Do you want smoother, healthier, more youthful looking skin?
Most people will answer "yes" to that question. If you answered "yes", you have come to the right place.
Here on this page you will learn the necessary steps for protecting or improving the skin you're in.
With the right skincare routine, wrinkles will be less deep. Fine lines will disappear completely. Age spots will fade. Saggy, baggy skin will be a thing of the past.
You might think that your skincare routine begins in the morning when you wash your face. It actually begins before you wake up.
Step One: Sleep Well
How well you sleep has a major effect on your skin's health and appearance. Even your favorite sleeping position could be causing you problems.
Dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons suggest sleeping on your back. They say that sleeping on your side or your stomach can cause wrinkles on your chin, cheeks and forehead.
While your brain and muscles are at rest, your skin rejuvenation team goes to work. New skin cells and fibers are produced to replace those that have been damaged during the day. Protective sebum is secreted to keep moisture in the skin's cells and protect against friction.
Antioxidants rush to repair free radical damage. During the daytime, antioxidants are busy neutralizing free radicals. At night, there are fewer free radicals in the skin. So, the antioxidants can focus on damage repair.
All of this is made possible by human growth hormones. HGH has received a lot of attention lately. It's a little off of the subject, but before you consider HGH injections or supplementation, read about the negative side effects. Synthetic HGH could do more harm than good.
Your body's natural HGH helps to keep your skin firm and thick. You need 7-9 hours of sleep in order to get the maximum HGH benefits.
If you consistently sleep for less than 7 hours at a time, your body will produce too much of another hormone called Cortisol. Cortisol damages and degrades the skin's elastic collagen fibers. It may also play a role in obesity.
If you want to get all that you can out of a good night's sleep, remove your makeup before going to bed and apply a restorative night cream.
It is very important that you choose the right night cream. One that contains heavy fragrances or other irritants will interfere with your sleep.
The best night creams contain all natural ingredients like:
- Avocado extract -- proven to stimulate collagen production
- Shea butter -- softens, soothes, reduces brown spots, blemishes, scars and wrinkles
- Active manuka honey -- helps to heal existing blemishes and prevents new ones from forming
Step Two: Wash Gently & Moisturize
You slept well and woke up looking better than you did the night before. If your morning routine is like mine, you don't have much time for yourself.
You jump into and out of the shower in minutes. You dry off. Slap on some makeup. Spend a little time on your hair and you're out the door.
Hopefully, you can find four or five minutes to moisturize.
Gentle cleansing is all that is really necessary for good hygiene. You don't need daily exfoliants or toners. If you have been using those things, you may have been doing more harm than good, depending on what ingredients they contain.
Exfoliants can cause tiny scratches in the skin. The scratches can become inflamed and infected. Red, itchy, irritated looking skin is the result.
Most toners contain ethanol or another denatured alcohol. They cause excessive dryness, but they do nothing beneficial for oily skin. They actually stimulate the sebaceous glands to produce more sebum. So, whether your skin is dry, oily or a combination of both, toners are not helping you.
Even if you are using the gentlest cleansers, you still need to follow up with a good moisturizer. Research has shown that plain tap water strips away the skin's sebum, contributing to moisture loss.
The best routine is to cleanse gently. Pat your skin dry. While it is still slightly damp, apply a good body lotion and an anti-aging facial cream designed for daytime use.
Most body lotions are nothing more than mineral oil or petrolatum. They clog the pores, cause a greasy feeling and often contain cancer-causing impurities.
The best body lotions contain things like:
- Jojoba oil -- well known for its ability to fade scars and stretch marks
- Olive oil -- a non-greasy moisturizer, loaded with vitamin E, an antioxidant that helps prevent age spots and other problems caused by free radical damage
- Manuka honey -- helps to heal body acne because of its natural antibacterial activity, while the natural antioxidant activity helps vitamin E to prevent and repair free radical damage
Your facial cream should contain higher concentrations of active ingredients for one simple reason. Your face is almost always exposed to the elements.
While clothing covers and protects most of your body, your face is exposed to wind, heat, cold and sunlight. Sunlight causes increased production and activity of free radicals.
Your daytime face cream should contain:
- Grape seed oil -- has a dual moisturizing effect because of its unique filming ability, contains potent vitamin E and other potent antioxidants like resveratrol and proanthocyanidins
- Nano-lipobelle HEQ10 -- an antioxidant formulation designed specifically for use on the skin, contains small particles of vitamin E and coenzyme Q10, small enough to penetrate through all of the skin's layers
- Functional Keratin -- a protein formula proven to increase the concentration of superoxide dismutase and glutathione, antioxidants naturally found in the skin
Step 3: Protect Your Face from the Sun
The safest and most effective ways to protect your face from the sun include the following
- Wear a hat with a brim wide enough to shade your face
- Wear UV filtering sunglasses large enough to protect the corners of your eyes and the area beneath them -- the skin around the eyes is the thinnest and most delicate of anywhere on the body
- Wear mineral-based makeup containing zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, which provide natural protection against UV damage
- Avoid chemical sunscreens -- research suggests they may do more harm than good
- Make sure your daytime face cream contains nano-lipobelle HEQ10 and wakame kelp extracts -- HEQ10 neutralizes free radicals, the kelp extracts provide some protection against UV rays
Optional Steps
The three steps mentioned above are essential. The steps outlined below are optional, except for the last one about choosing skincare products carefully. That is also essential for your skin's health and appearance. The other steps could provide some additional benefits, which makes them worth mentioning.
Eat More Fruits and Vegetables, Limit Simple Carbohydrates
If you have come this far down the page, you are aware that antioxidants are important to your skin's health and appearance. Free radical damage is one of the major causes of all the visible signs of aging. Antioxidants are your only defense against that.
If you have a problem with acne, your body may be crying out for antioxidants. Research has shown that most acne sufferers have low blood levels of the antioxidant vitamins A and E. The low blood levels are probably due to a lack of fruits and vegetables in the diet.
People who don't eat a lot of fruits and vegetables usually eat a lot of simple carbohydrates; bread, rice, pasta, white sugar, etc.
Eating simple carbohydrates causes spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels. Insulin has inflammatory activity. Inflammation of the sebaceous glands and hair follicles is one of the causes of simple pimples and severe acne.
High blood sugar and insulin levels can start a chain reaction that ends with the production of Advanced Glycation End-products, aptly referred to as AGEs. AGEs are a cause of wrinkles.
AGEs are also believed to be involved in numerous diseases. High blood sugar and insulin levels can eventually lead to insulin resistance and type II diabetes. Excessive simple carbs in the diet are even believed to contribute to hair loss and baldness.
Take Some Good Dietary Supplements
Dietary supplements containing carnosine may help prevent AGEs from forming.
Dietary supplements containing lycopene and astaxanthin have been shown to protect the skin from UV damage.
Omega-3 fish oil has been shown to improve the skin's firmness.
Amino acids are needed to make new skin cells. Vitamin C is needed as a cofactor for the formation of strong collagen fibers.
A deficiency in any essential nutrient or trace element can cause skin problems. A good multi-nutritional supplement can help prevent skin problems and improve the health of your entire body.
Use a Deep Cleansing Mask
When you have some free time, treat your face to a deep cleansing mask. The best ones contain clay extracts called kaolin and bentone gel. The clay attracts dirt particles and gently pulls other toxins out of the pores. They absorb excessive sebum and help to prevent bacteria over-growth.
Use an Under Eye Serum
Bags and dark circles tend to run in the family. They are more likely to appear as we age, because of the loss of collagen and hyaluronic acid.
If your anti-aging day cream contains the right ingredients, it will help to prevent bags and dark circles. But if you need a little extra help, look for an eye serum that contains HALOXYL and EYELISS. They are protein polypeptides proven effective for reducing bags and getting rid of dark circles.
Choose Your Skincare Products Carefully!
Skincare products should be free of allergens, irritants and toxins, but most are not. The regulations concerning skincare products are based on out-dated science…when people still thought that toxic chemicals could not penetrate through the skin.
For the health of the inside and the outside of your body, take the time to read warning labels. If you are advised to contact a poison control center in case of accidental ingestion, do not use the product.
You should not put anything on your skin that you could not eat!
The best products are free of artificial preservatives and added fragrances, the two most common causes of allergic reactions. They may build up in the body's organs, causing long-term, life-threatening health problems.
The best products that I have found are manufactured by Xtendlife.
Xtendlife products are free of allergens, irritants and toxins. All of the good ingredients mentioned on this page are included in their products. They have creams, lotions, eye serums and masks for men and women. They make some of the best dietary supplements on the market.
The company is committed to helping us live long, healthy lives. They want to help us keep our good looks as the years go by.
The company provides a great deal of free information about your skin and your health. Visit the Xtendlife website today and start getting more out of life!