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 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.

Can You Make Money as a Beauty Salon Owner?

Are you interested in perusing a career that is focused on beauty and fashion?  If you are, have you started to examine your career options yet?  If you haven’t, you will soon find that you have a number of different options.  One of those options is to start your own beauty salon business.

When it comes to owning and operating a beauty salon, there are many hopeful owners who wonder if it is really possible to do.  Of course, starting any business can be a stressful and trying time, but it is more than possible for you to develop and run your own profitable beauty salon.  If you would like to learn more about how you can go about doing so, should you wish to do so, you will want to continue reading on.

Before deciding to open your own beauty salon, there are a number of important factors that you may want to take into consideration first.  One of those factors is your vision for your business. Do you want to start out small, like start out of your home, or do you want to start with your own storefront location?  If you would prefer to start your own beauty salon as a traditional business, not necessarily one that is a home based one, you will want to examine all available locations.  You need to carefully choose the location for your business. Be sure to choose a location that can accommodate to you and all of your space needs, as well as one that does not have a lot of competition nearby.

Another factor that you may want to take into consideration is your beauty and fashion knowledge and experience.  While a large number of individuals who wish to open their own beauty salons have a love for beauty and fashion, not all do.  If you haven’t worked for a beauty salon before or if you haven’t attended beauty school or even just taken a beauty training course, you may want to think about doing so before you start your business.  Yes, there is a good chance that you will end up hiring your own workers and they can have most of the knowledge, but you will at least want to be familiar with the business that you run.

Startup costs are another factor that should be taken into consideration, when trying to determine if you can make a living running your own beauty salon.  Most businesses have startup costs, but it can be kind of expensive to get a beauty salon up and running.  In addition to building space, you will also need to purchase other fixtures and supplies.  There is a good chance that you will need a receptionist’s desk, hair care stations, nail care products, and possibly even tanning beds. These pieces of equipment can get fairly costly, but is there financing assistance out there for you, should you need it.

As a reminder, running your own beauty salon is just one of the many careers that you can have that is focused on beauty, in one way or another.  However, if you have your heart set on running a beauty salon, it should be more than possible for you to do so.  Before you get started though, it is important that you take the time to familiarize yourself with all local, state, and federal laws concerning small businesses.

10 Definite Don’ts Of Great Hair Care

If the amount of money consumers spend on hair care products annually is any indication, most people are concerned about the appearance of their hair and strive to attain beautiful, healthy and stylish locks.  In fact, most will go to any lengths to achieve their desired look. From professional salon treatments to over-the-counter serums, hair care is a big business.

The only problem is that while many people are buying the right hair care products for their hair, they forget to follow basic hair care regimens that will guarantee the health and beauty of their tresses. Additionally, many are also causing needless damage to their hair by participating in unhealthy hair care behavior.

So, what should you do to make sure that your hair stays healthy, shiny and strong? To avoid all hair care disasters, follow these 10 absolute don'ts of great hair care. 

Hair care don'ts
 

1.    Avoid unprofessional and over-the-counter hair care products whenever you can. Many of these only offer false hopes and promises.

2.    Do not cut your own bangs. Leave all of your cutting needs, even bangs, to your hair care professional.

3.    Avoid excessive sun, chlorine and salt water during the summer months. Excessive exposure can cause severe damage that is irreversible even if you use the best hair care products.

4.    Do not use clarifying hair care products on your tresses more than one time per week. They can strip hair of moisture and essential oils.

5.    Do not visit a hair care salon without first getting a referral from someone you can trust. Choosing a salon based on an advertisement or sale alone is very risky.

6.    Do not purchase hair color that comes in a box.

7.    Never stick with an outdated look because you are afraid of looking different. Styles change for a reason. Ask your hair care professional to bring you into this decade with a new style.

8.    Do not straighten your hair with a clothes iron. C'mon, this was so over in the 70s. We have straightening irons that won't damage your hair for this now. Look in the hair care isle.

9.    Don't brush your hair or put too much tension on it while it is still wet. This will cause breakage. Also, do not wear tight styles such as corn rows for extended periods of time unless you have ethnic hair.

10.    Never use sun-lightening products such as lemon juice or over-the-counter hair care products designed to lighten hair with the sun unless you want a very short hair cut in the future.

In the end, hair care is a very individualized and personal thing. Feel free to add your own flair and style to your hair care routine, but remember to include hair care principles that will benefit your hair and avoid those that damage it.

A History of Cosmetics, Part 3

The cosmetics craze continued throughout the centuries into the 1900’s and began to see the earliest of the cosmetics industry being formed. Mrs. Henning’s House of Cyclax in London sold many products that you can still buy today from world famous companies like Avon. Another beauty salon owner found herself expanding her products to meet the demands of her upper class clientele from a facial cream that protects women’s skin from the sun to lipstick and face powder. Today, you can find a whole line of cosmetics from Helena Rubenstein.

As the years went on, the popularity of beauty salons continued to increase. In 1909, a salon called Selfridges began to sell cosmetics out in the open ver the counter. Women’s attitudes began to change and confidence grew.  When the Russian ballet came to London, the influence of high art was apparent on many designers. A man named Paul Poiret was one of the first to come out with a much more vibrant and colorful look. It was also the first time that permanent cosmetics was seen. Women could tattoo their lipstick and eye shadow permanently on their faces. 

During the 1930’s the fashion of lipstick went to a darker shade with a variety of shades. Around the time of WW II, ingredients for cosmetics was at a severe shortage and women underwent a kind of make-down. This ended right when the war did and demand for cosmetics increased more than ever. Competitors began manufacturing a number of products to meet the demands of the female consumer. 

Today’s woman is the benefactor of all these years of trial and error with a virtually unlimited choice of products for any look they want to achieve. There are literally thousands of companies who have products in this now billion dollar yearly industry. Cosmetic products sell year round and even in times of recession.
So ladies, thank your ancestors and their concern for their own appearance for your own that you have today. There were probably days when they woke up and didn’t really feel like going through the hassle of putting on their face either.