1.    Beware When Washing Your Face

•   Do not wash your face with tap water. Tap water contains chlorine. It is a disinfectant used by most water plants to zap dangerous contaminants. Over time the chlorine in tap water dries the skin and causes oxidative damage. Always have a container of purified or distilled water in the shower, on the side of the bath and by the hand basin. Wash your face only with water from the container or with fresh water not from a tap.

•   Avoid washing your face with hot water especially when in the shower. Hot water dries out the skin. Excessive hot water on your face increases the chemical reaction between your skin and the chlorine and causes skin deterioration over time.

•   Ensure you use a new, clean face cloth on a daily basis or use disposal face cloths. If you use disposal face cloths ensure they are not perfumed. Perfumed products on your face cause skin irritation.

•   Using soap on your face is not recommended. If you do, ensure you use only a facial soap that is not perfumed. Soap-free, fragrance-free face and body washes are always best for the skin.

•   A fragrance-free, gentle exfoliator is a good way to rid the skin of excess skin and flakiness that builds up over time. Also a mild cleanser that is non-perfumed and isn’t too rich is always best. A good quality exfoliator can be just as beneficial as microdermabrasion but beware more is not better. Only exfoliate once a week, twice at most otherwise you run the risk of stripping away your skin’s natural barrier and oils, and creating skin dryness and irritation.

•   Leading dermatologist, Leslie Baumann says:

o  “if you have sensitive skin or skin irritation, forget about exfoliating, just cleanse, as exfoliating is too abrasive for your skin type.”
o  “calming ingredients like aloe can be a bonus but as a general rule, the fewer ingredients in a facial product, the better.”

2.   Your Pillowcase Is Extremely Important

•   One of the best ways to avoid wrinkles is to sleep on your back. As this can be difficult, you can use support pillows on either side of your body to stop you rolling on your stomach. If you sleep on your side, use one support pillow at your side, and try to sleep on the edge of your pillow, with your hand tucked underneath your face so as much weight as possible remains off the face while sleeping. Even though you won’t stay in one position all night long, these basics do work to accustom your body to sleep in a new position over time and they definitely pay off when it comes to wrinkle prevention.

•   Invest in a natural fabric pillowcase. 100% white cotton or satin pillowcases are best.

•   Ensure the surface of your pillowcase is smooth before you lay down at night. Ensure the pillowcase is not creased or bunched up as this can cause wrinkles or temporary creases in the face.

•   Ensure you change your pillowcase frequently, at least 2-3 times a week. If you are prone to breakouts change your pillowcase daily.

•   Always wash your face before going to bed and not with tap water. Do not have excess moisturizer or acne medications caked on your skin at night just before you hit the sheets. The excess will deposit on your pillowcase. Excess oil and residue on your pillowcase causes irritation to the face, especially if you are prone to breakouts.

•  Ensure you wash your pillowcase in unscented detergent. Don’t use perfumed or liquid fabric softeners either when it comes to washing your pillowcase. They leave a waxy residue that can also deposit on your pillowcase.

3.   Invest In Sunscreen

•   The sun is extremely damaging to the skin.

•   At the very least you should invest in a daily moisturizer with SPF 15 protection. However, never mistake this for full sunscreen protection.

•   If you work outside or do a lot of outdoor activities you will need to purchase a sunscreen that is separate to your moisturizer and one that provides SPF protection of between 30 and 50. If you are outdoors for long periods of time ensure your sunscreen is applied every two hours for maximum protection. Those most at risk to exposure to UV radiation from sunlight are:

o  Outdoor workers such as farmers, fisherman, construction workers and lifeguards.
o  Outdoor enthusiasts.
o  Sunbathers.
o  People who regularly use tanning beds.

•   Jeffrey Dover, Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine says most people under-apply sunscreen by one-fourth.

•   Mineral make up is also beneficial, applied on top of your sunscreen as its adds extra protection.

•   When driving don’t be fooled that the window glass is protecting you from harmful UV rays. Medical experts in the U.S.A. report cases of skin cancer are far more frequent on the left side of the face. Specific windshield protectors and tinting/films provide good protection but if you do not have these installed, ensure you apply sunscreen or shade the window of your vehicle to ensure you and others in the vehicle are protected at all times from high levels of UV radiation.

4.    Don’t Smoke

•   Smoking does cause wrinkles and premature aging of the skin. Numerous clinical studies show this, including detailed studies conducted by the Mayo Clinic. Not only does smoking cause wrinkles, especially around the mouth, but it also makes the skin weak, tired, often dry, discolored and thickened in areas. Smoking also removes vitamin C from the body, and this is a very important nutrient that keeps the skin plump and supple.

•   In addition to significant damage to the skin, clinical studies show smoking increases the risk of emphysema, lung cancer, heart disease and stroke. The nicotine in cigarettes causes narrowing of the blood vessels. This reduces blood flow and causes less oxygen and other vital nutrients to be available to the blood, tissues and organs.

•   Although early skin damage from smoking may not be apparent for a number of years (i.e. 10 years), the effects are definitely occurring and they can be long lasting when they occur.

•    The more cigarettes you smoke, the longer you smoke, the more skin wrinkling will occur.

•    Smoking not only changes the skin, it has an effect on one’s teeth and hair as well.

•    When a chronic smoker quits smoking, some skin improvements become evident within 90 days.

•    To stop smoking, seek assistance through a professional program, move to electronic cigarettes or patches first if you cannot go cold turkey.

5.    A Deep Restorative Sleep Is Important

With us all working longer hours, and often more to stress about in our busy lives, it can be very difficult to get seven to eight hours of sleep every night. While thousands of us stress we don’t get the standard sleep hours, it really isn’t that bad.

•   Sammy Margo, author of The Good Sleep Guide insists “it’s quality not quantity of sleep that we need to focus on.” But what counts as quality sleep?

•   Margo says, “What you need is a deep restorative sleep, which can be anywhere between four and eight hours depending on individuals. So you definitely shouldn’t start worrying about numbers. Being on countdown is definitely not encouraged.”

•   “And similarly, if you’re waking up in the middle of the night it’s not the end of the world. Many people are, be it mums or just people who need to go to the toilet – they’re not considered insomniacs. So try not to get stressed about it.”

•   “Don’t get hung up on how many hours or that you didn’t make it through the night in one go,” she says. “The way to tell if you’ve had a quality night’s sleep is that you wake up feeling refreshed,” says Sammy Margo.

•   A sound sleep is very restoring for the body. Yale Dermatologist Nicholas Perricone, MD says, “you’ll produce more HGH (human growth hormone), which helps the skin remain thick, more elastic, and less likely to wrinkle.”

6.    A Good Moisturizer (Day and Night)

•   Invest in a quality moisturizer. Apply first thing in the morning and in the evening, directly after you have washed your face.

•   To help seal in water, apply your moisturizer (with SPF) right after cleansing or washing your face, while your skin is still damp.

•   Ensure you don’t have too much moisturizer on your skin just before going to bed as it can cause residue on your pillowcase.

•   A moisturizer or face cream that contains antioxidants is best, plus hyaluronic acid, glycerin or ceramides. These bind in the moisture and prevent water loss from the skin.

•   Fragrance free and oil free moisturizers are always best.

7.    Supplement Your Food Intake With Quality Health Supplements

Today, the majority of our food and soil is depleted of vital nutrients. This is due to over-processing, soil contamination, use of chemicals and pesticides, companies using cheap fillers to save costs, and added preservatives to name just a few reasons. To make up the shortfall it is vital you supplement your daily food intake with quality health supplements and organic nutrient sources.

Here are six health supplements you should be taking, not only to improve your skin but to provide major benefits to your entire body:

•   Vitamin C

•   Vitamin D

•   Fish Oil (providing omega fatty acids)

•   A powerful antioxidant – especially those with natural growth factors (i.e. IGF-1, IGF-2, Transforming Growth Factors, EPG, fibroblast-GF, and platelet derived GF), as these are extremely beneficial for the skin as well as overall maintenance and repair for the entire body. In particular, EGF (epidermal growth factor) is extremely important for the skin. As we age our growth and immune factors decline and our cells release and divide more slowly. Growth factors are essential to enable our adult stem cells to continue to divide and activate. This slow down in cell activity, especially at the stem cell level, has a huge impact on our body and also causes the skin to thin and the body to not repair and recover so quickly, especially as we enter our senior years. Not only is Stem Cell Worx Intraoral Spray a powerful antioxidant that possesses all of the natural growth factors named above it is scientifically proven to be the most powerful stem cell activator on the market. This is due to its natural, pure ingredients (that contain growth and immune factors that are absolutely necessary to initiate and activate stem cells) and its intraoral spray delivery that provides an absorption rate of up to 95% of its nutrients compared to pills and capsules that only provide a 10% to 20% absorption rate at best.

•   Resveratrol is also a very powerful antioxidant that has many anti-aging benefits. Trans-resveratrol is the best form of resveratrol available. It is 1000 times more pure, powerful and effective than grape extract or resveratrol that comes from grapes.  Clinical studies show trans resveratrol taken intraorally (sprayed under the tongue, hold then swallow) is 250 times more effective compared to when taken in pill or capsule form.

•   Whey powder and bovine colostrum are excellent sources of protein. High quality bovine colostrum (i.e. with over 30% of the antibody IgG) contains more than 54% protein. Bovine colostrum is the best source of protein available, even more so than whey powder. It is extremely beneficial to build lean, muscle tissue and when combined with other specialized ingredients it activates one’s own adult stem cells.

Stem Cell Worx Intraoral Spray contains a pure 98% – 99% pure trans-resveratrol from Japanese knotweed, the highest grade of bovine colostrum available and a 95% pure fucoidan. Synergistically combined, these three ingredients act as a super booster to stimulate your own adult stem cells.

Stem cells therapies can rejuvenate your face, body, organs, tissue, and old cells. They are an incredible anti aging source. Our body contains 50 to 70 trillion cells. It is vital we keep our adult stem cells activated and healthy. To learn more subscribe to a free e-book that outlines the major health benefits of adult stem cell activation (by clicking this link) and placing your name and email into the black and white box on the top right of the screen. http://www.stemcellworx.com

Fresh water fish can be extremely beneficial for the skin due to its omega fatty acids. Stick to fish that swim in fresh water or the middle of the ocean. Avoid or reduce fish intake when the fish sources come from the very bottom of the ocean. This is where all the junk is and the fish consume all the rubbish on the sea floor. Sushi can also be bad for the skin as sushi is often preserved with large quantities of salt and is usually prepared and served with white rice. Salt (sodium and chlorine) and high glycemic rice (white rice) are skin irritants.

Excess dairy and alcohol are also bad for the skin as they contain high levels of sugar and yeast. Alcohol enables more water to move from the bloodstream into your skin, which can result in facial puffiness. Over time this can stretch the skin and increase wrinkles. Ensure you drink alcohol and consume dairy foods in moderation.