You’ve heard the old adage that beauty is only skin deep. The real beauty of glowing good health, however, goes much deeper than the surface of your skin and far beyond the colors or lotions you apply to your face or injections or surgery to battle the signs of aging.
The products you put on your skin are important to how your skin will look. More important, however, are lifestyle factors that can affect your skin in the form of wrinkles, worry lines, discoloration, or a sallow complexion. Sun, Smoking, Stress, Sleep, and Sustenance, or diet—the five S’s—are the easiest way to remember the most important components of health skin.
Protect Yourself from the Sun. Excessive exposure to the sun is the single most damaging thing you can do to your skin. Repeated tanning or sunburns damage the skin, and are the primary cause of wrinkles, discoloration and dark spots, and thick leathery skin.
The most important thing you can do to protect your skin from the sun is to wear a sunscreen every day with an SPF of at least 15 (higher is better), and that protects against both UVA and UVB rays. Look for the ingredients Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide, or Avobenzone (Parsol 1789).
You only need about 15 minutes of direct sunlight each day for your body to get adequate amounts of Vitamin D. After those 15 minutes, any sun exposure you get only serves to age your skin prematurely. The sun’s rays are strongest between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., so avoid exposure during those hours, if possible. Wear a hat and protective clothing if you’re going to be in the sun for any length of time, and don’t forget that the sun’s rays can reflect off the water, snow, or even concrete.
Quit Smoking. Smoking is also extremely damaging to your skin for a variety of reasons. First, smoking decreases circulation. This means that the flow of blood, nutrients, and oxygen are decreased overall, but show up most dramatically on your face. Decreased circulation is one of the causes of aging throughout your body. Second, as a smoker, the continual motion of sucking on a cigarette creates deep creases around your lip area that are impossible to smooth with moisturizer or any other non-invasive techniques.
If you are a smoker, now is the time to quit. If you are a non-smoker, it’s important for you to know that second-hand smoke is every bit as damaging to your health and skin as the act of smoking itself!
Deal With or Eliminate Stress. Chronic stress shows up on your skin and face in a number of ways. Stress and worry cause us to wrinkle our face in ways we would not under normal conditions. This long-term worry can be imprinted on our faces. For proof, just look at the face of any of our US presidents before they took office and the day they left office—they have aged dramatically. Some experts say that our presidents age about eight years for every four they serve in office.
Stress also causes the release of certain hormones into your bloodstream, which can cause inflammation, increase our cholesterol and clog your arteries. What this means ultimately, is that stress can decrease circulation and impair your health, which will show up on your face.
The point here is if your life is chronically stressful, you need to find ways to deal with and eliminate the stress for the sake of your skin. Some great ways to start are meditation, visualization, breathing exercises, or gentle exercise like Yoga, Tai Qi, or Qi Gong.
Get Enough Sleep. Another S, Sleep is an important component to looking your best. While everyone has different sleep needs, the average is about 7-8 hours a night for optimal health. Your body heals itself and regenerates while you sleep. Inadequate sleep will ultimately show up on your face as dark circles or puffiness under your eyes.
Sustenance—Eat the Right Foods to Look Your Best. One of the most frequently overlooked components of skin care is diet. What you eat affects the health of your body and skin, and without adequate nutrients, your skin can’t look its best. As important as your diet is how well you digest your food. You can eat the healthiest foods in the world, but if you can’t digest them well, you will not absorb the nutrients that impact your health and make your face glow.
If you struggle with digestive problems, try to avoid very cold or raw foods, and instead choose soups, stews, and stir fried dishes. Sit down and enjoy your meal, and take the time to really chew your food. Eating fast foods on the run only serve to upset your digestion further.
Foods that benefit your skin include those that are rich in antioxidants, such as colorful fruits and vegetables and dark leafy greens. Vitamin supplements for your skin should include a good multivitamin daily and supplementation with antioxidants, including Vitamins A, C, E, CoQ10, and B complex.
Lynn Jaffee
http://www.articlesbase.com/anti-aging-articles/five-steps-for-beautiful-skin-from-the-inside-out-746543.html
March 10th, 2010 - 11:32 pm
Can anyone give me some constructive criticism for the beginning of this story?
I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. There must have been a large number of people that felt that way, the crowd around it was so big that you only got glimpses of it standing as far back as I was. That must have been understandable, because that did not belong in a school parking lot. It would never look right next to all of the cars that were thirty years old, or the peeling paint of the Band Building. Could that possibly belong to a student? Gosh, I hope not.
Suddenly I could hear reality. There were so many people yelling the question I was just pondering. I heard Dave yell, "What the hell is a freaking Lamborghini doing at a school?" Everyone continued to stared at it. Isn’t that supposed to be one of the most expensive, fastest street-legal car money could buy? What kind of a person could afford to spend what I assume is more than a million dollars on a car? The horn honked. Apparently, the huge mob around the car made it hard to exit. Everyone quickly backed away from the car.
The owner opened the door and stepped out. She walked around it with a walk that could have belonged to a super model, one foot right in front of the other, and opened all of the doors. Three more women stepped out in a motion that was so graceful it looked practiced, and scaned the crowd of people. They were the most beautiful women I had ever seen.
They all looked exactly the same, with the exception of their hair and eyes, which were all a unique color. Other than that, they all had a slightly Asian apperance, very large eyes, had quite slim, yet curvy bodies, full dark pink lips, extremely pale skin that looked white, and long pony-tales that went down to the back of their knees, but their hair and eye color seemed to suit them all perfectly. There was the driver, who had perfect golden blonde spiral ringlets and dark brown eyes, while the girl that had shot-gun had wavy red hair and amber eyes. One of girls in the back had pin-strait black hair and the greenest eyes I have ever seen, and the other had loosely curled brown hair with steel gray eyes. They were all a little on the short size of average height with their tall stiletto heels on, so they must have been rather short without them.
Everyone gasped when they stepped out, that was unbelievable beauty. They just stood there for a minute, looking at everyone. Then, they shared a glance and began walking toward the school building. They had an unusual effect on highschool students, everyone remained silent as the crowd parted. We all turned slowly to watch them walk inside to the main office. They all had the elegant super model walk.
Class was about to start, but most people didn’t care and followed them. I would have liked to be one of those people, but Mr. Young would give me detention if I was late one more time.
I began writing this story when I was bored, like I often do, but I believe this one has potential to last for more than five pages. What do you think about it? Do you think I should continue it? If you had to guess, what would you think this book was about?
March 11th, 2010 - 4:34 am
I like it! You had spelled a few words wrong though.
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March 11th, 2010 - 4:36 am
Sounds like an asian version of Twilight
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March 11th, 2010 - 4:38 am
I think that the fourth paragraph has far too many descriptions in it and introduces too many characters at once-I kinda lost track…
I’d recommend introducing them all more gradually, and only explaining them specifically (like, you could mention the three look-alikes specific eye/hair later when the main character interacts with them later on- you just need to say they looked alike but had different colored hair and eyes) and as for the driver and shotgun-seat-girl…is it necassary to describe them in that detail or are they just single-appearance characters? If they are that important, you could just say that they were beautiful too.
On a more positive note, I really like your style-it’s very fitting to what you’re writing, seeing as it’s from a highschooler’s perspective, and voice is really apparent. I think with a little revision this could be a really cool story! =D
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March 11th, 2010 - 4:40 am
I would guess it’s a supernatural book about some kid who goes to the school and has something to do with the mysterious women. It would be pretty interesting if the women were there to see someone else, but the narrator got caught up in the mess.
Yes, it has potential. You should continue.
As for critique, I would say that you need to give better illustration. You say what happens, but not in a way that the reader can see it. Similes are always goo! Better word choice. Thesauruses are really a big help so that your story doesn’t sound drab. But don’t overuse them! You give wonderful detail though.
If you want more responses, go to fictionpress.net I’m Cinderpool-Ruler Of Chaos.
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March 11th, 2010 - 4:42 am
I think it definitely has potential! The description is wonderful, and your voice is refreshing.
Just because I’m critical, I’m just going to suggest that you reread a few more times, and try and fix some minor grammatical errors (ex. "Everyone continued to stared at it." Should be "Everyone continued to stare at it.").
But other than that, I think it’s fantastic, and I hope you continue writing it!
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