Lifestyle tips for taut skin

This information comes from InStyle magazine. (‘Lifestyle tips for taut skin’, by Alysia Poe and Naomi McGee)

Here are some ways to tighten up your skin – and improve your health.

Eat

• Blueberries, broccoli and pomegranates and drink green tea (organic).

Don’t smoke

• Cigarettes decreased the skin’s ability to fight off the free radicals, and the repetitive pursing of lips exacerbates wrinkles around the mouth

Stress less

• High level of the stress hormone cortisol can lead to thinning of the skin. Keep cortisol levels in check with meditation, yoga or moderate exercise. Also get plenty of sleep and take a fish-oil supplement every day.

Cut down on sweets

• When excess sugar binds to collagen and elastin fibres (a process called glycation), they become brittle and the skin sags. Cut out simple sugars such as white bread and fruit juice.

See related article ‘What are free radicals and antioxidants’ or watch the video

See related article ‘Antioxidants in our food or watch the video

Read more about collagen and elastin or watch the video

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Lucie

www.familyhealthbeautyinfo.com

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The power of water

This information comes from www.thewellofpositivity.com and waterkoolah

Did you know…

1. Water contains no calories.
2. Water protects your joints and organs.
3. Lack of water is a major cause of daytime fatigue.
4. The normal adult’s body weight is between 50 and 60% water.
5. A 2% drop in body water can cause fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic maths, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or a printed page.
6. Drinking plenty of water may protect against health problems including headache, kidney stones, constipation and some cancers.

Start and end your day with water. Your body loses water while you sleep, so top up before bed and again when you wake up. This helps keep your skin hydrated, so it looks vibrant and younger …  a little H2O can go a long way. So now go and drink a glass of this elixir.

See related blogs

Water: the beauty elixir or watch video

Water and our bodies

Drinking too much water

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Lucie

www.familyhealthbeautyinfo.com

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Make your own face/body cream

This information comes from: Informed
Voice, Vol 3 No 4, Summer 2006, p 68 (‘Skin deep: cleanse without going broke!’)

Rose and marigold cream

This makes a very rich and healing cream, suitable for dry parts of the body. It makes the skin around the eyes soft and smooth, reduces wrinkles and dark shadows, strengthens nails and eyelashes, and heals small broken vessels and wounds. How does it sound to you?

Tip: Heating during preparation should be kept as short as possible.

You’ll need:

• 4 g beeswax
• 5 g cocoa butter
• 20 ml almond oil
• 3 large capsules vitamin E
• 3 large capsules evening primrose oil
• 20 ml pure rose water
•  ¼ tsp borax

1 tsp marigold tincture

You can buy these ingredients from a [health store, pharmacy, local organic markets]

Method

Stage 1

In a small container, melt the beeswax, cocoa butter and almond oil.

Stir very gently over a pan containing hot (not boiling) water. Stir all the time! As soon as the wax melts, take container away from the heat and cool a little.

Add the vitamin E and evening primrose capsules and stir in.

Tip: Pierce the capsules with a needle, sterilised with alcohol.

Stage 2

In a separate container, heat gently:

• 20 ml pure rose water
•  ¼ tsp borax
• 1 tsp marigold tincture (until the borax dissolves)

Do not boil. Alcohol in the tincture will evaporate during the heating, so the finished product will not contain any.

Add the rose water mixture to the almond oil mixture (Stage 1) drop by drop, stirring constantly.

You may decide not to use all the rose water mixture, but bear in mind that the cream will become a lot thicker when it cools.

Cool the cream quickly by placing the bottom of the container in ice-cold water. Add 10 drops of rose (best choice), frankincense or lavender essential oil and stir in.

Pour the cream in the sterilised small (20-ml) glass jars and close tightly.

For the skin around the eyes use this cream within six weeks. On the neck, hands and body you can use it within the next two months.

See related article ‘Recipes for masks and scrubs’ or watch the video

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Lucie

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Make your own face cleansers

This information comes from: Informed
Voice, Vol 3 No 4, Summer 2006, p 68 (‘Skin deep: cleanse without going broke!’)

It’s fun to mix up organic ingredients and then feed our skin. Here are some alternatives to store-bought face cleansers – straight from your kitchen. Instructions are set out below the ingredients lists.

Face cleansers

• Apple cider is natural astringent
• Olive oil helps remove dirt
• The lactic acid in yogurt exfoliates
• Lemon juice tightens pores

Cleanser for dry skin

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• ½ mashed banana or avocado
• ¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Cleanser for oily skin

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• ½ teaspoon olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Cleanser for normal skin

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Method

Combine all ingredients well. Scoop out approximately ¼ cup and apply to your face, neck and décolleté with a circular motion. Massage it into skin for at least one minute. Rinse well with cool (not cold) water. Gently pat dry with a soft cloth.

Store unused cleanser in the fridge for up to seven days.

Tip: If you run out of cleanser, use milk instead. There’s no need to wash it off. It leaves a natural sheen on the skin.

See related article ‘Recipes for masks and scrubs’ or watch the video

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Lucie

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Is your beauty routine harming your health?

This topic was posted by Dr Mercola in October 2009.

Sources:

Organic Consumers Association October 1, 2009

FoodMatters 

Do you enjoy a shampoo with a rich bubbles? A shaving cream that really foams? Relaxing in a tub full of bubbles?

SLS stays in the body up to five days. Other studies show it easily penetrates the skin and enters and maintains residual levels in the heart, liver, the lungs, and the brain. Yet SLS is found in most cleansing, foaming products – and even in some toothpastes.

See safe certified organic products

See related blog ‘Why are there toxins in everyday products

See more ‘About organics’

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Lucie

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Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), and their cousins like ammonium lauryl sulfate and sodium myreth sulfate produce a lot of foam very inexpensively. But SLS is so strong that it’s also used to scrub garage floors. And it has been proven to cause cancer in the long run.

When are products truly organic?

Here’s a Q and A between me and ONEgroup, who produce Miessence, a certified organic product range.

Lucie: When products labelled ‘organic’ or ‘natural’ have no chemicals or preservatives listed, are they truly organic products?’

ONEgroup: The only real signs of truly organic products are the certification logos. This proves that the products have passed the strict organic standards and comply completely to these guidelines.

Lucie: Is there a law that every product label must show all the ingredients?

ONEgroup: Yes, there are some guidelines about listing ingredients. To comply with the European Union Cosmetic Product Regulations, we are now required to list the components found in essential oils.

We only purchase from suppliers that have authentic organic certification. This is a requirement of processing certified organic products.  If there’s no organic certificate, it ain’t certified!

Lucie: Why are so many companies that make organic products not certified?

ONEgroup: You’d have to ask the company, but the most likely reason is that they don’t actually comply with the standards!

See organic products

See related blog ‘The rules for certified organics’

See related blog  ‘The difference between natural and organic ‘   or watch the video

See related topic ‘Understanding product labels’

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Lucie

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Are the chemicals in personal care/beauty products harmful?

A scientist’s view

I asked this question of one of my clients, a scientist working in cancer research.

He said that the chemicals in beauty products are not harmful. Of course, if a child ate a lot of toothpaste (which has fluoride added) they could be harmed, but it’s also dangerous to eat massive amounts of organic carrots.

He pointed out that in nature, we only take the amount that we need. For example, to function properly our bodies actually need a little arsenic, yet this is poisonous in larger doses. So, he believed that chemicals in products are only harmful when used in large amounts.

ONEgroup responds

It’s quite incorrect to say that chemicals in products are harmful only when you use them in bigger amounts. Exposure to a small amount of mercury can kill or cause damage for example, so that already disputes that theory. Yes, we produce a natural amount of arsenic ourselves but that it is released as needed and in doses that our bodies can handle. The danger is in accumulation of additional toxins. The point of using organic skincare is to reduce the amount of chemicals that we absorb and that we pour down the sink and into our environment. – http://www.ewg.org/ 

See organic products

See related blog ‘Why are there toxins in everyday products?’

See related blog ‘Deodorants and breast cancer’ or watch the video

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Lucie

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Why are there toxins in everyday products?

If personal care products and nutrition with chemicals, toxins and preservative can harm humans and the planet, why would governments and industries produce it, when the scientists know it’s poison?

The reason is simple: profit. Natural ingredients can’t be patented so companies make chemical versions, patent them and then market them. They also use these synthetic versions because they are cheaper to mass-produce. Most people assume that beauty products have been thoroughly tested for safety well before they appear in stores.

You would also think that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would be watching the cosmetic industry to ensure the health and safety of consumers. Unfortunately, the FDA has little power to regulate beauty products. In fact, the only people ensuring the safety of personal care products are the very people who govern the industry: the Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association (CTFA)

Scientists paid by the CTFA make up the Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel (CIR) . They regulate the safety of the industry’s products. In 2004, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released findings, comparing about 10,000 ingredients in 7,500 different products against known and suspected chemical health hazards.

• Only 28 had been evaluated for safety by the CIR.
• One in every 120 products contained ingredients certified by the government as known or probable carcinogens.
• Nearly one-third of the products contained ingredients classified as possible carcinogens.
• 54 products violated recommendations for safe use that the CIR had put in place.

These products are still available for sale today. The worst offenders were those containing the cancer-causing ingredients coal tar (found in hair dyes), alpha and beta hydroxy acids (commonly used in products advertised to remove wrinkles, blemishes, blotches and acne scars), and those containing the hormone-disrupting ingredient, phthalate (nail care products).

From website http://www.naturalnews. com/016898.html

See related blog ‘Deodorants and breast cancer’ or watch the video

See more ‘About organics’

See more ‘Toxins and chemicals’

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Lucie

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Do chemical peels help acne scars?  

A client asks: ‘Do chemical peels help with acne scars? What is the youngest age you can have this treatment?

Keep in mind that the treatment of acne scars is very complex. There is no perfect solution. Effective treatments are: laser and skin resurfacing, chemical peels and dermabrasion 

A dermatologist or plastic surgeon can examine your skin and decide which peel is the most suitable. Read more on Wikipedia about chemical peels

There is no age limit – it depends on your skin condition. Again, a dermatologist or plastic surgeon can advise you.

I recommend the ‘Green Peel ® from Dr Schrammek’ (only use the original as they are many copies on the market).

‘What is GREEN PEEL® ?

This herbal peeling treatment is a medically developed, biologically based method consisting only of natural plant ingredients. It has been successfully proven worldwide.

Ingredients include proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, mucilage’s and tannins, phytohormones, enzymes, mineral salts and trace elements.

See:

http://www.schrammek.de/en/green-peel/facts.html

http://www.schrammek.de/en/green-peel/video.html

See more ‘Beauty topics’

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Lucie

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Should young people use retinol?

A reader asks, ‘I bought cream by ROC, a drug store product here in the US. It contains retinol and claims to reduce fine lines and deep wrinkles. I’ve also heard that your skin will get ‘used to’ retinol so that is why you should not use anti-wrinkle creams at a young age. Is this true?’

First of all, it’s true the skin needs a while to get used to retinol/ Vitamin A. It is an exfoliating agent that peels your skin. It should be used only at night as it’s light sensitive and may cause hyper pigmentation (darkening of the skin). Always use sun cream if you use retinol products to avoid hyper pigmentation.

At a young age you don’t need to apply retinol as your skin’s collagen and elastin are still intact. Using those creams doesn’t make any sense as your skin doesn’t need them.

Remember when you were a baby. Your mother fed you with food that was appropriate to your needs and age at that time. She did not give you food for adults, because you did not need it. So it is with the skin. We need to understand which skin type we have and what kind of food our skin needs. Watch The right ingredients for your skin type. 

Get my e-book and you’ll receive a free report, ‘Know your skin type’.

Check the Safe Cosmetics site.  Type in the ingredients in your ROC cream, and you will understand what it does to your skin.

There are more effective ways to look after your skin when you’re young.

Eat antioxidants – vitamins or nutrients that help to protect us from the effect of free radicals in our bodies, including damage to skin cells. They are found in fruit and vegetables: plants produce antioxidants to protect themselves from damage by free radicals.

• Learn about Antioxidants in food

Watch ‘What are free radicals and antioxidants?’  or read more

Read product ingredients and check what they do to your skin and your health. Many chemicals are harmful. See article ‘Understanding product labels’.

Beauty comes from the inside!

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Lucie

www.familyhealthbeautyinfo.com

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