Maintaining a beautiful skin

Heard of the following saying?

"Beauty is only skin deep"

True, true but we, human, likes and loves beautiful thing. After all, we are what we see. The visual sight of ourselves is the first impression that we present to others. So, even though beauty is only skin deep, a lot of people think otherwise.

The most basic step in maintaining one's beauty is taking care of one's skin condition. Skin, being the largest organ in us, do need care and maintenance. As we age, it loses its elasticity and it shows through the wrinkles that surface in our faces and bodies.

These are the natural ways to maintain a beautiful skin and face picked from Mark's Traynor Beauty Book.

Honey is a natural moisturizer which is very effective in preserving a beautiful and healthy skin. Take some liquid honey and rub it on the face and body. Leave it for 15 minutes and then rinse the skin area with water until they are free from honey.

For those with oily skin, add one or two teaspoon of orange juice to the liquid honey before applying to the body and face.

A radiant, fresh and soft skin is ours for the taking if we make this honey method a regular routine.

Milk, if added to the water we bath, will soften the skin of our bodies. Add a cup of liquid milk or milk powder to the bath tub, and then soak ourselves in it. After some time, rinse off the milk and water mixture with clean water.

Orange juice can be used to maintain the natural acidity balance in our bodies. It is very suitable for those who have an oily skin complexion. Rinse with orange juice after using the face wash that one used will preserve one's freshness and cleanliness as it is very effective in removing any facial dirt and oil residue.

Do you know that corn grain does has its place in maintaining one's skin beauty? Corn grain mixed with water acts as a very good face wash as it effectively removes any dead skin cells and thereafter makes the skin absorbs moisturizer easily.

Slices of cucumber found its place in the area around the eyes. Left for around 10 minutes in the eye area, it will freshen up our eyelids and reduce the swollen eyes we have when we don't have enough sleep.

Egg is particularly suitable to moisturize dry skin. Apply a mixture of egg yolk with a little bit of honey to the face, leave it for 20 minutes and then rinse off with clean tap water.

For those who oily skin, take the egg white and apply it to the oily skin in the face and leave it for 10 minutes. Then wash off the egg white from the face. This will maintain the balance of the skin acidity and reduce the size of the pores on the face.

Yes, even clay can be used to preserve our natural skin beauty and health. Kaolin, a form of clay, which can be bought in pharmacies and beauty centers, is used to soften one's skin. Add kaolin with water to form a skin pastry. Then apply it to the face and it will gradually harden and form a face mask. If one skin is oily, add a teaspoon of orange juice to the kaolin paste. For those with dry skin, add milk to the kaolin paste before applying to the face area.
  
            

 

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Getting rid of acne scars...Possible?

After a severe attack of acne, one would probably left with the dreadful acne scars. This is mostly an unwelcome sorrowful sight as they do make one's appearance not so pleasing. They surely aren't a pretty sight, so it is normal for everyone with scars to want to get rid of them.

If someone told you that those acne scars can be totally get rid of and restore your skin condition to its porcelain state, then take his/her opinion with a pinch of salt. They might be able to eliminate or lessen its severity and obvious appearance, but to totally restore one's skin to its original pristine state, that's indeed a tall order.

However, I do have a friend who have been successful in getting rid of his scar on his leg without resorting to expensive and painful treatments or medications ( for example dermabrasion). With his undying commitment and patience, he applied Vitamin E cream daily to his scar. Voila! After a year of doing so, his scar was gone forever. I think very few people, especially acne sufferers would have that sort of patience and persistency.

Anyway, if we already have scars, be it acne scars or scar on other part of our bodies, it is wise to treat them early. They will show quicker response to medication and heal sooner the faster we do something about them. Believe me, old scars do take a long long time to "heal".

Vitamin E plus zinc supplement do help speed up the healing process of the scar and reduce the scarring.A herb known as sarsaparilla which is normally found in complex with other herbs can greatly improve the texture and condition of the scar tissue.

To best reducing the scarring effect, take Vitamin E externally and zinc internally plus sarsaparilla. Also supplement your diet with 500 mg of evening primrose oil.

  

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Can we really not squeeze our acne spots?

I think most acne sufferers knew that they are not supposed to squueze their spots, zits or pimples. If you have been visiting a skin dermatologist, I am sure that he/she will tell you to never ever squueze your pimples, no matter how tempting you are. Right?

But even with this vital information, for someone who has pimples for quite some time, somehow, he/she will surely fail to fight the temptation to pop those acne spots. I guess the satisfaction in picking those pimples really put off the doctor's "no no" advice. Before I continue, can yo guess what's wrong with the picture?

So it is really a big mistake to pop those pimples? Well, if your spot is red in color, don't ever trying to pick on them. By doing so, you would cause severe and irreversible damage to the surrounding skin tissues. Furthermore, nothing will pop out as there is really nothing in it (yet) that can be squeezed out and if you press on them real hard, not only will they become bigger and redder, you would be presented with a big scar for your lifetime.

However, if your acne spots are yellowish in color, they are indeed ready to be squuezed. One way to do it is to squeeze them GENTLY with clean fingers covered by tissues at the tips. By now, I guess yo know what's wrong with the photo. The missing tissue paper!

If the pimples are really "mature" (yellowish and look like ready to pop by itself), a gentle pull of the skin surrounding the pimples (instead of squeezing it) will easily burst the pus inside the pimples. Yellowish pus will flow out from the "squeezed" pimples. To make sure the content of the pimple is emptied fully, some people give it a gentle squeeze. Here, one can see more pus which is thicker will flow out.

When red liquid flows out from the acne head, it means that blood is flowing out. So the moment you see red liquid flowing out, damage has been done to the tissues surrounding the matured acne. That is why gentle pulling and squeezing are important to ensure minimal harm is inflicted to the tender skin surrounding the hair follicles.


What would you do if you see the pus is flowing out from the spot? Soak up and dab the pus with tissue, right? Now, you know why I mentioned clean tissue earlier on. Finish off everything with a gentle small dab of tee tree oil (but never apply too much as it will definitely irritate your skin) to the affected spot area.


Contrary to popular belief, I think matured yellowish spot should be squeezed. Why? Because sooner or later, its content will be popped out. Letting nature takes its course simply means that it will "grow" into bigger size before it bursts naturally. So a bigger residue or pits will be left if we let it occur naturally. But with the act of picking, we would have pick it at a time before it grows into its full size. So the after effect "pit" will be smaller.

Ok, now some of you may ask, "What about blackheads and whiteheads? Could they be squeezed?" Blackheads can be squeezed (gently of course) but never ever do it on whiteheads.

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Noticeable Pores. What you can do about it?

Most of us would feel that our pores are open an noticeable. They often look digusting and unsightly as compared to a porcelain finish skin which we all yearn. Nobody likes the look of an orange skin.

So can we do anything about them? Unfortunately, those tablets given by your GP to "treat" your acne isn't going to help in making the skin pores less prominent. Pores showing up more obvious after we suffer a round of acne problems. This happens because the area around the hair follicle has been stretched open with the solid plug known as black head which formed during the acne process.

So the pore will appear as a bigger "pit" due to the occuppation of the former blackhead and the lack of elasticity of the skin to return the skin to its original state.  With a bigger "hole", it will tend to attract more dirt and absorb more make up from its surrounding and worsen the outlook of the skin. Now you know why the bigger pores become more noticeable.

However, there are still ways to make the pores feature less prominent on our skin. Good make-up which is oil free will give us a prettier look as it will make our skin less greasy. In addition to the make-up, apply a light powder on top of the make-up and after a certain time, after your skin get used to it, the open pores will become less noticeable. Yes, make-up acts as a camouflage to hide the pores appearance. Don't think that make-up is only for the ladies as nowadays many guys go for make-up to do wonders to their skin.

If you don't know what or how to select the suitable make-up which is suitable for your skin, ask around. There are many cosmetic companies specialises in making concealers and foundations which are suitable for guys and gals.

Also, keeping your skin clean and less greasy will lessen the pores unsightly appearance. Remember earlier on, we mentioned dirt trapped in the pores will make them very obvious. So by getting rid of the dirt, we would have a more beautiful look. 


 

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The Dreaded Acne Scar

I think the most dreaded thing about having acne is its destructive effects on our skin which can be everlasting. This presents itself in the form of scars. Some marks which we defined as scars are visible but will improve over time while others are permanent.
 
Macules, "scars" which appear as red flat marks on the spot areas can be visible for as long as 6 months while  the brown discolorations which often appear in darker skin people can last up to a year and a half. This discolorations, known as post inflammatory hyper pigmentation, happen as a result of stimulation of the inflammatory process to the skin cell pigments.

Scars happen due to the way our body repair the damage to the skin. The damage to the elastic fibres around the pores gives our skin a scar appearance after the skin repaing process.  And some of us will scar easily as compared to our friends. So it is wise to seek treatments for our acne in order to suffer the effect of acne scars which are usually more difficult to get rid off.

Keloid or hypertrophic scars comes in the form of raised scars. During the skin repairing process, our system piled up lots of collagen to the acne spots and form lumps in its place. Even though they may appear for years, some of them do vanish.

Most acne sufferers develop sunken scars which appears as pits or depression on the previous acne spots. They can be further categorised into many types.

As its name implied, soft scars are smaller and softer compared to the other scar types. They are less prominent as they normally have gentle slopes.

 Ice pick scars are more severe and even though they look fine, they are very obvious due to their jagged and steep edges. Most people have these deformations on their cheeks.

 
Depressed scars are a more severe form of ice pick scars. They are actually ice pick scars that are developed into larger pit areas. Therefore, they feature prominently on our skin.

I think atrophic patches are the least obvious acne scars that one could have. They are just flat scars; unsmooth skin due to the repairing process but at least there is no pit or depression.

Whatever acne scars we have, we will dread for it as it really changes the way we look. After all, this scars might be there for life. For some of us, even if we spend a huge amount of time, money and effort to eliminate the scars, we won't get the same porcelain look that we initially possessed. So pay attention to your acne and do not prolong treatment.     

            

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Are there any difference in creams, gels, lotions or foams in topical acne treatment?

The base of the product that frames the active ingredients determine how well the active ingredients are being absorbed in the skin. It can also make the active ingredients stronger or weaker. Therefore, there are indeed some differences with  products that have the same active ingredient (such as a 1% benzoyl peroxide) but come in different forms such as creams, gels, lotions or foams. 

If our skin is very oily, gels are much better for it. When the skin is dry, creams or ointment products are more suitable. Lotions and oils are usually used in the summer months where humidity is higher.

Products that are more moisturizing are normally greasier, making it unsuitable for most people as most people who have acne would normally have oily skin. Therefore, one definitely wouldn't want to put something which is greasy on one acne prone skin to treat acne.

 

 

However, a more drying product will make our skin irritated. Sometimes, a combination of more drying and more moisturizing products can be used to achieve good results as in acne treatments. As most acne treatments are drying, we recommend them to be used with moisturizers to make them less irritating for the skin to achieve an acne free complexions.

Benzoyl peroxide is known to be more active when used in the gel formulation than in other forms. However, it may be too irritating for some people. Hence the options are to use a lower concentration of benzoyl peroxide in the gel formulation, choose a higher concentration in a cream or use the cleansers in various strengths.

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Does facial treatment help clear acne?

Don't we all love facial treatment? It gives us a feeling of refreshment and cleanse after we have one. A typical facial treatments by beauticians in salons and spas consists of cleansing, massaging, heat wrapping, extraction of blackheads and application of creams.

Simple procedures such as cleansing and extraction of blackheads (open comedones) by aestheticians are usually safe. However, in the extraction of the blackheads, the beautician normally uses a tissue paper or blackhead remover to extract the contents which can lead to redness and swelling. Furthermore, this is only a temporary improvement  to free the pores from impurities as the pore will be clogged again over the next few days.

The cream or lotion used might cause irritation to your skin. And the skills of the beauticians or aestheticians in different salons vary tremendously. An aggresive facial can leave your face worse than no facials at all.

Should you decide to have a facial, ask your dermatologist or friends who have had facials on a good beautician. Ask your dermatologist on the products that they recommend to you and try them one by one in order to minimise the chance of skin irritation and acne breakouts.

Therefore, facial treatment only clears blackheads from our faces for a few days only. We also have to be alert on the type of creams and lotions that are being used on our faces, and also on the skill of the beauticians.   

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