Natural Skin Care Beauty Blog

Believe it or not, your skin is the biggest organ of the human body. The principle purpose of your skin is to protect your body from foreign agents. The skin is the first line of defense against disease and infection. It is also the skin that gives us protection against the sun.

However, it is also the skin that first betrays the effects of aging. Skin ailments such as psoriasis or dermatitis can be irritating and make our lives miserable. While we never needed things like wrinkle creams or moisturizers when we were younger and our skin more resilient, the fact is that some degree of skin care is inevitable as we age.

But skin care treatment is also necessary because of factors unrelated to our aging skin. Dry skin is caused by a number of conditions and therefore its treatment options will depend on the actual cause. Here are some causes of dry skin:

Medication Side Effects

As a society, we have increasingly become dependent on medication for things like high blood pressure, tension headaches, and even depression. Skin care treatment for dryness may very well be necessary due to some side effect of your medication for a completely unrelated condition. For this reason, you always want to monitor any potential skin irritation immediately after starting any new medication. If you already have dry skin and can’t remember whether or not it was a problem before starting your medication, you may need to consult with your physician and discuss an alternative medication in order to rule out side effects as the cause of your dry skin.

Poor Nutrition

Skin care problems are often the result of poor nutrition. Our bodies require a delicate balance of nutrients in order to keep everything functioning properly, especially the skin. Vegetarians and vegans often run into dry skin issues as a result of not consuming enough animal fats in their diet. A vitamin B12 deficiency will cause your oil glands (sebaceous glands) to function improperly, generally leading to acne.

Basically, any attempt to address a skin care issue (be it oily, dry, or even itchy skin) should begin with a close look at diet. Dermatologists can best assess potential diet-related skin care problems and recommend corrective measures to naturally restore skin vitality. However, here are some foods to avoid where possible in order to keep your skin as healthy as possible:

• fried foods (chicken, French fries)
• processed sugars
• caffeine, coffee, tea, soft drinks
• high fat dairy products like milk or cheese (consuming low fat varieties of milk and cheese may not be great, but they are better for your skin!)

Now the best thing that you can ingest for improved skin care is water. That’s right, water. Water naturally removes toxins from your body—so the more you drink of it, the purer your body will be. Drinking lots of water is especially good for people with acne problems and it will also help reduce the onset of wrinkles.

Skin Care Problems Due to Sebaceous Gland Problems

If you have ever been to a dermatologist because of acne problems then you are probably very familiar with sebaceous glands. Because the skin needs to be lubricated, it is covered with oil secreting glands known as sebaceous glands. If these glands become clogged with dirt, then bacteria begin growing inside and a pimple is the result. However, sebaceous glands can either become clogged and dry skin is caused or they can produce too much and cause oily skin. More often than not, problems with the sebaceous glands are due to poor diet and can usually be corrected rather easily.

Skin Care Problems Due to Diabetes

Believe it or not, even diabetes can cause you serious skin care problems. A person with diabetes has trouble regulating the blood sugar levels. When there is an excess of blood sugar in the body, the excess must be absorbed. To do this, the body uses a lot more water than normal and that can lead to dry skin.

Skin Care Treatment for Dryness

While diet must always be part of any skin care treatment regimen, it is just a simple fact that our bodies will need more help as we age. For this reason, a moisturizer of some sort will ultimately be needed. To this end, it is HIGHLY recommended that you use a natural skin moisturizer.

Moisturizers using natural ingredients are far less likely to cause the irritating side effects mentioned earlier. Synthetic ingredients are often less expensive to use in moisturizers but they are not the best skin care option because the body is less receptive to them. Natural ingredients, on average, cause fewer side effects and are therefore better where skin moisturizers are concerned.

Skin Care for Wrinkles

Wrinkles are probably the biggest cause of all skin care treatments in the United States. As a person ages, the skin naturally becomes less elastic. As a result, fine lines begin to form on the face which ultimately become the wrinkles we hate so much. There are two main skin care strategies when it comes to wrinkles: affect the muscles that reveal the wrinkles or fill in the skin so the wrinkles are less noticeable. The first strategy involves Botox and the second Collagen injections.

Botox Skin Care

A person is actually having a strain of Botulism injected in their face when they opt for Botox skin care treatment. Botox actually interrupts the transmission of nerve impulses to the muscles that reveal our wrinkles. It may sound radical, but these injections do actually reduce the appearance of wrinkles on the face for a significant period of time. Now these injections can be costly and they must be repeated—but they are generally affective.

Collagen Injection Skin Care

Many people have a serious misperception about collagen injections. The perception is that collagen is a form of fat that is injected into your face to fill in the lines caused by wrinkles. Actually, collagen is an effective form of skin care treatment for wrinkles not because it is fat—but because it is protein. In fact, collagen is a special protein that helps cells and blood vessels connect to one another. When this happens, the wrinkles fade because the collagen helps the skin to “rebuild” in areas where wrinkles form and actually fill in the lines. Again, collagen treatments tend to work but they also are expensive and need to be repeated.

Natural Anti-Wrinkle Creams

A cheaper, but slower, alternative to expensive skin care treatments for wrinkles is a simple cream. Anti-wrinkle creams work to rebuild the skin texture and helps with the elasticity over time. However, unlike Collagen or Botox injections, anti-wrinkle cream skin care treatment is only applied to the skin surface. This is why it takes so much longer. Still, an anti-wrinkle cream is a cost-effective and non-invasive treatment for wrinkles that does work if given enough time. Again, in order to reduce possible side effects, stick with creams that use natural ingredients as they will react better with your skin.

For an all natural skin care product, try SkinSoSilky today to help manage any of your anti aging, acne, or dry skin care needs.
John Davis writes for Trusted Health Products, Inc which provides all natural health products.

Find 100% effective Natural Beauty Products and Cosmetics: Herbal, Aromatherapy

Posted by Health Blog at 8:58 PM | Permalink | Comments

These days many consumers treat synthetic ingredients in their skin care as potentially harmful, and so they should.

If you are asking yourself whether natural skin care products are the answer to all your skin care problems? The answer is a definite Yes. I have not come across a single skin problem that cannot be addressed equally well using natural skin care products as using any other types. Admittedly, I’ve only been in practice for just over 20 years, however, so far I have yet to see a skin condition that cannot be treated using a natural approach, excluding of course emergency medical conditions such as severe 3rd degree burns over large parts of the body, etc.

In an article I can across recently, entitled “Are Natural Skin Care Products the Answer To All Problems?”, the author asks the following questions:

So, are natural skin care products the answer to all of our problems? What if a natural skin care product is not available for the treatment of a particular skin disorder? Are the synthetic skin care products so harmful that they should be banned?

The answer is No natural skin care products do not fix all of our problems. Maybe the author should have asked ...so, are natural skin care products to answer to all our skin care problems? - then the answer would have still been No, and neither do any other skin care products on the market today - natural or otherwise.

Not all skin problems can be treated using some topical application - Many diseases such as measles, chickenpox, herpes and many more are diseases, which as part of their symptomatology, have a skin component. To think that using natural skin care products or for that matter a synthetically formulated skin care product could treat this types of conditions is ludicrous.

Sure, combine your internal medication (natural or drug-based) with a good quality, natural skin care product to address the itching, irritation and redness, etc., but don’t think for one moment that a skin care products is going to effect the chickenpox virus or any other infectious disease.

Similarly, skin problems just like any other long-term disorder have a multi-faceted complexity and require a systemic approach to treatment.
If on the other hand we are simply referring to dry, oily, mature or sensitive skin, than there is no need for synthetic chemicals. Nor is this the case in the treatment of dermatitis, psoriasis or similar conditions, unless they are of a genetic origin - then there is very little that can be done other than symptom control, which natural skin care products can do just as well as any synthetic equivalent, if not better.

You see most mass-produced skin care products, whether they are 100% natural skin care products or have a synthetic component, will not work on any condition that has an internal disease process involved. For example a hormonal imbalance may cause acne. This acne will persist until the hormonal imbalance is corrected.

Similarly, viral infections can cause skin rashes and they will persist until the viral infection has been addressed. Again, sure use a topical ointment or cream for the rash and yes, make sure it is a natural skin care product, because you don’t need to introduce more chemicals into the body, which it may have difficulty in utilising and/or eliminating.

In the same article, the answers to the above questions states:

Different people have different answers to these questions. However, the reality is that due to presence of synthetic preservatives, it’s really tough to find a natural skin care product that is 100% natural. There are natural skin care products that have natural preservatives, but their cost might be detrimental. Moreover, such natural skin products have a shorter shelf life and hence are not preferred by the manufacturers of natural skin care products.

Firstly, 100% natural skin care products are really not hard to find. There are dozens of companies that produce good quality, natural skin care products and they can be found using Yahoo, MSN or Google without much difficulty. Yes, they can be expensive, but they are no more expensive than similar, products containing synthetic chemicals produced by major brands such as L’Oreal, Lancôme, and others. In fact, most are a lot less costly.

Secondly, just because a natural skin care product has a natural preservative does not make them any more expensive. I should know, as we make a large range of natural skin care products and have done so for over 20 years. We supply customers all over the world, as well as our own patients, and over 80% of our customers have been long-term customers. Some of our products use natural preservatives such as Grape seed Oil or Wheat Germ Oil and neither of these oils are very pricey.

In addition, Essential oils are some of the most powerful antiseptic substances around, some are also have powerful antibiotic properties and if used correctly, they will preserve natural skin care products for at least 2 to 3 years without any trouble. Furthermore, many of our natural skin care and personal care product contain herbal extracts. Herbal extracts are by nature alcoholic and alcohol is a very good preservative. So you see, good quality natural skin care products do not need to have preservatives (synthetic ones) added to them.

This author further states:

Some people carry a wrong notion that since natural skin care products are natural, they cannot cause any harm to the skin. The suitability of a skin care product is not based on whether it is synthetic or natural. An unsuitable natural skin care product can harm you in almost the same way as a synthetic one. So, use natural skin care products, but be open to synthetic ones too (you might need them when a natural solution is not available)

Sure, we all know that nature produces powerful substances and some of these are the most potent killers if we are exposed to them - strychnine is an example that comes to mine, but any substance found in nature has the potential to create problems, some more serious than other. Why else would herbalist have to be trained for years if you could take any old tea and drink it to your heart’s content?

Many people have allergies to all sorts of chemicals (I mean naturally occurring ones as well as synthetic ones). However, that is not the product’s fault, these people unfortunately for them have a hypersensitivity to particular substances and their immune system needs to be treated. DON’T use a synthetic substitute - the natural substances are just as powerful as synthetic chemicals, why do you think is it that modern medicine still uses morphine-based drugs to treat severe pain? - there is no synthetic substitute that is more powerful a pain killer.Natural skin care products that have been properly formulated to target a specific skin care need, are safer, usually more effective and cost no more than their synthetic counter parts.

When ever you choose to buy a new product which you use on your skin be it a natural one or not, you should consider the following:

Always look at the ingredient list and see if there are any to which you may be allergic.
Before you start using a product apply a small area of your skin first to see if you have any undesirable reaction. You may be allergic to something in the product, which you are not aware of and this may or may not be a natural substance.

Know what the product does and what it is indicated for before you buy it.
Choose products to suit your skin type and your skin’s needs.
If you are not sure, ask the manufacturer, write them an email or ring them up and ask them to explain or help.

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.

Find 100% effective Natural Beauty Products and Cosmetics: Herbal, Aromatherapy

Posted by Health Blog at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments

As we get older our skin produces less of the natural oil that helps it retain its moisture. There are many contributing factors that can dry our skin. For example, excessive bathing in hot water, or very dry air can cause your skin to become dry. Dry skin can be prevented. The key is to seal moisture into the skin.

For women, their skin is one of their most treasured assets. Poor skin can send a woman into a complete frenzy. Women understand that their skin is the very first thing others see and notice, making a first impression of you before you ever speak.

Many women fight to find a good skin care program. Misinformation often leads us down the wrong path. We struggle to combat one problem and often create another.

Most important is the nutrients our skin receives. Like the rest of our body our skin requires vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. To ensure your skin is getting the right nutrients and the rest of your body too, follow the recommended food intake guideline, and take a multi vitamin daily.

The loofah sponges have become very popular in the past few years. And yes they are wonderful at removing dead skin. The problem is it also removes the natural oils from your skin. Without these oils you become dry and flaky because your body is unable to naturally lubricate new skin layers. This is where we get into a vicious circle – we use the loofah more to remove flaking skin then we flake more. My recommendation is to not use your loofah more than twice a week and to then apply moisturizer directly to your damp skin.

Water in itself is drying to the skin. It is best to avoid really hot showers, use a moisturizing cleanser and stay away from harsh soaps. Pat dry and immediately apply a moisturizer to your body. The moister the skin, the better. Water is moisture, so trapping water between the moisturizer and the skin is good for the skin.

You can also use alpha-hydroxy products on your face. These products help remove dead dry skin and hydrate the new skin beneath. A word of caution – Do not over use these products.
If you have cracked skin on your hands you need to limit the amount of water your hands are exposed to. The more water on your hands, the harder it will be for them to heal. Use heavy moisturizing hand creams to help seal the moisture into the skin.

Recent studies by Duke University show that Vitamin C promotes collagen growth. Collagen is responsible for giving skin its elasticity and keeping it smooth and wrinkle free. The more collagen in the skin, the younger it will look.

Oxidation is also a contributing factor to the skin's aging process. Oxidation is caused by things like overexposure to the sun and heavy detergents, soaps, and chemicals. It’s very important to use an antioxidant to nourish the skin so that it can better combat these contributing factors. Beta-Carotene is a very effective antioxidant.

Sher from Estate Jewelry International has been serving customers for over 20 years, providing fashion, jewelry,and wedding help. Please visit us at http://www.estatejewelryinternational.com/

Find 100% effective Natural Beauty Products and Cosmetics: Herbal, Aromatherapy

Posted by Health Blog at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments

The following article provides some insight into why good skin care is important and suggests a simple skin care regime anyone can follow to help your skin perform at its best.

Our skin’s functions are too many to go through here in detail, however it protects our ‘insides’ from the external environment, acting both as a barrier and a filter between ‘outside’ and ‘inside’ our bodies.

The skin helps in regulating our body’s temperature, like when we have a fever or we’re physically working hard, we tend to sweat, which is the body’s way to attempt to lower the temperature.

The skin also protects us from harmful substances entering our body, and it eliminates many toxins. This takes workload off our Liver and Kidneys to filter out by-products from our body’s metabolism. The skin also breathes!

These are just some of the important functions of our skin and as you can see, looking after your skin is vital, not just for your outer beauty, but for maintaining your inner health.

Now there is skin care and there is skin care... well, we all (hopefully) wash our body (skin) every day and we may even rub some body cream on and that is pretty much that. Women (most) go one step further when they make-up their face. Often using a cleanser and then a moisturiser before applying make-up. But is that really skin care?

I think not. I would consider it an attack on the skin rather than caring for it. You see, most of the products marketed to women are full of artificial colours, stabilisers, emulsifiers and other chemical, which are supposed to help in achieving a ‘beautiful complexion’.

Some products are advertising hormones, which are supposed to make your skin re-gain that youthful (no wrinkles) look – but more often than not these ‘hormones’ are artificial or synthetic and may well cause problems with the hormonal balance of the body. This is NOT Skin care – this is plain old manipulation and marketing.

Real skin care is much more than that and is more than just skin deep. Your skin is a living, breathing organ of your body. As such, just like every other organ in our body, it needs to be fed from the inside – it requires nutrients.

There are 4 basic ingredients to feeding the inside: Good nutrition: keep it simple, fresh and unprocessed. That is the best nutritional advice I can give. The simpler the food, the less processing and the fresher your food is, the better it is for you. Fresh fruit and vegetables contain so many of the nutrients we need to maintain our health. Sure have the odd processed, high in fat meal when you’re enjoying a meal out or have to attend a Luncheon or what ever. But make sure you have more natural foods than not. Keep the diet varied – don’t eat the same old, same old… risk a new veggie – one you haven’t tried before – you might like it …

Adequate rest and relaxation: don’t work yourself to an early grave – it’s not worth it. Make sure you get the sleep you need. Did you know that a study in England showed that your IQ (intelligence) drops if you do not have 8 hours sleep per night?

Think about it, do you get more work done if you feel well rested? Can you concentrate better if you’re not tired? – I bet you can.
Well, why not invest some additional time into rest and relaxation so that you gain an increase in energy and concentration? I’m sure you will find you will get more work done in less time if you’ve had sufficient rest.

Sufficient water intake: that’s a biggie. Most people (irrespective of were they live) will utilise around 3 litres of water per day – hey, don’t believe me, all the medical texts say so. Our body simply needs water to function.

If you do not drink at least this amount, your body will either not function well (on some level) or it will take it from where ever it can. That is called dehydration. You know, dry lips, dry flaky skin, parched mouth, cracks on you tongue, premature wrinkles… the list goes on. So, drink up (water, mind you) or shrivel up – it’s up to you.

Fresh air and sunshine: well, what can I say. Taking a deep breath of air and tell me it doesn’t feel great… Well? Oxygen is the stuff of life. Fill your lungs with it. Here I could go into how most of us do not know how to breath properly, but I’ll save this for another article.

So what does all this have to do with skin care? Well, that is the point of putting expensive, beauty products on your skin, when you do not give it the stuff of life from the inside? The cells that make up your skin need the right nutrients for proper development, growth and all that… You can help your skin by using good quality skin care products, but you have to support this from the inside as well. Only in that way can you expect to get good results from proper skin care.

So what’s proper skin care?

Well, for starters there are 3 basic steps.

1. Cleanse and Condition
2. Hydrate and Tone
3. Moisturise and Revive.

OK. Cleansing the skin seems obvious and I know, you do know how to use soap – wrong, this is one sure way to make your skin dry-out quicker. Most soaps remove the natural oils of the skin, change the natural pH levels and do nothing to remove the dead layers of skin, which can block your pores and lead to blackheads. And, oh no, not pimples! The skin produces oils and acids to help it function, to protect it from loss of excessive moisture, to form a barrier… etc. So please do not use soap or detergents unless it is necessary.

Using a loofah or a gentle ‘scrub’ will remove the dead skin cells and this in turn will promote better blood circulation and help your skin to breath.

The next step is to hydrate and tone the skin. Say what? Well, you’ve just removed the dead skin layers, rubbing the skin with a loofah and or a specially formulated cleanser, now it’s time to remove the residue, sooth the skin and prepare the skin for getting a good feed of nutrients from the moisturiser.

Preparation of the skin prior to putting on the moisturiser is not dissimilar to preparing a surface about to receive a new coat of paint. You wouldn’t just paint over a wall that hasn’t been cleaned and prepared for the new paint, would you? It would be a waist of time and money… well, good skin care is the same. You first get rid of the old layer of paint, than you give it a primer and finally the top-coat.

Ah, I already use a moisturiser… Great, at least that’s a step in the right direction. But, have you looked at the ingredients? Are they natural, or are there numbers and words you don’t recognise on the label? If so, then consider that your body absorbs these substances and if they are not useful, (preferably of a natural kind) then the body has to eliminate them - and that’s more work and not necessary.

In some cases, the body actually can’t eliminate these substances and has to store them. This is a potential problem and could cause health issues down the track. Pure essential oils, or herbal extracts are usually good ingredients to have in your skin care products.

So there you have it - the importance of good skin care. These steps, if you follow them, will help you to achieve the results you want and your body will thank you too.

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

Find 100% effective Natural Beauty Products and Cosmetics: Herbal, Aromatherapy

Posted by Health Blog at 9:05 PM | Permalink | Comments

Your hair is your crowning glory and most people want it to look lustrous and natural so it’s a wonder so many of us over process our hair with hair color and other treatments. This processing can damage your hair and leave it dried out and dull. Of course, there is a plethora of products on the market that will claim to restore the natural beauty of your hair, but doesn’t it makes sense to use natural remedies instead of shampoos and conditioners that are loaded with chemicals?

Here’s some natural ingredients you might want to try on your hair. Not only will they make your hair look great but these will cost you a lot less than those expensive salon products.

Oil

Plain old everyday cooking oil will work just as good as any hot oil treatment and is a great way to rehydrate your hair. Take a couple of tablespoons of oil and work it through your hair paying special attention to the ends. If your hair is dry on the ends but greasy on top, skip the top and just massage it into the ends. Let it sit for 15 minutes and then rinse out thoroughly. Your hair might feel a little greasy after this and you might want to experiment with the amount of oil until you get it just right.

Another way to use oil to give your hair more moisture and make it shiner is to use an oil and honey mixture. Try 2 tablespoons oil to 1 tablespoon honey and massage into your hair. Let it sit for 10 minutes then rinse thoroughly. Don’t shampoo it out, simply rinse it and then style your hair as you usually would.

Eggs

Eggs are good food and they are good for your hair too! In fact, eggs are one of the best natural hair conditioners around so don’t be afraid to use it on your hair. You can make an egg mixture for your hair by beating one egg and ½ cup water. Massage it into your hair and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then simply rinse it out and style your hair.

Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise can act as a deep conditioner and is especially good on dry and over processed hair. Look for real mayonnaise (not salad dressing) in the store. You want to use it on your hair while it is dry and slather it on, massaging it into every hair follicle right down to the ends. Then wrap your head in plastic wrap (yes, the kind you use for wrapping up food) and let sit for 25 minutes then rinse and style. Yes, it can be kind of messy but will really add shine to your hair!

Maple Syrup

This is another great, but messy natural hair conditioner. Use 100% pure maple syrup and massage it into your hair. Let sit for 10 minutes then rinse thoroughly and style your hair as normal.

But what good is shiny silky hair if it is dotted with flaky dandruff? If you suffer from these annoying flakes you might want to try some of these natural remedies to treat your scalp:
Grapeseed extract is said to be great for helping eliminate dandruff and you can add it right to your shampoo. Speaking of which if you are using a commercial shampoo, you want to be sure to use one that has tar extract as this will help to treat the dandruff.

Using an apple cider rinse can help control dandruff as well. Mix ½ cup water and ½ cup apple cider vinegar and apply it to your hair. Leave in for 1 hour. Wash your hair, rinse and style.
Lee Dobbins writes for http://www.herbs-home-remedies.com where you can find out more about natural treatments and home remedies.

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Posted by Health Blog at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments