A Woman's Guide to Removing Facial Hair

Many women experience unwanted facial hair and wish to have it removed.  It can be due to genetics, age, medication or many women just want it removed for cosmetic reasons, like eyebrow hair.  Women experience growth of unwanted facial hair during certain times of their life, such as puberty, pregnancy, and menopause.  Regardless, there is a large population of women who want a safe, long lasting, and effective way to remove facial hair. 

One way to remove facial hair is through shaving.  Although the old wives tale that this will cause the hair it grow back thicker and faster is not true, many woman feel this is too masculine a way to remove facial hair.  Plus, it only eliminates the problem for a short amount of time and may irritate sensitive skin.

One of the most common ways for women to remove facial hair is by plucking.  They are probably already familiar with this due to plucking their eyebrows with a process.  If they see a darker hair on their lip or chin, it is easy enough to pluck out.  Plucking the hair removes it longer than shaving, but is still not the permanent solution for which many women are looking.  Waxing is similar to plucking, but it can be more painful and is more likely to irritate sensitive skin.  The same is true for creams that remove hair plus many of them have a bad smell.  There is a skin cream called Vaniqa that decreases facial hair growth, but it is also only temporary and requires a prescription from a doctor.

You can purchase epilators with tweezers at most beauty stores, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stated that that is no statistically significant data to prove that tweezer epilators provide permanent hair removal.  It may for some, and not for others.  One factor may be the coarseness of your hair. 

If you are looking for a method to remove facial hair permanently, try electrolysis.  Electrolysis is the process by which facial hair is removed using electrical currents.  A trained professional, often referred to as an electrologist or electrolysist, must perform this procedure.  They take a metal probe and insert it into an individual hair follicle.  The electrical current is then delivered to the follicle, destroying it.  One the procedure is complete; the hair is removed with sterile forceps. Each hair follicle must be treated individually.  The discomfort of this process varies among clients. Some have reported feeling a slight pinprick and some have reported a more painful feeling.  As with many medical procedures, there is a chance of scarring, although it is minimal if you are using a well-trained electrologist.  But, immediately after a hair follicle is treated, there may be a small, red lesion, much like an insect bite for a short time.

While electrolysis will permanently remove the hair, it may not be instantaneous.  You may have to have several electrolysis treatments to the same hair follicle before the hair is completely removed.  This is because your hair cells grow in cycles and electrolysis only works if the hair is in its growth phase.  Many electrologists charge by the amount of time it takes to remove the hair.  Ten minutes runs about $18 and 30 minutes costs about $34.

Another form of permanent facial hair removal is laser treatments.  This is a new technology, only being offered commercially since the mid 1990s.  This may also be referred to as phototricholysis or photoepilation.  Like electrolysis, this may require several treatments before the hair is removed permanently.  The laser light also feels like a pinprick to most patients.  However, the laser treatments will not work on blonde, red, or white hairs.  It will however work on areas that electrolysis will not, such as the ears and nose.  Laser hair treatments for the upper lip normally run about $50 per session as does the chin treatments.  If you have facial hair on your cheeks, those treatments are a little more expensive - around $75 per treatment.

If you decide to do electrolysis or laser treatments for your unwanted facial hair, you should always talk to your doctor first about any pre-existing conditions you might have that would make you an unlikely candidate for these treatments. 

There is no need to be ashamed of having your unwanted facial hair treated.  Do some research on the Internet to find the best way for you to have the hair removed.  There is no doubt it will make you feel better about yourself.

Antioxidant Antiaging - The New Beauty

Plant nutrients play a key role in anti aging. Fruit, vegetables, and plant extracts have an array of chemical constituents, called phytochemicals or phytonutrients, that are hugely beneficial to skin health and beauty.

In plants, phytochemicals confer characteristics like color, which can help the plant by providing an attractive beacon to passing bees to help in pollination. Or they offer a protective effect to the plant to prevent insects from harming it, or repel grazing animals. But they have often been found to have benefits for human health when analyzed in laboratories. It is these chemicals in plants that make fruit and vegetables so much more valuable than simply the macro nutrients like vitamin C.

Antioxidants are one class of phytonutrients, though there are many. Antioxidants work by supplying an extra oxygen molecule to those molecules that are missing one, called free radicals. If antioxidants don't supply the missing oxygen molecule to free radicals, the free radicals will take an oxygen molecule from another compound in the body, making one that was previously healthy and intact itself a free radical. Free radicals are not 'baddies', simply unstable chemical molecules, but the effect they have on the body is negative, as they can damage cells. Free radicals are produced as a normal by product of the metabolic processes of our cells, as well as by our immune system as it counteracts the effects of pathogens and the environment.

The trick is to keep the balance in the body where there is enough of a supply of antioxidants to cope with the body's production of free radicals.

Free radicals affect the skin in three main ways. They can alter the fatty layers in your cellular membranes. These fatty layers provide structure to the cell, and control which nutrients and other agents can pass in and out. They can alter the DNA within cells, which aside from the potential to develop into serious illnesses, can make your skin inclined to wrinkles and sagging before its natural biological time. Altered DNA creates a blueprint for collagen and elastin fibers that don't function as healthy, normal ones would. And to compound matters, the skin's pores need healthy collagen and elastin fibers to stay tight and small. So another undesired result is open, large pores.

Free radicals also lead to a process called the cross-linking of collagen fibers. This occurs in the skin's dermis, as a result of collagen and elastin fibers becoming hard, thick, and then binding together. Cross-linked fibers create wrinkles, skin sag, and cause your regular expression lines to become etched in your face as a permanent fixture. With healthy collagen and elastin fibers these expression lines would simply disappear once you moved your facial muscles in a different way. And enzymes that metabolize collagen are encouraged by free radicals, which, given the importance of collagen in youthful looking skin, is best minimized.

Other phytonutrients in plants that are of importance to skin beauty are carotenoids and flavanoids. Flavanoids are great for the health of blood vessels. They strengthen the capillaries that supply important nutrients to the skin's cells, as well as supporting cellular membranes. Healthy cell membranes regenerate quickly, and slow the aging process. Carotenoids also strengthen cell membranes. It seems carrots are not just good for eyesight! And flavanoids help reduce inflammation, as well as increasing levels of glutathione, which is an antioxidant.

Ageing Skin Care - What Is Chemical Peeling?

As the name implies Chemical peeling peels the skin with chemicals. It is also called dermapeeling or chemexfoliation. By peeling off the skin layer, it allows new skin to form, which is new and fresh, and without some wrinkles. Chemical peeling is used to remove photo aged skin damages.

How chemical peeling is done for skin care- in chemical peeling, chemical solutions are applied on the skin. The choice and strength of chemical depends upon the results desired. For mild peeling, mild chemicals are used and so on. Sometimes, light peel is repeated over time to get desired effect. With mild peel, superficial wrinkles and sun damage is removed. For more damaged skin such as skin having age spots, freckles and acetinic keratoses, a medium peel is used.

Skin care and strength of chemicals- depending upon the skin damage, and the results desired, the dermatologist decides about the kind of peeling to be performed.

Skin care and peeling chemicals- common peeling chemicals include alpha hydroxy acids, trichloroacetic acid, carbolic acid and other chemicals.

Skin care and side effects of chemical peeling- the chemicals peel the old skin and that is like sunburn. What the doctor is doing is to remove the old skin to a certain depth. That naturally causes redness and scaling of the skin. as new skin forms, the redness and scaling disappear. With medium or deep chemical peeling, the skin may develop blisters and swelling along with redness and peeling that may last for up to two weeks.

Skin care and discomfort with chemical peeling- some discomfort is the result as the skin peels. Your doctor will prescribe some lotions to reduce the discomfort. Exposure to sun must be avoided for some time and protection must be taken from sun till the new skin forms and all the side effects disappear. With chemical peeling, surface skin damage is removed. Please consult your doctor for further details.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.

A Pursuit For The Nose

Take note, when you buy a perfume bottle most of the cost goes to the packaging, advertising, sales profit and tax. Only a small percentage, actually around ten percent, is dedicated to the costs of the scents.

So why buy when you can make your own perfume. Not only will you be able to save some money but you'll get a blast from the pursuit of the perfect perfume.

One of the greatest advantages of making your own perfume is that you don't have to worry about having chemicals and preservatives going onto your skin. Since you're more likely going to work with natural, you don't have to worry about the possible effects of synthetic materials on your body.

However, care should still be taken when using various essential oils. Some people might still have particular allergenic reactions to specific types of oils. It is therefore important to know or be familiar with your own body chemistry first before trying experimenting with blending perfumes.

First, let's differentiate between the various types of perfumes. Basically, a perfume is a mixture of aromatic compounds and diluted in alcohol and water. The amounts of aromatic oils dissolve in a blend determine if it can be called a perfume or a cologne. Arranged from highest concentration of oils to lowest the sequence would be: perfume, eau de parfum, eau de toilette, eau de cologne and body splash.

When we say perfume, the blend of aromatic oils is from 25 to 40%. Eau du parfum, meanwhile, are 15-30% aromatics. Eau du Cologne has even lighter aromatic oil contents. This type of scent usually has around 5-15% aromatic compounds. Toilet water or sometimes referred to as body splash has only 3-5% aromatics. Body splash are ideally used after you take a bath or shower.

When you make your own perfume, you get to choose which solvent you would use to dilute the blend. Available at your disposal are either jojoba or alcohol. Both have distinct differences and benefits. Jojoba is great for perfume blends because it never turns rancid.

When you have created your own perfume blend, it is best that you use the perfume only on your pulse points. Anywhere more and you might overdo the scent. For diluting the blend the traditional way, you use grain alcohol or a high grade proof of vodka. Alcohol makes the blend more volatile. The problem with alcohol is that you have to let the perfume blend evolve. If you don't the scent will smell more like an alcohol rather than a perfume. Usual proportions of alcohol and perfume blend is about three or four ml of the blend combined with five or 10 drops of alcohol.

Making your own perfume should be fun. Don't delve too much on the technicality of blending perfumes. Explore and try to make combinations that are unheard off. You never know, the resulting blend might be perfect to your body chemistry.

Scents and fragrances react differently when applied to your body. Choosing one that fits you is like choosing the right color of dress or the right pair of shoes to wear. Perfumes cannot just be worn arbitrarily. The resulting scent might be catastrophic. That's why you need to experiment more when making your own perfume. Try various combinations of scents until you find the perfect one for you.

A Note From Women to Men: Get Your Own Skin Care Stuff!

Have you ever gone to wash your face only to then discover that there are just a few drops left of your prized moisturizer? This may mean that the man in your life has been using your skin care products - again.

While the basic structure of a man's skin may be the same as a woman's, his skin has quite a few unique characteristics that make sharing facial products an unwise practice. For instance, even though signs of aging appear in men's skin similarly as they do for women, they don't necessarily happen on the same time scale.

Men's skin also is thicker than women's, making it tougher and somewhat more resilient. Further, the oil glands in men's skin produce more oil than women's, giving men more "natural" moisture.

Because of differences such as these, it's clear that men and women have different health needs for their skin. Unfortunately, however, men's skin care products have been limited until recently.

As more men become motivated to feel and look their best, more products that are made especially for men's skin care needs are hitting stores' shelves. In particular, L'Oreal, one of the leaders in

technology-driven skin care treatments, has created Men's Expert, the first anti-aging line on the mass retail market for men.

Men's Expert products contain what L'Oreal calls an Active Defense System, or ADS, which is a powerful combination of active ingredients that increase the skin's resiliency and help protect it against shaving irritation.

The Men's Expert line includes products such as Power Clean, a face wash that deep-cleans skin without drying it out; Oil Controller, an anti-shine moisturizer that zaps away oil, soothes razor burn and is designed for teenagers and young adults; and Vita Lift, an anti-wrinkle and firming moisturizer that recoups elasticity for men in their late 40s.