:Wise Money Tips

Confusion Marketing - How they get you to buy more skincare products

With new creams and ingredients being launched onto the market all the time, it can be confusing. Unless you’re in the position to spend hours on your skin care routine every day by using all of these different lotions, you’ll need to pick and choose which are right for you.

4 Skincare Products You Can’t Do Without

Here’s a ‘foundation’ minimum that we recommend you use:

Sunscreen: You NEED this. It’s essential for preventing sun damage and lowering your risk of developing skin cancer. If you use only one product, sunscreen should be it. A lotion with SPF 15 moisturizes, protects with SPF, and smoothes skin AHAS and vitamin C.

Eye cream: The skin under your eyes is more delicate and dry than the skin on the rest of your face. Purchase an eye cream which treats the eye area with more emollient moisturizers.

Face Cream With Retinols: Worried about wrinkles and pigmentation spots? A face cream with retinol is order of the day. Use it in place of your regular moisturizer after washing your face in the evening.

Body lotion: A lotion with AHAs is recommended for your whole body. For dry spots put on extra lotion before bed and let it soak in while you are sleeping.

A lot of people with sensitive skin have reverted to natural skin care solutions. Many people use natural skin care formulas to care for their skin at home.

Article by Sheila Flitcroft of http://www.skincareproductinfo.com (The resource for skin care product information)

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If someone tells you they made a soap without using this, I hate to tell you this- but they lied. All bar soaps are made with sodium hydroxide, also known as “caustic soda”. All soap really is is the outcome of a chemical reaction that occurs when a high alkali (the lye) reacts to an oil, but with a well made soap there is no lye remaining in the finished product.

One wise soaper compared it to baking a cake.When you first mix the batter you have your flour, eggs, sugar, oil, etc. When you beat it all together it is still just batter- not something you would probably want to eat. (Unless it’s chocolate! Hehe..) Anyway, the point is when you put that batter in the oven, the heat creates a chemical reaction and cooks the batter. When that batter comes out of the over it’s no longer your original ingredients just stirred together- it’s something entirely new. Cake! It’s a similar idea with soap, only the process is called saponification.

Even liquid soap or “shower gels” are made with a form of lye called potassium hydroxide, or “caustic potash”. Sometimes instead of using the ingredient “sodium hydroxide” on a label, people or companies may use the terms “saponified olive oil”, “saponified palm oil”, etc. It is the very same thing- just a different way of listing ingredients.

You can visit this author’s website at Chambers’ Essentials- free healthy beauty and household tips & recipes.

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Stretch marks are fine lines of thin stretched tissue that may appear on the body, often during rapid weight gain or pregnancy. Naturally, our skin is very flexible. However, during rapid growth, the production of collagen is disrupted (collagen is a protein found in our skin that makes up most of the connective tissue giving it a smooth texture).

This leads to reddish lines on your skin with a rough texture that will eventually turn grayish or white before fading. Stretch marks can affect both men and women, however, they are more prevalent in women, especially during pregnancy.

Apart from pregnancy, often times people who are obese, people how have excess amounts of body fat, or even body builders can both develop stretch marks as a result of the rapid bodily changes that occur. Heredity can also play a role in the development of stretch marks. Some people are naturally born with dry skin that is less elastic than that of other people. In these instances, it will require less body change in a short period of time to develop stretch marks. Also, many steroids which are taken through contact with the skin can cause stretch marks in one’s body.

Stretch marks will eventually fade over time, although they will never naturally be removed from your skin. There are a few medical operations and products that you can use to help remove the stretch marks from your body, ranging from surgery to a variety of creams available which claim to help remove stretch marks. These operations and creams are very expensive and most of them are not very good or dangerous, so it is best to help reduce your chances of developing stretch marks in the first place.

This can be done by insuring that you are drinking a sufficient amount of water daily. It is also important not too drink excessive amounts of caffeine found in coffee, soda, and other drinks, as caffeine will help weaken the dermis, the layer of skin which gives it elasticity. Research has also shown that a healthy balanced diet helps reduce the chances of stretch marks.

Make sure that your diet includes protein rich food such as eggs, chicken, turkey, fish, milk, yogurt, and other dairy products. Zinc rich foods such as fish, as well as foods rich in vitamins will also help. A proper intake of fruits, vegetables, dairy and grain foods can all help reduce your chances of developing stretch marks.

Stretch Marks are a truly unfortunate condition. It is best that you make all attempts at avoiding them if possible. Try to be sure to maintain a healthy balanced diet and have a sufficient intake of water. There are certain times in your life where the chances of stretch marks are high and it is not feasible to avoid these because of circumstances, such as pregnancy. In these cases talk to a dermatologist (skin doctor) to determine what treatment is best for you if they do develop on your skin.

Bronia is a researcher and writer for http://www.skin-fresh.com a user guide to microdermabrasion, stretch mark removal and treatment, botox, chemical and skin peels, acne treatment and all non surgical cosmetic procedures. For more information please visit Skin-Fresh.

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