Skin Remedies

Skin Care Tips

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that you need to cleanse, nourish and protect your skin. But some skin care facts haven’t made it into conventional wisdom. Top dermatologists share five ways to tweak your skin care regimen to get your most radiant complexion ever.
Moisturize Frequently
To fight acne, don’t forget the moisturizer, which improves skin’s ability to keep bacteria out and water in. Why is water important? Flaky, dehydrated skin is irritated skin, which sends distress signals to our immune cells, distracting them from healing the inflammation that can accompany acne. Making things worse, the blemish-prone often overcleanse to the point of dryness, which adds more dead skin cells to those already clogging the pores.
To properly keep skin hydrated, wear a light, oil-free, water-based moisturizer. For extra oomph, choose one laced with a zit-fighting ingredient such as salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, retinol (nighttime use only) or azelaic acid.
Find the Right Retinoid
Vitamin A creams, known as retinoids, are scientifically proven to help unclog pores, smooth wrinkles, lighten brown spots and improve skin texture. The only hitch is that retinoids in prescription-strength form (which deliver the fastest results) can irritate the skin of first-time users and cause stinging, redness and peeling.
Acclimate your skin by using a retinoid just twice a week, with the eventual goal of applying it every night. Or build tolerance by starting with a less potent, over-the-counter form of retinoid: look for the words retinol, retinal, retinaldehyde or retinyl palmitate on the label. Pumped into gels, serums and creams, these ingredients take a little longer to show benefits — up to six months. But by then you’ll be more than ready to graduate to their Rx cousins.
Load up on Vitamins
Like an alphabet soup, vitamins A, B, C and E call out from the labels of skin-care products. These antioxidant vitamins are naturally present in our skin, but they need replenishment to keep our collagen from being gobbled up by free radicals caused by UV light and pollution. Each excels at something: vitamin A builds collagen and quells enzymes that destroy it; vitamin B (which includes B12, B3 or niacinamide, and folic acid) reduces inflammation, water loss and uneven pigmentation; vitamin C protects against UV damage and improves skin texture; and vitamin E is an emollient that fights redness.
To cover all the bases, make your products multitask by using a serum containing some of the vitamins and a moisturizer pumped with the others.
Look for Botanical Ingredients
By switching to cleansers and creams containing certain key botanicals, those of us with sensitive skin (a propensity to become blotched, red and irritated) might never have to reach for another tube of greasy hydrocortisone to calm an angry eruption. The top six botanical ingredients that get the nod from doctors because of their anti-inflammatory, antiredness and anti-irritant properties include: colloidal oatmeal, feverfew, licorice, aloe vera, chamomile and turmeric. Not only are these safe for sensitive skin and sufferers of chronic conditions like rosacea, their daily use will help prevent future flare-ups.
Say Yes to Ceramides
A natural component of the top layer of our skin, ceramides are fats that act like mortar to the bricks (cells) that form a wall to keep water inside the skin. When this brick wall is well-preserved, the result is a glowing, well-hydrated complexion. During the winter and as we age, ceramide levels start to drop, shrinking the mortar and causing dry, inflamed skin. Fortunately, we can replenish lost ceramides with synthetic or natural forms, both of which are found in moisturizers. To get your money’s worth, look for ceramides in the top half of the ingredients list.

Steps for Healthier Looking Skin

Everyone wants to have younger looking skin. Unfortunately, even the most effective face creams can’t turn back the years, despite ‘reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles’. But there are steps we can all take so our skin looks healthy for longer. If you want healthy, younger looking skin that will boost your self confidence, consider the following steps that should lead you on the path to better skin and better health overall.
Exfoliate your skin
Exfoliating is an important step for achieving radiant skin. Exfoliating helps to safely slough off the top layer of dull and dead skin cell. And this removal helps give your skin a more even complexion by removing the layer of skin that has been affected by sun damage, acne scarring, and hyper-pigmentation (or lighter and darker blotches).
Be Sure to Eat Right
Skin care should start from the inside. Instead of focusing on what creams to use on your face, start paying attention to what you are putting into your body. By nourishing the body healthfully and by drinking lots of water, you will see an improvement in your skin. Poor eating habits and dehydration through soda and coffee will begin to show in your face. There are a variety of foods that will keep your skin looking young and healthy, including multi-grain breads that will help to eliminate free radicals, oats that will help to promote youthful skin, and lots of vitamins (including vitamin A, B, C, D, and E) to help boost cell rejuvenation. Meats and fish are also essential for healthy skin.
Quit Smoking
Smoking expedites the aging process internally and externally, weakening the lungs and organs as they become weighed down by plaque and tar. Your teeth become stained and your skin turns yellow from smoking as well. Smoking cigarettes not only introduce toxins into your body, but also cut your body’s oxygen supply, causing cells to die, which accelerates the aging process.
Smooth away fine lines
To help your skin retain moisture and reduce fine lines, wrinkles and age associated skin discoloration, use a nightly retinol cream to increase cell turnover as well as, obtaining regular acupuncture treatments to increase the flow of blood and Qi throughout your face to stimulate your skin’s supply of nutrients, circulation and oxygen.
Make your skin glow
Collagen is the supporting structure of the skin.  Along with water, it makes up the bulk of the dermis.  As we age, collagen production plummets, which causes the skin to droop, pucker, appear sallow and wrinkle.  To stimulate collagen formation, apply a topical vitamin C serum every morning as well as obtaining regular laser therapy treatments to improve the blood supply to your skin and regeneration of your cells.
Stretch out Your Sleep
When it comes to healthy skin, a clear mind and a healthy body, there’s no substitute for a good night’s sleep. Make it a goal to sleep as many hours as you need to feel alive and productive the next day — all day.
Most of us pop a painkiller without a second’s thought: for a hangover, a cold or aching joints. However, new research shows we may be doing more harm than good. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh found taking more than the daily recommended dosage of a painkiller, even just a small amount more, can sometimes have fatal consequences.
Turmeric may be your best bet for treating joint pain. “Curcumin [a chemical in the spice], contains anti-inflammatory ingredients to help myriad aches, pains and upsets,
Ginger
Ginger reduces levels of pain-causing prostaglandin in the body and has been widely used in India to treat pain and inflammation. A study by Indian researchers found that when people who were suffering from muscular pain were given ginger, they all experienced improvement. New research from the University of Georgia supports these findings. If you’re taking medications, check with your health practitioner for possible herb-drug interactions.