Dish-Houston

Flawless Skin Secrets

By Cindi Harwood Rose

Owner of Utopia MedSpa, Uptown Park

Your skin is the largest living organ of your body. It is not an inert covering such as a glove placed on your hand. It has many functions. It is the body’s protective covering against the environment and it is also the body’s principal mechanism for maintaining the temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit in which all our cells and body systems are adapted to function. Perspiration, liquid waste, is given off through the skin. Adults have an average of seven pounds of skin. If it were spread out flat, it would cover about nineteen square feet. Every inch is supplied with busy working cells and responsive nerves that keep your body and mind informed about your environment.

The skin is made of three layers of different cell types. The top layer is the epidermis, the thick middle layer is the dermis and the fatty bottom layer is the subcutis. Chinese medicine incorporates skin analysis to determine Yin or Yang deficiency, and lung disharmony.

Most people do not know how to take care of their skin. They have been brain-washed through modern marketers to buy expensive products that are laden with toxic mineral oils, preservatives, colorings, perfumes, and surface-drying alcohol. This actually clogs the outer skin, stopping it from breathing and releasing the wastes your body wants to discard. The alcohol dehydrates the skin. Its purpose is to prolong shelf life of the product it is in, not to help your skin. The preservatives stop the natural products such as milk, egg, placenta, and fruit extracts from molding and rotting. Do you think your skin deserves a product that even bugs do not want?

Skin-care is an ancient 3,000-year-old science that has been around in all great civilizations. The American Indians rubbed their bodies with bear grease to keep their skin moist. They participated in sweats to rid the mind and body of toxic thoughts and blockages. The Greeks cleansed the skin by oiling it with plant oils, then scraping it off with wet bark, exfoliating their skin. The Egyptians soaked fragrant woods and resins in water and plant oils and rubbed their body and faces with the liquid. The Swedish took elaborate hot mineral baths and cold plunges to detox their skin and invigorate it. The Romans made their cold cream out of the natural organic oils. Coconut and nut oils have been used in tropical climates for thousands of years. The Orientals dry scrubbed their skin with seaweed, exfoliating it, and then moistened the epidermis with sesame oil. They soak in mineral waters laden with natural sulfurs and rub sweet almond oil and mint on the body to aid circulation. They have books on herbs such as Chan Tui (cicada husks) which are helpful for skin conditions. The Middle Eastern countries used the Olive oil for the face and hair. The French used hazelnut oil as a moisturizer. They used lavender oil on skin irritations. Only in the 1900’s, were these natural oils replaced by mineral oils which are based from petroleum sludge, and are not only drying to the skin, they can be poisonous. Strangely, there are many products that we may think are safe such as Johnson’s Baby Oil, Vaseline, and Kiehl’s products. Other products such as Tiger’s Balm, Noxzema, Laura Mercier, Franche, and Aveda, have pure combinations of healthy ingredients.

Part 2 - How to take care of your skin!