With the wide range of products on the store shelves today and even more available on the internet, it can be difficult to know what the best treatment is for cleansing your face. Many products that you can purchase today contain scrubbing granules that help clear the dead skin from your face. However, the question is, are the scrubbing granules doing more harm than good? And, just what should you be looking for when choosing a facial cleanser?

With the wide range of products on the store shelves today and even more available on the internet, it can be difficult to know what the best treatment is for cleansing your face. Many products that you can purchase today contain scrubbing granules that help clear the dead skin from your face. However, the question is, are the scrubbing granules doing more harm than good? And, just what should you be looking for when choosing a facial cleanser?

‘Antiaging skin care' is a very poplar concept in today's world. Today everyone wants to hide their age using antiaging skin care procedures (and a number of people are successful too). However, antiaging skin care is not achieved by any magic potion. ‘Antiaging skin care' is about discipline. It is about being proactive. Antiaging skin care is retarding the ageing process.

Different people have different answers to these questions. However, the reality is that due to presence of synthetic preservatives, it’s really tough to find a natural skin care product that is 100% natural. There are natural skin care products that have natural preservatives, but their cost might be detrimental. Moreover, such natural skin products have a shorter shelf life and hence are not preferred by the manufacturers of natural skin care products.

Masques have been around for thousands of years being used by any woman who chose to take care of her skin, no matter her social standing. It has been a way for women to treat any and every skin care concern. You can create your own masque at home or treat yourself to a spa created masque that treats a very specific issue.

Benzoclear - a benzoyl peroxide formulation in a gel base for maximum effectiveness forms the foundation of treatment for all grades of acne. For grade I acne, Benzoclear is all that is needed. Basic therapy for all grades starts with mild doses and works up to the levels needed for complete clearing.

If an evil genius wished to harm the skin of women, he could not have devised a better tool than cosmetics. Rubbing more oils into the skin is the worst possible thing an acne sufferer can do.

Some cosmetic ingredients are so potent that they can induce a form of acne even in women who are not otherwise genetically acne-prone. In fact, one out of every three women can expect to be affected by the condition dermatologists are now calling acne cosmetica. It is no small problem. Acne cosmetica may be affecting 30 million women in this country. While no one in the beauty industry set out to intentionally ruin the complexions of millions of women, it is happening. What originally began as an accident born out of ignorance continues today in the name of commercial expediency.


Who Gets Cosmetic Acne?

Any woman who is genetically acne-prone or suffered acne as a teenager -- even if only a mild case -- is almost certain to be affected by comedogenic ingredients in cosmetics (comedogenic refers to a substance's ability to penetrate down into the pore and cause the formation of comedones). Additionally, plenty of women who would otherwise never have acne are literally giving themselves acne with comedogenic makeup and skin care products they are rubbing into their skin. Young women in the "natural" acne age are the most likely to react badly to comedogenic ingredients. Therefore, teenagers and women in their twenties are the most susceptible to cosmetic acne.

Cosmetic acne manifests as fairly numerous, slightly elevated small whiteheads, appearing over the cheeks and chin and sometimes the forehead. Periodically, some of these whiteheads turn into inflamed pustules.

Women with cosmetic acne often get caught up in a vicious cycle. Because it may take up to six months before cosmetic acne develops from a particular product, she is unlikely to connect her makeup use with the acne. The more she breaks out, the more makeup she uses to cover it up which leads to more blemishes and more covering up. The problem spirals. Already deeply committed to cosmetic use, she is likely to try one cosmetic solution after another, each one more expensive than the last -- and all of it only worsens the situation. Thousands of women walk around with easily preventable cosmetic acne for as long as ten or fifteen years, never knowing what is causing their constant complexion problems.


How Did the Acne Causing Ingredients Get in the Cosmetics?
Cosmetic chemists historically have tried to mimic sebum, the skin's own surface oil, in order to derive some of its assumed benefits -- "assumed" because there is no real benefit to sebum. The claim that sebum (or oil~ is necessary for moisturizing the skin is misleading. Children do not produce sebum, yet enjoy moist skin. Sebum doesn't even prevent wrinkles. Wrinkling or aging of the skin is a reflection of accumulated sun damage and hereditary.

Assumed benefits -- "assumed" because there is no real benefit to sebum. The claim that sebum (or oil) is necessary for moisturizing the skin is misleading. Children do not produce sebum, yet enjoy moist skin. Sebum doesn't even prevent wrinkles. Wrinkling or aging of the skin is a reflection of accumulated sun damage and hereditary programming". Whatever its original purpose, sebum's various chemical components, such as wax esters and fatty acids, are troublesome. Yet many cosmetics contain these same highly irritating fatty acids such as stearic acid. Even worse, many cosmetics contain chemical derivatives of these fatty acids, such as isopropyl myristate or butyl stearate, which are even more potent than their parent fatty acids.

You don't have to understand these chemical names or know how to pronounce them to get them out of your life. All you need to do is take a list along with you to the drug store and check ingredient labels. It is best to purchase all natural products when possible to be sure you are not contaminating your skin. It is also possible to get products that have been created without preservatives that contaminate the skin as well. Again, be sure to read the labels.








Melanie Vasseur is a chemist, estheticianand the founder of Vasseur Skincare, an all natural and preservative-free skincare line. For more skincare tips and information, visit www.vsskin.com or www.vasseurdayspa.com, 619-236-9095.

There are many factors that determine the cost of Botox injections; dilution rates, geographic location, spa specials and how many facial areas are being injected. All four factors are taken into consideration when determining the cost of a Botox treatment.

There are many factors that determine the cost of Botox injections; dilution rates, geographic location, spa specials and how many facial areas are being injected. All four factors are taken into consideration when determining the cost of a Botox treatment.

Everyday thousands of skin cells die, fall off and are replaced by new cells. As you age this renewal process slows down making it more difficult to shed blotchy and sun damaged skin. Peels create an even and controlled shedding of several layers of damaged skin cells