Beauty Brainstorm Blog

Archive for the ‘Healthy Lifestyles’ Category

Just like the Myth Busters, as we continue our Summer myth busting; here are three more that need to be vetted out;

Myth:  If I wear a sunscreen it will prevent me from getting my necessary Vitamin D from the sun. 

Truth: According to US News and World Report , Vitamin D is very important in preventing many diseases, including heart disease.  They quoted research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, that stated those with a lower levels of Vitamin D have double the risk of dying from heart disease.  So does sunscreen actually prevent the production of Vitamin D in the sun?  Yes!  According to the NY Times , a study showed that the use of Sunscreen, actually blocked the suns UV rays and interfered with the production of Vitamin D.  So does that mean Sunscreens are bad?  No!  The study went on to say that while it does hamper ultraviolet rays production, it is not enough to cause a deficiency.  So use a quality sunscreen  but control your time in the sun and stay protected.

Myth:  I used to bake in the sun, the damage is already done. 

Truth: There used to be a notion that UV Exposure damaged occurred before age 18, but according to the Skin Care Foundation, 47% of UV exposure occurs between ages 19-40.  So not only can you help stop the damage by the sun, by using sunscreen NOW, you may be able to lessen the effects of past sun by doing so. 

Myth:  My hair protects my head from the sun and skin cancer. 

Truth:  While clearly having hair vs. no hair does provide some additional barriers to the sun, they offer a less than fool proof shield.  Additionally if you have a part in your hair, the exposed skin is just as susceptible as any other exposed skin on your body.  There are some SPF hair sprays , none are as protective as a good hat.  The hat should be tightly woven with a brim that’s at least 3 inches wide

Have fun the remainder of the summer and remember to protect your skin!

Vegetables

Vitamin C and E are full of antioxidants and have been shown to help prevent some of the sun’s ultraviolet rays that can damage skin.  If you are a fan of sweet potatoes, you will be happy to find that according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Nutrition Health Letter , sweet potatoes came out on top as the most nutritious of ALL vegetables.  But whether you like sweet potatoes or not, many vegetables provide a great resource in skin care recipe.  Eating vegetables is a skin care supplement that is easy to eat and provide many of the same benefits of the best skincare products. 

Bell peppers, tomatoes, broccoli or cauliflower are great sources of Vitamin C, while olives, spinach or asparagus are equally good sources of Vitamin E.  These are a few examples of foods that can improve your skin’s health and along with a good skincare product help aid in skin regeneration.

Do you want to clear up your skin by eating healthy and yummy foods?  C omplex carbs like whole grains, proteins and produce according to. Australian researchers found that a low-glycemic diet (more whole grains, protein and produce versus refined carbs such as white bread) may reduce acne . One reason why: Low-glycemic foods keep insulin steady, while refined carbs and sugar spike it. The surges may boost production of androgens, hormones that, when boosted, can cause zits. After 12 weeks of a low-glycemic diet, subjects’ pimple counts dropped 20 percent, a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition notes. More research is needed to support the clear-skin connection, but no M.D. will talk you out of eating whole grains and veggies!

Try to have three servings a day (one serving equals a slice of bread or 1/2 cup cooked grains).  Some great options are brown rice,  barley, and oats,  or eat foods made out of these whole grain flours. Not only are they great for your skin, but they can prevent constipation and lower blood pressure too.  Finally don’t forget a good skincare program available at Mary Kay.

We have all heard about the benefits of anti-oxidants on fighting free radicals and combating the effects of aging.  Some of the best resources of getting anti-oxidants are through vegetables such as broccoli.  Did you know the anti-oxidants in broccoli also contain toxins?  However these toxins are a beneficial toxin evolved to dissuade insects and other animals from eating broccoli. In humans they induce a mild, adaptive stress response that increases the anti-oxidants.  If we ate broccoli without toxins, it is not enough to function as an anti-oxidant in the body according to Dr. John Ratey, MD in his book “Spark”.

He goes on to further say that if you add exercise, restrict calories and eat vegetables, the result will be good stress on your body.  This stress challenges cells and causes us to adapt and grow.  Warning here:  This is a delicate balance, if stress goes from mild to chronic (ie: greatly restrict calories-stop eating), the genetic actions can cause atrophy and cells die!

The process of aging lowers our stress threshold, as does self esteem.  We can attack this natural process through aerobic exercise.  Exercise releases many chemicals in the body that stimulates cells, causing the release of positive anti-aging allies.  Additionally, by adding supplements such as Juice Plus,  we can achieve all of the fruits and vegetables necessary to stimulate our own defense mechanisms to operate a peak efficiency.  Further research has found that the acai plant also provides additional resources of anti-oxidants, which is also found in chocolates which further keeps our skin young and healthy.

Bottom line; start exercising, eat and/or take necessary fruits and vegetables; mix in  healthy chocolate, treat the outside of your skin and you have put up the best defense against natures aging process that is available.

During this Halloween season what kind of mask are you wearing?  Are you scary? Tough?  Inspirational? Supportive? Cautious?  We all put on different kinds of masks and sometimes they differ from day to day.  The masks you wear can give insight into your personality style and/or someone else’s style. 

The personality test I enjoy is called the DISC test.  In this test you pick a word in 28 different boxes that most exemplifies you and least exemplifies you.  The corresponding answer sheet catalogues these answers and accurately predicts the type of personality people are.  Knowing this not only helps you be able to deal with others by knowing their different traits, but also knowing what your blend is and what mask you are most comfortable behind.  Everyone is a blend of all categories, some stronger than others.  A simplified way of looking at these are relating it to a type of animal/fish;

• D - Doberman – Tough, like big challenges, bark as bad as bite.
• I – Fluffy Puppy – Content to have fun; likes recognition and praise.
• S – Cat – Doesn’t like conflict; finds spots that are most comfortable and retreats there.
• C – Tropical fish – Checks everything out thoroughly, rocks, both sides of tank; ceramic figures. Curious by nature, doesn’t like sudden change.

 You can get more of this by going to DISC.

 Speaking of Masks, a facial mask is a great way to help fight blemishes, soften your skin or can even be used as a relaxer. A good skin care mask should be used once a week depending on what your skin care specialist suggests. Your face may be dry and therefore needs a moisturizing mask. Your face may be breaking out and needs a facial mask that will clear your blemishes. Maybe your face needs tightening, a mask can be good for that as well. Whatever the need, quality skin care products are needed on a daily basis and masks should be worn to help keep your face in check. If the mask you are wearing everyday is in need of  replenishment or if your skin needs to glow;  MaryKay offers masks for every skin type.  This Halloween, make sure your mask is right for you.

Dangerous Make-up  : 

Do you know that your make-up can harbor bacteria?  These bacteria can cause skin conditions, sickness such as vomiting and diarrhea and can cause other more serious disorders.  We all know the harm of flu season and how important it is to take precautions to keep ourselves healthy; but who would have ever thought Make-up can be the cause of serious illnesses and skin conditions?

Just like with a toothbrush, you should discard your mascara every three months.  Almost all cosmetics come with a recommended shelf life. Make-up is designed with a special anti bacteria agent that when it expires that only works during the shelf life of the make-up. After the shelf life has run out, what used to be a bacteria fighting agent all of a sudden allows the make up to become infected with bad bacteria. 

Most women who wear a large amount of make-up usually wear it because their skin is not perfect to begin with. These same women 8 times out of 10 are also busy and buy their make-up on the go. So unless each woman who wears make-up goes to esthetician school, how are they suppose to know the proper ways to wear their make-up? How many times has your beauty consultant told you make-up has a shelf life that must be followed to a tee to prevent harmful illnesses and skin disorders?

By following the rules of make-up/attending to the shelf life of the make-up you use, you can prevent bad bacteria from affecting your life.

The following chart is what Mary Kay  recommends:

 According to Dr Mehment Oz, a trusted health expert, best-selling author, and world-renowned cardiac surgeon, (new show starts, 9/14/09  at 10 am on ABC) who was recently on the Today Show; to kill the bacteria that lives in your make-up, you can do the following;

• Lipstick– Dip it into alcohol for 15 minutes, use a clean tissue to wipe off the end, discard tissue and voila, result: bacteria free lipstick
• Foundation – leave in the Freezer overnight.  The cold kills the bacteria that can grow on top of the foundation.  This should be done on a weekly basis to ensure bacteria free foundation.
• Do not share mascara with family, friends or aqcaintences.
• Clean your purse with a treated alcohol swab weekly (both inside and out)
• Discard used tissues right away
• Of course, the old stand by, wash your hands frequently to avoid spreading germs and bacteria from others to yourself and from yourself to others.

Garbage in, garbage out was such a hot topic that we had to continue the tips for healthy lifestyles, we couldn’t just leave you with a couple to go on. So read the additional tipsbelow  to help you lead a healthier lifestyle.

• Diet – Never is garbage in garbage out more true than in diet. Foods we eat can cause acne. Foods such as dairy, and bad fats are major contributors to acne issues. Cooking oils such as canol and vegetable are bad fats and have a major negative effect on your skin. Certain allergens, like gluten can also cause acne. Gluten is found in wheat, barley and rye.

Now…for a change of pace, how about something that we thought for many years was not good for you and turns out to be good! DARK CHOCOLATE turns out to contain many anti-oxidants that are healthy for you. YEAH!!!!

Other foods that nature grows; that are not man made; are also very healthy for your skin and insides. Fruits, vegetables, fish, chicken, lettuce all have very valuable “good” garbage resources for your diet.

• Exercise- Getting on a regular exercise program has always been a good stress reliever, but does it really help remove toxins that could cause acne and other issues? The answer is yes and yes! There are many studies that show by perspiring during exercise you remove many of the unwanted deposits of bad bacteria and stimulate the release of good toxins in your body. There are so many choices to get started exercising from videos to trainers to online resources, that there is no reason not to start.

Take these proven helpful tips to living a healthier lifestyle, implement them in your everyday life and become a better you from the inside out.

As you look at the things you put in your body, put on your body, put in your mind and surround yourself with, the old saying garbage in – garbage out could not be more true. How can you deal with this as it relates to you? How do you turn garbage out, if you already have garbage in?

There are some clear steps you can do to “take the garbage out”. It is time you help your teenagers get started with good garbage vs. bad garbage. A lot of this really starts at a youth.

Many teenagers personalities are not only shaped by their peers, parents, and teachers but also shaped by teenage acne. Believe it or not, treating acne and other garbage by-products does not have to be rocket science, there are many proven methods. Below are a few methods to help you become clean from garbage.

• Cleansing – There are body cleanses and skincare cleaners.

o Body Cleanses – This is a more dramatic type of cleansing. These type of cleansers can be found at most health food stores such as Vitamin Shoppe, Whole Foods Markets or others. These multi-system cleansers not only work on your bowel, but according to Vitamin Shoppe Herbal Pharmacist, David Foreman; they also cleanse your skin, blood, lymphatic system, liver, kidneys, etc. They remove unwanted toxins and clean the major filters of your body. It is recommended to consume plenty of water each day to assure yourself that you are flushing away the toxins.

o Facial Cleansing – Proper hygiene teaches us to clean our face each morning and evening to remove the bacteria that accumulates from our environment all day and night. For teenage acne, VELOCITY is a great product when used regularly, removes the toxins and bacteria that causes acne, from your skin. It deep cleans your face, tones to refresh and exfoliates to remove dead skin cells.

• Probiotics – Lately we have been hearing a lot about this. What we often hear is that probiotics help with digestion. But we also use them to help suppress other disease-causing bacteria that may end up in your digestive tract. Many of these bad bacterias can come from the inside and cause skin issues. WIKIPEDIA defines them as dietary supplements of live microorganisms thought to be healthy for the host organism.

According to the currently adopted definition by FAO/WHO, probiotics are: “Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host”. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria are the most common types of microbes used as probiotics; but also certain yeasts and bacilli are available. In picking a probiotic, my research showed that the best are the ones that have at least 16 strains and 16 billion cells.