With thousands of skin products on the market, the basics of skincare can seem overwhelming. The truth is that if you want great skin, you do need to gather information before you even step into a store, spa or cosmetic spa.

Our skins are plagued with sun damage, stress, poor diets, hormonal changes and air pollution. With so many skin damaging components in our everyday lives, there is a great need for counteraction. You can counteract these damaging components with great skin products. One of the basics of skincare is using lotion everyday. Lotion is extremely important because it helps the skin maintain its moisture. Hydration is a key to having great skin. Skin that is not properly hydrated will become dry, dull, and irritated.

There are different types of lotion for different areas of skin however. You should always use a lotion that is hypoallergenic as well as one that will not clog your pores. Facial lotions tend to be referred to as moisturizers. Lotions for other areas of your body are usually called body lotions. Make sure you are using the proper type of lotion on each area of your body. Body lotions are often too harsh for your face. Lotions are also broken up into moisturizing intensities. If you have dry skin, you will need more moisture.

If you have oily skin, do not make the mistake of thinking you don’t need lotion, oily skin that is not hydrated will become troublesome. Your skin is producing oil because your hydration levels are off. Use a light moisturizer for oily skin.

Ointments are most often used for skin problems. You will often see ointments being used for eczema, rashes, or hives.

If you are looking for a once or twice a week pick-me-up for your skin, a mask is the way to go. Masks can be found for any skin type. They also come in many varieties containing many different ingredients. You can find masks with mud components to soothe and smooth your skin. You can also find masks that will help with acne. All masks work to help tighten your facial pores and smooth your skin’s appearance.

Masks should be used once or twice a week. Most masks are made so that you just apply them to your skin and wait. While you wait the mask will begin to dry and you may feel your face tightening. This is normal and indicates the mask is doing its job. After waiting for 10 to 15 minutes, you will need to rinse the mask off of your face. You can do this with a wash cloth, or you can use water alone. After using your mask, dry your face completely and apply a moisturizer. Since masks take a little hydration from your face, you must replenish it.

In addition to face masks, you can also get full body masks. These masks work the same way as a facial mask and will rejuvenate your entire body. Many spas are now offering body masks. They can help tighten and smooth the skin on your entire body. Be sure to drink plenty of water after you get a full body mask however. Body masks draw toxins from your body and may leave you a little dehydrated, so drinking water is essential.

Knowing about lotions, ointments, and masks will help you get the skin you desire. The most important thing to remember is proper hydration. Be sure your skin is always hydrated with lotions. You can also drink water to help your skin hydrate from the inside. If you take care of your skin, you will notice that your skin will always look radiant.

With all the billions of dollars spent yearly across the world in the world on cosmetics, often we may catch ourselves asking, “How did it get to this point? When did this become the standard for me to have to wake up every morning and before I even go out the door feel obligated to paint my face from top to bottom? It is certain a lady way back in the past did not simply wake up one day and decide to put on eyelashes, lipstick, eyeliner, base, and rouge all at the same time. As you might have guessed, it was a combination of thousands of years and lots of mistakes.

Who remembers the Egyptians? That was over four thousand years ago. Good hygeine and looks were very important to the people of Egypt. They had faith that the appearance had a direct juncture with the well being of the spirit. They attempted to always appear neat and smell agreeable. And with a society who values their appearance, they are inevitably going to have members who are going to make themselves stand out. The Egyptians, being the inventive culture they were, used cosmetics for reasons that were even more intelligent than just trying to look great.

Mesdemet was the most original kind of eye shadow- a substance made of copper and lead ore. The dark shades they thought would ward off evil eyes from their own. It was also an effective disinfectant and bug repellent. Kohl was a dark combination that was also put on around the eyes in an oval shape. Kohl was a combination of lead, ash, ochre, copper, and burnt almonds. To further enhance their appearance, they would apply a combination of water and red clay to the cheek area. They would also paint their nails colors of orange and yellow with a chemical named henna.

As time moved on and cultures were exposed to each other more often, the Greeks began to learn more of the multiple habits of the Egyptians use of cosmetics. Greek women would color themselves a pale hue with a base that had lead in it. This ended up being fatal more than once. As the Romans started to pick up the make-up practice, the pursuit of beauty became less about practicality and took a turn into much more peculiar routes. The Romans would decorate their nails with a combination of sheeps blood and heated body fat. An old Roman man once said, A woman without paint is like food without salt.

Long after the Egyptian empire faded, the fashion standard around the world was a white skin color. A dark, sun-dried face was associated with being a peasant who labored outdoors all day with her spouse. The upper class ladies obviously did not have to endure physical work like that therefore they were able to stay under the roof and had white

complexions.

Success was often measured by a person’s white skin tone. If people had enough wealth, then you did not have to work. So a pale complexion was very critical to some people. To get this look, women (and men as well) would use a combination of hydroxide, lead oxide, and carbonate in a powder form to put on their faces and skin. Unfortunately, this caused a sometimes lethal side effect, lead poisoning.To cure this, chemists in the nineteenth century at last invented a combination of zinc oxide that did not block the skin from being able to breathe and kept people out of that aggravating lead poisoning sickness. It was so effective that it is still practiced today by cosmetics producers.

In the era of King Edward of London, about the time of the turn of the century of 1900, society women with a recreational income would host swanky get togethers and do a lot of entertaining to exhibit their wealth. It was extremely important for a woman to be the most beautiful belle there, especially if they were the hostess of the party. Women in the past who underwent these extravagant lifestyles did not have good diets, would not work out, and breathed in the heavily polluted air that the cities of the time produced.

Women would rely on products like anti-aging foams and face creams to mask their blemishes. Routine ventures to the salon were also a normal part of the day. It was a bit different back then than it is today. Women would sneak into the back entrance of the salons and cover their faces as they entered. One of the most famous of these secret beauty parlors was the House of Cyclax, who would sell creams and rouges to ladies. Mrs. Henning, the owner, sold and created many products for her frantic consumers who did not want anyone to know that they were getting old.

Today’s woman is the benefactor of years of mistakes with a practically unlimited choice of beauty products for any look they want to get. The beauty product business has become a billion dollar industry with literally thousands of competing companies. Beauty products sell year round and even in times of recession. So ladies, give thanks to your ancestors and their concern for their personal looks for yours that you have today. They probably didn’t want to put on their face some mornings either.

Even though they may make you look scary for a little while, masks are a great way to treat your skin to a once a week spa type of treatment. You can find masks for any skin type with a variety of different ingredients. There are mud masks to help to smooth your skin as well as some that are specifically designed to help with acne problems. All masks are good for your skin and help to tone and sooth your skin.

A mask for your face should be applied once or twice weekly. You don’t want to use them too frequently as they can upset the balance of your skin. The way that most facial masks work is that you put them on your face and wait for a specified period of time until you feel it dry and your skins starts feeling a little tight. Don’t freak out, this is a normal part of the process and it is not taking over your face! After this you usually will give it another few minutes and then rinse your skin. Some people choose to use water by itself and others like to remove the mask with a wash cloth, it’s entirely up to you. Afterwards you should dry your face totally and moisturize it because masks remove some moisture from your skin. This is why I sad earlier not to use them too frequently.

There are also full body masks available that can treat all of your skin at the same time. These work in exactly the same way as the ones for your face and they can help renew the look of your skin all over. It is not possible to do this properly at home so you will have to have one of these applied by a professional. Thankfully, there are many full service salons that offer this service and it is a real treat to have done. When you schedule yourself for one of these be sure to drink lots of water before and after to help remove toxins, help replace lost moisture, and re-hydrate you body. Water is crucial because just as with a facial mask these also remove moisture but on a much larger scale.

Educating yourself about different types of lotions and masks will help you keep your skin clear and give you the healthy glow you want. Water is a beauty secret that many women overlook. The key to beautiful clear skin is adequate hydration and water is crucial in this process as it not only helps your skin hydrate itself but also helps to remove toxins. Utilize what you have learned here and you will have beautiful and radiant skin that others will envy.

When you are choosing skin care, personal care and cosmetic products, you should become a label detective. This is the only way to ensure you purchase honest and truly natural and organic skin care products.

# 1: Learn To Read Product Labels
Be aware of the Rule of Thirds:

The top third of the ingredients label generally lists the ingredients that comprise around 90-98% of the product. Most of this is usually water. Read on to find out why this matters!The middle third generally represents approximately 5-8% of the product. The bottom third represents around 1-3%.

# 2: ‘Natural’ skin care is not always natural.

There are two definitions of the world natural. The dictionary definition: “Existing in or, formed by, nature”. The cosmetic industry definition: “Any ingredient derived from a natural substance”. Manufacturers commonly use the world ‘natural’ on labels to deceive consumers. For example, “Cocamide-DEA derived from coconut oil”. Cocamide-DEA may well be from coconut oil, but a synthetic chemical called diethanolamine is used in the extraction process. It is known to cause cancer. An ingredient is not really natural if it has been processed in this way.

# 3: Organic doesn’t mean what you think.
An organic certification on a product label is the only way to guarantee the integrity of a product. The definition of certified organic is as follows: “An independent third party guarantee of an organic claim”. Always look for a logo that guarantees the product’s integrity. Certified organic products must contain a minimum of 95% organic ingredients excluding water and salt/minerals, with a small allowance for natural, non-organic ingredients that must comply with very stringent processing criteria. There are two definitions of organic: Organic chemistry is concerned with substances that contain carbon. Carbon is present in all living things. Legally, the cosmetics industry is allowed to label any product that contains carbon as ‘organic’. So if it contains petrol, it is organic. Methylparaben is derived from petrochemicals, which are derived from crude oil, which is derived from living matter. It is a widely used preservative in organic skin care products such as body creams, body wash and deodorants. So effectively methylparaben can legally be labelled as organic. Now, it is worth noting that a recent study reported traces of methylparaben in human breast cancer tumours.
The second definition of organic is, “The sustainable system of agriculture that uses natural substances & methods to create healthy nutrient rich and fertile soils”

# 4: How much water is in the product?
In personal communication with a leading industry expert, I was told what can actually be meant when companies put ‘73% Organic’ on their labels. Basically manufacturers can place a few organic teabags in a vat of water and let them infuse into the water. Because the water constitutes 70+ percent of the overall product, the manufacturer is allowed to claim that the product is 73% organic at the top of the label (remember # 1 in this article?). If you removed the water, the actual organic content of those fancy herbal infusions would probably be less than 0.05% of the total product.

# 5: Be aware of inconsistent labelling standards
In some countries, ingredients that are not allowed in certified organic foods ARE allowed in certified organic personal care and cosmetic products. This represents a lack of continuity or consistency in labelling standards. How can food and cosmetics products have the same certified organic logo when ingredients that are allowed personal care and cosmetics are not allowed in food? Remember that if it’s on your skin, you’re drinking it!

# 6: Miracle ingredients don’t exist
Vitamin C, vitamin E, coenzyme Q10, active copper and other ingredients may be touted as miracle ingredients. The fact is that there is no miracle ingredient for the skin or hair, just as there is no magic pill for curing illness and disease. The quality of the skin is a function of feeding the body and skin high quality nutrients over time and keeping the toxin levels of the body as low as possible. When you use high quality, certified organic products, ALL the ingredients are active. They are ALL beneficial and they all feed the skin.

# 7: If it harms lab animals it will harm you!

If you read books by Dr Sherry Rogers, M.D, you will discover that in order to give a rat cancer or Parkinson’s Disease, it is injected with some of the very same chemicals that you will find in your cleverly labelled organic skin care, personal care and cosmetic products.