Archive for category Skin Care
Skincare in Autumn and Winter
Firstly, as in summer, we need to keep hydrated. However, in winter it is best to drink warm drinks: Personally, I recommend tisanes and herbal teas (including ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla) and also herbal teas made from berries, such as rosehip and cranberry, due to their high vitamin C content. Similarly, organic honey and lemon is highly recommended at this time, as are simple hearty vegetable soups and stews.
A favourite recipe of mine which I recommend to many of my patients is as follows: Take half a litre of cold water, and add a small amount of dried fruit (fig, apricot, or date) and the skin of one lemon. Then add one apple split onto four equal parts, and do not discard the seeds. Add half a cinnamon stick, a slice of ginger, and a clove bud. Bring this mixture to the boil, then steep for approximately 15 minutes. Strain the mixture, then taste – if it is not sweet enough for your taste, add some organic honey. Finally, drink and enjoy!
We also need to try and stop our immediate external environment from becoming too dry, either with a humidifier, or with bowls of water on radiators, ideally with a few drops of organic balsamic essential oil added: This will help to decongest your airways. Read the rest of this entry »
Black Skin Care: Dark Spots
When it comes to black skin care, dealing with those dreaded dark spots seems to be one of our biggest issues. It doesn’t matter if you are light-skinned or dark-skinned those dark spots just seem to appear.
Where Do They Come From?
The dark spots we see are from excess pigment that can form in (3) different ways:
* sun damage
* hormonal changes such as melasma
* inflammatory processes called post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) in the form of dark marks that follow healed acne or trauma to the skin
* Melasma is the condition where the skin darkens due to increased estrogen-type hormones during pregnancy or when taking birth control pills or hormone replacement. The condition is exacerbated with exposure to sunlight so it is crucial to wear sun protection daily
Now I’m sure we have all seen those nasty souvenirs that are left over after a pimple has gone away or a cut has healed and the dark spot is left hanging around. That is what we call post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. This is very common in black skin and can be quite annoying.
You may get a pimple that comes and goes but then you are left to deal with the dark spot that remains that can last for months at a time. Read the rest of this entry »