The term skin care usually applies to topical solutions. This can range from creams to soaps, to washes to ointments. In fact, skin care is a market unto itself; a niche of products that are meant to treat skin ailments and imperfections. While such a market is no doubt viable (and successful), it's still, for lack of a better word, only skin deep. In the long run, the products they sell are shallow; shallow because they rarely penetrate beyond the skin to strike at the core of bad skin. Because at the core of most bad skin are several variables, like hygiene and, most important, diet.

Combating dry, irritated, or oily skin requires that a person manage two fronts: internal and external. The external aspects of skin care manifest itself in the obvious: topical solutions and ointments. These aspects are primarily used to suppress and pacify bad skin. The problem with topical care is that it does little to alter the condition of the skin; that is, it does little to curb to the real problem. For example, if a person suffers from oily skin, the topical answer would be to wash it when need be. But this proposes yet another problem: how to eliminate excess oil from the start. From here, the internal front steps in. Internal methods at skin health can help to work for skin, and not against it. This is the age old principle that states that the best method to cure something is to cure it from the inside out. The problem is that internal care, like internal medicine, is a tricky and downright subjective beast.

Skin care from an internal method involves plenty of lifestyle adjustments. The primary method involves a change in diet, and this alone may the culprit for many (as well the hardest bit). While chocolate and eggs have not been proven to cause acne, it can still trigger an allergic reaction in unique individuals; because lab testing can only confirm their results on a holistic scale. Personal histories and allergies tend to get overlooked. So, while Dove soap and emu oil can suppress oily skin, it should be determined how and why oily skin occurs. There is always the chance that an external catalyst is to blame; and once acknowledged, it can be alleviated, if not cured. This catalyst is most often a part of the diet, and can come in the form of an allergic reaction. So while it may be a myth that chocolate will cause acne, allergies are indeed very real, and most often go unnoticed.

The best kind of skin care involves a regiment of both internal and external methods. The problem is that the external form of skin care is used too excessively, when in retrospect, internal care can all but alleviate the external side of things. The challenge lies in a change of lifestyle, because topical solutions, in the long run, create a physical dependency on the product. To better oneself from the inside out should be the ideal goal of anyone who wants better skin.