Natural Facial Skin Treatments and Facial Masks

For thousands of years, women around the world have used herbs as part of their beauty regimens. Effective herbal beauty treatments purify internal and external toxins, which accumulate from environmental, dietary and other sources of pollution. According to Apothecary Tinctura’s Herbal Classes - turmeric, chamomile and seaweed provide deep nourishment and surface beauty. Use turmeric to promote radiant skin. Turmeric facials prevent bacterial infection. Turmeric pastes encourage radiance and balance pH levels. Chamomile can be an effective eye treatment. Apply a mild blend of chamomile and distilled water around the eyes to diminish a tired appearance. Seaweed detoxifies skin for a fresh feel and look.

Natural or herbal facial treatments are not new news - they have been around for millenia, but how we use them today is a brand new world. With a plethora to herbs and natural treatments to choose from, we can be overwhelmed.  But fear not.  Going natural is actually quite simple. Herbal treatments for the face can be used for beauty or health reasons. Use herbs to promote and maintain healthy, younger-looking skin. If facial skin conditions occur, turn to herbs to treat conditions including dry skin and acne. Herbs generally are safe, but consult a physician for advice about persistent facial issues. Keep reading for info and tips on facial masks and how to apply them.

Dry Skin
Dry skin can feel tight, itchy and look flaky. Holistic Online lists herbs for dry skin including, but not limited to, aloe vera, calendula, comfrey and tea tree oil. Aloe vera moisturizes and heals dry skin. Aloe vera has exfoliating action. Apply aloe vera topically. Soften and soothe dry skin with calendula or comfrey. Holistic Online suggests adding either herb to a facial sauna or to herbal water. Drink calendula tea to ease dry skin from the inside out. Add 1 tsp. of dried calendula to boiling distilled water. Infuse for five minutes and enjoy daily. According to Holistic Online, tea tree oil can heal skin at the cellular level. A drop of tea tree oil to night cream adds moisturizing benefits.

Acne
Herbal treatments can be effective for fighting acne. Holistic Online recommends black currant seed oil in capsule form to clear acne. Stinging nettles and cleavers tea may be an effective acne treatment. Acne may result from stress. Aid the healing process by relaxing jangled nerves with lavender or chamomile tea.

Using A Facial Mask

A good facial mask serves a variety of different functions: mud masks absorb oil, hydrating masks moisturize dry skin and perfecting masks replenish dull skin.

Instructions
Things You’ll Need:

* Washcloths
* Clay-based Face Masks
* Facial Mud Mask
* Moisturizing Facial Masks
Step 1
Use your fingers to spread a thin coating of the mask evenly over your skin. Avoid eye area and lips.

Step 2
Leave mask on as long as directed. Try not to laugh or smile while it’s drying.

Step 3
Remove a mud mask with a hot, wet washcloth. Pat face dry with a towel.

Step 4
Wipe off a moisturizing or replenishing mask with a tissue.

Step 5
Peel off a gel mask, starting at the forehead and moving down.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have combination skin, you may want to apply a mud mask only over the T-zone, which is the center of forehead, nose, chin and center of cheeks.
• If you have sensitive skin, you may wish to test the mask on another skin patch, such as the inside of the elbow. Wait 24 hours to make sure there is no adverse reaction before using the mask on your face.
• Avoid contact with eyes, as many masks contain acne medication or other irritating ingredients.

Natural Anti-Aging Skin Treatment Products

Natural anti-aging skin treatment products such as supplements and those facial masks that contain a blend of ingredients extracted from different plants are also well-known method of anti-aging application. Many of these target wrinkles, lines, scars, and mars, which usually set on your skin starting at the early 30’s. You should be able to know how to spot which natural product will work best on your skin and which will not. There are also great natural tips you can incorporate to reduce the signs of aging. Keep reading!

Skin aging is inevitably a process that seems to speed up because of the many elements of toxins produced by the modern age. These toxins are like poisons that attack our body and cause the skin to develop nasty acne and inflammations, which can be very tough to reduce of if not properly treated. If you are not careful of your daily lifestyle, a bad skin condition can worsen and speed up the development of skin aging, resulting in drying, sagging, and skin wrinkling.

The good news is there are many ways to treat skin aging problems today. Anti-aging treatments and creams are encapsulated to contain many vitamins and nutrients known to be very beneficial to the skin. With the help of these products, it is possible to alleviate skin problems as well as avoid undergoing delicate and sometimes complex dermatological procedures such as botox, dermabrasion or laser treatments.

Dermabrasion is one of the widely acknowledged anti-aging treatment and is used to speed up removal of wrinkles, lines and abrasions. Microdermabrasion is another kind of anti-aging treatment which uses fine crystal mists to work on sagging, wrinkling skin. Hydroderm also makes it possible to delay the aging process by removing skin lines associated with aging. All these treatments can be easily acquired nowadays and are known to be effective and safe for almost every skin type and color.

But before you resort to these harsher anti-aging treatment procedures, that there are simpler things you can do to delay the appearance of wrinkles.  The first step is to implement a regular skincare routine as early as possible. A good daily routine and a healthy lifestyle can always hide your true age and never let them guess how old, or young, you are.

• Follow these three regular routine: cleanse, tone, and moisturize your face skin. On your body skin, follow the same and use a good moisturizing lotion. Applying sun screen or sun block will also help prevent those outside toxins from ruining your skin. Weekly facial mask treatments (depending on your skin type) are also an excellent way to keep your skin fresh and revitalized.

• The appearance of the skin on your neck shows your age. Therefore, be sure to not only pay attention to your face but on your neck when moisturizing or using a face mask.

• Avoid applying heavy make up on your face. It only shows how frustrated you are with the process of your skin aging, not to mention it can be tough on your skin too. Choose cream based blush cheek color or foundation rather than a fine powdered one that can accentuate wrinkles.

• Topping dusty or caramel pinks with gloss will make your lips appear much younger. Avoiding deep brown mauves and matte reds will also help the same. You will also get benefits of looking younger if you avoid black eyeliners. Use instead brown or grey eyeliners.

• You will appear younger if you use colored plastic eyeglasses than metal framed ones.

• Having well-shaped and arched eyebrows might not sound significant,  but it is if you want to take years off your face. Medium thick eyebrows are always a good choice if possible.

• When getting a new haircut, always opt for one that will frame your face well. Bangs (or fringe) are a great way to reduce the number of years as well as looking cute and fun!

• And most importantly, quit smoking. We all know it is one of the great contributors of aging. Try for a healthier diet and lifestyle and you will worry less over wrinkles and lines attacking too soon.

Treating Your Skin With Natural Products

Treating your skin with pure natural skin care products is not just a new fad or a trend, but a true and effective response to a world overloaded with chemicals, toxins, and pollution. There is  only so much a body can do to purge itself from the unhealthy balance we have all been guilty of contributing to. Natural skincare products have been uniquely designed to restore the skin as well as protect the skin and also make it feel smooth, moist and fantastic. The skin is the body’s largest organ and is the first line of defense against toxins and other harmful substances. It is responsible for fighting infections, keeps your temperature regulated as well as fights off dehydration. Why treat it like a chemical garbage dump?

Using natural skin care products is one of the most popular and easy ways to maintain your healthy glow. Some may prefer surgical procedures to augment the natural look of their skin, but in the end using natural skincare is the most effective form of preventative and anti aging skin care regimes. This is because it is easily affordable and there are no ethical issues to consider that many face when considering plastic or augmentative surgery such as Botox injections or face lifts.

Many people are looking for instant solutions to their skin care issues or want to physically augment their appearance because of a sense of dissatisfaction with their appearance. Most physicians will prefer to prescribe natural skincare solutions and offer a variety of choices in terms of how to moderately treat your skincare issue before suggesting you go in for radical and invasive surgeries. Get proper professional advise before you head off to seek a surgical, “instant” option. The likelihood is small that a skincare procedure that involves a any form of anesthesia or an injection of skin bacteria may be the healthier choice.

Next time you consider trying to plump up your lips with a Botox injection or try to puff up your cheeks with some sort of skin bacterial injection, consider doing it the natural way. This can usually be in the form of a cream or lotion that will be significantly less severe than actually adding chemicals to the facial structure and bloodstream. The potential side effects of a chemical addition to your blood or bady can cause unknown allergic problems for many people and are not recommended above natural skincare solutions.

Instead, seek the opinion of a natural skincare expert and allow them to map your facial structure for the skin type and other factors. This will help in administering the best natural skincare product for your face and body, helping the product to work better with your skin type and color. This all comes at a fraction of the risk and at a much lower cost than the surgical procedure.

Administering natural products into your skin is a much better way to maintain a proper skin type and also a better way to improve the look of your skin.

Pure, natural skin care products do not contain the numerous synthetic additives that can cause the human skin’s defense to weaken as well as the unseemly and ugly skin irritations. In addition, the chemical based skin care products may also cause rashes to break out as well as the debilitating allergies. Some, if not all of the chemical additives are by products of motor oil (that’s right), petroleum products and insecticides or even worse.

One hundred percent organic and natural skin care products will help nourish and restore your skin, as well as strengthen the skin and keep it healthy. By using natural skin care treatments, they will work in harmony with the body so you can be assured of having healthy skin which, in turn, will help keep the whole body healthy by asking it to do less internal cleansing and detoxing.

Healthy skin will excrete an important protective covering called the “acid mantle.” This helps to protect the skin from environmental effects as well as harmful organisms. To keep the skin in good health as well as to keep your acid mantle functioning properly you need to have a healthy lifestyle along with a natural or organic skin care regimen.

This can be achieved by not only just eating healthy foods consisting of a whole food diet, but also constantly getting essential fatty acids through consumption of unrefined, expeller pressed plant oils or fish oils. In addition, one should drink plenty of water as well as exercise regularly. Using natural moisturizers and natural sun protectors like zinc and zinc oxide will help in lubricating your skin and protecting you from harmful UVA / UVB rays.

Natural face creams, containing shea butter, coco butter and organic oils as well as organic hand and body lotions will help keep the skin naturally free of blemishes. The best organic and natural skin care products are made from high quality botanical oils and ingredients, which are typically produced in small, carefully packed packages so that one can be assured of purchasing only fresh stocks. So, be sure to give your body and your skin a break…feed it well with nourshing natural foods and organic skin treatments.

The Derma Roller Skin Treatments

What is the Derma Roller or Skin Needling?

Recently, while walking around at the 2009 Beauty Expo in Long Beach, CA, I noticed a large number of booths selling these small rolling devices, covered with many short needles. Curious whether these were new parenting tools to scare unruly children or for skincare, I decided to research it further. The cosmetic representatives claimed these new facial rollers could increase collagen production and reduce wrinkles.

The derma roller is a very small rolling device that contains 192 micro points made of surgical steel. While it goes by different names, ‘skin needling,’ ‘dermaroller,’ or ‘meso roller,’ among many others, it appears to be a simple and natural method that promises to prevent skin aging, restore collagen, smooth out scars, pitted skin, and stretch marks - or your money back in some cases.

Research On Skin Needling

The skin needling device is used along with your normal skincare routine to remove acne scars, stretch marks, wrinkles, fine lines. Representatives say it can even help with big pores, black heads, and white heads. This micro needling or skin needling anti-aging technique is also used to perform collagen induction therapy (CIT). Studies show that when this device is rolled over the skin, it creates small puncture wounds which cause the body to produce collagen in an attempt to heal the skin. Our collagen production falls dramatically after about age 35 or so.

How the Derma Roller Works

Published instructions say when you roll this device over the skin it creates small puncture wounds into the top layer of the skin. This puncturing will then cause a type of wound-healing reaction for the dermal layer to begin production of collagen fibers, elastin, and other skin cells that helps to fill in lines, wrinkles, remove stretch marks and fill in deep pitted scars – also allowing the derma roller to be a great acne scar treatment.

In addition, the derma roller allows for optimum absorption of any anti-aging cream you may use afterwards. Each time you use the derma roller, the collagen building effects continue for weeks- smoothing stretch marks, acne scars, fine lines and wrinkles.

Unlike other skin rejuvenating techniques, the derma roller doesn’t require downtime for healing. And, unlike chemical or laser peels, the derma roller can be used safely by women and men of color because it doesn’t affect skin pigmentation.

The Studies

In 1994, Dr. Philippe Simonin, a Swiss Dermatologist, performed a study on 600 people divided into two groups - the skin-aging group and the scar reduction group. Published results found that in the skin aging group there was a 40% significant improvement and an impressive 60% improvement in scar reduction group.

Another doctor, Dr. Andre Camirand, a plastic surgeon from Canada, found that skin needling improved the texture and depression of scars and also improved over-all skin color and texture. He also found this remodeling process can go on up to 12 months from each treatment.

Further study results by plastic surgeons and dermatologists claim in that addition to reducing the appearance of sun damage and wrinkles, (such as crows feet), skin needling can help lessen or remove stretch marks, cellulite, acne scars, surgical scars and smooth out pitted skin and dimpling.

In addition, it allows maximum absorption of your best wrinkle creams or any anti aging creams. Each rolling session can stimulate collagen to reduce wrinkles and scars - like a mini-instant face lift.

~ R. Dupree

Removing Blackheads and Comedones

Eliminate blackheads and whiteheads

Blackheads are tiny, dark spots caused by a small plug in the opening of a follicle (pore) on the skin. Blackheads are also called open comedomes. A blackhead is a type of acne vulgaris. It is caused by excess oils that have accumulated in the sebaceous gland ’s duct. Blackheads are typically caused by excessive oil and makeup, which can facilitate the multiplication of the bacterium propionibacterium acnes, the predominant anaerobe of the normal skin flora. The substance found in these bumps mostly consists of keratin and modified sebum (an oily secretion of the sebaceous gland ), which darkens (resembling dirt) as it oxidizes.

If you suffer from blackheads or whiteheads and need to know which products are best. Look for non-comedogenic products - they are less likely to cause blackheads (called open comedones) or whiteheads (closed comedones). Most brands of make-up are non-comedogenic, which means they won’t clog your pores. If your skin is prone to acne or
especially sensitive, try to find products that are non-comedogenic, oil-free (water-based), hypoallergenic (unlikely to cause an allergic reaction) and fragrance free. It may be helpful to remove make-up before exercise, as the products can travel across the face through sweat and clog your pores. However, since no product is non-comedogenic for everybody, it’s a good idea to first test any new product on a small area of your own skin.

Blackheads are the slightly different sibling of pimples, and like pimples, squeezing them can be damaging. Composed of the same oil, or sebum, that contributes to the production of pimples, blackheads result from a building up of this oil in pores. The difference in appearance than that of a pimple is the result of the blackhead’s exposure to the air.
The oxidation (or darkening)  of the the oil causes the trademark black color of these blemishes.

While blackheads are more easily obscured by makeup, they can seem less offensive to the sufferer, and as a result, less damaging to squeeze. But squeezing is not good for blackheads. It can leave a permanent scar on skin and also leaves your skin open to infection. Comedones (blackheads and whiteheads) are caused by the densely packed skin cells. Comedones, commonly appear on the face and shoulders, but they may also develop on the trunk, arms, legs,
and buttocks. They are most common in teenagers but can occur at any age, even in infants.

Treatment for whiteheads and blackheads depends on the severity of the condition. Treatment may include lotions or gels placed on blemishes or sometimes entire areas of skin, such as the chest or back (topical medications). Oral medications, such as antibiotics, may be prescribed.

Causes of Blackheads

Blackheads are caused when excess skin oil, sebum and congesting toxins are expelled through your skin from the blood and lymph fluid that supplies your skin with nutrients. These congesting toxins combined with skin oil and sebum clogs your pores causing blackheads, whiteheads, and full blown acne. Dirt also plays a big role in developing skin blackheads. The dirt stored on the face or other parts of body help the bacteria to develop.

Symptoms of Blackheads

Blackheads and whiteheads are a combination of oils, sebum and cellular fragments that form firm to hard plugs within hair follicles. Blackheads are open to the skin’s surface and become darkened at the surface by exposure to oxygen (oxidation). They are called open comedones (or comedo, singular). Whiteheads are closed from the skin’s surface by
cellular debris at the follicle opening. Because they are closed from oxygen they do not oxidize or turn brown. They form a light or yellow-white lump and are called milia (or milium, singular). When bacteria is added to these plugs, the condition can lead to acne.

Treatment of of Blackheads

Mild cases of acne can be self-treated with over-the-counter topicals (applied to the skin) creams typically with benzoyl peroxide. Zinc Oxide is also a safe natural alternative to reduce infections. There are also a variety of different medications that your family physician might prescribe that come as creams, ointments, and pills. Some of the stronger medications for acne are not to be used if you are pregnant, so make sure you tell your doctor if this is a possibility. Most acne medications work by reducing the next “crop” of acne, so don’t get discouraged if the treatment does not work right away.

Home Remedy for Blackheads
1. In 3-4 cup boiled water, add 2 tsp of soda bicarbonate. Steam a towel with this. Thereafter, place the towel gently on your face. Do it for about 5-6 times. Make a paste by mixing 1 tsp curd and 1 tsp rice flour.  Apply the paste on the affected area. After some time, wash your face with cold water.

2. Take about 1 tsp of juice extracted from fresh coriander leaves and add ½ tsp of turmeric powder in it. Apply this mixture while going to bed. Wash your face the next morning with cold water.

3. Take a pinch of soft portion of glycerin soap and mix with a pinch of table salt. Apply this mixture on the blackheads. Do it for about a week and see the magical results.

4. Salicylic acid, glycolic acid, benzyl peroxide, etc. can be counter-productive to softening and dissolving blackheads and whiteheads as they can dehydrate dry, normal and combination skin

5. Make a paste by mixing 1 tsp limejuice and 1 tsp of finely powdered cinnamon. Apply it on the affected area before going to bed. Wash it off in the morning.

When looking over other strategies on how to remove blackheads, you want to make sure that you are not using your fingernails to squeeze. Your fingernails could be loaded with all kinds of bacteria, which could cause infections. If you do decide to squeeze, make sure you are properly cleaning and sterilizing your hands or using a tissue, to reduce the risk of infection.

Exercise caution. Squeezing a blackhead too much or too soon may lead to the rupturing of a blood vessel. Even though this is a rare occurrence, it can still happen. If you find this happening to you, do not continue to squeeze the blackhead because you may make it worse.