1. Stay hydrated and do it with plenty of water! That
doesn’t
mean soda, caffeine or any other type of liquid even if it
is low cal. Soda
(even diet soda) has a high concentration of sodium. Sodium
retains
fluids. You need fluid that will hydrate and flush your body
free of toxins.
Make sure you are drinking at least 8 glasses a day!
2. Protect your skin from harmful ultra violet (UV) rays.
We all
love the sun. We love being in it and we love having a
beautiful tan. The
truth is you can poison yourself with too much sunshine. UV
rays cause
skin cancer and if that isn’t bad enough it causes your
skin to age faster
than it should contributing to unsightly wrinkles. If you
must play in the
sun, make certain you are using an adequate sun screen.
Don’t leave home
without it!
3. Apply your sun screen even if you only make a quick trip
to
the grocery store. Yes, you can get harmful UV rays even
while driving
your car!
4. When you purchase sun screen make certain you are buying
the right tool for the job. There are different types of UV
rays and they
don’t all affect our skin in the same ways. The time of
year also has a
bearing on how much damage the sun can do to your skin.
Altitude is
another important factor. UV rays are more intense at high
altitudes.
Sunshine alone is not the culprit. You can do just as much
damage to your
skin (or in some cases even more) on a cloudy day!
5. Don’t forget sun screen for your lips. They want to be
healthy
6. Apply your sunscreen BEFORE going outdoors and allow
plenty of time for it to adequately absorb into your skin
cells rather than
just sitting on top of the skin.
7. Read the labels on skin care products. The truth is that
some
ingredients may do more harm than good. The more
ingredients that are
listed, the more potential harm they can do to your skin.
Here is a list of
some of the common ingredients found in skin care products
that have the
potential to irritate your skin:
Ammonia
Balsam
Bergamot
Citrus juices and oils
Coriander
Eugenol
Fir needle
Horsetail
Lemongrass
Marjoram
Mint
Papaya
Sandalwood oil
TEA-lauryl sulfate
Arnica
Bentonite
Camphor
Clove
Cornstarch
Fennel
Geranium
Lavender
Lime
Melissa (lemon balm)
Oak bark
Peppermint
Sodium C14-16 olefin sulfate
Thyme
Balm mint
Benzalkonium chloride
Cinnamon
Clover blossom
Eucalyptus
Fennel oil
Grapefruit
Lemon
Linalool
Menthol
Orange
Phenol
Sodium lauryl sulfate
Wintergreen
Witch hazel
Ylang-ylang
8. There are a few ingredients that are totally banned by
the Food
and Drug Administration and should be avoided:
Bithionol
Mercury compounds
Vinyl chloride
Halogenated salicylanilides
Zirconium complexes in aerosol cosmetics
Chloroform
Methylene chloride
Chlorofluorocarbon propellants
9. Keep your skin clean. Use a soft warm cloth. Skin does
not require scrubbing. You will do more harm than good if
you do.
10. Exfoliate dead skin cells every night.
11. Create your own facial masks. Here are a couple of
excellent masks that you can create with ingredients right
from your
kitchen: Oatmeal mask: Mix oatmeal with skim milk and
apply. Eggs: A
raw egg yolk makes an excellent face mask. Try adding a
little honey to the
egg yolk for a change of pace. Mayonnaise makes another
terrific face
mask and will leave your skin feeling very soft.
12. Try a milk of magnesia facial. Apply directly from the
bottle and leave on for 5 to 10 minutes then rinse with
warm water.
13. Moisturize dry skin with essential oils. A combination
of
juniper, cypress, mandarin and grapefruit will work as an
astringent that
will leave your skin feeling tighter. If your skin is extra
dry, premix the
essential oils with a teaspoon of carrier oil (mineral oil)
and ad ¼ cup of
milk or a tablespoon of honey to give you added
moisturizing.
14. If you have particularly sensitive skin, try a Pepto
Bismol
facial. Apply with a soft cotton ball directly from the
bottle; just as it
soothes the stomach, it will sooth your skin. Cover your
face and neck and
allow to dry before rinsing.
15. Use an antioxidant cream. You are bombarded every day
with environmental toxins that attack the surface of your
skin. In fact most
damage to the skin can be attributed to free radicals. When
you expose
yourself to toxins like air pollution free radical
production increases.
Apply an antioxidant cream to your skin before applying
your sun screen.
16. If you have oily skin, only apply a toner in the T
zone, your
forehead and nose.
17. The best cure for wrinkles is to never have them in the
first
place! If you are like most of us, you didn’t listen to
your Mom when she
tried to tell you to stay in the shade, stand up straight
and stop squinting!
18. Unlike Cleopatra, we live in the nuclear age and
wrinkles
can become a thing of the past. Consider “laser skin
resurfacing.” It is
supposed to work for those fine lines and wrinkles of any
depth. This
technique reminds you of the “light swords” in the Star
Wars movies. It
literally zaps and vaporizes away the lines and wrinkles.
The procedure is
conducted in the doctor’s office and it’s said that you
heal within a week or
so. Expensive? Yes. Fast? Yes, much faster than deep
chemical peels or
dermabrasion.
19. If your budget won’t handle laser skin resurfacing you
might try a skin peel. There are several types. There’s
dermabrasion as we
mentioned. This procedures literally sands the top few
layers of your skin
off, just like refinishing furniture! It’s done with a wire
brush that rotates
and is said to remove even deep wrinkles.
20. Maybe you would prefer something a bit less abrasive,
pardon the pun. If so, you might consider a deep peel. This
process is
accomplished using an acid and are for moderately deep
wrinkles. There
are some risks associated with the acid procedure. It isn’t
as stable as the
laser resurfacing because there is less control of the acid
solution.
21. Have a glycolic or beta peel. This process won’t do
much
for your wrinkles, but if you are only looking to improve
general skin tone,
this is the one for you.
22. Try Retin A. If you want to see a smoothing of fine
wrinkles and an overall healthy glow that will remove
mottling and give
your skin a youthful blush, then this is the route to go.
23. You can avoid all the nastiness of the previous
treatments
by choosing collagen injections. The biggest challenge with
this choice is
it’s temporary lasting just a few months so you have to
repeat the
procedure frequently.
24. Stop shaving your legs and use hot wax. Much gentler on
your skin.
25. Mix up a tablespoon of brandy along with a smashed up
peach and apply to your face for twenty minutes then rinse.
Makes for a
great summer facial.
26. If you have red, watery eyes due to allergies, deal
with
them! There are plenty of medications available to
eliminate allergy
symptoms. Nothing will detract from your appearance faster
than red eyes.
27. If you wear eyeglasses make certain that they do not
detract from your appearance. Eyeglasses should complement
your eyes,
not cover them. If your frames are unattractive it means
you had the wrong
sales person. Try again.
28. If you can wear them, consider switching to contact
lenses.
Make sure you remember to remove them when swimming. You
can easily
lose them in the pool or worse, if you wear soft lenses you
could contract a
cornea infection that comes from a parasite found in water.
The chlorine
won’t kill it and the result of this nasty little dude is
not pleasant. You are
inviting painful corneal infection that could cause partial
or total blindness.
29. Try buying different colored lenses. You might discover
a
whole new you behind blue eyes!
30. Better yet, check out lasik. If you are a candidate it
might
give you a whole new lease on life. Of course, it’s a
treatment for
nearsightedness only, but if that’s your reason for wearing
eyeglasses or
contact lenses you might want to look into it. Just
remember, even though
the procedure is done with a laser, it is still a surgical
procedure. Take
your time and investigate to make certain that you visit a
skilled surgeon
who has completed many lasik procedures.
31. Take vitamin C, vitamin E and beta-carotene to improve
your sight and overall health of your eyes.
32. Avoid caffeine. It negatively impacts the system that
they
eyes use for focusing. That includes coffee, tea and
chocolate. Well, okay,
if you can’t quit, at least cut back!
33. Do not over use eye drops. You may just make your eyes
redder. Artificial tears are okay, but you should limit or
avoid using
vasoconstrictors. They will shrink the blood vessels on the
surface of your
eye. Check with your doctor if you need further explanation
on the
differences.
Did you know. . . that eye makeup worn by the ancient
Egyptians served
more than just a cosmetic purpose? It was worn by men and
women alike.
It was decorative for certain but they also wore it for
medicinal purposes as
well as magical reasons. The Egyptian word for eye-palette
is a derivative
from their word for "protect." An eye that wore
no makeup was considered
to be “unprotected.” An unprotected eye was therefore at
risk from the Evil
Eye. The next time you are standing in front of the mirror
applying your
eye makeup just remember that it is a rite of protection
passed along from
Cleopatra to Betty Boop!
34. Replace eye makeup frequently. An enlightened woman of
the 21st
century would not be complete without her drawer full of
makeup
magic. Unfortunately, you are just as apt to have the same
tube of mascara
that you used the night of your high school prom! If this
describes you,
throw it away. Using the same mascara over and over again
leaves you
wide open for possible infection. Bacteria is alive and
well and flourishing
on your trusty little mascara wand. Pitch it out before it
gives you trouble.
Mascara should be replaced at least every 6 weeks.
35. Use special eye moisturizer to keep tissue around the
eyes
soft and pliable. The skin around the eyes is very thin and
easily damaged.
36. If you prefer not to use an eyelash curler, shop for
mascara
that is specially formulated to self curl.
37. To obtain a smoky, sultry look, use a eyeliner pencil
and
liquid. Apply the pencil first and gently smudge. Then
apply the liner. Be
careful, a little goes a long way. You’ll love the look!
38. Powder your lashes before applying mascara. It will
create
a better bond for the mascara to cling to.
39. For “puffy” eyes, soak two teabags in cold water then
apply to each eyelid.
40. User a hemorrhoid cream to shrink puffy eye tissue. It
will
reduce the swelling almost immediately.
41. Slices of raw potato placed under each eye will reduce
the
dark circles.
42. Define and tame contrary eyebrows by using a toothbrush
lightly sprayed with air spray. Gently brush into the
eyebrow and ‘voila
they’ll stay right where you brush them.
43.
While we don’t particularly recommend the practice of
mendhi for everyday USA, it would be helpful in covering up
some of those
age spots, wouldn’t it? Try this tip. Apply vitamin E oil
directly to the
spots to fade the discoloration.
44. There is also a product that’s been around since
Grandma
was a youngster. It’s called porcelana and women have
credited it for
removing age spots for decades.
45. If you spend hours at a time on the computer, be sure
you
use a rest for your wrists. It will help ward off carpal
tunnel syndrome.
46. Your nails. Press on? Glue on? Paint on? Take your
pick, there are nothing but choices out there. If you have
your acrylic nails
done in a nail salon, understand that you do so at your own
risk! It seems
as though there is a nail salon on every corner in every
city in the USA. If
the salon you are using does not replace or sanitize their
instruments
(files, nippers, brushes, etc.) in between customers, run,
don’t walk for the
door. When trying out a new salon, arrive early for your
appointment. If
you are using a “walk in” shop, make certain you let
someone go before
you. Sit or stand where you can “catch the action.” Pay
close attention to
how the nail tech prepares for the new client. Watch
carefully to make
certain that he/she is skilled in the trade and does not
accidentally break
the skin especially if they haven’t sanitized their
instruments. You’ve got a
lot at stake here. With the prevalence of aids, hepatitis
and other diseases
you can’t be too careful. If you see something that just
doesn’t set well, get
up and leave. Try a more “upscale” shop next time.
47. Do not file the corner of your fingernails. It weakens,
causing them to break and crack.
48. If your fingernails are brittle, it may be the soap you
are
using or a hand cream that is perfumed. Most perfumed hand
creams
contain alcohol which will dry the nails causing them to
become brittle.
49. Are your nails cracked, brittle and breaking? Try
drinking
more water. . .yep. . .back to the water. At least 8
glasses a day. . .and
that’s 8 ounce glasses.
50. Combat dry and brittle nails by increasing your vitamin
A
and calcium.
51. Have a problem hang nails? Try adding more protein to
your diet. Through in some folic acid and vitamin C as
well.
52. If you have white bands across your fingernails, you
need
more protein.
53. Splitting nails can be reversed. Add some hydrochloric
acid to your diet.
