Tips For Healthy Skin

Good skin care — including sun protection and gentle cleansing — can keep your skin healthy and glowing for years to come.
Don't have time for intensive skin care? Pamper yourself with the basics. Good skin care and healthy lifestyle choices can help delay the natural aging process and prevent many skin problems. Get started with these five no-nonsense tips.
1. Protect yourself from the sun
The most important way to take care of your skin is to protect it from the sun. A lifetime of sun exposure can cause wrinkles, freckles, age spots and rough, dry skin. Sun exposure can also cause more-serious problems, such as skin cancer. For the most complete sun protection:
* Avoid the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. This is when the sun's rays are the strongest.
* Wear protective clothing. Cover your skin with tightly woven long-sleeved shirts, long pants and wide-brimmed hats. You might also opt for special sun-protective clothing, which is specifically designed to block ultraviolet rays while keeping you cool and comfortable.
* Use sunscreen when you're in the sun. Apply generous amounts of broad-spectrum sunscreen 30 minutes before going outdoors and reapply every two hours, after heavy sweating or after being in water.
2. Don't smoke
Smoking makes your skin look older and contributes to wrinkles. Smoking narrows the tiny blood vessels in the outermost layers of skin, which decreases blood flow. This depletes the skin of oxygen and nutrients, such as vitamin A, that are important to skin health. Smoking also damages collagen and elastin — fibers that give your skin its strength and elasticity. In addition, the repetitive facial expressions you make when smoking — such as pursing your lips when inhaling and squinting your eyes to keep out smoke — may contribute to wrinkles.
If you smoke, the best way to protect your skin is to quit. Ask your doctor for tips or treatments to help you stop smoking.
3. Treat your skin gently
Daily cleansing and shaving can take a toll on your skin, so keep it gentle:
* Limit bath time. Hot water and long showers or baths remove oils from your skin. Limit your bath or shower time, and use warm — rather than hot — water.
* Avoid strong soaps. Strong soaps can strip oil from your skin. Instead, choose mild cleansers.
* Shave carefully. To protect and lubricate your skin, apply shaving cream, lotion or gel before shaving. For the closest shave, use a clean, sharp razor. Shave in the direction the hair grows, not against it.
* Pat dry. After washing or bathing, gently pat or blot your skin dry with a towel so that some moisture remains on your skin.
* Moisturize dry skin. Find a moisturizer that fits your skin type and makes your skin look and feel soft.
4. Eat a healthy diet
A healthy diet can help you look and feel your best. Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins. The association between diet and acne isn't clear — but research suggests that a diet rich in vitamin C and low in fats and carbohydrates may promote younger looking skin.
5. Manage stress
Uncontrolled stress can make your skin more sensitive and trigger acne breakouts and other skin problems. To encourage healthy skin — and a healthy state of mind — takes steps to manage your stress. Set reasonable limits, scale back your to-do list and make time to do the things you enjoy. The results may be more dramatic than you expect.

Care of Combination Skin

Combination skin is usually characterized by two extreme skin types, such as oily and dry skin, occurring on the same face. While the presence of an oilier T-zone is considered normal, the extreme of a very oily T-zone and the presence of acne with larger pores along with very dry cheeks and smaller pores are considered to be combination skin. In some cases, this could be caused by a skin disorder called seborrheic eczema, so a visit to a dermatologist may be in order, to help your skin find the right balance. Taking care of this type of skin can be challenging, but it can be done. Here are a few tips on taking care of combination skin.
The first line of defense in combination skin is keeping the skin clean. Avoid using soaps or cleansers which are perfumed or colored, as these can irritate the skin. Also avoid using cleansers that are formulated for very oily skin, as this can irritate the parts of the skin that are dry. Use a gentle cleanser at least twice a day, and try for three times if you can. Experts disagree today whether toner is necessary in your skin routine, as most modern cleansers will help keep your skin feeling refreshed. But toner can help remove any residue from the cleanser and it does feel good on the skin. If you’re in the habit of using toner, you don’t need to stop as long as you’re not using a toner that contains alcohol, as this can severely dry the skin.
Always use a moisturizer after you wash your face. You can try a moisturizer formulated for combination skin or normal to oily. Moisturizer can help even the oily parts of the skin, as the cleanser has worked to remove the excess oils and the moisturizer helps keep the skin hydrated.
Finally, always remove your makeup before going to bed. Leaving the makeup on will clog the pores and help pimples and black heads to develop. No matter how tired you are or how late you get home, always get in the habit of removing your makeup at the end of the day.

Natural Treatments Of Acne And Sunburn

Though there are many scientific products that are available for the curing of diseases, there is nothing as best as getting healed using natural products. Nature has provided man many products that are useful for treating almost every possible trouble that the human body can face and the best thing with the natural bounty is that there are least ill consequences of using the natural items compared to the scientific ones. Here are a few natural tips for skin care that can help you ward off the skin related troubles and rise to a glowing and healthy skin.
Natural treatments for acne
* One of the effective natural treatments for acne is to apply a face mask that is made by boiling 1.5 liters of water with leaves of raspberry and strawberry for three to four minutes.
* Ripe tomatoes are also effective in the treatment of acne. Apply pureed tomato on the pimples or acne and wash off after an hour.
* Aloe vera is the plant which is used in most of the scientific treatments for acne and has proven to be an effective remedy for acne. You can make a paste and apply it on the pimples and wash it off after a few minutes.
* You can also apply a mixture of yogurt and fine oatmeal on the acne and leave it to dry before washing it off with tepid water.
* The juice extracted from the mint leaves is another efficacious remedy. You need to apply the juice on the    acne before going to bed and leave it on overnight and wash it off in the morning.
* Soak fenugreek seeds in water overnight, make a paste of it and apply on the affected areas.
Natural treatments for tanning skin
Here are a few skin care tips to keep your skin healthy as you tan.
* When your skin is darkened after a day long outing in the sun, you can rub a slice of potato over the skin and wash it off after a few minutes. Raw potato juice can also be applied for lightening the skin.
* Cucumber is one of the best natural treatments for sunburnt skin. Peel the skin of the cucumber and make a juice of it, applying it on the skin directly. This can also be mixed with cool milk and applied to the skin. Rinse it off after fifteen minutes. This can produce great results when done twice a day.
* Exfoliation is necessary for the removal of the dead skin and providing a healthy glow to the skin. A mixture of sugar with lemon juice and glycerin makes an effective homemade exfoliator. When used regularly it helps the skin glow as never before.
* Grind a few almonds and mix them with natural yogurt, oatmeal and ground leaves of lavender and apply on the affected areas. This is a great remedy for getting over the tan and restoring the bright and glowing skin.