A great tan can effortlessly add a great, sun-kissed touch of glamour to any look. Of course, given issues like the hole in the Ozone Layer, the dangers of ultraviolet radiation, skin cancer, and the fact that too much sunlight actually speeds up skin aging, getting a real tan can be a risky affair.

This is why sunless tans, or self tanners are so popular nowadays. Of course, unless you already know how to apply self tanner, doing so can be risky business. It’s also important to find the best self tanners for your skin tone and skin type, so that you don’t end up looking fake or –heaven forbid!- orange.

What is a Self Tanner?

A self tanner is any skin product that can deepen or darken a person’s skin without having to expose it to ultraviolet light. The effect most self tanning products try to go for is the kind of sun-kissed look a person might get after spending a few hours frolicking in the beach without sun block.

How Do You Choose the Best Self Tanners To Use?

Not all self tanners are created equal, and just like each person has his or her own unique body chemistry, every self tanner has its own individual formulation.

Before trying on any of these products, it’s best to do a spot test by applying a little bit of it to your skin so that you can make sure that you aren’t allergic to it and that it actually works on you and doesn’t look fake.

The most effective and easy to apply non-dye self tanners are the ones that contain dihydroxyactenton, or DHA. These reacted directly with amino acids on the epidermis to create a browning effect called the Maillard reaction, which also happens to certain kinds of food, like breads and caramelizing sugars.

These products can come in cream, gel, or even spray form, and examples of good self tanner brands are Neutrogena Instant Bronze, Deep, which has both a bronze tint that deepens your skin color right away as well as tanning action that sets in as early as thirty minutes thereafter.

Environmental Shield Self Tanner SPF 15 is another great self tanner to try. It has SPF protection, and can manifest in two hours. This is the best self tanner to use if you plan on going to the beach, or spend the day outside, since it already has SPF.

Be warned though, to keep from getting streaky, it’s best not to swim or shower until your tan has set in and become visible.

How Do You Apply Self Tanner?

To apply a self tanner, first make sure that your skin is clean, dry, and freshly exfoliated. For even application, the areas to be tanned should also be bare of hair.

With a pair of cheap, disposable gloves, apply the self tanner evenly on your skin, working your way up, from foot to face. Rub the lotion into one part of your skin until it’s completely absorbed, then move on to the next section of skin. Keep on doing this until you’ve covered the area you want to cover, and throw away your gloves.

Even the best self tanners can take anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour before it sets in completely. The first thing to remember in learning how to apply self tanner is to put it on totally evenly. Try not to touch anything or bend until your tanner is completely dry.

Tags: Miscellaneous, Skin by admin
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When I was fourteen, I had really nasty acne. I swear, I looked like a cross between the moon, and a diseased tomato; my skin was pockmarked, oily, and red, and my cheeks and forehead were almost completely covered with pimples.

I sought out a lot of different acne treatments, but I didn’t find anything that would make my acne go away. It baffled and frustrated me, until I realized that what causes acne can usually be traced back to the hormonal imbalances of puberty, and the fortunate –or unfortunate- circumstances that surround a person’s genetics.

Acne: Knowing My Enemy

As a kid, I didn’t really care very much for my skin problems; I wasn’t that concerned about my looks, and since I was neither popular nor a social punching bag for the hormonal shark tank that is an all-girls Catholic school, my classmates didn’t give me much grief over my acne.

It wasn’t until my face actually began to hurt from all of the inflamed skin that I decided to try and do something about it.

The first thing I did of course; was to try and figure out what my skin condition was in the first place. After a little research, I found out that what causes acne –which is actually called acne vulgaris- can usually be traced back to teenaged hormonal imbalance and overactive skin oil glands.

Acne vulgaris is a skin condition where a person’s sebaceous glands (the oil-producing glands in the skin found around the hair follicle) get blocked. When this happens, the sebum or skin oil which is usually supposed to drain to the skin’s surface and nourish the skin cells there, become a breeding ground for bacteria.

There are two kinds of acne, and a person can have both types at the same time: non-inflammatory acne, and inflammatory acne.

Non-Inflammatory Acne

In this particular kind of acne, the blocked gland can cause skin blemishes called comedones: what people usually refer to as whiteheads and blackheads.

Whiteheads

Whiteheads are comedones which show up as small, white spots. In a whitehead, the sebum and the bacteria around the sebum are trapped underneath the skin’s surface. The hair follicle’s opening is slightly enlarged, and the skin’s surface is sometimes raised just a tiny bit. Luckily, whiteheads tend to be really small: almost invisible in fact, and if the follicle wall doesn’t rupture, the sebum usually gets released to the surface and heals on its own.

Blackheads

Blackheads, on the other hand, are when the pore of the hair follicle opens, and the sebum trapped there oxidizes and becomes brown or black. Blackheads may look like dirt, but they can’t be washed or scrubbed away. On the bright side though, they often go away on their own, since the sebum in blackheads actually drains to the skin’s surface; it just does so really slowly.

Inflammatory Acne

Inflammatory acne happens when the follicular walls of one of the skin’s pores breaks. White blood cells rush in to try and heal the problem, but instead, the pus forms, and the pore swells up.

Usually, inflammatory acne starts out as a papule; or a small, red bump created by trapped sebum, bacteria, and pus. If the papule doesn’t heal, it can become a pustule, which forms a few days after.

White blood cells finally make their way to the skin’s surface, and the papule finally becomes what people refer to as a pimple or a zit.
If the zit doesn’t heal, it can go on to become a nodule, which is when the follicle breaks and collapses completely so that a sore and inflamed bump appears. The worst kind of inflammatory reaction is called a cyst, where the inflamed area becomes quite big, and pus-filled lesions appear.

Aside from being pretty damn gross, cysts can hurt an awful lot, and a visit to the dermatologist is usually in order.

Treating Acne

The first thing you have to remember about acne is that you aren’t supposed to touch it! Usually, picking or touching the affected area can aggravate the problem, especially if the area you’re touching has inflammatory acne. Poked and prodded, a whitehead can become a papule, then a pustule, then a nodule, then a cyst, and if proper acne treatment isn’t given, scarring can occur.

Acne treatments run the gamut; from simply practicing good hygiene, maintaining a balanced diet, and waiting out the hormonal mess that is puberty, to hormone treatments and laser surgery.

The most common acne treatments usually don’t address what causes acne per se –the blocked pores- but the effects: increased bacteria. Topical creams and ointments that kill bacteria are the most easily accessible, and are best for milder forms of acne.

Others, like hormone treatments, deal directly with what causes acne the most often: the hormonal imbalances that can result in the overproduction of sebum. This kind of acne treatment is mostly effective only for women. It and can often be as simple as taking oral contraceptives.

For a more unisex approach, having a dermatologist inject cortisone directly into an especially large or uncooperative pimple can have immediate positive effects. Of course, if you plan on using these kinds of treatments, it’s important to consult with a professional.

Tags: Skin by admin
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Perfume is any mixture of aroma compounds, essential oils, fixatives, and solvents meant to create a pleasant smell. Perfume might have been around for a few millennia, but perfumery and the perfume industry’s introduction to the western world only came around during the Renaissance, in the fourteenth century.

At the time, it was almost exclusively used by the wealthy and the aristocracy to cover up for the fact that people back then didn’t bathe that often. Perfume’s come a long way since then. It isn’t just a luxury for the super-rich anymore.

Sure, there are still a lot of designer perfumes that can cost an arm, a leg, and the better part of a torso, but there are a lot of discount perfumes available as well. They’re pretty easy to find, actually. Figuring out where to buy discount womens perfume, for example, can be as easy as typing out the object of your search on a search bar.

What are the Different Kinds of Perfumes?

Ever wonder why sometimes, in the perfume world, a tiny vial barely the size of a little kid’s pinky finger can cost sooooooooooo much more than a bottle the size of a coffee mug? Brand names aside, one of the reasons for this is usually because of the type of perfume it might be. Perfume types vary according to the amount of essential oil or aromatic compound is mixed in with the solvent –usually, the solvent is a mix of water and ethanol.

Perfume extract, or extrait has fifteen to forty percent aromatic compounds. These are typically the most expensive. With extrait, a little bit can really go a long way, which is another reason why its price tag can be so much higher.

Eau de parfum has ten to twenty percent, eau de toilette has five to fifteen percent, eau de cologne traditionally has three to eight percent aromatic compound in its mixture and these compounds are usually a mix of citrus oils –like lime, bergamot, and petitgrain- although lately, it’s become a catch-all term for formulations with two to five percent aromatic compound.

In comparison to extrait, splashes and after shaves normally come in formulations with only one to three percent aromatic compounds.

Of course, in individual brands the formulations can vary, but most of the time, discount perfumes are available nonetheless.

Where Can I Find Discount Perfumes?

If you’re willing to wait, a lot of beauty stores and perfume shops could have special discount sales during particular times of the year. One online perfume store, for example, runs a special sale especially for Mother’s Day, where discount womens perfumes of all types get their prices slashed by ten percent if they’re bought on or before Mother’s Day.

Outlet stores and certain websites also have a lot of discount perfume offerings. Some websites will let you buy discount womens perfumes and discount mens perfumes for up to eighty to seventy percent less than they would cost you at retail prices!

As old and long as the history of perfumery might be though, perfumes themselves don’t last forever; even the best perfumes can go rancid over time, so before buying any discount perfumes, try and get a whiff to make sure that it’ll serve its purpose and keep you smelling nice, not nasty.

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Age spots are also known as liver spots, and they’re skin blemishes that can show up on the skin as we get older. Usually, these blemishes can show up on areas of the skin which are most frequently exposed to the ultraviolet light of the sun: the forehead, cheeks, shoulders, arms, and hands.

Real age spots can range in color from black, gray, or brown, and they’re normally flat and physically harmless, even if they can sometimes get bad press for being associated with signs of aging. If you don’t feel happy about having age spots, there are treatments that can fade age spots or even remove age spots. Techniques for removing age spots can range from bleaching creams to laser therapy, to even cryotherapy.

How Do Age Spots Happen?

When we’re exposed to ultraviolet rays, our skin defends itself by producing melanin, which is responsible for the color of our skin; more melanin means darker skin color, but as we get older, melanin production can go a little funky, and sometimes, a little too much is produced in just one little area. These are basically what liver spots are.

While there are a few exceptions, most people will develop liver spots after the age of forty, when skin starts to become much less able to repair from the damage caused by sun exposure.

It’s a normal part of aging, although if you really feel self-conscious about your age spots, there are a lot of different ways to remove age spots or fade age spots.

Here are some of the most common treatments for removing age spots:

Topical Medication

Usually, these medications are prescribed bleaching creams, sometimes used with a mild steroid and/or retinoids. Regular use over a long period of time can fade age spots really effectively, but it’s still a good idea to make sure that you protect yourself from the sun and prevent new age spots from forming with sunscreen and other sun protection measures.

Dermabrasion

The pigment responsible for age spots is at the base of the topmost skin layer also known as the epidermis. Dermabrasion works by planning or sanding down the top layer of the skin so that new skin grows in its place. This procedure can be a little rough on a your skin, so watch out for scabbing or redness and be gentle on the area where the dermabrasion was performed.

Laser Therapy

Laser therapy goes straight for the source of age spots: the excess melanin or melanocytes that create age spots’ dark pigment in the first place. It destroys them using laser light, and is really effective at removing age spots. This particular technique can require a number of sessions and can cost a lot of money though.

Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy involves freezing the top layer of the skin with the age spots using liquid nitrogen or any other freezing agents. Like with laser therapy, the excess pigment is destroyed, and this technique to fade age spots can be pretty effective, even if slight discoloration or scarring can sometimes happen.

Chemical Peel

Another way to remove age spots is to use a chemical peel. This particular technique for removing age spots uses acid that will burn away the top layer of the skin and cause it to peel, all the way down to the age spots themselves. During this time, new skin will usually form; age spot-free, or at least considerably less spotty.

Tags: Anti-Aging, Skin by admin
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A great smile can brighten up a whole room. Of course, if your pearly whites are more grungy yellows or gunky browns, that doesn’t happen as effectively. There are a lot of different ways to make teeth whiter.

Searching online can glean a lot of different tips and suggestions on how to whiten those teeth. Of course, since it’s the internet, and not all of the sources online are particularly reliable, you’ll have to separate the grain from the chaff.

There are a lot of different ingredients that you can use to whiten up your teeth, but sometimes, you have to ask, does xylitol whiten teeth? Does hydrogen peroxide whiten teeth? Does baking soda whiten teeth? I’m guessing (from my research) that they all do, to a certain degree.

A bit of double-checking and poking around will present you with mixed results. Most of the time, the answer is yes, but the effects of each ingredient, as used as a tooth whitener, can vary between people and based on how you use it.

Xylitol is actually a kind of sugar alcohol, and it’s usually used as a sugar substitute. Usually, sweet things are associated with tooth decay, but before you toss this idea aside, xylitol is actually a kind of sugar that’s good for your teeth. It can kill off germs and prevent plaque and cavities from forming, and helps maintain the PH balance in your mouth.

Some toothpastes and chewing gums actually contain xylitol, but the question remains: does xylitol whiten teeth? In a nutshell, yes. However, dental whitening isn’t xylitol’s main dental care function. It’s more of a side-effect of the fact that with xylitol, your teeth actually get healthier.

Hydrogen peroxide, on the other hand, is one of the active ingredients in many bleaching gels sold in drugstores and used in dentists’ offices. It’s also an ingredient used in a lot of different whitening toothpastes.

If anyone asks, does hydrogen peroxide whiten teeth? The answer would definitely be yes, but if you want to make a homemade teeth whitening solution using hydrogen peroxide, it might be best to consult a dentist or another professional for any safety or medical concerns.

The best thing to use for DIY dental whitening would definitely be baking soda. It’s readily available in just about any grocery or drug store, it has a lot of different uses, and you’re not likely to get chemical burns on your gums the way you might if you use high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide unsupervised.

Of course, one question that may be crossing your mind right now is, how exactly does baking soda whiten teeth? Baking soda doesn’t exactly change the color of teeth, as much as it scrubs your teeth and gets some of those tougher stains and plaque out. It can be a bit abrasive though, so it’s best to use baking soda only once or twice a month.

There are a lot of different methods of getting whiter teeth – you might want to try a safe, gentle and natural option before some of the harsher alternatives.

Tags: Miscellaneous, Natural Beauty by admin
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