Basic Skin CareWritten by Lori Stryker
Healthy, beautiful skin is possible to achieve, but elusive to many. Despite myriad of advertisements claiming that one cream or one product can give you smooth, clear, wrinkle-free complexion that most people hope for, skin care is in fact a complex process grounded in real science and human physiology. Many factors contribute to our need for skin care products, so abstaining altogether from them is not healthy for our skin either. Healthy skin begins with a basic knowledge of your skin type, and how to keep it clean, nourished and protected throughout year. It also requires a consideration of our overall diet and nutritional status.There are four basic steps to successful skin care: cleansing, toning, moisturizing and special needs such as make-up. Our skin types are genetically determined, but can vary depending on following factors: diet environment, such as climate change or pollution stress or anxiety cosmetics and skin care products illness or trauma hormone levels, such as during puberty, pregnancy or menopause exercise levels age degree and length of sun exposure To determine your overall skin type, use this simple blot test. Press one ply of a dry tissue onto your face for ten seconds, then remove and examine results. Balanced skin is damp with no traces of oil. Dry skin has no oil or moisture residue on tissue. Oily skin has left oily and possibly dirt traces on tissue. Combination skin has oily and dry marks on tissue. Dry Skin This skin type is characterized by: dry, flaky patches and is easily chapped feels tight across forehead, cheeks and chin itchy and easily irritated sensitive bruises easily can appear powdery or scaly prone to fine lines and wrinkles Dry skin is a result of decreased sebum production, skin's indigenous oil, which is important in keeping skin moist and lubricated. Consequently, this skin type has less of an oily barrier, allowing water to evaporate easily through skin. This process can be worsened by detergents, heating or air conditioning, pollution, inadequate skin care, certain chemical ingredients in cosmetic products, overexposure to sun and wind and overuse of soaps and alcohol-based products. Helping to 'restore' dry skin involves protecting skin with creamy, oil-based products and avoiding harsh soaps, scrubs or products which contain alcohol. The Organic Make-up Company recommends its line of gentle, all natural products, specifically: oatmeal soap, floral toner once or twice per week, rich formulation moisturizer in avocado, calendula or jojoba and facial oil in geranium or avocado at night. Oily Skin This skin type is characterized by: overall shine enlarged pores coarse texture acne spots and comedones (blackheads) sallow complexion tendency to repel and run make-up resistance to fine lines and wrinkles Oily skin is result of excessive secretions of sebum. It can be exacerbated by poor health, or a diet high in saturated fats and sugar. Emotional upset or stress can also trigger more sebum deposits on skin. Oily skin is worsened by hormone level fluctuations, alcohol-based products and harsh soaps, both of which dry out skin, thereby activating oil glands to produce more sebum. Comedogenic ingredients, such as mineral oil and other ingredients which are derivatives of petroleum block pores and can lead to acne spots. Regular cleansing aids in removal of bacteria and waxy oils from pores. Oily skin responds well to alcohol-free toner and a lightweight, natural moisturizer. Try following products from The Organic Make-up Co. to help 'normalize' oily skin and reduce significantly frequency of acne break-outs and blackheads: Wild Oregano or Chamomile & Calendula soap, acne-prone toner once or twice per day, regular moisturizer in calendula, jojoba or grapeseed for daytime and acne-prone facial oil at night. A gentle exfoliant once per week, such dual action exfoliant system offered by The Organic Make-up Co. will help loosen and remove blackheads. Balanced Skin This skin type is rare, and is characterized by: a creamy colour thickness smoothness firmness few irregularities or blemishes an even distribution of skin's natural oil dryness with age Balanced skin is worsened by many of same factors which can afflict other skin types. Any skin care product offered by The Organic Make-up Co. will benefit this type of skin. Combination Skin Most people have combination skin, with oily areas focused around forehead, nose, cheeks and chin. Other areas of face can at same time be very dry. All of products offered by The Organic Make-up Co. are gentle and effective enough to treat combination skin, but if you have problems with acne, follow recommendations for oily skin.
| | How sleep affects our skinWritten by Lori Stryker
Sleep is a "natural, temporary loss of consciousness" (Robinson, 1941) necessary for our bodies to build up energy reserves and regenerate body cells and tissues. During sleep, heart beats more slowly, breathing becomes slower, growth hormones peak, muscles relax and body temperature lowers. Newborn infants sleep almost continuously, gradually decreasing their need for sleep. In early childhood, 12 to 13 hours of sleep are generally required and this amount decreases to approximately 8 hours in adulthood. After age of 50, sleep is often characterized by frequent night time wakenings, shorter dream lengths and less overall sleep (Bricklen, 1990). Many consider sleep to be of low priority among many daily activities engaged in. It is estimated that world's population is depriving itself of one less hour of sleep per night than is needed (Awake!, 2004). Despite this view of night-time rest, sleep is a necessary, sophisticated process regulated by brain. Operating as a 24- hour clock, chemical substances, such as melanin, are released in body to trigger sleepiness. There are two main stages of sleep classified according to eye movement. The first is REM or rapid eye movement which is a shallow, dream-filled sleep. There are four sub-stages within REM sleep. The first sub-stage lasts 30 seconds to 7 minutes, and during this time muscles relax while brain produces irregular wave activity. The second sub-stage lasts 20 percent of night and brain waves become larger as body is asleep. The next sub-stage is called delta sleep, where growth hormones peak, and cell and tissue repair take place. Without delta sleep, which accounts for half of a night's sleep, one will feel tired next day. Every 90 minutes brain enters dream sub-stage, where brain wave activity is similar in pattern to being awake, but muscles are not able to move as when awake. This stage lengthens each repeated cycle during night, and is crucial to preserving mental health and long term memory, since brain sorts through short term memory and 'deletes' unimportant data. The second major stage of sleep is non-REM, or non rapid eye movement, where blood pressure drops and heart rate slows as person enters a deep sleep.Short term sleep deprivation causes little physical harm, since body compensates for lack of sleep by increasing its adrenaline levels during day. The body also attempts to get more sleep at a later time. A temporary shift in attitude may occur, such as feelings of pessimism or negativity (Bricklin, 1990). Sleep deprivation, even short term, can be dangerous if driving a car, or operating machinery. Sleep deprivation is thought to be cause of half of all traffic fatalities on U.S. highways, and being awake 17 to 19 hours can cause same limited reaction and ability as having a 0.05 percent blood alcohol limit (Awake! 2004). It is also implicated in many workplace accidents. Chronic sleep deprivation, which is caused by prolonged shortages of sleep, can lead to paranoia or hallucinations. This is also termed 'sleep debt', and is characterized by irregular sleep patterns that do not allow body to enter delta sleep. This can bring on a short attention span, memory and vocabulary loss as well as other symptoms. Among women aged 25-50 who tend to be "perfectionists", many tend to suffer from shallow sleep as wake centre of brain remains active when it should be relatively inactive. Other complications from sleep deprivation include obesity, premature aging, fatigue, chronic memory loss and increased risk for diabetes, infection, cardiovascular disease and gastrointestinal disease. It is important, therefore, to obtain an adequate amount of sleep each night, since sleep also helps body metabolize free radicals, which are thought to accelerate aging and cancerous growths.
|
