Skin Care Fundamentals

Skin Care is the first step towards achieving a healthy body. Facial skin care should be an essential part of your daily routine. Skin care specialists say any imbalance in the protective barrier that envelops the human body provides a perfect breeding ground for bacteria, resulting in many types of skin irritations and accelerating the aging process.

Natural skin care is the care of the skin (the largest organ of the body) using naturally-derived ingredients (such
as herbs, roots, essential oils and flowers) combined with naturally occurring carrier agents, preservatives,
surfactants, humectants and emulsifiers (everything from natural soap to oils to pure water). While skin treatment
is going green - like everything else - you still have to make sure you read the labels. Natural products have
become a big business in recent years as more and more consumers seek a gentler, healthier alternative for their
skin care needs, but just because it is natural, doesn’t always mean you won’t have an allergic reaction.

Among more natural approaches, steaming is a great way to clear your pores and detoxify your skin. Steaming is a
skin care fundamental. It helps draw out toxins and impurities and also helps the skin soak in the benefits of
masks, face scrubs and creams.

Basic Steaming:

1. Fill a large pot with hot water or drape a towel over your bathroom skin, filled with hot water.
2. You can add fragrant herbs to the water such as calming calendula, rose petals, or chamomile. Be very
careful to NOT use irritating herbs or oils that can burn or sting - such as peppermint, rosemary or other mints.
3. Lower your face over the pot which should cover the head and pot in a way that steam is directed towards your
face. Don’t let the steam burn your face though - this can cause more damage than good as it can rupture blood
vessles in your thin facial skin resulting in roseacea among other problems. Try to keep a distance of at lease 14
-16 inches from the water’s surface - keep the steaming result very light.
4. Use a soft towel to dry your face by blotting - not rubbing.

A proper steam won’t remove dirt and grime directly, but it will soften the skin’s surface enough to help cleanse and unclog pores. Another added benefit is the heat increases circulation and relaxes facial muscles. You may feel rejuvenated and free of tension.

As a good skin care practice, steaming should be done once in week. Gently cleanse and exfoliate your face before you steam. This will clear the dead cells off and increase the blood circulation. If you have dry skin, frequent steaming is not recommended as it will devoid the skin of its natural moisture.

The skin on your face needs more attention than the rest of your body because it is exposed to the element son a constant basis. While keeping your skin healthy and blemish free with regular cleansing and steaming, it is also important to put sunscreen on your face as well as on your body.

Most facial skin responds to the weather and seasonal elements - with a combination of skin types, meaning different areas of the face may be dry and oily at the same time - such as combination skin and will fluctuate with weather, diet, stress and overall health.

The single most important thing to remember in proper skin care is that it usually shines best with poper diet and lifestyle choices. Not matter how many expensive products you buy, if you don’t treat your body well, with a clean diet and lots of excerside, your skin will never look its best.

Skin Typing Features

One of the fascinating features of Skin Typing is that people of different ethnic or racial backgrounds can share a Skin Type. In most instances, all people with the same Skin Type will follow the exact same treatment plan, but sometimes skin color can be a differentiating factor because of the way pigment (the factor in skin that produces color) is produced in different racial and ethnic groups.

For example, two best friends, Valerie, a medium-skintoned brunette, and Dana, a dark-skinned woman, came in for back-to back appointments. After they each took the questionnaire and tabulated their results, they were surprised to discover that they shared the same Skin Type. They were both “P,” Pigmented Skin Types, which gave both Valerie and Dana a tendency to develop pigmentation issues. And each of them did have a problem with pigmentation. That’s why they came to my office. Valerie had an area of dark skin discoloration (called melasma) on her cheek, and Dana had dark spots in areas where she had once had pimples. Although I recommended that they follow the exact same protocol and use the same kinds of products, there was one key difference. Valerie could benefit from an advanced cosmetic procedure that uses light instruments or lasers to treat pigment problems like hers, while Dana would benefit most from prescription products used daily and should not undergo laser treatment since this can cause discoloration in people with darker skin tones.

A Dermatologist’s Story

“A patient came to see me because of skin discoloration on her chin and cheeks. An African-American with oily skin, Sylvia never guessed that the skin scrub she’d picked up at the Neiman Marcus beauty department was causing this problem. Anyone with highly pigmented skin (like many dark skinned people) must stay away from all ingredients and procedures that cause inflammation. Yet, not knowing her SkinType, Sylvia had no idea that her choice of skin product stimulated the inflammatory response, which in turn led to dark spots. I taught Sylvia what to look for on product ingredient labels. Common ingredients, like vitamin C, AHA, and alpha lipoic acid, can create inflammation, as do buff pu ffs and strong scrubs. She was surprised to learn that hair removal formulas, like Nair, and hot wax products may also cause inflammation. In using wax or a chemical depilatory to remove facial hair, Sylvia wound up with unsightly dark patches that looked far worse than the hair she was trying to remove. Now she knew to avoid them. Once she became aware of the needs of her Skin Type, she was able to make changes that helped reduce the dark spots considerably. In addition, I recommended she use products containing oatmeal, feverfew, chamomile, or licochalone, which are known to have anti-inflammatory properties.” Dr. Leslie Baumann, M.D.