Wednesday, July 1, 2009
All About Skincare
Now I don't claim to know all there is about keeping your skin as pretty as mine *shot by several people for bigheadedness* but I do believe that I dabble in beauty products the most out of the group (sans Jin, of course...) and this also extends to skincare. More makeup than skincare, but NONETHELESS! - it is irrelevant.
But I've come across this new blog about skincare and it is very extensive so I'll compile a list along with my thoughts on the matter. This is what works for ME alone, and my skin is different to everyone elses. I'll try to keep in mind B and K's acne and M's oily forehead as I type this.
So I shall condense the contents of this blog and how beauty is impossible to keep up with because of the array of good ingredients and products out there. I am surprised that our resident dietician Midori hasn't written an entry etailing what she has learnt and taught me about eating habits yet.
1. Water.
Everyone knows that you have to drink plenty of water to keep your skin looking radiant because it cleanses your body and skin of toxins.
However, who on Earth can remember to drink 2L or 8 cups of water a day? I certainly can't, I feel bloated if I overdrink. Also, it is a lot easier to drink more during Summer but now it's Winter and all I want to do is eat, not drink.
Solution: In Winter, drink tea infused water. It's hot so you'll be warm, and I don't like drinking plain hot water but everyone likes hot tea! Drink both green and black tea interchageably because they both have antioxidants that is also good for skin, but contain different things. So B and M, start drinking more black tea and not just green.
Fun fact: Did you know tea is bad for iron absorption? Don't drink TOO much tea because as girls, we all lack iron some way or another.
So drink tea, no more than 3 cups a day. The rest has to be filled with water. Carry a water bottle and aim to finish it by the end of the day.
2. Fruit and veg.
Enough said. Eat your fruit and your veges, M cannot preach this enough to me.
However.
Solution: For picky eaters, you must understand that certain foods are better than others even amongst fruit and veges. Also, the way you cook them will amount to how much nutrients is left, otherwise you might just be eating them for nothing. So you hate tomatoes, but tomatoes are one of the most nutrient-packed fruits, ever. Many of these fruits and even veges you can put on your face as a mask.
Fun fact: Midori says that orange juice does not have a lot of Vitamin C. This is because movement such as shaking the bottle and even pouring out the juice into your cup will dissolve Vit C and make it disappear. Hence, you're better off eating the damn orange.
Did you know broccoli can contribute to bad body fluid odors while pineapple can make everything sweeter?
Despite this though, drinking orange juice everyday is better than nothing. And take multivitamins because A, C and E are all beneficial to skin.
3. Use a hydrating mask at least once a week.
Whether you have dry skin like me, combination and eczematic skin like Kebu or oily skin like B, YOU MUST HYDRATE.
I find some moisturisers don't do it for me. Maybe I need a better moisturiser, but using a hydrating mask leaves instant results.
Solution: Too cheap to buy one? You can pick a mask up from anywhere $3-$100. And you can always make your own if you have some random plain yoghurt and honey lying around. Rinse well, pat dry.
Don't have enough time to use one? You can give up 15mins of a week to do it. Put it on while at the comp, any time of the day. Do it in the morning not necessarily at night. INSTANT RESULTS.
Fun fact: I have never used a mask you slather on before; I always use the sheet ones. They both work just as well, although it would be more effective if you used creamy ones that you wash off. Depending on your skin you can buy some with exfoliating beads (good for B, Kebu can use fine beads too).
Use a mask.
4. Sunscreen at all times.
Actually, I'm going to make this THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF SKINCARE.
Even on cloudy days, cover up all exposed parts. Especially the face. Sun causes premature wrinkles. WRINKLES. You may not think much of them now, but trust me, as someone with wrinkles YOU DO NOT WANT THEM.
Solution: Mix it with your moisturiser (because everyone uses moisturiser, if you don't then you're a loser and deserve to be wrinkly) to cut out a step in your regime. Always apply 30mins before going out, otherwise you're worse off.
I'm sure everyone already knows this, yet nobody does it anyway.
And why should we? There's so much stuff and products to use and we only have 24hrs a day. Most of us would rather age than give up so much time to our skin. We have better things to worry about.
Even if you don't use a mask or any beauty products, everyone uses moisturiser. Everyone. So use a moisturiser with SPF, goddamnit.
Fun fact: Did you know men are more susceptible to skin cancer and sun damage? Kebu, you need to load it on.
5. Foods that fight wrinkles and acne.
Spinach, olives, beans especially soy beans for soft skin, goji berries, turkey!!, flaxseed, prunes, beetroot, chocolate, red bell peppers, cranberries.
For B and K, start on low GI foods because it will help get rid of pimples. No white bread, no sugar, no potatoes.
6. Sugar causes you to age faster.
Reduce sugar intake. And Midori says salt is evil, so reduce that if possible too. LEARN to eat blander foods, your tastebuds will adjust eventually.
7. This is for Kebu. Fish spas will eat away your diseased/sore/bad skin.
Perhaps you should try it out and see how well it works out for you.
They are ticklish and weird, but I'm sure you want to get rid of your condition badly to sit through tickling.
8. Exercise.
Bloody circulation can cleanse pores and reduce acne, B.
5 comments:
I got stuck on the first fact T_T
I am an avid tea drinker so i decided to take the liberty of researching more in depth into the whole tea drinking and iron. My bad experience with finding out why some people claim artificial sweeteners are bad for you from google searching (there's massive lobbies/groups out there) although there is clear evidence of no harm, has led to to search scientific journals.
So instead of reading the information they have from google search sites where we can't even find out when they typed the information mostly i read 5 journal articles (I also decided against google cuz it wasn't agreeing with me XDDD).
Yes i am totally bored and out to prove a point muahahaha. Anyway one of the earlier studies that showed tea may have an inhibitory effect on iron absorption was a study done on rats from Tunisia in 1994 which has proved to be incorrect in journal articles published in 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009 (Wikipedia cites an article from 1999 that tannins in tea may lower iron absorption).
In conclusion it was found that tea has NO effect on men and women suffering, at risk or not at risk of iron deficient anaemia; tannins in teas have no effect on the bioavailability of iron; there is not enough scientific evidence to conclude tea is in any way related to iron absorption. These are studies done on the body, in vitro and in vivo.
Continuation.....
It is important when reading any article to know how the information was found out and concluded: was it done on humans? was it merely a survey? was it done on tissues in test tubes or were stuff administered to people? How large was the sample size?
I am also not a believer that certain foods are better for you but a varied diet rich in ALL types of food are best. If you think about it all foods have different nutrient compositions. Most of the media conveying which foods are best refer to antioxidant levels in certain foods (although there is dispute about the validity of benefits of antioxidants to health.) However i believe in a varied diet since it is better to consume a wide variety of foods and be exposed less to a type of food perceived as healthy now than to be notified later of the toxic effects/contaminants found/pesticides etc of the type of food you assumed to be good for you. (Lol don't quote me on this it is merely my opinion and now i cbb now to search whether there are such things as super foods)
Also i did NOT say that orange juice does not have a lot of vit C -.- i said thorugh processing vitamin C is virtually completely lost to make orange juice and it is fortified in after processing. I also did not say dissolves the vitamin C which would be chemically incorrect! I think it has to do with oxidative properties but i also cbb researching XD. Vitamin C is already 'dissolved' in the juice as it is a water soluble vitamin. It is true that we are better off eating the orange as we have not discovered every component of oranges that may be good for us. Eating a pill containign vitamin C or all vitamins in oranges will contain only the ones we know at this point in time, it should not replace it.
Anyway... away from the serious science preachy stuff....
I use face mask creams cuz it's cheaper! gets many goes costs like $20-40 so i think technicaly cheaper than using face masks?
I have sunscreen in my bag all the time, the one kebu got but iot's slightly too watery so hard to put on... i dunno i just have this thing against mixing lotions...
From the list of foods fighting wrinkles and acne i think it would be the antioxidant properties.
Dunno about sugar. But i just have this ultimate fear of salt and diabetes rational or not i don't care! I eat very bland food esp if I'm at home... very much so when I'm the one cooking .....
I know i am being very preachy in this comment and it's heck ass long might as well make a post but i just wanted you guys to understand how difficult and contradicting science research can be to come up with conclusive evidence rather than that i'm always right about anything related to nutrition =\. Everything that i know now is based on studies done now it may change in the future so who knows. (Oh i totally wanted to prove green tea would not be bad for me no matter how much i drank lol)
Aiya. Well, conclusively tea is good for you but I believe that drinking all kinds of tea, red, black, green, white and yellow is better than drinking just the one type (aka green).
As for the relationship between iron and tea, it was quoted by my doctor but I didn't listen to him anyway and still drink lots of tea a day :D
I believe it is realistically impossible to consume a variety of foods, mostly because food preparation is too time consuming in this age and peopple just can't be bothered eating everything in the food pyramid. Hence I propose eating a select few foods that are richer than others in nutrients/antioxidants/vitamins. I agree that it is BETTER to eat a variety, but it's just not reasonable to expect so much in your diet.
And yep, it is the antioxidants that is good for your skin, but also the Vit A, B, C or E.
To clear this up, I didn't mean orange juice doesn't have any a lot but like you said, it is lost through processing and vigorous movement. I guess I should've said "lost" instead of "dissolve". And take multivitamins AS WELL AS drink orange juice would be good. Once again, it is better to eat the actual food containing vitamins but it's just too hard to. Multivitamins is better than nothing.
Oh and I also want everyone to know that natural =/= better than synthetic substances.
Controlled experiments are too difficult to conclude most of the time. It's a shame that we can't test on humans, but at least they are trying to overcome that by using human tissue?
I dink tea not for the health benefits but cuz it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling in the morning XDDD (Out goes scientific evidence XD)
What i meant by consuming a variety of foods is not to be like my dad and cut out whole food groups cuz he thinks thye're bad for him XD. Anyway i know it is virtually impossible to consume eveyr single food out there but say instead of just having oranges and apples in the fridge maybe vary it with other foods that come and go with seasons or try out new foods you haven't tried before or buying foods on special that you wouldn't normally consume.
Foods can be hard to prepare etc so I'm not saying those frozen foods/preserved foods/canned foods should be ignored as well. It's a risk benefit concept. It's better to be eating canned peaches etc than not eating them at all.
There's been some research into vitamins and minerals especially antioxidants in tablet form. Some studies have actually concluded that antioxidants in tablet form have NO effect on the body and may be harmful (read this article a few weeks ago but it wasn't in the exam so i don't remember the exact mechanisms T_T) rather than good for you.
Lol don't even get me started on the difficulties of human tissue experiments (i did experiments on rat uterus muscles and guinea pig ileums XD)
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