Tag Archives: Diana Dudas

Beauty Goes Skin Deep

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Ten Minutes A Day Keeps Those Wrinkles At Bay
By Diana Dudas

Our skin like other body parts is not invincible, when it comes to being susceptible to damage. As it is necessary to get monthly haircuts and weekly manicures as part of your grooming regime it should also be a necessity and not a luxury to take care of the most important organ of your body, the skin. And the time to start doing that is now.

Too young to care

It may seem unimportant to contemplate doing anything about your complexions before reaching your thirties. However it is in our twenties that the effects of aging begin to be visible in our complexion. As we mature, biochemical changes occur in elastin and collagen, the connective tissues that give skin it?s firmness and elasticity. Genetics also play a part in this, which is why these changes occur at different times in different people.

As skin becomes less elastic, it also becomes drier, and the fat padding begins to disappear. This causes the skin to sag and look less supple. Ultimately wrinkles will appear. Then one day, after glancing in the mirror you suddenly notice those crows feet creeping in around the corners of your immaculately decorated eyelids, or you notice that your lip potions have sadly waded into the spider like crevices above the lips. It is normally then, when decisions are made to go out and get a miracle cream or maybe a facial. Aging can be slowed down, and you can do your part to promote a younger complexion even as you mature. All it takes is a little TLC, but start NOW! The sooner you start to nurture your skin the more chance you have of a age-less complexion. All it takes is a short monthly visit to a skin care specialist, or a few minutes a day, taking care of your skin at home.

Skin care starts at home

Enjoying a monthly facial is an excellent idea. Having your, face, neck and shoulders massaged for an hour and a half will most definitely put you into a state of euphoria and your skin will feel revitalized and renewed. And for those of you who haven?t got time for a full treatment, you will be pleased to know that the New York style facial is now available, which takes only 15 minutes, perfect for a quick lunch hour treat. Making time for a facial is important, but more so it is of the utmost importance to maintain this caring act at home. Your skin needs twice daily nurturing to keep it clean, moist and protected and it only takes ten minutes a day.

Easy as ABC

A good skin care regime is neither complicated nor laborious. A quick 1, 2, 3 step is a great start. This means a twice daily cleansing, toning and moisturizing. it only takes 5 minutes each time, that?s just 10 minutes a day.

Cleanse: Use a liquid, cream or foam cleanser. And gently massage your face to remove all dirt and make-up. Then rinse. Do not use soaps as they can be overly drying and also clog pores.
Tone: After cleansing saturate a cotton pad, and stoke over face and neck, this will work to remove the last traces of cleanser and also close your pores.
Moisturize: Apply your cream with upward motions to both the face and neck. Avoid eye area.

This is all you need to get you well on your way to a healthy and more radiant complexion.

You’re only young once!

This might be the case, however there is absolutely nothing wrong from being in denial of your age for as long as you fell fit!
For those concerned about skin maturity or maybe suffer with problem skin there are extra steps that you can take to ensure healthy skin.

A weekly exfoliation will uncover fresh new layers of skin. Look for exfoliators that contain enzymes as these will dissolve dead skin cells without being too abrasive. This will give your skin a healthy glow.
For optimum results, immediately after using your exfoliator, apply a masque . Check the ingredient lists for anti-inflammatory agents such as cucumber or chamomile, these will work to calm and soothe your skin, so that it emerges, refreshed,, refined and revitalized. Always a good thing!

Obviously the more you care for our skin, the better you are going to look. And that alone will give you a new lease of life. There are also eye creams and gels that reduce fine lines and firm the area around the eye. Thus helping to prevent further wrinkles.

Doctor my Eyes!

Eye crèmes are a vital part of your skin care regime. The skin around your eyes is much finer than the rest of your face and body and cannot absorb a heavy moisturizer. If you were to compare the thickness of skin on the various parts of our body to paper. The delicate eye area, would be like tissue paper, the face like writing paper, and the neck and body like wrapping paper this is why it is important to use lighter crèmes that are specifically made for the delicate eye area. If you were to apply your usual facial moisturizer to the eye area, the moisturizer would have no where to go, and would in fact create puffy, baggy eyes. Also for the same reasons never use eye crèmes on the eyelid before going to sleep. However you can use an eye gel sparingly under the eye area.

Going below and beyond

Once you have achieved your basic skin care regime, your skin will be like a clean canvas ready to absorb all the nutrients found in anti-aging formulas. These include products containing liposomes, night crèmes and also serums. When crèmes containing liposomes are applied to the skin, the liposomes are deposited on the skin and begin to merge with the cellular membranes and then release their active ingredients. Serums go one step further, they are able to penetrate below the skin wall and attach themselves to emerging skin cells promoting healthy new skin cells. Serums come in the form of droplets and are applied sparingly under your moisturizer.

What to look for

The thought of shopping for skin care items can tedious and knowing which ingredients to look is daunting, so here are a few suggestions of what ingredients to look for when starting your skin care regime. When choosing your cleanser toner and moisturizer look for the following ingredients, which will vary depending on your skin type:

Dull dry skin? oxygenating essential oils including: Peppermint, Geranium, Rosemary, Cyprus, Thyme, Anise and Cinnamon

Oily or acne prone skin?anti-bacterial and oil blotting extracts including: Camphor, Eucalyptus Oil, and Witch hazel

Mature Skin?Liposomes, serums. Sunflower, jojoba and hazelnut are rich lubricants.

Exfoliators?ENZYMES are the gentlest and yet most effective form of exfoliation. Papaya being the most effective

Once you start on the road to good skin care, your skin will crave it. Remember, a good diet, exercise and drinking lots of water will also help improve your complexion. With just ten minutes a day you will soon see results and others will also notice.

So start your twice daily skin care regime and , when you just don?t feel like it, remember just 10 minutes a day keeps those winkles at bay.

If you have any questions on skin care please email dudasdiana @ aol.com
Or for product questions email alkemiskincare @ aol.com

Author Diana Dudas G.C.H.S.R.H. is an expert with more than 28 years experience in the beauty industry. She has answered over 2000 questions for allexperts.com and has had her work published in many well-respected beauty magazines both online and off.

Your Crowning Glory

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A new awareness to the causes of hair loss in women
By Diana Dudas

Summertime can have a nasty habit of making us sit and notice. We suddenly have anew self awareness. Wintertime can have a definite adverse affect on both your hair and skin. This is aggravated by an over indulgence of rich nurturing foods, caffeine and alcohol. It sometimes takes spring creeping over the windowsill to give you that extra wake up call, and a new self awareness. It is during this time that your old summer wardrobes may look sad, due to extra poundage gained over the hibernation season. Skin may appear dry, and your hair can appear to seem limp and lifeless and in extreme cases hair loss may be apparent.

Hair loss in women is becoming more prominent, and this has persuaded doctors to take a closer look at the problem. It has been proven that poor diet can play a big part in promoting hair loss, especially in women, whom already have to contend with hormone in balances, which also contribute to hair loss.

What causes hair loss in women?

DHT

95% of hair loss in women is cause by androgentic Alopecia ( female pattern baldness). This may be inherited from your parents. What causes the hair loss in this condition is a chemical called DHT (dihydrotestosterone), which is hormone that all men and women produce) .People that make more DHT have a lot of the enzyme called 5_alpha reductase. An excess of DHT may cause hair follicles to the hair become increasingly thinner, until the follicle will eventually stop producing hair at all. The baldness will be predominantly over the front and sides of the head and not in the crown area as with men. This will get worse with menopause.

A women’s biochemistry if often out of balance, and this along with poor diet can create a toxic environment and un acceptable amounts of copper and salt in the system.

Oily Hair

As hair thins the sebaceous gland that secreted sebum the hairs natural oil, will stay the same size and continue to produce the same amount of oil. This can make thinning hair overly oily, flat and lifeless. This makes frequent shampooing vital for hair loss cases with oily scalps. Sebum also contains DHT which can clog pores and deter healthy hair growth.

Hormones

Hormonal changes are a common cause of female hair loss. After a pregnancy, or when taking birth control pills, many women experience hair thinning to varying degrees, but only on a temporary basis.
While a woman is pregnant, and hormonal changes are occurring, more hair follicles enter the growth phase than normal. About two to three months after childbirth, the normal hair cycle returns and many hairs re-enter the resting phase, which causes excessive shedding to occur. If the condition does not change after six months, a woman may be experiencing hereditary hair thinning or maybe be lacking in certain nutrients to an unbalanced diet.

Unbalanced Diet

What you eat is reflected in the health of your hair. Your hair as well as your body needs a balanced, nutritious diet to stay healthy. Making a conscious decision to eat an abundance of fruits and vegetables that are loaded with vitamins and anti oxidants is essential. whist, whole grains , nuts and seeds will provide minerals and vitamins. A lean protein will add sufficient iron to the diet and a fortified cereal breakfast will complete the nutritional pyramid. Of course drinking plenty of purified water will give your hair maximum hydration.
Eating organic, will help deter the body from becoming toxic, especially from copper, and steering clear of processed foods will prevent a high sodium intake.

Salt and Copper wreak havoc

Unhealthy tissue concentrations of copper, can cause hair loss. These amounts would be below 1.7milligrams or above 3.5 milligrams. Copper toxicity can vary from person to person, and can depend on the individuals metabolism and diet. Vegetarians for example are not always able to retain copper, which means they are more susceptible to hair loss.

How does copper get into our system

Drinking water that comes from old copper pipes is prime. Also the food that we eat. For instance copper can be included in animals diets which in turn is then passed on in our daily regime. It is also not uncommon for farmers to incorporate copper into their anti-fungal and algae sprays. Birth control such as the pill and IUD both use copper, making women more susceptible to copper imbalances. Swimmers are also at risk sue to a popular algaecide used in pool water.

Salt Savvy

It is common knowledge that too much sodium or salt is not good for us, But even if we are salt savvy and do what’s best by avoiding salt. Our bodies can still produce too much sodium due to too much stress, which will naturally increase sodium retention.

What to advise!

If you have a client suffering with hair loss, it might be a good idea to mention the above and advise the following:

* Drink Bottled Water
* Avoid foods high in copper, such as milk, chocolate, oysters, nuts, high fat meats and salmon.
* Avoid salt and eat a low sodium diet ( steering clear of processed foods is a good idea as they tend to be high in sodium
* Try to stay stress free. If a stressful lifestyle is on the agenda, then relaxation techniques such as yoga and meditation will help to reduce sodium levels.

Other causes of excessive hair loss.

* You should normally shed on average between 80-100 hairs each day, however any more than this and you might want to re-think your diet or lifestyle.
* Chemical treatments done in correctly , or excessive pulling on the hair due to over tight ponytails or braids, are also likely to cause hair loss.

If you follow a healthy lifestyle or do not fall into any of these categories and you are still experiencing hair loss, you may want to consult with your doctor or trichologist. As a more serious health problem may be the cause!

Author Diana Dudas G.C.H.S.R.H. is an expert with more than 28 years experience in the beauty industry. She has answered over 2000 questions for allexperts.com and has had her work published in many well-respected beauty magazines both online and off.

Quench the Thrist of Frizzy Hair

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By Diana Dudas

It seems like such an enigma. Of the hundred or so emails I receive daily, the same question pops up endlessly. “Why is my hair so, frizzy and dry, coarse or brittle?” I intend to try and solve this mystery. And my first clue has to do with moisture deficiency!

Oil and Water

90% of us suffer with dry brittle or frizzy hair because our hair is deficient of (moisture) WATER! There is a certain preconceived notion that has been passed on from generation to generation. That is the idea that our hair is dry, because we are lacking in natural oils. We are told that if we nurture our hair by brushing vigorously 100 times a day, or if we nurture our hair with hot oil treatments and cholesterols. If we do all of these things, then we are sure to be blessed with beautiful, shiny and healthy locks. This might be the case, if you have young virgin (hair that is not chemically treated) hair. But this is certainly not the case, once you have impaled your tresses, with harsh chemicals such as bleaches and alkaline permanents. Or if you have naturally curly hair,

Naturally Curly Hair

Those of you who have curly hair, have these curls, because of a curvature of the hair follicles .A normal hair follicle under a microscope would be seen as perfectly straight. However yours would have a definite bend in it. This causes the hair to curl. Where the hair curves it compels the cuticle (the outer layer of the hair) to lift.

The Cuticle

Under a microscope, A cuticle is similar in appearance to shingles on a roof. When the hair is in good condition, and is straight and has good porosity the tiles or cuticle layers are tight together and in perfect in shape, giving the hair a smooth appearance. This makes light reflect off the hair enhancing shine! When hair is in bad conditioner, is curly or has poor porosity, the cuticle layers are lifted and sometimes damaged and broken. This makes the hair feel coarse and brittle. It also causes the hair to absorb light, giving the appearance of dull lifeless hair.

To sum up this scenario. Because curly haired cuticle layer is permanently lifted, it feels, coarse, and brittle and has no brilliance. Hence the dull, lifeless look. It also means that our hair has poor porosity.

Porosity

Is the ability for hair to be able to absorb and retain moisture. The best way for me to explain this is to would be for you to imagine a sponge. First of all imagine a brand new sponge. It will have tiny holes in it, and when you immerse it in water, it will soak up a large quantity, and be able to hold that liquid for a long period of time. This is because it has good porosity. Now imagine an old sponge. Its holes have become damaged and distorted. It might even be torn in some areas. When you immerse this sponge in the same amount of liquid, it will absorb far less and will certainly not be able to retain the moisture so readily.
It is the same with hair. Hair that has poor porosity will not be able to absorb or retain moisture as well as hair that has good porosity. making hair permanently dry.

Hot oil treatments

Traditions have taught many of us that lavishly applying oil to our hair will give us the soft, shiny hair that we all desire. However more often than not, the opposite takes place. Most oils if they are not essential oils do not have the ability to penetrate into the hair shaft. Nor do heavy cholesterols. What they will do, is to lay on top of the cuticle, and coat the cuticle. This may give the hair some Brilliance. However, it will also coat the hair. And causes product build up.

Product build up

Once the hair is coated, your problems will commence. First of all, the moisture that our hair so desperately needs will not be able to permeate through the wall of product build. The moisture is then not able to find it’s way underneath the cuticle layer. The hair cannot then be conditioned. Also the oils will not diffuse, but sit on top of the cuticle layer. If you use any kind of hot styling tools such as blow dryers or hot irons, what will happen to your hair, is exactly what happens when you put an egg into a hot pan. It will fry!

If you live in a sunny climate, the oil will do the same thing. The sun will heat the oil and fry your hair. You must have heard the term, my hair feels fried.

Optimum condition

For hair to be in tiptop conditioner is has to have a moisture (water) content of at least 8%, and the right balance of protein and natural oil. Most of us produce enough natural oil (sebum), to keep our hair healthy, but lack the moisture. After having a chemical service your moisture level will drop as low as 2%, causing, drying of the hair, followed by split ends. The same will happen with constant use of blow-dryers and hot styling tools, such as curling or flat irons. If the moisture level is not restored to it’s optimum 8%; by the use of good moisturizing products your hair will ultimately become brittle and possibly break.

What to do

You need to give your hair lots of TLC, with shampoos that are designed to restore your hair’s moisture level to its optimum 8%. Along with intense conditioners that will help to repair damaged cuticles, improve porosity, elasticity and general health and appearance of your hair. Avoid product build by using products that contain natural ingredients. Also avoid hot oil treatments, heavy cholesterol type conditioners, and petroleum-based and silicone-based products. Also hairsprays, mousses and gels that have a high alcohol or butane content.

Those of you with naturally curly, wavy or frizzy hair, those of you who use hot styling tools or who chemically treat your hair, will need to give your hair extra nurturing by supplying it with the necessary nutrition and moisture that it needs. Sun worshippers need to make sure that your hair care products have sunscreen properties to protect your hair from the damaging affects of the UV rays.

Summary

Our hair needs moisture, moisture, and moisture! Who needs to add moisture more than most? People with naturally curly hair, chemically treated, hot styling tool users or people who live in hot sunny and arid climates.

© 2002
Author Diana Dudas G.C.H.S.R.H. is an expert with more than 28 years experience in the beauty industry. She has answered over 2000 questions for allexperts.com and has had her work published in many well-respected beauty magazines both online and off.