Natural Skin Care Blog

Your face shows the world what’s going on inside you.

What’s your complexion saying about the way you care for yourself?

Below your skin is the rest of you. Because you are an entity, a single creature, every part of you affects every other part.

Your kidneys not functioning properly? Your skin shows it.

Your digestive system struggling? Your skin shows it.

Your heart isn’t quite up to snuff? Your skin shows it.

Your lungs struggle with the air around you? Your skin shows it.

Those bumps, blemishes, rashes — they didn’t jump out of nowhere to annoy you by settling on your face. They developed from within. They affected a small group of cells first, then spread out farther and farther until — well, there they are. That ugly red spot, right on the end of your nose.

You want to eliminate those unattractive splotches? Those disgusting white blips? Those dirty-looking plugged pores? And all their friends-and-relations?

Grow a clear, beautiful, healthy skin by feeding your cells what they need and they will show up on the surface. The world will see a steadily-improving complexion, a more attractive you.

Tags: blemishes, healthy skin, rashes, what skin shows

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Whatever you call them, these are types of skin discoloration and I can guarantee you don’t like the one that’s afflicting you.

What to do about brown spots and freckles?

If the so-called pregnancy mask is what’s bothering you, relax. It should go away by itself shortly after you have that baby. So, we’ll be talking only about the other annoyances.

First, you have to know what your enemy is — melanin. This substance accumulates in the outer layer of your skin and eventually shows up as a brown spot, freckles , etc. It started years ago but has only now become visible.

And where does this annoying substance come from? Sun is the biggest culprit here. Avoiding brown spots and freckles is one reason to be religious in your application of sun protection. There is something in sunlight that encourages the production of melanin. Slow that way down and you will decrease the brown-ness.

There are a number of popular treatments for spots of discoloration in skin. Some involve irritating the top layer of skin cells until it peels off. This might make your complexion look better for a time, but has the real potential of irritating those precious skin cells to the extent of inflammation. And there you are — now you have red splotches along with those brown spots.

Any of the popular products makes the skin more sensitive to sunlight so your sun protection is even more critical – more than you usually use may be necessary to avoid even greater problems. You see, your skin will react by producing more melanin in order to protect itself. So now you have traded a few brown spots or freckles for even darker discoloration and more of it. Oh, yes, And it’s much harder to get rid of.

The safest thing you can do to minimize freckles and brown spots is just that — minimize them. Use a therapeutic, concealing make up base — and get on with your life.

Tags: brown spots, discoloration, freckles, inflammation

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Look in the mirror and what do you see? Skin.

Look down at your toes… elbows… heels.

It’s all skin but it’s not the same all over, is it?

In some places, your skin is tight; in others, loose (like elbows).

Some skin is soft; some is tough (like the bottoms of your feet).

Some skin produces oil; some does not.

Some of it has hair follicles; some does not.

There’s still a large area of skin you never see – the skin inside your body where it forms the cavities that hold your vital organs. Of course, your skin is one of your vital organs. (You are in serious trouble if a large area of it is damaged.)

Look in the mirror and what do you see? Skin cells. Dead skin cells.

The outermost layer, the one we see when we look at you, consists of a layer of dead cells.

Under them and protected by them, are layers of living skin cells. These repair themselves and replace themselves on a regular basis.

In order for cells to grow and function as they are designed to do, the layers of your skin are filled with nerves to act as sensors, with glands to produce enough oil to lubricate and tiny capillaries to carry blood around to nourish this remarkable organ.

And you think your mirror lets you see your skin?

Well, it does. Some of it, anyway!

Tags: capillaries, glands, layer of dead cells, living skin cells, nerves, vital organ

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Exfoliation sounds like something to do with leaves. And it does, but that’s not what we’re interested in right now. Our question is: What does it have to do with your face?

“Exfoliation” – one of those big words intended to impress us ordinary human beings. A sort of insider’s jargon to make us think they know something we don’t know.

Well, let’s blow their cover.

There are some ordinary little words that say the very same thing – and wouldn’t scare anybody.

Exfoliation simply means to clean away the outer layer of cells from the surface of your skin. These no longer have a purpose because they are dead cells.

If you don’t remove them, they just sit there plugging up pores and encouraging wrinkles. Also, as semi-permanent debris, these useless ex-cells (I made that up because I need a word for them) attract bacteria.

As you know, bacteria just loves stuff that’s been sitting around too long – like that week-old pizza slice in the back of your refrigerator.

So you see, it’s important to remove accumulated “junk” from your face.

Wait! Wait! Put down that scrub brush… Not a good way to remove dead cells.

Gently. Works far better – and is far safer. The rough stuff causes microscopic tears in your skin. And here come those bacteria, inviting themselves in.

The people who know cells suggest using a botanical mask on a daily basis. A specially formulated light gel mask can do this in about 7 minutes. Rinses right off.

There. You have done your exfoliation for today and your face is clean and soft, ready for any final touches. Now, go face your world with confidence.

Tags: bacteria, botanical mask, dead cells, debris, exfoliation

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Your skin stands guard between your vital organs and a hostile environment. When it is weak, sick or otherwise damaged, how is it going to provide the protection you need?

Skin regulates body temperature, insulating against both heat and cold in order to keep it within a relatively stable range. When skin is intact, it prevents invasion by pathogenic micro-organisms and external pollutants from water and air.

Your skin is your body’s main contact with the outside world, reporting to your brain the constantly-changing situations through which your body is moving. It transfers information about pain, temperature, textures and smells.

Your body needs protection against the damaging rays of the sun. Your skin does its best. In the process, it may suffer serious damage itself — sunburn and skin cancers. The first is damage from an external source; the second is a malfunction of the cells themselves which often develop from previously damaged cells.

As a living organ, your skin will not stay the same day in and day out, year after year. It will respond to external changes as well as your internal health. Expect to adjust your skin care program to best aid your skin as it guards the rest of you from your hostile environment.

Tags: damaged cells, living organ, regulates body temperature, skin cancer, skin changes

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Yes, I’ve seen them, too … the ads that claim you can get rid of blackheads in 72 hours or even minutes.

There are products that offer to scrub them off, burn them away with chemical mixtures — even dig them out of your pores.

There is a basic flaw here. These remedies, in addition to being extremely harsh, are all external applications.

The reason this approach is flawed is that the blackhead you see on the surface of your face didn’t just land there and start clogging your pores.

Cell biologists know cells like nobody else. They study how cells grow and how problems develop. What have they found out?

Here is a scenario for the development of a blackhead.

A bacterium gets into an oil gland. It soon becomes a horde of bacteria, then an infection.

The infected waste is pushed up through the cell to the skin surface.

Upon reaching your face, this material is exposed to air.

Free radicals in the air get to work (the same way they do on a cut apple).

This is oxidation. The exposed material turns darker and becomes visible.

You see a new blackhead.

When you remove the dark top by scrubbing or chemically destroying it, you don’t see the blackhead anymore. You could say you got rid of it, in a way.

You got rid of the part of the blackhead you could see –

What you can’t see is that the problem is still there, working its way up from below.

Your blackheads have not gone away.

Tags: bacteria, blackheads, infection, oil gland, oxidation

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