Those of you who have seen me around the net and know me a bit are well familiar with my stance on the toxins we’re being exposed to everyday. It’s hard – make that impossible – to avoid all of them but we can do a lot to limit our exposure to them.
My research has always turned up statistics that claim most of us are exposed to about 175 chemicals every day. I’m in the mind that these estimates are just way whacked out low. Between chemicals in our air, water, food, soil, clothes, bedding, carpets, furniture, cleaning products, makeup, shampoos, soaps, housing structures, manufactured products, and so on, I’m thinking we have become not much more than chemical sponges. It’s no wonder that whoever isn’t dying of cancer is dying of coronary issues or diabetes, and if those three aren’t killing someone, something else besides good ole father time is usually at work – even if it’s just the chemicals the pharms are feeding someone for insane reasons that they create to keep people eating their chemicals.
There is really only one defense in a chemical laden environment and that is to learn exactly what chemicals are out there and where they hide. Then you find ways to avoid them. When house cleaners became toxic nightmares, there was nothing to stop us from using salt, baking soda, and vinegar to clean with. They work just as well and are actually cheaper – so why the rush to buy all the poisonous ones? Mostly it resulted from people just trusting that government agencies like the FDA would protect us from the corporations that line their pockets. Oops. Well, that didn’t work for us.
There are a few organizations, though, that actually recognize that chemicals cause diseases. They are not afraid to talk about it and are not afraid to point out where they are and what they can do to us. Of course, it takes citizens to unite against anything they find out to get chemicals banned, but we can’t do that until we know what is out there.
That’s why I’m putting this link up for all of you. The Center on Disease Control has made a list of chemicals that are out there, where they are and what they do. It took them well over 500 pages to list them. 500 pages. You still think you’re exposed to less than 200 chemicals every day? Anyway — the link I’ve posted below takes you straight to that report, so put on your reading glasses, click that link, and prepare to be absolutely amazed and scared crapless. Serious – you couldn’t think of fiction this frightening.
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/pdf/FourthReport.pdf
Go download your copy of this free report today and find out what you might want to be missing.
With autumn and winter rapidly approaching, it’s a good idea to think ahead a little toward cold weather skin care. The dryer air and cold temperatures of winter can be challenging to healthy skin, damaging the sensitive lipid barrier and causing a myriad skin issues. With winter comes eczema, flaky and splitting skin, acne, and pasty, unhealthy tinged skin. With a little bit of diligence, though, you can get through to spring looking your usual gorgeous self.
The first thing you must remember is that your skin still needs Vitamin D. During warmer days you should consider getting out and getting some sun on your face. If the weather turns too cold to expose your face or other skin to the sun, an occasional trip to a tanning salon can give your skin the Vitamin D that it needs. While seasons change, your need for Vitamin D doesn’t. You don’t need to park on a tanning bed until you look like you live on a beach, but a twenty minute session two or three times a week will keep you from experiencing dangerous Vitamin D deficiencies throughout the cold months. You may also want to take supplements. If you do supplement, use Vitamin D3 supplements, which are far superior to the older Vitamin D (2) products. You can now get organic dairy products with D3 added as well. Vitamin D deficiency can wreak havoc on every system of your body, so make sure you get only the best supplements and as much of it from sunshine as possible. Contrary to widespread opinions, your skin will wrinkle faster with a lack of this vital nutrient than it will if you spend a few minutes in the sun each day. The Vitamin itself works to fight any wrinkling caused by normal amounts of sunshine.
A second consideration is that the Omega 3 oils are still important even if your body isn’t using them to alleviate the effects of UV rays. Omega 3 coats your cells in the type of oil they need to absorb both oxygen and nutrients. If you are considering a low fat diet for the winter, don’t consider compromising your Omega 3 intake. The added lubricant around your cells will also protect them from hostile low temperatures.
When it gets frigid outside you will be dressing to stay warm. Some types of materials can irritate skin. Wear cotton close to your skin and leave the scratchier wools for outer layers. Avoid synthetic fibers whenever possible. Synthetics contain toxins which won’t help you avoid eczema or dry itchy skin. If you must wear synthetic fibers, wear a soft natural fiber underneath it. You want to dress warm, but you also want your skin to be able to breath easily and keep it from irritation.
When outside wear a non-toxic healing balm on exposed skin areas such as your lips and nose. Inside, make sure your bath products are as toxin free as possible. Products with fragrances may be natural, but they can also be dehydrating so avoid scented products. Products that provide rich suds also dry skin, not to mention other damages they can do when absorbed into the skin. Always moisturize with a good toxin free moisturizer after bathing and again before going outside. If your skin needs oil as well as moisture, olive oil will provide good protection from the cold. If the air in your home is too dry a humidifier will help fight dry, itchy skin. If you don’t have access to a humidifier, boil a tea kettle or pan of water now and then to put some humidity in your air.
Moisture in the air isn’t the only moisture that becomes scarce in winter. In cooler temperatures you can be easily fooled about the amount of water you are drinking. You might not realize that your body sweats at low temperatures just as it does at high temperatures, too, so you won’t feel the dehydration as sharply or quickly as you will in the summer heat. Dehydration, though, will be just as hard on your body and skin as it is any other time of the year. Dehydrated skin is more susceptible to damage from dry, frigid weather than moist skin. Make sure you are getting enough to drink. Choose water that is not fluoridated as the fluoride can cause a whole new host of problems to contend with.
When winter is at it’s most damaging, by paying attention to these few details we can keep our skin looking and feeling good all year round. Your face will be just as radiant at the ski lodge fireplace as it was at the beach bonfire just a few months before the cold hit.
©2010: Sally Taylor
It is disheartening to be in the middle of a self-care chore just to have someone slap you with a comment that you are vain. If you are meticulous about your skin, hair, or body care, it’s likely that you have been accused at one time or other of being vain. Is a person who takes time to care for themselves actually vain or are others being overly judgmental?
None of us should ever feel guilty for engaging in a bit of vanity. The way our skin looks is a reflection of our whole body’s health. If we keep our skin looking radiant and young, our entire body will be healthier. Skin is our largest organ and it needs to be healthy for it to do the work it is intended for. Being at our optimal weight and muscle tone is also extremely healthy, so paying attention to what kind of shape our bodies are in is not something to be ashamed of at all. Our bodies need us to pay attention to them to keep them at their optimal health levels. Putting on makeup or being selective about what you wear can effect your moods, too. If spending a bit more time choosing what you are going to wear or to makeup your eyes the way you like them makes you feel good, there is nothing wrong with doing so.
When someone attempts to shame you for taking an interest in keeping yourself at optimal health and fitness, the problem might be theirs and not yours. Perhaps that person feels they are justified in their own lack of self care when they call you vain. If vanity is bad, then they don’t need to feel guilty for ignoring the roll around their own waistline or their own blotchy complexion. Perhaps you are just all over better looking than that person and they justify their jealousy by degrading you. Sometimes the insult comes from a person’s religious background that taught them that self-care was prideful and they do not understand that the care necessary to be healthy is truly health consciousness and not self indulgence.
There are a lot of reasons people may lash out at you because of your care routines. While it can be their own problems that they are voicing, you might want to take a good look at your own actions before you judge someone else to have issues. Sometimes people are actually justified in calling another person vain, though.
Do you have a habit of making people wait for you while you primp? If you do so, you can count on being seen as vain, and rightly so. Your self care routines should not put others out of their way. If you continually find people waiting around for you while you are glued to a mirror putting on makeup or tussling your hair, you are at a point that you have become rude and self indulgent. You need to change your care rituals so that they do not cut into the time of others.
Are you so hyper about the way you look that you can’t run into a local shop to do a quick errand without it taking you time to dress up or do your makeup? It is time for you to get over it if you are that worried about your appearance. Even if you are afraid you’ll run into Mr. Right and won’t have your makeup foundation on, rest assured, Mr. Right will see you without it at some time or another eventually. If he can’t handle it now, he won’t handle it well later either. If he can’t, he’s not as right as you might want to think he is. You may need to start putting some thought into the fact that no matter how good you look, sooner or later the people you meet are going to want to know something deeper about you that how you look. Are you spending so much time on your looks that there is nothing deeper to look at? If you have become so obsessed with the way you look that you lack time for other aspects of life, you may have self worth issues that you need to stop and take a considerate look into. Even the most famous models have time for a life beyond makeup and waistline control.
The most important indicator of too much vanity is how you see other people. Do you think of yourself as better than someone else because you have a luscious thick head of hair and theirs is thin or stringy? Do you see the person with a little bit of flab around their waist as not quite up to your level? If that is the case, you are not just vain, you are conceited and narcissistic. If you find yourself wondering what the gorgeous hunk at the next table sees in the woman he is with just because she is not as physically attractive as you, you might need to take a reality check on the kind of person you are inside once in awhile, too.
It might be fun to be young and strikingly beautiful. Sooner or later those good looks are going to fade, and when they do, what will be left that people will look up to when they see and talk to you? Even before your looks fade, people are going to get bored with you if you don’t have something more than a glowing face to contribute to a get together. Looking at your loveliness is probably not everyone else’s goal for an evening out.
When considering how right and wrong your personal vanity is, it is important that you can strike a healthy balance. You want to take enough time with yourself to be healthy and to have some self esteem. You do not want to spend so much time that others start to become impatient with waiting for you or bored with your lack of other interests. You do not want to become so self-absorbed that you start thinking that looks equal personal value.
The next time someone calls you vain, take a quick step back from the mirror and ask them why they think so. You might find the answer much more illuminating than the mirror ever could be. If you are the one who is in the mind that others are too vain, you might want to take a look at your own health and beauty regime. There’s nothing wrong with taking time to pay attention to your health and appearance. It might even give you a new and exciting perspective on life to do so. It doesn’t take a whole lifetime in a mirror to achieve great, healthy looks.
©2010 Sally Taylor
Want Great Skin and Hair Without Spending a Fortune? CLICK HERE
The Reasons It’s So Hard To Lose Weight May Shock You! CLICK HERE
All material on http://salssecretsrevealed.com is copyrighted material
We’re all familiar with the notorious “bad hair day”. What we are also pretty familiar with but don’t seem to take much note of is the just plain “bad mirror day”. You know the ones. You wake up and you have several sets of wrinkles that weren’t there yesterday and your skin, which has taken on a pasty or blotchy look just hangs there. Of course, the older you get the worse shockers bad mirror days can be, but the young experience their own version of these things. It’s just as traumatic to be 20 and wake up looking 35 as it is to be 55 and wake up looking 65 (or worse).
If you spent the night before slamming down daquaris or margaritas, the bad morning might not be such a surprise. We all know if we get a bit toasted, that is what our face is going to look like in the morning. Sometimes, though, why we look so awful some mornings just isn’t instantly apparent to us. We may wonder for a few minutes, do some sort of fix or make an attempt to hide the devastation, but in the long run how far do we go in examining why we look so much worse some days than on others?
The truth is that if you are experiencing bad mirror days fairly frequently, it is something you should be taking note of very closely. Your skin is an organ and when it is looking bad, it’s not going to be functioning all that well, either. If your skin is doing poorly, many other organs that you can’t see may be suffering just as badly. The bad mirror day is not something to just blow off and ignore.
When you find yourself frequently waking up badly, you need to start taking notes. There are many reasons that you might be looking worse than usual, or that it is becoming more usual to look pretty bad when you wake up. It’s time to start making a check list for yourself to get to the bottom of the situation. You will want to examine all the things that you can think of that might have a negative effect on your skin so you can see if there is some pattern so you can avoid irritants before the damage becomes permanent.
The first thing to ask yourself is if you drank enough water the day before. Dehydration will take an almost immediate toll on the body. Fortunately this one is easy to fix if you do it right away and don’t allow yourself to repeat the dehydration too often. If your checklist includes a lack of liquids as a usual item, start right there and make sure that you can write it off your list in the future. That may be all it takes to correct the bad mornings. If not, you need to look further.
Lack of sleep is another reason for looking run down that is pretty easy to figure out. Not getting enough sleep once in a while is pretty normal. If you are experiencing lack of sleep too often though, you are putting your whole body in jeopardy. You might need to make some life adjustments to ensure you are able to sleep a bit longer each night. Perhaps you have a job that is too demanding for you and need to find a different company to work for that is not hazardously demanding. Maybe you need to hire someone to take care of a few odds and ends for you that keep you running just a little longer than is healthy. Perhaps your spouse needs to be made to understand that you are having too many demands on your time and you need to have more help or to be left alone to sleep longer. Whatever adjustments would aid you in getting the extra sleep you need should be made. Lack of sleep can do more than make you look like a zombie. It can be deadly.
What did you eat the day before? Did you eat a lot of processed foods or drink soda pop? Write down everything you can remember. You might find a pattern in what you eat and how you look. Processed foods and beverages contain a myriad chemical additives and all forms of sugar and sugar substitutes. By writing down what foods you ate each time you wake up less than prime you may be able to narrow down exactly which foods you are having the worst reactions to and can get them out of your diet before they destroy your whole body’s health. The more of these chemicals and sugars you can cut out of your diet, the more generally healthy you will be and the better your skin will look.
Was your room too hot or too cold the night before your mirror screams at you? If your checklist shows that your room was either hotter or colder than normal when you wake up looking bad, you have an easy solution on hand. A room that is too hot can make eyes puffy and lined. A room that is too cold can just upset good sleep.
Are you exposing yourself to forms of pollution some days that you aren’t always exposed to? When you wake up looking bad, take a washcloth and pour some rubbing alcohol on it and wipe your face. If you are wiping off blackish dirt, think about where you were the day before. If you can avoid going somewhere that always results in black film on your skin, avoid going there any more often than you need to. If you have to go there, make sure to wear a non-toxic makeup foundation when you go. It’s much better to have toxic waste sitting on your makeup than absorbing into your body through your skin. Be sure to wash your makeup off thoroughly when you get home. If you remove brownish residue when you wipe your face, you aren’t getting your makeup off well enough before you go to bed and need to improve your cleansing routine. Even the best non-toxic makeup will still clog pores and keep your cells from breathing freely at night. After you wipe your skin clean with the alcohol, be sure and moisturize with a non-toxic moisturizer. Alcohol is a great cleanser, but it will dry your skin if you don’t moisturize after you clean with it.
Are you getting enough aerobic exercise? Your skin may suffer if you are not. Conversely, if you are exercising daily or most days and your skin is breaking out or otherwise looking bad, your body might be expelling toxins through your skin. Some of the previous points on the checklist will reveal if you are taking in too many chemical toxins. If you can’t correct the problem with better hydration and nutrition, you may have something more serious going on that you need to look into.
Illness can also show up on your skin and if all other points of your checklist don’t show up a problem and you are cleansing your skin thoroughly each night, you might need professional help to find out if you have a deficiency, imbalance, or even an illness you are not aware of in your body that you need to address.
No matter what you do, you will never be able to completely avoid an occasional bad mirror day. By keeping track of your activities though, you can reduce them to a minimum. . A little bit of applied vanity can go a long way in maintaining your body’s optimal health. It won’t hurt your self esteem to look better most days, either.
©2010: Sally Taylor
This might not seem relevant to skin care/weight lose and all the other secrets that will be going up on Sals Secrets in the future – but if you have asthma and like to breath, this information is vital to you.
Well – it might be relevant – after all, breathing is very good for your skin. Trust me on that one.
I’ve seen a lot of asthma sufferers in a big panic over losing these inhalers. I have asthma so that was my first reaction, too. But – we asthma sufferers know better than to panic, don’t we?
RELAX and breath my friends. The FDA is ruling against our life preserver, Primatene Mist………but………..
The reason that the FDA is making this completely fucked up move (yes, I said that OUT LOUD) is because they now do things globally (spelled treason when it involves your freedoms, by the way) and they are complying with an international effort to ban aerosols. That is the only grounds for this ruling. They don’t care about your ability to breath – they care about aerosols that never reach the atmosphere. They care about all those pharmaceutical inhalers that are dangerous, addictive, don’t help us breath, and even can increase the strength of an attack – yeah, um….that’s what I wanna take for asthma, something that can make it more likely I’ll die from it. Go figure.
SO………….I checked the Primatene website and they left all of us outraged and scared asthma sufferers a message – so all of us who have depended on them for decades for the freedom to breath, the freedom to not continually be extorted of our money because we need prescriptions, and the freedom from using that other toxic crap the pharms put out under the guise of controlling asthma, will know that all is well.
Yes as of December, 2011 we will no longer be able to buy Primatene mist in it’s current form. They are working diligently, however, to produce the product in a form that will not use aerosol.
You can see their message for yourself at:
http://www.primatene.com/doc/Primatene%20Availability%20Statement-9-30-09.pdf
So relax – and breath deep.
I’ll be powering up this rig very shortly, so bookmark us. You never know what great tips you’ll find here.
Okay, Okay. I heard enough and got the clue. I’m not a website design artist. I never claimed to be. I write about the fields I know and I know skin care and I know why people can’t lose weight – but I never claimed I was an artist.
Enough people have told me that my site is just dead outright ugly (a few even used the word spooky) that I would have to be demented not to realize my idea just didn’t materialize well.
Soooooo……..
Um…..It’s getting changed.
I’m still not an artist but I’m thinking you won’t find it an objectionable change. So take a look at the old blue and grey, if it’s still up when you get here. It’s about the last your going to see of it.
I was asked a question recently about whether wrinkles can be scrubbed off of the skin and thought it was a good question to answer online. The question was whether wrinkles can be scrubbed off over time.
It may seem that you can scrub wrinkles away to an extent. After washing our wrinkles don’t appear to be so deep. For a few hours they may not be as noticeable. The water used when we wash will temporarily hydrate and plump skin so wrinkles may appear to have been scrubbed away. Another reason wrinkles may appear lighter after a good washing is that gentle scrubbing can help exfoliate dead skin cells which will make wrinkles appear deeper and more pronounced than they may actually be.
All in all, however, the only way a good scrubbing can actually erase wrinkles is if you take the first layer of skin right off. It is not advisable to do so. Chemical peels are sometimes used in this manor to take the top eroded layer of skin off. It will take a few days for the skin to heal and accidents can happen. Nobody should EVER try this process on their own. Even trained professionals run into problems now and then.
The problem with the chemical peel is that it does not get to the root of the problem of wrinkling so it won’t be long before your skin looks just the same as it did before the peel.
If your skin is wrinkling, you can make it look a bit better externally by gently scrubs followed by moisturizers. You can also use lightly acidic face masks such as the one in my guide Secrets of Beautiful Skin and Hair Revealed. When used on a regular basis an acidic skin mask will keep pores clear and keep skin exfoliated properly. Use a mask that you need to wash off rather than a peel off mask as there is more drawing power in the wash off masks to keep your pores clear.
At the depth of the issue, however, if you want fewer wrinkles, you have to tend to those from where they originate – inside your body. Your skin is an organ and no amount of anything you can slap on it from the outside is going to keep it young and supple. While you must work on your skin from the outside, you must give this organ what it needs internally to stay healthy, too.
If you do not drink enough water, your skin will become dry and no amount of lotions or oils will be able to fix dehydrated skin – you must drink dehydration away. Your skin also needs the proper nutrients to function correctly and if it isn’t getting what it needs, the wrinkles are going to set in no matter what you do on the outside.
Only proper internal maintenance accompanied by a good external care system will fix damaged skin or prevent problems in the first place.
Internet Marketers are waking up to the reality that having a business on the Internet is a matter of a lot of long hours despite the hype floating around that almost no time is necessary. They are also finding out that this new lifestyle of sitting in front of the computer is not real conducive to weight control. Many are fighting the battle of Internet “spread” by revamping exercise programs. Is the new improved routine enough, though?
If you are working at home on the Internet, or even if you just use the Internet frequently, chances are you move much less during the average day than you used to. You now walk to your home office and sit down instead of getting ready for work and leaving the house. You may shop for items at your computer that you used to go out to find. You may have stepped up your exercise program, but studies now show that people who move more, generally - not just exercise regularly but move more – during a day have higher metabolisms and control their weight more easily. While that new exercise program isn’t going to hurt you by a long shot, it will not be enough to replace movement lost during a day of working at home in front of the computer.
By incorporating more movement into your day you can avoid the pitfall of Internet “spread” and keep yourself more product while online, too. School systems have long understood that the average attention span is 50 minutes. By planning a ten minute break every 50 minutes, you can not only aid in boosting your metabolism back into normal condition, but will probably find your work time more productive as well. By taking ten minutes every hour to go outside and walk you will solve many problems exacurbated by long intervals of sitting. First, the movement will boost your fat burning processes. Walking will also help to tone and stretch your muscular structure. Being in sunlight for ten minutes at a time will also give you exposure you need to keep your vitamin D3 levels at their optimum without giving you time to burn. Without vitamin D3, you are not going to control your weight or any other system or organ in your body.
Walking outside every hour also gives your mind the break it needs to assimilate information and formulate new ideas. Just one more benefit is that getting out and away from a planted position will make you less likely to snack haphazardly. If you find the walking does not curb your desire to snack while working, keeping a plate of sliced vegetables such as celery, carrot sticks, and cucumber slices nearby will allow you to snack in a method that will not encourage weight gain or other forms of ill health. The vitamins and minerals provided by the vegetables will work with the increased movement to allow you to achieve maximum levels of benefits frequent movement will provide.
While working at home can entice you to move much less frequently it is important not to think just about an exercise program, but rather to think about avoiding a sedentary lifestyle. If you are used to jobs outside of the house that kept you sitting for long periods, working at home can allow you to make very positive strides toward optimal health and fat burning in ways you could have never achieved while being tied to a desk at the office. Isn’t it time that you focused your freedom to choose your work and lifestyle toward the choice of optimal health and weight control?
©2010 Sally Taylor
After I published my articles about soap, I received a question/comment about soap stripping the skin of natural oils. I thought this was an important issue, so here’s my answer to that one.
Will Soap Dry Your Skin Out?
There seems to be some information floating around about the danger of soap drying out skin. The issue can be a confusing one because of all the propaganda that the skin and hair care product industries have distributed in their attempts to sell their products. Unfortunately, much of the information out about soap drying out skin is not real helpful to those who want to keep youthful skin or returned damage skin to health. A quick look at the issues involved with soap use should clear up your skin questions pretty quickly.
Our bodies produce and coat our skin with natural oils. These oils are important in the functioning of our skin cells, but it can cause a few problems for skin health, too. This fact is more important to understand today than ever before. At one time our earth was natural and pure. Today we are exposed daily to over 6,000 toxins in our food, air, water, and living environments. Today we are seeing increases of bacterias and viruses which continue to become more dangerous as they become more immune to our efforts to kill them. As these elements keep hammering our skin to gain entry to our bodies, our skin’s health becomes more and more important to, and more difficult to, maintain and optimize.
Just as oils in our cupboards become rancid, so will the oils on your skin due to exposure to harmful elements. While the oil on our skin is vital to our health, it also makes a great adhesive for environmental toxins and germs. Many toxins do not merely adhere to skin, they actually soak into the body from it and thus gain entry without being filtered through our liver and other detoxifying organs. Toxins that gain entry to the body via skin are therefore much more toxic than those we ingest through our food and water. Germs also adhere to skin oils and multiply, some finding entrance through areas in which the skin integrity is compromised and through our pores. As long as oil which has collected these elements stays on the skin, your body is in a very compromised state. Skin oil needs to be washed off frequently to get rid of the collection of these toxins.
It is also, at this point, important to understand the purpose of soap. The purpose of soap is not to moisturize. It is to clean. A good soap made without toxins will do just that. Anti-bacterial ingredients are not necessary, and actually are poisonous and can cause much havoc to your liver and other vital organs. You do not need anti-bacterial agents. Soap should merely be a tool to help wash away oils contaminated with toxins and bacteria. Choose your soap very carefully and make sure you know what every ingredient in the soap does and make sure it has no toxic chemicals. Wash your skin with a wash cloth, soap and water. Once you are done, you need to moisturize and you need to do that without fail.
Do not fail to realize that skin needs moisture to stay supple, too. Moisture and oil must not be confused. Right after washing you skin will feel and look just a little plumper from the water used to wash. That water will evaporate rapidly though, leaving skin dry and tight. By adding a layer of moisturizer right away after washing, you can avoid that dryness. If you have dry skin, you may want to use a bit of oil after washing, but it is best to let the skin breathe naturally and replace the oils from your own metabolic process. If your skin is dry, that is a signal that you need to fix what is wrong with your metabolism. If your metabolism is running smoothly your body will replace the oils you washed off fairly quickly. Eating enough of the essential oils for your body goes a long way to maintaining the correct flow of oil to coat your cells. Omega 3 oils from krill oil and raw, ground flax seeds will provide vital oils for your body to use to replace skin oils.
Another issue with washing skin is that it takes time for your skin to metabolize Vitamin D3 you get from sun exposure. If you know you can get more sun exposure daily to keep a layer of this vital vitamin/hormone on your skin, washing will not set you back on your supply. If you know you are going to be unable to replace that layer daily, you might have to choose between hearty washing and just a light wash with plain water for a day or so until you can get more sun exposure so as to get rid of as many toxins as you can without disturbing your Skin’s vitamin D resources. If you have been exposed to a lot of toxins, you might well decide to wash heartily and take a Vitamin D3 supplement that day. Make sure you study the facts about your needs for this vitamin and how to take it for maximum absorption. Skin without enough Vitamin D will not stay healthy very long – and neither will any other part of your body.
Natural skin oil is vital to good skin, but once those oils become polluted, they do nothing more than harm your body. Washing your skin with non-toxic soap is a very important part of any skin care regime. It’s not a non-toxic soap that hurts your skin, it is not continuing with a good after wash care regime that will cause any negative long-term effects that you would see from washing alone.
©2010; Sally Taylor: Sals Secrets Revealed
The question crops up again and again. How should I be removing my makeup. It’s a good question, too, because improper makeup removal can be a disaster for keeping skin supple and healthy.
There are two main mistakes people make removing their makeup. One is that makeup isn’t removed completely. The other is that the wrong products are being used for removal. Both can be disastrous for skin integrity. Both will clog pores and coat skin so it can’t breath properly. Makeup removal doesn’t need to be a science, though and can be done in much more skin friendly ways than skin care product manufacturers will lead you to believe. It can be done more cheaply than they will tell you as well.
Many manufacturers want you to believe that soap is harmful to your skin. Some soaps are, but it is because they are loaded with toxins. If you look specifically for soaps that are toxin free, there is no problem with using soap on your face. Soap and wash cloth are very good and effective tools for cleansing makeup and airborne toxins from your skin. Light scrubbing with a wash cloth will remove makeup, dead skin cells, and many impurities that other methods of makeup removal will leave behind. Always remember that soap is not meant to moisturize your skin, it is meant to clean it. Make sure you rinse soap from your skin thoroughly. You can’t be over cautious washing soap away. All the extra water will do is help to flush pores clean of debris.
To make sure you have not left residue on your skin and to close your pores, wipe your skin with hydrogen peroxide to remove any residue that may have accidentally be left behind. A hydrogen peroxide molecule is actually nothing more than a water molecule with an extra atom of oxygen. The extra oxygen in the peroxide can be absorbed by skin cells and will give them a terrific boost. Peroxide can dry your skin on its own, just as soap and water can, though so you must always – let me repeat that – you must ALWAYS use a water soluble, toxin free moisturizer after cleaning your skin. It is important to make sure your moisturizers are water soluble to ensure they are not coating your skin in ways that defeat the purpose of washing your makeup off in the first place.
Never use a cleansing creams to take off makeup or air pollution residue. These products are sold by making people believe that soap is bad for your skin and that their products will keep skin soft and supple. Cleaning and moisturizing are NOT, and never will be, a single step process. You must clean first, and then moisturize. One step processes will leave residues that will choke the vitality out of your skin rather rapidly. You may think you are just aging badly when in actuality you are just completely smothering your skin cells and clogging pores. Removing mascara should be done before general makeup removal and it takes a little more effort to remove it than face makeups do.
Some mascaras can be removed with soap and water as well. If you are like me, you are using more high intensity mascara than that which washes off with water. I don’t savor the idea of getting caught in rain or some quick emotional outburst and wearing black streaks down my face as a result. There are some products on the market that are built for mascara removal, but most are nothing more than oils you can buy more cheaply or they are a mix of some pretty harsh chemicals. If you are using a mascara that can’t be removed without chemicals, it’s just plain time to rethink what you are doing to yourself. If you need more power than soap and water to remove mascara, use olive oil or coconut oil to remove it. Put a generous coat of the oil on your lashes and let it sit for awhile. Adding some warmth to it by blowing heat from a blow dryer can speed up the process if you are in a hurry to remove it.
When taking the mascara off, do not pull at your eyelashes. If the oil has not worked completely even gentle pulling can pull lashes out. Rub the oil off with a cotton ball or wash cloth. Do not use paper towels or toilet paper to do this as there are wood fibers in paper that can clog pores and otherwise irritate your skin. If light rubbing does not take your mascara off, then dab more oil on your lashes and give it more time to work. After mascara is removed, the residual will be removed when you wash the rest of your makeup off of your skin.
No matter how well you remove makeup, your pores will capture and build up some elements over time. It is important to remember to clear your pores once or twice a week no matter how well you take your makeup off. Once debris does get lodged in pores, washing just isn’t enough to clean them out and the result can be very unwelcome. Steaming can help quite a bit to clean pores out. There are also face masks you can use for more heavy duty clogging problems. Masks that have to be washed off are often more powerful than peel off facials. By using a non-toxic facial periodically with a good facial mask, your skin will keep its integrity for years longer than you may be expecting. That kind of surprise is worth the effort.
2010 © Sals Secrets Revealed
