Staggering amounts of money are spent daily on cosmetics and skin care products that promise to lift, firm and tighten our faces. How many of us use a product for just a few weeks before purchasing yet another product? Do we jump from item to item because we really don’t see a visible improvement and we feel disappointed in the results?

The ads are so compelling and we want to believe that we can look younger and healthier just by topically applying the latest and greatest discovery. Maybe that will happen one day but for most of us, using certain skincare items and cosmetic aids has not been helpful in the long-term because Mother Nature continues to tromp across our faces causing us to look older.

When we look at our faces in a mirror, if we’re over 40, the aging we see isn’t usually about wrinkles. The aging we see is looseness in our skin; maybe we see tired, sagging eyelids developing or a deepening nose to mouth fold or line. Our jaw probably isn’t quite as distinguished as it was a few years back as it slides downward into the neck. Maybe this face is beginning to resemble your older relatives.

Is your face puffy and would you like to see it have more contours? No skin care or cosmetic product that can do that. Even dieting cannot produce the firm, toned, youthful face you remember in your 20’s; in fact, dieting alone may deplete the fat underneath the skin making you look older than your years.

There are several avenues to address a droopy face but only one solution.

Many men and women seek plastic surgery to help correct signs of aging. Facelifts, eye lifts, and brow lifts are prevalent but they are only a temporary solution. The risk involved to one’s health and bank account is dreadful. Infection, loss of sensation, slow healing time and unexpected outcomes are just a few potential complications one can experience from surgical procedures.

Another temporary avenue available is injected fillers that plump up the skin where there is creasing or a sunken appearance. Some injectables paralyze the muscles, relaxing the skin so wrinkles are less apparent. These expensive fillers are being injected at an alarming rate and the patients seeking treatments are younger than ever. Even though these fillers may temporarily ease the look of aging, the results will not last and will need to be repeated many, many times over a lifetime. These fillers only mask aging and the user will continue to experience sagging facial muscles.

So what is the secret to stop an aging face? It’s exercise - Facial Exercise. Just like the body responds to Pilates, weight training, sit ups, etc., your face will look younger and healthier with exercise.

Just any old exercise won’t do; isometric and resistance type exercises work for your face just like exercise works for the body. Facial muscles need exercise; the motions and movements we make daily aren’t considered exercise because there is no resistance. No matter if you’re singing, yawning or yelling; these movements aren’t sufficient to create a younger looking face. The reason is that facial muscles attach to bone on one end and the other end of the muscle weaves over and under other muscles. It is only when special anchoring techniques are applied that a contraction can be caused in the muscle or muscle group; this contracting motion then allows the muscles to become fuller, plumper and more youthfully positioned. This action lifts the face.

Imagine applying these techniques for a few weeks and looking 10-15 years younger without invasive or costly procedures. You create the look of a face lift and save a ton of money with no risk to your health or your savings. You can keep the aging process in abeyance, feel revitalized, and look healthier and younger just by exercising your face a few minutes each day.

Cynthia Rowland is widely recognized as an expert in all-natural facial fitness with many years experience in health & beauty related fields. She has appeared on The View, Fit TV, HGTV and other popular shows. This author, speaker and television personality is leading the crusade to keep men and women looking vibrantly younger through natural techniques without spending their children’s inheritance.

http://www.cynthiarowland.com

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Your skin is your armor, your shield from the elements. Yet when was the last time you really thought about what you need to do to take care of it? Throughout your life, genetic and environmental factors will cause a lot of wear and tear to your skin. But you are never too young or too old to start taking care of your skin. In fact, skin care and protection should be an essential part of your health, fitness, and beauty regime. If you take care of your skin, your skin will take care of you! If your stuck in a skin care rut, or if you are just looking to learn a bit more about the basics of skin care, read on to learn more about this important step in your daily activities.

The Essentials of Skin Care

The first step to taking care of your skin is preventing damage. Sun, wind, pollutants, and simply aging can degrade the condition of your skin. Common complaints include dry and itchy skin, wrinkles, sagging, color changes, and age spots. There are steps that you can take to keep you skin looking and feeling its best.

Exercise, rest, and good nutrition lay the foundation for beautiful, healthy skin, inside and out. A proper diet is not only good for your overall health, it also helps to ensure that your skin will receive all of the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that it needs to maintain and repair cells. Drinking purified water is another good way to keep your skin healthy. Water helps to hydrate the skin and move waste and nutrients through the system. It is very effective mixing a teaspoon or capful of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar in with your water. Do not drink Tap Water.

The most important way to care for your skin is to protect it from the damaging rays of the sun. Ultraviolet radiation damages the skin and can lead to wrinkles, premature aging, age spots, and cancer. Take extra precautions to make sure your skin is not exposed to the sun’s rays. Use a natural sunscreen, or a moisturizer that contains sunscreen (at least SPF 15) everyday. Your skin does need some sunlight - 10-15 minutes of direct exposure daily.

Dry skin is very common, especially with age. Older skin has fewer sweat and oil glands than younger skin. Dry skin may be caused by frequent baths, certain cosmetics or medications. But whatever the cause, there are ways to alleviate the itchiness associated with it. Avoid using harsh soaps when bathing, and if possible, cut back on the number of baths or showers each week. A sponge bath with warm water may help to clean and revive skin without stripping the skin of its valuable moisturizers. When you do use soap, try using a natural very mild soap that does not contain any dyes, parabens or perfumes. Follow up the bath with a moisturizing lotion like Parfait Visage, concentrating on problem dry areas. A good all natural moisturizer is one of the foundations for a healthy skin care regimen. Continue moisturizing throughout the day to keep skin healthy. Your hands and face are particularly susceptible to daily damage, and may need to be moisturized several times.

A Skin Care Routine

A skin care routine does not have to be elaborate in order to be effective. But you should develop some kind of skin care routine based on your skin type, daily activities, and nutritional needs so that you can be sure you are taking the very best care of your skin. Following a daily skin care regime will also allow you to more closely evaluate your skin for abnormalities. Here’s a simple routine that you can adapt to fit your needs:

1. Cleanse: Wash your skin thoroughly on a daily basis to remove the dirt, debris, pollutants, and perspiration that accumulates on a daily basis. If you have dry or sensitive skin, use only warm water to wash your skin and use a mild natural cleanser every few days like the product Oxy-Skin. If you have normal or oily skin, be sure to wash with a gentle cleanser on a daily basis. Be sure to brush your teeth before washing your face, as toothpaste residue can irritate sensitive facial skin.
2. Moisturize: Unless your skin is very oily, you will want to use a moisturizer everyday to keep your skin hydrated and healthy. Your skin needs moisturizer all year long as both the indoor winter heat, and summer sun can be equally damaging to your skin. The most advanced product is “Parfait Visage” which is used for the face.
3. Protect: Use a natural sunscreen when possible, regardless of whether or not you plan on spending much time in the sun. The sun’s rays are very damaging and if you get in the habit of applying sunscreen everyday, you will never be left without protection. The suns most beneficial rays occur at sunrise and sunset.

Skin Care Products

There are several types of skin care products that may make a useful additional to your daily skin care. These include cleansers, sunscreens, moisturizers, exfoliants, facial cleansers, toners, retonoids, herbal and nutrient supplements, and cosmetics.

To learn more visit http://www.skin-care-support.org.

Dr. Group, the founder/CEO and clinical director for the Global Healing Center, heads a research and development team producing advanced, new, natural health protocols and products. To learn more visit http://www.ghchealth.com.

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Natural skin care products are changing rapidly - one minute it’s all about AHA’s (Alpha Hydroxy Acids), the next it’s dead sea products, then… some other fad is sure to strike any minute now.

Natural skin care products are no longer clearly defined and are undergoing critical review in terms of their ‘natural’ components.

Many companies are promoting their products as natural, however adding isolated substances, although extracted from natural sources, is not what is meant by natural skin care or natural personal care products.

Wildcrafted Herbal Products is a well-established holistic, natural skin care company that has withstood the temptation of jumping on this bandwagon of including isolated (naturally sourced) ingredients in their products. Over its 20-year history, Wildcrafted Herbal Products has seen many other competitors come and go, just as quickly as the fads themselves.

“Wildcrafted’s philosophy of utilising medicinal herbal extracts, pure essential oils, fruits and vegetables in their natural state has proven to be successful”, says Susan Siegenthaler, medical herbalist and co-owner of Wildcrafted Herbal Products.

“Wildcrafted originated in my clinic over 20 years ago, where I saw the need to formulate holistic, natural skin care products for my patients with skin disorders. Right from the start I knew that only a holistic, natural skin care product would be of any use to the many patients with skin problems and that’s why I’ve never included ‘fashionable’ ingredients in my formulations”.

“Susan is passionate about getting the ingredient mix right”, explains Danny Siegenthaler, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and co-owner of Wildcrafted Herbal Products”, “she never looks for the easy option, or the fashionable approach. It’s always got to be the best and purest no matter what. Susan literally agonises over which ingredients will work best together to achieve a desired result.”

Almost every day we hear another new word for a product that promises to make you look younger or reduce the signs of aging. Most of these words are pure fiction and not found in any dictionary. They are simply designed to make the viewer think ‘if this substance or name is any indication, it must be good’.

This could not be further from the truth, because rarely are these ingredients new or have any magical power to make your skin look younger or reduce wrinkles or do anything much more than nourish your skin.

“Herbs and Essential oils have so many active ingredients that have a physiological benefit on the skin, we don’t need to add isolated extracts and concentrates to our products”, explains Susan. “As soon as you use an isolated ingredient you loose the other beneficial and balancing components of the herb or fruit and that defeats the purpose”.

“Wild Yam extract for example has phyto-hormones that will be absorbed by the skin to work at the cellular level. You don’t need to extract these hormones, give them some ‘fad name’ and than try to pretend it is something new in order for them to work.”

Susan believes that the philosophy of herbal medicine has well and truly stood the test of time and if understood and applied correctly, there is no need to include isolated extracts from plants in skin care products to make them more effective.

“I have seen so many patients’ skin conditions revert back to where they’ve started after they stopped using expensive, so called ‘natural’ skin care products, all because these isolated ingredients do not work in the long term and are usually only effective while you use them; in other words, they treat the symptoms not the cause.” Susan continues, “herbal extracts and essential oils, which are combinations of many ingredients that effectively work together and enhancing each other, have the capacity to repair the skin on a cellular level and will bring long lasting and on-going benefits. It’s no more complicated than that.” Says Susan.

“I really believe, that sticking to the ‘old’, tried and true principles of herbal medicine is what has made our natural skin care products so successful and effective, and I see no reason to change our approach.”

Danny Siegenthaler is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and together with his wife Susan, a medical herbalist and Aromatherapist, they have created Natural Skin Care Products by Wildcrafted Herbal Products to share their 40 years of combined expertise with you.

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© Wildcrafted Herbal Products 2004

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