Once acne is under control you can move on to wrinkles. Another reason for treating zits first is because if you alter your lifestyle in such as way as to free yourself from acne, and you doing this in a healthy and patient fashion, you will actually lessen number of wrinkles you have.

Health is wholeness and beauty is a reflection of robust health. You’ll never buy robust health in a jar. It is a mind, body, spirit and environmental support system that garners full-bodied health. Lets look at want you actually need from a “beauty cream”.

Face Cream Education There are five basic ingredients in any given anti-aging or anti-wrinkling cream.

1. The oil or moisturizer 2. The preservatives to keep cream from spoiling. 3. A scent or flavor 4. A color 5. The active ingredient.

Only one of these components is essential, oil. The preservative is only needed to keep cream useful. Your face does not need preservation because skin is alive. Since some people have allergies to scents and colors in cosmetics, body says that these two ingredients are not necessary. The active ingredient is usually latest cosmetic drug or multivitamin that is supposed to lift or dramatically reverse your age by 5-20 years.

Researchers S. Jay Olshansky, Leonard Hayflick and Bruce A. Carnes bluntly comment on antics of cosmetic companies in their report No Truth to Fountain of Youth, published in June 2002 edition of Scientific American. The authors warn everyone aiming to reverse signs of times on their face that, “… anyone purporting to offer an anti-aging product today is either mistaken or lying”.

I bet you are thinking, “Won’t that oil make acne worse?” The answer is not if you are using right oil. Some essential oils such as bergamont, lavender, lemon, neroli, sandalwood, tea tree and ylang ylang have cleansing and antibacterial properties which help combat acne infections. Other essential oil like geranium, clary sage and orange regulate production of oil on face. When mixed with a carrier oil such as jojoba or camellia, these essential oils are ideal moisturizers.

Nothing that you put on your face will truly change your appearance. Creams are useful, but they are only one instrument in an orchestra of anti-aging concerts. Health starts on inside. If you want to improve your beauty start with how you treat yourself and feed yourself. I mean not only what foods you eat but what thoughts you eat.

You may eat thoughts of sort, “I can’t…”, “I had a stressful day”, “I’m tired of…”, “I can’t wait until…”, “I’m getting old”, “My body isn’t as healthy as it used to be”. The menu is endless. If you want to look young and healthy, you have to think young and healthy thoughts. Here’s steps to jumpstart your quest:

Start by changing your thinking. Develop your own youth model, i.e. with steps you’ll take to maintain your vitality and stick to it.

Enjoy nutritious foods. A study in Journal of American College of Nutrition found that eating a variety of fruits and vegetables and using olive oil every day could help keep wrinkles away. The researchers found that people who ate a diet rich in green leafy vegetables, beans, olive oil, nuts and multigrain breads, while avoiding butter, red meat and sugary goodies, were less predisposed to wrinkling. Researchers believe that antioxidant vitamins, such as A, C and E, which are found in fruits and vegetables, may help protect skin from environmental damage.

Use a gentle cleanser each day.

Steam your face everyday for 5-15 minutes, especially if your have acne. The steam removes waxy build-up on skin while it stimulates circulation. This combo of benefits cleans to pores to reduce possibility of acne while firming up skin and facial muscles.

Exfoliate your skin daily. Moisturize your face in morning and evening with natural oils. In addition to acne fighting oils listed above, you can mix essential oils such as frankinsense, myrrh, neroli and rose to help encourage growth of new skin cells. You can create a moisturizer by diluting 1-3 of your favorite essential oils in a carrier oil such as jojoba or camellia oil in a ration of 1 part essential oil to 3 parts carrier oil.

Massage your face daily when you apply your facial oil.

Lie down on an incline bench for 5-20 minutes each day to let blood flow to your head.

Wear a sunhat in sun.

Give yourself a light skin peel once a month.

Finally, forty can still be fabulous and your beauty-plan a lot less enigmatic. Just remember basics, interpret messages of your zits, and educate yourself about wrinkle creams- you don’t need them.

Spices: Basil, Red Pepper, Allspice (this gives it that Caribbean flavor), Cumin, Garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Optional: Mexican cheese, your favorite lean meat, or for authentic Caribbean flavor; use seafood like shrimp of muscles.

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat and cook onions until they start to clear. Then add water (the amount required for rice) and increase burner to high. Bring water to boil and stir in rice and return to boil. Reduce heat to low and let rice stand until it absorbs water. Add in pineapple chunks and can of beans, both drained. Add in spices to taste and any optional meat or cheese. Stir it up and serve when warm.