Entries Tagged 'Skin' ↓

Fragrance isn’t all about perfume. You can also experience your favorite scents in body wash, body scrub, shower gel, bubble bath, body lotion and other beauty products.

Though I don’t like a lot of overpowering scents in body care products, I do love to use lightly scented body scrubs to exfoliate and revive skin.

To keep your skin silky smooth, you should exfoliate your body weekly. Body scrubs made with salt or sugar are my favorites. However exfoliating scrubs can feature a variety of ingredients, including nuts, seeds and other botanicals. These exfoliating products remove dead skin cells, leaving your skin smooth and healthy. After exoliating your skin, be sure to use a good moisturizing lotion. If you don’t keep your skin hydrated, exfoliating scrubs will dry out your skin.

Here are three of my favorite body scrubs:

• L’Occitane ‘Ruban d’Orange’ Marmalade Body Scrub
• Get Fresh SPA Lemongrass Sugar Body Scrub
• Groove Sea Salt Body Scrub

All of these scrubs have nice fresh scents and leave your skin looking and feeling beautiful.

You should exfoliate your face too .. but not with the same rough products geared toward the rest of your body. Instead choose an exfoliating cleanser that was designed especially for the face. Be very carefuly when exfoliating your face, particularly around the eyes and mouth, where the skin is thinner and more sensitive.

Women with oily skin should exfoliate more often than those with dry skin. If you ever find a product dries out or irritates your skin, don’t scrub so hard and cut down on how often you use it. If the problem continues, discontinue using it because you might be allergic to it.

Photo credit: Nordstrom

Everyone knows their organs play an essential part in maintaining a healthy life. There is a neglected organ, the skin. It is a living organ. It is also part of the excretory system.

Proper care of skin will assure minimal wrinkles and a youthful appearance.

Skin wellness includes the following:

• Avoid all harmful sun rays. This can be done with clothing, hats, and sunblocks. Protecting the skin is the first line of defense.
• Reduce stress. Worry, frown, and other lines created by a tense face can become permanent. The physiological responses to stress can cause slow healing of wounds on the skin.
• Eat foods that regenerate the skin. Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains will aid in skin wellness. Foods high in antioxidants will reduce the toxins that are circulated through the skin.
• Have a healthy circulatory system. Oxygen rich, nutrient rich blood being pumped through the skin will give it a healthy natural glow.
• Get adequate sleep. When the body is at full rest, it can restore and rejuvenate the body, including the skin.
• Avoid cigarette smoke. Both first and second hand smoke is bad. A smoker is exposed to both since they usually don’t smoke alone!

Healthy skin is sure to mean beautiful skin.

Summer may be over in some parts of the country, but there are still triple digits in the southern states and the risk of sunburn. Sunburn can happen when there are clear skies and even overcast skies. Water will reflect the sun rays and increase the risk of sunburn. Tanning beds cause sunburn, also.

What sunburn does to the skin:

• Accelerates skin aging
• Causes wrinkles
• Causes skin to turn red
• Blisters can form
• Irritates skin
• Painful to touch
• Dehydrates

Severe cases of sunburn can include chills, nausea, vomiting, sun poisoning and skin loss (peeling).

To avoid sunburn limit time skin is exposed to sun, use sunscreen, cover skin w/clothing, and monitor time. Don’t go by the look of the skin because it can take several hours for redness to occur. Follow tanning bed directions.

Once sunburn occurs, proper care of the skin will limit damage and keep skin beautiful. Home care for sunburn can include the following:

• Aloe Vera gel or cut open a piece of aloe vera and apply to skin
• Cold cream (like Noxema) will halt the burning and cool the skin to minimize damage
• Compresses of 1/2 milk and 1/2 water are soothing
• Take aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen
• Sit in a cool (not cold) bath with just water-no oils, salts, or anything else that may further irritate skin
• Avoid further exposure to sun until skin heals completely

Sometimes sunburn is so severe that medical treatment is needed. Some of the signs that you should see a medical professional include severe pain, severe blistering, headache, fainting, confusion, nausea, and vomiting. If you have other medical conditions that worsen with sunburn, it’s best to contact a medical professional.

Proper care of sunburn skin will assure skin will look beautiful.

Acne, also known as blemishes, zits, and pimples, is common among teenagers. It can also affect people into their 30’s.

Mild to severe outbreaks of acne acne is caused simply by a clogged pore. The pores are connected to oil glands by the follicle (the canal that connects the two) Oil, along with debris, normally travels along the follicle to the skin surface. When this doesn’t happen, oil and debri becomes trapped and clogs the pore.

Acne facts:

• 85% of acne sufferers are between 12 years old and 24 years old
• 20% of adults have active cases of acne
• 11% seek treatment from a medical professional
• 30 % will use over-the-counter treatment
• Women have acne outbreaks into adulthood more often than men do.
• Caucasians get acne more often than other races

There is not much that can be done to prevent acne caused by hormones, all that can be done is treat the symptoms. Teenagers and women most commonly get acne. As a teen’s hormones change, it is evident as acne appears on their face. Women have a monthly fluctuation of hormones and hormonal changes during pregnancy.

Tips for preventing and reducing acne outbreak severity:

• Preventing oil and bacteria build up on the skin
• Avoid excessive washing of effected skin
• Don’t use harsh drying soap (wash with mild soap once or twice a day)
• Use over-the-counter acne products for mild to moderate acne.
• Get treatment from a health care professional for severe outbreaks and rare types of acne.

Identifying the type of acne will assist with choosing the type of treatment that will be most effective. Treatment can help reduce scaring.
Acne control takes some trial and error with products and treatment. When self-care is ineffective, acne becomes severe, or is consistently accompanied by a fever with sore joints; contact a health care professional.

There are myths regarding the cause, treatment, and cure for acne. Education will help sort out what factors directly affect acne outbreaks and what is truly effective in acne control and prevention.

Things from nature can add to natural beauty. Look around the yard, kitchen cabinets, and in the refrigerator before heading to the cosmetics department.

From the yard:

• Aloe Vera-it protects and heals skin. As it dries, it will also slightly tighten up sagging skin. Cut a piece of Aloe Vera off the plant. Trim off all spines. Open from the base where it is cut and slightly separate the sides. The inside will contain gel and juice that can be applied to skin. Store in a airtight container or plastic bag. Use within a few days. Aloe Vera gel can be applied to eyelashes as a mascara alternative.
• Lemons-has several uses as a beauty aid. To lighten discolored elbows, cut lemon in half and hold cut end on elbow for about 10 minutes then wash and apply lotion. To exfoliate skin, rub a cut lemon and sugar on skin 1-2x per week. It will also help age spots and freckles lighten. Especially blond haired people will benefit from using the juice from one lemon mixed with a cup of warm water as a hair conditioner. A few tablespoons of lemon juice mixed with olive oil rubbed into the scalp will treat dandruff problems. Soaking feet in lemon juice, olive oil, and milk will make feet soft and smooth within weeks.

From the kitchen:

• Coffee-use the left over coffee or run the water through used coffee grounds. Brunettes can use this to rinse hair. Be sure coffee is completely cooled.
• Olive oil-warmed it can be used as a hot oil treatment for hair. It can also be rubbed into troublesome dry spots on skin.
• Vinegar-can be used as a hair rinse and help control dandruff.

There are many recipes for beauty products, which use natural ingredients from the kitchen.