National Skin Care Month

Its skincare month and we are super excited to share some
great information with you. We hope you will take time to read this article that was written especially for you. Natural skincare is dear to our hearts. We would love to have to ask questions and leave comments.

September is National Skin Care Awareness Month
By: Kenyatta Johnson            
Natural Skin care expert and founder of My Sweet Skin  
       
             - The 5 Most Common Skin Myths -
Myth #1 Skin should feel tight after you wash. It’s a sign that it has been effectively cleaned.

Truth: If the skin feels tight after washing, it is a sign that the skin has been stripped of all of its water causing surface dead skin cell buildup. Then you have to put your moisturizer on to restore the moisture that you just removed—which makes absolutely no sense! Bar soaps (even if they say that they are moisturizing), high foaming cleansers and anything that leaves your skin feeling tight is an absolute no-no!

The most important part of your entire routine is what you wash your face with. This will set the foundation of good skincare. Use a low foaming cleanser that does not contain the ingredients Sodium Laureth/Lauryl Sulfate or Ammonium Laureth Sulfate.

Myth #2 Chocolate and greasy foods will make your skin breakout.

Truth: Lots people have heard this, but there is no evidence indicating they increase breakouts. The foods that most often are linked to breakouts are dairy products (when the breakouts are acne cysts that occur in the chin and jaw area) and citrus foods (when the breakouts are in the cheek area).
 
Myth #3 I don’t need sunscreen in the winter. 

Truth: There are two types of rays that are most important to understand. 
UVB rays cause your skin to get a tan or sunburn and they are less strong in the winter than summer. UVA rays cause premature skin aging and skin cancer.  Sun rays are equally as strong from summer to winter so you’re still getting UV damage even on a cloudy, rainy day in December. A UVA/UVB sunscreen should be worn 365 days a year, rain or shine, inside or out.

Did you know?
78% of all the sun damage over your lifetime was from incidental exposure such as driving in your car, working in your home or office near windows and walking to the mailbox. 

Myth #4 Oily skins don’t need to use moisturizer.

Truth: While don’t need extra oil, your skin still needs water to keep the skin cells healthy and hydrated. When there is no water present, the skin cells die prematurely resulting in dead skin cell build up which causes clogged pores and increased oil production. And drinking water is the least efficient way to hydrate the skin!

Myth #5 You can shrink your pores.

Truth: Large pores are an indication of how much oil you produced when you were in your teens—the formative years for your pore size. When your skin rapidly pumped out the oil, the walls of the pore stretched wider resulting in larger pores. Many products will claim to actually shrink your pores, but there really is no way to do this. The best way to reduce the appearance of the large pores is by exfoliating often. By using a combination of both physical exfoliants (facial scrubs with round grains) and chemical exfoliants (like alcohol free glycolic acid serums) on a regular basis, will help remove surface dry cells so the opening of the pores are less deep making them look smaller.

                           — The 5 Worst Skin Mistakes --
 
Skin Mistake #1 Using a bar of soap to wash your face.

If you wash your skin with a bar of soap (no matter how much you paid for it), you immediately strip your skin of all its water which instantly creates dead skin cells. Then you have to quickly put moisturizer on to put back exactly what you just took out—makes no sense! The binders that hold a bar of soap together have a high pH balance making it too drying for most skin types. Bar soaps are the worse.  Always use natural, sulfate free, low foaming gel cleansers.

Our black soap is the best raw natural product free from chemicals and great as a daily facial cleanser. 

Skin Mistake #2 Using harsh products to control oil production.

When it comes to skin care products for oily skin, most skin care companies focus on products that simply remove the oil by using strong, harsh and dehydrating ingredients. While it will give you an immediate ‘tight’ feeling, it creates large amounts of oil production hours later. If you wear foundation this could be the difference of a flawless coverage and a cakey look. 
 
The amount of oil your skin produces is directly tied to the hydration levels in
your skin. Oily skins don’t need additional oil (which is why oil free lotions
are suggested) but you still need water in the skin. When the skin doesn’t have the water it needs, the skin attempts to balance itself by producing more oil (by stimulating the nerve endings) to compensate for the lack of water. To lessen oil, choose gentle, sulfate free, low foaming cleansers, avoid alcohol based toners and always use moisturizer.
 
We have made moisturizing easy and effortless. Try our body butter cream for a nice light coverage.

Skin Mistake #3 Not using an alcohol-free toner after every washing.

Toners are often misunderstood. Most people aren’t really sure what they do and they often don’t use them because the alcohol is irritating. Toners without alcohol are a perfect way to give your skin the water and hydration it so desperately needs. Your skin cells are like fish. They need water to live and without water they die prematurely resulting in unhealthy skin—plus dry skin cells. Use an alcohol free toner every time after you wash, but make sure to leave it damp before applying your serum or moisturizer to seal in the hydration.

Skin Mistake #4 Over-exfoliating the skin.

Exfoliation is extremely beneficial to the skin by reducing clogged pores, blackheads and breakouts, removing surface dry skin cells, softening the appearance of fine lines, making large pores appear less noticeable and encouraging new, healthy skin cell growth. But when it comes to exfoliation, less is more. If you use facial scrubs, acids, enzymes and get professional microdermabrasion and chemical peel treatments too often, you can really damage the health of the skin. By over exfoliating, you damage the natural protective barrier of the skin resulting in dry, red, flakey, and irritated skin which can accelerate aging due to chronic and prolonged inflammation. 

When exfoliating facial skin, it’s recommended twice a week. Depending on the your skin type exfoliating the rest of your body can be done three times a week or daily. 
 
Skin Mistake #5 Picking at your skin.

Getting blemishes is an unavoidable fact. While there are many things you can do to prevent them, it’s really important to treat them properly—and this is where many people go wrong. For the most part, a blemish will only last 57 days, but a post breakout red or dark scar from picking at a blemish can show for months. The only time you should extract a blemish is when a visible whitehead has come to the surface of the skin. This infection does want to get out, so you can gently remove it. If you pick at a bump deep under the skin, you’ll only make it worse—and an oozing scab is a lot more difficult to cover with makeup than a closed bump!

            – 5 Skin Care Tips –

Skin Tip #1 Avoid dairy products if your skin is prone to cystic acne.

Many people have heard that greasy foods and chocolate cause breakouts. In my experience, when the breakout is cyst like in the chin and jaw line area, most often it is related to too much ice cream, yogurt, milk and cheese. Cut back on dairy.  

Skin Tip #2 Avoid the following ingredients in skin care products:

Mineral Oil & Petrolatum – these two items in any product should never be used. These ingredients are not natural and they are major contributors to clogged pores and major breakouts. 

Skin Tip #3 To reduce under eye puffiness, avoid eating salty food at night.

Avoiding salty foods help prevent facial puffiness in the morning. Excessive sodium intake causes water retention resulting in excessive swelling of the eye tissue. If you are trying to avoid puffiness of the face (especially before a special event), avoid salty foods at night and drink a lot of water. Water is a major element which aids in healthy skin cells. Water keeps the body refreshed,detoxed and hydrated.

To reduce puffy and bloated skin—GO COLD!

It’s a fact that cold temperatures shrink capillaries and stimulate drainage to
reduce puffiness. Celebrity Tip: Keep a frozen spoon at all times. Take a frozen spoon and place under the eyes for 5 to 10 minutes. Using an under eye cerium is also helpful to keep the skin under the eye tight and sweet. Gel masks are also very beneficial because gels are naturally cold, but they will also hydrate the skin to soften lines and wrinkles.

Skin Tip #4 Avoid sleeping on your side.

Did know that sleeping is the second cause of wrinkles? One surprising cause of premature wrinkling on the face and décolleté (chest) is sleep or more precisely, the position of the body during sleep. To prevent the crepes between the breasts, marionette lines around the mouth and wrinkles around the eyes, try to get in the habit of sleeping on your back. After the sun, sleeping on the side is like ironing wrinkles into the skin. This means that on average, you're spending more than 2,500 hours per year potentially reversing the positive effects of your anti aging skin care treatments.

Skin Tip #5 Always wash your skin and moisturize at bedtime.

Did you know that the skin on your face is one of the dirtiest parts on your body from unintentionally touching it all day long? Cleansing your skin at night will reduce oil and acne causing bacteria resulting in clearer skin. Also, while you sleep, your skin is at rest allowing regeneration to occur, so it’s important to cleanse tone and moisturize your skin for optimum skin repair and healing.

My Sweet Skin is a trusted skin care expert whose products and facial treatments have been helping both women & men attain healthy, glowing & beautiful skin. For more information please Visit www.MySweetSkin.com