True Skin Care

For a great way to have that ‘healthy’ tanned look without the damage that can be expected from sun exposure you should consider using fake tanning products.

These products have come a long way from the days when a person wearing fake tan could be spotted a mile away looking like a carrot with their orange skin.

There are two important areas when using fake tans that you need to consider.

The first one is to choose a coloring that is no more than two shades darker than your natural coloring. To go any darker than that will look unnatural unless you prefer to look like George Hamilton and appear as though you have been baking under the sun for the best part of your life.

The tan needs to appear natural and if it is too dark it will be obvious that you are wearing a fake tan.

With many products you will need more than one application and where this is so, you should always wait for the tan to dry between applications before deciding whether to apply another layer.

Often the tan will dry slightly darker than anticipated so an additional layer might not be required.

Another area where you will need to be careful is in the application of the tanning products.

The skin needs to be clean before applying the tanning products and care needs to be taken to ensure that it is applied evenly to remain streak free.

The higher quality tanning products will generally be a lot easier to apply and there will be less chance of having unsightly streaks after application.

Artificial tanners allow you to wear lightly tinted or transparent foundations and powders.

You can also wear a lightly tinted moisturizer that will enhance the natural look of the artificial tan.

Contrary to popular belief facial oils can benefit any type of skin – even oily skin.

The reason why many women are reluctant to use facial oils is because nobody likes to have greasy oily skin but this is not the case when using facial oils.

As the facial oils are rapidly absorbed into the skin the surface is not left greasy and oily.

With the active ingredients that are in these oils there are many benefits that can be had from using them.

Many of the natural health clinics will use and supply these facial oils and there is nothing quite like having a facial massage from somebody using good-quality facial oil.

There are different types of facial oils for the various skin types and these are all designed to address different problems.

Some people combine these facial oils with aromatherapy.

Most of these face treatment oils use 100% pure plant extracts. Some of the common essential oils that are used include sandalwood, cardamom, lavender, blue orchid, geranium, lotus extract, and more.

These oils are used to help restore and comfort the skin, while reducing reddening and irritation.

Other oils such as hazelnut help prevent moisture loss and are excellent for anti aging.

Oils are used for normalizing the skin and revitalizing and toning the epidermis.

The best time to use these face treatment oils is at night as an alternative to night cream.

After you have thoroughly cleansed and toned your face you will apply the oil to your face and neck while it is still damp.

Avoid excess oil around the eye area. Once applied, you can gently remove any excess oil with a soft tissue or face cloth.

It is particularly beneficial to use oils on the forehead, nose and chin. Massage the oil gently into these areas and also on your cheeks.

If you’ve never used face oils before you should try as you might be surprised how well you like it.

Face masks are another treatment used for cleansing and rejuvenating the skin. There are various types and the most common of these are the clay or mud masks, epidermal treatment masks, non-hardening masks and peel-off masks.

We will look briefly at each type of mask starting with clay or mud masks. Mud masks are used as a way to remove impurities from the skin including flaking skin, dead skin cells and even excess oil. While these are only temporary measures they do go someway to cleansing the skin and that can only be good for you.

The mud is applied to the skin and allowed to harden for between 15 and 45 minutes. After this the mask is washed from the skin along with the impurities. Depending on the type of mask that you purchase they can have added ingredients that will assist with the cleansing process.

Epidermal treatment masks are somewhat more convenient and for many people more effective. They consist of sheets that are applied to the skin. These sheets have ingredients infused in them that assist in face cleansing. These ingredients often include moisturizers, antioxidants and alpha hydroxy acids. These are good for people who have sensitive skin as they can deliver the required cleansing properties with less chance of irritation. They are excellent for the removal of blackheads where strips are placed on the affected area and left to react with the dirt and sebum. When the strip has done its job and is removed from the skin the grime will be removed with the strip.

Non-hardening masks are applied to the area to be cleaned and left for a few minutes before being removed with a cloth along with any impurities. Non-hardening masks are ideal for people with sensitive skin and can be used more often than the other types of masks.

The final mask in this group is the peel-off mask. These masks are also very convenient as they come in a tube or a bottle as a gel and can be spread over the skin and once again left for a short while until they dry thereby forming a skin.

This ‘skin’ is then peeled off the face along with the impurities that were in the pores of the face. There are various strengths of peel-off masks and while there are many that can be used on most skin types, people with sensitive skin need to test first to see whether a particular brand might be too intense.

If you wear makeup often you should get into a good routine of cleansing, toning, and moisturizing your skin every evening.

By getting into a good routine of cleansing you help to hold back the aging clock by maintaining your skin in better condition.

Cleansing will remove all the old makeup that has been on your face throughout the day. It would also clear away the accumulation of grease and grime that is collected on your face through the day from your working conditions and even from your hands as many people tend to touch the face often throughout the day.

Pull your hair back from your face to ensure that you clean all of the skin right to your hairline.

When cleaning off mascara from around the eyes, be very careful not to stretch the skin. When working around the eyes use cotton balls or cotton buds to remove the mascara and eye shadow using a quality cleansing lotion. This is one area that you have to be particularly careful as the skin is most delicate around the eyes.

Over the rest of your face you can apply the cleansing lotion using your hands. Massage the cleansing cream into the skin particularly those areas where you are prone to blackheads and other skin blemishes are.

By massaging the cleansing cream into the skin it will help to ensure that any buildup of makeup grease and grime will be removed from the pores of the skin and reduce the possibility of further skin problems such as acne.

Once you have thoroughly applied the cleansing cream all over your face you can gently remove it with a tissue or cotton ball in preparation for toning.

Even though you have used a cleansing cream at night it is always wise to get into the habit of washing your face first thing in the morning. This will ensure that you are starting with a clean foundation in the morning before applying your makeup.

You can make or break the look of your face by using the right or wrong eye makeup.

The make up that you choose for your eyes should emphasize the natural color of your eyes. It should also emphasize the shape of your eyes.

If you can afford the time and money then seek some advice from a professional and get them to help you choose the correct colors for your eye makeup as it can make a world of difference.

There is so many things that you can do with your eyes by using the right makeup.

By adding shadowing you can add more depth to your eyes. You can make tired eyes look lively (but only within reason) If you’re constantly lacking sleep and tired all the time you’re going to need some good concealer to cover up the dark circles that you will develop under your eyes.

Here are some tips to change the look of your eyes;

To make your eyes look rounder, add eye shadow to both the upper and lower lids. Another way to do this is to use an eye liner and outline the base of your lashes.

To make your eyes look more oval draw a line at the base of your lashes thickening the line slightly in the middle.

To make your eyes look further apart start your eyeliner line away from the inner corner of your eye and make it slightly thicker towards the outer edge, extending it in a slightly upward stroke.

To make your eyes appear closer together you are virtually creating the opposite illusion to what you did to make your eyes look further apart. In this case the eyeliner would be slightly thicker at the inner corner of the eye and you would stop the line at the outer edge feathering it off slightly thinner.

Shadowing and the use of dark and light colors can also make the eye look bigger or smaller depending on your requirements.

Eye creams are one of the most important skin care products that you can buy. The skin around the eye is the most delicate skin on the face and for this reason extra care is needed when applying products in this area.

It is also necessary to take more time in selecting products that you will be using around your eyes. Test small samples before making a decision to buy a product.

The skin around your eyes has a tendency to become more ‘wrinkled’ than other areas of the face and you will often find that this is the area of skin where there will be more blood vessels visible. These visible blood vessels will appear as dark patches and shadowing under the eyes.

On most people the skin around the eyes will be more sensitive and that means it will be more susceptible to damage. This is even more of a problem for people who already have sensitive skin.

The skin around the eyes will generally tend to be somewhat drier than the rest of the face and this is because there are fewer oil glands present.

You can see now why taking care to get a good eye cream should be one of the most important purchases for your face care products.

You should look for products that are not only suitable for delicate skin but also offer some form of protection against the sun.

Sunglasses will certainly help to preserve the quality of the skin around the eyes but there will always be times when that skin gets exposed to ultraviolet light.

Look for eye creams that have moisturizing ingredients in them and also, there are many eye creams on the market that have anti-wrinkle properties in them.

These are well worth the money even if you need to save it elsewhere on other products.

One way to keep your skin looking healthier is to exfoliate. Exfoliating will help to remove the dead skin cells and residue from the surface of the skin.

There are several ways that this can be done but you need to be careful how you handle exfoliating as sometimes it can do more damage than good.

The dead skin, grime and residue that lies on the surface of the skin causes the complexion to look dull and washed out.

By removing this, the skin can look a lot fresher and healthier.

When exfoliating the facial skin you need to be particularly careful that you don’t use products that are too harsh and if you have skin that is somewhat sensitive then you will need to check whether there is any reddening of the skin and if so you should stop immediately.

A face cloth will be suitable for most people because it will clean the skin while remaining gentle enough to not cause any problems with all but the most sensitive of skins.

It is not wise to use exfoliating brushes or loofahs on your face as these are more suitable for skin on the rest of your body that can stand a little more abrasion without damage.

An alternative is the use of a chemical exfoliant that doesn’t require an abrasive action and will still help to remove the dead skin cells from the surface of the skin.

Even these formulations need to be tested on a small area of the face first as they can still cause reactions with some skin types.

There are also natural exfoliants that are very effective and while they won’t give the instant effects of some of the chemical exfoliants and exfoliating brushes they will do an equally good job over an extended period without causing damage to the skin.

The most popular ingredient of the natural products is papaya.

Dry skin reacts somewhat differently to normal skin when exposed to the sun. It tends to burn more easily and when it does burn it also tends to peel.

This will cause the skin to become itchy and this can also be a problem in colder weather too when the skin can become irritated due to dryness.

Where the skin is particularly dry it can become scaly, and sometimes even chapped which will make the skin quite sore.

People with dry skin often have a fair complexion although it is not reserved just for those who are fair as dry skin can be found on people with any other complexion as well.

The areas across the cheeks and the forehead are those more inclined to become dry and the cheeks will also tend to feel tight after having been cleansed.

There are many factors that contribute to skin being dry and any skin will become somewhat drier as we age. Those factors that can dry the skin can include the weather, the environment that we are living in, the foods that we eat and even the medications that we have.

People with dry skin tend to shed their skin cells in clumps rather than cell by cell as other skin types would do and this is part of the reason why the skin is dry.

It is not solely due to a lack of moisture as many people are lead to believe. Moisturizers will help reduce the dryness of the skin but you will need to be careful to select a moisturizer that will not inhibit the shedding of the skin, as this is one of the causes of the dryness in the first place.

Gently exfoliating the skin can help the moisturizers do their job better but you will also need to be very careful here as well because this can cause skin sensitivities.

Many people are under the misconception that dry skin is the cause of their wrinkles.

While dry skin is not the cause of wrinkles it can make the skin look aged simply because of the complexion of the skin when it is dry.

Having dry skin certainly won’t help to keep it looking youthful and the fact that the skin is overly dry means it is lacking something, either in the fact that it needs more hydration or because of a lack of sufficient exfoliating.

The way to make the skin not appear quite so dry, and along with that look younger, is to ensure that it is well moisturized.

It is also vitally important to ensure that it is well hydrated and that must come from within.

The best way to do make sure that your skin is sufficiently hydrated is to drink enough water throughout the course of the day so that your whole body is well hydrated and your skin will become a reflection of that healthy state.

You should be drinking water throughout the day in smaller amounts, rather than trying to meet your daily recommended limit by drinking large amounts at one time.

By getting sufficient water your skin will look translucent and clear.

There is another reason why your skin might appear to look dry even though you might be getting sufficient water to remain hydrated and that is because of the build up of dead skin cells on the surface of the skin.

These dead skin cells can make the skin look dry when in fact it is not dry at all.

By exfoliating your skin and removing the dead skin you will get a better view of the real condition of your skin and this will also allow you to moisturize the skin better.

So a combination of sufficient water intake, good exfoliating of the skin and a good moisturizer can do wonders for your skin condition.

You might like to consider contouring to help change the look of or emphasize the structure of your face.

Contouring is a process whereby you use blushes and bronzing powders to give the contours of your face better definition.

Makeup artists have been using contouring for years particularly in the movie industry and in magazine photo shoots to give the illusion that the faces they are working on have a particular definition that they desire.

It is an art form similar to that of painting where different colors can create shading or highlighting.

It takes a lot of skill and time to create a good job when contouring a face and it is not something that you would like to do every day.

For special occasions however, and provided you have an experienced makeup artist to do the work for you, you could be amazed by the way they can transform anybody to look special for those particular occasions.

An experienced contourer will use a combination of colors in various different shades, and the skillful use of the makeup brush to create the illusion. By applying shading they can add depth to areas of the face and use lighter colors for highlighting those areas that they want to stand out.

This talented use of color and brush work can create a facelift without the surgery.

Sometimes if the areas on your face that you’re not particularly happy with concern you then it might well be worth spending some money to get someone to contour your face one day after discussing with them the look that you are after.

Once they have finished preparing your face to your satisfaction, you can get some simple techniques from them of the basic blending that you can use when applying your own makeup for an improved look.

Concealers can do wonders for covering up many different problem areas of the skin.

They can do wonders for hiding tiny veins and blemishes on the skin for those people who do not or will not have laser treatment to fix these problems.

They are also excellent for hiding the natural shadows that many people have in areas of the face and in particular below the eyes.

Concealers don’t actually improve any problems; they just hide them from view.

So you’re not likely to get rid of black circles under the eyes by regularly using concealers but they can’t do wonders for that area of the face where the skin is particularly thin.

To apply concealer around your eyes place a small amount on your finger tip and then gently dab it on the skin before smoothing it from the outside corner inwards and back again.

Be careful not to stretch the skin in this area as the skin is very thin and easily damaged. The most important thing about using concealers is to ensure that you blend it in very well. Concealers can be used either under or over foundation but no matter where you use them they must be blended for a natural look.

A cream concealer will generally be the type most suitable for the majority of people as the liquid concealers are often difficult to work with and a stick concealer risks the possibility of stretching and damaging your skin.

If you’re using a concealer to cover up blemishes on your skin it is wise to check throughout the day to see whether additional blending might be necessary as your makeup begins to wear off.

When this happens the areas that have been covered with a concealer become more obvious and that is precisely what you don’t want to happen.

Collagen is a liquid protein that is extracted from cowhide. Collagen treatments are where this protein is infected into the skin with the intention of filling in wrinkles.

It is often used to reduce the appearance of lines from the nose to the upper lip and between the lower lip and the chin.

It is also injected into the lips to give them a fuller plumper look; however you are unlikely to look like Angelina Jolie from collagen injections to the lips.

The treatment is very fast and only lasts about 15 minutes but the results are only temporary, although they can last up to 6 months for some people.

Collagen injections are used more often these days for the treatment of skin irregularities such as scars, marks and indentations that have been caused by problems such as acne.

Collagen is more effective when it is injected into areas of the face where there are fewer muscles and less likelihood of muscles movement.

As some people can have an allergic reaction to collagen an allergy test is usually performed before collagen is injected into the face.

This test is usually done with a small injection of the liquid into the patients arm and if there is no reaction in the form of a rash or redness after a couple of weeks it is generally safe to use on other parts of the body.

When performed by a trained professional, collagen treatments can give a very natural looking result and this combined with the convenience of the treatments and the relatively economical cost is reason enough for many people to consider this as their preferred method of skin treatment.

More people now seem to prefer the use of Botox to reduce their wrinkles and for many it presents fewer problems than collagen treatments.

Cleanliness is essential for maintaining healthy skin. It is surprising how we can create problems for our skin without ever being aware of what the causes are.

Many people don’t realize how many times throughout the day they touch their face with their hands. If our hands were totally clean throughout the day this wouldn’t be so much of a problem but this isn’t reasonable. We touch everything from shopping trolleys to car steering wheels that are never cleaned. We touch items in the office or in the workplace that don’t get cleaned from one month to the next.

All these germs that we pick up on our hands throughout the day get transferred to our face whenever we touch it and from there they get into the pores of our skin and cause irritations, blackheads and similar skin problems.

Sometimes even the cleaners that we use on our face can cause problems, particularly with people who have sensitive skin where many products are too harsh.

Your skin should always be treated with care and handled delicately as constant demands on it will mean changes that are irreversible as you age.

With the face, where the skin is most sensitive on the majority of people you should take extra care and this might mean making simple changes that can have a dramatic effect over a lifetime.

Simply patting your skin to dry it, rather than rubbing it will a towel can reduce stretching, wrinkles and more when the combined actions of doing this are added up over a number of years.

If you find that you are getting breakouts on one side of your face or another, then you will need to consider what might be causing this. Do you lean on your hand at work? Do you answer the telephone from that side all the time? When you answer these questions you might just find what is causing your problem and it could be as simple as having a dirty phone or dirty hand that you always lean on.

You’d think that we would all know how to clean our face; after all we do it every day.

During the course of our daily routines we get a build up of many different impurities on our face that can clog the pores and give us a washed out complexion.

These impurities come from grime, makeup, sunscreen, excess sebum and many other sources. Some of these are a result of the area we live in and others are a result of the way we live. Many of us touch our face throughout the day and many impurities that are on our hands get transferred to our face each time we touch it.

We can be in the habit of leaning on our chin at the office or even touching between our eyebrows with the end of a finger as we adjust our sunglasses.

All these actions can lead to a build up of dirt that can block our pores.

For these reasons it is important that we cleanse our skin, and washing it at least twice a day is essential to keep the skin clean and healthy and allow it to breathe.

You will need to get a skin cleanser that suits your skin, as some of them can be too harsh for people with sensitive skin.

It is best to test samples of skin cleansers after checking that you have selected a cleanser that is appropriate for your skin type.

Look at the label of the cleanser and see whether it is recommended for sensitive skin or if it is more suitable for oilier skin types.

Sensitive skin is often drier and a cleanser for oily skin will be too harsh and could cause a reaction.

By using a suitable cleanser each night you will be washing the impurities that have built up during the day from your pores. This will allow you to sleep with a clean pillow in the night and not allow built up grime to create more problems for your skin.

It is very important to maintain good circulation of the blood for your skin to remain healthy and your complexion to look well as you age.

As we age our circulation system pumps the blood more slowly throughout the body and along with a reduction in circulation the skin becomes more dehydrated with the consequent degeneration in skin health.

Along with the slowing down of the circulation system the body makes fewer new cells and the cells that we do lose are replaced a lot slower.

Those cells that we do have also lose their ability to adhere to one another.

It makes sense then to try to increase your circulation system and one of the best ways to do this is by getting regular exercise.

Not only will this exercise improve your overall health but also improve your complexion as the increased flow of blood to the skin will also help it to remain hydrated and stave off wrinkles for little bit longer.

Any form of resistance training will also help to stimulate the muscles under the skin and this can have a similar effect to a mild facelift.

We tend tighten the muscles of the face when doing any form of resistance work or training and this helps to firm the face and give it a lift.

Maintaining a happy healthy life will be reflected in your face and will help to make you look considerably younger provided of course that you take care with the correct skin care products and keeping out of the sun where possible.

The older we get the more care we need to take of our skin, not only from the outside but also from the inside and the best way to take care of that is with good healthy blood circulation and remaining well hydrated.