Archive for November, 2006

Home and Over-the-Counter Acne Treatments

Acne is the most common skin disorder known today. In United States alone, nearly 60 million people are infected with acne, where 85 per cent of teenagers suffer from it.

Skin experts and practitioners recommend several natural acne treatments. Here are some that we have compiled just for you.
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How the skin works

Can you imagine how we would look if we do not have skin covering us up? That may be too gross for our imagination.

  • The skin is the largest vital organ of the human body. It covers you up, keeps you warm and keeps you cool. It also decides what can be absorbed and what should be rejected.
  • Skin that is clogged and unhealthy is not just a beauty problem. It can become a hindrance to your sense of vitality and wellness. Proper care of your skin is important not only to your personal sense of beauty but also to proper elimination, more graceful aging and overall health.
  • It acts as a mechanical barrier to infections. It ultimately prevents microorganisms and other substances from entering the body.
  • Langerhans cells (a type of macrophage) are found within the dermis, they engulf invaders foreign to the body and debris.
  • Keratin layers in the epidermis together with sebum produced by sebaceous glands act as a waterproof barrier.
  • Melanocytes protect the body from ultraviolet light.
  • Finger and toenails protect the extremities of fingers and toes from damage. Fingertips are important for dexterity and the sense of touch; they have ridged areas to assist in picking things up.
  • Hair follicles offer some extra protection to certain parts of the body such as eyes and head.
  • It regulates body temperature. Considerable heat is lost through the skin. Even under extreme conditions of high temperature and exercise, our skin tends to make body temperature normal. The production (evaporation) of sweat in the skin cools us down when exposed to too much heat.
  • The core body temperature needs to be kept constant for normal physiological activity to take place (37° C). It needs to maintain a core temperature for homeostasis.
  • Skin excretes waste product and excess salt from the body. Sweat includes waste products in solution. Water is lost continuously through the skin as insensible sweating. More pronounced water loss through sweating occurs as part of temperature regulation.
  • Skin provides the sense of touch or sensation we need to know more about our outside environment through recognizing heat, cold, pain and other sensations. Nerve endings of the skin provide the body with a great deal of information about the outside environment.
  • Skin synthesizes the use of Vitamin D in the presence of sunlight and ultra violet radiation needed for the absorption of calcium and phosphate.

So take care of your skin. No other organ in our body would perform these functions for you.

How to cleanse your skin

Did you know that the skin is the largest organ in your body? Covering you from head to toe, the skin is one of the crucial parts of your body’s defense system. Remember that clean and healthy skin means a healthy body and a happier you.

The skin is on duty protecting you 24 hours per day and keeping infections out. It is the first line of defense against attacks on your health. This is why it is so important to take care of your skin and make sure you are helping it do its job. By keeping your skin clean and healthy today you also prevent problems such as wrinkles or skin cancer tomorrow. Don’t slack just because some things are still to come.

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How to have clear pores

Everyone wants clear, impurities-free skin. Unfortunately, not all of us were blessed to have the model- look beautiful skin that we always wanted. People are always bombarded with those various skin disorders and we are always flocking to our drugstores to buy the latest miracle cure for that naturally beautiful skin.
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Eight Steps How to Properly Wash Your Face

Face washing is often the core of beautiful face. Before you apply all those cosmetics or medications for your acne, experts always tell you to wash your face.

Cleaning is essential in maintaining beautiful and healthy skin. And since we always want to put our “best face forward,” here are several tips that we compiled on how to properly wash your face.

  1. Remove every trace of make-up/cosmetic on your face. Use cotton ball and moisturizing cream to avoid damaging your skin.
  2. Use lukewarm water. Avoid using too hot and too cold water that can dry out your skin. This will also open the pores for deeper cleansing.
  3. Avoid strong or harsh soaps/ cleansers. Strong soaps can dry your skin and strip off natural lipids. Choose soap that are mild if you prefer soap, or you can always choose cleansers that are soap- free, non- comedogenic, and mild like Cetaphil, Burt Bee’s or Neutrogena.
  4. Massage face by gently rotating upwards your middle ring and pinky fingers. Remember that hard rubbing will actually do more harm than good.
  5. Rinse face well to remove all residue of soap or cleanser. Residues left behind can actually clog your pores. Facial cleansers can leave an invisible residue behind which can clog your pores. Rinse three times, then rinse again.
  6. Pat dry with soft, non- abrasive towel. Never ever rub your face.
  7. Use an alcohol- free toner on your face. It should make your face feel smooth and refreshed. Astringents and toners with glycolic or alpha hydroxy acids work the best for toning the face. These acids actually can reduce the pore size, and help avoid ingrown hairs. They are aggressive and have quick results. Remember to look for a product that is not photosensitive (sensitive to light).
  8. Finish off with moisturizer to replenish the natural oils that has been lost. Moisturizing is a necessity. Again, the product with the least amount of chemical additives is the best. Always use a light moisturizer on your face after cleansing. For an intensive moisture treatment use pure vitamin E, or aloe vera oil. It is available in liquid form, or just break open a capsule and apply the oil directly to the skin.

Those are eight simple steps that would help you keep your face clean and beautiful. Start today for a more refreshed and beautiful you.

Indoor Tanning

The social desirability of the tan is a modern phenomenon. The concept of having a tan without going outdoors became more and more appealing. People enjoy having a tan for innumerable reasons. Aside from cosmetic reasons of just having a good tan, people actually enjoy the therapeutic effects of tanning.

It was actually the Europeans who started tanning indoors with sunlamps. The practice of harnessing ultraviolet light as a therapeutic exercise spread in Europe, particularly in sun-deprived countries, in the 1970s. This was long before the first indoor tanning facility was established in the United Sates in the late 1970s.

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You Should Know Your Skin Type

Vanity is a natural human characteristic. It is innate in all of us. And although most people do not regard their skin as an organ, our skin is in fact the largest vital organ in our body. Skin that is clogged and unhealthy is not just a beauty problem. It can become a hindrance to your sense of vitality and wellness. Proper care of your skin is important not only to your personal sense of beauty but also to proper elimination, more graceful aging and overall health.

There are five major types of skin. Understanding your skin type is the best approach to your personal skin care.
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Perricone’s Do’s and Don’ts for a healthy skin

Shaping up through the proper diet goes along with having a smoother and healthier looking skin. The right combination of healthy foods and dieting can bring out a better-looking you. Living with the wrong diet will only leave your body weaker and your skin looking old and tired.

Perricone, a specialist on eating for a better skin, says that eating right helps improve how one looks. It basically means that the type of food that you eat can help define your physical appearance. Perricone was responsible for the “anti-inflammation diet,” which, when observed by his patients, resulted in a younger look and significant reduction of acne and eczema problems.

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Summer Skin Care

Summer is here in earnest and the weather is perfect for going to the beach. After an interminable winter and spring, the time has come again for walking out in the sun and having a blast outdoors. There are parties and trips to the beach and holidays waiting for the individual eager for fun. Care and worry left at home, it’s time to enjoy yourself.

However, if you suffer from acne you may want to take some precautions before hitting the beach. I’m sure that skipping the summertime beach fun is simply out of the question, but this doesn’t mean that you don’t need to be careful about it. Many people think that exposure to the summer sun is good for their skin since it tends to burn off pimples, but prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation is not a good choice. Also, the sun simply burns the topmost layer of the face skin. It does not deal with the true causes of acne and the so-called positive effects are only temporary. This means that pimples will be back as soon as the sebum starts clogging the pores again.

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ClearPores

Hello, my name is Lisa. I’ve been suffering from acne since my teen years and it’s always been a curse on my life. People used to stare at me wherever I went and it was absolutely awful. Many people have no idea what it is like to be stared at. To have others look at you like you are a freak or some kind of cheap entertainment. In school I was the object of so many jokes and pranks I really can’t remember how many times I left school in tears. Acne made me lose my self esteem and confidence. I was staying in my room most of the time and I was even afraid to go shopping with my family.

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Are the lasting effects of acne more than just skin deep?

The teen years are a trying time for any person. Although the worries and cares of adulthood are still far into the future, the teen is not exactly a happy and relaxed person. The carelessness and ignorance of childhood makes room for rebellion and questions about one’s values and place in the world. Looking for their own road through life teens feel insecure and, often enough, misunderstood. Unfortunately, if the search for a place under the sun is not enough, teenagers also have to deal with other problems, such as acne. This unsightly condition is the bane of many teenagers because of the effects it has at psychological level.
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Why Skincare Is No Longer a Distinctly Feminine Pursuit

To say that modern life is very different from what our ancestors used to call living is a huge understatement. It’s plain to see that ancestors as close to us as our very grandparents are shocked by many aspects of our lives. Little things like hairstyles, clothes, computers and ideologies are completely foreign to the older folk. Attitudes that were unthinkable 50 years ago are moving into today’s mainstream with the rise of a new generation of people.

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Good skin comes to those who wait

I have always got mad whenever some old timer told me to be patient. Have you ever heard that saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day”? Well, that made me mad, too. Why should I wait? What’s the big idea with all this “wait, wait, wait” thing? Call me weird, but I’ve always thought that patience is overrated. A sort of excuse for people who can’t keep up with things. So whenever people told me to wait I used to say: You wait! I have better things to do.

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