Facial Wash and Toner

Facial cleansers remove makeup, pollutants, bacteria and unwanted debris off of our face.  In addition, it’s important to recognize that properly cleansing the skin prepares your skin to absorb products you may put on after, like a serum or moisturizer. Clearing out your pores allows the moisturizer to penetrate into your skin for maximum effectiveness. What’s the point of applying moisturizers and treatments if your skin isn’t’ able to absorb them fully?

Here are five reasons why you should wash your face at night:

1. Touching your face all day long, without intentionally doing so, is making your face one of the dirtiest parts on your body. It’s important to clean the skin to avoid the spread of acne bacteria that can cause increased blemishes.

2. Cleansing your skin at night will reduce oil and the ability for acne-causing bacteria to thrive inside the pores. This means less break outs!

3. Your skin repairs itself at night, so removing makeup gives your skin a clean palette for applying your night time performance products for maximum absorption.

4. While you sleep, your skin is at rest allowing regeneration to occur. For the best anti-aging results, clean your skin with a gentle sulfate-free cleanser and use a high performance serum and moisturizer.

5. Moisturizers evaporate when on the skin all day, so washing your skin and applying moisturizer at night ensures it will stay moist and hydrated.

Most "toners" are made up of water, skin soothers like aloe or chamomile, plant oils, ingredients to cleanse or draw moisture to the skin, and preservatives. There is a debate whether or not to add a toner to your skin regimen routine.  When toners first came out, they were needed because people were using regular soap for their face, their facial cleanser left a residue, or the cleanser didn’t wash everything off of their skin.  Our skin is acidic and soap is alkaline.  So, a toner balances the PH level.  It also removes what the cleanser didn’t remove from your skin.  Nowadays, most women use a facial cleanser and they don’t usually leave a residue.  So, a toner is not really needed.

Here are a few reasons to incorporate a toner into your daily skincare routine.

• Additional Rinse
  Toner is like the “additional rinse” cycle on a washing machine. Using a toner can capture any dirt, oils and dead cells that your cleanser missed and properly prep the skin for moisturizer.
• pH Balance
  The pH scale ranges from 1 to 14 (7 is neutral. 1-6.9 is acidic. 7.1-14 is alkaline). Our skin is most comfortable and able to fight off bacteria at a pH level between 4.0 and 6.0. Cleansers typically have a pH level between 6.5 and 8.0 which helps it cut through oil and dirt, but can strip the skin of moisture and leave your with a skin high in alkaline. Toner can assist the skin in getting back to a comfortable pH level.
• Dry skin?
  After cleansing, your skin is left with a high pH level and will have to work at restoring the pH balance. Applying moisturizer directly after cleansing may limit the skin’s ability to absorb the moisturizer because it’s preoccupied in restoring the pH balance. By using toner and restoring the pH balance before applying moisture… your skin will be ready to concentrate on absorbing the moisturizer!
• Blackheads or Oily skin?
  Do you have oily skin or blackheads around the nose? If so, I would absolutely recommend the use of toners. Oil on the skin can oxidize and turn black when the pH balance of your skin is off. Pores are generally larger around the nose, so the oxidized black oils get trapped in the pores and you’re left with blackheads. Toners will help thoroughly clean your pores and help with minimizing blackheads!

Young Living has a wonderful product line of skin care products.  It’s called ART, Age Refining Technology.    It has frankincense and sandalwood oils to help repair your DNA. 

Click here for more information on the ART Gentle Foaming Cleanser.

Click here for more information on the ART Toner.

Click here for a list of pdfs of some of the products.

Click here for a video of ART products.

Sources and Resources:

http://www.temptalia.com/skincare-tips-5-reasons-to-wash-your-face-at-night

http://prettygossip.com/2012/02/20/why-and-how-skincare-series-toner/

http://askville.amazon.com/facial-toner-skin-important/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=1284309

http://beauty.about.com/od/toner/f/tonernecessary.htm

For more information: www.oilsforhealthyliving.net

Wrinkles

The skin is made up of three layers: epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous.  When we are young, we don’t have wrinkles because the skin stretches and holds in moisture.  The dermis has elastic quality fibers called elastin and a protein called collagen that prevents wrinkles.  Over time, the dermis loses both of them and the skin gets thinner and can’t retain moisture.  The fat in the subcutaneous layer starts to disappear causing the skin to sag and wrinkles form.   Wrinkles are a by-product of the aging process.

Here are some ways to prevent wrinkles at an early age:

-          Avoid spending too much time in the sun

-          Avoid the tanning salon

-          Avoid smoking

-          Drink water

-          Moisturize dry skin

-          Don’t over-wash your face

-          Get adequate sleep and sleep on your back

-          Don’t squint, get reading glasses

-          Eat more fish (salmon), soy, fruits, vegetables, drink coffee

Here are some options for the treatment of wrinkles:

-          Retinoid creams

o   Renova, Retin-A

-          Removing skin layers

o   Dermabrasion, chemical peels, laser skin resurfacing

-          Botox

-          Idebenone (similar to CoQ10)

-          Pentapeptides

-          Wrinkle fillers

-          Antioxidants

o   Topical Vitamin A, C, E

-          Alpha-hydroxy acids

Young Living Essential Oils has a product called Boswellia Wrinkle Cream.  Boswellia (Frankincense) tightens the skin and reduces inflammation in the body.  MSM aids in the flow of nutrients and oxygen and supports collagen.  Wolfberry oil enhances collagen formation.  There are essentials oils that help soothe and soften the skin: geranium, sandalwood, and ylang ylang.    

Sources and resources:

http://kidshealth.org/kid/grownup/getting_older/wrinkles.html

http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/guide/cosmetic-procedures-wrinkles

http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/features/23-ways-to-reduce-wrinkles

http://aromatherapyliving.com/face_products.html

For more information:  www.oilsforhealthyliving.net

What are those beads in exfoliation products?

Exfoliation is known to make the face smoother by rubbing off dead skin cells from the outermost layer of skin.  It may result in a brighter complexion and less visible surface damage, like wrinkles.  It stimulates production of new cells and cycles more.  Every 30 days, dead skin falls in our 20’s.  Older ladies take longer.

Benefits
-  Allows topical products to absorb more readily
-  Increases circulation improving oxygen levels in cells
-  For men, exposes hair follicles, allowing for a better shave

What could those tiny beads made of?
-          Borax
-          Ground fruit pits
-          Polyethylene (plastic)

Why polyethylene?
The polyethylene beads are popular because their smoothness results in less redness or tiny cuts to the skin than some other materials.

Where do those beads end up?
These tiny beads of polyethylene plastic washing down the drain are too small to be caught by waste-water treatment plants and end up in the ocean, where they’ll possibly be ingested by sea creatures.  Plastic doesn’t biodegrade.  The sunlight disintegrates it into smaller pieces of plastic.  New research also suggests that polyethylene is an excellent transporter of phenanthrene, a byproduct of fossil fuel burning that's a dangerous ocean pollutant.

Click here for a list of products containing polyethylene.

Are there other natural ingredients that can be used instead?
-  Sugar
-  Sea salt
-  Pumice
-  Crushed seeds
-  Crushed pits
-  Crushed shells
-  Crushed nuts
-  Quinoa
-  Corn meal
-  Oatmeal
-  Baking soda
-  Coffee

Young Living Essential Oils has a product called Satin Facial Scrub.  It contains jojoba wax beads, MSM, and peppermint oil.
-  Jojoba Wax Beads provide gentle exfoliation without leaving micro-lacerations on delicate skin. These soft, spherical beads are superior to ground nut shells and pumice powders when used in products for the face and body. They are perfect for use within scrubs, body washes and soaps.
-  MSM helps collagen.  Methylsulfonylmethane, abbreviated MSM, is an organic sulfur-containing compound that occurs naturally in a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, and in animals. MSM appears to readily cross the blood-brain barrier, which makes it highly available to the body.   MSM is used to support healthy muscles, joints, teeth, skin, and soft tissue.
-  Peppermint oil stimulates the skin leaving a cooling effect.


Sources and Resources:
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2008/06/scrubbing_out_sea_life.html
These are also notes from a workshop by Carla Green at the Young Living Essential Oils Convention in 2012.


For more information: www.oilsforhealthyliving.net

All natural sunscreen, is there such a thing?

We need sun protection from the UV rays so that we don’t burn and damage our DNA.  But yet, we need vitamin D.  We are leery about using a chemical based sunscreen and the risk of skin cancer is greater and far worse than the risk of the side effects of chemical based sunscreens.  Sunblocks may be carcinogenic and accelerate the aging process.  Does the higher SPF number give you a false sense of protection thinking that you don’t have to apply as much or as often?  

What did people use before sunscreens came on the market?

-          Pacific Islanders used organic coconut oil which has a natural SPF of 2-8.

-          Ancient Egyptians used myrrh and animal fat.

Do you cringe when putting on sunblock on yourself or your children?  If yes, what are we to do?

You can drink plenty of water and eat foods that are high in antioxidants.   There are some essential oils and carrier oils that have a natural SPF.  One suggestion is to use a spray called Claraderm.   Claraderm can be used for many things like an after shave or to heal after giving birth.  It is used to help relieve skin irritations.  It consists of these oils:  Myrrh, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree), Lavender, Frankincense, Roman Chamomile, Helichrysum, with a coconut oil base.  Then, you can add carrot seed oil to it.  Carrot seed oil has an SPF of 38-40.  Dilute it to 2% within the spray bottle of Claraderm.  Maybe 25 drops or so.

Just remember that what goes on your body, goes in your body.

Below are some websites that have great suggestions for making your own natural sunscreen.

Sources and Resources:

http://www.hybridrastamama.com/2012/05/essential-oils-and-sun-protection-guest.html

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=129007737123231

http://www.hybridrastamama.com/2012/06/natural-oils-as-sun-protection.html

http://www.experience-essential-oils.com/all-natural-sunscreen.html

http://www.younglivingsuccess.com/2007/06/myrrh_patchouli.html

http://www.crowriveranimalhospital.com/pdf/17-2010%20Natural%20Sunscreen.pdf

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/05/24/study-many-sunscreens-may-be-accelerating-cancer/

http://www.freewebs.com/jumblebox/healthF/sun.html

http://www.livestrong.com/article/187363-essential-oils-that-protect-skin-from-the-sun/

http://frugallysustainable.com/2012/03/a-recipe-for-natural-homemade-sunscreen/

http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/issue-12/sunscreen-dangers.php

For more information, www.oilsforhealthyliving.net.