The answer is yes and no. It’s a paradox, isn’t it? True beauty
begins from the inside out. Don’t you wish there was some way
to
“wriggle your nose” and regain that soft skin you had as a
child? Well,
until someone comes up with the true “Fountain of Youth” 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
someingredients 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 “laser skin resurfacing.” It is
supposed to work for those fine lines and wrinkles of any
depth. This
technique reminds you of the “light swords” 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.