More Skin Care Tips You Can Use to Improve Your Skin

I suppose most of you have read those articles about the best tips for having beautiful skin. You eagerly start to read the article only to find out it is the same ole tips you always hear about for healthy skin and your health in general. These tips like, eat fruits and vegetables, wear sunscreen, drink plenty of water and not smoking are all very good advice if you want nice, healthy skin; but in this article, we are expanding the list.

Here are some more tips and skin care techniques to help you on your way to younger looking skin.

Layering on Anti-Aging Skin Care Products in the Correct Order

To maximize the benefits of skin care products, they should be layered on in a certain order. Applying products in the wrong order will diminish their benefits. A heavy cream applied before a lighter serum will block the absorption of a lighter serum and not allow it to work on your skin. Putting your skin care products on in the correct order will go a long way towards helping the products work better.

So after cleansing your face, apply your skin care products in the following order:

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Toners, acne pads or light peel pads for exfoliating which are the most liquid and usually clear.

• Serums or gels which are thicker than liquids but not yet creamy.

• Lotions which are somewhat thicker than liquids and usually milky. May be moisturizers with or without sunscreen or exfoliating acid lotions.

• Creams which are thicker, heavier and won’t spill out of a jar.

• Ointments which are usually petrolatum-based solids like Vaseline.

Tips for Applying Skin Care Products

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Warm, moist skin allows for skin care products to absorb into the skin best but…

• If you are applying anything oily that could block pores, rinse skin with cool water first to close pores.

• After applying skin care products, stimulate the skin by tapping for 30 seconds. This increases circulation and absorption.

• Do not stretch your skin when applying products. Use short strokes.

• Don’t forget your neck area. Make sure to apply your face products to your neck also. Your neck will age too.

• Apply sunscreen to the back of your hands. It will keep away those ugly brown spots. Just put a dab of sunscreen on the back of one hand and use the back of the other hand to massage it in. This way you don’t have sunscreen on your palms.

More General Skin Care Techniques

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To keep away those dreaded crow’s feet – wear sunglasses when outside and don’t squint! That repeated squinting will really speed up the appearance of crow’s feet. Wearing sunglasses will help you not to squint and also protect your eyes from UV radiation.

• Always use a good lip balm with SPF sun protection. Your lips will naturally thin with age, so protecting them from the sun is very important as you don’t wait to speed up the process. Also, it will help keep your lips moist which is all good.

• To help hide those little lines, look for moisturizers or foundations with light reflecting particles. They will reflect light from the lines instead of into them.

• In you live in a dry place, especially in winter, try using a humidifier to help keep your skin moist. House plants also help with maintaining inside humidity.

• Take warm – not hot – showers. The hot water is more drying to your skin.

• Avoid the direct heat from blow dryers on your face.

• Take a good daily multi-vitamin. Your skin needs it.

• Be skeptical about the products you buy. Only believe about ½ the hype advertised. Look for products that guarantee what they advertise with a good return policy.

Skin care takes a little work, but it is well worth the effort. Healthy skin is a sign of a healthy person and helps instill personal confidence. Follow these tips with the right skin care products and better skin will be yours soon.

For more skin care advice, visit the Better-Skin-Care.com website.

Topical Vitamin C - Does it work to improve your skin?

Cosmeceuticals containing antioxidants are among the most popular anti-aging remedies and Vitamin C is at the top of the list. The primary purpose of Vitamin C serums or creams is to work as a topical antioxidant, fighting the barrage of free radicals our skin receives every day. Applying Vitamin C to the skin helps to prevent inflammation and prevent cellular damage. Many experts recommend using Vitamin C serum on a daily basis since it helps prevent the damaged caused by the sun’s rays. A few drops of concentrated Vitamin C serum or cream should be applied to your skin daily BEFORE your moisturizer and sunscreen.

Topical Vitamin C also promotes an increase in collagen production and is believed to have the ability for reversing the aging process, by breaking through the skin’s surface to provide skin cells the essential energy for repair. Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) is one of the few topical anti-oxidants whose efficiency against wrinkles and fine lines is support by a good amount of reliable scientific evidence.

The benefits of including a Vitamin C Serum in your daily skin system include:

· Minimizes fine lines and wrinkles
· Helps reverse the signs of aging
· Repairs and Protects your skin from Free Radicals
· Increases Skin Elasticity
· Helps Skin Clarity [acne and age spots]

An ideal vitamin C serum should be able to easily penetrate into skin and release L-ascorbic acid in amounts sufficient to boost collagen synthesis. In order for anti- aging benefits to be realized, it is vital that your Vitamin C serum contain at least a 10% L-ascorbic concentration with a pH level of less than 3. Doses lower than 10% will lose their effectiveness. Since Vitamin C is unstable, only buy Vitamin C packaged in opaque bottles. Exposure to sunlight will cause the product to oxidize and break down becoming ineffective. When Vitamin C serums are fresh, they are mostly clear in color. They turn yellowish when spoiled, so avoid buying serums that are tinted yellow or orange. You will not be able to tell if the product has oxidized. Spoiled serums also begin to smell odd.


To make topical Vitamin C products more stable, skin care companies have been working to find alternatives to straight L-ascorbic acid since it has a problem with being stable. The best Vitamin C variations found so far are ascorbyl palmitate and magnesium ascorbyl phosphate.

Ascorbyl Palmitate

Being fat-soluble and much more stable, ascorbyl palmitate is the most widely used derivative of vitamin C in skin care. It is less irritating to the skin making it a better choice for sensitive skin. Ascorbyl palmitate fights free radicals and inflammation. The one drawback though appears to be that the strength of ascorbyl palmitate achievable in skin care products does not boost collagen production to the degree that plain L-ascorbic vitamin C. However, ascorbyl palmitate is at least as effective as vitamin E in protecting the skin from lipid peroxidation - a key type of free radical damage.


Magnesuim Ascorbyl Phosphate

Gaining popularity in skin care products, magnesuim ascorbyl phosphate is a water-soluble derivative of vitamin C. It is more stable than L-ascorbic vitamin C and less irritating because it is less acidic. Most importantly, magnesuim ascorbyl phosphate seems to have the same potential as L-ascorbic vitamin C in boosting skin collagen production and works at lower concentrations. Even though magnesuim ascorbyl phosphate is several times more stable than vitamin C, it still slowly breaks down when exposed to light and air. For this reason freshness and proper storage are still important.


Just like antioxidants taken orally, topical antioxidants work to repair damage as well as protect against future damage. Topical Vitamin C helps prevent the premature signs of aging and can give your skin the nourishment it needs to stay healthy and youthful. Vitamin C serums or creams have the power to renew the skin and many women include a Vitamin C product in their daily skin care system.

The best news is that skin care companies have come up with several Vitamin C products that work. They combine the best ingredients to give you a fighting chance in the war on aging.

Here are some of our picks for Topical Vitamin C skin care products.

GreatSkin Vitamin C Infusion Cream 30% (simple, stabilzed cream formula with high % of L-ascorbic)

GreatSkin Vitamin C + 25% Serum (a L- Ascorbic acid polypeptide complex - stable and penetrating)

Anthony Logistics for Men Vitamin C Facial Serum, Dry & Damaged Skin (Stabillized Vitamin C)

Dr. Varon's Vitamin C Concentrated Serum (10% Vitamin C with Hyaluronic Acid & Retinyl Palmitate. Not recommended for sensitive skin - very reasonably priced)

Murad Essential - C Daily Renewal Complex (pure vitamin c in a cream formula)

Cellex-C High Potency Serum, 30 mL(a light-weight, oil free vitamin C serum)

Janson Beckett Vitamin C&C Facial Serum .5 oz (combines magnesium ascorbyl phosphate and sodium ascorbate for a double dose of C)

Better-Skin-Care.com