Information on Skin Care Products for Women

By Expert Author: Anne Harvester

The skin is not only our largest bodily organ, it is our first line of defense against disease and environmental toxins - and facial skin care is even more important. Although some women may not realize it, the fact is that skin care facial products go far beyond image - they’re important to maintaining your skin, and ultimately, overall health. Facial skin care is central to not only outer beauty, but inner well-being. What Kinds of Facial Skin Care Products Should I Use? Of course, no two people have the same needs when it comes to facial skin care. Between differences of ethnicity, age and surface characteristics, there are virtually thousands of different skin types out there. Obviously, a young woman who is primarily of northern European ancestry and dry skin will have different needs than an older woman of African ancestry who may have oily skin - and a middle-aged woman of Pacific Island ancestry will have still different skin needs. Add into that mix season, climate and environment, and it becomes apparent how complex the issue of facial skin care can be. The few of us that are blessed with “normal skin” lack the problems associated with large pores and/or redness. Skin care facial products that help to maintain the normal healthy appearance and moisture balance. Dry skin is common, and can be especially problematic in northern latitudes and desert regions such as the Southwestern U.S. and much of Australia. Having a dry climate, Australian women have used emu oil to great benefit. This oil is made from the fat of the emu bird, a distant relative of the ostrich, and was used by aboriginal peoples for centuries as a skin treatment. The advantage of emu oil is that it penetrates dry skin quite easily. Women with oily skin may be prone to acne and rashes. Non-comedogenic skin care facial products are specially formulated to help keep pores open, thus inhibiting skin break-outs. Olive oil and almond oil are some of the ingredients you will find in these non-comedogenic skin products. As Years Roll On... Aging is for everyone - there is no avoiding it. However, proper anti-aging skin care products can help to minimize the outward signs of aging. This is more than simply vanity; use of good quality anti-aging skin care products is vital to maintaining dermal health as the years roll on. The body tends to lose collagen as we age, which is what causes wrinkles and bags under one’s eyes. Eye gel and similar products can help to compensate for this loss. Facial skin care is not the same comprehensive skin care that should include all body surfaces. However, it’s a good start. Good quality facial skin care products make of the basis of a total skin care program.
About the Author/Author BioAnne Harvester has years of experience in Beauty products. She can give you advice on simple, safe effective products that help promote wellness.

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Natural Ways to Keep your Skin Healthy

By Expert Author: Patricia Bascunan

Every skin care routine requires an adequate water intake. Most people know about the benefits of drinking water on your overall health. Water is also a crucial part of keeping your skin hydrated and healthy. If your skin is dry and dull, try using a regular moisturizer as well as increasing your intake of water. If you exercise a lot or live in dry climate, you may require more than the suggested 8 glasses of water per day. Limit your intake of alcohol and caffeine, which can dehydrate you. Exercise regularly Exercise is important to keep your body fit, but it's also wonderful for your skin. Cardiovascular exercise keeps nutrients moving through your blood stream so that can repair and nourish your skin. Exercise regularly to help improve the health and appearance of your skin. Also consume an equilibrated diet of vegetables, whole grains, fruits, lean meat and good fat to keep your skin and body healthy. Eat foods rich in essential fatty acids Essential fatty acids (EFA's) are very important in keeping a healthy skin. They reduce inflammation and support skin structure. Most people get plenty of Omega-6 (found in red meat, processed food and eggs) but insufficient Omega-3 (found in cold water fish, like salmon, sardines and tuna, as well as nuts and flaxseed). Try to include foods rich in Omega-3 into your regular diet. Use healthy skin care products Your skin is the body's primary defender against germs and toxins. If you have a healthy skin, then it's able to give better defense. It's important that you use caution when applying skin care and hair care products because most of them are bad for your skin. Detergents, petrochemicals, fragrances and other components can clog pores, cause irritation and damage your skin. Look for cleansers, moisturizers, skin treatments, cosmetics and other skin care solutions identified as natural products, with natural components rather than abrasive chemicals. Always wear sun protection The solar UV rays can cause fine lines, discolorations, premature aging, age spots, wrinkles and even dermal cancer. Protect your skin with a sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher. If you are going to be for a long period of time in direct sunlight, wear a hat and sunglasses to defend your scalp and eyes as well. Fight free radicals with antioxidants Free radicals result from the exposure to stressors, including the sun, pollution and smoke. Free radicals can cause inflammation and cellular damage to the collagen in the skin. Collagen is one of the main elements of the connective tissue that keeps skin firm and wrinkle free. Free radicals and their damage can be fought with antioxidants. Antioxidants like Vitamins A, C, and E are found in brightly colored fruits, berries, vegetables and some legumes. By remembering these skincare tips, you can nourish, protect and repair your skin.

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Dark Spots on the Skin, Hyper Pigmentation and You

By Expert Author: Cindy Charles

The last time you looked in the mirror did you notice any dark spots on the skin that did not belong there? Did you notice that there was some darkening in some areas of your face, neck or lips that was not the same color as the rest of your face? If you have been suffering from any of the above you may have what many in the skin care field call hyper pigmentation. While this big word sounds like it may have an equally big diagnosis, have no fear as the answer is that it does not. This is a common occurrence that has no other ill effects except for the outward appearance of discoloration. Hyper pigmentation is a harmless occurrence that occurs when sections or patches of skin begin to get darker than other areas of the skin. This happens when the melanin in our skin, or what causes our skin to get darker, begins to form areas where the melanin builds up. This condition can affect people of any ethnic background regardless of the color of their skin. There are many different causes of discoloration. These can range from outside sources such as the sun to internal ones such as an excess of hormone production in the body. One form of hyper pigmentation is age spots. These spots are natural and usually come with time. As the name indicates, age spots are a result of our skin aging as well as being exposed to the sun. It is just a fact of life that the older we get, so do our bodies. These spots usually affect our face and hands or other areas of our bodies that may be exposed to the sun for long periods of time. Melasma is another form of discoloration that affects mostly women and can also be found during pregnancy or during the use of a birth control pill. The hormones seem to trigger an increase in melanin production and therefore cause the discoloration of the skin. Dark spots on the skin or dark patches on the skin can usually be found when hyper pigmentation or melasma is present. Dark spots on the skin can result from different things. They can be from a birthmark or a freckle. Dark spots could be a result of acne or hormones. There are many different causes for hyper pigmentation, so it is vital that you keep track of any new or size changes of existing dark spots on the skin. While we have seen that for the most part, dark spots seem to be more of a cosmetic issue than anything, dark spots or discoloration could also be a warning sign of other issues. Don't take any chances. If you start to notice dark spots, discoloration or size changes in spots, see your Doctor immediately to make sure it is not anything severe. If it is mainly a cosmetic issue, either your doctor can prescribe a treatment or you can try an over-the-counter skin lightener or whitener to help alleviate the stares. Don't wait until it's too late!

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Best Skincare Products

By Expert Author: Dr. Jenny Hobson

With so many inexpensive skincare products on the market, it might seem unthinkable that people could spend forty or even fifty dollars on a bottle of skin cream. In many cases, you are right. Did you know, however, that there are high quality products available to you right now, if you know where to look, that use only the latest research-proven ingredients and are scientifically proven to truly reverse the signs of aging, such as fine lines and wrinkles? Today we will examine the five major reasons you might want to consider trying some of the premium skincare products you might not even know exist. The first reason is safety. Did you know that virtually every skincare product available in store contains chemicals that irritate the skin and some even contain ingredients that are toxic? Think about this. Read the label on the back of your current skin cream. Would you consider eating these ingredients? Believe it or not, you already do, in a sense. When you put a cream on your skin, it is not only absorbed into your pores, but also into your blood. Suddenly you want to know what they mean by fragrances and dyes, don't you? Some skin care products even contain chemicals that are also used in common weed killers. There are premium skincare products available that only use completely natural ingredients, such as minerals and proteins that are native to and needed by your skin. The best skincare products always use only ingredients that would be completely safe if you were to ingest them. The second reason is value. This might sound silly, but let me explain how this is true. If you were to purchase your average five to ten dollar bottle of skin cream, you would not be getting the best skincare. In fact, your skin would be getting dried out by alcohols and irritated by chemicals, which only makes your original reason for using skin cream worse than when you started. Furthermore, many common skincare product ingredients are actually being linked to depression, anxiety, and a number of other conditions. A single bottle of premium, all-natural skin cream with active and functional ingredients can do more to moisturize your skin and reverse signs of aging than any amount of drugstore cream can ever hope to achieve. The third reason is research. While many drugstore skin creams are tested only to ensure that they do not cause rashes or other obvious harm, premium skin creams are tested to ensure that the researched ingredients perform their job as intended. These creams are formulated and tweaked until the company is certain that you will achieve the maximum benefit technology that nature will allow. The fourth reason is reliability. Low-end creams are made in a number of plants and in a number or locations. Ingredients can be changed or reformulated whenever a lower cost alternative is found. The best skincare products are made by the company that designed them and monitored carefully for consistency and effectiveness. Ingredients are always tested for quality and the company sets rigid standards to ensure that no inferior products ever make it out of the factory. The fifth and final reason to use premium skincare is that it works. With cutting edge ingredients like Functional Keratin and Phytessence Wakame, both of which are at the leading edge of skincare science, there are products out there that simply can't be matched by anything at your local discount store or pharmacy. In short, sometimes you have to spend more in the short run to save money in the long run. By buying only the best skincare products, you ensure that you get only the best results. When you are given the choice between a cheap product that merely smells good and a truly revolutionary product that is guaranteed to give you the results you seek, the answer is clear. Premium skincare really is the best option for your skin.

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Masterpiece Meals - Creating Abundant Beauty and Health

By Expert Author: Lorraine Mignault

It is no secret that the French are considered one of the healthiest societies in the world. Given to eating copious amounts of cheese, butter and cream, they nevertheless boast a population of slim, healthy people. According to the Institut National de la Santé et la Recherche Médicale in Paris (France’s institute of national health), not quite ten percent of the country’s citizens are obese. Here in Canada, 58 percent of Canadians are considered overweight to the point of developing health problems compared to more than 65 percent of Americans. Why a difference in the national waistline and why the vast potential for medical problems inherent in the North American diet? Well, for starters, our farmers have become dependent on growing vegetables, fruits and especially root crops high in carbohydrates, starches and sugars which are valued by a processing industry that supplies us with highly processed, nutrition-deficient ‘food’ products. And our obsession with all things deep fried, super-sized and excessively sweetened also contributes to our expanding girth and declining health. In essence, it is not only what we eat but how and when we eat that has turned us into counterpoint images for a moderate, active and healthy lifestyle. For instance, the next time you eat at a restaurant (excluding fast food outlets which have been demonized enough in the media), order your favourite meal and see if the following presents itself. If you like turkey or steak, your protein will invariably be accompanied by potatoes (fried, mashed, boiled, pan-fried or baked), some mixed veggies (peas, carrots and corn), a roll and a house salad made from iceberg lettuce topped with a high fat, high sugar salad dressing. Because most of the foods on your plate are high in carbohydrates, starches and sugars, your glucose level will rise rapidly after eating and you will feel sluggish, bloated and ‘burpy.’ As well, the sugar will stimulate your pancreas to oversecrete insulin which in turn, leads to increased appetite. It is no small wonder then, that the food on our dinner plates make us want to eat more, have more bread, add dessert and reach for more caffeinated beverages and alcoholic drinks. The end result of so much wrong-eating is obesity and its increased physical and mental health risks. If the meals you eat at home are similarly ill-prepared, then perhaps it is time to rethink your approach to eating. Meals should be thought of as a concert with each food component existing on its own, yet in harmony with one another. Like a symphony, when all the parts of a meal come together properly, the result is a masterpiece meal which leaves you satisfied, not full. Start your masterpiece meal by choosing quality ingredients. Your main protein should include an animal protein, preferably poultry or fish, but in smaller portions. Include some dairy-based protein as well. Complement this with a dry vegetable protein such as chickpeas, lentils, red or white kidney beans, split peas or black-eyed peas. It is the fibre content of a meal that creates the feeling of satisfaction after eating. The vegetable proteins on your plate will maximize your fibre intake and increase satiety. Often, eating plant proteins will fill cravings for bread. If you have to eat bread, opt for high fibre breadsticks or crackers. Leave potatoes off your plate and try wild rice or a dry vegetable medley instead. Substitute veggies such as zucchini, cauliflower, asparagus and mushrooms for sugary peas, carrots and corn. It is important to consume your beverages before meals, not during or after, because they will dilute digestive juices and make it harder for your body to break down food. Finally, eat a salad of mixed green and red lettuce products at the end of the meal and top it with an olive oil dressing. For dessert, try a piece of fine cheese. If you enjoy fruit for breakfast, just remember that all fruits are not created equal. North America’s favourite fruits are bananas, grapes and oranges, but if you are one of the over one-third of the people who have a blood sugar problem and crave these items, then you may have a potential health problem. The high sugar levels from carbohydrate content in these fruits have a tendency to rapidly raise the blood sugar level in the body and contribute to a host of serious health issues, including obesity, diabetes, arthritis and cardiovascular disease. As alternatives to oranges, bananas and grapes, try berries, less-sweet apples, kiwis, mangoes and papayas. The masterpiece meal described above is the subject of intellectual property rights and inspired by the eating habits of continental France. Because cultural customs and a national reverence for food from the ground up have contributed to the overall health of France’s population, it would be prudent to follow their lead. We can begin by understanding that French cuisine is about healthy eating made simple. Now, if only our own meals home-cooked or in restaurants would lean toward such healthy eating that brings pleasure in appearance and taste and stay away from mounding our plates with iceberg lettuce and french fries. Copyright © 2008 Positive Living Inc. and Lorraine Mignault All Rights Reserved.

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The Key to Long and Healthy Lifestyle

By Expert Author: Joi Hernaez

It's very easy to give you the keys on living a long and healthy life. In fact, you may already know what the answers are. These are the basic fundamentals on living a healthy life: Eat the Right Food When we say right food, we are talking about those healthy foods like organic fruits and vegetables. I'm not saying that you would have to be a vegetarian just to live longer. What I'm saying here is don't eat too much of those unhealthy junk foods. The key here is to eat in moderation. You may not know that there are known five absolute worst foods you can eat. Those foods that is high in Trans fats and lots of toxins. The five worst foods are doughnuts, soda, fried non-fish sea foods, French fries, and chips. Doughnuts actually contain trans fats, almost all of the varieties, and can actually give you 200 to 300 calories, mostly from sugar. Soda is loaded with artificial colors and sulphites which can harm your body; one can of soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar which contain about 150 calories. Diet varieties are loaded with aspartame, a known artificial sweetener that can cause cancer. Fried non-fish seafood like shrimps and clams are loaded with toxic mercury and trans fats. French fries is well known to be loaded with trans fats. Chips are also high in trans fats. Exercise Regularly Regular exercise can help you lose weight, improve your resistance to fight infections, lower your risk of having cancer other diseases, it can also help your brain work better and can make you smarter. When you exercise, it helps your body to work and helps in improving your blood circulation. If you are overweight, don't push too hard with the exercise, you can start by walking. And then increase the intensity of your exercise routine so you'll get used to it. The trick here is being consistent with your exercise. Discipline yourself and don't be too lazy, once you've discipline yourself, it'll become a routine and you'll be happy because you have done what you have to do. You will feel proud of yourself because you can see that you are improving with your life. Drink a Lot of Water Human body is mostly water; this fact is one of those reasons why ongoing intake of water is essential for the body to function. It's been said many times that one person should drink at least eight-ounce glasses of water per day but did you know that you need more water than that? According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, the rule of thumb is, for every 50 pounds of body weight you carry, drink one quart of bottle spring or filtered water per day. Social Ties and Having Good Friends on your Side Staying healthy and living longer is not simply a matter of eating fruits, vegetables, exercising, drinking lots of water, or getting good medical care. Good friends can also help you live longer and have a healthy lifestyle. Harvard researchers investigated the effect of social ties, death and heart disease, in a 10-year follow-up study of nearly 30,000 male health professionals. Roughly half of the men reported belonging to large social networks that included a spouse, a large number of friends or relatives, and/or community group involvement. Men who were more socially isolated, however, were nearly 20% more likely to die from any cause than their more socially integrated peers, the investigators found. Socially isolated men were also 53% more likely to die from a heart-related cause than those who reported the highest number of social ties. Further, those with a moderately low number of social connections had a more than twofold greater risk of death from accidents and suicides than did their peers with the most social ties. Social isolation is a 'risk factor' for ill health that deserves as much attention as other risk factors for cardiovascular disease and other ailments.
About the Author/Author BioThis article is written by Joi Hernaez, an SEO specialist. Read more about Living a Healthy Life by Dr. Joseph Mercola and check out her health blog if you are looking for information about herbal medicines.

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Questions and Answers about Herbal Extracts

By Expert Author: Anne Harvester

Of all the herbal extracts that are available on the market today, liquid herbal extracts are possibly the easiest to use. Herbal extracts can have medicinal as well as culinary and nutritive properties. When it comes to the latter category, stevia extract, or "sweetleaf" is one of the more handy flavor extracts to have on your kitchen shelves - especially if you are concerned with sugar intake. It is one of the best herbal extracts for use as a sweetener and sugar substitute. The Stevia Sweetener Alternative Stevia liquid is 300 times sweeter than sugar. It is derived from the leaves of the stevia plant, a tropical shrub related to the sunflower. The taste of stevia extract has a slower onset that that of sugar, but also lasts longer. As you might imagine, a little bit goes a long way; at high concentrations, stevia has a bitter after-taste similar to that of bad licorice. Because of the current demand for low-carb foods, stevia sweetener has been gaining in popularity among herbal extracts in recent years. Medicinal Purposes Like Chinese herbs that are used in TCM ("Traditional Chinese Medicine"), stevia may also have some medicinal and therapeutic applications in addition to its culinary role as a sugar substitute. The Guarani Indians of South America have used stevia for centuries to flavor their traditional beverage, yerba mate, but have also used it to treat heartburn. Medical research suggests that stevia extract could be useful in treating hypertension and obesity. Because it has virtually no effect on glucose levels, diabetics and patients on low-carb diets are finding stevia sweetener to be an attractive alternative to sugar. In addition to this, lab experiments have shown that stevia may stimulate the body's production of insulin, thus helping to reverse Type diabetes. In the U.S. and Canada, stevia is not available in food products nor even on grocery store shelves. It is however available in health food stores and through certain websites as a dietary supplement; on that basis, herbal extracts containing stevia are legal to import, buy and sell. However, in these countries as well as the European Union, it cannot by law be sold as "food." There has been some concern on the part of health agencies in several countries about possible toxicity issues, but very little conclusive research has been done on this aspect of stevia. It has been recommended by at least one nationally-known herbalist, author Paul Pitchford, that one purchase only the green or brown variety of stevia extracts in order to receive full benefit. As with anything, it's a good idea to educate yourself about herbal extracts before using them for anything other than cooking or aromatherapy.
About the Author/Author BioAnne Harvester is an herbalist who has studied the benefits of using organic herbs and other organic products. In this article, she explores organic essential oils, organic teas, and organic spices.

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