Sunday, June 21, 2009

Skin Care with Vitamin C


Skin Care With Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that is tremendously effective against preventing and treating aging signs such as wrinkles, fine lines and sun damage. In fact, L-ascorbic acid, a popular form of Vitamin C stimulates collagen production within the skin cells, corrects pigmentation issues and reduces the damage caused by free radicals.

Advantages of Vitamin C

There is perhaps no one skin care ingredient that provides so many advantages as does Vitamin C. It not only prevents skin damage but also helps reverse the damage in some cases. Here are some of its prime advantages.

Production of Collagen

Vitamin C has the intrinsic ability to stimulate collagen production within the skin cells. Collagen renders firmness and tautness to the skin and as its levels begin to deplete, the skin starts developing wrinkles and fine lines. By stimulating the production of collagen, Vitamin C also helps in reducing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines and also enhances the overall quality of the skin. Moreover, it increases the hydration levels and prevents skin dryness.

Improvement in Pigmentation

Another very important benefit of Vitamin C is that it treats photo damage, damage caused to the skin by excessive sun exposure. This will help even out skin tone.

Defense against Free Radicals

Free radicals are formed as a result of the accumulation of pollutants, exposure to sunlight, stress, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. Once formed, these free radicals can damage the healthy skin cells and break down the collagen fibers. This accelerates premature aging of the skin and may even have severe consequences like skin cancer. Vitamin C fights against the free radicals and prevents any damage caused by them.

However, as ironic as it may sound, Vitamin C can also produce free radicals. When Vitamin C based skin care products come in contact with heat or sunlight, the consistency of the product changes and can lead to the formation of free radicals. This is why Vitamin C is often combined with other antioxidants like vitamin E to negate this effect..

Different Forms of Vitamin C

Vitamin C is available in different forms. Here are some of the most popular ones.
L-Ascorbic Acid

It is perhaps the most active form of Vitamin C. L-ascorbic acid is water soluble and is highly unstable in topical skin care products. However, there are a variety of skin care formulations that use its stabilized form.

This is a fat soluble form of Vitamin C that is much more stable that the former. In fact, it is also less irritating and thus better for the skin. Because it is fat soluble, it protects the skin better against free radicals and stimulates the renewal of Vitamin E.

Sources of Vitamin C

Vitamin C can be taken orally as well as applied topically. However, oral intake of Vitamin C is eventually flushed out by the body. So, it is important you apply it topically as well.

Oral Sources

Vitamin C can be taken as oral supplements. Moreover, citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, grapefruits, broccoli, tomatoes, berries etc are very rich sources of it.

Topical Sources

There are a variety of skin care products available in the market that contain Vitamin C. However, be careful while making a purchase. Here are some tips.

Buy skin care products that have more than 10 per cent concentration of Vitamin C. Look for ingredients like L-ascorbic acid and Ascorbyl palmitate.
Check the expiration date and packaging details. The product should come in an air tight brown glass jar or metal tube.
Store the product in a cool dark place and replace the lid or cap tightly after use.
Dispose the product if it becomes yellow or brown in color.


Saturday, June 20, 2009

Beauty at your Fingertips


Many Meso-American civilizations shared this point of view, and to avoid the birth of ugly newborns, they sacrificed infants to their Gods to calm their anger. Along with other cultures around the world, they implemented methods to achieve their physical aesthetic concept of beauty.

Today, sacrifices to the gods are thankfully forbidden. To achieve the optimal appearance that you seek, you need only to, devote yourself by sacrificing some time, to enhance your natural beauty, a procedure that in the long may provide an added benefit of enhanced overall wellness.

The Internet is one of the best sources to find beauty salons and spas, and many other establishments for the care and treatment of hair, feet, skin, and other attributes.

Many beauticians, salons, and spas have websites on the internet,, and you can easily find directories and other listings with their names, specialty, qualifications, and location, which is essential to finding the right beauty professional in your area.

Other advantages of online beauty search is the number of beauty products and toiletries that you can find for easy comparison, allowing you to learn more about each of them, their properties, and enabling a price comparison to find the best deals.

Such products include a large array of creams, lotions, ointments, perfume, special soaps, and countless beauty treatments. Best of all, most of these items are also available at your beauty salon.

Finding your beauty provider is as easy as introducing in your query search the name of your city and neighborhood along with meaningful keywords such as "manicure", "tan beds", etc.

Moreover, thanks to specialized beauty directories, you can find the right beauty expert by narrowing the search to your geographic location.

From hairdressers to therapists there are also many online magazines that show you the latest beauty trends, the hottest skin care products, as well as featured beauty establishments across the country.

Other interesting aspects when it comes to beauty care is the availability of virtual salons, where you can upload your picture to work on it applying hair styles, make up, and even fashionable clothing in order to get the approximate look of yourself after a real change.

Do not hesitate to do an online search for beauty salons, beauty products, and spa treatments

Need a Beauty Tips


Have you ever wished that you could do something to improve your skin and make it glow? Have you spent a lot of time trying to hide blemishes or discolorations, or dullness? Have you just wanted it to look cleaner and clearer naturally, before you put on your lotions and make ups? If yes, then here's a few natural beauty tips that you can do for your own skin.

Natural Beauty Tip #1:
Drink lots of water! That is right. The more water you drink, the better you skin will look How's that for some completely free beauty advice.

Natural Beauty Tip #2:
Eat plenty of fresh vegetables the more uncooked ones you eat the better. That is some of the best beauty advice you will ever get. Your body needs all those minerals and nutrients that you get from raw and fresh vegetables. Your skin will thank and reward you with a healthy glow.

Natural Beauty Tip #3:
Do not smoke cigarettes. Nicotine yellows your skin, clogs your pores and gives you those nasty blackheads. That's not only a beauty tip, it is a health tip. Think of what it must do to the rest of your body, if it can do that to your skin! Just don't smoke.

Natural Beauty Tip #4:
Take your vitamins! They keep you healthy, help you sleep, and if you are taking the right vitamins they nourish not only your blood but your skin. All that nourishment will make you look and feel younger. As we all know, when we feel good, we look good. The real secret to beauty!

Natural Beauty Tip #5:
Get plenty of rest. Don't stay up too late, then get up too early, and do it too many days in a row. Sure, there are those times when we have to go the extra mile and it may show for a day in our overall beauty. Just don't make a habit of it. Sleep is the time when the body regenerates. Let it get its full regeneration.

Natural Beauty Tip #6:
Try to reduce stress in your life (and the beauty tips above will all help with that). Nothing shows on your whole body like stress: the way you walk, the look in your eye, the haggard appearance of your skin, the way you talk, even the way you sit in your chair. Here's a little beauty advice: your stress shows on your whole body so do not let that stress become overwhelming.

The funny thing about these beauty tips is that you can easily see that it really is just one big beauty tip: keep yourself healthy and happy and it will show in your skin. Then when you use your creams and make up, and your lovely scents and soaps it will make you even that much more beautiful than you are naturally.