Achieving and Maintaining Soft and Smooth Hands

Whether it is engaging in household cleaning chores using detergents and chemical cleaning agents,, washing the dishes, working in the garden, or other tasks that require using our hands, the skin tends to get rough and damaged. Just like the rest of the skin on your body, the hands need care too. There are a variety of methods one can utilize in order to maintain soft and healthy hands.

1. If you spend a lot of time outdoors, you need to protect your hands from harmful UV rays. Increased sun exposure speeds up skin aging on the hands, which can cause wrinkling and brown spots. Brown spots are high concentrations of melanin produced by too much sun exposure. Using a sunscreen with a high SPF factor, will protect the skin from sun damage. Many hand creams have built in sunscreen.

2. When using chemical and detergent cleaners, wear a pair of latex gloves or rubber so that you do not get any of the cleaner on your hands. Apply a thin layer of moisturizer before on your hands before you put the gloves on.

3. Hand cream helps maintain the skins elasticity ensuring smooth and soft skin. There are many benefits to using hand creams such as reducing the signs of aging, healing raw, irritated, and damaged skin, and providing much needed vitamin and mineral nourishment. These creams or gels will help avoid dry and cracked skin. Choosing the right hand cream depends on personal skin needs. For instance, if you have sensitive skin, you will need a hand cream designed for those who have sensitive skin.

4. When you wash your hands, use natural soap. After you have thoroughly rinsed off the soap, apply a hand cream that contains a moisturizer. You should also do this before you go to bed so that the moisturizer works throughout the night. A natural soap such as oatmeal or clay based soap is a good choice as they do not contain any chemical additives or petroleum products. Once or twice a week, wash your hands with a gentle glycerin or Castile soap and exfoliate. There are also a number of hand exfoliates on the market that exfoliates, purifies, moisturizes, and smoothes the skin on the hands.

5. If you begin a hand care routine because your hands are raw and irritated, it is important to continue you care after the skin has healed. This will help prevent any future skin irritations.

6. Drink plenty of water and include fresh fruits and vegetables in your regular diet, which can help you to achieve healthy and soft skin.

The skin is the bodys protective layer so it is important to care for it. During the summer months, every part of the skin needs care, including our hands. Our hands are always on display for everyone to see, and even touch as when we shake hands Dry, chapped, and irritated skin, is not only unappealing, but a serious discomfort. It can even lead to skin infections. Hands that undergo daily care are able to withstand harsh elements thereby ensuring soft, smooth, and healthy skin. Hand care should be an important part of your skin care routine.

Fighting Wrinkles at 40

As you near your 40s, you are going to start noticing wrinkles on your face. Even if you have been as careful as possible with your skin, using only the best organic products, this is the time when wrinkles normally appear. The good news about wrinkles is that you can limit their appearance with the right products and skin care tactics.

What Causes Wrinkles

As we age, the cells in our epidermis, or the top skin layer, become thin. They also begin to let more moisture escape from the skin, leading to dryness, which can cause wrinkles. The dermis, or second layer, also thins. As it does, it produces less collagen, a material that keeps the skin elastic. This causes the skin to sag and wrinkle. The bottom layer of the skin also contributes to wrinkles. This layer is made up of fat cells, and these fat cells get smaller as we age. Normally, these fat cells will fill in any damage in the other skin layers, but when they begin to shrink, they cannot do this, so wrinkles become even more noticeable.

Two Types of Wrinkles

There are two main types of wrinkles on your skin. Some are produced by the movement of the skin, while others are present even when the skin is resting. The wrinkles that occur when the skin is at rest are the ones that can be fought.

Fighting the Sun

The sun is one of your worst enemies as you work to fight wrinkles. The “crow’s feet” that many people develop around their eyes are a direct result of overexposure to sun, and these can be minimized with proper sun protection. Apply sunscreen to your face, getting as close to the eye as is safe, and wear sunglasses to prevent squinting. Wear sunscreen daily on all exposed skin, whether or not the weather is warm. Remember, the sun can damage your skin when it is below the freezing point just as easily as it can when you are spending a warm day on the beach.

Keep Moisturized

Many wrinkles are caused by dry skin, and skin gets drier as we age. To help fight these wrinkles, always apply a moisturizer after cleansing your skin. Use organic moisturizers with wrinkle-fighting ingredients to maximize your results.

Add Alpha Hydroxy Acids to Your Life

Alpha Hydroxy Acids, or AHAs, are one of the most popular organic skin care products used to fight wrinkles. These acids, which come from sugar cane, acidic fruits, and sour milk, all of which are organic, natural ingredients, are believed to reduce fine lines that are present when the skin is at rest. Many products Jurlique containing AHAs are available that can be used to exfoliate and moisturize the skin. They work by removing much of the dead skin cell and oil build up in these fine lines, and they also are believed to thicken the skin by increasing the substances found in the dermis.

Overall Healthy Living Fights Wrinkles

Believe it or not, your exercise routine and diet have a direct effect on the wrinkles you will have as you get older. When you exercise, your body takes in more oxygen and releases more toxins. Exercise also increase circulation, which makes your skin much more healthy.

Additionally, the food that you eat contributes to your overall health. Increasing your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables, particularly those that are high in vitamin C, can help postpone the appearance of wrinkles. Taking a supplement that has other antioxidants like vitamins A, B, and E will also help fight wrinkles. Avoid too much refined sugar, because it attacks collagen and leads to more wrinkles. Also, avoid an over consumption of alcohol, as this can cause your face to swell, stretching the skin. This will cause wrinkles when the skin returns to normal.

Wrinkles may be a natural part of the aging process, but as you enter your 40s, you do not have to give up the fight altogether. With quality organic products, a healthy lifestyle, and good sun protection, you can keep your youthful skin looking youthful for several more years.

Your Nutritionist: Too Fat to Fish?

This morning I got an email from an acquaintance who has just been diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. I really try not to read email first thing in the morning, because if I run across a good story like this one, I forget the time and don’t get on to other things.

John loves to eat and loves to drink beer. He is in his mid-fifties and weighs about 20-25 pounds more than he should, so he’s not exactly fat, but he’s certainly not thin either. With this new diagnosis of Type II Diabetes, he is going to have to make some lifestyle changes, if he knows what’s good for him.

John weighs about 225-230 and is 6’1″ His email said that his family practitioner recommended a nutritionist for him after she diagnosed him with diabetes. I think John could get back into shape in about three months.

John took his doctor’s advice and made an appointment with the nutritionist. Upon arriving for his appointment he was checked-in by a receptionist who really could be called obese — she was probably 250 pounds and maybe 5’5″

John thought it was a little odd that a nutrition clinic would have a lardass at the front door, but with all the crazy laws on hiring, he thought that maybe they didn’t have a choice.

He waited for about twenty minutes, before his name was called and he was ushered into a big office. Then the nutrionist arrived, and John was stunned. She was about 5’10″, but she weighed 300 pounds and not an ounce less, according to his story.

She started into her routine, and talked and talked, but John couldn’t hear anything. His mind kept asking him, “Why are the two people I have seen in this nutrition clinic so fat?”

The nutritionist got to the part where she was displaying plastic food to show John about correct portion sizes, but John could not keep silent. Finally he blurted out, “If you know so much about nutrition and the rules of dieting, why are you so overweight?”

The nutritionist stopped talking and looked stunned. Finally she said, as if she had not heard him, “What did you just say?”

So he repeated what he said, “If you know all the rules about dieting, why are you so fat?”

At this point the nutritionist flew off the handle, and started screaming at him, telling him to get out of her office immediately. He obliged, but didn’t think his question was out of line. The receptionist asked him if there was a problem, on his way out, and he said that someone apparently couldn’t handle her own advice.

John went back to see his family practitioner and told her what had happened. His doctor turned red and tried to hold back, but after a moment she just burst out laughing.

After that, John was told of some rules that he really had to pay attention to.

I recommend, as John’s doctor does, supplementation with pharmaceutical grade fish oil, especially for patients with Type II diabetes. Diabetes really ups the risk for cardiac issues, and although John does not have heart problems right now, his risk level is high. The pharmaceutical-grade fish oil is useful in the treatment of diabetes because it can help control lipid levels, particularly triglyceride levels. These levels are often elevated in patients with diabetes.

pharmaceutical grade fish oil is useful in treating other problems as well. It has been shown to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and some types of cancers, and has been linked to mood improvement and good joint health.

Mood improvement is so important for Type II diabetes patients, who have a high risk of depression caused by the diabetes.

My friend John was right to question the nutritionist. It would be the same situation as getting advice from a pulmonologist who smoked.

Nutritionists need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

John told me she had two cases of Diet Coke on a shelf behind her, too (more fat people drink Diet Coke, than any other beverage.)

Don’t hesitate to get another opinion, especially in a situation like this, where you have reason to doubt the validity of what your practitioner is telling you, based on his or her own habits.