Lifestyle Choices

There are three parts to any good external skin care regimen, regardless of your age or the type of skin you have:

1. Regular, thorough cleansing

2. Protection from moisture loss and external roughness

3. Protection from the ultraviolet rays of the sun

These are the basics. They are simple, and there need be no mumbo jumbo about them. One can include a fourth part to skin care too, and that is treatment. This extra can correct problems, help preserve youth, and revitalize the look of skin.

You can give your skin treatments either internally from vitamins, minerals, and diet, or externally in the form of hydrotherapy, or by applying special creams, oils, or herbs, or by using specific exercises to strengthen muscles before they have a chance to sag or to correct neglect. The treatment part of skin care is where the art comes into it, and here you need to consider your specific skin conditions and problems. The other three are all parts of the simple craft of skin care, and it is very simple indeed. (more…)

The third part of everyday skin care is simple: Your skin needs to be protected from the sun. This does not just mean when you are lying on the beach, either; it means all the time. For ultraviolet light is the worst destroyer and ager of the skin that you are ever likely to encounter.

Long-term exposure to ultraviolet light brings about degenerative changes in the deep layers of the skin that until recently were thought to be an unavoidable part of the aging process: cross-linking and bunching of the collagen fibers and genetic damage to the skin’s cells that cause it to lose tone, to wrinkle, to sag, and to discolor. (more…)

Your skin is constantly giving up moisture, not just through the sweat ducts but through a process of transpiration in which water in the cells on its surface evaporates directly into the atmosphere. This is quite different from perspiring, which only happens to any marked degree when the body is warm. Transpiration occurs constantly. The lower the humidity in your environment, the more rapid will be the water loss and the greater the need to protect against it. And what most women don’t realize is that the humidity of the average centrally heated home or office is comparable to that of the Sahara Desert. Similarly, chemical pollutants, soaps, makeup, and anything that affects the hydrolipidic film decreases its effectiveness and leads to further dehydration.

I learned the truth of this for myself when I spent a month in a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayas. There was no water to wash with, no air pollution, and no stress, for I was spending most of my days and nights in meditation. Neither was there a mirror. (more…)

Many eye problems, from poor vision and eye watering or itching to premature wrinkles and crow’s-feet, can be eliminated and often prevented by improving general nutrition. Japanese expert on eye nutrition Jin Otsuka, professor of ophthalmology at Tokyo University, believes that eating refined sugar is one of the worst things you can do if you want to preserve your vision. He has shown in animal experiments that giving sugar in large quantities will make an animal myopic. This is

probably because sugar tends to rob the body of other nutrients essential for the health of the eye and for the nerves which supply it. (more…)

How, physically, you handle your eyes has a lot to do with how long the skin around them looks young and how clear and bright they are themselves. Eyes don’t need to be favored to stay beautiful and healthy, but they don’t need abuse, either. Yet they are faced with it most of the time, in the form of air pollution, smoke, misapplied makeup, and mismanaged makeup removal. The skin surrounding your eyes is thinner and finer than anywhere else on your face. It is also only sparsely supplied with oil glands and therefore highly prone to expression lines. This is where a good eye cream can help. They come in several varieties. Some (usually the more expensive) are designed not only to protect the skin in the area from dehydration but also to plump it up for several hours to minimize the lines there. (more…)

Like the rest of you, your eyes need exercise. So do the muscles around them, in order for the skin that covers them to remain firm and wrinkle- free. Here are a few useful toners arid refreshers:

Eye Toner

This not only strengthens eyes and helps to keep them healthy, it also improves the musculature that supports the skin and helps prevent sags and bags that belie your age. Hold a pencil in front of your eyes about twelve inches away from them. Focus on it for a couple of seconds, then focus far beyond it. Repeat this fifteen times. (more…)