Organic Skin Care

“If it can be done naturally, why go for artificial means” – this is the basic premise on which ‘organic skin care’ works. Organic skin care is the most natural way of ‘skin care’. In fact, ‘organic skin care’ was probably the first one to be used by man when it first woke-up to the needs of his skin. ‘Organic skin care’ is not only friendlier to skin, but also inexpensive. If exercised in the right way, organic skin care can prevent the occurrence of a lot of skin disorders and can help keep your skin healthy and young-looking for a much longer time.

Organic fruits and vegetables are the most popular things on organic skin care routines e.g. cucumber is very common in organic skin care routines. Turmeric, apple, papaya, ginger are others that find a wide use in organic skin care routines. These organic materials have a very refreshing and vitalizing effect on your skin. Almost every skin care book/guide has section on organic skin care (including the actions of various fruits and vegetables on skin).

So choose the ones that are more suitable for your skin type and start experimenting with them until you finally select the ones that are most suitable for inclusion in your organic skin care routine. It’s important that you use fresh organic fruits/vegetables. Don’t try to utilise the rotten ones for your skin, their only place is the garbage bin.

Milk is known to posses good cleansing properties; in fact, the name of some skin care products contains the word ‘milk’ in them. A combination of milk with ground oatmeal acts as wonderful cleanser.

Ground oatmeal is especially good for oily skins and is a popular ingredient in organic skin care regimen. It is used in various combinations e.g. with egg, honey, milk and fruits, for preparation of organic facial packs.

Wheat germ is another ingredient in organic skin care procedures. It is rich in vitamin E and is known for its exfoliation as well as moisturising properties. Wheat germ, in various combinations with other organic materials, is used to prepare facial masks for normal and dry skin types. Wheat germ oil is another way in which wheat germ is used for organic skin care.

Yogurt and sour cream are other organic materials that are popular for their exfoliation and moisturising properties.

Use of organic honey is also popular in organic skin care procedures. It helps in retention of moisture and helps impart a glowing look to skin.

Rose water takes its place as a toner in organic skin care routines. Lavender water is popular too.

‘Organic skin care’ uses combinations of various organic materials that complement each other and enhance each other’s effectiveness. Moreover, these combinations are also helpful in over-riding the harmful effects (if any) of various organic materials that form them.

Organic skin care is really an art that, once perfected, can give wonderful results in a very cost effective manner.

Top Ten Skin Care Tips

Healthy skin is really one of the most important ingredients for beauty-enhancement. This article on skin care tips is an effort to bring the 10 best skin care tips to you.  The list of skin care tips has been restricted to 10 because anything more that that would not only be difficult to remember, but also shadow the more important skin care tips. So let’s see what these top ten skin care tips are:

1.  Knowing your skin type is one of the most important skin care tip. This is important because not every skin care product suits everyone. In fact, all the skin care products specify the type of skin they cater too.

2.  ‘Drink a lot of water’. This will not keep your skin moist but will help in overall upkeep of your health (and in turn your skin). It might seem a bit awkward to some, however, this is an important skin care tip.

3.   Cleanse your skin regularly (1-2 times everyday).  A very effective skin care tip that helps in getting rid of the dirt and other harsh elements from your skin. Cleansing is especially important when you have been out of your house (and hence exposed to pollutants, dust etc). This skin care tip also advocates the use of Luke warm water for cleansing (hot and cold water, both, cause damage to your skin)

4.   Be gentle, after all it’s your skin. Don’t scrub/exfoliate too hard or too often. Similarly, don’t apply too much or too many skin care products. A must-to-follow skin care tip.

5.  Keep your skin moist at all times. This is one of the most important skin care tip.  Don’t let your skin get dry. Dryness causes the outer layer of your skin to break, leading to a rough and unattractive appearance. Use moisturisers/ emollients. Moisturisers work best when applied while the skin is still damp.

6.  Avoid the use of soap on your face. Soap should only be used from below the neck. A small but important skin care tip.

7.  Use sunscreen to protect yourself from sun’s harmful UV radiations. You can use day-time moisturisers that have sunscreen built into them. Use them even when it’s cloudy. UV radiations are known to cause skin cancer, so follow this skin care tip without fail.

8.  A bit of exercise and good sleep are essential too, not just for skin care but for your health as a whole. Lack of sleep can lead to formation of wrinkles below your eyes and lack of exercise can cause your skin to slack. Moreover, exercise and sleep also help in beating stress.  So besides being a skin care tip, this is also a health care tip.

9.  Treat skin dilemmas with care.  This skin care tip is about not ignoring any skin dilemmas. Consult your dermatologist before you go on to use a skin care product (lest you do end up harming your skin even more).

10. Beat the stress. The harmful effects of stress are known to everyone, however, sometimes stating the obvious is essential too (and hence this skin care tip found its place here). Yes, stress harms skin too. So, take a break or indulge in a warm bubble bath or just get good sleep.

Antioxidants for Better Skin

Antioxidants are important to keep your skin in the best condition possible. A sufficient supply of antioxidants will help to moisturize your skin and stop it from becoming dry and flaky. Antioxidants will also help to repair damaged skin and prevent damage to skin cells that are caused by free radicals.

Free radicals are molecules that cause damage to the cells by the depleting them from getting a sufficient supply of oxygen. The production of free radicals is stimulated by many different sources including cigarette smoke, alcohol, UV light, pollution and so on.

The collagen that helps us maintain the youthful appearance gets broken down as these free radicals damage the skin cells. The vitamins A, C and E, and beta-carotene are the most powerful antioxidants and these are regularly added to quality body care products and in particular moisturizers to help improve the condition of the skin.

The best antioxidants however are those that you get through maintaining a good diet. Your nutrition has a lot more affect on the condition of your skin due to the necessity of antioxidants to counter the free radicals that are constantly damaging the skin cells.

Antioxidants stimulate the production of collagen and this helps prevent wrinkles. Antioxidants also help to protect the skin against sun damage so getting a good supply of antioxidants in your diet will reduce the chance of you getting sunburned but it is certainly not a reason to refrain from using a good sunscreen to protect your skin.

As manufacturers look to improve the quality of their products by adding antioxidants and other skincare ingredients, Coenzyme-Q10  has proven very popular due to the fact that it is believed it can stimulate the growth of new cells and in doing so create smoother, firmer and more toned skin.

Whether there is any real benefit from having Q10 in these products has yet to be scientifically proven but there are enough people who believe that it works to warrant its inclusion in skin care products.

Your Neck

Your neck is one of the first places to give away your age. Unfortunately the neck is highly visual so it is quite difficult to cover up the fact that you are aging if the condition of your neck is not up to the same standard as the rest of your body.

It is not quite as easy as it might seem because the neck skin is one of the areas on the body that gets particularly dry due to having fewer oil glands than anywhere else on the body.

In addition to this lack of oil glands we are constantly turning our head and moving it in different directions throughout the day. This constant movement effects of collagen and elastin fibers causing them to lose their tone sooner than other parts of the body.

Obviously we don’t want to stop moving our head around as that will be totally impractical, so what are the alternatives for helping to keep the skin of the neck from sagging and looking old?

Well the first thing you need to do is consider this part of the body as one of the more important parts that need your attention. This will be a major change for many women who neglect the neck skin in favor of spending time on the face or the rest of the body.

The most important thing that you need to do for the skin on your neck is to keep it moisturized on a regular basis and more so than for most of the rest of the body.

Ensure that you always put sufficient sunscreen on your neck right up to your jaw line. Make sure that you always put sufficient moisturizing cream on your neck when you’re doing your face and also when you’re doing your body as this particularly dry area can always do with more moisturizer.

Used upward strokes when applying cream to your neck and try not to look down when you’re reading or working because this will encourage a double chin. Rapid changes in weight gain or weight loss can also cause baggy skin under the chin.

Checking Your Moles

Most people have moles somewhere on the body. Fortunately most of these moles present no danger to us however it is better to be safe than sorry and if you’re unsure about any of the moles then don’t waste any time in seeing a specialist.

Moles are a cluster of pigmented cells and most people tend to get more of them as they age. You should always monitor the moles to see if there have been any changes or any irregularities that have begun to occur.

Irregular changes in the shape or the color of them could indicate that it is skin cancer. By checking your entire body on a regular basis you will notice any changes and the sooner you do spot any changes the easier it will be to eliminate any problems.

If the mole has changed color, size, or shape then it is time to see your doctor or specialist so they can determine why this is happening. If the border of the mole becomes asymmetrical then this is a sign that there is some unwanted activity that needs to be investigated further.

Any moles that become itchy or bleed, or where the surface has become crusty, need to be checked immediately as skin cancer can have similar features. A healthy mole would generally be flat or slightly raised, and will be even in color and texture.

You can get your moles surgically removed for cosmetic reasons but be aware that people with certain skin types scar more easily than others and the scar could look worse than the mole.

There has been a significant increase in the incidence of melanoma in recent years due to the depletion of the ozone layer and as malignant melanoma is one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer it is a wise investment to get any moles or spots checked on a regular basis.

Toning Your Muscles

Toning your muscles can not only make you feel healthier, it can also make you look a lot healthier and younger. Younger people have firmer, tighter, more toned muscles than older people, and for this reason anything that you can do to increase the tone of your muscles will help make you look younger.

Many women are of the mistaken belief that if they lift weights they are going to build big bulky muscles. The professional weight lifting and bodybuilding women have been responsible for many women believing that they will turn out the same if they do any form of resistance training.

We need to realize that these weightlifters and bodybuilders are very often taking steroids and using all types of supplements and special nutrition to build their muscles to the size they achieve.

Most women will never have to worry about this happening to them. Resistance training will certainly improve your muscle density and you might see some increase in the size of your muscles but this will be offset by reduction in the fat from the exercise due to the fact that muscles burn fat.

This will help you to build a leaner, toned and healthier body that will resemble that of the younger person. Resistance training will also help to stimulate the blood flow throughout the body and in doing so will improve your skin texture as an added bonus.

Your skin will become tighter and will remain like that for longer provided you do some form of maintenance training on a regular basis. You certainly don’t need to go overboard with your training to get some good results. 20 minutes to half an hour three times a week should be sufficient.

Because the majority of people don’t take the time to maintain a toned body, anybody who does make the effort will certainly stand out in the crowd and took a lot healthier and younger than others in the same age group.

Reflexology

Reflexology is a foot massage where the various different areas of the foot are linked to other parts of the body. By massaging the foot in each particular area you can expect a gain relief at the corresponding part of the body.

While there are some people who are still skeptical about the benefits that can be obtained in these other areas of the body from reflexology, the fact still remains for many people, that a foot massage can eliminate a lot of stress from the body.

This reduction of stress from the body can help to revitalize you, and any reduction in stress will certainly help the body to function better. Tired feet can make the whole body feels tired and we all know that a tired body will never look its best.

People with blood circulation problems can get quite a lot of benefit from reflexology as it will stimulate the blood flow in the feet.
This will also help maintain the skin in better condition around that area.

Using a body cream while performing reflexology will help soften the skin and reduce cracking that can form around the heels and the sides of the foot.

Many practitioners of reflexology believe that regular reflexology will help to release toxins from the body and in doing so maintain a healthier body and slow down the aging process.

As reflexology is an alternative method of health treatment there are many people who are skeptical about the benefits that can be obtained from it. There are many more however who will swear by the results that they have received and you should certainly not discount reflexology if you’re overdue for a little bit of pampered relaxation.

If you enjoy soaking your feet in the warm bath, and find that that gives you some relief from stress, then I’m sure you will enjoy a treatment of reflexology.

Massage Therapy

When most people think about stress relief, massage therapy is one of the first things that come to mind. When luxury resorts present their advertising material in an effort to create an atmosphere of indulgence one of the things they will always put in their brochures is a photo of somebody getting a massage.

If you haven’t had a massage then you don’t know what you’re missing.
A massage is one of the best ways to relieve stress in the body. A good massage therapist can relieve tense muscles within a matter of minutes.

There are many more benefits that can be obtained by having a full body massage. You can expect improved circulation throughout the area that has been massaged and anything that improves circulation to the skin will improve the condition of the skin.

A massage can help to release toxins in the body and it is not unusual for people who have been particularly tense for a long time to get symptoms of a cold or flu after having a good full body massage.

This is a sure sign that you have been stressed as these cold or flu symptoms are due to the tension and toxins that are being released from the body. While you might not feel you’ve gained benefit from having a massage, this goes to prove that it is exactly what you needed.

A massage is also an excellent way to stimulate blood flow and the movement of fat in areas where you might have cellulite, generally the back of the legs and the buttocks.While massage certainly won’t get rid of the cellulite it will help you if you’re also using other methods such as dietary changes to eliminate your cellulite.

Apart from sleep, massage is the best thing you can do to improve the condition of your body while relaxing and doing nothing at all.

Stretch Marks

There are many different reasons why you can get stretch marks on your skin. Pregnancy is the most obvious reason that comes to mind for stretch marks, but rapid weight loss or gain can also have the same effect. Many bodybuilders find that they have stretch marks when they have rapid muscle gain.

The areas that are most commonly affected by stretch marks are around the stomach, hips and upper thighs. The best solution is obviously to stop getting them in the first place.  While this is not possible for most people when they become pregnant, we do have the ability to control rapid changes in our weight.

You can reduce the effects that changes in body size will have on stretch marks by applying suitable body creams to areas that will be affected every day. Keeping your body well moisturized will also assist in this problem area.

During pregnancy you do have to be careful what type of creams you are using on your skin as anything you put on your skin can penetrate into your blood system and effect the baby. Consult with your doctor before using anything that you are unsure about.

There are two types of stretch marks; the white lines, where it has generally been there for quite some time, and the red or pinkish lines that are the first stages of stretch marks. If your stretch marks are still in the first stages then there is a possibility that you can help reduce them.

The best products for doing this are those that are used for acne treatment, such as Retin-A or Renova. These have proven to work for some people whereas other people have had no benefits at all, but it is certainly well worth trying if you’re in the first stages of getting stretch marks.

Once again laser treatment has been used successfully to remove stretch marks, even those white ones that in the past would have seemed permanent.

Moisturizing Your Skin

One of the best ways to moisturize your skin is to soak in a bath. Not only will it help you to relax and rejuvenate, but the warm water from the bath will soften and moisturize your skin better than most products you can buy in a market.

You will get considerably more benefit if you use some good bath oil. Bath oils will not only leave you smelling nice but they will seal any moisture into the skin and remain in the skin when you get out of the bath.  If you do use oils when you have a soak in the bath then it is less likely that you will need to use a moisturizer when you have finished bathing.

If you have a regular regime of brushing your skin, then combining this with a soak in a bath might be all the moisturizing that your skin needs.

If you prefer not to use oil in the bath then the simple act of having a warm bath will assist in any moisturizing that you do afterwards. Always choose moisturizers with silicones where possible because they won’t tend to block the pores of your skin.

You might need to pay a little more for these products because most of the mass manufactured products use a cheap petroleum or mineral oil in their moisturizers.  Even some of the better brands will use these as a base for their products.

Always read the labels well before buying a moisturizer and know what you’re putting on your skin. You might be surprised to learn that some of the ingredients that are used in some moisturizers can actually dry out your skin and you will be better off by not using them at all.

If you’re unsure about what you’re putting on your skin then the best bet is to have a warm bath with a few drops of bath oils. It is cheap, comforting and effective.

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