QUESTION: I just hate my skin in the winter; it's so dull and pasty. When I try to liven it up with make-up I end up looking like a drag queen, so what's the solution?
ANSWER: Honestly, the solution is NOT what you do to the TOP of your skin ? which is all we can see. That dull, pasty surface tells the sad story of all the holiday fun, food, and fat we indulged in. Also, January is ?get back to work? time with short, dark days creating a shut-in environment for us. If your skin is looking sluggish it's because your circulation and organs are sluggish. Bottom line reality: Rev everything up inside with aerobic exercise of any kind, and it will jettison rich blood and oxygen to your muscles, through your skin, and out your pores. I don't need to tell you what kind of aerobics to do because you know what they are: Just move your body and move it fast! What you want is that pink, moist glow?right? Trust me, working up a good, honest ?sweat like a horse? is the one and only path to a peaches and cream complexion. While you're at it, here are the token side effects: You will #1: detoxify the sins of December (well, dietary ones anyway); #2: energize your brain cells and elevate your mood with happy endorphins so you can actually KEEP a FEW New Year's resolutions; #3: get a light year's head start on (ugh!) swimsuit season by throwing in squats and lunges; a few dozen will, literally, kick your butt and make you pant for dear life. If your lower body doesn't need any fine tuning (you bitch), just sit in a sauna or steam and let the sweat flow?same result. One caveat to skin purging, though, is: If you don't exfoliate diligently (especially your face), you're begging for clogged pores and blemishes. Don't expect luminous skin if you don't sweep away dead skin cells so the poison can escape. But you should already know, from this girl, that exfoliation is a year-round requirement anyway. Be prepared: if you work up a heart-pumping, red-face sweat every day and wear an endorphin smile, your friends might start begging to know what's going on in the bedroom. You don't HAVE TO tell them you got your ?afterglow? at Sportsclub L.A.!
QUESTION: The number of facial moisturizers and anti-aging products on the market makes my head spin, and they all make the same outrageous claims. How's a girl supposed to choose one?
ANSWER: You're so right about all the products and claims. There's, literally, a new product introduced every day with every new product's ingredient list more exotic and outlandish than the one before. (I remember when placenta cream was considered really ?out there.?) Then along comes caviar cream and even copper cream. Believe it or not, scientists are toiling away right now in their labs trying to reproduce vernix (the white, waxy coating on a baby while it's in the womb) which will, allegedly, be the next miracle moisturizer! Anyway, please trust me on this: Feed your skin cells like your body cells. By that I mean anti-oxidants (vitamins C, E, A), proteins from milk, and superfoods like spirulina and royal jelly. Look for them all in a base emollient of evening primose oil or shea butter, and you've got the true formula for a peachy, perfect complexion! Whatever you do, though, avoid anything with perfume or colorings. Come on, pink may be prettier, and we all like a good fragrance, but would you aim an atomizer of Chanel No. 5 at your face? Of course not, and massaging it in is even worse. Why do you think women suffer so many mysterious irritations and breakouts after spending $150 for a small jar of pastel perfumed ?24 hour, Turn Back the Clock Treatment?? Just read those labels and shop for purity; but, whatever you do moisturize with, don't forget Sandy's #1 rule: exfoliate every day, or leave the glow down below!
Fat free has almost become a cornerstone in many households. It is certainly something of a fixture on modern restaurant menus. And industries have catered to the fat free preoccupation by supplying foods labeled fat free and low fat, as well as herbal and medical products that block fat metabolism. But the bottom line on the beauty and health fronts, is that if you want beautiful skin with fewer wrinkles, or to speed up your metabolism, you need to eat the right kind of fats.
The benefits to your skin of eating the right fats daily are many. Beneficial fats stimulate the production of collagen, improves the blood flow in the layer below the skin that supplies nutrients for the creation of new, healthy skin cells. Poor quality blood flow here means under performing new skin cells. Fats keep the skin moist, from the inside. Fats are crucial for the absorption of the fat soluble vitamin - A, D, E, and K. And the beneficial phytonutrients like carotene, lycopene and lutein need fat to be absorbed also.
For example, eating salad with a dressing containing fats increases the absorption of these phytonutrients. A study, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition (and referenced in Gorgeous Skin by E Angyal) found that those who ate a salad with a low fat dressing had very little alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lycopene in blood tests taken afterwards. Those who had a full fat dressing with the salad had noticeably higher levels of these carotenes and lycopene metabolites in their blood.
Fats also help produce and regulate hormones, reduce inflammation (the right fats anyway), and prevent eczema, psoriasis, and hair loss.
According to Erica Angyal, you need about 2tbsp, or 20 grams of fats per day so the skin can lubricate itself, and so enough vitamin A can be absorbed. Vitamin A prevents premature aging.
Erica Angyal recommends olive oil, flaxseed oil, walnut oil, pumpkin seed oil, coconut oil, mustard seed oil, avocado oil, soy oil, macadamia oil, and canola oil. She suggests using extra virgin, virgin, cold pressed oils where they are available, as these are always much better quality, and the way they are processed means unhealthy chemical changes to the oils are avoided. Of the oils here, the mono unsaturated oils are olive oil, avocado oil, macadamia oil, as well as the oil from cold water fish, like swordfish, mackerel and salmon. Mono unsaturated oils can reduce wrinkles. The polyunsaturated oils are flaxseed, walnut, pumpkin seed, and canola oil. For the reasons outlined below, I would not personally use these to gain the bulk of needed daily fats. Coconut oil is a saturated fat, but extremely good for you.
Coconut Oil
I love this stuff. Not only does it have a beautiful aroma when it is good quality, cold pressed coconut oil, but it has amazing health benefits that go beyond great looking skin. Aging, including aging of the brain and skin, is associated with a process called 'peroxidation'. This simply means that free radicals remove an oxygen electron from the fats (lipids) in our cellular membranes. Ultraviolet light, from the sun, causes peroxidation in unsaturated fats, both in the laboratory and in your skin. This increases the rate at which wrinkles form.
And unsaturated fats, like regular vegetable oils, decrease the metabolic rate. Unsaturated fats suppress the response of the body's tissues to thyroid hormone. Unsaturated fats inhibit the protein digestive enzyme that forms thyroid hormone, as well as damaging the mitochondria in cells, which relates to cellular energy production. Coconut oil counteracts these unwelcome effects of unsaturated fats.
Coconut oil is incredibly versatile. Because it is so stable, it can be used in cooking without becoming hydrogenated. And it doesn't change the flavor of the food, despite its strong aroma. Coconut oil contains medium chain fatty acids. These are not stored in the cells like other fats but go directly to the liver which converts them into energy. The shorter chain length allows them to bypass the metabolic pathway that other longer chain fats need to use. Coconut oil is the only saturated fat that is good for the body.
Interestingly, Dr Mercola's website quotes an article by Dr Ray Peat in which he mentions that when so called essential fatty acids were used in patients fed intravenously, their immune systems were suppressed. Consequently, coconut oil is used instead. The only exceptions are in cases where immunosuppression is needed, such as in organ transplant patients. The essential fatty acids are the omega 3 and omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Examples are flaxseed oil, the oils of cold water fish like salmon, evening primrose oil, and sunflower oil.
References: 1. mercola.com/2001/mar/24/coconut_oil.htm 2. Erica Angyal, Gorgeous Skin In 30 Days (Lothian Books, 2005)
Both Sandy Steele & Rebecca Prescott are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Sandy Steele has sinced written about articles on various topics from Parenting. Sandy Steele is a mother, wife, author, Health and Beauty Editor and monthly columnist for the "Beverly Hills Times" and "Women on Top" magazines and CEO of her own public company (OTC: SSTU).. Sandy Steele's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.
Rebecca Prescott has sinced written about articles on various topics from Pets, Yoga Practice and Woman Menopause. If you're troubled by to learn about the different types and the best forms of treatment for each. Learn all about. Rebecca Prescott's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.