Make-Up & Beauty Tips
SUBTOPIC
Trying to Look SUNsational? Complexity Exists in Using Sunscreens
You would think that all the questions about sunscreens have been answered by now. You slather it on before you go to the beach. It keeps you from being fried to a crisp. And, if you use enough, it helps prevent your skin from taking on that wrinkled, leathery look of photo-aged skin. Best of all, it protects you from the harmful ultraviolet rays that cause skin cancer.
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Decoding the Cosmetic Label
How can you be sure your shampoo that claims to have all natural ingredients does not also contain some synthetic chemicals? Or that your hand lotion actually does contain the vitamin E it claims? The logical response should be, “Read the ingredient label on the back of the product.” Logical, if you happen to be a chemist or a cosmetic scientist. Perplexing, if you are the average cosmetic consumer.
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Cosmetic Ingredients: Understanding the Puffery
In the past, cosmetic manufacturers have depended upon mysterious “gimmick” additives, such as turtle oil, shark oil, queen bee royal jelly, chick embryo extract, horse blood serum, and pigskin extracts to promote skin rejuvenation or tighten chin muscles. Promotion of these “gimmick” additives, combined with today’s more sophisticated cosmetic ingredients, is what John E. Bailey, Ph.D. (director of FDA’s division of color and cosmetics) and the cosmetic industry call “puffery.”
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Regulating Cosmetics
The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act defines cosmetics as “articles other than soap which are applied to the human body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance.” The FDA has classified cosmetics into 13 categories…
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How to Rejuvinate Your Skin
Progesterone acts as a holding point or bond for sealing the cross points of collagen and elastin, similar to how cement holds bricks together in a brick wall. To remove wrinkles from the surface of the skin, we need collagen, elastin and the binding effects of progesterone.
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Skin Care and Aging
Americans spend billions of dollars each year on skin care products that promise to erase wrinkles, lighten age spots, and eliminate itching, flaking, or redness. But the simplest and cheapest way to keep your skin healthy and young looking is to stay out of the sun.
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Beta Hydroxy Acids in Cosmetics
Throughout the last decade, alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) have increasingly appeared as ingredients in cosmetics intended to reduce the signs of aging in the skin. More recently, beta hydroxy acids (BHAs), or a combination of AHAs and BHAs, have appeared as ingredients in these skin care products. While both AHAs and BHAs act as exfoliants, it has been claimed that BHAs are effective in reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and improving overall skin texture, without the occasional irritation associated with the use of AHAs.
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Alpha Hydroxy Acids in Cosmetics
Cosmetics that contain alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) have become widely used in recent years despite many unanswered questions about their safety. Recently, a study sponsored by the cosmetics industry indicates that these products may make users more sensitive to sunlight and especially to the ultraviolet (UV) radiation component of sunlight. UV exposure can damage the skin and at high doses, especially over a long period, can cause skin cancer.
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Alpha Hydroxy Acids for Skin Care
Baby boomers and others who once sought the sun’s rays with little thought of skin damage are now paying the price–billions of dollars annually for cosmetics containing alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs). Derived from fruit and milk sugars and served up in creams and lotions, AHAs attract customers with their supposed ability to reduce wrinkles, spots, and other signs of aging, sun-damaged skin. Some scientific evidence suggests they may work.
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Heading Off Hair-Care Disasters: Use Caution With Relaxers and Dyes
It’s never a good sign when the hairdresser panics. That’s what happened to Barbara Cabrera-Avila, 38, when she returned to the salon about six weeks after having her hair straightened a couple of years ago. The cause for alarm: several bald spots in the back of her head.
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