Basics - No.1: Moisturize

Have you ever experienced overly dry sky, mixt complexion turning into oily all over, breakouts, acne spots, blemishes, areas of redness? It could be that you have a skin condition and these are sometimes due to changes in the season, your diet, all types of stress or environment. It could be that you haven’t moisten your skin properly.

We hear all day long on Tv, read in magazines and here from our nutritionists and doctors that we need to drink daily 2l of water. Most of us take those words in vain…I know I have, for long periods of time, and when our bodies react to this, we don’t know from where it came. A few years ago I would have been glad if I drank one or two glasses of water. Bad, bad…really bad. My skin suffered along with my kidneys. I have a mixt complexion (meaning my T area –forehead, nose and chin- are oily and the rest of my face, normal to dry) and I suddenly had the worst relationship with my skin. It became very oily or very dry, make-up dripping off or falling in flakes. You surely wouldn’t want that! I went to my doctor and when I got my results I realized how important water was. My kidneys had lots of “sand”, and I was very close to growing “rocks” inside me. So this is how I started drinking my 2 l of water per day.

I know some people that just can’t drink that much water. I don’t think of it much now, but here are some ways to help you:

· Get yourself some boiled water and a pack of natural, no flavors, additives or other nasty stuff, tea. Green Tea, Fruit Tea, Marigold(Galbenele) Tea, Chamomile( Musetel) Tea and the list can go on and on. Green tea and hot water make your best friends and the worst nightmare for your unwanted body fat. I don’t know one person that doesn’t like Fruit Tea. Marigold and Chamomile have healing and cleansing properties. I do have to say that I never use sugar in my tea, not even brown, in order to get the most of the plants.

·If you don't like tea, I suggest boiling some lemon slices. Wash your lemon as best as you can, but don't scrape the peel off because you have your vitamin C there. I cut my slices into little pyramid shapes, to get more juice out of them. In this way, you have a hot lemonade, perfect for the cold nights and again a very good friend against unwanted body fat . Lemon cleans the stomach and the vitamin C does the job best from there.

- Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Eat seasonal fruits and try to buy them from people you are sure that they don't add additives or growing factors. I embraced the Eco trend a long time before it was a trend, and now that I don't eat meat too often it's mu best frind. I take an apple and a carrot and mixt them in the blender It's yummy and it keeps me full for some good hours. This also keeps your skin looking healthy and youthful and keeps away wrinkles.

Why so much hot water? Since ancient time Asian people use hot water for daily use to keep their body clean and healthy. The drink it during their meals and mixt it with green tea. Cold water tends to thicken and block blood arteries. Warm water flows in your body taking care of your internal organs. Most of the bacteria, good and bad , sit in our stomach. Hot water cleans it helps you digest the food and take out the unnecessary elements faster out.

So we now know how to take care on the inside. But what about the outside?

Weather is an important aspect for our skin. We sit in the sun all day in sumer, we start to cover it in the fall, we don’t even see ourselves in the winter and in spring our skin gets “drunk” with liberation. So how to make your skin look at her best in all the moments of the year? By using some sort of protection and hydrating factors.

For your face:

· In winter we need something a little bit “fatty”, but still work around our skin complexion. Don’t over do it, because you might change the balance in your skin. Always use something with an SPF. If you don’t really see the sun, that doesn’t mean it’s not there.

· In summer, SPF is a Must!! We don’t want sun burns, premature wrinkles, spots or uneven skin.

· On the lips and around the eyes use a gentile gel based cream specific for that area. It will sink into the skin faster and protect these delicate areas.

· Always, ALWAYS clean your make-up!!! Even if you are dead tired, a sleeping zombie or other undead creatures, always clean your face!! If you don’t, your pores will suffer and so your skin will also. Make-up is good (in my opinion) but up to a point. When you sleep your skin relaxes and your pores take all the make-up and dead skin in. From here on..you can imagine.

For you body:

· Same principle work for your body as well as for your face. But with a twist. The skin on the body is a lot tougher. It need different products, but the principle is the same. Use creamy formulas in the winter and lighter ones with SPF in the summer.

· Use scrubs weekly in order to eliminate dead skin on your body. In this way, your skin will regenerate and the moisturizer will work more efficiently.

What I use:

v For my face I use right now Nivea Visage Oxygen Power, Day and Night formulas. I cant say I love it…wanted to try it for a long time but I’m not that satisfied with it. I moisturizer I used and loved was the Artistry Balancing Cream. It was great for my skin and went really smooth and my skin “ate” it like a kid eats sweets.

v For my body I use Minus -417, body oil. I find that oils work best for me, because I have a normal to dry skin. It was only natural ingredients and it even works in summer on the beach, but with a SPF cream, because it doesn’t have SPF.

I DON’T RECOMMENT: Lotions that have petroleum derived elements. (petroleum jelly –vaselina-, paraffinum, mineral oil). They create a waterproof layer, that doesn’t let the skin breathe changing her metabolism. When Vaseline was invented, the scientist used to induce wounds on his skin and apply it on them and the wounds would heal fast. That was because kept the moist in and block microbes. Other then that…nothing. So I don’t recommend it for daily use. Also those that have parabens should be avoided, because they have a bad influence on nature.

I do hope it was helpful. Wish you a nice day!

Kissu.