4 Inexpensive Anti-Aging Skin Products You Need to Have

June 18th, 2008 Posted in Features 2 Comments »

Have you visited a cosmetics counter lately? The cost of anti-aging skin care products is no laughing matter. These cleverly marketed products all promise to restore youthful skin and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. While some of them may help to enhance the appearance of aging skin, you can get positiveAnti-Aging Sunscreen anti-aging skin benefits with a few simple products that won't break the bank. Anti-aging skin care doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. Here are four products you need to add to your anti-aging arsenal:

An effective sunscreen

If you could have only one product in your anti-aging skin care program, this should be it. Photo aging from the powerful rays of the sun is the number one cause of skin wrinkling and aging. Simply wearing a sunscreen on a daily basis can offset much of the damage that causes your skin to wrinkle and sag. It's important to use a sunscreen that has an SPF of at least 15 and one that blocks both UVA and UVB rays. Learn to apply it correctly and reapply it every two hours or anytime you get wet or sweaty. If you're worried about harmful chemicals in sunscreen, choose one that's PABA and paraben free.

Exfoliating pads

These simple, inexpensive, little pads you buy at your drugstore can do wonders for revitalizing the appearance of skin. Regular exfoliation using facial exfoliating pads helps to remove dead surface skin cells that can cause skin to look dull, dry, and aged. Choose exfoliating pads specifically designed for the face since ones for the body can be too abrasive. To use them, simply dampen the exfoliating pad with warm water and a small amount of moisturizing cream. Wet your face and gently rotate the pad around your face in a circular motion several times. Don't apply too much pressure or you could cause a facial abrasion. Rinse with cold water and admire your fresh, more youthful complexion.

An all natural face moisturizer

Forget the savvy sales messages that try to sell you an overpriced moisturizing cream. One of the cheapest and most effective anti-aging facial moisturizers is glycerin which can be found at your local health food store. Why is glycerin so effective? When you apply it to your skin, it draws moisture from the air to keep your skin soft and well lubricated. To make a simple spray-on moisturizer using glycerin, add one part glycerin to one part distilled water and place into a spray bottle. Shake the bottle to ensure proper mixing. You can also add Vitamins C and E for even more skin care benefits. Spray this mixture on your face several times a day. It's inexpensive, effective, and non-toxic.

Dried herbs and steamed water

A quick way to refresh your skin and make it look younger is to do a steam facial using all natural herbs. Bring a pan of water to a boil. Add herbs of your choice and allow the pan to simmer on low heat for five minutes. After pulling your hair away from your face create a tent out of a towel and lean over the pan allowing the steam to hit your face. Stay in this position for ten minutes. Splash your face with cool water and add moisturizer. Your skin should look rejuvenated.

Anti-aging skin care doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg to be effective. Give these safe, effective, all-natural skin care remedies a try and enjoy younger looking skin.

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Don’t Let Anger Age You; Learn To Deal With It In A Healthy Way

June 1st, 2008 Sophia Mendelsohn Posted in Features No Comments »

Anti-Aging AngerAnger is a normal human emotion that everyone experiences. But, how you deal with anger can have a profound effect on your health and particularly on the aging process. Suppressing your anger may be making you old before your time. Failing to deal with anger has been linked to numerous physical and mental ailments. One study showed that women who suppressed their anger during arguments, particularly arguments with spouses, were more likely to die prematurely from various diseases such as cancer or cardiovascular disease than women who expressed their anger. Finding healthy ways to express your anger will help to maintain your health and possibly even slow down the aging process.

Women will often express their angry feelings to members of their families, especially their spouses, even if these people are not really the source of the problem. Feeling secure enough in their relationships to express their feelings is a positive step in dealing with anger, but some constraints are needed. Yelling, cursing and placing blame can alienate the other person and nothing is accomplished by such behavior. Children in particular can be confused when they are being yelled at when you are really mad at someone else. Uncontrolled expressions of anger can cause family problems.

Several physiological changes occur when you experience anger. The “fight-or-flight” response is activated. Adrenaline gets pumped up, the heart beats more rapidly, respiration becomes rapid and shallow and digestion stops. Experiencing frequent bursts of anger takes its toll on the body. It is a contributing factor to higher rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and other illnesses. If you have a Type-A personality, the effects can be even more harmful. Anger also affects your mental capabilities. It can slow down your problem-solving abilities and make it difficult to make decisions. Anger slows the thinking process and your ability to rationalize. It also adversely affects your energy and creativity.

Learning to deal with anger will provide both mental and physical benefits, and will also help to preserve and enhance the interpersonal relationships in your life. Hiding the rage and frustration that you feel does more harm than good. Keeping these feelings inside can chip away at your health and well-being. The solution is to get angry but do not stay angry. Take the time to cool off and identify the source of the problem. Getting angry is not as harmful as staying angry. If you deal with your anger in a quick and effective way, the damage to your health is minimal.

Women tend to stew over their anger for up to an hour before calming down. This is the time when the physical damage is done. To avoid focusing on your anger at times like this, engage in a physical activity such as going for a walk, riding a bicycle or swimming. Even house cleaning may take your mind off of your anger. Exercise helps burn off the adrenaline created by the “fight-or-flight” response, giving you the opportunity to think more clearly about how to deal with your angry feelings. Another solution is to take a break. Find a quiet spot to sit and practice relaxation techniques. Breathe deeply and think calming thoughts or picture yourself in a peaceful, soothing place.

Be aware of situations that you know may cause an angry reaction and try to avoid putting yourself in those situations. When something happens that provokes anger, try to put things in perspective and look at the positive side of the situation. Express your feelings without placing blame or telling others how they have failed in what they should have done. It is best to use “I” when attempting to tell someone how a certain situation made you feel. Using “you” can put others on the defensive. It can sound accusatory and may accelerate the argument rather than resolving it.

Try to associate with people who have happy dispositions rather than those who are often angry. Being around rational people who are able to find solutions to problems will improve your ability to do the same. Join groups and get involved in your community since anger can result from loneliness.

If you have trouble expressing your anger, learn to be assertive. It is often helpful to put your feelings in writing, especially if you are uncomfortable with face to face encounters. This also gives you the chance to consider carefully and rationally what you wish to express. You will feel more in control if you are not pushed into a sudden confrontation.

Expressing anger in a calm, rational way is an important aspect of your mental and physical health. Letting anger fester inside you will affect your life in many negative ways. On the other hand, letting rage take over and expressing it irrationally and without regard for the feelings of others will be harmful to you and your relationships. Learn to handle your feelings of anger constructively and calmly to keep your body, mind and relationships healthy.

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Anti-Aging Skin Care: Our 12-Step Checklist

May 6th, 2008 Sophia Mendelsohn Posted in Features No Comments »

What you put on your skin and what you put in your body both have a huge effect on how you age-- and how good your skin looks as you do it. Want your skin to look younger longer? Use this skin care checklist to make sure you’re doing everything you can.

Change Your Diet

1. Out with the Bad & In with the Good. What you eat has a huge effect on how you look. Reduce the amount of sugar, trans fats, and processed foods you eat-- they break down collagen and elastin, dramatically aging your skin. Replace the bad stuff with plenty of antioxidant-rich foods and Omega 3 fatty acids.A Great Diet

Antioxidants neutralize the free-radicals that age skin, while Omega 3’s help to reduce inflammation (redness and swelling) and give your skin a healthy glow.

2. Hydrate. According to most experts, you need at least eight eight-ounce glasses of water a day. Drinking plenty of water keeps the skin hydrated and the body functioning better.

3. Add Some Vitamins. Think about adding at least a daily multivitamin to your diet. Really want to see the effect of taking vitamins on your skin? Try an anti-aging skin care vitamin with antioxidants, Vitamin C, and essential fatty acids.

Keep the Sun Out

4. Wear Sunscreen Daily. Nothing ages skin quite like too much sun exposure. So wear a zinc oxide sunscreen every single day-- even if you’re not planning on spending much time outside.

5. Get Big Glasses. Large sunglasses with 100% UV protection are great for looking chic… but they also protect the delicate skin around the eyes from sun damage.

Put on Some Products

6. Add Topical Skin Care Products. Most skin care products out there don’t do much. But some, such as retnoids (generally sold in the form or prescription creams), do have an obvious effect on your skin. Also think about adding topical antioxidants, peptides, and plenty of moisturizer.

7. Boxtox It. Want to combat the wrinkles you already have? Consider getting Botox injections around the eyes or the forehead to reduce the appearance of wrinkles. A bonus? Botox also acts to prevent wrinkles.

Cut Out Bad Habits

Mr. Sun8. Don’t Over-Worship the Sun. Love to sun-bathe on a hot summer day, or go to the tanning booth all winter to get a warm summer-looking tan? Don’t. More than 15 minutes a day of prolonged sun exposure will age your skin.

9. Just Say No. Are you a smoker or a heavy drinker? Cut it out. Alcohol dehydrates the body, and smoking in particular ages your skin dramatically-- even over-exposure to second-hand smoke can do plenty of damage.

10. Don’t let Stress Take Over. Too much stress can actually age your skin. How? High stress levels raise the amount of a hormone called cortisol in the body-- and this hormone has an effect on your skin’s appearance.

Change your Lifestyle

11. Get Exercise. Any activity that affects the health of your body will affect the health of your skin. Making sure to exercise regularly will relieve stress and improve your body’s circulation and overall health.

12. Get some Z’s. Think you’re too busy to sleep? Think again. To improve the tone of your skin, you need to get seven to nine hours of sleep a night. When the body gets enough rest, wrinkles and under-eye circles are less noticeable and hormones (which have a huge affect on skin) are better-regulated.

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You Can Do Without Anti-Aging Miracle Cures

May 3rd, 2008 Sophia Mendelsohn Posted in Features No Comments »

Oprah Anti-AgingWhat’s all this fuss about anti-aging? What happened to the Sophia Loren attitude of aging gracefully, throwing your cares to the wind and wearing your skin as is? Unless you live out on the prairie, you may have caught the anti-aging fever yourself.

If you consider yourself a disciple of Oprah’s ‘anti-aging product of the month’ club, then you’re probably in too deep, and only a smack in the face would help you (this is not to bash Oprah’s credibility though, but sometimes the craze she lets on can cause irrational mass hysteria).

Even men, not necessarily metrosexuals, have joined in the anti-aging bandwagon. But as crazy as this may seem to you, our parents got along fine before all these miracle potions gushed out of the marketing machinery; and look how ruddy and in the pink of health they appear on those sepia pictures. To be sure, there are a number of products out there which do work (though they won’t be mentioned for fear of incurring the wrath of their competitors); but the best things in life are absolutely free, or at least very affordable.

Ever wondered why all the most hardnosed nutritionists tell people to take in as much water as they can, and nobody seems to catch on except the truly fitness-conscious? It’s because water is so abundant that we take it for granted; but the body is made up of ninety percent water, and isn’t it common sense to replenish your stores with the same substance you lost in the first place?

Many don’t hesitate to pop vitamin pills into their mouths, but shrink away at the mere sight of a broccoli sprout. Those who opt for a gentle scrub foam have no qualms in getting their faces ‘sanded’ with dermabrasion. It’s like a culture of contradictions.

Why not go back to lifestyle of the good old days, despite the complexity of modern life? Our ancestors lived long fruitful lives, so they must have done something right. Get off the couch and exercise in the morning sun like you haven’t done before, and cut back on the night life and get some solid, decent sleep for a change.

Stress is one of the major causes of skin breakouts and wrinkling, so let loose and laugh, even if life wouldn’t let you. There’s a reason why phony anti-aging products continue to flourish like sponge spores; the people behind the curtains want to you get anxious enough about your age so that you’ll take the next opportunity to mask it, when the truth it is that everybody ages, and all you can do is embrace it. You don’t see Meryl Streep gawking at the anti-aging frenzy, and you shouldn’t be too enthusiastic about the buzz as well.

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6 Vitamins Which Delay the Aging Process

May 3rd, 2008 Sophia Mendelsohn Posted in Features No Comments »

Be assured that there is no miracle cure to the onset of aging.  You can’t reverse it, despite all your chagrin.  You can, however, delay it.  Ever wondered why some people like Dick Clark and Cher don’t look like their age?  The former can thank his genes for the privilege, and Cher can thank modern science for hers.  On the other hand, you who have the short end of the stick on both counts can opt for sufficient nutrition, and you can be sure that this never fails in delivering the goods.  While there are a plethora of nutrients which you should take to remain young, six of these provide the most benefit.

Vitamin A is an antioxidant which is probably very familiar, due to a certain brand of topical anti-wrinkle product.  Retinoids, a vitamin A variant, stimulates the production of collagen in the skin, leading to a suppler complexion, and reduced wrinkling and age spots.  The B complex vitamins also aid in dealing with your body’s toxins, Anti-Aging Vitaminsincluding free radicals which are a blight to all fitness buffs nowadays.  It enhances the function of your blood cells, and ensures that they are properly circulated within your system.

Actually, all of the vitamins discussed here are antioxidants to a certain extent, but none can compare with vitamin C when it comes to sheer versatility.  Taken at the right amounts, vitamin C ensures that your tissues form at ideal conditions, and since your skin is the largest organ in your body, it should share in the benefits, with reduced wrinkles and an improved complexion.  It also efficiently breaks down free radicals in an attempt to maintain your body’s normal functions.  Women can get more benefit from vitamin D, as it prevents bone mass breakdown, a condition which eventually ends up as osteoporosis in old age.  Vitamin D also reduces body inflammation as caused by stress, and may actually temporarily stop the clock for those who regularly take enough of it.

Vitamin E is an essential antioxidant since it deactivates free radicals so as they pose no threat to the system, and so that the body can easily flush them out.  It also protects the surrounding membranes of the cells, preventing damage to the enzymes, and reducing the chances for cell breakdown – in other words, prolonged youth.  Vitamin K, the dark horse of the list, is only recently gaining recognition as a powerful antioxidant, and with enough intake, it can reduce the chances for degenerative diseases which are associated with aging, like Alzheimer’s disease, clogged arteries, and osteoporosis.

So before you head out to the mall in anticipation of the next wonder drug which wouldn’t work, pay attention to your body first; it may be telling you that you have to start from within in order to look good without.

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