Aloe Vera for Skin Care

The Aloe vera plant is an African succulent that is popular as skin care ingredient. Now you will find Aloe vera outside Africa as it is a popular garden plant, especially in dry areas where gardens must be made with the climate in mind.

Aloe vera is commercially cultivated over the world to be used in skin care cosmetic. Outside Africa, you will find the largest Aloe vera farms in the Mediterranean region, the United States, the Caribbean and Japan. An Aloe vera plant will also do well indoors, but notice that it can grow very large and need re-potting.

The Greeks people, for example Alexander, applied the juice from the leaves to the wounds of his soldiers. In Egypt, Cleopatra, ever conscious of her beauty anointed her skin with many concoctions include aloe vera. It have been used in the Asian cultures of bygone days. Evidence is found of aloe vera usage in the ancient texts of China and India.

Choose the Anti Wrinkle And Aging Skin Care Product

Recently, cosmetic markets are fulfilled with varying anti aging or anti wrinkle skin care product. How to choose? The key is: pay attention to your main skin problem. Example: smooth lines, lusterless skin, skin color difference with reddish part on it because of inflammation and others. Then choose the proper skin care product for you. Next, the compounds that commonly used in anti wrinkle or anti aging skin care product.

• Retinol and retinoids
  Retinoid based cream or vitamin A take the first place of anti aging skin care product. The common side effect of this cream usage is red face skin and scaly. But, now the new skin care product without this risk is available. A part of this cream must be bought with doctor recommendation. But now the free products of this cream also available. This skin care product is smoother, so that need more long time to see the result. This compound can stimulate collagen production, a protein that fill and thicken the skin so can helps to refine the wrinkle.
• Alpha or beta hydroxy acid
  According to a dermatologist, exfoliant like hydroxy acid, alpha or beta, will not give drastic change, but still an important part in skin care program. This natural acid (found in the plant and certain fruits) will accelerate outer skin cells peeling so the skin layer under it that more smooth and flat will appear.
• Copper
  Copper is the important mineral for collagen formation. A research shows copper peptide helps the networks regeneration with stimulate new blood vessels formation and collagen synthesis, increase the growth in the elastic fiber networks that defend the skin elasticity.
• Antioxidant
  One of the most effective ingredients in anti aging skin care product is antioxidant, compound that can eradicate free radicals, a non-stabile molecule caused by pollution, smoke and sunshine explode. This free radicals create many bad effect to the skin, start from hyper pigmentation (black flex and skin blackening) until skin cancer.
• Antioxidant is a skin best friend because protects the skin from free radicals that cause aging, increase skin immune system so that the skin will protect itself better.
  One of the common used antioxidant is vitamin C, while the others are grape seed extract and vitamin E.

The skin care product form
The active ingredient in skin care product arrives in our skin in many ways that formulated in varying product.

• Serum
  This high potent liquid will be absorbed directly in a short time and can be used under the other creams.
• Cream
  Use this formula if you have dry skin because this product will more moisten.
• Patches

Example of Face Massage for Skin Care

First article is about massage for your face. These are the example of face massage.

• Practice this 2 massage
  Massage 1
  Put both of your ring fingers at inner corner of your eyes (point 1). Press slowly for 3 seconds. Release the pressure and move the fingers slowly under the eyes to the temples (point 8). When arrive to the temples, massage slowly in circle movement. Move the fingers slowly to the inner of eye corner again. Repeat 7 times.
  Massage 2
  Put the middle finger of right hand to the base of the nose (point 2). Move to the up and to the under of the nose tip (point 3) and back to the up for 10 times. Then use the middle finger tip of both of the hands, press slowly the face at the point which both of the check meet with nose hole (point 4).
  Release the pressure and with small circle movement, massage slowly along the line to the forehead. Follow the bone structure under the eyes. Do for 10 seconds. Massage the temples for 5 seconds and move the finger back to the start point with same way. Repeat 5 times.


• Massage all the face
  Use your fingers massage start from the middle part of the chin with circle movement to along the jaw line then from the up of the lip to the ear and from behind of the nose to along the check bone.


• Massage the forehead
  Put the finger in the middle of the forehead. Move slowly with a little pressure to the temples direct. Then back to the middle part. Repeat 2 times.


• Massage the eye area
  Start from the temples, move your finger follow the eyes hole bone at the under part of eyes, then to the bridge of nose and along the eyebrow. Then massage again from the temples.

The Best Way to Smear Your Skin Care Product

Often happen, the same skin care products give the difficult result to different person. The expert say this is because everyone has different body chemistry substance. Sometime this is right, but that often occur is: the different result at different person because of the different way when smeared the skin care product to the face. But, the different result isn’t meant that you smear your skin care product in the wrong way. There is non-effective skin care product although you use the correct way. But also often occur, the skin care product isn’t effective because of the wrong way when smear it.
Product that smeared to the skin is a mixture of chemical substances. Some of these chemical substances are active ingredients (natural or synthetic compound for biological merit of the product). The remnants are non-active ingredients (compound that helps to protect and carry the active ingredient). The effectiveness of the product is depend to:

• The active ingredients that really have merit.
• The enough deep penetration into the skin in the enough amounts.

The first point is determined by the skin care product choice and about the second point, one of the factors is how we smear the product.

The ways to make sure that active ingredient penetration can work optimally:
Clean up the skin before smear the skin care product. The best time to smear the skin care product is after bath. At this time the skin isn’t only clean but also moist and can absorb the skin care product that smeared.

The important things when you smear your skin care product

• Don’t wash your skin with hot water because can cause aging. Use warm water. If you want to smear the skin care product that comedogenic, wash your face with cold water to close the pores. Beside that, don’t take a bath for a long time to prevent the much exploded by chlorine.
• The best time to smear the skin care product is when the skin still moist because active ingredient can penetrate well when dissolved. Once the cream become dry, its penetration level will decrease dramatically. So don’t rub your skin until dry after washing if you want to smear the skin care product. If your skin is wet, dry up with a little pressing with the towel.
• The warm skin will absorb the ingredient well. Before smear the product, make sure your skin isn’t cold. If necessary, stick the towel that has soaked with warm water.
  The outer layer of the skin called stratum corneum, most of it contains dead and dry skin cells. If this layer become too thick (like in the become old skin and less of care), the active ingredient from our skin care product will difficult to enough deep penetration to give the wanted result.
• Some peoples lift the stratum corneum with using chemistry exfoliant like alpha hydroxy acids, enzyme or other chemistry ingredients. Some exfoliants have the merit, but do it copiously can become bad for your skin. For most peoples, the smooth scrub that gives light exfoliating is a save choice. Beside that, face scrub also can be done with using natural cheap ingredient. For example: sand sugar can be used as scrub that light, save, effective and fresh. This natural scrub can increase the skin care product active ingredient absorption without break the skin.
  Face scrub can’t be use for more than 4 times in a week.
• When smearing skin care product, use fast caress with middle pressing. The best is smeared your skin care product with middle finger. Don’t pull your skin. Don’t rub it. After smeared, slap lightly that area repeatedly with your fingers for ½ minute.

Skin Care for Your Body

Skin care for the hand
Your hand skin include in the part that shows aging sign faster, but less of attention than face. Because exploded by the elements continually and less of care, so your hand skin becomes dry, wrinkle and evokes the aging spots, also your blood vessels stick out. Most of hand creams now contain SPF and antioxidant to protect from UV light.
Give your hand the skin care as applied to the face. Exfoliate regularly to lift the dead skin cells and help the hand cream to absorb.
Moisten the hand with cream after wash the hand. Use skin care product with minimum SPF 15. Use hand gloves when work in the garden or other works. You should often smear the cream repeatedly. Put the cream in your bag, car and the table beside your bed.

Skin care for the neck and chest line
These parts will show aging sign faster than the hand and eyes. The skin of this part is more thin and dry with more less of sebaceous glands that give the natural protection with prevent the dampness lost.
Avoid the soap, detergent and perfume around the neck because can cause dryness and make the smooth neck skin become sensitive. Don’t often use polo neck and scarf. Always protect toward sunshine.
Give skin care at the jaw line, neck and chest. Clean up with face cleanser then smeared the moisturizer in the morning and night. Special cream for neck contains the very latest ingredients like retinol, AHA and enzyme to prevent aging.

Skin care for the elbow
This part is often coarse and dry. The continually rubbing with the dress causes dead skin cells pile. Brush with dry brush every day is one of the good ways to increase the circulation from up to the leg and make all skin become smooth. Exfoliate 2 times a week with the pressing on the coarse skin part.

Skin care for the leg
More than 70.000 nerve tips in the leg cause the leg is one of the most sensitive and responsive parts. In the middle age, the leg often experiences calloused and other problems. The regular exercise will increase the circulation and reduces infection and cold leg.
In the 30 years of old, try to visit chiropodist or podiatrist to give care to the leg, for example make the leg skin that very coarse lost or other care.
Soak the leg for 20 minutes with bath salt to subside the illness, increase the circulation and calm the dry skin. Use buffer to make the coarse skin disappear before soak the leg. If not, possibility too lots of skin that peeled that cause the skin became soft. Massage with much cream at the dry skin in the morning and night. Use leg cream that rich of moisturizer.

Skin care for the knee
Same as your leg, the knee has much burden, start from heavy burden up to the excessive exercise that makes your knee fast to become old. The pain in the knee usually caused by the excessive usage of the knee, the bad shape in the physical activity, not doing the warming up or cooling off or not enough stretching. Over weight body causes more big risk for knee problems in the future include osteoporosis.
If you rarely or never do exercise, increase your physical activity gradually. Choose walking than jogging and jogging than running. Avoid the activities that aggravate the pain in your knee. Do warming up before exercise and cooling off after that. Replace your sport shoes regularly and get the suggestion about the proper footwear.

Superstar Antioxidants for Skin Care, Prevent Aging and Danger Diseases

Since 1956, has known that oxidative stress causes free radicals production that became main contributor of aging and disease. Free radicals are produced when someone experiences: heavy disease, intensive sport and environment pollution explode. The excessive oxidative stress often flooded the body natural antioxidant. By have a role as electron donor, antioxidants like vitamin A, C and E neutralize the danger free radicals. This is important because this free radicals is not only good for our skin care (fight against aging), the excessive free radicals production also become the cause of almost all diseases, include Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, diabetes and hypertension. Next, some super antioxidants that give good synergy if added to main effective antioxidants: vitamin A, C and E.

• Alpha lipoid acid (ALA)
  ALA increases vitamin A, C and E strength, also important regenerator of glutathione, one of important antioxidant. ALA that dissolves in fat and water take actions inside and outside of the cell. ALA will cure diabetes, cancer and heavy metal poisoned, also have an important role for our skin care because it will prevent aging. ALA decreases lipid peroxide, an important measure of oxidative stress and aging.
  Dose: 100 mg, 2-3 times a day.
• Green tea
  Green tea contains main antioxidant called polyphenol. Green tea has merit as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic. Hundreds of studies show that green tea has chemopreventive toward lung cancer, skin cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and esophageal cancer. Green tea also can prevents heart disease, hypertension and high cholesterol. Epigallocatechin (EGCG) in green tea is useful to person with cardiovascular disease and stroke. Green tea also helps to reduce body weight.
  Dose: 1-3 cups a day and for extract supplement of green tea with total content of 80% of polyphenol and 55% of EGCG, drinks 300-400 mg/day.
• Pycnogenol
  Pycnogenol came from casuarina tree (French Maritime). Flavonoid in pycnogenol will treat Alzheimer, atherosclerosis and high cholesterol. Pycnogenol can prevents heart attack and stroke with offered save alternative for they who can’t drink aspirin. Pycnogenol also prevents aging with improve bone marrow and immune in animal experiments.
  Dose: 50-200 mg/day.
• Astaxanthin
  Astaxanthin is a kind of carotenoid that has many restorative powers as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and can fight against diseases. The antioxidant power is 100 times bigger than vitamin E and can fight against some diseases, especially cancer and peptic ulcers. Astaxanthin gives protection toward oxidative stress of UV light, key factor of skin cancer.
  Dose: 1 soft gel of 1 mg, 2 times/day with food.
• CoQ10
  CoQ10 not only help to prevent heart disease, but also can help the ill heart. The deficiency of CoQ10 can signs an early Parkinson.
  Dose: 30-100 mg/day.
• Glutathione
  Deficiency of glutathione is found in almost all diseases, include atherosclerosis, diabetes and stomach inflammation disease. Glutathione is popular with its ability to increase immune function, also as effective antioxidant.
  The glutathione function that disturbed has an important role in hypertension disease.
  Glutathione also so important toward healthy brain, because the brain consumes about 20% of O2 but only 2% part from the body weight, so the brain becomes oxidative stress target. The change of glutathione metabolism also found in a number of nerve diseases, include Alzheimer, Parkinson and multiple sclerosis.
  Dose: drink this supplement to increase body glutathione level: selenium (200 mcg), vitamin C (3 g) and L. glutamine (200 mg) / day.
  

Note: before get supplement always consult your doctor.

Simple Steps for Skin Care: Facial in Home

The facial result sometime isn’t like our hope. Not all assistants in a beauty parlor are skilled. The good news, we can do our facial in home. Beside cheap, the result can be as good as if we do in a beauty parlor. According to the expert, good cleaning, exfoliation and moisturizing at facial in home also can improve skin texture and brightness for a while. For the acne, it is suggested to not press it, because it can push the acne to the under part and leave reddish color and needs more long time to cure. Next, the steps to facial in home:

• Comb your hair to back and use headband. Clean up your face with your cleanser. Rinse your skin with warm water at least 10 sprinkling.
• Fill a big pan with water. Enter 4 tea bags of chamomile tea (contains antiseptic and anti inflammatory that can tranquilize the reddish and reduce the bacteria). Boil the water. While wait the boiling water, smeared the scrub that suitable to your skin type.
• After boiling, lift the pan from fire. Direct/point your face to the pan with the space around 1 foot with closed eyes. Make a tent above your head with your towel so the smoke can be enclosed in. Wait for 3-5 minutes. Then rinse the scrub with warm water until really clean. Dry up with press it slowly with your towel.
• Smeared the facemask that appropriate to your skin. Lay and relax until the mask is ready to lift (about the time that suggested is according to the label in package). Rinse well and dry up with towel with massage slowly.
• When the skin still moist, smeared the moisturizer for your skin type thinly. Oil free skin care product for oily and combination skin. For dry skin use skin care product (moisturizer) that contains hyaluronic acid, glycerin or penthenol.

The important things for your skin care

• If your skin is dry or sensitive, use cleanser that lift the dirt without make your natural skin oil to be lost.
• Oily skin and susceptible toward acne is appropriate with face cleanser that contains salicylic acid to helps exfoliate and open the clogged pores.
• The combination skin is suggested to use cleanser foam gel to lift the excessive oil without dry up the skin.
• If your skin has the broken capillary vessels in your face or reddish (rosacea), don’t do steaming. Better if dip your scrubbing towel into the pan that filled with chamomile tea. Wait until you can hold your scrubbing towel with comfortable. Then cling to your face until your scrubbing towel become cold.
• The very dry skin is suggested to avoid the scrub. Better to smeared moisturizer cream that contains hyaluronic acid, glycerin and penthenol thinly at the dry part. Let the smoke helps its penetration.
• For oily skin or susceptible toward acne, the dermatologist suggested to use mask that contains sulphur. Sulphur contains natural anti bacteria substance that can prevent the acne and tranquilize the reddish skin.
  To overcome the swollen eyes, use cucumber slice while scrub your face.