Archives for January, 2007

How To Determine Your Skin Type

Skin type plays a big part in how acne affects you and what is needed to treat is. It will also determine what types of products you will use to treat your acne and gennerally care for your skin.

There are some basic questions you can ask yourself to help you get started. First, how often do you break out? Do yu have blackheads? What do your pores look like? After washing with soap, how does your skin look and feel? Do you have facial lines? By asking yourself these questions, you can determine what types of products will work best for you and how your skin might react to them.

There are three basic skin types, but this does not mean your skin can’t be a combination of them.

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Every day we are barraged with new skin care lines and products with claims of younger and healthier skin, rejuvenation, age reversing, etc… According to the FDA, “Many of these products claims are entirely unjustified and, in some cases, outright lies.”

So how is one to weed through the junk and scams to find what really works in skin care? Ask the experts. Dermatologists, plastic surgeons and estheticians have all received thousands of hours of training, certifications and licenses on skin techniques and skin care products that work. They are the skin care experts and here is what they recommend and use on both themselves and their patients:

Waterproof sunscreens with a high SPF: Most people don’t think about their sweat and the fact that it will quickly remove and reduce the effectiveness of most sunscreens. Everyone knows that sunscreen is a must as skin cancer is on the rise and is very deadly. But it must also be effective through the day. Sweat, swimming, etc… will remove the sunscreens protection throughout the day. Some skin care moisturizers have sunscreen withhigh SPF’s already included. Some makeup lines also have started to include SPF protection. However, make sure that you have a high SPF, low SPF’s are not very protective and can still allow sun damage and aging of your skin. Most of the dermatologists said to stick with waterproof sunscreens as they have the highest SPF’s and are proven to be most effective in clinical studies.

Cleansers: Soaps can dry out your skin and cause aging which will exacerbate any sun damage. A good cleanser will thoroughly clean the skin and leave you feeling refreshed. Cetaphil is highly recommended by the experts we interviewed.

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