Skin Care and Aging

Skin Care and Aging


-->
"Defy aging.""Tone and firm sagging skin.""Restore your skin's own wrinkle control."
Americans spend billions of dollars each year on skin care products that promise to erase wrinkles, lighten age spots, and eliminate itching, flaking, or redness. But the simplest and cheapest way to keep your skin healthy and young looking is to stay out of the sun.
Sunlight is a major cause of the skin changes we think of as aging — changes such as wrinkles, dryness, and age spots. Your skin does change with age. For example, you sweat less, leading to increased dryness. As your skin ages, it becomes thinner and loses fat, so it looks less plump and smooth. Underlying structures — veins and bones in particular — become more prominent. Your skin can take longer to heal when injured.
You can delay these changes by staying out of the sun. Although nothing can completely undo sun damage, the skin sometimes can repair itself. So, it’s never too late to protect yourself from the harmful effects of the sun.
Keep Your Skin Healthy
The best way to keep your skin healthy is to avoid sun exposure.
Stay out of the sun. Avoid the sun between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. This is when the sun’s UV rays are strongest. Don’t be fooled by cloudy skies. Harmful rays pass through clouds. UV radiation also can pass through water, so don’t assume you’re safe if you’re in the water and feeling cool.
Use sunscreen. Sunscreens are rated in strength according to a sun protection factor (SPF), which ranges from 2 to 30 or higher. A higher number means longer protection. Buy products with an SPF number of 15 or higher. Also look for products whose label says: broad spectrum (meaning they protect against both types of harmful sun rays — UVA and UVB) and water resistant (meaning they stay on your skin longer, even if you get wet or sweat a lot). Remember to reapply the lotion as needed.
Wear protective clothing. A hat with a wide brim shades your neck, ears, eyes, and head. Look for sunglasses with a label saying the glasses block 99 to 100 percent of the sun’s rays. Wear loose, lightweight, long-sleeved shirts and long pants or long skirts when in the sun.
Avoid artificial tanning. Don’t use sunlamps and tanning beds, as well as tanning pills and tanning makeup. Tanning pills have a color additive that turns your skin orange after you take them. The FDA has approved this color additive for coloring foods but not for tanning the skin. The large amount of color additive in tanning pills may be harmful. Tanning make-up products are not suntan lotions and will not protect your skin from the sun.
Check your skin often. Look for changes in the size, shape, color, or feel of birthmarks, moles, and spots. If you find any changes that worry you, see a doctor. The American Academy of Dermatology suggests that older, fair-skinned people have a yearly skin check by a doctor as part of a regular physical exam.

THE SPA PETAL POWDESR

They are beautiful. They are symbols of love. And their fragrance is a pleasure to the olfactory senses. However, along with all these qualities, flowers are also healers in their own right. Indian flower remedy is another form of alternative healing that can combat many ailments. You name any problem and it seems that flower remedy has an answer, says Dr Rupa Shah, who, along with her husband, Dr Atul Shah, has been practising flower remedy since the last 18 years. According to her, the healing energy of flowers is distilled with spring water and charged with sunlight or moonlight. Medicines are then prepared from this mother essence and preserved with vinegar or brandy. The Shahs, who are allopaths, add, "Flower essences facilitate and accelerate the healing energy of one’s body." Flower essences can either be consumed (as a solution), applied as a gel (external application only) or used in bath water for therapeutic uses. The essences are often mixed with the energy of gems for faster and better benefits, says Dr Atul Shah. For instance, curry flower essences provide relief when one is suffering from acidity. But for severe cases of acidity, the essences of curry flower and the rare Karvy, added to the energies of diamond and sapphire, accrue better and faster results.
Apart from chronic and acute ailments, flower remedies also work wonders with all types of addiction, and they aid in the rehabilitation process as well. They work best in the areas of acute pain/injury, allergy and emotional problems. Essences are also available for improving one’s memory, eliminating behavioural problems like thumb sucking and juvenile delinquency and enhancing one’s libido. The cosmetic uses of flower remedy include toning and/or increasing the bust size. The essences can change one’s personality by imparting confident, positive and energetic vibes. Last, but not the least, there are essences for pets too, which combat many problems – right from emotional stress to skin problems. Explains Dr Rupa Shah, "The best part of flower remedy is that it doesn’t have any side- effects as it is a complementary medicine. Remember that the flower essence should not be applied on open wounds or in the nose, ears and eyes. And there are certain ailments like diabetes, cardiac ailments, cancer and AIDS, where the efficacy of flower remedy is yet to be seen." Flower remedy also appears to be cost-effective – a 15 ml bottle costs Rs 100-150. This bottle can last for a month, depending upon the dose.