Skin Care

When you look for a dry skin cream, it’s easy to make a big mistake. That’s because so many dry skin products, even very expensive ones, have a main ingredient that blocks the effectiveness of anything helpful in the cream or lotion.

It’s petroleum jelly, or petrolatum, the stuff that most of us have had in the medicine cabinet all our lives. It’s been discredited for years as a dry skin cream, because of two well-known problems:

- It blocks the pores, encouraging enlarged pores, blackheads and acne;

- and it actually makes skin dryness worse, by stripping the skin of its own natural oils. For this reason, the day you stop using it, your skin becomes dryer than it’s ever been, often scaly and showing every sign of rapid aging.

In other words, the most popular dry skin cream of all time actually makes your skin dry!

So why do we keep using it? Well, it coats the skin with a greasy film that keeps in moisture for the moment. That makes it a useful first aid after a cut or scrape, providing temporary relief. Mostly, we just keep using it because it’s cheap. That’s the exact reason so many skin care product makers use it, too.

And they hide it under many names, including mineral oil, liquid paraffin and paraffin wax – all different words for basically the same petroleum byproduct. So you have to be careful when you check the label on dry skin cream. Petrolatum seems to be everywhere.

Don’t give up, though. It’s not quite everywhere. The best skin care manufacturers never use petrolatum in dry skin cream (or anything else). And wonderful skin moisturizers are available today. I’ll name some of the best ingredients to look for.

- Two completely natural oils that are deeply hydrating and highly compatible with your skin’s own oils are avocado oil and macadamia oil. Avocado oil heals roughened areas, soothes dryness and itching, and softens the skin. Macadamia oil is rapidly absorbed by damaged skin (so it doesn’t feel greasy) and replenishes oils lost during the day.

- Allantoin, a natural compound found in herbs such as comfrey and other vegetable sources, has been scientifically proven to stimulate skin growth and help restore damaged skin.

- Honey contains enzymes that have led to its use as a natural skin healing substance for centuries. A special type called Active Manuka Honey, made by bees from the flowers of New Zealand manuka bushes, has enzymes and antioxidants in much greater quantities than most honey. Active Manuka Honey nourishes the skin, making it look younger and softer, and heals skin blemishes including acne.

- Natural Vitamin E and Coenzyme Q10, both powerful antioxidants that complement each other to rejuvenate dry skin.

- A modern breakthrough skin care ingredient called Cynergy TK, in a clinical trial, showed a sustained 14 percent improvement in skin moisture retention and a sustained improvement in skin elasticity of 42 percent, both in only 18 days.

- Another new trademarked ingredient, Rigin, also proved in clinical trials that it improves the elasticity and firmness of the skin, as well as moisturizing, protecting and smoothing it. Rigin also made the skin firmer, smoother and more supple.

For more details, you can check my website recommendations for dry skin cream and a deep moisturizing mask so natural looking, even a man could love it.

Kathryn Lane is a health and nutrition researcher. She says the most valuable and effective products she finds are rarely the most expensive or the most advertised. Check out her website: http://www.health-and-skin-site.com/

Cellulite Center at Luminesa Medi Spa in New York

L’or de la Mer Organic Anti Cellulite Body Blaster Scrub with Seaweed, 12oz $34.00 Cellulite is not simple fat, but a way in which your body reacts to a build-up of toxins in the connective tissue in the skin. This then manifests as a honeycomb web of waterlogged and toxin filled tissue. Circulation of the lymphatic system and of the venous system, blood flow and capillary integrity are crucial to improve the situation. This body scrub with combination of sugar and salt enriched…

Svelte PRO Supercharged Organic Anti-Cellulite Treatment with L’Carnitine, CoQ10 and 25 Fat Fighting Slimulators $26.00 Loving the “lazy way” to reduce cellulite we have designed Svelte Pro Supercharged Anti-Cellulite treatment incorporating phosphodiesterase inhibitors or simply the entire array of known flub busters. In plain simple language, they stop production of the enzyme that leads to fat storage in our body and so cause the dimples to shrink. Many ingredients have this effect including, Caffeine, Kola nut …

Procellix for Cellulite – The Original and Still the Best Cellulite Gel (6oz) $31.18 Dermal MedsLIX Cellulite Gel 6 Ounce Tube – Dermal Meds PROCEL….

Nutraluxe MD Infrared LED Massager Lipo Reduction Anti-cellulite Kit $94.99 This anti-cellulite kit leaves your skin smoother and healthier-looking for a more youthful appearance. This kit from Nutraluxe includes an infrared LED massager, creme and carrying case.