Skin care products have come a long way from the products our mothers and grandmothers used decades ago. Today skin care products are infused with chemicals and ingredients researchers believe will help us to look younger longer and correct many of the facial skin conditions from which we suffer. However, in an era when products are beginning to incorporate more “green” ingredients skin care regimens seem to be going in the opposite direction. Here are a few of the things that can be done at home using natural products to develop a skin care routine that will both help your skin and decrease the amount of chemicals you use.
All skin care regimens include an exfoliation. This is a process in which the dead skin cells sitting on the top layer of the skin are eliminated. This skin is the largest organ of the elimination on the second largest organ in the entire body. Using an exfoliation process over the face and the rest of the body allows the skin to detoxify, eliminate greater numbers of waste and look and feel it’s best.
There are a couple methods of exfoliation that can be used that help to eliminate dried dead skin cells. This first process should be used only over the body and not over the face because it is too rough for use over the tender skin on the face. Mix two tablespoons of raw sea salt with olive oil to form a paste. Step into a steaming hot shower for five minutes to allow the pores to open. Shut the shower off and using these salt and oil paste to exfoliate, scrub all parts of the body except the face. Now stand in a steaming hot shower for another five minutes before finally rinsing off salt and oil. This process leaves your skin feeling smooth and soft.
You can also try a dry brushed exfoliation that is done in the morning prior to showering. Use a soft, natural bristle brush that you brush lightly over your body prior to getting into the shower where the dead skin cells will be washed away down the drain. This gentle pressure is often come into the nervous system and will improve lymph system and blood circulation in the extremities.
Natural skincare begins from the inside out. Your skin is a natural reflection of a good digestive system that is balanced between good and bad bacteria. Some of the easy ways of helping to improve your digestive system is to drink plenty of water each day which helps to eliminate waste products and prevents constipation. Most people also lack fiber in their diet getting only an average of 12 g a day when the recommended number runs between 25 and 38 g depending upon sex and age. Add fiber by increasing the amount of whole grains you eat over refined white flour, have an apple as a snack, choose high-fiber snacks such as seeds and dried fruits and increase the number of beans and legumes in your diet.
Inactivity can also affect the skin and promote acne, cellulite and a loss of muscle tone. If you spend your days sitting at a desk in your office be sure you get a distraction move at least once every hour. Take a quick break and go for a walk around the block, stretch at the side of your desk for five minutes every hour, get a jump rope and use it for 15 minutes every day and try to incorporate time at the gym.
Sugar is another cause of premature aging. The more we eat the more damage done to the protein molecules which in turn damages collagen, cartilage and ligaments. Incorporating essential fatty acids are another way of improving your skin from the inside and out.
Because our skin actually acts more as a sponge then a barrier we have the capability of absorbs ink nearly 130 different chemicals. Cosmetic companies in the food and drug administration believed that these chemicals are safe, at least in small doses. But when you consider that the average woman will in jest as much as 4 pounds of lipstick in her lifetime you come to understand how a little dab of lipstick here in a quick spray of hairspray their begins to add up.
Almost 90% of the over 10,000 different cosmetics and skincare ingredients known in the United States have not been evaluated for safety. To be fair, no research has definitively linked him terminal illness with mascara or body wash but using complex chemicals with potential unknown side effects often leads individuals to err on the side of safety. Interestingly, more than 1100 personal product ingredients have been banned for use in Europe because of the concerns they have regarding cancer, birth defects and reproductive issues. By contrast only 10 of these have been banned in the United States.
