Good Skin Care Is Not Only for the Rich and Famous

For those out there that want a beautiful, healthy complexion but do not have thousands of dollars to spend, it can be frustrating to read the magazines full of expensive product adds. Hearing celebrity interviews can be annoying too, as they can go to extreme measures to look their best while spending enough to feed a third world nation to do it. If you had millions of dollars in disposable income and your face was plastered on mega screens, you may very well do the same thing (who wants debut a three foot pimple for the world to see?) but for the rest of us out there who want great skin, we want it to be quick, easy, and affordable. What you may not realize is that there are plenty of fantastic options for you to easily maintain a good skincare regimen.
While creams made with diamonds and facials composed of bird excrement may be what you hear the celebs are doing, the department store beauty products are most predominantly advertised. They are pretty, they smell good, and are beautifully packaged. But many of the companies that produce those products are also the major companies behind the drugstore brands. There are occasionally brilliant products that might be worth a splurge, but don’t take the sales associate’s word for it. Go to online message boards where people discuss their experiences with products and read the customer ratings before taking the dive. Some online retailers often have user reviews as well. Weigh what is said and see if it is worth a try for you. If so, buy it from a retailer with an excellent return policy and save your receipt in case it’s not for you.
Otherwise, what you need is probably at your drugstore. A simple cleanser, an exfoliator, a gentle toner, an oil-free moisturizer, and sunscreen, if your moisturizer is not at least spf 15. Go for products that are light and clean, not full of heavy fragrance. Avoid petroleum products as they are cheap and bad for skin. You’d be surprised how many celebs secretly use drugstore products too!
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Adult Acne Can Be Treatable

Palate Cleanser-Bread with Olive Oil
Image by Samuel Hansen via Flickr
For adults who deal with acne, it’s embarrassing and frustrating dealing with a situation that you thought you would be done with by adulthood. Battling pimples and wrinkles at the same time is not what most of us had in mind when we considered what being a grown up would be like. Changes in your routine or using new products may help.
Gentle, sensitive skin care is likely to be more helpful than harsh treatments. Choose a gentle cleanser, exfoliant, light toner, and a moisturizer that doesn’t clog pores. Many opt to not use moisturizer, thinking that they are starving the acne by drying it out but actually, your skin will compensate by creating more oils, and when mixed with dead skin cells and microscopic debris, pores are clogged and pimples are created. If adding pimple medications like spot treatments, salicylic acid and benzoil peroxide products are fine, but should not be overly used. Make sure that your skin is regularly and gently exfoliated to remove pore clogging particles. Retinoids are a great option as well. They exfoliate the skin aiding in the reduction of both pimples and line that have formed. It’s a great option for adults needing help with both issues. Always use non-comedogenic sunscreen when retinoids are a part of your routine, as it makes you more susceptible to sun damage and irritation.
Keep your hands off your face as much as possible. Touching your face very gently with very clean hands can help make huge progress in clearing up your skin. Many breakouts are spread when people try to rupture their blemishes in an attempt to get rid of them.
All make up and skin care products should examined thoroughly. Familiarize yourself with comedogenic (pore clogging) ingredients so you will always be able to spot them and do not trust a label just because it advertises that it’s good for your skin. Many such products still contain ingredients that are acnegenic (or hospitable to acne). Petroleum products are the biggest problem, with mineral oil and petrolatum being used in many products, especially in products geared for mature customers.

For adults who deal with acne, it’s embarrassing and frustrating dealing with a situation that you thought you would be done with by adulthood. Battling pimples and wrinkles at the same time is not what most of us had in mind when we considered what being a grown up would be like. Changes in your routine or using new products may help.
Gentle, sensitive skin care is likely to be more helpful than harsh treatments. Choose a gentle cleanser, exfoliant, light toner, and a moisturizer that doesn’t clog pores. Many opt to not use moisturizer, thinking that they are starving the acne by drying it out but actually, your skin will compensate by creating more oils, and when mixed with dead skin cells and microscopic debris, pores are clogged and pimples are created. If adding pimple medications like spot treatments, salicylic acid and benzoil peroxide products are fine, but should not be overly used. Make sure that your skin is regularly and gently exfoliated to remove pore clogging particles. Retinoids are a great option as well. They exfoliate the skin aiding in the reduction of both pimples and line that have formed. It’s a great option for adults needing help with both issues. Always use non-comedogenic sunscreen when retinoids are a part of your routine, as it makes you more susceptible to sun damage and irritation.
Keep your hands off your face as much as possible. Touching your face very gently with very clean hands can help make huge progress in clearing up your skin. Many breakouts are spread when people try to rupture their blemishes in an attempt to get rid of them.
All make up and skin care products should examined thoroughly. Familiarize yourself with comedogenic (pore clogging) ingredients so you will always be able to spot them and do not trust a label just because it advertises that it’s good for your skin. Many such products still contain ingredients that are acnegenic (or hospitable to acne). Petroleum products are the biggest problem, with mineral oil and petrolatum being used in many products, especially in products geared for mature customers.

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Easy Habits That May Minimize Teenage Acne

My very first beauty shopping spree
Image by autumn_bliss via Flickr
Adolescence and its trials are many and varied. Mood swings, social pressures, stress about education, hormones, exhaustion, and feelings of inadequacy bombard pretty much every teen. Adding acne to the mix makes things all the more difficult and embarrassing.
While we now know that chocolate and other foods are likely not culprits in causing blemishes, there are many habits that could improve the odds of clearing up skin. Incorporating basic skin care into your routine, including using oil-free moisturizer, and exfoliating your skin gently and regularly is essential. Women who wear makeup should never sleep in it. Use a clean cotton pillowcase that you wash frequently. Wash your hair frequently enough so that you don’t transfer oils from your hands or pillow. Wash your hands thoroughly before touching your face and do not try to pop your pimples. When dirty hands and nails open a sore with bacteria and then spread it around the face, many more blemishes will naturally come up. Also, while eating certain foods, especially greasy ones that are deep fried like French fries, probably will not cause a break out, the oil from your fries very well could. Take care when eating that you don’t inadvertently touch your face with greasy fingers or get the French fries on your face at all. If you work in a place where a lot of fried food is produced, airborne oil can be a concern. Consider gently but thoroughly cleaning your skin right before and right after work and again, it would be wise to avoid touching your skin at all while at work.
Makeup and skincare can be full of many ingredients that can aggravate skin. Make sure you avoid mineral oil and petrolatum, as well as unnecessary fragrance or perfumes. While strong, sweet smelling lotions are nice to smell, they are terrible for your pores. Consider using only non-comedogenic lotions for your whole body so there is no concern for cross contamination. Spending the time, energy, and money to keep only pure products on your face is wasted if you accidentally get irritating hand lotion on your face.

Adolescence and its trials are many and varied. Mood swings, social pressures, stress about education, hormones, exhaustion, and feelings of inadequacy bombard pretty much every teen. Adding acne to the mix makes things all the more difficult and embarrassing.
While we now know that chocolate and other foods are likely not culprits in causing blemishes, there are many habits that could improve the odds of clearing up skin. Incorporating basic skin care into your routine, including using oil-free moisturizer, and exfoliating your skin gently and regularly is essential. Women who wear makeup should never sleep in it. Use a clean cotton pillowcase that you wash frequently. Wash your hair frequently enough so that you don’t transfer oils from your hands or pillow. Wash your hands thoroughly before touching your face and do not try to pop your pimples. When dirty hands and nails open a sore with bacteria and then spread it around the face, many more blemishes will naturally come up. Also, while eating certain foods, especially greasy ones that are deep fried like French fries, probably will not cause a break out, the oil from your fries very well could. Take care when eating that you don’t inadvertently touch your face with greasy fingers or get the French fries on your face at all. If you work in a place where a lot of fried food is produced, airborne oil can be a concern. Consider gently but thoroughly cleaning your skin right before and right after work and again, it would be wise to avoid touching your skin at all while at work.
Makeup and skincare can be full of many ingredients that can aggravate skin. Make sure you avoid mineral oil and petrolatum, as well as unnecessary fragrance or perfumes. While strong, sweet smelling lotions are nice to smell, they are terrible for your pores. Consider using only non-comedogenic lotions for your whole body so there is no concern for cross contamination. Spending the time, energy, and money to keep only pure products on your face is wasted if you accidentally get irritating hand lotion on your face.

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