Skin Care Tips For The Ladies

Good Nutrition
Keep it simple, fresh and unprocessed. That is the best nutritional advice anyone 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 just like it. Eat vitamin C-rich foods and take a supplement for extra insurance. Benefit: Vitamin C is a potent free-radical scavenger that's known for its corrective and preventative benefits for sun- and environmentally-damaged skin.

Sleep
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. Get 7-8 hours a night. Benefit: Your skin renews itself by building new cells while you sleep.

Plenty of Water
This is a big one. 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. Water is necessary to keep cells from dehydrating, to help in eliminating toxins from the body - you know, if your urine is dark and smelly that you have to drink more water, right? Well, that is just one sign of not drinking enough water and many more are not as obvious until it is too late. If you do not drink at least 3 litres of water per day, every day, 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, dark urine, dry lips, dry flaky skin, parched mouth, cracks on you tongue, premature wrinkles - and the list goes on. So, drink up (water, mind you) or shrivel up - it's up to you.

Air & Sunshine
Well, what else needs to be said? Take in a deep breath of air and tell me it doesn't feel great! Oxygen is the stuff of life. Fill your lungs with it. Just don't get TOO much sun, becuase we all know that can really damage our skin. Don't forget to always use sunscreen!

Exercise
Relax your mind by exercising your body. Especially unclench your facial muscles. Benefit: Relieving stress can mean avoiding blemishes, hives, colour loss and under-eye circles. One more thing -- your mother was right: Habitually tense facial expressions can create permanent lines. Exercise regularly. Benefit: moving around helps revive circulation and speeds blood flow to the surface of your skin. Added benefit: Exercise can help alleviate stress.

The "no-no's." Avoid them. Your skin hates alcohol, tobacco and caffeine, and will show you by losing moisture or forming wrinkles that make you look older sooner. Avoid the no-no's and get this benefit: You'll look younger longer. (Be aware that some medications can make skin more sensitive.)

Natural aging. As we age our skin becomes drier and loses elasticity, which can cause wrinkles and fine lines. How to manage: Use a specially formulated age-defying moisturizer at night to nourish and renew your skin and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Sun is the most damaging of all environmental factors. Continued exposure damages and wrinkles your skin. Sun exposure is also a major cause of skin cancer. How to manage: Avoid long exposure and use a facial moisturizer with sunscreen -- every day. At night use a renewal moisturizer to repair damage.

Low/high humidity. Low humidity robs your skin of essential moisture, while high humidity can make skin feel oily. How to manage: Nourish your skin with a good moisturizer to fight low humidity. In high humidity, that oily feeling isn't moisture -- you still need a moisturizer that will help protect skin from dryness.

Extreme temperatures. Both cold and hot temperatures with low humidity deplete moisture from your skin and leave it tight and dry. How to manage: Nourish skin with a good moisturizer. Another hint: Use lukewarm, not hot or cold water to rinse your face.

Wind. Strong wind, especially with extreme temperatures and low humidity, can cause dry, flaky skin. How to manage: Re-hydrate with a good moisturizer.

Air pollution. Windborne dust, dirt, and smog can clog pores and choke your skin. How to manage: Protect your skin with a good moisturizer that forms a "barrier" between you and that nasty stuff floating around you. Carefully cleanse and condition every night.

Well, what exactly 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 stuff. 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.

First of all, a Skin Care Regime is what you do everyday, twice a day (once in the morning and once at night before bed). It also consists of three basic steps; Cleansing, Toning and Moisturizing. You may even consider a Weekly Regime also... but we'll talk about that more in a little bit. =]
A professional skin care regime is one of the most important parts of maintaining your skin's health. Your skin is not a smooth surface like a sheet of glass. On the contrary, your skin is more like a riverbed, full of little lumps, bumps, crevasses and holes. You can give these dermatological names such as fine lines, pores, sebaceous glands, etc., but at the end of the day the fact remains your skin is far from a flat, smooth surface.
Because of this and because your skin is a living, breathing part of your body and fulfils several major functions including temperature regulation, immune defence, protection from the external environment, etc., you will need to look after it if you wish to have it work at its optimal level and hope to have good, healthy skin into your late 70's and beyond.

Cleansing your skin is one of the most important steps if you want to maintain a healthy, vibrant and youthful looking skin.
As well as providing the basis for an advanced skin care regime, effective cleansing can actually improve the quality of our skin, enhancing its radiance and keeping it looking younger for longer.
Thorough cleansing is one of the most important steps of a complete skin care regime. Cleansing of your skin should be done morning and night to ensure the removal of surface impurities, make-up, and stale skin oils. When regularly performed cleansing will enhance the skin's ability to breathe and maintain its other important functions.
One of the best ways to do this is to make cleansing your skin part of your daily skin care regime.

How to:

I know, I know... who needs instructions for this? BUT there is a right way to do it....
First, moisten your face with lukewarm water. Then apply a small amount of facial cleanser. Gently spread the product over your skin, using light, circular movements. At this stage, spend an extra minute massaging the product into your face to boost your skin's circulation and help decongestion.
Secondly, be sure to be gentle, your skin is a delicate organ and needs to be treated with care and respect.
Lastly, rinse off the cleanser, using lukewarm water and pat your face dry.
If you are still using ordinary soap, STOP. You are seriously compromising the health of your skin. Throw it away and start using a quality cleanser.

Toning is the second step in your daily skin care regime. These days, women often leave this step out and yet it is just as important as the cleansing of your skin or the moisturizing. It is a must include step. The one or two minutes it takes are worth every second if you desire to have healthy, vibrant skin with a minimum of lines and wrinkles. Don't leave this step out.

You have just spent time cleaning your skin, ridding it of stale oils, makeup, dead skin cells and other impurities, now you have to tone your skin.

A quality cleanser may contain such ingredients as clay. This helps to remove dead skin cells and other impurities, but may not rinse off totally. This is why you need to use a quality toner.

Firstly, it removes every last bit of the cleanser such as the fine clay particles and other residues from the cleansing process.
Secondly it will close the skin's pores to protect it from further loss of moisture, which invariably happens when cleansing your face.
Thirdly it provides nutrients and restores the pH balance of your skin.

Now that is worth spending a minute or two, isn't it?

This is the third part of your daily skin care regime and should also be done morning and night using a day crème in the morning and a night crème before retiring.

A quality moisturiser protects your facial skin from environmental damage, provides nutrients for the skin and prevents loss of moisture, thereby slowing down the aging process.
In addition, a moisturiser should help to maintain the acid mantle of your skin, which is part of your immune system and if the pH of your skin becomes too acidic or alkaline, the acid mantel is compromised.

To complete your skin care regime, you should set aside a few minutes once a week, preferably at the weekend to deeply cleanse and nourish your skin. Your weekly treats should include, the use of a Facial Mask and Exfoliation.

These treatments encourage cellular repair, step up collagen production and help strengthen, tone and firm up your skin.

Using a clay mask will help to draw toxins from your skin, whilst moisturising and nourishing the skin at the same time. There are different clays that will work for specific skin types and choosing the right products containing the clay that is most suitable to your skin type is important. There are 3 basic clays: Green, Yellow and Red

This is a mask intended for Combination to Oily Skin: Combination to Oily Facial Masque

This is a mask intended for Normal to Dry Skin: Normal to Dry Facial Masque

Think of Exfoliation from this perspective. Exfoliation removes dead skin cells, soothes the skin and improves its tone. Dead skin cells are the very top layer of your skin. Applying moisturiser to dead skin cells does not make sense, does it? So exfoliation, removes the dead skin cells, promotes blood circulation and helps to invigorate and prepare the skin to more easily absorb any moisturising product you apply.

Exfoliation also helps speed up the rate of cell turn over. Another word for exfoliation is scrubbing. Using a facial scrub at least once a week, makes your skin more receptive to creams and treatments. However care must be taken not to over exfoliate.

The aim is to remove any dead cells from the skins surface without disturbing the healthy cells beneath.

This is an example of a scrub that is a great exfoliant: Polishing Scrub

I know this seems like a lot to take it, but it is really actually very simple - takes only a few short minutes.

Just eat right, get some exercise, drink water and get some sleep. All of that and a great Skin Care Regime for your needs will do wonders and you will see a great difference.

Good luck, I know all of you beautiful ladies out there can do this!

I leave you now with one final thought on skin care...

"Following a skin care regime is like taking out an insurance policy on the health and vitality of your skin. Can you afford not to follow a complete, daily skin care regime?"