Lifestyle Choices

THE BEST SITES FOR ROOMS IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

• Reverse these directions for the southern hemisphere.
• Sitting room:South facing for late morning and afternoon sun.
• Kitchen:Southwest facing for morning and afternoon sun.
• Dining room:East or west facing for morning or afternoon sun.
• Playroom:West facing for afternoon sun.
• Bedroom:Southeast facing for morning sun.
• Bathroom:Any direction which allows the most light.
• Study:West or northwest facing for reflected light. Storage/garage:West or north facing for late afternoon sun.
• Studio/office:North facing for reflected light.
• Exercise space: East facing for morning sun or west facing for afternoon sun.
• Meditation or sanctuary: East facing for sunrise or west facing for sunset.

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With intrinsic biological aging, the skin’s outer layer is thinned (over time by about 20 percent). The surface of the skin remains smooth. The border between the epidermis and the dermis becomes flattened, making the skin less resistant to friction (you get more blisters in snug shoes!). In contrast, extrinsic photoaging causes a thickening of the outer skin layer, with up to 50 percent more cells being accumulated onto the skin’s surface, making it feel rough and dry. Think of the grainy, thickened skin on the backs of the hands of a gardener, for example. With photoaging, accumulation of pigment in the basal cells is more markedly irregular than in intrinsic aging, causing the so-called “liver spots” or “age spots” (medically called solar lentigos), the unattractive dark spots especially prevalent on the hands, arms, face and chest. (more…)

When and why did tanning become popular? In the last century, a tan was definitely not considered to be “chic”: only laborers, farmers, and fishermen who worked long hours outdoors had tans. Women of the “upper classes” took particular pride in their porcelain-white, unspotted skins, protecting themselves from the sun with parasols, gloves, and large hats. Female beauty was measured by the translucence and smoothness of the skin. (more…)

It is truly more dangerous now than even a few years ago to expose yourself to the sun! Scientists have noted a substantial decrease in the ozone layer above the earth’s atmosphere. This is the layer that acts as a protective filter to save us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.

Measurements in the late fall, winter, and early spring showed a reduction of 5 percent as opposed to the previous decade. Calibrations initially focused on the seasonal “hole” in the ozone layer, (more…)

Who is at risk? Everyone!

No one is safe from sun damage! You suffer an increased risk if your skin is Type I or II — that is if you are of Scottish, Irish, Scandinavian, or northern European descent and have fair skin that burns easily but does not tan. Especially at risk are people who have freckles, blond, red or light-brown hair, and blue, green or gray eyes. (more…)

Decreased Immunity

Your skin is your first layer of protection from the environment. These capture foreign substances and organisms to present them to the immune system deeper in the skin and in the blood.

It is known that after exposure to UV light, the number of Langerhan’s cells markedly decreases and can even disappear completely, making us far more susceptible to skin infection. When you suffer sunburn you compound the problem. Not only are your immune cells depleted, but the blistering of acute sunburn breaks down the skin, making infection more likely. (more…)

Skin Photoallergies

A photoallergy is a specific immune reaction that occurs only in certain people after they have been exposed several times to the offending substance and then sunbathed or used a tanning bed. Even a small amount of the substance can cause a red, scaly or blistering eruption when the person sunbathes. The rash usuallybegins over 12 hours after exposure.

A photoallergic reaction is very individual. (more…)

There is no doubt that the sun does damage the skin. “If you tan now, you’ll pay later!”

You will be surprised to learn about the many kinds of sun damage that you or your friends or family may suffer if you do not take the proper precautions. You were probably unaware of some of these hazards.

Sunburn

Although most people admit that they’d like a light suntan, nobody wants a sunburn. Nevertheless there are many people who love to spend hours at the beach, thinking that their sunburn is the first step towards a “glorious” tan. Many people have at one time shared this view. (more…)

It should reassure you to know that sunscreens are classified as over-the-counter drugs, not merely cosmetics. That means that all ingredients in each preparation have undergone testing to demonstrate their safety and effectiveness. Each particular sunscreen formulation must also be checked prior to sale to demonstrate its sun protection factor (SPF).

Interestingly, the sunscreen ingredients accepted as effective by regulatory bodies differ a little from country to country. (more…)

The only “safe” tan is the tan obtained from a bottle! Effective self-tanning creams contain the chemical dihydroxyacetone, which reacts with the keratin protein in the outer layers of skin to dye the skin brown. (Be careful! Dihydroxyacetone darkens all keratin protein, including hair and wool.)

This type of self-tanner is perfectly safe and can give the tan you desire if applied properly and uniformly. There are many formulas which give different shades of tan. The consistency of the cream or lotion also varies — self-tanner must be applied evenly to prevent splotchiness. Quite a few products are good, so experiment with several brands until you find one that you prefer. (more…)

Moles(nevi) are collections of nevus cells derived from the pigment- producing melanocytes. Almost everyone has at least one nevus, which can be flesh-colored, brown or bluish-black. Some are flat (Junctional), some slightly elevated (compound), and some dome-shaped (dermal). Nevi occur in about one percent of all newborn babies; the number of nevi increases in childhood. The size and pigmentation may increase throughout life, especially during puberty, pregnancy, with oral estrogens such as the Pill, and after sun exposure. Although some women such as Elizabeth Taylor are known for their distinctive “beauty marks”, many moles are unattractive or irritating, and others may change in appearance. These should be removed for microscopic examination. (more…)

Environment

Finally, anything that you apply to your skin may cause so-called acne cosmetics or pomade acne. If your skin feels irritated by any particular cleanser, makeup, sunscreen, moisturizer, or even shampoo, and especially by hair treatments, it reacts by forming an extra shell of protection. How does it do this? Simply by adhering more dead cells onto the surface! It is therefore not the cosmetic per se that causes acne, but rather the body’s protective reaction that clogs the pores. (more…)

These are the basic rules that really do help to protect you:

1 Don’t roast yourself

However tempting it might be, don’t ever lie in the sun. And always stay near trees for shade or an umbrella (preferably dark and tightly woven). Do remember that indoor “palefaces” who quick-roast themselves in the sun on a two-week vacation can measurably increase their risk of skin cancer.. (more…)

The effects of the sun can be seen on the skin of any present or former sun-worshipper in the form of wrinkles, dark spots, roughness, leathery skin texture and a sallow complexion, often with prominent bursts of blood vessels. Under the microscope this shows up as thickening of the outer layer of the skin, with extra grouped pigment cells, and in the deeper dermis, clumps of non-functional elastic tissue and loss of collagen. (more…)

Six major causes of our facial wrinkles:

1 Natural or “intrinsic” aging

Natural, biologic aging is responsible for the inevitable thinning of our skin accompanied by the loss of structural collagen and elastic tissue. The good news is that this biologic aging is the least important of the causes of wrinkles on your face. (more…)

“Skin Bleaching” Medical Surgery Basic Procedure

Before a chemical peel, the doctor may recommend that the face be “pre-treated” with a special exfoliating cleanser, with retinoic acid, or with alpha-hydroxy acids so that the peel procedure can be performed on a more even skin surface. Just before the peel, the doctor may ask the patient to wash his or her face thoroughly. Then he or she will clean the patient’s face extensively with alcohol oracetone, rubbing the superficial oil from the skin. (more…)

Skin cancers

Skin cancer is already a common disease but we are seeing it more and more. There may be several reasons for this but an important one is that more fair-skinned people are being exposed to sunlight, either on holiday or having emigrated to a hot country. The problem is so great in subtropical Australia that almost every adult has at least one skin cancer in their life. Much more will be said about the damaging effect of sunlight on skin but it is such an important subject that there is no harm in mentioning it twice. (more…)

There are three kinds of permanent hair colourants: vegetable dyes such as henna, metallic dyes such as those used to gradually cover grey hair, and the aniline dyes or oxidation tints, which include most of the colourants used professionally in salons.

The Vegetable Dyes

Henna is the best-known, since its use dates back thousands of years. Taken from the Lawsonia plant, which is indigenous to Africa and Asia, henna varies in colour depending on which country it comes from. It can be strong orange in colour, as Moroccan henna, or a deep red, as the henna that comes from Iran — the most sought-after in the world. The plant is harvested, dried in the sun, and then crushed into a greenish powder, which is what one puts on the hair. It coats the hair shaft’s cuticle a reddish colour. (more…)

Long-term effects of UV

These can be divided into photoaging, potentially malignant and frankly malignant tumors. The changes result from a cumulative dose of UVB over many years. At present the worst affected are fair-skinned Britons who have been brought up in tropical or subtropical climates, e.g. Northern Australia or the southern states of the USA. Other groups include men who spent years in the desert in World War Two. The victims of the future are today’s young men and women who roast themselves on sunny beaches every summer and who then try to maintain the tan by using sunbeds through the winter months. (more…)

BEGIN BY STAYING OUT OF THE SUN

To preserve your skin from premature aging, in addition to the constant use of a sunscreen on your face as part of your everyday skin care, you should understand the art of sunbathing—that is if you want to tan at all. Ideally, of course, you would be far better off pale.

As we’ve already said, the sun is your skin’s worst “ager.” It has been proved that exposure to ultraviolet light brings about permanent fundamental alterations in the genetic material of skin cells and encourages the process of cross-linking. These changes are cumulative and irreversible. Even when sun-exposed skin from an arm is grafted onto a protected area such as the abdomen and left there for years, it still remains older- looking and darker than the skin surrounding it. (more…)