What is Acne? Acne is a skin disease that is caused by the changing structures of the skin and the oils secreted by glands which when mixed with dead skin cells and an excess of oil plug the pores of the skin which become inflamed and results in the creation of pustules also known as “pimples” which are filled with pus. When ruptured with the pressure of fingers or other instruments, scars can occur depending on the damages that resulting from the extraction process if not done properly. This condition is often treated with a variety of Acne skin care products which can be successful in certain cases and not in others.

What are the causes of Acne?

There are several factors that may be responsible for causing Acne such as:

- Certain types of steroids

- Certain medication

- The presence of bacteria in the pores

- Hormone levels

- Excess of natural oils produced by glands

- Being exposed to high levels of chlorine based compounds

- Irritation of the skin

- Scratching a lot

- Dead cells accumulation

- Stress

Myths about Acne

Several myths exist about Acne which may even mislead the person affected by Acne to use the wrong skin care products or treatments which could cause damages in some cases or basically does not solve the problem.

Contrary to current beliefs, chocolate, chips and sugar have not been proven to cause Acne while milk and seafood contain ingredients that may be responsible for Acne in some people.

Acne is not caused by a poor hygiene of the skin. In fact, rough cleansing of the skin may make matters worse or dry your skin. Soap should be avoid, especially highly perfumed ones. Ask your pharmacist for the best skin care products available and suiting your type of skin. Always remove makeup before going to sleep as your skin needs a break too, just like the rest of your body.

Celibacy or masturbation is not responsible for Acne. The only correlation between sex and Acne is the fact that it produces higher levels of natural oils.

Treatments that are currently available

For smaller cases of Acne, you can ask a pharmacist for some suggestions but it is always a good idea to see a dermatologist so you can have personal advice that is specific to your skin condition. Among the treatments that may be recommended to you are:

Antibiotics that will kill the bacteria that may affect your skin.

Reduce the production of oils by swallowing some vitamin A derivates on a daily basis which can have side effects and should be monitored by your dermatologist.

Medication to regulate the lifecycle of follicle cells.

Using over the counter exfoliating skin care products which will rid the skin of dead cells but their use should be done according to the directions or your dermatologist’s advice as otherwise it may cause other problems.

Hormonal treatments can also be used to balance the level of hormones, especially the level of androgen which can be responsible for Acne.

Phototherapy is also another option but besides the high level of UV rays which can cause damage by itself, the cost of this type of therapeutic approach can be expensive as well.

Other treatments include the use of azelaic acid, zinc or alternative treatments such as the ones introduced in Nicholas Perricone’s book: “The Acne Prescription”.

Ways of the future!

Among the treatments that will more than likely be available in the near future as they are currently being studied and tested now, you may eventually be able to use the following skin care treatments:

- Laser treatments

- Gene therapy

As you can see, there are quite a variety of treatments, therapies and Acne skin care products that are available on the market. With some professional advice from either a dermatologist or pharmacist, being a teenager with an Acne problem is not as scary or without solutions. Depending on the severity of the Acne, there is a solution available to suit your needs or the ones of your teenager.

For years I taught to teenagers and I have noticed their struggle with Acne and Acne skin care products. If you wish to learn more about Acne skin care products that are both available on the market and effective, I invite you to visit our site which is at: http://skin-care.findoutnow.org

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A professional skin care regime is one of the most important parts of maintaining your skin’s health. Your skin is not a smooth surface like a sheet of glass. On the contrary, your skin is more like a riverbed, full of little lumps, bumps, crevasses and holes. You can give these dermatological names such as fine lines, pores, sebaceous glands, etc., but at the end of the day the fact remains your skin is far from a flat, smooth surface.

Because of this and because your skin is a living, breathing part of your body and fulfils several major functions including temperature regulation, immune defence, protection from the external environment, etc., you will need to look after it if you wish to have it work at its optimal level and hope to have good, healthy skin into your late 70’s and beyond.

What about the type of products I should use for my skin care regime?

You should always choose natural skin care products as many commercially mass-produced skin care products utilise potentially toxic chemicals and highly modified ‘natural’ ingredients.

Wildcrafted Herbal Products hand makes a range of holistically-natural skin care products suitable for your particular skin type. These products are based on traditional naturopathic principles and utilize herbal extracts and essential oils to produce lasting effects.

Their products are designed to benefit your skin’s health for the long term and include only the best ingredients suitable for your specific skin type.

Daily Skin Care Regime

Cleansing your skin

Cleansing your skin is one of the most important steps if you want to maintain a healthy, vibrant and youthful looking skin.

As well as providing the basis for an advanced skin care regime, effective cleansing can actually improve the quality of our skin, enhancing its radiance and keeping it looking younger for longer.

Thorough cleansing is one of the most important steps of a complete skin care regime. Cleansing of your skin should be done morning and night to ensure the removal of surface impurities, make-up, and stale skin oils. When regularly performed cleansing will enhance the skin’s ability to breathe and maintain its other important functions.

One of the best ways to do this is to make cleansing your skin part of your daily skin care regime.

This is how you do it:

First, moisten your face with lukewarm water. Then apply a small amount of facial cleanser. Gently spread the product over your skin, using light, circular movements. At this stage, spend an extra minute massaging the product into your face to boost your skin’s circulation and help decongestion.

Secondly, be sure to be gentle, your skin is a delicate organ and needs to be treated with care and respect.

Lastly, rinse off the cleanser, using lukewarm water and pat your face dry.

If you are still using ordinary soap, STOP. You are seriously compromising the health of your skin. Throw it away and start using a quality cleanser.

Toning your skin

Toning is the second step in your daily skin care regime. These days, women often leave this step out and yet it is just as important as the cleansing of your skin or the moisturizing. It is a must include step. The one or two minutes it takes are worth every second if you desire to have healthy, vibrant skin with a minimum of lines and wrinkles. Don’t leave this step out.

You have just spent time cleaning your skin, ridding it of stale oils, makeup, dead skin cells and other impurities, now you have to tone your skin.

A quality cleanser may contain such ingredients as clay. This helps to remove dead skin cells and other impurities, but may not rinse off totally. This is why you need to use a quality toner.

Firstly, it removes every last bit of the cleanser such as the fine clay particles and other residues from the cleansing process.

Secondly it will close the skin’s pores to protect it from further loss of moisture, which invariably happens when cleansing your face.

Thirdly it provides nutrients and restores the pH balance of your skin.

Now that is worth spending a minute or two, isn’t it?

Moisturising your skin

This is the third part of your daily skin care regime and should also be done morning and night using a day cr

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As women are experiencing ever increasing demands on their time, many have opted out of using a toner in their daily skin care regime and only use cleansing and moisturising as the key steps to keeping their skin looking healthy, vibrant and young.

This is however a big mistake, as toning is a very important part of a daily skin care regime. Toning follows the cleansing routine and actually serves some important functions.

1. Toning closes the pores of the skin. Once cleansing of the skin has been completed, the pores tend to be open and therefore slightly enlarged. As a result, moisture can leave the skin, which in return dehydrates the skin. This is not a desired effect on the contrary loss of moisture from the skin is highly undesirable.
2. Closing of the pores has another benefit. It stops dust and other air born particles from settling in the pores and potentially causing problems. In addition, good quality, natural toners are anti-septic and provides moisture and nutrients to the skin, preparing the skin for the third step in a skin care regime - Moisturising.

Some skin care companies have tried to eliminate the need for this step combining the cleansing and toning steps into one step and formulated their cleansers to include toning functions.

Now think about this for a second and you will realise how ridiculous this concept is. A cleanser is supposed to open the pores and remove dirt and stale natural oils from the pores and thus cleansing the skin. A toner, as we discussed above, is designed to close to pores… See the contradiction? It cannot possibly work.

Any astringent (substance that closes the pores) cannot be applied to the skin at the same time as a product that is supposed to open and cleanse the pores. It just does not work. The whole idea is just to market a product to time-poor women by telling them they can combine these to steps and thus save time.

Unfortunately most women do not fully understand just how their skin care products work. They like them, their skin may even look good and the products therefore appear to be doing their job. In reality however, these types of skin care products are only doing a moderate amount of caring for the skin and the bulk of the products do very little at all except look good on the shelf and cost money.

The three steps in any good daily skin care regime must include cleansing, toning and moisturising. In addition, you should always consider using natural skin care products, as there are too many synthetic and artificial chemicals in commercially made skin care products which may actually do you harm.

Let’s look at a natural toner and it’s ingredients to understand how they actually work.

The Wild Herb Toner from Wildcrafted Herbal Products is used for oily skin and has a number of specifically chosen ingredients, which include:

Rosemary, Witch hazel, Juniper Berry and Peppermint. These herbs and essential oils are chosen for their toning and invigorating effects on the skin, while Grapefruit, Niaouli and Sweet Orange refresh the skin and combine to maintain normal sebum (oil) secretion.

As you can see, it is important to understand the functions a particular product is supposed to have and how these functions interact with the other steps in your daily skin care regime. Knowing this you will now probably understand why toning is a necessary part of your daily skin care regime.

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 2006

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