Natural Beauty Products And Beauty Enhancement

Beauty can defined in a variety of ways; to some it simply means the state of being pleasant to the eyes while to others it is something that brings a feeling of sweetness to the heart. To others still, it could be a sound or touch that soothes the soul however; true beauty in the actual sense encompasses all these and even more, for instance a person can be pleasant in appearance but in speech and action the reverse may be the case surely that person can not be truly described as beautiful, let us say you were asked by the police to describe a thug who just mugged you at gunpoint certainly beautiful will not come up in your description of the thug regardless of how good looking he appears to be.

Now we know what beauty truly is the next step is to establish how we get it or where it comes from. The simple truth is everything was created beautiful, beauty is within us, and it is all around us as nature has bestowed us with so much of it. As a matter of fact our very nature as human beings is beautiful and for some beauty is displayed effortlessly while others need to do a bit to let it show. That not withstanding, everything, everyone is inherently beautiful. Take a piece of diamond for instance until it is cut and polished it could just as well be a piece of rock. Gold and silver have to be refined to bring out their true beauty, it is in us all to be beautiful but to attain true, total and all-encompassing beauty there must be some form of enhancement. This reminds me of the story of Cinderella and her ugly stepsisters. The stepsisters had the best of external adornment but they refused to enhance it with that which come from within hence they were described as ugly, Cinderella on the other hand had beauty within her which made it easy for the fairy godmother to turn her into a real gem. So if we are all inherently beautiful, why then do we need to enhance it? The simple truth is that, it adds value to our being and when this value is added people tend to appreciate us more, people want to love us more and I do not know of any person in this life who does not want to be loved and appreciated. Many manufacturer, advertisers and marketers understand this concept that is why the manufacturer wants to produce the best quality of a product and advertisers and marketers ensure it is well packaged and displayed to the public. How then can we enhance our inherent beauty and attain that true, total and all encompassing beauty?

1. The first key is in our attitudes, we must recognize we are inherently beautiful and let that be reflected in our attitude to life, to people around us, to the world we live in and everything in it. No one could pick up a certain piece of rock and if he does not recognize that if cut and polished that rock is a gem he may just toss it into a pond. In the same vein if we do not realize this beauty is in us there is a tendency that our attitude to life and various issues will be wrong consequently we devalue ourselves in our relationships, work places and all other endeavors. To be truly beautiful we must have the right attitudes, think positively and most importantly recognize the beauty that is in us.

2. The next is a healthy life style, to be truly beautiful we need to live a healthy lifestyle; it is pointless to have a pleasant appearance while we are killing ourselves with our lifestyle. The food we eat, the amount of rest, recreation, exercising and how we socialist are all important factors here. Our lifestyles may be such that we are to busy or we find it too difficult to balance out all these factors, for instance in the case of a balanced diet, we sometimes find this difficult to achieve not because we can not afford it, but because the time and knowledge required to put it together is not there especially in the modern world we live in where there is an abundance of junk food. This can however be remedied with the use of nutritional supplements. One must however, endeavor to maintain a healthy lifestyle and the keyword here is moderation.

3. Finally we look at external adornment, this relates to the clothes, perfumes, cosmetics and accessories we wear to enhance our beauty. In this case there is no one perfect solution, what suits you may not suit me what is important is to be comfortable with what you wear. Avoid coming across as being over dressed or painted up like a doll; make sure whatever you wear adds to your self esteem.

Beauty can be viewed in different ways but in essence to be described as truly beautiful entails a combination of different aspects of beauty. We are all inherently beautiful, but we need to enhance this raw beauty so that we add value to our being. This makes us better appreciated and love. Beauty enhancement can be achieved by recognizing our inherent beauty and allow this to reflect in our attitudes; living a healthy lifestyle and with the use of appropriate clothing and accessories. I have heard people say beauty is relative, what is beautiful to one person may not be so to another, this may be correct for physical appearances but with regards to beauty, true beauty I totally disagree. True beauty is absolute it is either you have it or not and it is achieved by enhancing ones inherent beauty.

Top Beauty Secrets That Every Woman Should Know

Virtually every woman knows some things about how to make themselves beautiful but most often times this general beauty knowledge must be fined tuned to get the best results; most women know what to do to look more beautiful, but they most probably do not know how to do what they know to do properly.

In this article we shall be looking at some very common beauty tips that most women are conversant with to reveal the actual secrets and not too common truths about these tips that you must apply if you want to become more beautiful:

Secret 1-Your skin cleanser might be end up making your skin look more terrible
Many of the common clean cleansers actually end up irritating most skins irrespective of whether your skin is a sensitive skin or not. If you want to cleanse your skin without irritating your skin, it is better to make use of a gentle cleanser that removes dirt and excess sebum (skin oil) without tightening or irritating the skin; avoid cleansers that contain detergents, or alcohol, or fragrances, or other ingredients that are capable of blocking the skin pores.

You should also avoid natural cleansers that contain lemon, mint, cinnamon and essential oils as these natural ingredients also irritate the skin.

Secret 2-Make use exfoliating agents to make your skin glow
If you want a perfect glowing skin, you can make use of exfoliation; if you exfoliate your skin properly, you would open up your skin pores to allow for the proper penetration of skin care serums and creams which will result in your skin becoming bright and glowing. However, if you have rosacea or active acne, you should seek the approval of your dermatologist before you make use of any exfoliating agent.

Secret 3-Make use of retinoids to slow down skin aging
Even though retinoids or retinols which are derivatives of vitamin A were first developed to treat acne, they can also be used to make fine facial lines become smoother.
The beneficial effects of retinoids on the skin include the following:
-They make the epidermis and dermis thicker
-They help to exfoliate dead cells
-They increase the turnover of keratinocytes and they increase the secretion of collagen and hyaluronic acid (this carbohydrate is a natural lubricant present in the joints, muscles, and skin)
You should note however that retionoids make the skin more sensitive to sunlight so, it is better to use retinoids at night.

Secret 4-Scrub your face frequently to make your skin look sweet
You need to scrub your face regularly to maintain a healthy skin and you can either make use of home- facials or you can go for spa treatments.
If you want to scrub your face at home you can follow these steps:
-Scrub your face with sugar by applying sugar to your face in gentle circular motions
-Wash your face with lukewarm water and then pat dry your face
-Apply steam to your face by standing over a boiled pot of water for a few minutes

Secret 5- Scrub your body
Most of the time when we talk about scrubbing we only remember to scrub our faces without bothering to scrub our bodies and quite a number of the bathing soaps that we use to bathe our bodies only make the skin over our feet, legs, and arms to become scaly.

However, we can make use of a homemade natural scrubbing agent by mixing coconut oil with kosher salt, with sugar, with some minced basil into a paste which we then apply on our bodies to scrub our bodies. We can also expose our bodies to steam after scrubbing to give our bodies' better treatment.

Secret 6 - Make use of better soaking techniques for your manicure and apply post pedicure wrap for better results

To get better results, you should mix shower gel with warm water before you soak your hands in this solution for five minutes; this will result in you getting softer and better manicured cuticles.
Also, if you can rub petroleum jelly on your feet and then wrap your feet in cellophane for 15 minutes, you would be able to get rid of all the dry foot problems that the use of a pumice stone could not get rid of.

Secrete 7 -Hydrate your hair properly by avoiding the root
When you want to condition your hair, you have to be careful to do it the right way; apply your conditioner from the tips of your hair down to the mid shaft of your hairs taking care to avoid your hair roots. This is because your scalp secrets certain natural oils that take care of the roots of naturally and if you apply artificial conditioners to these roots they might disturb the natural conditioning process at the roots of your hairs.

Secrete 8 - Don't always assume that it is dandruff that you are treating every time you have dry scalp
Do not limit the treatment of dry scalp to the use of dandruff shampoo alone as dry scalp is also caused by improper rinsing of the hair or the build up of residue from a bad product. So, if your dandruff is not going despite treatment with anti-dandruff shampoo, you should try to rinse your scalp more thoroughly or you should upgrade your hair product.

Secret 9 -Cutting your hair too short might end up making you look old
Even though pixie cuts might be the thing in vogue now, it might not actually help you to look younger and if you allow your hair be a bit long, the presence of hair behind your ear will actually soften your neck and thus make you look younger than your actual age.

Secret 10 -Don't tell your stylist to cut off "inches" of your hair
 For quite a number of us, hair styling is a game of "inches"; when we go to the salon to get a haircut we often tell our stylist to cut off certain number of inches from our hair. However, different people have different ideas about how long an inch is and your stylist idea of the length of hair that you want to cut off might be different from yours.

So, it is better to use your thumb or other fingers to describe the length of hair that you want to cut off when you go to your stylist, that way you are sure that you are on the same wavelength with your stylist when you are describing the length of hair that you want to cut off to your stylist.
Secret 11-Eat the right kinds of foods

If you want to become and stay slim and beautiful you must have a healthy and slimming diet plan that you are following; you cannot just eat as you want if you do not want to bloat up and become shapeless.

Best Anti Aging Foods To Boost Your Health and Fitness

We are all living longer than ever before and our expectations about how we want to look and feel are higher than ever. Anti Aging foods can help us stay agile, fit, healthy, more creative, happier and more youthful!

The secret to staying healthy has always been a good diet but we can do more?

By avoiding processed foods, sugar, salt and fats and limiting alcohol we can begin to reduce the risk of disease and weight gain. But what about maintaining energy levels and feeling fit and active? We want to have good eyesight, healthy skin and hair and a better memory. The good news is that by choosing anti aging foods we can almost turn back the clock to make us look better and feel younger!

Anti aging foods are fresh and natural and are best eaten raw or cooked in a way that will preserve their life enhancing nutrients. We have to begin taking notice of our body's signals. How do we feel after a 4 course meal with fatty sauces and lots of carbohydrates followed by a sticky dessert and a couple of glasses of wine? The answer is probably tired and looking for a place to have a little snooze. We have to wake up and realize that eating nature's super foods can keep us younger and more energetic for longer! Some fun exercise every day and a diet planned around the super foods below will stave off, heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes and arthritis. Anti aging foods boost energy, improve skin and hair and enhance mental performance.

Begin right now with..

Fruits: In every color and shape with amazing tastes and aromas. They are packed full of vitamins, antioxidants and nutrients to protect skin, eyes, bones and the immune system.

Vegetables and Salad: From dark green broccoli to delicate salad leaves these are powerful antioxidants with a host of vitamins and minerals. The best insurance against heart disease and a mighty boost for the immune system. May even help ward off cancer.

Pulses, Peas, Beans and Lentils: A perfect balance of proteins and complex carbohydrates loaded with fibre which lowers cholesterol plus B vitamins, Magnesium, Zinc and Iron.

Nuts and Seeds: Fabulous Omega-3 and Omega-6 oils protect your heart and improve immunity. Great for the skin too! If you don't like fish eat nuts and seeds instead.

Whole Grains: Brown rice and pasta, rye bread and oats are delicious and loaded with fiber. Who would want to eat a fluffy white bread when you can have a whole grain bread with crunchy seeds on the top?

Good Fats and Oil: Olive oil and other cold pressed oils provide essential antioxidant protection.

Fish: All fish but especially the oily kind are perfect anti aging foods. Salmon, sardines, tuna and herring are rich in omega-3 oils. Essential fatty acids that boost the immune system and are often called brain foods!

Lean meat: Chicken, turkey and game are perfect low-fat proteins essential for cell repair.

Cheese and Milk: These are proteins with a higher fat content and should be kept to a minimum. Natural yogurt is a good choice.

Is it time to change the way you think about food?

We cannot stay young forever but we can make 70 the new 50 and enjoy every minute of our healthy, active lifestyle! Don't wait too long. Begin eating anti aging foods today and feel more active and more attractive than ever before. Maintain a healthy weight, boost your energy and invest in your good health!

Carol Engelmann is 62 and passionate about everything anti aging.

She believes that getting older does not mean looking and feeling older. Choosing foods that are bursting with nutrients can slow down many signs of the aging process. Carol writes exclusively for women approaching 60 and over. Her enthusiasm for skin care, make up, fitness and healthy lifestyle is infectious and inspires older women to stay fitter, live longer and look and feel younger! Healthy juicing is the cornerstone of The Anti Aging Diet and Carol has a gold mine of tips for revitalizing and energizing juices and recipes to help turn back the clock!

Ageless Facts About Anti Aging

Age gracefully with anti aging!

Aging is inevitable in life. Whether we like it or not, we do actually age; grandkids can become grandparents. As this reality is actually true, it is also true that changes appear as we enter old-age. You have to face the indisputable fact that your face begins to show its age. Anti aging allow us to age graciously. The goal is to reach maturity without showing the effects of old age.

Now, there are lots of anti aging methods and approaches you may use to fight the signs of aging. Let's take a look at these approaches:

1. Anti aging through avoiding sickness. The smartest thing you can do to have a longer and healthier life is to try and prevent sickness and illness. Age defying is not about living to 300 years of age; it's really about living as healthy a life as possible.

2. Anti Aging through Exercise. Exercise is another anti aging tool, and not simply because it helps rebuff sickness. Exercise will build your deoxyribonucleic acid and make you younger. This recommended United Nations exercise additional results inhealthier, younger cells.

3. Anti Aging through Food. Anti aging depends on your body having the right 'raw materials' to prevent harm and guarantee everything is functioning right. Ingestion of a solid form of healthy foods provides those 'raw materials' to your body. Also avoiding unhealthy food means that your body has less 'clean up' work to do and can target keeping your cells, tissues and organs in their best operating order.

4. Anti aging through Sleep. Obtaining enough sleep has often been associated with prevention of chronic sickness and even living longer. Good sleep is a really vital part of your life, do not neglect your sleep and you will feel happy and live longer.

5. Age defying Skin Care. The skin, it is the biggest organ within the body and also the very first thing people see when they look at you. That is why anti age skin care is a market worth several millions due to the promise of younger looking skin.

6. Anti Aging Hormones. Anti aging supplementsare useful because the majority of them manufacture hormones that helps anti aging.

Now, speaking of anti aging supplements, they are very popular within the market today. These supplements, particularly those with significant levels of antioxidants, will help prevent damage to the skin and even reverse a number of the consequences over time. This anti aging impact of supplements focuses on the harm done to the skin. Free radicals are a by-product from the environmenttogether with pollution and the sun’s rays. The free radicals build up within the body over time and cause a number of the most common signs of aging.

However, anti aging supplements reduce the free radicals and stop them from multiplying at a cellular level. Slowly, over time, with the constant use of anti aging supplements, improved skin condition results. Your wrinkles become less significant and also the fine lines start to disappear. But the user of the anti aging supplement ought to note that they only work as long as they are taken continuously. Also, everybody has free radicals within the body, there is no escape from their production, but by using anti aging supplements like antioxidants, the free radicals don’t have it all their own way.

To summarise, anti aging supplements workby using anti aging hormones to help you age gracefully. This explains why this type of product is becoming more popular.

Whilst there are plenty of anti aging supplements available in the market, it is wise to research them thoroughly as there may be side effects with some of them. Study the ingredients of the supplements you are considering and read testimonials to help choose the right product for you.

Anti Aging Secrets For Keeping Your Skin Looking Youthful

 Wrinkles and other signs of aging can be incredibly embarrassing, especially if you have been told that you look years older than you really are. After trying some of the different skin care products on the market without any results, you may feel a little bit hopeless.

You don't need to, however. Here are some anti aging secrets for keeping your skin looking youthful.
Probably the most important antiaging secret that you should know about is diet. Your skin can be effected greatly by the food that you eat. Fruits and vegetables can help prevent your skin from showing the signs of aging, due to the antioxidants that they contain.

If your diet is high in junk food or fast food, your skin is more likely to develop wrinkles and other signs of aging. Also keep in mind that, due to its cleansing benefits, water is known to help prevent the signs of aging. One of the easiest techniques for anti aging is making some simple changes to your daily diet.
Exercise is another one of the anti aging secrets that you should know about. The more that you exercise, the less likely your skin will be to show signs of aging.

Combining a regular cardiovascular exercise routine with a healthy diet is one of the best ways to slow down the aging process without using a single antiaging cream. This is another antiaging secret which is very easy for most people to follow.

Anti-aging supplements are also known to play a significant role in preventing the effects that aging can have on the skin. One of the antiaging secrets that most people do not know is that these supplements are often made from ingredients which are used in home remedies for skin care.

For this reason, anti aging supplements ten to be very effective and are made from natural, healthy ingredients.

There are a number of different anti aging secrets that anyone interested in preventing the effects of the aging should know about. These are just three of the most popular anti-aging techniques which you may want to take advantage of.

If no anti wrinkle crème has worked for you in the past, then incorporating a regular exercise routine, healthy diet and anti-aging supplements into your life is a very good idea.

And there are some outstanding natural anti aging products available as well, however as they come from a small niche company that doesn't advertise on TV you won't have heard of them, and they are probably the best anti aging secret of all.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1547494

How to Look 10 Years Younger - 3 Anti Aging Traps to Avoid

If you are trying to look 10 years younger or more, there is no shortage of information or products to help you achieve your goal. Nowadays, it seems everywhere you turn there is some new product or cosmetic procedure claiming to remove wrinkles, restore elasticity, bring back radiance... the list goes on and on.
But before you try that breakthrough product or visit that hot new medical day spa there are 3 anti aging traps you need to know about. Fall into one of these, and no matter what products you are using, you could be undermining your results without even knowing it.

Anti Aging Trap #1- No Passion for Anti Aging or Complete Acceptance of the Aging Process

"Passion for anti aging?" you say. "Of course I have passion for anti aging. Why do you think I spend hundreds of dollars on products and procedures?"
Let's make one thing clear- passion for anti aging and looking 10 years younger has nothing to do with how many products you buy or how many visits you schedule with your plastic surgeon. Passion for anti aging starts in the brain:
For example: Every morning when I wake up, the first thing on my mind is anti aging. I am constantly researching, studying, putting test ideas into practice to stay and feel younger and more vibrant. I thoroughly enjoy it and a day doesn't go by without me thinking about anti aging and trying to look 10 years younger.
Now I know everyone doesn't or even can't wake up with anti aging on the brain. There are kids to get off to school, jobs to go to, bills to pay; the list goes on and on.
But to really achieve any level of anti aging, you do have to have some passion for it.
Why?
Because passion for anything, whether it be looking 10 years younger, losing weight, or getting a promotion starts in the brain. The moment you set your mind to achieve something your brain immediately goes into overdrive coming up with ideas to bring this plan to fruition. Passion is the fuel which drives this process. The more passionate you are about an idea, the higher the probability that you will achieve what you desire.
Unfortunately, anti aging or trying to look 10 years younger or more quickly loses momentum. This is because many people feel there are only a few options to truly stay youthful. Once they start to age, they believe the only options they have are plastic surgery or Botox. Which brings us to the next anti aging trap:

Anti Aging trap #2- Overloading On Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Procedures

I recently met a 48 woman who was obviously addicted to plastic surgery. Her face was smooth, taut and unlined. She had no wrinkles on her forehead, around her eyes or around her mouth. But guess what? She didn't look ten years younger. She looked like a 48 year old woman that had a lot of work done.
Her face was mask-like, even when she smiled. You can see this look on a lot of celebrities (Courtney Cox, Nicole Kidman, Joan Rivers). Maybe that's why some people think it is the best way to fight the aging process. People love to emulate their favorite stars.
Now I'm not against plastic surgery. Compared to only 10 years ago, plastic and cosmetic surgery has come a long way in helping people everywhere to look and feel younger. And perhaps that's the problem. Because it has become so much more affordable it is now the quick fix instead of the last resort. Too much plastic surgery or cosmetic procedures will not make you look 10 years younger. It will however make you look strange, unnatural and like a plastic surgery junkie.

Anti Aging Trap #3 Setting the Bar Too Low

When I ask women what they really want to achieve from all the effort they put into staying youthful, more often than not most of them respond with the following:
"I want to look good for my age."
The only way I know how to respond to this statement is "Why?"
If you truly want to look good for your age, no matter if it's 30, 40 or 50+ then I say go for it. You could probably achieve your goal in a matter of months if you haven't done so already. But know this:
You will never go to a college sporting event and be mistaken for a coed by 4 different students. You won't be able to wear a mini skirt and look "age appropriate". (Sorry to use that phrase. I actually despise it but that's a whole other article.) You will never go for a jog and have 3 seventeen year olds on scooters ask what college you go to.

Why? Because "looking good for your age" is setting the bar way too low. Sure you look good, but only for your age. It's the equivalent of the comment: "you throw pretty good for a girl". You want to look good period. You want to look so good that no one can say you look good for your age because no one can tell how old you are.

I know plenty of women aged 40+ who can and have been mistaken for a college coed. Who still have the ability to pull off a mini and flip flops. And who have 17 year old boys waving to them from their motorcycles and scooters

Now that we discussed the 3 Anti Aging Traps and how easy they are to fall into, let's talk about the good news. Look at the following quote:

"Anti Aging to us is a lifestyle. My wife and I decided a long time ago that we weren't going to age. We were going to eat right, constantly try new things, take care of our bodies. But most importantly, we set our mind to it and I guess we're doing all right."-from a 52 year old man and his 46 year old wife.

This quote came from a married couple I recently met who I had guessed to be in their mid thirties. The man confessed to me that he was actually 52 years old and his wife was 46. I was pretty stunned. Being as obsessed as I am with anti aging, I can usually guess peoples' ages pretty well. So this really threw me for a loop.

This couple looked, walked and talked like they were 35 years old. And a young 35 at that. It was truly amazing and I couldn't stop looking at them.
So how were they able to look at least 10 to 15 years younger? Is it possible that they had some plastic surgery?

They were very open and honest about their beauty regimen and upkeep. They told me they have had "absolutely no Botox". And no plastic surgery. They both have skin peels every six months to rejuvenate their skin. They eat no processed food whatsoever and a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables. They exercise 5 days a week, stretch extensively to stay flexible and agile and keep abreast of new innovations in the anti aging industry.

Everything they told me was fascinating and their plan was obviously working for them. But I kept going back to their original quote: "My wife and I decided that we weren't going to age."
That small statement is one of the key reasons why they are able to stay so vibrant and young looking. In their mind, they wouldn't accept the aging process and when they had that affirmation set firmly in their brain that set in motion a life-long plan of fighting aging at every turn. Once that affirmation was solidly in place, everything else that followed became second nature to them.

And that is the true key to anti aging and staying young and vital. Believing with absolute certainty that you can. So stay passionate about anti aging, don't overload on cosmetic and plastic surgery and set that bar way up high. When you avoid these anti aging traps, you'll be surprised how quickly your body and mind respond. You may just wake up a couple months from now looking 10 years younger.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2034152

The Solution to Anti-Aging Skin Care

The anti-aging skin care field has boomed, with hundreds of new products being introduced to the market on what feels like almost on a daily basis. This has resulted in what we may call "skin care overload." People have become overwhelmed and confused by the countless number of ingredients we are told are necessary for anti-aging. It has become impossible to access and apply even a fraction of these ingredients due to the cost and time involved. We feel compelled to buy multiple products every month and layer them on in order to do the most for our skin. But, as we fill our medicine cabinets with creams and serums, we are faced with the daily questions of which shall we use, which are safe and which actually work?

It has been long overdue that the various categories of anti-aging and the anti-aging ingredients themselves be ordered and categorized so that a comprehensive approach to anti-aging may be put into place. Firstly, there are many features to skin aging and people will show one or more features over time, but may differ in the features of skin aging that plague them. For example, some people develop sagging or laxity to the skin due to genetic factors, but may have little or no sun damage. Others may be covered with sun spots but have no sagging or wrinkling. The following is a validated classification scheme which allows for each clinical feature of skin aging to be assessed separately on a 4-point grading scale (mild, moderate, advanced, severe):

Classification of Skin Aging:
Laxity (Sagging)
Wrinkles
Redness
Brown discolorations
Solar elastosis (Yellowing)
Irregular texture
Abnormal growths (keratoses).1

This classification scheme of skin aging includes a severity scale as mentioned above (0=None, 1=Mild, 2=Moderate, 3=Advanced, and 4=Severe) which allows researchers or users to rank each individual person's skin aging according to feature and severity. This scale was shown to be very useful in testing anti-aging treatments and has been published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.1 Older scales tended to lump different features together into broad categories, which became less useful as treatments became more specific in targeting various facets of skin aging; for example as anti-pigment or anti-redness or anti-wrinkle. With this current anti-aging scale, our anti-aging products may be quantitatively tested to determine which individual categories of skin aging they treat and how effective they are in each category. This also allows us to hone our anti-aging regimen to our needs and to compile or group the ingredients in each category that are most effective so as to cover all categories of anti-aging in a logical manner.

The next challenge was to classify the plethora of anti-aging ingredients on the market based on the features of skin aging that they targeted or treated. I then created a classification scheme of the categories of anti-aging targeted by the ingredients that have emerged over the past decade:

Anti-Wrinkle - DNA Defense - Barrier Fortification
Anti-Redness - Cellular Restore - Emollient/Moisturizer
Anti-Brown Discoloration - Damage Reversal - Pro-Skin Thickness
Anti-Oxidants - Aging Repair - Re-Texturize

With this classification scheme, we can appreciate why people have become so overwhelmed and why they have accumulated shopping bags full of skin creams in order to meet their needs! Nevertheless, as anti-aging ingredients have emerged targeting each of these categories, ideally one would want to incorporate the best ingredients of each category in a single daily regimen to optimally treat skin aging.

Each individual may differ in which category of anti-aging they need most, yet in order to prevent and reverse all the signs of skin aging, it is still optimal for all categories to be covered by an anti-aging regimen. It is important to familiarize yourself with which ingredients fall in each category, so that you can incorporate several of each group into your skin regimen, or look for a product that covers the various categories of anti-aging in a logical way. Examples of key active ingredients shown to yield resulst in each category of anti-aging include: peptides for anti-wrinkles, plant-derived polyphenols and bisabolol for anti-redness, amino acids for anti-brown discolorations, vitamins C, E and ferulic acid for anti-oxidant, DNA repair molecules such as acetyl tyrosine and proline for DNA defense, resveratrol for cellular restore, bark extract or phoretin for damage reversal, Helianthus annuus and Ilex paraguensis extracts for aging repair, dimethicone for barrier repair, glycerin and soy lecithin for emollients, hyaluronic acid for boosting skin thickness, and mushroom extracts and sodium lactate for smoothening abnormal texture.

In sum, the field of anti-aging now has validated classification systems for the various categories of skin aging and for the plethora of anti-aging ingredients so that we can assess and determine which anti-aging actives we want in our medicine cabinet and to make certain that we cover the various categories of anti-aging in our daily regimen. With this scientific basis, we may now intelligently assess anti-aging products for their ability to comprehensively cover all the various categories of skin aging and include the various categories of anti-aging ingredients available. Finally, these comprehensive, validated classification and grading scales provide a framework for solving the anti-aging conundrum with a system for categorizing skin aging and classifying anti-aging actives to make sure you cover all your skin's anti-aging needs.

(C) NY Derm LLC, 2010.

1) Alexiades-Armenakas, M, et al. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 2008 May;58(5):719-37; quiz 738-40.

Dr. Macrene Alexiades-Armenakas M.D., Ph.D., F.A.A.D., Derm-Scientist®, holds three Harvard degrees, a bachelors of arts (BA), a medical degree (MD) and a doctorate (PhD) in genetics, is double Board-Certification in Dermatology in the US and EU and Director of her own Private Practice and Research Clinic in Manhattan. Her 20+ year background in research included plant molecular biology, cell and developmental biology, genetics, photobiology and mammalian stem cell biology. She served as consultant to L'Oreal, ran clinical trials for pharmaceutical and laser companies, and serves as beauty judge to many magazines, including Allure and In Style.

The go-to skin expert for identifying actives proven to deliver results in the laboratory, clinical trials and in practice, she developed a highly advanced technology 37 Extreme Actives® high performance anti-aging cream, capable of suspending and microtargeting the greatest variety and number of proven actives in a single cream, a comprehensive product logically designed to address all the categories of skin aging. The One-Step Skincare Solution™ is the breakthrough that revolutionizes skincare and does the thinking for you. This patented advanced cream technology was designed to suspend and microtarget 37 potent actives in a single cream, which have been proven by independent testing to deliver results in all categories of skin aging.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4568335