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Thursday, April 29, 2010

Basic Skin Care for Teens: Face Washing

If you are a parent with adolescents or teenagers in the house, you need to understand and also be aware of skin care for your kids and what better way than to impart to them the simplest method of face washing as basic skin care for your teens.

Surprised? Actually it is by understanding the fact that as children enter adolescence, they still have sensitive skin that requires delicate and constant care for them to have healthy skin.

Many parents usually worry over the prospect of their teenagers having problems with acne or oily skin, however, it is best to know how to deal with each possible skin problem teenagers are likely to encounter.

Probably one of the most common factor that leads to parents worrying over their children’s skin problems is knowing that as teenagers, they are already independent of washing and bathing themselves, wherein parents no longer have the idea of how their kids go about their skin care routines.

Are they simply using water to wash their faces? Or probably using your facial skin toners or cleansers or use bar soaps to wash their faces?

These things need to be carefully considered and corrected since this could lead to more harm than good if the incorrect method is not corrected right away.

Out of the three mentioned routines earlier, washing the face with water is the safest process of all, while the remaining two could prove harmful to your teenager.

Do remember that since adolescent skin is still sensitive, the appearance of acne does not conclusively indicate that your child’s face is really dirty, but is just a result of their skin’s sensitivity.

Also, adult facial cleansing formulas could also be too harsh for their sensitive skin and should also be avoided.

Using acne removal treatments could only lead to aggravating the problem or even do more damage to your child’s skin regeneration process.

Essentially, skin or face washing habits for adolescents should be limited to once a day since anything in excess of that can be damaging to their skin.

Parents, and teenagers as well, must be aware that adolescents should only be using gentle cleansers on their skin, for which the best choices are those made of natural or water based cleansers and cream-based cleansers that not only cleans but moisturizes skin as well.

Face cleansing should ideally be done once a day, as mentioned earlier, unless your teens are active in after –school sport or outdoor activities, where intense sweating or exposure to dust and grime are part of the activity.

 Also avoid letting your kids use body lotion on their faces, if they feel that their skin needs moisturizing, since the skin from the neck up is more sensitive and requires delicate attention, most especially since majority of body lotions available in the market contain certain ingredients that can cause reactions on facial skin.

It is a rare fact for teenagers to worry about moisturizing their skin, but if the skin starts to become extra dry, a gentle water-based moisturizer would do.

You can ask a dermatologist or a licensed skin care expert for products that can be helpful for skin teenager’s skin conditions.

In a nutshell, skin care for adolescents should just be more of simply clearing the dirt or grime from the topmost layer of the skin and to ensure good skin care habits, like face washing as basic skin care for teens, is by instilling in them the responsibility and awareness of what needs to be done and what should not.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Importance of Healthy Food for Healthy Skin

More and more people these days are neglecting proper skin care due to busy schedules. In fact, good skin care habits are not the only ones affected by their overall health as well. Because of busy schedule, many people resort to alternatives means of skin care well in fact, all they could do to maintain healthy skin is to eat well.

Experts say that eating healthy foods is one of the major keys in combating unhealthy skin caused by toxicity that modern life brings. This is because it makes people aware that they should be more careful in watching their total health and well-being. It also reminds people that nothing beats the advantages of going back to basics.

These days, with the growing numbers of people who suffer from different skin problems, people should be more vigilant in keeping up with a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy foods. This is very important not only to ensure good skin but also to maintain overall health.

Good Food To Good Skin

Time and again, nutrition experts say that there are two major keys that lead to good skin—these include eating the right amount of food depending on the person’s need and lifestyle and eating a range of foods to ensure that the person gets balanced diet.

And since food and eating properly contribute so much to a healthy diet, people should focus more on considering the food their body needs especially on a diet. Experts remind that diet foods should contain the necessary vitamins and minerals that are quite essential for weight control and metabolism. These diet foods should include Vitamins B2, B3, B5, B6, Vitamin C, choline, inositol, chromium, manganese, and zinc. 

Studies show that the perfect foods that help people achieve healthy skin should include a wide range of fruits. Aside from being an all-natural product, fruits are low in calories, rich in dietary fiber that helps boosts satiety, and satisfies a person’s sweet tooth without worrying about weight gain. Containing all the nutrients and vitamins it has, fruits are an ideal diet food for those who are into losing weight or weight reduction and those who are striving to maintain their weight. Other nutritional benefits of fruit include the prevention of vitamin deficiency, a rich source of dietary fiber and rich in folate.

Just like fruits, vegetables are also considered perfect foods especially for those who are having problems in maintaining good skin care regimen. Aside from being low in calorie-content, high in dietary fiber, and full of dietary nutrients that help maintain efficient metabolism, veggies—in various preparations—also make good and appetizing snacks. Aside from being a rich source of important vitamins and minerals such as vitamin B-complex micronutrients, vitamins C, E and K that combat vitamin deficiency, vegetables are also excellent sources of the protective plant micronutrient called “phytochemicals.”

Having vegetables as diet food also lowers the risk of heart disease, cancers, and high blood pressure while protecting the body from having illnesses caused by muscle degeneration.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Delay The Signs of Aging Through Correct Skin Care

Aging is an inevitable process all creations go through. In fact, the aging process is considered natural cycle that everything and everyone must face. But the signs of aging can be delayed or can be hidden through proper skin care.

The skin is the most affected area when a person ages. When a person ages, the skin loses its elasticity that is why wrinkles and fine lines start to appear especially on the face, neck, and hands. Today, the most common solution people find is by developing healthy skin care regimen and through the use of anti-aging products that can minimize—if not eliminate—the signs of aging. These anti-aging products are marketed and advertised to encourage people to control the early signs of aging such as wrinkles, crow's feet, and other visible fine lines.

External Factors That Affect Aging

Before finally deciding whether to use these products or not, you must first know the external factors that greatly contribute to aging in order to avoid them. Here are the major external factors that cause aging and skin aging, it is up to you how to avoid these in order to maintain a young looking and vibrant skin.

1. The sun. This is the major external factor that caused aging. Experts say that aging caused by overexposure to the sun's ultra violet rays is called "photo-aging." In this process, the sun's rays breaks down the collagen and elastin in the person's skin that lead to the development of premature wrinkles and other facial lines. You can protect yourself from the harmful rays of the sun by applying sun blocks and sun screens that has high SPF content. You can also wear proper articles of clothing that help protect your skin from the damaging rays and by lessening the time you spent outdoors especially when the sun is its peak hours.

2. The gravity. Science tells us that gravity pulls everything towards the earth. As people age, the effect of gravity becomes visible on the skin and affects its elasticity a lot.

3. Excessive smoking. Nicotine indeed plays a big role in skin's aging. Studies show that smokers form lines and wrinkles sooner compared to those who do not smoke. Skin is affected by nicotine because it narrows the blood vessels in the outer layers of the person's skin that is responsible for the reduction of blood and nutrients flow.

4. Several facial expressions. People have a lot of facial expressions. These expressions are quite inevitable depending on the situation they are in. Since facial muscles are used when people make facial expressions, this can lead to the formation of lines in the face and neck.

5. The sleeping position. Although it may sound absurd, improper sleeping position contributes a lot to aging of the skin because it results to the visibility of wrinkles. A good skin care habit should include adopting a sleeping position that can veer you away from forming lines on the face or even on your body.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Picking The Right Skin Care Products

The 21st century paved the way to the emergence of so many skin care products and services. Since the effectivity of these products is not always 100 percent guaranteed, people should not use them until they have consulted a physician or a professional.

Although the market is now swarmed with so many skin care products, it doesn’t mean that you can use and experiment around with these products because doing so can bring bigger disaster on your skin instead of bringing in solution. If you are thinking of using skin care products in order to lessen the effects of aging, it is a must that you conduct a research about the product you're planning to use and its possible side effects.

Decide Wisely

In choosing what is the best skin care product for your skin, it is a must that you conduct a simple research in order to take a peek into various products available in the market that can help you. Here are some guidelines in choosing the best and right skin care products for you.

Also, Bear in mind that you must set up a routine of cleansing, toning and moisturizing your skin before using these anti aging products and make sure you use them as directed by the manufacturers' instructions.

1. Know your skin type first. You can do this by consulting a dermatologist or by conducting a self-test. Knowing your skin type is very important in choosing any skin care product because this will determine what are the products, recommended brands, and ingredients that is safe for your skin.

2. Opt for skin care products that contain soluble Vitamin A, C, and E. When choosing any skin care product, it is best that they contain water-based Vitamin A, C, and E because these are the most effective ingredients that can help reduce the signs of aging such as wrinkles, crow's feet and other fine lines.

3. Choose skin care products that have high concentrations of anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory ingredients. Consider choosing products that contain the antioxidants for the skin such as Ascorbyl Acid or Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin A or beta carotene and Flavonoids because these can help you to achieve a firm and younger looking skin while nourishing, strengthening and moisturizing your aging skin or your problematic skin.

4. Look for skin care products that contain fine crystals. Fine crystals or ingredients of the same properties can help exfoliate the skin while removing dead skin cells that contribute to the skin's aging. Anti-aging products that have fine crystals can help remove dead skin cells that reduce the formation of lines. These anti-aging products may include wrinkle erasers, facial and body scrubs, toners, eye creams, various cleansers, hydrators, and moisturizers.

5. Buy skin care products that can be applied or used not only on the face but in other parts of the body as well. It is important that you choose anti-aging products that can do wonders for the neck and hands because these are the parts of the body where early signs of aging are visible.