Monday 9 August 2010

Healthy Skin Routine - 3 Daily Steps For a Beautiful Complexion

In order to maintain healthy skin and have a beautiful complexion it is important to have a consistent routine. There are three main steps that will provide you with long-term benefits - cleansing, exfoliating and moisturizing.

1. Cleansing

The first step to healthy skin is a gentle cleansing regime that utilizes a natural cleanser. Your skin is a living, breathing organ and it is constantly exposed to harsh toxins in the environment. Using soap or detergent cleanser will add to the damage. Choose a natural facial cleanser to gently remove dirt, excess oil and makeup. It will cleanse without stripping important moisture. It will also maintain your skin's natural pH balance, instead of adding harsh additives and increasing acidity. These higher acid levels create an environment for decay and aging.

2. Exfoliating

As you age, your skin's ability to renew slows down. Lifeless cells sit on the skin's surface creating a dull complexion. Exfoliating is the second step in a healthy skin routine to remove the dead skin cells and encourage new cell growth for a beautiful complexion. Exfoliation also stimulates circulation, adds to deep cleansing, unclogs pores and creates smoothness. Be sure to look for an exfoliator that uses tiny granules to polish. Large granules in your skincare products can be too rough and harmful to the lipid barrier. This barrier is a natural protection from environmental toxins that your skin creates to maintain suppleness.

3. Moisturizing

The third step in a healthy skin routine is daily moisturizing. Effective moisturizers contain essential fatty acids that repair and protect. A healthy complexion is hydrated and the natural epidermal water within the skin cells is kept intact. Hydration is a key component to healthy cell tissue, cleansing and a natural glow. A good moisturizer will make sure to keep the layers hydrated and support the lipid barrier. Some moisturizers have an added benefit of sun protection, if made with natural botanicals. Look for skincare that can help protect you from the elements. Chemical-free sunscreens in your moisturizer, as well as on their own, are safe and effective. Studies have shown that chemical sunscreens can lead to cancer because of the increase of free radicals. When in doubt, just choose natural options like botanicals and minerals.

These are the three main steps for healthy skin and a beautiful complexion. If you want to take it a step further, add a natural anti-aging serum and a hydrating mist to your routine. Do what feels good to you and gets you long-term results.

If you are interested in learning more about how to achieve a beautiful complexion, visit my website where I share products from the rainforest that I have been using daily for years. You can visit my website at http://www.rainforestrevolution.com/lluvia-skincare.html. In health & radiance!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jenn_Hart

Find the Best Food For Healthy Skin

You might disagree, but hear me out on this for the appropriate food for healthy skin. Diet is an unavoidable factor that contributes greatly for a healthy skin. Diet containing the right kind of ingredients is essential for a glowing smooth skin. Diet is just one part required for our body to be healthy. The other part involves the use of natural skincare products.

It is clear that most of our skincare products contain heavy concentration of toxic chemicals. The frequent of such chemicals can destroy the tissue structure of your skin. A proper diet consisting of fruit, vegetables and liquid components can prevent the body from damage. Liquid food is essential for people living in any climate. Even in the past, leafy green vegetables were the right choice of food for healthy skin.

These contain essential minerals, vitamins and nutrients. Diet containing vitamin A and B complex are vital. Vitamin C, E and K are also important as they perform various functions in our body. A diet containing these vitamin ingredients protect the skin from infections and makes them healthy. Consuming food for healthy skin such as lemon, pineapple, papaya and citrus fruits can gain these ingredients.

These help in stimulating the functional protein called keratin. Ingredients like green vegetables, natural oil are essential for tissue repair. Our skin also requires minerals such as zinc and copper. Other essential food for healthy skin is selenium, which is present in marine animals. These mineral components help in the stimulation of protein fibers.

Some natural skincare products contain Cynergy TK, coenzymes Q10, Phytessence Wakame etc that are rich in minerals and proteins. A regular diet helps to maintain the presence of liquid in our body. This prevents the loss of water that can lead to tissue destruction. This is the easiest way to gain a smooth, attractive gentle skin that can never cause aging.

Discover the benefits of the best skin care line that are made from breakthrough natural ingredients. Learn about the dramatic results you can achieve - To get rid of wrinkles, fine lines and damaged skin visit: http://www.natural-skin-care-resource.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jean_Helmet

Monday 2 August 2010

You Can Be Successful at Maintaining Healthy Skin

How successful have you been in your efforts at maintaining healthy skin, and achieving increased firmness and elasticity?

If you are like most people, then success in attaining the smooth, firm, healthy skin you are after has been elusive, and this has everything to do with the components being used to develop your formulas. There are certain things that will help your skin, and certain things that won't.

The only way you are going to truly make a difference in the health and appearance of your skin is through the use of products that are developed using all natural ingredients. Now you must understand that not all components that are all natural are going to be effective in helping you accomplish your skin care goals.

Several commonly used natural ingredients will either do nothing at all for your skin, or will do it more harm than good.

There are six natural compounds that can be found in the majority of anti aging skin care formulas that stand out as ineffective in maintaining healthy skin, or in improving firmness and elasticity.

These compounds are the petroleum based moisturizers mineral oil, petrolatum, and paraffin wax, and livestock derived collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid.

These ingredients are nothing like what the cosmetic companies claim they are.

You should know that the petroleum process byproducts mineral oil, petrolatum, and paraffin wax are not good for your skin. These ingredients are merely liquefied derivatives of the incredibly dense substance that produces petroleum jelly.

These compounds are not readily absorbed by your skin, clog your pores, interfere with exfoliation, and negatively affect the production of sebum.

Animal derived collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid are not effective for maintaining healthy skin that is firm and smooth, because these compounds cannot be absorbed by your skin at all.

The molecular density of these components is many times greater then what your skin is capable of handling. These ingredients will do nothing to improve your appearance, no matter what the companies that use them try and say.

What you need in order to reverse damage done to the chemical structures in your skin, neutralize free radicals, and significantly increase firmness and elasticity are other types of natural compounds.

You will receive antioxidants in droves from plant derived oils and waxes, and there are several natural substances available for increasing the levels of firmness and elasticity in your skin. Phytessence Wakame sea kelp extract and grape seed oil are excellent choices for maintaining healthy skin, because what hey do is manage the behavior of enzymes in the skin that are responsible for collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid loss.

Specially developed natural ingredients like Cynergy TK and Nano-Lipobelle H-EQ10 have the ability to increase the natural production of collagen and elastin.

Products that contain these four ingredients, plus compounds like Maracuja passion fruit extract, natural vitamin E, and Babassu wax are the most effective for maintaining healthy skin. The regular use of products that feature these compounds will make a tremendous difference in both the look and feel of your skin.

Get my free five-part mini course on the benefits of Pure Natural Anti Aging Skin Care. To sign up for the course and more tips on the importance of Anti Aging Skin Care, visit my website at Healthy-Natural-Skin-Site.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gordon_P_Hall

Wednesday 28 July 2010

Three Simple and Sure Ways to Maintain Healthy Skin

Skin is one of our most precious assets, but our hectic lifestyles leave very little time for proper skin maintenance and as a result, our skin no longer has the baby softness that we had when we were born. Further, as we age, our skin steadily gets thinner and thinner and eventually wrinkles. The sebaceous glands that produce oil become less active, and the less active the sebaceous glands, the drier the skin. Added to our glands producing less oil, the quality and quantity of our blood vessels decrease which makes our skin more fragile. The skin no longer has that youthful looking glow or colour. There are some skin care tips which can help to postpone the natural aging process and prevent the various types of skin problems that occur. These will also help you to keep your skin glowing and healthy for years to come.

1.) Guard Yourself from the Sun. One of the most important things to remember is the damage that the direct sun can do to the skin. Ultraviolet rays which are invisible but intense, damages the skin and causes the skin to become dry and rough. Liver spots, deep wrinkles and various disorders such as benign and/or malignant skin tumors can also result. In actuality, a lifetime of sun exposure can be the reason that the skin goes through such changes..

For complete sun protection, take note of the following points:

- Avoid going out in the sun at the most intense hours: The rays of the sun are most damaging during 10am to 4 pm, and so, avoid going out in the sun during these hours.

- Put on protective clothing. Wear clothes such as long pants, long sleeved shirts, hats and caps, which completely cover the skin. In addition, remember that some fabric and certain styles provide more protection from the sun compared to others.

- Use sunscreen. Select a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) higher than 15. It is feasible to apply the lotion 20 minutes before going out in the sun and, if possible, reapply it every two hours, especially after being in the water or after intense sweating.

2.) Cleanse your skin. Cleansing is an essential part of caring for your skin and the key is to treat it gently.

- Limit bath time and use warm water. Long showers and hot water remove the essential oils from the skin, limit your bath and shower to about fifteen minutes or less, and try to use warm water rather than hot water.

- Avoid strong soaps. Strong soaps generally strip the essential oil from the skin and can make your skin dry. Select mild soaps that contain extra fats and oils.

- Avoid irritating additives If your skin is sensitive, avoid skin product which contain dyes or perfumes. These can irritate the skin and could trigger an allergic response.

- Pat dry After bathing or washing, softly blot or pat your skin with a cloth so that a little bit of moisture remains on your skin. Moisturize your skin with cream or oil immediately.

3.) Moisturize regularly. Moisturizer greatly assists in maintaining your skin's natural moisture. The moisturizer works by putting a seal on your skin. Needless to say, the moisturizer that you use also depends on many different factors such as your type of skin, your age and any skin conditions such as bad skin or acne. The best way to find out if you require a moisturizer is to wait for 20 minutes after bathing. If your skin feels tight, you need to apply a moisturizer. Finally, it is always feasible to consult a dermatologist. He will not only tell you about your skin type, but he will also help you with the right kind of products and lotions, and if treatment is required to help you to maintain your skins youthfulness.

http://www.alanbiz.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kengism_Gradem

Tuesday 27 July 2010

What Does It Take To Maintain Healthy Skin

When you meet someone you look into their face, then you look at how they are groomed and within 3 seconds you have summed that person up and put a value on their appearance based on your standards. Yes, this is true and we all do it.

If you have blotchy skin or tired skin, this is going to stand out. So, what do we need to do to make our skin looks its best? I am not going to discuss all the creams and potions, I will leave that to someone else to comment on, I am going to go back to basics and my personal experiences.

Without mentioning my age, I remember back to my 29th birthday and I spent the day in tears, I was on the way out, life is over, what have I got to look forward to, if you are over 30 you will know what I am talking about. Up until then I had never worried about moisturisers, sunscreen greatly, nor did I drink a lot of straight water. As a teenager I never suffered from acne or heaps of pimples, I think I was just plain lucky to inherit good genes.

From my 29th birthday onwards I got into a routine of using facial moisturiser once a day and eventually moved up to one for day use and one for night, the face needs moisturiser in order to help rejuvinate itself and encourage new cells to grow, I read somewhere that the skin can not grow new cells without moisture. It was always an internal debate as to whether the expensive moisturisers were better than the cheap ones, so I stuck to the middle of the road. Over the years I have tried heaps and to be honest after years of testing most products, from the most common ones found in the supermarket to a range I now buy in from overseas. I have found that all have done the job at the time, but as I and my skin aged we had to move on to the next range of skincare to deal with issues such as dryer skin, skin starting to lose its elasticity etc.

I mentioned before about drinking water, you hear all the time, "drink two litres of water a day", arrrggghhhh, I hate plain water and am not one to sit there with a bottle of water or carry water with me, my water intake comes in the form of coffee, tea, coffee, vitafresh and coffee. A few months ago I decided to go on a diet (sitting in front of a computer all day helps you put on weight), on this diet I had to drink 2 litres per day to help the diet work. So, I knuckled down and forced myself to drink this water. After 3 weeks of drinking 2 litres per day, spending about an extra 30 mins per day going to the loo, I looked in the mirror one day and noticed my skin looked totally different. It was clear, glowing and just looked different, it looked really healthy. It was the water doing it, because I had not changed any other thing in my daily skincare routine. I noticed after I went off the diet that my skin lost that clear glowing look. So, yes there is a lot to be said about water and skincare. It will help leech out the impurities from inside and it will help your skin to glow.

When I wash my skin I never use plain soap, I either use goat's milk soap or a soft skin wash, if you are using these products for your face only, it is a good investment because they will last you ages and become very economical. As soon as I get out of the shower, and while my skin is still warm I grab the night cream and apply it and also eye cream and because my skin is still warm and the pores open from the heat of the shower, I find my skin drinks it up.

I have now learnt that sunscreen on my face is a must must must, but I find most sunscreens leave an oily feeling and I hate that feeling. Instead I have replaced sunscreens on my face with mineral cosmetics which are a natural sunblock and after 2 years of going out in the sun with only mineral powder on I can honestly say I have never gotten sunburnt on my face.

As we age our skins needs change and if you are busy it is hard to know when you need to make some changes in your skincare routine, but I believe that if you stick to the basics you can't go too wrong. I also use a home microdermabrasion system once a week and my skin feels fantastic afterwards and you do notice the difference and if you can afford one it is a good investment. I am now waiting for someone to invent the ultimate facelift cream that will really tighten the skin as it ages and perform an on the spot eyelift.

Virginia Reali is the Director of BMNE Direct Pty Ltd, a major nail and beauty supply import company based in Australia. http://www.bmnedirect.com.au

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Virginia_Reali