Fitness Skin Care Articles & News by Sandy Alcide
Sandy Alcide now has a Q&A column in Monica Brant's newsletter. Visit www.monicabrant.com
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How To Keep Your Skin Fit Too by Sandy Alcide
It's obvious how great exercise is for healthy strong body and mind. But some side effects of exercise are not particularly beneficial for your skin.
When you exercise your cardiovascular system rushes freshly oxygenated blood to the surface to feed your muscles. Because of the high amount of oxygen content the bright red blood plumps up your skin making it larger and thicker. Perspiration naturally occurs to cool off your body and expels salt, oils and natural toxins on to the skin. These natural functions brought on by exercise and heat can cause a variety of consequences to your skin.
As fitness enthusiasts we have different nutritional needs, we need different clothing during our physical activity and we drink more water. However, many may not realize that their skin-care needs also differ.
Even those who have a clear complexion find that routine physical exertion can result in occasional blemishes, clogged pores, dryness and dullness. Scientists are still uncertain about the exact causes, but they do have some worthwhile theories and solutions.
Oily Skin
Sebum, an oily secretion of the sebaceous glands housed in the pores of our skin, reduces the skin's water loss and helps protect it from dryness and cracking. Anaerobic Bacterium Propionibacterium acnes, colonized on the skin, is neither helped or harmed. Sebum's presence in a blocked pore can lead to an acne lesion (blemish) or blackheads. Pimples tend to worsen because the swollen skin from a workout irritates the existing pimples and helps to create new breakouts which can be larger or painful.
Oily skin becomes oiler from sweating as the salts and acids mix with sebum which glues down dead skin cells creating a coating akin to plastic wrap on the skin. A deep pore cleanser and one which includes exfoliation benefits that does not strip necessary oils can help remove the extra oil that is brought to the skin's surface during exercise will remove the bacteria on the skin leading to a clearer complexion.
Adequate moisture levels are still necessary for this skin type. A moisturizer formulated with both Sage extracts to keep skin soft and Citrus extracts to stabilize oil levels and kill off bacteria is key for this skin type.
Dry Skin
During exercise, skin can become dehydrated due to the high levels of sodium in perspiration. People who consume sports drinks with added sodium may increase their likelihood of dry skin even more. Dry skin becomes more prominent, irritated, flaky and rough due to the high amounts of salts and acids deposited on the skin via sweat.
A cleanser with proper cleansing agents and astringents and a restorative moisturizer which will restore water loss is essential for this skin type. Dry skin also needs to be gently exfoliated twice a week to rid dead skin cells and flaky skin. This will help for the moisturizer and nutrients in the cleanser to penetrate into the skin resulting in a softer appearance.
Some exercisers don't realize their skin has a dry appearance until they are on a specialized product regimen which eventually cures their dryness to a healthier appearance.
Combination Skin
This skin type needs to be balanced. In most cases using only one type of cleanser will not be the solution.
A cleanser formulated for this specific skin type would be best for every day use, but on days when skin feels oily or dry due to climate or workout conditions, alternating to a cleanser formulated for these occasional occurrences is necessary.
Combination skin also needs an exfoliating cleanser on a once daily basis and include a daily moisturizer twice a day.
Damaged or Neglected Skin
Many endurance athletes, swimmers and persons who engage in outdoor sports (runners, tennis players & sports lovers) suffer from sun damaged or prematurely aging skin. Some simply never made the time to care for their skin because of time demanding workouts. Exercise is said to be the fountain of youth, but when the skin is dried out, a dried wrinkly appearance results, and can make a person appear older.
Disciplining yourself by applying a long lasting sun block formulated for an athletic lifestyle and an anti aging treatment which emulates human sebum is key for this skin type. Cleansing the skin within 30 minutes of post workout will help rid sweat expelled toxins and bacteria that penetrate the skin after thirty minutes.
Applying a restorative moisturizer twice daily is necessary to repair damaged skin within reasonable time, and exfoliating with a microdermabrasion creme will help retexturize this skin type.
Most people will agree that exercise is good for the entire body. With the proper special care, fitness enthusiasts can sport healthy, vibrant skin and with careful product selection that healthy glow of exercise can shine through.
The copyright of How To Keep Your Skin Fit Too is owned by Sandy Alcide. Permission to republish How To Keep Your Skin Fit Too must be granted by the author in writing. Copyright 2005
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Emulate Your Skin's Natural Youthful Glow Without Chemicals
Supply and demand. This is the law of industry and make-up companies profit from this system. Sadly we the consumers do not. Typically we look for products that enhance, construct or cover our natural features.
Approaching two-thirds (61%) of consumers across 17 countries attach importance to looking their best in day-to-day life. Many see applying skin make-up as a pivotal part of their beauty regime, especially when only 43% of consumers are satisfied with their skin's appearance.
You may be surprised to learn that most of these objectives could be achieved from within, using our natural ability to generate healthy skin/beauty from good health.
One item hotly pursued in recent times for its touted ability to give a person that healthy glow, is the bronzer, mineral make-up or liquid foundation. Essentially adding color, where there is none, for this purpose are but a waste of our hard earned dollars since an inexpensive solution is available to all....
Cardiovascular activity is the key essential blood circulation and strengthening the blood vessels. This helps boost collagen production and other processes reliant on a constant oxygen supply. Of course, good nutrtion and healthy lifestyle habits play a key role too. Another important advantage of regular exercise is the extra production of sebum, which works as a natural emollient maintaining skin's softness and protecting against creasing and wrinkles.
Aerobic exercise and weight lifting are the ideal methods to achieve benefits toward improving a healthier complexion.
Here's how it works: Exercise increases blood circulation and delivers more nutrients and oxygen to your skin, resulting in firm and nourished skin.
Collagen, an imporant protein for the foundation of skin, is found in the "second" layer of skin (the dermis) and is composed largely of this important protein. This naturally produced protein keeps skin smooth and provides strength and flexibility. Also within the dermis are glycoproteins, these proteins contain oligosaccharide chains to their polypeptide.
Peptides are a short chain of amino acids in the human body; these peptides regulate the activity of other molecules, such as the beneficial protein collagen to help repair and condition the skin.
"Collagen is vital to achieving a youthful glow and maintaining that plump, smooth appearance."
As early as the second half of your twenties, your skin can start losing its collagen and sebum production, even with avid exercise. Sun exposure, environmental conditions, excessive (chemical) chlorine exposure and excessive dieting or high amounts of white refined sugar in the diet can cause damage. Gradually your skin loses its elasticity and ability to retain water. Collagen and glycoprotein production start to decline and the facial muscles start to atrophy; that is what causes skin to begin creasing, wrinkling and sagging.
A quick and expensive method to reduce skins' signs of aging is to receive Botox injections. The average cost of Botox injections depends on the number of units needed. Areas that require more than a single injection, such as the eye area "crows feet" tend to range from $400.00-$900.00. Larger surface areas, such as the forehead, can cost between $600.00-$1300.00 depending on how deep the wrinkles are.
Clostridium botulinum is a bacterium that produces the toxin botulin, the causative agent in botulism is the main substance in Botox, Dysport and Myobloc. If money is no issue for these treatments; keep this in mind:
As with any medication, the effect wears off as your body metabolizes the medicine and more injections are needed. Also, the more of these injections you receive, the more your skin depends on them. Your skin becomes addicted. If you stop using these injections, creasing and sagging are more prominent.
Lucklily, there are natural alternatives to chemicals and plastic surgery. A natural plant source found in the pit of green olives grown in Italy called Squalane has been scientifically proven to emulate sebum, a natural oil and emollient produced by the body. An enzyme called CoQ10, also referred to as ubiquinone, is known for boosting skin repair and reducing free radical damage.
According to scientific and clinical studies, this enzyme produces energy in cells by facilitating conversion of food into functional energy in the body. It is now being made in laboratories for topical use to boost skin cell repair and to function as an antioxidant. Other natural ingredients being used for topical antioxidants are green tea, vitamin A, E and C; which all help to protect skin from free radical damage.
Considering we live in a "quick fix" society most persons turn away from natural ingredients. These natural ingredients are not a quick fix and must be used on a daily basis as part of your skin care regimen and can take up to four weeks to see results. Once results are achieved, you must use the natural product(s) on a daily basis to retain the positive results. Nevertheless, these natural alternatives come at a fraction of the price with no serious side effects. The natural solution is the light weight Peptide Treatment from Motion Medica.
The copyright of Emulate Your Skin's Youthful Glow is owned by the author Sandy Alcide. Permission for re-print must be granted by the author in writing. Copyright 2007. Revised 2010.
