Getting naked Protecting skin from the sun has become an intense controversy for two major reasons. Reason number one is our basic need for vitamin D, which is produced by the skin’s ex­posure to sun, meaning that it may be problematic to limit exposure. Reason number two concerns sunscreens and the types of active ingredients […]

Up until a few years ago I would have said we know diet is important to the skin’s health. After all when you don’t eat, you die, and that looks particularly bad! But the research pin­pointing what kind of diet works the best just wasn’t there. That has changed, with research showing what aspects of […]

Allergic reactions are not the same thing as what happens when your skin is irritated. Almost anything can illicit an allergic reaction. On the skin, an allergic reaction to a sub­stance can look nearly identical to an irritant reaction, but when it comes to what is going on beneath the surface of your skin it […]

Essential oils are only essential for your nose, not your skin. They are one of the two groups of ingredients almost universally added to cosmetics (the other being preservatives) that are often the culprits when our skin becomes irritated or sensitized by a cosmetic product. An article in the January 24, 2000, issue of The […]

In this day and age it seems almost silly to remind people that smoking is killing them, killing their teeth, skin, lips, heart, lungs, and causing myriad other associated health complications. Don’t we all know this? I have never seen any research anywhere to the contrary. Yet people worldwide continue to smoke. It is shocking […]

Because irritation is a problem for skin, anything that irritates the skin should be avoided as much as possible. Heat is one of those things that should be avoided. As good as hot water, direct steam, or dry saunas feel on the skin, they end up causing more problems for the health of the skin. […]

Avoiding irritating ingredients is important for the health of your skin, but it is also help­ful to use skin-care products containing ingredients that mitigate or counter the effects of irritation on skin. Anti-irritants and anti-inflammatories are a group of ingredients known for reducing or relieving skin irritation and inflammation. Because irritation and inflamma­tion are well […]

Being gentle to your face is one of the most important parts of any skin-care routine. Along with diligent sun protection (which is really about reducing the inflammation in skin caused by the sun), using gentle, nonirritating skin-care products is part of how you can achieve the best daily and long-term skin-care results possible—so you […]

I wish I had invented that term but I came across it in a research journal I was reading (Source: Rejuvenation Research, Fall 2006, pages 402-407). Much of the research on “ag­ing” and wrinkling has to do with inflammation and what it does to skin. As a result of this research it is becoming clear […]