Use Natural Soap To Protect Skin From Dryness

As a part of skin care products, soaps play a very important role as they are the ones which steal the skin of its natural moisture. Generally people go through the whole exercise of skin care regime but do not pay attention to the soap that they use. The normal body soaps are nothing but perfumed lather producing agents. There is a large market developing of the natural soaps because people are realizing the value of it.

While manufacturing soap, glycerin is a by product which is conveniently removed by the manufacturer to sell it for a higher price. It is the actual product which keeps the moisture of the body locked in. These soaps leave the skin dry and make them rough. Natural soap as the name suggests is filled with all the benefits which nature has gifted man. They have the aromatherapy effect which calms the nerves and gives a very serene effect. Almost all the natural soaps are anti bacterial and keep the skin safe from many microbial organisms.

There is special class of soaps for people suffering from the problem of acne. There is a whole list of organisms which can attack the skin and create troubles. One safe way to tackle them is by using a natural soap. A natural soap contains organic extracts, essential oils, and herbs combined to provide maximized protection.

Most of the natural soaps are hand made and not produced commercially. These can be made at home also. The natural soaps are environment friendly and are less toxic. Most of the soaps do not fulfill the basic task of cleansing. They just produce lather and dry the skin. Prolonged use of such products has adverse side effects. Dryness, skin irritation and fluffiness are mild side effects and one should take hint and stop further use of the product.

Anti Acne Treatments with Natural Soap

Acne is created when follicles, often called pores, get blocked. Sebum (oil) which normally drains to the surface gets blocked and bacteria begins to grow. Both whiteheads and blackheads start out as a microcomedone. The picture below is a microcomedone:

Acne is a problem but not an insurmountable one. Today, there are fast, safe and effective acne treatments available online. The most effective ones are natural treatments.

The truth is, increasing numbers of dermatologists are now recommending natural acne treatments as the best acne treatment plan to begin with. That’s because natural acne remedies and treatments can be more effective than medications. Chemical treatments can disrupt the balance of the skin’s healthy bacteria. Plus, these chemicals can be so harsh on the skin that the irritation is worse than the acne.

Studies show that the best acne treatment for more than 70% of acne suffers requires a plan that includes the right nutritional balance and the proper use of natural skin care products.

Here are three simple and easy things you can start doing to help you treat your acne:

1) Wash your face and body twice a day with proven natural acne soap – the soap should be designed exclusively for acne. The best acne treatment soaps contain powerful essential oils known to have antibacterial properties. Essential Oils like Rosemary and Lavender will provide the anti-abacterial properties you need to reduce your acne flare ups and additional ingredients like Aloe Vera and Comfrey will reduce inflammation.

The best times to wash are in the morning and then, again at night right before you go to bed. Wash normally, over scrubbing your skin can cause sebaceous glands to produce more sebum, the root cause of acne.
2) Eat a healthy diet. There is a synergistic connection between what we eat and improved natural immunities. Acne is caused by a proliferation of harmful skin bacteria caused by clogged skin pores as a result of an over production of sebum. Healthy skin bacteria “the good bacteria” will help keep harmful bacteria in check. A nutrition rich balanced diet is critical to treating acne fast and effectively.

3) Avoid any outside interference with your natural acne treatment program. Common mistakes when starting on a fast acne treatment program include the following:

Squeezing, rubbing or touching your blackheads and pimples :  Doing that will increases the sebum production. In addition squeezing will rupture the cells below the skin, causing more infections and sebum production underneath the skin. The result is worse acne.

Letting your hair cover your face :  Hair contains oils that can contribute to clog skin pores.

Wearing too much make-up : Just as your hair can block pores so can make-up, even more so. If make-up is a necessity there are many water-based make-ups available so choose wisely.

Not washing your pillowcases routinely :  Anything that comes into contact with your skin has the potential to contribute to infection or clog your pores. Clean pillowcases, bed sheets and clothes assure that you are not inadvertently sabotaging your natural acne treatment plan.

There you have it. The fastest way to treat acne and the best acne treatment to start begins with a high quality natural acne soap and wash normally twice a day. Commit your self to a healthy balanced diet to strengthen your skin’s natural immunities. Embark on a common sense plan to avoid anything that can interfere with your fast natural acne treatment plan.

Five Natural Ways to Prevent Facial Aging

The biological make-up of our skin begins to show signs of aging as early as our 20s. Age shows not only on our face, neck and chest but all over. There are many ways to care for your skin and prevent premature aging. Following are five ways that you can age gracefully. These are things you can do in your daily life that will dramatically reduce signs of aging.

• Don’t smoke. If you do smoke, quit. We all know that smoking is bad for us and affects our body negatively. Smoking
  

  smoking causes wrinkles

  contributes to premature aging and many other health problems. The many chemicals in cigarettes influence the skin’s structure and dehydrate the cells, resulting in increased aging.

• Get some sleep. Research has shown that people who sleep regularly seven to eight hours a night are healthier than those who lack sleep or over sleep. Sleeping allows the body to repair cellular damage and recharge. To prevent signs of aging on the face, try sleeping on your back. Sleeping on your stomach or side can damage skin by slowing down circulation and weakening the skin’s elasticity, resulting in wrinkles.

• Sunscreen, use it, wear it, and love it. Wear sunscreen everyday-even on cloudy or rainy days, and even if you are just going to be outside a short time. We all know that the sun has harmful affects to the skin. Sun tanning and burning damage the skin, leading to premature aging. Sun exposure over time leads to wrinkles and ugly pigmentation spots. There is no excuse to not wear sunscreen, it comes in all forms and is formulated now to be lightweight and beneficial to the skin as well as giving sun protection.

• Cleanse, Hydrate and Moisturize the skin from the inside and outside. Hydrated skin is healthy and plump, looks moist and shows few wrinkles and lines. As we age our skin loses elasticity; using moisturizers with ingredients such as vitamins and minerals that help repair the skin is the best way to restore elasticity and prevent its break down. Be sure to remove all traces of make up or dirt each day by clensing morning and night with a natural soap or cleanser that is appropriate for your skin type. Drink lots of water to hydrate the skin internally and use a good moisturizer. Try a cleansing cream, oatmeal soap, intense facial moisturizer or zinc repair cream by Vivoderm.

• A healthy lifestyle and healthy diet can dramatically strengthen the skin and prevent premature aging. Fruits, vegetables,
  

  healthy diet and skin

  nuts and other nutrient- rich produce give the body strength to fight and repair damage. If you are good to your body from the inside out, you will have less external maintenance. Part of a healthy life style is getting exercise, so get up and get moving. Fit people also tend have less heath problems. Health problems can lead to premature aging of the skin by showing wrinkles and damage earlier than those people who choose to be healthy.

There is no way to prevent aging - it is inevitable, however there are ways to slow it down. Today there is plastic surgery and amazing skin care products to improve the look and feel of skin. But it’s never too late to prevent further damage so you don’t have to take the drastic measures of plastic surgery or spend tons of money on skin care later in life.

By Tiffany Oney

Tiffany Oney is a licensed esthetician, professional makeup artist and natural skincare authority.  She is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Arts in Communications Studies California State University, Long Beach and interning with Vivoderm Natural Skincare in Los Angeles, California.

Natural Beauty and Organic Castile Soap

If you’ve been following the latest “going green” trends, you might have come across CASTILE SOAP.

What is castile soap?

Castile soap isn’t a brand but a type of soap made exclusively from vegetable oil rather than animal fat or synthetic substances. The purists feel it should be made from olive oil but there’s a wide variety of castile variants that use oil from plants such as coconut and jojoba. The simple nature of the soap means a lesser environmental impact due to reduced waste stream during manufacture and faster biodegradability.

While castile soaps can have additional synthetic ingredients, usually you will find if it is marketed under that name, it’s a natural sort of product.

This soap is made from vegetable oil and enriched with the addition of coconut oil, oilve oil, almond and jojoba. Doubtless the Vitamin E and UV spectrum present in this soap not only makes it a moisturizer base for bubble bath but also a rejuvenator. An article points out further addition of coconut oil and hemp. But it is not required as this homemade soap has all the natural ingredients in form of emollients required for dry skin.

Castile soap can be flaked and then added to the bubble bath. You can follow this natural bubble bath with a shielding lotion to moisturize dry skin in the most natural way.

Bubble baths are well known to be therapeutic for relieving stress and relaxing. Though the addition of certain ingredients can be harmful for the skin, yet with the addition of essential oils and natural moisturizers it can turn into one of the most functional therapies for individuals with dry skin. The latest and most effective addition to the natural bubble bath is castile soap.

Castile soap - so versatile

Castile soap has many uses aside from washing your skin - it is also known as seafarer’s soap due to its versatility.

You can use an olive oil-based Castile in place of shampoo and skip the conditioner according to some.

It can also be a bonus to skip sorting through the dozens of shampoo brands at the local supermarket trying to translate all the darned. Castile soap can be found in a simple paper based box that also saves on packaging. Another benefit is that castile soap is far cheaper than other fancy label soaps and shampoos!

If you’ve ever tried using normal soap to wash your hair, you might have likely found your hair very dry afterwards, but for some have claimed they do not experience that with castile soap - it’s likely because the glycerin content is retained, whereas in normal soaps much of the glycerin is removed and sold separately in moisturizers.

Liquid castile soap uses

While bar castile soap is amazing stuff, in a liquid form it’s even more versatile.

- Liquid castile soap can be used for a shaving lather

- It can be used as a pet shampoo

- Great for washing clothes and diapers

- General cleaning, diluted and used in a spray bottle

- Heavy duty degreasing

- I’ve heard that pure liquid castile soap can even be used for brushing your teeth! But of course, don’t swallow the stuff. I don’t think it would kill you in small doses but I’m sure it would taste pretty yuk.

- It can also be used in place of dishwashing detergent and even in your automatic dishwasher! “Green” automatic dishwasher detergents are hard to come by, but a Green Living Tips reader, Kathy Stevens, contributed this recipe (Thanks Kathy!):

Ingredients:

1/2 cup liquid castile soap

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

3 drops tea tree oil

1/2 cup white vinegar

Method:

Stir all ingredients together until blended. Store in a squirt top bottle. Use 2 tablespoons per load of dishes, shake well before use.

Natural Soap and Dry Skin Tips

If you are one of those who buys a great smelling moisturizing soap at a department store on a cold, dry, winter day, run a bath and try to soak away
your dry itchy skin only to find that you felt worse than before and suffered that deep down-in-the-skin itch.  It may be the artificial fragrance, color or
preservatives (or something else) causing a negative reaction in your skin. If you tend to have these reactions, you may want to try a natural soap.

Hot summer days and dry winter air and central heating can zap moisture from your skin and may leave you with dry, itchy, irritated skin. Pay attention
to these suggestions for preventing and treating dry skin:

Natural soap can be made from many ingredients, but generally, take the form of a solid and and oil along with essential oils or natural plants - this can
be beeswax, shea butter, coco butter, coconut oil, almond oil, jojoba oil and a myriad of natural fragrances and essential oils, such as rosemary,
lavender or orange.

·    Liquid soap tends to dry skin more than bar soap.

·    Hot showers tend to dry skin. Try turning down the hot water a bit when showering.

·    Try soaking in the bath for a short time. While you soak, your skin is being hydrated.

·    Apply moisturizers as soon as possible after showering/bathing while the skin is hydrated to help trap in moisture.

·    Use moisturizers with little or no water in the ingredients. Many lotions and moisturizers list water as the main ingredient which is evaporated soon

after applying.

·    Avoid harsh soaps. Antibacterial soaps can be especially drying. Commercial soaps often extract the beneficial glycerin and add synthetics that

contribute to dry skin. Try using natural soap.

·    Adding lots of olive oils and other good oils to your diet aids in keeping skin moist and supple.

·    Drink lots of water to keep your skin hydrated.

·    Use a humidifier in your home.

·    Wear natural fabrics such as cotton next to your skin.  Cotton sheets are also a good choice.  Synthetic fabrics (and wool) next to your skin can
cause irritation.