Lifestyle Choices

Most people will need advice from their doctor to help in the treatment of moderate or severe acne. Generally doctors will start with cheap, safe agents which have few side effects and only if these fail will they recommend medication to be taken by mouth.

Topical preparations (onto the skin)

Benzoyl peroxide

This has been around for more than thirty years but we do not yet know fully how it works. It loosens blackheads and kills bacteria but has other effects as well. It comes in strengths from two-and-a-half to twenty per cent and may be bought as a cream, gel or a wash. Examples are given in the previous section. (more…)

Pigment

The pigment in our skin is called melanin and this same substance gives color to our hair and eyes. Fair -skinned people have only a little melanin while those with dark skins have a lot. The main function of melanin is to protect the skin from ultraviolet in the sun’s rays.

Vitiligo

Intensive research, around the world, has so far failed to reveal the trigger for vitiligo or the mechanism. We know that antibodies against the melanocyte are found in the blood, that antibodies against the thyroid gland are also present but that they seem to do no harm. (more…)

Birthmarks

It would be logical if all birthmarks were present at birth. This is not always the case. Some marks appear in the first few days of life but others can be delayed by months or years. In these cases it is thought that the fault resides in the skin from birth but only reveals itself when some other factor acts as a trigger. An example of this is the unusual problem called Becker’s nevus. It has the appearance, usually on the shoulder, of a large light brown patch, often with some coarse dark hair in it. It is first seen at puberty and is triggered by rising hormone levels. Salmon patches or stork bites derive their name from the old fable about babies being delivered down the chimney by a friendly stork whose beak has clasped the human bundle by the nape of the neck. These marks are seen in about a quarter of the population. Sometimes they are thought to have appeared in adult life but it is only that some new hair style or hair disease has revealed a patch that has really been present since birth. (more…)

The medical meaning of the word tumor is simply a swelling or lump raised above the skin surface. Although some tumors are cancers, most are not and the word can be applied to something as harmless as a wart.

Harmless skin lumps of one type or another are exceedingly common: in fact everyone has one or more at some time in their life. Although moles, which are raised, could also be considered here they are dealt with in detail in the section on birthmarks and pigment. This section deals with both harmless or benign lumps as well as true cancers or malignant lumps. (more…)

The Aniline or Oxidation Hair Colorants

The most permanent (and the most successful), these dyes are included in a number of products for colouring hair such as tinting shampoos, highlighting shampoos, and the single-step and double-step permanent colourants you can buy in packages at the chemist. They are permanent dyes, because the artificial pigment is made to penetrate into the cortex of the hair shaft. There it stays. How this happens is most interesting. (more…)

Viruses

Viruses are even smaller than bacteria and fungi and they are not usually found on normal skin. Many viruses can cause a rash - e.g. measles and glandular fever - but these diseases are not dealt with here. This section describes some virus infections in which either the only signs or the commonest signs of the disease are on the skin.

Warts

It is now known that there are several strains of wart virus and each tends to produce its own type of wart. Some cause the ordinary wart on the hands, others painful warts on the feet; and still others warts on the face or genitals. Warts are caught from other people. This happens easily in children who have not had time to develop immunity to the virus but adults are more resistant. Even when the virus has gained access to the skin it may lie dormant for weeks or months before the wart itself appears. (more…)

Holidays and sun

Many people find their psoriasis improves in the summer, particularly when on holiday. The beneficial side effects of ultraviolet light contribute to this improvement as do relaxation, exercise and decreased stress. Take all the holidays you are allowed.

General skin care

It may help to use a bath oil to get a film of oil onto your skin. Moisturizers help - E45, emulsifying ointment, aqueous creams are all good. Something stickier like Vaseline may be useful on plaques at times.

Scalp involvement is a nuisance and frequent hair-washing may be necessary - a short style makes this easier to cope with. (more…)

Roughly speaking, there are two kinds of dates, at least from a boy’s point of view. In one he feels drawn to a girl primarily by her physical attractiveness (which includes a certain seductiveness of personality) and will go as far as he has the boldness to try or as the girl will permit. In the other he is attracted by a girl’s whole personality, including her physical appeal, and wants to know her better; somewhere in the front or back of his mind is the thought that this might possibly turn out to be the exciting relationship of his life.

In a girl’s feelings also there are the two kinds of dates. But there is lots of evidence that a girl doesn’t distinguish so sharply and calculatingly as a boy; she tends to hope that any kind of dating relationship will turn into true love. (more…)

Women hate being efficient in the home. Lists and routines simply do not fit into the pink-check-gingham.. and-lace mental picture of the soap opera mother, which so many of us were brought up to be. When you become a working mother with any luck you will get twice as much out of life, but you can’t run your house as if you weren’t working. A working mother has to work faster and more efficiently in the home. She has to be twice as reliable outside it because people expect her not to be.

I have evolved my own system, which I slowly slip away from, but it pulls me back to reality at regular intervals, and heaven knows what I would be like without it. (more…)

There are two sorts of crisis: there is the personal one, such as the loss of a job or of a loved one by death or divorce, or the communal one, such as a motorway threat to a village, or a war. But there always seems to be some sort of crisis.

When personal disaster strikes, you probably need sympathy and practical help; but there is a distinct possibility (especially if everyone else is also swimming for the lifeboats) that the only person who is always interested in you, and able to provide you with sustained help is … YOURSELF.

Don’t think ’somebody ought to do something about it’ or `the government should see to it’. Start thinking in terms of self-reliance. What you can do and what you can’t do — that may be all you can count on. Whatever your crisis, force yourself to look cheerful. Shakespeare said: ‘ There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so’, and Napoleon added that `the moral is to material as three to one’. I would also say that the quickest face lift is a smile. Go on — try it, just for today SMILE and try to find something good instead of something bad in every new situation. (more…)

For sparkling bright beauties, start with the right tools:

• Several small, round-tipped sable brushes for applying color to lids, under lower lashes; also essential for blending.
• Flat, fan-shaped brush to apply more than a single color at a time or to cover large areas with bright shadows.
• Eyelash/eyebrow brush. This handy duo does two jobs: one side smooths brows, the little comb on the other side separates lashes. What not to use: a pin, a bent paperclip, a comb handle; any of these could slip, causing serious eye damage.
• Cotton powderpuff to “set” eye makeup with translucent powder.
• Large, fluffy brush to remove excess translucent powder.

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For extraordinary color, shape, and appeal, follow these simple steps:

• Apply a thin coat of foundation to lips; blot. This will give color a good base for adhering.
• Using a sharp lip pencil (select a color that’s the same or slightly lighter than lip color choice), outline your mouth to give it a well-defined shape. Lips less than perfect?
• Use a flat lipbrush with firm bristles to apply a lip color. Start at center and work toward edges. The lipbrush gives you control and helps to spread the color evenly. Choose a creamy lipstick (labeled moisturizing or conditioning) that glides on easily.
• Blot by placing a tissue over your lips and patting on translucent powder with a wide, fluffy brush. Enough of the powder will sift through the paper onto lips to keep the color in place.

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Nighttime is the right time for looking gorgeous, glitzy, just plain great. Here are some tips from the pros to get you looking and feeling your date-party-special time best.

• Puffy eyes? Chill two spoons in ice water and hold them, bowl side in, against eyes. The cold shrinks blood vessels, reduces swelling.
• Use two or three coats of mascara and try a wild color choice, like the new blues, greens, and even reds!
• For superglamour, try false lashes. With lash adhesive, place a few individual lashes on the outside corners of the eyelids, or on the center of the top lid. Hint: Doing it “one-by-one” creates a more natural, flattering look than applying an entire false lash.

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Eyeliners

Finally put on your eyeliner. A good way of emphasizing eye shape without looking too obviously made up is to use a pencil in the same tone you are using for your eye shadow, dotting it all along the upper lashes and then just under the lower ones so the two lines meet at the outer corners and form a little triangle. This kind of liner looks good when it is gently smeared with a brush or fingertip to blend it into the surrounding area and keep it from looking too heavy. You can also use another color line drawn on the inside of the lower lid if you like. If you use a light color there, such as off-white, it will make your eyes look bigger. If you use a bright color such as electric blue or brilliant green, it can look great for evening. (more…)

EYES

This exercise is excellent for the eye area, which usually goes slack faster than any other part of the face. It is particularly designed to prevent or eliminate crow’s-feet. It is in two parts.

Part one Looking into a mirror, lower your chin to your chest and open your eyes looking straight ahead. Then, slowly and in eight definite steps, close your eyes by bringing the lower lids up to the upper, all the while looking into the mirror until the very last moment. Hold this position with your eyes tightly shut for four counts, then release in the same eight definite steps. Repeat four times. Once you can control these movements in definite steps, you are ready to go on to the toughy that really does the work. (more…)

One of the most useful things you can do yourself to prevent your face from aging and to correct sags and bags even after they have occurred is to practice face exercises every day.

The bones you were born with give yaw face its individual shape and structure. Short of plastic surgery or adjustments to your skull through cranial osteopathy, there is nothing you can do to change them. But your muscles are constantly changing either for better or for worse. They are made up of bundles of fibers, each of which works independently to shorten muscle and draw a part of the face into a particular expression. Just like the muscles in the rest of your body, each of these groups of fibers has an antagonistic group. This means that for each muscle that pulls an area of your face into one expression, there is an opposite muscle to pull it the other way. (more…)

While all of the nutrients found in the Lifestyle Diet are important for skin, some are particularly vital to its look and health. Vitamin A, for instance. If you do not have enough of it in your diet or if you have some difficulty in assimilating and using the vitamin (many women do), this can bring about dry, scaly, and crinkled skin. For, among its many functions, vitamin A helps regulate the size and functions of the sebaceous glands. A shortage can result in enlarged pores, rough skin, and acne.

Without adequate vitamin C, the collagen fibers in the dermis suffer damage. Vitamin C and the biofiavonoids that are found in natural foods (such as the whitish inner skin of grapefruit) not only keep skin young by helping to protect the collagen fibers and keep them intact, they also ensure the health of the tiny capillaries that supply nutrients to the skin’s cells, protecting skin from fragile or broken veins (bruising) and early wrinkling. When capillaries are not strong and working properly, then the skin’s cells don’t receive all the oxygen and nutrients they need via the bloodstream, and their functioning suffers. Neither are wastes efficiently eliminated. This can lead to st_asis in the tissues, and cellulite, as well as contributing to early aging of the skin. (more…)

Covering the Blemishes

Now is the time to deal with any problems you want to conceal, such as black circles under your eyes or discolorations here and there. Concealer creams and sticks are good here, although some of them are greasy and, particularly under the eyes, tend to sink into tiny lines and make matters worse. If you use a concealer, buy one that is not too light-colored. Many brands are far too pale and, used under the eyes, make you look ghoulish.

Put your concealer on and pat it into the skin with your little finger until it blends perfectly with the surrounding area. If you add a little powder here—particularly under the eyes—even if you don’t wear it on the rest of your face, you will get just the finish you need to make the undesirable area fade into the surrounding skin tones.

The Magic of Light and Shade

The whole secret of successful makeup, no matter what look you are after (the natural, clean face or pure glamour), lies in using light and shade well. The rules are simple. Whatever part of your face you want to bring out or emphasize, you apply a light color to, and whatever part you want to minimize, you cover with a darker shade. In practice it becomes a little more complicated. Shaders and highlighters come in several forms: creams or lotions you put on a naked face or just after applying your foundation, powders you brush on after applying translucent powder, and simple light and dark shades of foundation you put on various areas of the face for effect. (more…)

The Products

Makeup products offer you two things: coverage, which to some extent will conceal minor flaws and blemishes in your skin, and most important, color. There are literally hundreds of different makeup products on the market. From the amount of advertising that accompanies the launch of each of them—the new wand-lipstick or foam cheek color or moisture- encapsulated powder—you would assume that to do a good job of making up her face a woman needs all of them. You don’t. In fact you need very few.

Neither do colors change a great deal from season to season, in spite of the fact that each cosmetic house brings out new autumn or spring collections. If you gather together a simple range of shades for eyes, cheeks, and lips that you know look good on you, there is no reason to replace half of them with each new season’s arrivals. Yes, there might be the new shade of fuchsia lipstick which you fancy or a new-formula foundation (foundations seem to get better and better each couple of years), but the quality of a makeup product is not dependent on its price, although the package—including the little compacts, mirrors, and applicators—is usually better the more you pay. (more…)

Natural Mouth Cleansers

Several herbs freshen and cleanse the mouth and teeth very effectively.

Fresh sage leaves rubbed over gums or chewed are very refreshing and cleanse the breath too.

Mint Breath Fresheners

25 ml (2 tbsp) chopped mint

5 ml (1 tsp) finely crushed cloves little egg white

Mix mint and cloves with a little egg white. Roll into tiny balls. Store until dry. Chew a mint freshener every now and then. (more…)