Oily Skin Solutions - Combat Shine With These 5 Essential Oily Skin Solutions

Are your oil glands in overdrive? Do you want to eliminate that annoying shine? Defend against blackheads, blemishes, and acne?

The best treatment for oily skin is simple. Yet it requires a consistent daily and weekly routine.

The following 5 tips form the foundation for oily skin care...

1- Gently wash your face twice a day with a mild cleanser. I recommend using a natural product.

Learn form my mistakes...

During my teen years, I was in an ongoing battle with overactive oil glands and serious acne. Yet I had no idea how to effectively deal with the problem.

I tried "miracle products" and excessive face scrubs several times a day. Little did I know I was actually making my problem worse. The harsh treatment was irritating, not helpful. Irritated skin rebels by producing more oil. A vicious circle!

The best advice for oily skin care is to limit cleansing to morning and night. And always treat your face tenderly.

2-Apply an astringent or a toner after cleansing. A toner will tighten pores and smooth the appearance of your skin. If possible, reapply during the day for a quick refresh.

3-Treat your oily skin to a clay mask. Also referred to as a "mud mask," this is offered at fine salons and exclusive day spas. The benefit of a clay mask is due to the unique ability of clay to extract and absorb oil from deep within your pores. This oily skin solution will leave your skin clear and radiant.

4-Exfoliate once or twice a week. Exfoliation will:

• Remove dead skin cells


• Balance oil production


• Shrink the appearance of enlarged pores

Exfoliation can be harsh to facial skin. Always choose a mild product and apply gently. Never "scrub" your face with anything. Don't overdo, either. Exfoliating twice a week is ideal for oily skin.

5-Apply an oil free moisturizer only if needed. Usually a moisturizer is not necessary for oily skin care. Yet there are exceptions. Oil and moisture are not the same. You may have oily skin yet lack moisture. This is especially true as skin ages. Or possibly your skin is a combination of dry and oily. If so, apply a moisturizer to the dry areas only... usually the cheeks and neck.

Consistency is the key to healthy skin care. Incorporating these 5 Solutions for Oily Skin into your routine will put you on the path to healthier, shine-free and blemish-free skin.

Liposuction Procedures Explained

The liposuction procedure has undergone some profound changes due to the medical sciences development and some excellent ideas from expert liposuction surgeons. The liposuction procedure was once a sort of crude removal of fat from the problematic areas, but it is nowadays a cosmetic surgery method of removing fat without leaving obvious scars, marks or affecting the skin quality. There are still some unpleasant changes possible after liposuction, but they tend to disappear completely, if proper post-treatment care is ensured. This is mainly due to the tumescent technique that practically revolutionized the liposuction domain.

The tumescent technique used in the liposuction procedure made many problems disappear, for both surgeons and patients. First of all, the liposuction procedure can be performed with a local and not general anesthesia, known for some risks and unpleasant consequences after liposuction. Secondly, the recovery period does not last that long as with other techniques used earlier in liposuction. Thirdly, the pictures with before and after liposuction speak for themselves concerning the skin quality and other related problems after the liposuction procedure. Overall, this common beauty treatment is less risky, and with more chances for successful results due to new instruments, better skills due to experience and better techniques, such as tumescent technique. It is important to mention that the probability of excessive bleeding during the removal of fat from problematic areas is not as high as in the case of using any other technique. This contributes to an increased degree of safety during the liposuction procedure, better results and fewer side effects.

Better cosmetic results are worth mentioning while speaking about modern liposuction procedures. The small incision necessary to be made in order to remove fat is much better than the previous method – scalpel excision with bigger risks, scars and other complications due to the general anesthesia. The change of the instruments used in the liposuction procedure also contributed to better results and safer method in dealing with excessive fat deposits. Nowadays commonly used cannula has made things easier for removing fat without damaging blood vessels, skin or muscles. This tube-like instrument is great for entering the fat layers and removing the localized fat deposits. This is often considered the first real advancement.

Although liposuction procedure is usually used for removing fat from the abdominal area, it can be used for treating other fatty areas as well. Experienced liposuction surgeons are able to perform more types of liposuction, be it the case of neck or facial liposuction, arm or thighs, back or knees liposuction. The liposuction procedure is more difficult in case of men, as they tend to gain more weight than women and the type of fat deposits is different, making the process more complicated. Lipo men candidates can develop more complications after the treatment, given the fibrous nature of the fat areas.

However, many troubles can be avoided using the earlier described technique called tumescent liposuction. Some advanced studies have made possible the development of some special anesthetics combined with vasoconstrictors capable of decreasing bleeding.

New instruments, methods and techniques, as well as combined medications are responsible for less risk involved with the liposuction procedure, better results and fewer side effects. In addition to all these facts, the experience of liposuction surgeons is the deciding factor in future breakthroughs in this most popular beauty-enhancing treatment.

Nail Envy and 'The Body' Elle

I used to have Cal-gel put on my nails every month so that I would have fab looking nails that I didn't have to maintain myself/worry about maintaining myself.

I'd resorted to the Calgel after I'd reached the end of my tether with doing a full manicure on a Sunday evening only to have chipped nail polish by the Tuesday, Wednesday if I was really really lucky. And yes, I'd experiemented with all brands of nail polish from the very cheap (Collection 2000) to the very expensive (Chanel) to the specialist (OPI) and none of them fared any better. My key learning here is it's ok to economise on nail polish.

Anyway Cal gel wasn't the epiphany I'd hoped it would be. It looked manky after about 2 weeks, required regular infills (approx 3 - 4 weeks) and you had to spend a good proportion of your life in rubber gloves to protect the darn stuff.

So about 3 weeks ago I had my Cal gel taken off and I've been in nail re-hab ever since. Contrary to the Cal gel manufactuerers claims about how good Cal gel is for your nails, and it's organic nature my nails are now as soft as tissue paper and prone to peeling - rubbish!

For the past 3 weeks I've been filing in one direction only and using cuticle oil twice daily. It's not really made that much difference if I'm honest and now I'm getting bored of having very short nails and having to rub oil into them.

Soooo Friday was bad day at work which left me hankering for a beauty product binge. Boots happened to be on my way home so I dived in to see if I could find a quick pick me up. I was focussing on trying to find some exciting bubble bath. I'm a big believer in the therapeutic powers of a bath, Heat Magazine and a glass/es of wine. I also believe that whilst a 'fat day' will stop you shopping for clothes you can never feel too fat to shop for bathing products!

As I meandered the bathing aisles I spied a product called Nail Envy by OPI. It was £15 which seemed like a lot to pay for a nail hardner so I resisted the tempation to purchase. However I do believe in strange coincidences, and in a magazine I read this weekend a reader had written in specfically to rave about this product. I'm viewing this as a sign that I should really buy this product and it will answer all my nail prayers! Will keep you posted on the results.

So back to Friday evening I bought a bottle of Dead Sea Source Destress with Ginger Bath Essence. It talks about nourishing the skin with dead sea salts and the relaxng aroma of ginger. It was ok but nothing special, so whilst I'm quite happy to use it up I don't think I'll be purchasing from that range again.

However I did see something else in Boots that caught my eye - a body care and bathing range from Elle Mcpherson, unorginally called 'The Body'. The product formulations all sounded quite interesting and quite unique and I was just about to buy one when the pack design stopped me in my tracks.

All the products have a picture of Elle Mcpherson in a bikini on them. OK it's not a glamour shot or anything but it's still a top model in her skimpies on my bottle of bubblebath. Lord knows I do not need that hanging around in my bathroom whilst I'm naked in the bath. Can you imagine anything worse? Yes have a range endorsed by Elle, yes inspire me that the products will help me have a body like hers, but NO, do not put her actual body on the packaging. And with that I'm going to soak in the bath with my safe, non demoralising Dead Sea Source bubble bath!