begins from the inside out. Don't you wish there was some way to
ªwriggle your noseº and regain that soft skin you had as a child? Well, until someone comes up with the true ªFountain of Youthº we are stuck with what we have.
The best route to healthy skin is to take care of what you have.
Sounds simple, doesn't it? The truth is that your skin takes a beating from the environment every single day. Here are some of our favorite tips for keeping your skin fresh and healthy:
1. Stay hydrated and do it with plenty of water! That doesn't
mean soda, caffeine or any other type of liquid even if it is low cal. Soda
(even diet soda) has a high concentration of sodium. Sodium retains
fluids. You need fluid that will hydrate and flush your body free of toxins. Make sure you are drinking at least 8 glasses a day!
2. Protect your skin from harmful ultra violet (UV) rays. We all
love the sun. We love being in it and we love having a beautiful tan. The
truth is you can poison yourself with too much sunshine. UV rays cause
skin cancer and if that isn't bad enough it causes your skin to age faster
than it should contributing to unsightly wrinkles. If you must play in the
sun, make certain you are using an adequate sun screen. Don't leave home
without it!
3. Apply your sun screen even if you only make a quick trip to
the grocery store. Yes, you can get harmful UV rays even while driving
your car!
4. When you purchase sun screen make certain you are buying
the right tool for the job. There are different types of UV rays and they
don't all affect our skin in the same ways. The time of year also has a
bearing on how much damage the sun can do to your skin. Altitude is
another important factor. UV rays are more intense at high altitudes.
Sunshine alone is not the culprit. You can do just as much damage to your skin (or in some cases even more) on a cloudy day!
5. Don't forget sun screen for your lips. They want to be healthy
too!
6. Apply your sunscreen BEFORE going outdoors and allow
plenty of time for it to adequately absorb into your skin cells rather than
just sitting on top of the skin.
7. Read the labels on skin care products. The truth is that some
ingredients may do more harm than good. The more ingredients that are
listed, the more potential harm they can do to your skin. Here is a list of some of the common ingredients found in skin care products that have the potential to irritate your skin:
Ammonia
Balsam
Bergamot
Citrus juices and oils
Coriander
Eugenol
Fir needle
Horsetail
Lemongrass
Marjoram
Mint
Papaya
Sandalwood oil
TEA-lauryl sulfate
Arnica
Bentonite
Camphor
Clove
Cornstarch
Fennel
Geranium
Lavender
Lime
Melissa (lemon balm)
Oak bark
Peppermint
Sodium C14-16 olefin sulfate
Thyme
Balm mint
Benzalkonium chloride
Cinnamon
Clover blossom
Eucalyptus
Fennel oil
Grapefruit
Lemon
Linalool
Menthol
Orange
Phenol
Sodium lauryl sulfate
Wintergreen
Witch hazel
Ylang-ylang
8. There are a few ingredients that are totally banned by the Food
and Drug Administration and should be avoided:
Bithionol
Mercury compounds
Vinyl chloride
Halogenated salicylanilides
Zirconium complexes in aerosol cosmetics Chloroform
Methylene chloride
Chlorofluorocarbon propellants
Hexachlorophene
Methyl methacrylate monomer in nail products .
9. Keep your skin clean. Use a soft warm cloth. Skin does
not require scrubbing. You will do more harm than good if you do.
10. Exfoliate dead skin cells every night.
11. Create your own facial masks. Here are a couple of
excellent masks that you can create with ingredients right from your
kitchen: Oatmeal mask: Mix oatmeal with skim milk and apply. Eggs: A raw egg yolk makes an excellent face mask. Try adding a little honey to the egg yolk for a change of pace. Mayonnaise makes another terrific face
mask and will leave your skin feeling very soft.
12. Try a milk of magnesia facial. Apply directly from the
bottle and leave on for 5 to 10 minutes then rinse with warm water.
13. Moisturize dry skin with essential oils. A combination of
juniper, cypress, mandarin and grapefruit will work as an astringent that
will leave your skin feeling tighter. If your skin is extra dry, premix the
essential oils with a teaspoon of carrier oil (mineral oil) and ad ¼ cup of
milk or a tablespoon of honey to give you added moisturizing.
14. If you have particularly sensitive skin, try a Pepto Bismol
facial. Apply with a soft cotton ball directly from the bottle; just as it
soothes the stomach, it will sooth your skin. Cover your face and neck and allow to dry before rinsing.
15. Use an antioxidant cream. You are bombarded every day
with environmental toxins that attack the surface of your skin. In fact most
damage to the skin can be attributed to free radicals. When you expose
yourself to toxins like air pollution free radical production increases.
Apply an antioxidant cream to your skin before applying your sun screen.
16. If you have oily skin, only apply a toner in the T zone, your
forehead and nose.
17. The best cure for wrinkles is to never have them in the first
place! If you are like most of us, you didn't listen to your Mom when she
tried to tell you to stay in the shade, stand up straight and stop squinting!
18. Unlike Cleopatra, we live in the nuclear age and wrinkles
can become a thing of the past. Consider ªlaser skin resurfacing.º It is
supposed to work for those fine lines and wrinkles of any depth. This
technique reminds you of the ªlight swordsº in the Star Wars movies. It
literally zaps and vaporizes away the lines and wrinkles. The procedure is
conducted in the doctors office and it's said that you heal within a week or
so. Expensive? Yes. Fast? Yes, much faster than deep chemical peels or
dermabrasion.
19. If your budget won't handle laser skin resurfacing you
might try a skin peel. There are several types. There's dermabrasion as we mentioned. This procedures literally sands the top few layers of your skin off, just like refinishing furniture! It's done with a wire brush that rotates and is said to remove even deep wrinkles.
20. Maybe you would prefer something a bit less abrasive,
pardon the pun. If so, you might consider a deep peel. This process is
accomplished using an acid and are for moderately deep wrinkles. There are some risks associated with the acid procedure. It isn't as stable as the laser resurfacing because there is less control of the acid solution.
21. Have a glycolic or beta peel. This process won't do much
for your wrinkles, but if you are only looking to improve general skin tone, this is the one for you.
22. Try Retin A. If you want to see a smoothing of fine
wrinkles and an overall healthy glow that will remove mottling and give your skin a youthful blush, then this is the route to go.
23. You can avoid all the nastiness of the previous treatments
by choosing collagen injections. The biggest challenge with this choice is it's temporary lasting just a few months so you have to repeat the
procedure frequently.
24. Stop shaving your legs and use hot wax. Much gentler on
your skin.
25. Mix up a tablespoon of brandy along with a smashed up
peach and apply to your face for twenty minutes then rinse. Makes for a great summer facial.
