One of the surest ways to make your skin safe from the sun is by incorporating some healthy dietary habits in your life. This helps a lot in warding off many off the health hazards that extreme sun tan can cause. In extreme cases, apart from severe itching and burning, frequent tans can even cause one skin cancer.

Though the sun is important for all of us and it is a fact that exposure to the sun alone can generate a proper amount of  Vitamin D necessary for the health of our bones, too much of the sun is a bad thing. The heat of a tropical sun is way higher than the necessary amount we need to stay healthy!

Naturopaths and nutritionists have already stressed enough with proven results how the inclusion of certain foods can help us remain naturally guarded from the sun. Most people would pile on loads of sunscreen and then do nothing for the rest of their diet and daily habits, and then wonder why skin allergens continue to persist!

The sun, being one of the major causes of skin allergy, can often cause your skin irreparable harm! Some of the handy things in your home can really benefit us and work wonders to heal and help us!

If you take a closer look into your kitchen shelves and grocery counters of your refrigerator, you can definitely forage out some natural sun shield for yourself. One of the key factors that nutritionists cannot help stressing enough is eating your raw cruciferous vegetables in the form of broccoli, carrots, kale, cabbage and cauliflower. All these vegetables have skin cancer fighting enzymes that form UV guard protection for your skin. So drinking your carrot juice and eating your raw green salad may help you in more ways than you can even dream of! Just keep that uncooked and keep them daily too for greatest benefits.

Try the Zenmed Oil Free Moisturizer which has SPF 30, and works amazingly well with most skin types. You can find out more about the product here.

There’s nothing like a glowing skin and it enhances the beauty of the face more than anything. However, with rising pollution levels, the UV rays of the sun cause great damage to the skin. This makes the skin look dull and takes away the luster. However, you can greatly improve your complexion by following some simple precautions and preventive measures.

To escape the harmful Ultra Violet rays of the sun, use a good sunscreen everyday you go out. These radiations cause aging and tanning leading to a lustreless dark complexion of your skin. A good sunscreen protects your skin by blocking those harmful rays.

Go for power naps almost every day. This is important since our body often does not get the requisite eight hours of sleep every night due to our busy schedules. However, body is a stubborn creature and it reacts by giving us dark circles and bags below the eyes. If we continue neglecting it, we might get dull skin also, among other symptoms. So, if you have not got enough sleep last might, it is advisable to catch some snooze or a power nap in the afternoon. It can be anything between 15 to 40 minutes.

 Avoid caffeine after 3 o’clock in the afternoon. This is particularly necessary since caffeine keeps you energized for 4-6 hours after you have consumed it. If you want a proper sleep of 8 hours, then caffeine is a wrong choice in the afternoon or in the evening. Due to similar reasons, alcohol is also a bad choice in the evening, especially 3 hours before bed time.

Our skin requires to be moisturized daily. Moisturizers can do it from outside but the best way is to cleanse it from inside. Drinking eight glasses of water daily solves this problem. Cells require water for their proper functioning. Water also flushes out the toxins from inside the body and keeps the body clean which reflects once again on the skin.

Diet is an important way to improve the complexion of the skin. Collagen is an essential part of the enrichment of the skin. Certain fruits and vegetables help the body to produce vitamin A and therefore increase cell growth. These are spinach, apricots, sweet potato, peaches, and carrots. Proteins are needed for producing collagen. Therefore a diet consisting of fish, chicken and lean red meat is a good diet.

Exercising helps a lot in maintaining the health of the skin. The only way the skin can release toxins is by sweating. Therefore daily exercises is a must-do for keeping the skin healthy, all the more since we don’t get much chance to sweat due to our air-conditioned offices and AC modes of transport.

A monthly facial is another method which removes all the unwanted elements from the skin. All those acnes and dead skin cells prevent new cells to grow and therefore make the skin look dead.  

I have been following most of these along with a particular cream that yielded excellent results over a short period of time. I suggest you go for it and see for yourself! 

First of all, if you suspect that you may have rosacea, you need to visit your doctor. Rosacea is a serious medical condition that needs to be diagnosed by a medical professional. When you visit your doctor, he or she will go over your treatment options and if you go to your doctor’s office with a list of ingredients or treatment you’d like to try, your doctor can evaluate them and help you make the best decision possible for your skin and overall health.

Rosacea occurs, for the most part, when the capillaries, or small blood vessels, in your skin become enlarged and can’t go back to normal size. The excess blood in the tissues causes redness, a warm or hot feeling to the touch, and many other symptoms. In fact, the list of rosacea symptoms is very long which is why a diagnosis can be difficult, even for a doctor.

For some people, pimples, bumps or even whiteheads can appear on the skin’s surface which can be confusing since these symptoms are usually more closely related to acne. Using an acne treatment on rosacea skin can be very damaging though as most acne medications contain acids which can irritate the skin leading to redness, swelling and even scarring. To treat the pimples that appear with rosacea you need to be very patient and use a simple daily regime to see the best results possible in the shortest amount of time.

Once you have a diagnosis and have decided on the best treatment possible, consider using ZENMED’s rosacea skin support system. This comprehensive kit comes with everything you need to heal your skin and remove redness. Our cleansers are designed for oily or dry skin and work to balance the oils in the surface of the skin to help begin the healing process.

ZENMED’s support serum is a comprehensive redness-fighter designed to ease symptoms and aid in the healing of your skin. You can apply the serum up to three times per day, whenever you feel a flare-up coming on or if your skin feels dry. The product comes in a bottle that easily fits into a purse or briefcase and applies completely clear. You can even put it on over your makeup.

The anti-redness mask is a product that is used less frequently but is no less powerful. Applied two to three times per week, the mask is designed to cool the skin with it’s powerful organic ingredients, while at the same time overall condition, glow, texture and feel. The mask also helps to control pimples and blemishes.

Combined together, the three products in the support system have a proven effectiveness that is difficult to ignore. I am confident that if you give the products a try you will see the results you have been looking for all along.

Like the acne you find on your face, body acne is caused by clogged pores and hair follicles where bacteria gather and rapidly multiply to create an infection. Your body reacts by fighting back causing the red bump to appear. How do the pores clog on your back or chest (or anywhere?) When sweat and clothing and dead skin cells combine, a potent glue is formed with can block up the pores. Another problem is swelling- you know how guys sometimes do push-ups before going out to look bigger? This swells the skin and can block pores as well.

The difference between the skin on your face and the skin almost anywhere else on your body is that it is much thicker and therefore makes regular acne product ineffective. The acne itself is the same but the treatment needs to be different. The best thing you can do is start using an anti-bacterial body wash. Use this once a day when you bathe and you will notice a difference in the severity of your acne.

A word, quickly on bathing, you should, especially if you are prone to acne, only bathe once per day. Do it after working out so you can be as fresh as possible. Pat your skin dry instead of rubbing it and always wear a sunscreen of at least SPF 30. The sun's rays CAN and DO penetrate clothing, even if you work inside all day.

Aside from washing with anti-bacterial soap, another treatment option is a mask. ZENMED's Body Acne Combo comes with a mask and wash, perfect for your gym bag. The mask is a stronger version of our hugely popular Acne Gel to be used exclusively on the body. You simply apply the gel a few minutes before jumping into the shower then rinse off as you bathe. The mask penetrates deeply into the pores of the skin, cleansing away the skin cells, sebum and sweat that might be hiding, just waiting for some bacteria to arrive.

So take heart all you New Year's resolution-ees, going to the gym can be a very rewarding experience and so can treating your body acne. In the time it takes to tone up, you can be completely acne-free and on to the best possible things in life.

Happy New Year!

Emma

I order to make your experience easier, we have introduced a new website specifically for stretch marks. Strettacream.com is a new site made for people who are looking to solve stretch mark problems.

Stretch marks can a appear as a result of many conditions including weight gain due to bulking up, pregnancy, puberty, or hormones. The marks themselves are actually tears in the middle layers of the skin. While painless, the tears occur when the skin has to expand faster than the collagen layer can accommodate. The older the tear, the whiter it will be. The great thing about Stretta is that it works effectively for any kind of stretch mark, whether old or new.

Stretta works by gently exfoliating the surface of the skin, allowing the very potent ingredient centillica asiatica to stimulate the collagen layers and this removes the tears because new collagen is grown to replace the torn tissue. When used twice daily, Stretta is very effective in removing the appearance of stretch marks on the skin in as little as three weeks!

Imagine, a cream that actually works the way it is advertised! With Stretta, you can forget about those embarassing marks and move on with your life. If you have any kind of mark, from white to pink to red to purple, I strongly recommend that you try this product today!

Blemished Skin – Which Spot?

There are many different kinds of spots that can appear on your skin. The following is a list of the most common.

Melasma (MEL-az-MAH)

Frequently, the cause of melasma is changing hormones. Melasma is most likely to appear on the face but can also sometimes appear on the belly of a pregnant woman. Melasma can also occur during menopause, which can be very frustrating.

Uneven Skin Tone

This type of change is the opposite of freckles, appearing in large patches of varying colors across the face. Patches can be large or small and range in shade. They are most often caused by sun exposure.

Post-Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation

These spots typically appear after insect bites or other flare-ups and then stay on as darkened circles on the surface of the skin.

Freckles

These tiny spots appear can appear anywhere on the skin’s surface and tend to fade with the changing of the seasons from summer to winter, usually following the amount of sun exposure the person has. Freckles are usually genetic but can appear on anyone’s skin.

Lentigines

These spots are the result of prolonged sun exposure and are known as liver spots. They range from small to medium sized spots and appear anywhere on the skin that might be exposed to the sun like the hands, arms, face and neck.

The best way to treat skin spots? Many doctors recommend hydroquinone, an ingredient found in Zenmed’s Scar Treatment kit. You should also consider wearing a sunscreen everyday, as wearing sunscreen can actually reverse the effects of the sun on the skin when used daily over time. Don’t hesitate – treat your dark spots and hyperpigmentation today with Zenmed!

Needless to say, it's critical that when you have a pimple, you should never, ever touch it - fingers can introduce all kinds of bacteria and germs to the surface of the skin, not to mention oils and other pollutants.

So now your teen years are gone, your acne has disappeared and what are you left with? Scarring. Scarring can be disastrous to your self-esteem and make you feel as if you cannot leave your house. At Zenmed, we get so many calls from people who are frustrated with their skin. they realize what they did when they were kids was bad - the poking, the prodding, the pinching. What can they do about the scarring today? What can you do to heal your skin and decrease the looks of scarring?

The first and easiest way to start improving your skin is to wear a sunscreen everyday. This will help your skin start to heal itself.

Zenmed's Scar Treatment Kit is the next step. Wash your face and apply the microdermabrasion in a circular motion with your fingertips on the affected area(s) once daily for 5 days then stop for 5 days then continue once weekly thereafter. The microdermabrasion softly removes the top layer of the skin to expose new, fresh skin below the surface. The new skin has to be protected from the sun so be sure to apply some sunscreen after treating your skin.

The skin eraser should be applied after the microdermabrasion, in a thin layer over the affected area(s). The skin eraser is designed to lessen the appearance of scars over time. When used daily, you will start to notice that your scars or discolorations fade over time.

Zenmed's Scar Kit is the best choice for acne scarring on the face or body and can help to even out skin tone, which studies show age your skin even more that fine lines or wrinkles.

Scarring can be very traumatic to your personal outlook so having the option to treat scarring with a natural product like Zenmed is a relief to your already irritated skin.

Hi my name is Karen and I am writing to tell you about how much I love your product for scars and hyperpigmentation.  I have been using this product for 6 weeks now and it has completely changed my life.  I tell all my friends to purchase from you guys because this is truly one of the greatest products for melasma I have ever used.  It is gentle, easy to use and does not smell at all.

Being an older lady, I never thought I could get something those younger women get.  I had melasma.  Friends kept asking if I had been tanning too long or if I had stuck my head in the oven - I had to do something about this!  I went to my doctor who told me why I had melasma and what I could do to fix it: expensive creams or laser treatments.  Neither of those options appealed to me so I decided to look online for something better.  Sure enough, I found Zenmed.  I ordered the kit online and received it within a week's time.  I used the product according to the directions on the label and sure enough, the brown muddiness of my melasma started to fade away.

Today, I am happily melasma-free for the first time in years.  I wear a sunscreen every day to prevent it from ever coming back and use my scar treatment kit once a week to keep my skin looking and feeling as soft and healthy as possible.

Thank you so much Zenmed!

Maria S.

Cocoa, FL 

Lots of people have stretch marks.  Men and women can both experience these annoying marks on the skin.  Many people think that they are only caused by pregnancy or weight fluctuations, but the actual story is something different indeed.  I get many calls about stretch marks, how to prevent them, what you can do once they appear – many people are very frustrated with their skin and want answers.  Many more people are too embarrassed to even ask.  So here is the lowdown from your most reliable source in skin care – me!

Stretch marks are caused when the skin stretches.  It does not matter what you are doing (or not doing) to make the skin stretch, but the skin is designed to stretch and move with the body, so while you are not doing any actual harm to the skin itself, you may notice the marks and become dismayed.

There is another cause to stretch marks and that is hormonal growth spurts.  This can happen during those formative teenage years, during a pregnancy (which is why some women have stretch marks during pregnancy and others do not) or during other lifelong hormonal changes like menopause and andropause.  There are two different kinds of stretch marks as well: red and white.  Red stretch marks appear when the skin stretches and thins so much that you can see your blood flowing through the skin’s outer layers.  White stretch marks are ones that appear when thicker skin is stretched or thin skin is stretched minimally. 

There are solutions for stretch marks, the most popular being a combination of microdermabrasion and a topical treatment formulated specifically for stretch marks.  The marks can be diminished over time with the application of these topical treatments which are easy to use.  You’ll be stretch mark free in no time at all!

Be Safe

Emma

Acne during pregnancy is most often caused by hormonal changes.  As your body grows to accommodate your child, your hormones kick into action.  This can cause not only acne, but also rashes, bumps and melasma. 

Melasma is the darkening of skin caused by excess estrogen and is also known as the "pregnancy mask".

Many acne treatments available today are not safe to use while pregnant and these include any product with benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid.  It is always best to check with your doctor or pharmacist before changing your skin care regime while pregnant just to make sure the the products you choose while pregnant are safe for the baby.  Benzoyl Peroxide and Salicylic acid are the two most common treatments for acne and if they aren't safe - what is?

Most dermatologists and pharmacists recommend using a product with sulfur in it - a safe alternative that can be as effective as salicylic acid in controlling acne.  Another option is an over-the-counter microdermabrasion treatment which would keep the skin clean and renewed, which is important when treating a condition that results from the skin's inability to renew itself.

Another recommendation is to switch to an oil-free foundation or to use a mineral powder.  These products are designed to be non-comedogenic (won't cause pimples) and are gentler on the skin.  You could also try a mattefying layer on the skin before applying make up (I like Smashbox©'s silicone based product).  As always, it's a good idea not to touch or rub your face to prevent acne from forming.  If you must touch your face though, be sure to wash your hands beforehand (pun intended ;))

Pregnancy can truly be one of life's greatest times for a woman and having to deal with acne can be frustrating and annoying.  If you are dealing with acne right now, I hope that the tips in this article can help make your skin a little clearer.

Here's to healthy, happy babies and moms!

Emma 

I don't remember my high school days fondly.  They were a time when anything that could go wrong absolutely did.  I wanted to be on the student council more than anything and ran for election one year.  I did not receive a single vote.  Not one of the popular kids, I spent my days in band class or eating my lunch by myself in front of my locker in the hallway.  It was not a fun time.  Loneliness can be as stressful as popularity and with all of the judgement that seems to go on in high school, your stress levels can be off the charts.

There are ways to cope with stress though and I think the biggest one may be the hardest to realize.  Remember that high school is only a very short time in your life.  Believe it or not, there will be a time in the future when you will not have to go to history class in the morning anymore.  There will be a time when you won't have to go to school everyday (instead you'll have to go to work, but that's a whole other kettle of fish.)  So when it feels as though the world is caving in and you don't ever want to walk through those doors again, remember: it will not last forever.

Another way to cope with stress is to try a yoga trick: take repeated deep breaths.  Several studies have been done on this technique and have shone that deep breaths slow the heart down and actually relax the body.  What to do?  Breathe in as deeply as you can, hold the breath for about 4 seconds (count in your head) and let it go slowly.  Do this for about a minute and see how great you feel afterwards.  It's a simple, inexpensive way to make yourself relax.

Tip number 3: try sipping some tea.  The soothing warmth will make you feel better and anti-oxidants in tea have been shown to improve overall health.  Good choices are green and white teas which have wonderful flavor and are the highest in anti-oxidants.

If you're feeling low in these early days of the school year, take heart, everyone has to go through high school.  For some, high school is a great adventure and for others, it's no fun at all.  Remember that we all make it through the hard times and it will be June again before you know it!

Getting a sunburn is not a fun thing – caring for the burn is difficult and frustrating and sunburns can lead to future problems like melanoma.  What medications have this nasty side effect?  Read on for more information:

Diuretics
This type of drug is prescribed for high blood pressure and is known as a diuretic or “water pill” the category includes such medications as Furosemide, HCTZ and other, combination drugs like Hyzaar and Zestoretic.

 Antibiotics
Some antibiotics can lead to sun sensitivity and you should always check the label of your prescription to make sure that the drug you are taking will lead to that sensitivity.  Antibiotics are used for bacterial infections like strep throat or UTIs.

Retinoid Treatments
Vitamin-A based skin treatments can have sun sensitivity side effects as well as microdermabrasion because they breakdown the top-most layers of the skin, exposing newer skin cells to the environment.  Always wear a hat and sunscreen when you go outdoors after using these products on your skin, especially your face, as exposure to the sun can also cause premature aging.

Other Prescription Medications
One certain brand of heart medication and some other prescription meds do increase sensitivity to the sun.  Again, check the label of your prescription to find out if you are taking it.  Better yet, speak to your pharmacist about suncare and heart medications.

Sun sensitivity, or phototoxicity, can be very dangerous if you are taking any of the above treatments.  Always make sure you take the time to carefully examine the labels of your prescription medication before use and, where necessary, take the time to speak with your pharmacist about the side effects of the drugs you are planning on using.

So I told her what I'm about to tell you now.  I had gone and done some research anyway and thought I would share it here with you on the blog.

Lots of people have stretch marks.  Men and women can both experience these annoying marks on the skin.  Many people think that they are only caused by pregnancy or weight fluctuations, but the actual story is something different indeed.  I get many calls about stretch marks, how to prevent them, what you can do once they appear – many people are very frustrated with their skin and want answers.  Many more people are too embarrassed to even ask.  So here is the lowdown from your most reliable source in skin care – me!

Stretch marks are caused when the skin stretches.  It does not matter what you are doing (or not doing) to make the skin stretch, but the skin is designed to stretch and move with the body, so while you are not doing any actual harm to the skin itself, you may notice the marks and become dismayed.

There is another cause to stretch marks and that is hormonal growth spurts.  This can happen during those formative teenage years, during a pregnancy (which is why some women have stretch marks during pregnancy and others do not) or during other lifelong hormonal changes like menopause and andropause.  There are two different kinds of stretch marks as well: red and white.  Red stretch marks appear when the skin stretches and thins so much that you can see your blood flowing through the skin’s outer layers.  White stretch marks are ones that appear when thicker skin is stretched or thin skin is stretched minimally. 

There are solutions for stretch marks, the most popular being a combination of microdermabrasion and a topical treatment formulated specifically for stretch marks.  The marks can be diminished over time with the application of these topical treatments which are easy to use.  You’ll be stretch mark free in no time at all!

Be Safe

Emma

A few days ago, a huge drug company named Novaris announced that a drug they have made for HSV, Famvir, was now indicated and approved by the FDA to treat HSV and cold sores in one day!  This is great news for sufferers, since now you will be able to go to your pharmacy and possibly have your outbreak healed in one day.  The problem though, is three-fold.

1) Having worked for several years in a pharmacy, I happen to know Famvir is expensive.  A 21-day treatment costs about $300.  I can't even imagine the astronomical price of a one-day treatment.  It would likely be close to $500.  Taking into consideration how many people have HSV, I do not think many of them will be able to afford such a treatment if it was not covered at least in part by insurance.

2) The Famvir capsules are HUGE.  I know this seems trivial, but many people in the 12-40 year old range have trouble swallowing pills that aren't tiny.  For some reason, Famvir, among other anti-virals, comes in gigantic pill size and considering that in a one day dosage you'd have to take probably 8 pills, this becomes a very important issue.  If you are fortunate enough to have an understanding pharmacist, they may be able to crush the tablets into an elixir.  Then you could take the dose in a liquid form.

3) This is perhaps the most prohibitive factor about Famvir.  The window of treatment is very small.  You have to take your $500 one-day dose within 6 hours of feeling that tingling sensation people get right before a breakout.  If you take the dosage after those 6 hours, the pills that you take will not work in one day and you'll have to be on a longer course of treatment.

There's lots to think about if you have HSV - there are so many prescription treatments for when you have a breakout.  I think it would be better to have a treatment that prevents breakouts in the first place - then you would not need to run to a pharmacist once every 6 weeks.   Healthy diets and taking care of your body are great ways to prevent breakouts but so is taking a supplement.  So do your research if you suffer from HSV and don't let the pharmaceutical companies tell you how to manage your symptoms.

Shaving is a daily ritual for most men (excluding my boss) and, according to all those commercials out there, results in smooth, touchable skin.  For young men, though, shaving can be a bit of a trial. 

I get lots of questions from guys who ask why their acne keeps recurring - they cleanse their faces, eat healthy diets, exercise, and wear sunscreen yet nothing seems to help.  The problem is the shaving gel.

Who doesn't like foam from a can?  It's a great, light, magical foamy substance all bubbly and happy - a fabulous invention.  Most shave gels available for men use a cleanser in them called sodium laureth sulfate.  This can dry out the skin because it is a "surfactant" which means that it penetrates and dissolves any oil that might be on the surface of the skin.  Your skin needs it's natural oils to maintain it's chemical balance and defend itself against the bacteria that cause acne.  Shaving everyday along with washing your face twice a day leads to over drying of the skin.  To compensate, your skin over produces oils, which get caught up with the dried skin cells, clog the pores and give you pimples!

So what can you do?  Clearly, you can't stop shaving (nobody likes a teen wolf impersonation) and you can't not wash your face.  Get rid of the shave gels.  There are shave products available today that are not aerosol.  They come in squeezable tubes and it may be slightly more effort to get that lather but the result is well worth it - Non-aerosol shave gels leave your skin softer and don't strip away natrural oils.  A brand I like to recommend is call "King of Shaves" and comes in several different versions depending on your skin type.

Being a teen is difficult, I won't tell you any different, but if you have acne you need to remember that it will go away, just be patient and don't forget your sunscreen!

Be Safe

Emma 

The acne mask comes with the DermaCleanse system but can also be purchased separately.  It comes with a pump top bottle and some people find that it's effectiveness is increased when it is kept cold.  I usually recommend to people with severe acne that keeping the mask in the fridge is a good idea. The coolness of the mask immediately helps divert blood flow away from the face and this reduces swelling, redness, irritation and itchiness - all of which are linked to both cystic acne and regular acne.

With the mask, wash your face, preferably with luke-warm to cool water, rinse and pat dry with a soft towel.  Pump out some of the mask onto your fingertips and apply it to the affected acne area(s) of your face.  If you have acne all over your face, apply the product everywhere.  You can even use the mask as a spot treatment on your body.  Some common places for acne are the neck and chest.

As a side note, some people have a condition called hyper keratosis on their arms.  This condition makes the skin look like it has a permanent case of "goose bumps".  As tempting as it might seem to put some of the acne mask on that area, if you have the condition, it will not help.  The only thing that does work are products with lactic acid in them, like LAC-Hydrin and the like.

Back to the acne mask:

Once you've left the mask on for about 20 minutes, you can rinse it off.  If you like, and if the mask is not too irritating to your skin, you can leave the mask on overnight and rinse off in the morning.  The longer you leave the mask on, the more time the medication has to penetrate the skin.  Don't worry if you can't stand to have the mask on overnight though, your acne is still being treated. 

That's really all there is to it - a simple procedure that can drastically change the appearance of the acne on your skin.  Of course, the best way to prevent acne is to wear a sunscreen everyday.  Make sure that when you apply the sunscreen, you get your ears, nose and chin and that your sunscreen is SPF 30 or higher.

Be Safe!

Emma 

I have always advocated wearing sunscreen every day.  Despite my nagging though, some people out there still go without the protection of an SPF.  This is bad news.  If you are one of the countless people (of all ages) who has acne, a sunburn can be very damaging to your already sensitive skin.

The first step, once you realize that you have a burn, is to  cool your skin down.  Grab a wash cloth or towel and soak it in some cool water.  Apply this to your face, gently blotting.  Next, get some moisturizer.  Gently apply it to your face to begin the healing process.  For those of you with oily skin, you will notice that your skin is not so oily when you have a burn.  this is because the sun hs damaged the top layer of your skin, where your oil glands are.

Apply the moisturizer at least 3 times a day.  Use it whenever your skin feels tight or dry, I find keeping the bottle cool helps alot, so store your moisturizer in the fridge.  Drink lots of water as well, since your skin needs to re-hydrate.  In terms of your acne treatment, stop using any acid-based topical treatment while your skin heals.  It will burn too much and leave you stinging (not pleasant)  I would suggest washing your face only once a day at this point.  You can go back to regular treatment once your burn has disappeared.

After your burn heals and you feel ready to venture outside again, don't forget the valuable lesson you learned:  taking steps to care for your skin take only minutes.  A sunburn is more damaging than 50 years of aging and can lead to all sorts of nasty illnesses - not to mention liver spots and wrinkles.   Wear a broad-brimmed hat and plenty of sunblock so you'll end up looking beautiful and healthy for years to come.

Be safe in the sun,

Emma. 

If you have acne, especially cystic acne or rosacea, there is a particular ingredient which could possibly make your condition worse.   This ingredient is used in many cosmetic products as filler that adds a glow.  It is the byproduct of lead and copper processing and it is called Bismuth Oxychloride (I am going to shorten the name to BisOxy for ease of typing.)  This chemical is a skin irritant that can cause itching and rashes and in large amounts, and could actually cause cystic acne according to Kathryn Frew (MD) a dermatologist. 

A skin irritant like BisOxy could realistically also cause a lot of irritation in a person with rosacea as well.  You may have noticed, if you have rosacea, that make-ups all seem to feel the same on your skin.  I think this is because of that particular filler ingredient.  If you were to use a mineral make-up, especially a good quality one with the ingredients clearly listed on the packaging, you might be able to avoid the irritation while getting the benefits of the coverage make-up offers. 

So if you are able to check the ingredients of the make-up you are buying, be sure to look out for this particularly nasty ingredient.

 Of course, when searching for the perfect mineral make-up, I always suggest getting one with a sunscreen factor in it of at least SPF 15.  You may need to try more than one brand though, so do not be discouraged if the first one you try makes your skin irritated.  Sometimes even different products in a line will have different compositions, like the Physician’s Formula line.

Be healthy!

Emma

A lot of the phone calls I get from people have acne or rosacea (or sometimes both) asks what kind of make-up they should use on their skin.  At Zenmed, we do not manufacture make-up, so I have to suggest a line from another company.  Often, my brand of choice is Physician’s Formula, which is a great, affordable choice for any kind of make-up that is well known to be gentle enough to use on even the most sensitive skin.  I like that the company has different kinds of make-up, not just mineral, but talc free and standard choices in a range of different colors.  I think that they are the most accessible make up line available today.  While doing research for my blog though, I came across and interesting article about mineral make-up.  Many people swear by mineral make-up, claiming that it rejuvenates and protects without any chemicals.  While this is true, for the most part, it is important to be aware of the products that you are using on your face; even if you are trying to cover up acne or rosacea (or both.)

Mineral make-up is a product that was introduced several years ago to the mass market with claims of skin miracles – clear, beautiful skin with the swipe of a single, fluffy brush.  The promise seemed sincere – I certainly was taken aback by it – and many people started to purchase the products.  In fact, the market share for mineral make-up has greatly increased in the last ten years, meaning that more and more companies will be putting out mineral lines to satisfy the needs of the consumer (you and I.)  while this is great news – more products mean better selection and lower prices – it also means that companies will be moving away from the basic philosophy of mineral make-up which is to use only minerals from the earth.  Many of the higher-end make-ups like BareEscentuals and others use only the most natural of ingredients with no preservatives, dyes, or fillers.  These make-ups are only made with natural earth gotten minerals to give you the best complexion possible from a make-up.  Other brands use fillers to make their products more affordable.  There is one particular ingredient that you need to watch out for.

In part two of this series, I will go into the parts that make up that make-up and how they could be affecting your skin.

Those hot summer days are the ones that we look back on in the winter with a shy smile, remembering what it was like to walk around outside without a heavy overcoat. It's too bad that while we're looking back fondly at those summer days, we forget how unbelieveably uncomfortable they actually were.

Rosacea is especially intolerable in these weather conditions: it makes you feel as though your face is literally on fire. There are things you can do to manage your skin, and the first of these is to wear a sunscreen every day, even if you are not going outside. If you find that you cannot bear to have anything touch your inflammed skin, there are several products on the market called "cooling sunscreens". These are sprays that contain cooling agents that may relieve some of the burning sensations.

It is important to keep as cool and calm as possible in the heat, so if you find that you need a break from it all, I keep water bottles in the freezer then take them out, wrap them in a towel several times and press them to the face. Make sure you do not rest the cold against your face for more than ten minutes at a time, though, and change the location of the ice pack regularly.

sidebar: I will never forget the day a man came into the pharmacy looking for some vitamin E cream. He had a horrible wound on his calf and I asked what it was from. He said he had gotten frostbite in his skin from falling asleep with an ice pack on his leg. They had to remove 50% of the muscle.

Try to drink lots of cool water as well. If you don't like water, try putting a cucumber or orange slice in it for a different flavour. Without water, the body becomes dehydrated and in the heat, this can be very bad: not just for your skin, but for your overall health.

Be safe in the sun.

Emma