100 Natural Skin Care Tips – More or Less…
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
I originally wanted to provide 100 natural skin care tips in this article. All together there are more than a dozen tips.
The most important is to moisturize, and repeat. In fact, you can repeat that as many times as you like to make up the difference between the number of tips provided here and one hundred.
I have seen people spend thousands of dollars on anti-aging treatments of all kinds. They spend hundreds of dollars on various skincare products. They try different name brands, use exfoliants, toners, masks and concealers. The product they overlook most often is a moisturizer.
Dermatologists agree on this subject. Failing to use a good moisturizer is a big mistake.
Books have been written about how to prevent or reverse the visible signs of aging. No matter what your age, it’s never too soon to start thinking about that.
You can and should eat more fruits and vegetables. They are loaded with antioxidants and your skin’s antioxidant content is very important. The content decreases with age. That is one of the primary causes of the visible signs of aging.
If I did have 100 natural skin care tips for you, these five would be included in the section about what you eat and drink.
- Eat more fish for protein and essential fatty acids
- Avoid simple carbohydrates—they cause inflammation and cellular aging
- Be sure to get enough protein—the body needs protein to build collagen
- Drink plenty of water—has to do with the skin’s moisture content
- Take some anti-aging dietary supplements—they may help keep things like free radical damage to a minimum
Holistic practitioners have always recommended that we maintain the skin’s health from the inside out and from the outside in.
What you eat and drink, the supplements that you take and the foods you avoid cover the “inside out” part of the equation.
When it comes to the “outside in” part, the first rule is: Never apply anything to your skin’s surface that you could not eat.
Holistic practitioners do not have 100 natural skin care tips, but there are thousands of common cosmetic ingredients they want us to avoid. Most of them are petrochemicals; derived from crude oil or petroleum. They are poisonous to our body’s organs. The skin is the largest of the body’s organs.
One of the easiest ways to select cosmetics is to read the label of ingredients and buy only those that contain naturally occurring ingredients. Are there 100 natural skin care ingredients? There may be. Here’s a list of some of the most beneficial.
- Grape seed oil
- Olive oil
- Shea butter
- Wakame kelp extracts
- Coenzyme Q10
- Vitamin E
- Maracuja
- Passion flower
- Canadian brown algae
- Allantoin
- Palm oil
- Beeswax
- Jojoba
- Bioactive keratin
You will find more information about each of these ingredients in some of my other articles. Just remember. Even if you have 100 natural skin care tips to follow, moisturizing is the most important one.
Natural Moisturizers Shouldn’t Contain Mineral Oil or Petrochemicals
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
Natural moisturizers are typically composed of plant-based or vegetable oils. Mineral oils are technically naturally occurring. But since they are derived from crude oil (used to make gasoline or petrol), they are probably not what you are looking for.
Mineral oils have been used traditionally in body lotions, while petrolatum has typically been used in facial creams. There is actually very little difference between the two. Petrolatum is white Vaseline or petroleum jelly. Mineral oils are simply a liquid version of those jelly-like substances.
Plant-based oils were the standard until petroleum jelly was discovered on some of the first oil rigs built in the US. Since they are basically byproducts of gasoline production, petrolatum and mineral oils are cheap.
As we are trying to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, some of us are also trying not to use products that contain fossil fuel byproducts. Cosmetics, creams, lotions and other skincare products are often packed full of them. If they don’t contain petrolatum or mineral oil, they often contain petrochemicals.
Petrochemicals are byproducts of gasoline production. There is no other way to describe them. They would be trash were it not for the fact that the carbon molecules are simple enough to be converted into many different things.
One would hope that natural moisturizers would not contain petrochemicals, but that’s not always the case. If the lotion or cream contains vitamin E, it could be derived from a petrochemical. Much of the vitamin E in the US is synthetic; derived from petrochemicals.
If only naturally occurring vitamin E is used, it is not necessary to add an artificial preservative like a paraben to the product. Parabens are derived from petrochemicals. They compounds also include a petroleum-based alcohol and are some of the most common causes of allergic reactions.
Natural moisturizers containing plant-based oils often contain naturally occurring vitamin E, simply because it is present in the oil. Some examples include avocado and grape seed oils. They are both effective for moisturizing and they both contain vitamin E.
Avocado oil contains vitamin A, as well. It is typically recommended as a nighttime moisturizer, while grape seed oil is recommended for daytime use. There are a couple of reasons for that.
Natural moisturizers containing avocado oil support and stimulate the skin’s own reparative processes, which go on at night. Studies have shown that use of creams containing it increase the skin’s collagen content.
Grape seed oil on the other hand has a unique filming ability that makes it a perfect choice for use under makeup. If you let it dry for 10 minutes or so before applying your makeup, the lightweight film will prevent makeup from clogging your pores. It also makes the makeup easier to remove at night, which means you might be able to use a milder cleanser.
Ideally, the naturally occurring oils would be added to antioxidants and other beneficial anti-aging ingredients. You might be surprised by what natural moisturizers can do for you, as long as they contain the right ingredients.
Choosing Organic Natural Skin Care Without Breaking the Bank
Monday, July 5th, 2010
Organic natural skin care treatments are becoming increasingly popular and increasingly easy to find. It is still important to do a little comparative shopping before you decide what to buy. It could save you money and save you from an embarrassing adverse reaction.
As far as price goes, you may have already noticed that organics cost more than conventional fruits and vegetables. Choosing organics is sometimes very important. But, sometimes it’s not important at all.
Avocados are an example of conventionally grown fruits that carry no risk. The only portions that could be treated with pesticides are the skins. The skins are thick. We do not consume them and they are not used in skincare products.
Only the nutritious pulp is used. There is no risk that the pulp will contain pesticides. So, there is no reason to pay extra for organic avocados.
Kelp is a food that is also used in some of the better skincare products. Wakame kelp is particularly beneficial as an anti-aging ingredient.
Kelp is seaweed. Growers are not allowed to use pesticides on seaweed and there is no reason to do so. The ocean provides natural protection against bugs and the weeds are prolific. They grow fast and require little, if any, tending.
So, you shouldn’t have to pay a lot for an organic natural skin care cream containing avocado or wakame extracts. Companies sometimes charge extra just because they claim to include organics. The only way to really be sure is to buy from a company that you trust, but comparing prices will give you an idea of who is overcharging and who is not.
When it comes to the oils included in organic natural skin care products, you want to look for cold-pressed varieties. Chemical solvents can be used to extract oils from grape seeds, Shea nuts and olive pits. Cold pressed varieties are extracted mechanically. No chemical solvents are used.
Cold pressed olive oil is referred to as extra virgin. In other cases, the label or the manufacturer’s information will simply indicate that the oils are cold pressed.
Since the oils come from seeds, pits or nuts, there is no reason to pay extra for so-called organics. If pesticides were used, there would be no way they could end up in the oils.
Honey is often included in organic natural skin care cleansers, night creams, body lotions and eye gels. The risk of chemical contaminants in honey is a real one. As bees gather pollen, chemicals stick to their legs and are carried back to the hive where they end up in the comb.
Finding out where the honey comes from is helpful. If the hives are located in heavily populated and polluted locations, there is no way a company can ensure that it is not contaminated.
A New Zealand mono-floral variety called Manuka honey is the best choice for organic natural skin care products. The hives are located on the tip of the South Island and surrounded by parkland. Lots of good skincare solutions come out of New Zealand. You might want to learn more about them.
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