and for as short a time as possible.

. Make sure to drink six to eight glasses of water, juice or other non-alcoholic fluids everyday to avoid constipation, kidney problems and increased risk of dehydration.

. Exercise regularly in the form of walks or yoga to preserve muscle strength, improve appetite and mood.

. If you have trouble chewing opt for pureed vegetables, soups and other nutritious foods rather than bland liquid diet, which can lead to constipation

. Include Omega 3 fatty acids in your diet, which you can get from flax seeds, canola oils and fish.

Do not change your diet drastically. Gradually include the nutrients and requirements for old age. People over 85 are one of the fastest growing segments of the population, proving that you can live longer and healthier if you practice good food habits.

Must Visit: Check out the changing needs of an aging skin and the importance of different nutrients at http://www.weightloss-health.com/antiageingfood.htm

About the Author:

Ashley Green

For http://weightloss-health.com/ your complete and most comprehensive family guide on Health.

Also get free tips and tricks on Skin Care and a chance to go through other informative articles targetting various health issues at Anti-Aging Natural Skin Care Tips and Products

If you wish to reproduce the above article you are welcome to do so, provided the article is reproduced in its entirety, including this resource box and LIVE link to our website.

Simple and Effective Ways to Control Acne

2009-02-10T23:43:00.001+07:00

Acne control include unclogging the pores of the skin, destroying bacteria and reducing excessive oil, or, in other words, Prevention.

As the saying goes an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

With this in mind, what then are the best ways to prevent and control acne?

First of all remember the basics of healthy living- nourish your body with good food, consume 6-8 glasses of water per day and try to get enough shut eye (8-9 hours is highly recommended).

A method of controlling acne that is not widely known is to take fish oil supplements on a regular basis.

Fish oils contain EPA and DHA fatty acids as well as omega-3 and omega-6 oils.

These essential elements create prostaglandins in the human body.

Prostaglandins are chemical hormones and they serve to maintain optimum functioning in all of the body's organs and cells.

They keep androgen hormones, which cause the production of excessive oil, in check.

Using mild soap-free cleansers such as Cetaphil, Dove, Purpose or Neutrogena helps keep the skin clear of dirt and surface impurities.

Exfoliating creams and masques are also good for acne control as they work to gently peel away dead skin cells. But make sure you don't choose one that is overly abrasive.

Using an astringent or toner to rid your face of excessive oil is an effective way to control acne as is using topical solutions containing benzoyl peroxide or sulfur.

Some acne sufferers find products with benzoyl peroxide to be harsh or excessively drying to their skin.

Stress is a contributing factor in acne growth so try to keep it to a minimum.

Too much stress becomes a vicious circle in that pressure triggers the production of more oil which ultimately causes more skin problems and the acne that results tends to stress out the sufferer even more.

Who else has been search for more articles and information regarding acne and skin treatments, visit Acne-Care-and-Skin-Treatments.com

Using Water to Get Glowing Vibrant Skin

2009-02-10T23:40:00.001+07:00

I?ve mentioned your skin?s need for water before, but it?s such an important topic that it deserves a section all its own.

We sometimes forget our skin -- until something goes wrong! Your skin is the largest organ of your body. The skin protects us from infections, guards us against harmful effects of the sun?s rays, and helps to regulate our body temperature.

But what most of us think about with the skin is how it looks. All of us have seen those with unhealthy skin or complexions. Their skin has a sallow look, pasty, or drawn. It?s not a pretty sight.

And, of course, what the skin needs is moisture. When the body is inadequately hydrated, there?s not enough moisture in the skin tissues, and that can contribute to the drawn and haggard look so many have.

The skin also needs hydration to clean the body of toxins. Your body is constantly in contact with things that are not good for us. Those things can come from the food we eat, the air we breathe, and things we come into contact with by touching. (And in some places in the world -- thankfully not usually in North America! -- even water itself can bring in those toxins).

The simplest way the body gets rid of toxins is through washing. Washing your hands is probably the very best thing you can do to prevent infections, whether your own or someone else?s. Bathing or showering (and shampooing) also get rid of toxic materials our bodies don?t need.

But the cleaning works internally, too. Water courses through your body, a never-ending stream flushing out harmful substances. And if there?s not enough of that water, your body itself can become polluted, something like a river in a time of drought, when there?s just not enough water to clean out all the junk.

Your body can operate like that, too. Because there?s not enough fluid to clean out the toxins, they accumulate in the body?s tissues. The whole body can start to act sluggish, but the place where we see it first is in our skin. And while we are quick to put on lotions and skin treatments, the primary and most important ?skin treatment? you can use comes in a glass -- and it?s available from the tap!

Again, the most important means of taking care of your skin is our regular, 20 glasses a day water plan. Keep drinking on a regular basis. You will find that it becomes a wonderful habit very quickly, and you come to miss it if you?re separated from a water source for very long.

Prevention is of first importance, but if you find you?ve been exposed to something toxic (such as secondhand smoke), first wipe your face with cool (not cold) tap water, and then drink a couple of glasses of water right away. You want to give your body a chance to get rid of the toxins right away, and there?s no better way than water.

You may also notice times when your skin looks drawn or haggard, even when you?re drinking enough (or at least think you are!) In most of these cases, what has happened is that you have become busy or pre-occupied, and haven?t been drinking enough. Whatever the reason, start pumping the water right away. You will even find that water will help you to look better if you?ve temporarily not had enough sleep. If you have to miss a few hour?s sleep (or even a whole night) really load up on the water. It will make you feel better and look better until you can catch up on sleep.

Jim Huffman, RN specializes in natural and alternative healing therapies. His first book is 'Dare to Be Free: How to Get Control of Your Time, Your Life, and Your Nursing Career,' and is aimed at helping other nurses find satisfying, dynamic careers. His website is http://www.NetworkForNurses.com and his health blog is at http://www.shababa.blogspot.com

Work and AsbestosRelated Diseases Part One

2009-02-10T23:36:00.000+07:00

Symptoms of lung cancer, asbestosis or other asbestos - related diseases may include chronic cough and hoarseness, wheezing, chest pain, weight loss, fatigue, loss of appetite, dysphonia, coughing up blood and shortness of breath.

If you think that you may have an asbestos - related disease because you worked exposed to asbestos many years and you show any of the symptoms above mentioned, you should visit a specialist doctor to be explored by him and decide whether you need more exams or not.

The doctor may send you for a chest x-ray or chest computed tomography (CT) scan, to determine the existence of lung scars, and pulmonary function test (PFT), to measure the power of your breathing.

Workers with asbestos benign diseases should visit their doctors regularly, because they have higher risks of getting ill of more serious cancer pathology. Therefore, these patients may be send to specialists like a lung expert or an occupational health doctor. (note: other specialists could be helpful too).

Overall, these workers can keep working, but if they do not feel sick, as research states that these patients will avoid more harm to their lungs if the amount of asbestos dust is kept low.

But if the doctor thinks that is better to have no more contact with asbestos or if you have another illness or disability, you may not be able to keep working.

Is so difficult to say you do not must to work on asbestos related jobs, because you need to work if you want to pay the bills, but in this case your decision could have many risks. On the other hand, there is many alternatives for asbestos compensations, so you need to find an specialist lawyer in this subject, this could be very useful if you decided not to be asbestos worker any more.

This article was written by staff of Disorder Skin .com, visit http://www.disorderskin.com for skin disorder information, or you could see their last article: skin disorder deramaxx treatment at:
http://www.disorderskin.com/1/skin-disorder-deramaxx-treatment.html. Thanks for use this article in your website or ezine keeping a live link.

Natural Skin Care with Essential Oils Part 2

2009-02-10T23:33:00.001+07:00

Looking good starts with great skin, and essential oils form part of the natural and holistic approach to skin care, leaving you looking and feeling beautiful.

Part 1 of this article highlighted that nutrition is central to healthy skin, outlined which oils are suitable to the variety of skin types, and how best to apply them for general skin care. This article focuses on how to manage specific skin care problems with essential oils.

Acne
Several essential oils are known for their anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory qualities, as well as their ability to regenerate the skin to a healthy state. These include geranium, bergamot, lavender and lemon.

Blemishes
Occassionally a few dry spots may appear on your skin. Firstly, ensure that you are drinking plenty of water. Secondly, make up a mixture of 1 drop each of lavender, lemon and neroli in 5 mL of base oil (eg. jojoba), and apply to the affected area with a cotton tip.

Cold Sores
Tea tree oil (undiluted) may be useful in treating the spread of this herpes virus due to its strong anti-viral properties.

Broken Veins
These broken capillaries are caused by a number of factors such as alcohol, caffeine, hot and cold elements, insufficient water intake, and inherently delicate or fragile skin. Ensure your skin never dries out and apply treatments which include parseley, chamomile, cypress, geranium or rosemary oils diluted in a heavy base oil.

Angela Page writes about Natural Skin & Beauty Care. For further information and products visit http://www.mybeautyfocus.com. You may reproduce this article only in its entirety, together with the link to the author?s website, from which this article is sourced.

Foot Discomfort: Using Water to Bring New Life to Your Feet

2009-02-10T23:31:00.001+07:00

Water to Help Your Feet Feel Better

We all have those days when our feet are aching. It may be that we?ve been walking all day. Or it might be that your shoes are too tight. Or it?s been hot, and you?ve been in the heat.

But whatever the reason, sometimes your feet need a rest. And water can help bring new life into your tired feet.

Our feet need some breathing space. Literally. Many people wear shoes all of the time, and some of them even wear something on their feet when they?re sleeping. As much as possible, give your feet time without shoes. Or socks. Or anything, for that matter.

I?m not suggesting that you walk outdoors with bare feet. But when you get home, and know you?re finished for the day, get rid of your shoes and socks, and let your feet rest. You will be astonished at the feeling of almost instant relief you will feel.

But to give your feet an added boost, use the healing power of water. Fill a pan (one big enough to hold both of your feet) with water. This time, the water should be slightly warmer than lukewarm, but not hot. If you have a thermometer, 120 degrees would be good. But you don?t really need a thermometer. Instead, use the test millions of mother (and some fathers, too) have used to test a baby?s food: feel it against your wrist. The skin on your wrist is sensitive, and will give you a good indication of whether the water will be uncomfortable on your feet.

In the water, dissolve a handful of plain baking soda. Now, get a towel (to wrap your feet in when you?re done) and a good book (or the TV remote control!) and you?re all set. Soak your feet for 20 or 30 minutes.

The results are amazing. In the first place, the soak will relieve tension and stress from the abuse your feet have endured all day. But the soak will also make the skin smooth and silky. It will also help to make your nails look better, and it will soften the skin around your nails. And if you do this for several days in a row, your feet will not only feel better, they will look better: all without expensive or inconvenient chemicals or treatments. And your whole body will feel better in the process.

Fruits for Summer: Summer Skin Care

2009-02-10T23:29:00.001+07:00

Summer is the time when we sweat highly and beating the heat is always high on our agenda. So, we move on to aerated drinks or other beverages. But what we tend to ignore is that we can fight the heat in a much healthier way. That is, through FRUITS. Fruits not only provide us with the required fluids but also the electrolytes which we lose while sweating.

Excess of dehydration can cause headaches, dizziness, loss of concentration and muscle cramping. So to counter that, Summer provides us with a larger variety of fruits so that we can make up the lost fluids and electrolytes. Here is the list of some highly beneficial fruits specially in summers.

1) Watermelon: Watermelon is the best cooler for the body specially in summers as it is high in water. It is rich in Calcium too. The word watermelon itslef brings water in our mouth.

2) Apples: Apples are one of the best source for fibre. Besides that, skin of the apple has antioxidant flavonoids which reduces free radical damage.

3) Muskmelon: Muskmelon with its unique property of rehydrating of body is considered one of the best fruits for summers. Besides being rich in water, it also provides body with Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron, Sodium and Potassium.

4) Berry family is always high on the list of fruits for summer. This family is again high in fibre and vitamin C. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries come under the wide roof of berry family. They are also good for diabetics too. Also, they aid in Weight Loss.

5) Mangoes: No one can resist Mangoes in summer. They would be undoubtly the king of summer fruits. They are rich in fibre, beta-carotene and vitamin C.

6) Banana: Last but not the least: Banana helps keep your system cool. Prefer taking bananas in breakfast.

About the Author

Jasdeep Singh

For http://weightloss-health.com/ your complete and most comprehensive family guide on Health.

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Sunburn How To Protect From Sunburn?

2009-02-10T23:27:00.001+07:00

Those with white skin have a real danger from sunburns. Repeated sunburns may not only cause cancer but can also lead to death. Those with dark skinned get tanned. But one who has very fair skin will not get tanned but get burnt. Let us find out more about sunburns and how to protect by adopting simple measures.

Effects of Sunburn -

Sunburn causes redness and swelling. The burn effects do not show immediately but take two to six hours after the sunburn and peak within twenty-four hours. The effects of sunburn result in redness, swelling, pain, blisters and the skin may feel hot to touch. In severe cases the affected person develops fever. Some people get so sun burnt that they suffer from second-degree burns and may go into shock and even death. Dehydration and electrolyte imbalance is another result. Regular application of sunscreens can save you from so much trouble. Learn more about sunscreens here.

Sunburn treatment -

It is easier to prevent sunburn than to treat them. If you get sun burnt, your doctor may ask you to apply steroid creams at regular intervals and may give aspirin tablets. Aloe Vera lotion also provides relief in sunburns.

Sunburn Protection -

Protect yourself from sunburns by using a broad-spectrum sunscreen of SPF 15, wear a wide brimmed hat, wear sunglasses, avoid moving out in the afternoons- 10 to 4 in the day. Cover yourself with protective clothing and take extra care when you are on heights, near the beach or sand.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.

C.D. Mohatta writes articles on skin problems, skin treatments and skin care. For more information about how to have good skin that looks young and blemish free, please visit http://www.doctorgoodskin.com/ You will also find solutions to wrinkles, scars, facial rejuvenation, latest laser treatments, skin blemishes and spots, hair care and hair loss and about keeping healthy nails. This site is dedicated to make you look good. For keeping yourself young and healthy at all the ages find out more about sun damage and how to protect yourself easily.

Belief In Common Skin Care Myths Can Have Disastrous Effects

2009-02-10T23:26:00.001+07:00

There are a host of skin care myths we?ve all been exposed to at some time in our lives. Here are a few of the most common:

Myth: There is no ideal time to apply moisturizer to prevent dry skin.

False: The optimum time to apply a moisturizer, such as a good shielding lotion is right after bathing while your skin is still moist. This will make bathing a moisturizing experience, rather than a skin-drying experience. When your skin completely dries after washing, some of your skin's natural moisture is lost through evaporation. Apply lotion or cream throughout the day as needed.

Myth: Drinking plenty of water makes your skin moist and supple.

False: Though drinking water is essential to good skin care and to keeping your body hydrated, alone a generous water intake doesn't make your skin look moist and supple, nor does it improve wrinkles or make your skin look younger. The amount of moisture in your dry skin is more likely determined by external factors, such as:

1 The amount of humidity in the air
2 How much time you spend in the sun
3 How often you wash your skin
4 The types of soaps, detergents and external irritants to which you are exposed

Myth: The best way to clear up acne is to wash your skin as often as you can.

False: Frequent washing irritates the skin and can actually make acne worse. So can scrubbing your skin too hard or cleansing with harsh soaps or chemicals. Instead, wash problem areas daily with a gentle cleanser and use oil-free, water-based skin care products. An over-the-counter acne cream or gel also helps dry excess oil. Look for products containing benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid as the active ingredient.

Myth: Skin conditions can be cleared up quickly

False: Some skin conditions such as bacterial infections start improving as soon as you use the right medications. However, many skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and seborrhea are chronic, meaning they get better slowly with treatment and reoccur when the treatment stops.

Myth: The fragrance added to skin care products is a nice effect and won?t harm my skin.

False: Of the ingredients used to make skin care products, fragrance is the most likely to cause allergic contact dermatitis ? a skin reaction that produces a red rash, bumps and sometimes blisters. If you have sensitive skin or experience an allergic reaction to your skin products, choose those without added fragrances. Select products marked fragrance-free or without perfume, which means that nothing has been added to make them smell good. Products labeled unscented contain a fragrance to mask the smell of other ingredients or chemicals.

Myth: Stress has no effect on skin conditions, such as hives, psoriasis and eczema.

False: Stress worsens many skin conditions, including psoriasis, eczema, hives, rosacea and acne. Manage your stress to reduce the occurrence or severity of these bothersome skin conditions.

Myth: There is nothing wrong with a healthy tan.

False: The best way to take care of your skin is to protect it from the sun. Ultraviolet light ? the invisible, but intense rays of the sun ? damages your skin, causing deep wrinkles, dry, rough skin, liver spots, and more serious disorders, such as noncancerous (benign) and cancerous (malignant) skin tumors.

Myth: Shaving makes your hair grow back thicker.

False: Shaving hair doesn't create new, active hair follicles. It also doesn't increase the rate of hair growth or the color or length of your hair. The color, density, location and length of hair mainly depend on genetic factors as well as hormonal factors. When you shave body hair, it may feel coarse or stubbly for a time as it grows out. During this phase, it may seem more noticeable.

Myth: Men don't have as many skin problems as women

False: Men wrinkle as much as women and get skin conditions such as acne, seborrhea, atopic dermatitis, and psoriasis just like women. Men also have additional concerns surrounding facial hair. Men typically don?t use sunscreen and protect their skin enough.

Dispel the skin care myths, take good care of your skin with a natural skin care routine, maintain a healthy diet and exercise program and you can enjoy younger, clearer, healthier-looking skin for years to come.

Author, Len Simpson, contributes articles on skin care for the National Skin Care Institute. For more information, visit http://www.skincarenet.org

The Down And Dirty Secrets On How To Prevent Acne Scarring

2009-02-10T23:24:00.001+07:00

If there's one thing that anyone suffering from acne skin blemishes can tell you without any hesitation, it's that severe acne can and usually does leave some type of acne scarring. Fortunately there some preventive measures and steps that you can take in order to minimize or completely eliminate any acne scarring from actually taking place.

The first thing you should know in regards to preventing any type of zit or pimple scarring as a result acne is that there really is no single one method or way to treat skin blemishes. Truthfully the elimination of acne scarring starts with the prevention of acne and that is a process that requires your complete dedication to keeping your skin healthy and clean.

The number one way to prevent acne scarring starts by eliminating one extremely bad vice that almost everyone who regularly suffers from acne is guilty of doing. That vice is the popping of zits and pimples that appear as a result of dirty skin cells. The single act of touching or popping a zit does nothing to alleviate your acne condition and instead creates the potential for future acne scarring.

Following the valuable advice of not popping your pimples the next thing to do is to get in the practice of regularly cleaning your skin. This could involve the use of acne skin cleansing products. Typical acne skin cleansers include skin exfoliates, anti-zit creams, facial creams and facial scrubs. Make sure to use the acne treatment products you purchase in accordance with their instructions. You should also consider seeking advice from an acne specialist, such as a dermatologist. They will be able to prescribe a line of acne products that will work to cure even the most severe cases of acne.

Keeping your skin clean doesn't sound hard but it really does require a lot of work and discipline. Just like many people ignore the habit of flossing their teeth so shall many consumers shrug off a daily routine that involves keeping their skin clean. Failure to do so will most likely result in the individual suffering from a bad complexion from the zits that will appear due to the clogged pores and blackheads that form as a result.

Make sure to plan into your schedule exactly when you will perform your daily skin cleansing ritual. If need be wake up slightly earlier then normal or postpone going to bed by 30 minutes in order to wash and treat your skin to prevent any acne from forming. It's really not too much to ask when you consider the alternative could be acne scarring that stays with you the rest of your life.

Although there are other things you can do to help prevent an acne outbreak and the future acne scarring that can result from your skin blemish the priority should be on keeping your skin clean. The quick tips we have outlined above if properly followed will go along way towards keeping your skin free of acne scarring zits, pimples and blackheads.

Timothy Gorman is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Clear-Skin-Solutions.com. He provides more acne cleaning solutions, remedies and how to prevent acne scarring that you can research in your pajamas on his website.

Aging Skin Care What Is Chemical Peeling

2009-02-10T22:30:00.000+07:00

As the name implies Chemical peeling peels the skin with chemicals. It is also called dermapeeling or chemexfoliation. By peeling off the skin layer, it allows new skin to form, which is new and fresh, and without some wrinkles. Chemical peeling is used to remove photo aged skin damages.

How chemical peeling is done for skin care- in chemical peeling, chemical solutions are applied on the skin. The choice and strength of chemical depends upon the results desired. For mild peeling, mild chemicals are used and so on. Sometimes, light peel is repeated over time to get desired effect. With mild peel, superficial wrinkles and sun damage is removed. For more damaged skin such as skin having age spots, freckles and acetinic keratoses, a medium peel is used.

Skin care and strength of chemicals- depending upon the skin damage, and the results desired, the dermatologist decides about the kind of peeling to be performed.

Skin care and peeling chemicals- common peeling chemicals include alpha hydroxy acids, trichloroacetic acid, carbolic acid and other chemicals.

Skin care and side effects of chemical peeling- the chemicals peel the old skin and that is like sunburn. What the doctor is doing is to remove the old skin to a certain depth. That naturally causes redness and scaling of the skin. as new skin forms, the redness and scaling disappear. With medium or deep chemical peeling, the skin may develop blisters and swelling along with redness and peeling that may last for up to two weeks.

Skin care and discomfort with chemical peeling- some discomfort is the result as the skin peels. Your doctor will prescribe some lotions to reduce the discomfort. Exposure to sun must be avoided for some time and protection must be taken from sun till the new skin forms and all the side effects disappear. With chemical peeling, surface skin damage is removed. Please consult your doctor for further details.

The author C.D. Mohatta writes articles on skin problems, skin treatments and skin care. You can visit http://www.doctorgoodskin.com/ for more information about how to have good skin. You can read articles, advice and tips on love, dating, relationship and break-up on http://www.yourromanceguide.com/. If you love to solve a quiz, please look at http://www.funquizcards.com/ This site has free flash quiz cards on different topics including Personality, Friendship, Love, dating and many other subjects.

10 Top Tips To Help You Deal With Acne

2009-02-10T00:11:00.002+07:00

Acne is a disease of the skin, which is caused by changes in the structure of a persons skin. Acne is common amongst people in puberty and is widely considered to be a reaction to the hormone known as testosterone. Acne tends to reduce or even disappear in individuals once they reach their twenties. Here are some top tips to help you if you are suffering with this condition: -

1)Reduce Your Coffee Intake - Coffee may encourage acne so it's a good idea to limit how much you drink as a precautionary measure.

2)Improve Your Diet - Your skin, like anything in the human body, benefits from a good diet. Make sure you get a good intake of micronutrients from fruit and vegetables.

3)Cleanse Your Skin - Especially during stressful times as this makes your acne condition flare up. Try to clean your pores at least twice a day.

4)Cut Down Or Stop Smoking - Smoking is statistically proven in studies to worsen the effects of acne.

5)Introduce Acne Products Gradually - When you first take an acne product, only use the cleanser initially or your body may 'react' to the sudden use of more than one product all at once. If you don't do this, you may aggravate your acne condition for a number of days.

6)Shampoo More Regularly - If you have acne along your hairline or on your forehead. This type of acne is due to a build up of fatty acids.

7)Exercise Regularly - Exercise reduces stress and increases oxygen to the skin, which may help reduce acne.

8)Shower After Workouts - Take a shower after you have exercised, as sweat in conjunction with the oils in your skin can trap dirt and bacteria.

9)Remove Makeup Before Sleeping - Don't go to bed with makeup on. This also clogs your skin pores and can make your acne worse.

10) Drink Water - Drink several glasses of water a day to flush out the toxins in your body and skin.

Article by James Morrison of http://www.acne-informationzone.com (High quality information on everything acne related)

Anti Aging Skin Care 7 Tips On Looking Younger

2009-02-10T00:11:00.001+07:00

Do you want to look younger? Let?s face it, nowadays, who doesn't? Once it was just celebrities and those in the public eye who worried about looking older everyone else grew old gracefully! Now 40 is the new 30 and men as well as women care about their appearance, there is even a trend in society to discriminate against the older generation.

What can you do to stay looking younger? There is no Anti Aging Magic Potion that will clear your wrinkles overnight, but with discipline and a good Anti Aging Skin Care routine in place you will be on your way to looking younger for longer.

There are many drastic solutions available for anti aging skin care to help you look younger, from the traditional cosmetic face lift to injecting chemicals like Botox into the skin to provide a temporary wrinkle smoothing effect. Not everyone is willing, or financially able to go to these extremes. So what can you do on a day to day basis that will help you feel and look younger? By following the 7 steps below, you will be on your way to a more youthful appearance for longer. And remember it is never too late (or too early!) to start a good anti aging routine.

Seven tips on looking after your body and mind:

1. Drink plenty of water every day - most doctors recommend 7 to 10 glasses a day. Water flushes out toxins, keeping your body and skin clean. Also your skin will look clearer and plumper if it is not dry. Definitely the first step for anti aging skin care to look younger.

2. Eat a healthy balanced diet, include something from all the major food groups each day in your diet. Eat plenty of fibre and fresh fruit and vegetables. The UK government recommends five portions of fruit and vegetables are eaten daily, however this should be the minimum amount you eat. Fruit and vegetables contain many essential vitamins and minerals that help maintain and repair the skin and cells. Not only will your skin look younger but your body will age better and you will be less prone to many common diseases of old age. The prefect anti aging skin care solution Also avoid eating fatty and oily foods which increase your weight but do not give you anything nutritionally. Overweight people generally look and feel much older than they are.

3. Aim to lead a stress free, calm existence. If you are stressed the body releases chemicals which years ago would have helped you to deal with the problem with fight or flight. Since these are not a solution to most of life today?s problems, the chemicals will stay in your body and cause you to become mentally or physically ill. Ensure that you sleep well and exercise regularly. Use whichever techniques help you to relax - taking a long warm bath, massage or aroma therapy are just a few to try. Remember, extreme stress will just cause your hair to go white and your face to look tired and lined. Enjoy life!

4. Regular exercise, taken at least 3 times a week and daily if possible, will work wonders in helping you look and feel younger. Ensure the exercise is vigorous enough to make you break out in a sweat and your skin will look younger as toxins are flushed out. Remember to contact your doctor before drastically changing your exercise regime.

5. Avoid UV radiation as it is the major cause of premature skin aging and wrinkles. Ensure you always have adequate sun protection for the climate and your skin type. Buy facial moisturisers which contain UV protection for daily use. Use of a good quality high factor sun cream should be part of your daily routine. A tan might look good for a while but you will age and wrinkle quickly and be more prone to skin diseases such as cancers.

6. Try to cut out nicotine and alcohol consumption. Smoking will age you as chemicals in the smoke are aging to the skin and will reverse your anti aging skin care process. Additionally, if you are forever squinting through smoke, crow?s lines around the eyes will appear all too quickly. Alcoholic drinks contain many toxins which are harmful to your health. Excessive drinking will mean your liver no longer copes with ridding your body of these toxins.

7. Look for skin care products which are anti aging (those containing the ingredients Vitamin C, retinol and ceramides are very good). Try different anti aging skin care products to see which works best for you and moisturise daily. Remember, if you feel good about yourself, you will look good.

Ana-Stella Kahlon makes it easy to look and feel younger with her tips of Anti aging skin care. Want to learn more about Anti Aging Skin Care, visit http://www.4antiaging.com.

Acne's Upsetting Zits

2009-02-06T12:03:00.000+07:00

Acne is a type of skin disease that is mainly caused due to excessive secretion of oil, produced by the sebaceous glands in our skin. Basically, the function of this oil is to regulate the skin texture and body hair by reasonably moistening it.

Problem presents when an excessive of lubrication is produced by these skin glands (due to hormones), you easily become prone to development of congested pores on the skin surface. These pores give rise to various skin bumps such as cysts, blackheads, whiteheads, pimples etc.

You may think witch is the difference if they are all ugly bumps?. They are classified by their nature. Cyst is a condition where your skin is covered with a tiny sac that is filled with fluid. In the case of whiteheads, the pores get blocked with sebum and protrude slightly outward. When the pores stay open and are filled with sebum, they get darkened from the outside surface and it is called blackhead. It is known as a pimple, when the pores get exposed to a different kind of organic matter such as bacteria and other germs.

If you are 20 and you also taught that you left this ?teenager problem? behind?.you are wrong! This skin disease is commonly found between the age group of 10 to 40 years. Fortunately, now you can find quicker treatment than years ago, if you have thorough knowledge regarding the causes and how they should be treated. But you have to know that some

These zits you may want to improve are commonly caused by normal hormonal fluctuations in our bodies causing Acne. They are commonly found on the face or on body areas like back, scalp and neck. Evidently, they make you uncomfortable as they sometimes hurt.

We all know that we are sometimes tempted to popping, picking these zits. Avoid doing that as they will only makes things worse and can cause even more to sprout out. If you do so you will only get an ugly and permanent scar.

Acne problem has the characteristic to keep coming back. And as for everybody appearance is important, you would easily think of medicines and some invasive procedures for their zits to be gone in the shortest time possible. Be careful in choosing the best product or method as possible, consult with your doctor and read the label of the products. Use only products with natural ingredients. Some of these bacteriacide tend to cause you more skin problems and even worsen your problem.

If you really want to know what?s the cause of these zits go to a dermatologist. Despite your friends and mom say that chocolates, pizza or French fries causes the pimples to pop up, you have to know that you don't just get pimples from what you eat, unless you are allergic to something. Ask your doctor, he will lead you to understand which are the probable causes and the preventive measures to prevent you from getting more of your zits and other acne related problems.

The doctor can give you preventive measures and medicines concerning your zits and acne and eventually you will grow out of them. Most importantly, zits do not make you ugly or gross and everyone gets zits so you don't have to be ashamed or have fear or even have low self-esteem just because you have acne or zits. The distressing truth is that zits and acne will persist well into adulthood so you better get used to them from the start they appear on your skin.

Fortunately you don?t have to get use of those Acne scar as there is a natural product that may give you an effective solution to them. Bio Skin Care cream is a product able to increase the body's natural healing processes triggering the healing of those blemishes.

After two weeks using it twice a day, the skin looks younger, firmer and lustrous, and continues improving with each successive treatment.

With the use of BIO SKIN CARE Cream acne inflammation is kept at bay. Also damaged cells and toxins are dissolved, hair follicles are cleaned of debris, germs are destroyed, new collagen and elasting and water holding cells are formed to repair skin damage.

About The Author
Martha Fitzharris is a free lance journalist for http://www.naturalbioskincare.com a website offering a new biological natural skin care product that activates skin renewal for Strech marks.

Pores An Opening For Trouble

2009-02-05T15:04:00.001+07:00

Pores are a form of opening which are usually small but if it gets enlarged then there is trouble for you. It is an opening for glands onto the surface of the skin. These pore secretes oil which lubricates also protecting the surface of your skin. If proper care is not taken then these small pores can be devastating for your face.

During the time of puberty there are always chances of the pores to enlarges as it has to remove the excess oil at that point of time. Enlarged pores are trouble for everyone and it can be undone due some plain and easy methods of skin care treatments. People having oily skin have to suffer more and with the passage of age it keeps on increasing. It can be mostly seen on the T-zone which can be due to hereditary factors too.

These pores if partially blocked pores can cause the arrival of blackheads which is mainly affected due to the dirt which causes lot of problems. You can use mainly different methods to remove these pores. Some methods of doing it would be a simple home remedy such as the use of milk which is one of the easier ways of skin cleansing. By doing this the dirt which cannot be seen by the naked eye can be cleaned and your T-zone would be new as ever, but by using regularly.

There are different products in the market which can be used on regular basis to have that clean and clear skin. But the use of proper cleaning and use of the proper brand is very important. Pimples are major worry for many which are caused due to the pores. Washing your face on regular basis is very important to avoid dirt accumulation.

Kevin Pederson has been managing a number of sites related to hair and skin care which have information on hair care tips, skin care tips, guide to various skin types knowing about pores.

My Kingdom For A Skinny Mirror!

2009-02-04T00:11:00.001+07:00

I took off for a few days of spring skiing in the Sierras, and after a wobbly first day, I settled into a groove and performed very well.

But back at the cabin, my athlete?s ego took a bit of a bruising.

The mirror, unlike what I have at home, displayed more than a head and shoulders shot.

It was the full Monty, as they say, and I had more than the expected number of slopes slaloming down my front side.

?This can?t be!? I told myself. ?I couldn?t have put on this weight between home and here!?

Nah, don?t fall for this trick, I said.

I?ll just focus on my skiing and have a good time and then return to the funhouse I call home.

Where I have the good sense to have nothing but skinny mirrors!

For more information about coaching, consulting, training, books, videos and audios, please go to: http://www.customersatisfaction.com

Get Rid of Acne With a 7 Step Plan

2009-02-03T16:14:00.001+07:00

Whether you've just begun your research on how to get clear skin, or you?ve already been through several treatments, this simple plan can help you at any stage.

The 7 Step Acne Plan is based on the habits of long-time acne sufferers who are now acne free, as well as on practical advice from dermatologists.

Let?s get started!

STEP 1: Understand the True Enemy. It Isn?t Acne!

Acne is a symptom of a problem. It is not the root.

The first thing you need to do is determine your type of acne and understand your own body.

Some questions you should ask yourself include:
?Do you have mild, moderate or severe acne?
?How well do you take care of your skin? (cleansing routine or squeezing pimples, etc.)
?What is your acne treatment history?
?Are you currently taking any prescriptions or medications for other conditions?
?Do you get enough sleep and eat a healthy diet? Do you get exercise?
?Where do you work and how clean is the environment?
?Does anyone else in your family have acne?

STEP 2: Do Your Research

Educate yourself. Knowledge is power. This is the information age, and learning how to get clear skin is easily within your grasp. Doing your research on available acne treatments is critical.

STEP 3: Assess Your List of Options

Assess your list of possible treatments to rid acne: Talk to the appropriate specialist of your choice and assess your list with their help.

Assess your comfort level with each treatment: Consider the possible side effects, benefits, time expected to work, money, other products, routine, and effort required.

Finally, choose the treatment you are most comfortable with: Now you?ve made a decision on what you want to try ? either on your own or with the help of a specialist.

STEP 4: Design Your Experiment

Now it?s time to decide on your plan of action to rid acne for good. This is directed by your environment, your schedule, the amount of time and effort you are willing and able to put in, and the type of acne you have.

You need to determine an active ingredient (?variable?) to test while keeping the other conditions (?controls?) the same.

Decide on your controls and record them. What will you be keeping the same? Your cleanser? Your exercise routine? The application frequency of your acne treatment?

Decide on your exact regimen/routine. Introduce ONLY 1 variable at a time. Next, set a time limit. Allow this sufficient time to show improvement before introducing the next change.

STEP 5: Keep a Journal or Skin Log

Keep a journal or diary.

Record what what worked, what didn?t, environmental or emotional factors, your diet, your skin-cleansing routine, and lifestyle habits and any changes that may have occurred (positive or negative).

Make it fun! And enlist support. Have someone take pictures of you once a week. Make it a habit to record your daily lifestyle and acne condition so you can pinpoint any correlations or trends.

STEP 6: Monitor Your Regimen!

Monitor your progress and change it if you see it?s not working. Trial and error is important! Make note of the main active ingredients that your skin reacts to.

Know the time it takes for results to show. Make sure you find out an expected time frame your treatment should work within for your type of acne. Every treatment is different.

Don?t be disappointed by failure. It is only by failure that you can begin the process of elimination.

STEP 7: Stick with Your Strategy!

Acne is an ongoing battle. If you have moderate to severe acne, do NOT expect to rid acne overnight or even see a change within 1 week. Just like science, answers on how to get clear skin can only be found by trial and error. And the more consistent your method, the faster and easier it will be to find your treatment to rid acne.

Yvette Chau is a freelance writer based in Edmonton, Canada specializing in the area of skincare and acne treatment. Ungoing failed treatments herself before finding a solution for her own skin problems, she offers information and advice to others on http://www.your-best-acne.treatment.com/

An AntiAging Secret You Won't Find In 99% Of Women's Magazines

2009-02-03T13:11:00.001+07:00

Have you ever wondered why the average black women of even 60 and over have few if any wrinkles on their face at all?

Well, whilst there are natural oils that are found within black skin, there is still the essential requirement of a dedicated skin care regime.

Integral to that regime for many black women and increasingly men also, is the core ingredient Raw Shea Butter.

Raw Shea Butter is something that has long been used in West Africa for skin care. The fatty acids contained inside help keep skin smooth and rejuvenated. Traditionally it was used to treat skin and scalp conditions, but now it is often found in skin treatments to ward off wrinkles and fine lines.

To make Raw Shea Butter, the nuts from the Shea Karite tree are needed. They get cracked, grilled, pounded then boiled in water for hours. The extracted Raw Shea Butter is then scooped from the water and set aside to cool. Alone and separated from the water, the Raw Shea Butter will keep for about two years.

Within the Raw Shea Butter, there are several compounds responsible for the benefits. Fatty oils help maintain the skin?s moisture and elasticity. Cinnamic acid works to protect your skin from UV rays. Raw Shea Butter also helps reduce the appearance of stretch marks, making it extremely useful for women who are pregnant or have children. With Raw Shea Butter being very neutral in composition, it very rarely causes an allergic reaction.

Raw Shea Butter can be used with great effect in many forms. Soaps made from it are excellent choices to use on skin affected by eczema and dermatitis. It also puts more vitamin A and E into the skin which keeps it moisturized and soft. Lotions are another common way to get Raw Shea Butter. The benefits of a lotion are similar to soaps but are a lot more noticeable and concentrated. This makes it ideal for use in the winter months, when it?s drier.

For skincare, Raw Shea Butter is one of the best anti-aging compounds nature or science can provide. With benefits ranging from retaining skin moisture to protecting against UV rays, there are few things that can match what it does. When looking for your next facial care product, keep Raw Shea Butter in mind.

The true secret is to use a product that contains the highest grade of Raw Shea Butter available and not just any product that displays Raw Shea Butter on the label.

High grade Raw Shea butter is equally effective on women of all colors, white, black and Asian as it meets the standard you should be looking for in order to obtain, maintain and retain your best skin ever.

To receive further information about obtaining and retaining your best skin ever, go to http://www.nubiannatural.com

Anti Aging Skin Care Products Basics

2009-02-03T00:03:00.001+07:00

Do you know what is anti aging? Aging takes place due to the development of the tissues and other elements in side the body. Growing and dying of cells is a natural phenomenon. Man has conquered ways to slow down the aging process. Anti aging is a process in which you can stay young for a long time. And anti aging skin care products are here to bail you out.

How Does It Work?

Anti aging methods can retard the aging process so that you can stay young and fit for a longer period. There are many types of anti aging treatment. One type is anti aging medicines that improve the skin texture and moisture of your body. The anti aging treatments can amplify your energy levels and they also work on your aging factors. The anti aging skin care products also help to re- shape the body by reducing the fat in your body. Nowadays people are interested in using natural anti aging treatment. A blend of protein rich (collagen) cream and the lively ingredients extracted from plants is a well-known natural anti aging skin care treatment that works perfectly on wrinkles that occur at your 30s. Both men and women are equally interested in this anti aging skin care treatment. But you should be able to carefully differentiate the treatments and know which one is suitable for you.

You Can Belief On Anti Aging Cosmetic Products!

There are separate anti aging treatments for every individual depending upon your physical condition and type of skin. If you abide by all the safety measures you will lead a very youthful life. Anti aging creams have become the widely used products among the cosmetic products used for anti aging. There are several types of anti aging creams; they are natural creams, artificial creams and the last important one is herbal cream. Some people normally prefer herbal products because they believe that herbal products will not give any side effects.

We have made the most comprehensive research to find the best anti aging skin care products. Find it only on the Anti-aging skin products and reviews resource. Find more anti aging info on http://www.leandernet.com

Tips For Supple And Smooth Skin

2009-02-02T16:12:00.001+07:00

It is very important to take care of one's skin and with the current weather conditions your skin care just goes for a toss. It is an integral part like you take care of your teeth. Everyday care and moisturizing helps your skin in a very long run. It can make a good amount of difference once you start taking care of your skin. When I say skin it doesn?t mean your face is the only thing that has to be taken care and you should take care of your whole body.

Before getting any of the home remedies done on your face you should see to it that you are not allergic to any of these fruits or vegetables. Taking care of your skin by use of some natural home remedies can be of great help. To get rid of scars and tan you can scrub lime with granules of sugar which would help in lightening your skin and also removing the dead cells which are present.

For smooth skin other things which can be done is to apply bananas mashed with milk and keep it for 20 minutes which would help in making your skin very smooth and supple. Egg and honey is also a very good combination which when applied would reduce your wrinkles and you could see a good change in a short while.

Sliced potatoes are also good if applied on your face and skin as it reduces blemishes and other scars. Turmeric has lot of healing capacity and if mixed with milk and applied on your face makes your skin smooth and also reduces the amount of wrinkles.

Cucumber juice a powerful astringent is also very good as it tightens your face and if kept for 15 minutes you can easily see the result. Turmeric powder mixed with turmeric powder is a very good bleaching agent and could easily help in removing the tan once you have been out in the sun.

Kevin Pederson has been managing a number of sites related to hair and skin care which have information on keeping your skin beautiful and provide making it smooth with some hoe remedies.

http://www.hair-n-skin-care.com

Rosacea Treatment For Rosacea

2009-02-02T08:06:00.001+07:00

What Is Rosacea?

Rosacea is a skin problem of the face. In this the facial skin gets a reddish tone forever. It may cause itching and also cause spider veins and acne like pimples. Rosacea gets flared with triggers such as sun, caffeine, alcohol, spiced food etc. Though there is no cure for rosacea, it can be controlled. Let us find out more.

Rosacea- treatment of spider veins and inflammation

Most of the doctors cut the very small spider veins that become red with a electric needle. Once these veins are destroyed the reddish hue on the facial skin decreases considerably. Laser is also used to treat these veins. Some anti inflammatory topical formulations can be prescribed that will reduce the color and the problem.

Rosacea- treatment of pustules

the pustules that appear in rosacea are not acne but can be treated with topical medications including topical antibiotics. For more details about rosacea treatment, please click here- Rosacea treatment

Rosacea - triggers

Despite all the treatment you need to take care of the triggers. Whenever you get a flare up, please try to find out the trigger and make a list of your personal triggers. Avoid them.

C.D.Mohatta writes articles on skin problems, skin treatments and skin care. For more information about how to have good skin that looks young and blemish free, please visit- http://www.doctorgoodskin.com/. You will also find solutions to wrinkles, scars, facial rejuvenation, latest laser treatments, skin blemishes and spots, hair care and hair loss and about keeping healthy nails. This site is dedicated to make you look good. For keeping yourself young and healthy at all the ages find out more about the skin problems and how to cure them.

TCA Skin Peel: CostEffective Way to Treat Acne

2009-02-02T01:03:00.001+07:00

Acne, pimples, sunspots, age spots, wrinkles and other blemishes are skin conditions that plague people the world over. The global beauty industry already makes billions of dollars every year as women everywhere embark on quests to preserve (or achieve) a youthful, glowing appearance. Responding to this need, dermatologists, and other specialists continue to look for the best and safest possible treatments and formulations to combat skin ailments, the most common of which is acne.

Apart from the services offered at skin clinics, many creams, gels and ointments that claim to treat acne, diminish sun or age spots and enhance skin elasticity are widely available in the market. There are scrubs, cleansers, masks, over-the-counter skin medicine and skin peel formulations, all offered at various price ranges. Most can be bought at department stores or drugstores, but the fact is that very few of these so- called ?miracle? products actually work. And the latest medical research has shown that what does work as a proven treatment for acne, are skin peels. Plastic surgeon Dr. Keith Leiberman explains: ?Unlike other techniques, TCA skin peels get to the root of the problem with acne, resulting in tremendously effective results - leaving the patient with noticeably fresher, smoother skin and great texture?without the acne! ?

The TCA peel, or trichloroacetic acid skin peel, is recommended by many doctors and skin specialists as it is a medium-strength treatment that is among the safest, most effective, as well as easiest to use. It sloughs off layers of dull dead skin that may cover up the source of acne. It also enhances the blood flow and circulation in the skin, promoting skin cell rejuvenation and the build up of skin-strengthening collagen and elastin.

Conventional skin peel treatments that involve suction-type dermabrasion can cause further damage, as it can bruise the skin and break some small blood vessels. Those who wish to treat their acne and other skin problems with TCA can control the strength of the treatment by starting off with a weak solution and gradually working their way up to more concentrated mixtures as needed.

TCA can be mixed with other previously prepared creams such as Obagi or applied directly. It is important to remember that TCA skin peels should not exceed more than 20 minutes on one?s skin. The time limit generally depends on the strength or concentration of the mixture and the type of skin. Because of the chemical content, doctors recommend applying a neutralizer, such as a simple mixture of baking soda and water, to calm and stabilize the skin after the TCA peel is applied. Users should wait about six months before applying another treatment.

TCA peels are great for treating acne and less expensive than clinic or spa-based treatments. Websites such as www.bestskinpeel.com offer this effective product at a fraction of the price one would normally pay per session or treatment at salons and spas. The set offered by this particular website is priced at under $30.00 and includes one ounce of medical-grade 50%-concentrate TCA skin peel (good enough for about 30 treatments) as easy-to-follow instructions by a licensed practitioner. Why pay hundreds of dollars when you can do this treatment at home? Apart from the 50%-concentrate, many suppliers also offer as low as an 8%-concentrate TCA skin peel for users with more sensitive skin.

David Maillie is a chemist with over 12 years experience in biochemical research and clynical analysis. He is an alumni of Cornell University and specializes in biochemical synthesis for public, private, and governmental interests. He has received numerous patents and awards for his research. He can be reached at M.D. Wholesale: http://www.bestskinpeel.com