Skin Care

Bye Bye Bacne

With Mardi Gras and spring break fast approaching, you might be heading to a warmer climate where a shirt is optional attire. To prepare for this you might be putting in some extra hours at the gym, maybe going to a tanning salon, even waxing some not often seen parts of your body.
Before you go on your trip, put on a swim suit, or take your shirt off you might want to look over your shoulder to check out your back for any pimples, black heads, or white heads. You know “bacne”.

Back acne or “bacne” is not just a problem for the “tween” and teen crowd; many adults find that they too are suffering from a blemished back. A lot of people are dealing with this problem that was once thought of as a pubescent problem, but, they don’t know what causes their back(s) to break out. Sadly, there really isn’t a clear answer- no pun intended.

Dermatologist and doctors generally agree that acne ‘pops up’ during puberty because the sebaceous gland kicks on and starts to produce sebum. Sebum is a waxy or oily matter that lubricates your skin and hair. When the body over produces sebum it can clog up your pores and hair follicles attracting bacteria causing your skin to break out.

While we still don’t know why adult’s (whose sebaceous glands should have regulated itself) bodies break out. We do know some ways to treat your break outs once it happens. Below you will find some tips recommended to treat your unsightly back break outs:

* Shower daily and use an exfoliating body wash when you shower, by exfoliating daily you are removing dead skin and unclogging your pores. As we discussed earlier clogged pores attract bacteria and cause acne.  This is an easy, inexpensive way to treat your “bacne”.

* You can use salt scrubs or sugar scrubs on a weekly basis.  These scrubs act as an exfoliate, but shouldn’t be used every day. Exfoliating too much can cause your skin to become red, blotchy and irritated. A sugar scrub is a little softer to the skin than the salt scrub, if you have sensitive skin try the sugar scrub.

* Sometimes the most obvious is the most elusive- a face wash or scrub specifically designed to treat acne can be used on your back as well. Think about it, if it works on your face, why wouldn’t it work on your back?

*Because acne can be caused by your body producing too much sebum all the washing, face scrubs, and exfoliating might not help. If you have tried at home remedies you might want to call your doctor or dermatologist and ask for a prescription for a topical gel that uses something like Benzamycin or peroxide.
You might not want to start using one of these products right before you head to a sunny beach for spring break. They can make your skin more vulnerable to sun burn, so talk to your doctor and weigh your options before you start using a prescribed product.

Remember “bacne” is something that tweens, teens, and adults have to deal with. Be aware of what’s going on over your shoulder, make the necessary adjustments and you too will be able to shamelessly shed your shirt.

Use Sunscreen Everyday- Even During The Winter

It is common knowledge that anyone going out into the sun in summer should wear sunscreen but many people don’t consider that when they go outside during the winter. Even in the winter skin is exposed to UVA and UVB rays and we are more apt to stay out in the open longer when the weather is cooler or even overcast. This exposes us even more to the harmful rays than we would be under summer conditions. UV exposure has detrimental affects on our skin in a multitude of ways. The danger of skin cancer is extremely strong with long term exposure. Short term exposure can cause aging of the skin, wrinkling and dryness.

In order to protect your skin, use a lotion that has an SPF rating of at least 15, higher if you intend to be out for long periods. Keep your skin protected with these lotions when you are out in the sunlight. Some may feel heavy or sticky, look for a product that feels comfortable on your skin so you won’t resist using it on a daily basis. Use one that is broad spectrum in order to ensure full protection. Whatever you use, wash it off on a daily basis and replace it with a quality moisturizer while you are out of the sun’s influence. This will ensure that your skin will stay well moisturized and protected, keeping it from aging prematurely.

Keep Your Skin Looking Great All Winter

Keeping your skin healthy in the winter is not too much different than keeping it healthy other times, it just requires more of certain things in order to help adapt to the changing weather conditions. Winter tends to bring with it low humidity which has the action of drying out your skin. During these conditions you will want to have a more aggressive moisturizing regimen. Take a hot bath to open up your pores, dry off by patting your skin and before you are totally dry, apply your moisturizer of choice, this will help lock in moisture.

While taking your shower or bath, make sure that you exfoliate your skin, if you don’t remove dead or dried out skin cells then the living ones beneath can gain no benefit from your moisturizing program. You should exfoliate at least two times per week. Skin tends to reduce its oil production in the winter which makes your job of moisturizing much more crucial.

Drink water, drink water, drink water. Most people don’t drink near enough water to replenish what is lost through the skin. The Chinese have a remedy that is supposed to not only detoxify your skin but also boost your energy. This is a concoction includes warm water mixed with lemon.

Sleep. Sleeping lets your body replenish itself and get prepared for the upcoming day. Lack of sleep means lack of preparedness which leaves your body and your skin vulnerable to outside conditions.

Ingredients Your Skin Cream Should Skip

New skin care products are constantly showing up on the market touting all sorts of different qualities and benefits. This makes deciding on what skin care product to use a very difficult and mind boggling one.

There are many different ingredients that you need to avoid, one such ingredient is parabens. Parabens are used to give products longevity but they may actually have links to cancer. Choose a product that has a shelf life and just buy them in containers you can use within that period of time. Fragrances are also common ingredients; it makes your cream smell nice but can cause irritation or allergic reactions. They aren’t necessary so why subject your skin to them.

Amazingly enough, many moisturizers contain alcohol, alcohol in any form dries out the skin which means that it is working contrary to the purpose of the moisturizer. Mineral oil can indeed soften your skin and make it feel smoother; however, it can clog your pores. This can cause all sorts of skin issues that may require even more substances be applied to your skin.

It pays to read ingredient labels well and understand what is in the product before purchasing it and applying it to your skin. It has been proven that skin is very good at absorbing what has been put on it meaning that any non-desirable ingredients not only sit upon your skin, it infiltrates it and gets into the inner part of your skin surface.

5 Ingredients Your Skin Cream Should Include

There are many ingredients that can be found in a multitude of skin care creams however there are five that should be present no matter what the other ingredients are. Vitamin C is currently one of the most powerful anti-aging substances available on the market. It is proven to protect the collagen within skin and keep free radicals from producing aging signs.

Salicylic acid is a keratolytic beta hydroxyl acid and has the ability to smooth the skin without causing irritation. It is also able to reduce such things as acne causing bacteria while reducing oil. It is exceptional at penetrating pores and cleaning out impurities.

Peptides are generally used in anti aging products and have actually been proven to out perform such things as Retinol. This substance smoothes wrinkles and reduces the visual effects of aging.

Hyaluronic Acid is a bioactive type hydrating ingredient. It has the capability of binding a thousand times its weight in moisture to the skin and is often found in such things as toners, moisturizers and eye creams. This substance has been in use for years and is one of the most common hydrating ingredients. It has the capability of constantly increasing the skin’s water content which reduces wrinkling. No matter what your skin care routines, this particular ingredient should be a part.

Beta Glucans helps the body to heal itself, when applied to skin issues, it has been shown to help correct a variety of concerns.

What You Need To Know About Eczema

Eczema covers a whole multitude of skin problems that cause the skin to become inflamed or irritated. The most common form of eczema is known as atopic dermatitis/eczema. Atopic eczema occurrences are on the rise in within the U.S. population, especially in young children and infants. Commonly, infants who develop the condition will outgrow it by their second birthday but many continue having that problem, requiring treatment throughout their lives.

Eczema commonly causes itching and often with that itching comes a rash, the rash normally appears on the face, knees, hands or feet but also affects other areas. The affected areas may appear dry and thickened, it may also have a scaly appearance. Fair skinned people may have reddish or brownish rashes while darker skinned people may have lighter or darker patches. Although there is no cure for eczema, it can be well managed by treatments as well as avoiding triggers.

In treating eczema, the main goal is to relieve and then prevent itching. Because the disease creates dryness that leads to itchiness, lotions and creams are recommended to keep the skin moist. Usually these are applied after showers or baths while the skin is still moist. If itching is already an issue, cold compresses may relieve it. Hydrocortisone and other prescription creams and ointments that contain corticosteroids are commonly prescribed. Even oral corticosteroids are prescribed in harsh cases.

In order to prevent outbreaks skin should be moisturized often, avoid sweating or overheating, avoid scratchy materials, avoid harsh soaps, detergents and solvents. Also avoid any allergy triggers.

Regain Your Youthful Look Via Facial Exercises

I do not think that there has ever been a time throughout history where women have not resorted to some type of potion or other remedy in the search for perfect skin. Everything from a change in diet, to the use of drugs, and even surgery have been used in order to combat wrinkles and to try to get back the smooth skin that we were born with. The only thing that is different in this day and age is the availability of products and procedures that a person has to choose from, as well as the wealth of information available on each and every one of them.

One thing is for certain. Several of the wrinkle reducers and skin care procedures on the market today come with their own specific set of side effects and drawbacks. Many of the best techniques and products shown to work at reducing the signs of aging are very expensive or only available in a limited region. Others, though widely available and affordable, simply do not produce the results that they claim, and some procedures, such as plastic surgery, while seen as widely effective, in rare cases, can leave a person scarred, and far worse off than they were before the treatment. Drugs, though seen as less invasive than surgery, can also come with a whole host of side effects that have to be weighed before use.

Does this mean that in the search for the dermic fountain of youth one has to undergo the knife, risking possible horrific scarring, take drugs that might lead to further complication, or use foreign creams or even resort to injections to see desired results? Does getting older necessarily mean that your days of smooth skin are gone forever? Is there even a safe way to reduce the signs of aging of the skin, or are risks inherent to improving your skins appearance? One technique that proves to both effective at combating facial wrinkles and aging, and with little risk, is the use of facial exercises.

Facial exercises are definitely safer than surgery, can be done from the comfort of your own home, and cost nothing to perform. Not only are facial exercises good for the reduction of wrinkles in older women, but can also be used as a preventative measure by the young. Like any other boby part, the face can benefit from exercise by improving facial health, tighten muscles, and improve the look and feel of the skin over them. Not mny people think of putting the face through a “workout”, but it is the least intrusive method of improving facial health without surgical or drug intrusion.

The greatest thing about facial exercises, is that a person that practices them regularly can often see results within 4-6 weeks, which is better than several of the more expensive wrinkle medications and creams on the market today. While many of the medications try to improve collagen and elastic levels to no avail, facial exercises improve the blood flow to the face, increasing collagen and elastic naturally and conclusively. This gives way to a more natural looking, smoother looking skin, reducing wrinkles and the effects of dark spots. Even oversize pores are improved upon with the use of facial exercises, leaving smaller pores and a smoother look after only a few weeks of “working out”.

Prevent Photo Aging Before It’s Too Late

Photo aging, skin damaged caused by prolonged time in the sun, resulting in high levels of UV radiation, is usually recognized by the appearance of spots, wrinkles, sagging skin, jaundice like features, is not only unsightly, but also has been known to carry a heightened risk of certain skin cancers. Skin cancer, while often overlooked as a major health concern, actually affects over one million people annually, and poses serious risks to the afflicted person’s life.

Ultraviolet radiation from the sun enter the Earth’s atmosphere even when the sky is not sunny, and have proven to be human carcinogen, speeds up the aging of skin, can produce severe burns, and is a major cause of wrinkles in almost all people who do not protect themselves from its rays.

Ultraviolet radiation comes in two forms from its natural source, the sun. UVA radiation is the most common, with over 90 percent of all UV rays being of this type. It is this type of radiation that advances skin aging prematurely, contributes to wrinkles, and is also a source of cancer.

UVB, though being less than 10 percent of the UV rays that come in contact with the skin due to atmospheric filtering, is known to be extremely harmful to skin, a known carcinogen, and even in smaller amounts, is much more damaging than UVA. UVB rays are the central reactionary triggering sunburn and other immediate skin damage, and also harms the eyes, being the main source for cataract destruction.

While this news is not likely to make you jump with joy at the knowledge, there is something you can do to help reduce the chances of permanent skin damage and cancers, prevention. Wearing a sunscreen at all times that you expose yourself to the sun’s rays, even when cloudy, is the most prominent and most effective method of protecting skin from UVA and UVB. While it does not offer 100% protection from the sun, the SPF, or protection rating of your sunscreen will tell you the rate at which UVA and UVB will enter the skin with its protection as opposed to without. An SPF rating of 35 states that UV rays will take 35 times longer to reach and damage your skin than untreated skin.

While many people wear sunglasses, most do not realize that if their glasses have no UV protection, then they are actually helping to promote eye damage, as they allow for pupil dilation due to shading, allowing more damaging rays to enter the eyes. When choosing sunglasses, make sure that they clearly state that they are UV protective lenses, or you will be doing more harm than good. UV protection lenses also help to protect the area around the eyes that are prone to wrinkling, where application of sunscreen is not recommended.

Your skin is the first line of defense your body has against outside invaders, seen and unseen. If you do not take proactive solutions to your skin’s defense, then painful surgery, excessive wear and aging, fragility of the dermis, or even cancer might be in your future. Your skin is too important to ignore. To combat photo aging, prevention is truly the best medicine.

Skin Care: 5 Acne Treatment Tips

Many of us have to battle acne on a constant basis. The only thing that seems to be more consistent than the pimples is the barrage of medical remedies that are being pushed on us on a daily basis as a solution to our problem. While some of these products definitely have the benefit of helping to clear up acne, often you can get the same results by doing self treatment. Here are 5 simple solutions that offer healthy benefits to the skin and general health that often have a positive effect on acne removal, reduction, or prevention.

• Eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Often the source of our acne troubles is a high sugar and fat, low nutrient diet. Skip the Ho Hos, and instead eat a salad, enjoy a mango, or consume green leafy vegetables instead. Healthy skin usually begins with a steady supply of nutrients and vitamins that fruits and vegetables are chock full of. Instead of a soda, have a fruit juice. Your body will thank you for it.
• Drink water. The average person is supposed to consume an average of 10 full glasses of water each and every day. However the average person does not. Clear, healthy skin is well hydrated. Dead skin cells are reluctant to make way for new if your skin is dehydrated, and without fresh skin cells, you are more prone to develop acne.
• Avoid the use of harsh chemicals, especially in the treatment of acne. Natural products are always better than their man made counterparts. With the use of chemical products, there is a higher risk of unwanted side effects from the treatment, often with no understanding of the cause. Not only are natural products better for you, but with lower production and regulation costs, they are also usually more cost effective. Why pay more for less benefit and higher risk?
• Relax a little- Many people have a tendency to break out more when under stress. On often overlooked method of creating an acne breakout is to constantly touch the face, as people under stress tend to do more than those not under such stress. Stress also releases hormones into the system that exacerbate acne, increase it, while reducing the ability for other treatment options to remain effective. Exercise, meditation, or even relaxing with friends can have a positive effect on the reduction of stress levels that make getting you acne under control much harder.
• Get some fresh air and a little sun- While not advising to get a tan, getting out of a stale air, indoor environment for 20-30 minutes a day can keep your skin flush with vitamin E, essential to good skin health.
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The Secret To Great Skin Is At Your Fingertips

It’s never too late to start a skincare program. The signs of aging can be lessened, acne can be cleared up, and skin can look radiant, even after damage has been done. Three things determine if you will have great skin: First, your genes. Second, taking care of your body inside. And the third, is how you treat your body outside.

Scientists believe you would not see your first wrinkles until age 60 if you adhered to the following skin care basic guidelines. First of all, your health really does influence how you look. It’s no secret that celebrities often stick to strict diets which maintain their slender figures and energy levels. Many follow a low-fat, high fiber, mainly vegetarian diet, rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and soy products. Remember, when you are feeding your body healthy foods you are also feeding your skin, hair, and nails. Avoid foods that are high in fat and sugar, iodized table salt, sodium nitrates and sodium nitrites. These foods, as well as some drugs such as iodides and bromides, are thought to aggravate acne.

Drink lots of water for great skin. Start your water-drinking regimen today. Your aim should be six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day. This works to give skin an overall glow by improving circulation. For variety, try adding lemon, lime or orange slices.

Another way to boost circulation is to do aerobic exercise for at least three 30-minute sessions per week. Try a workout DVD, take a walk, swim, ride your bike, or dance. Keep it fun and you’ll keep it up. Exercise brings more oxygen to the skin cells.

Get a good night’s sleep – an average of 8 hours a night. Sleep in a dark room with as little noise as possible. A satin pillow case is better in the prevention of wrinkles than cotton or linen.

Try to maintain a regular schedule of going to sleep and waking up at the same time each day.

Drinking, smoking, and drug use all have effects on skin. These activities send toxins through the body in the form of free radicals, which will harm healthy cells. Smoking speeds up your skin’s aging by six to ten years. Smoking reduces blood flow to the skin, and also sends out enzymes which directly attack skin tissue. There are many anti-smoking aids that can help you kick the habit. The more you drink, the worse off your complexion will be. Although it is obviously better to not drink, if you do, it is good to drink a lot of water the next day, to give wastes that extra little push out of your system. Any type of drug use (even prescription drugs) may trouble the skin.