When Skincare become Anti-Aging

Looking good for your age is more than how you care for your skin. To appear youthful, one's anti-aging plans need to be holistic. While diet and lifestyle affects our skin from inside out, skincare balances out the effects of the environment on our skin.

One of the most important tips for successful anti-aging skincare is to maintain the health of the skin cells. No matter what the season, the goal is to keep skin cells moist by slowing down trans-dermal (through the skin) water loss.

Weather conditions that are challenging for skin health are; low humidity, low ambient temperature, wind, sun exposure. It's no coincidence that Vata becomes a strong energy when we are in middle age. But we can also experience dehydration of the body and skin from environmental dampness as this Kapha energy slows down metabolism and circulation.


Effective anti-aging skincare starts with protection. Excess sun exposure will cause skin dehydration and damage leading to premature aging skin and skin cancer. Safe sun exposure depends on skin cell health (moisture level), the amount of sebum naturally occurring, melanin activity, and other genetics characteristics. The fairer and the drier the skin the more sun protection is needed.

Some sun protection options are

1. SPF
2. Large Brimmed Hat
3. Shade
4. Time limit.

Daily maintenance is paramount to maintaining a youthful appearance. To design an optimum routine you need to know your skin’s characteristics, i.e., hydration and oil levels. The next step is to understand how the key characteristic of your ambient environment are affecting the appearance of your skin. Then you can supplement your skin with products that balance the effectof the elements and maintain a healthy moisture level.

Cleansing appropriately is important. If cleansing is aggressive you will need to work more at bringing skin back to balance. The best gentle cleansing products are milks. But there are some gels that are gentle enough for sensitive mature skin. Bar soap is too alkaline and therefore too drying to skin.

Hydration is having a certain level of moisture in your skin cells. If you skin cells are less than optimally hydrated then they will be shrunken, giving your skin a dry dull appearance. This can be temporary and hydration can be revived when skin is sprayed with an organic hydrosol. So when you are active in the sun bring one to keep skin cells plump and to avoid looking leathery and sun worn.

For more long wearing hydration use a nourishing serum. Ones with expensive goodies like collagen and hylauronic acid are good performers in keeping skin looking good long term. Pure + simple’s Collagen + Elastin Plus http://bit.ly/jYMMka is our most popular product due to it’s performance and its uniqueness.

To slow the trans-dermal water loss, a good moisturizer can make the difference in skin that looks fresh after lunch and one that is lined and tired. Tinted moisturizers can be a convenient 2 for 1 way to put moisturizer and foundation like Pure + simple Flawless http://bit.ly/l6DMgJ

Moisturize with a rich cream to slow down moisture loss and to give skin a soft smooth texture. Pure + simple has 2 creams for those who do not like richness but want anti aging nourishment. Pure + simple Organic Sunflower cream, http://bit.ly/lpH8m6 is the base for the Flawless foundation mentioned above. It is rich but absorbs quickly. Cellular Renewal Cream, http://bit.ly/j3yOBn ,is light but is loaded with anti Aging goodies like green tea and pomegranate.

While summer in Toronto is humid, there are days you feel dry and experience dry mouth. These are the days to load up with moisture. To supplement moisture, use a face oil, like Rejuvenating Face Oil, http://bit.ly/iI6Uh2 , with organic geranium and evening primrose oil, when the weather is arid and windy. Apply after your serum and before your regular moisturizer .

Then carry your hydrosol in a convenient small bottle and spray when you feel tight. Feeling tight or that your skin is unclean means your skin cells are thirsty. This is also a good time to make sure you are drinking enough. Allowing your skin to go dry will not just make you look less attractive but will also slow down circulation impeding moisturization to skin cells and you may experience more cold at the extremities.

Special Facial treatments, like Sea Salt MicroDermabrasion, http://bit.ly/lLvByF , that can increase circulation to skin cells and increase hydrating level of the skin cells. They also give skin a deeper youthful appearance.

Lets use for example a person with Vata skin with a Fitzpatrick 2 skin tone. This is a thin delicate skin that is very light in colour. This person is in need of high oil supplementation either in a face oil or in a rich cream. From her late twenties or thirties she may use Sea Salt MicroDermabrasion to minimize lines and dryness in her skin. From her forties onward a combination of Sea Salt MicroDermabrasion and IPL (Intense Pulse Light), http://bit.ly/kK4mB2 will help to keep her skin looking as young as she feels.

To get he most out of your investment in beautiful skin, it is advisable to exfoliate the skin with Sea Salt MicroDermabrasion. It prepares the skin to respond more effectively to anti-aging treatments like IPL (Intense Pulse Light), http://bit.ly/kK4mB2 , and Microcurrent Face Lifts, http://bit.ly/jDQlVf .

Balancing Vata in Autumn

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Dry Skin and Absent Mindedness are part of middle age because they both are the result of the same energy.

The days are getting shorter. The weather is telling us to sleep longer. While you are beginning to become more absentminded or feeling spacey your Vata is becoming unbalanced and sleep is an excellent way to regain groundedness.

It is harvest time for hearty ground vegetables like potatoes, carrots yams and for nourishing gourds like squash and pumpkin. These are excellent food to nourish and moisten our insides.

While you may be oblivious to your internal dehydration and the lapses of mental acuity may be overlooked or forgotten, excess Vata in the windy turbulent autumn environment gets you right in your face. There in your mirror is dry dull skin that looks years older than just a week ago.

My secret to the fountain of youth is to wear a hydrating gel mask to sleep. Night time is rejuvenation and repair time. While skin is in protection mode in the day time it is hard at work repairing damaged skin cells and producing new ones through the night.

Make sure you wash your skin of pollutants and dirt first. A real convenience is Pure + simple Skin Smoothing Collagen Mask. No need to fuss with toners and serums before apply it. Just apply it straight after you cleanse and you wake up looking fresh and your skin looks plump.

During the day, apply a high quality serum like Collagen Elastin Plus before a richer moisturizer like Martina Gebhardt’s Evening Primrose Face Cream. This cream is natural, rich and great for those of us loosing our Estrogen,

For a skincare routine that is customized to your skin’s needs and to your personal preferences, visit one of Pure + simple’s 4 locations and enlist the help of a natural skincare specialist to create your own special routine to beautiful skin even in fall and winter.

Whether you follow my routine or develop one more suitable to you, commit to keeping it until next March. If you don’t waste energy second guessing your decision you will have one less thing cluttering up your active mind.

Now that you feel better about yourself, you can look at ways to balance the excess Vata in the environment and in you. No matter what Dosha is your main Dosha, you are in the Vata stage of your life (forty plus years old). This strong creative energy can lead you to increased spiritualism but also contributes to your forgetfulness, indecisiveness and dryness.

Increase your time for healing metabolism and energizing with more sleep as days grow shorter. After September 21 days are proportionally shorter with intensity of sunlight

Create more routine in your life. Vatas need to discipline themselves in conserving energy with less change and impulse with regular routines.

I have taken more time away from work. I found that somehow there is no great urgency over this. Hmmm, so I am not so indispensable.

You will find that planning is easier once you edit the list of activities on your to do list. Trying to plan them all in is so Vata.

Rest and eat a hearty meal before you make your choices as excess Vata will increase your indecisiveness.

Then after you have completed your plan, warm and hydrate yourself by treating yourself to a steamy hot sauna.

Time for Self Transformation

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September is approaching. While it is not the beginning of the New Year, it is a popular time for self transformation.

After a couple of months of detoxification, I have experienced emotional transformation. Along with the surfacing of repressed emotions, I have been also wizened up to new habits and behaviors that are more suitable to my new awareness.

My annual visit to Steven Dao has confirmed that becoming more succinct in my communications is my home work for the next year. I go to Steven not so much for future predictions but his uncanny ability to tell me what I am ready to hear.

Steven foretells of increase of negations and warns against my regular verbosity. (This is the only time I am quiet so how did he know! ;) My “long form” of communicating has endured through a cousin in law telling me that “while I don’t consider you a big mouth, you sure talk a lot” and to the constant dismay of my more reserved daughter.

So I preparing for September with a new look to solidify the revamped internal me. I will cover my grey hairs with a natural but convenient hair colour, a more conservative -- so longer hairdo from Sharon at John Steinberg (because she can give me a hairdo that is pretty but not boring) and I will save my usual yoga chic dressing for the weekend. ( a lovely site with menopausal tummy)

I have committed to a look that takes more maintenance and is more appropriate to my half century age. I still wanted natural and easy to care for but now it will take more time and money.

While I believe that many of my habits, like over activity, lack of routine and lack of sleep, have sped up my aging , my ability to reflect on my past behaviors and to embarking on new ones have rejuvenated me.

So what are you plans for yourself the next year?

If you are looking to do some self renovation here are some great ideas.

Rejuvenate your appearance with better care for your skin. Fall is a great time for sun sensitizing treatments like Microdermabrasion and Intense Pulse Light. Intense Pulse Light is an excellent way to erase lines and plump up your skin tone. But don’t neglect your daily care routine to help you maintain your youthful appearance. See a video of our Microdermabrasion Treatment. While you are there look over at the sidebar for our other facial treatment on video.

If you are over 35 years old – invest in a good serum. I may be bias but I totally recommend our most popular product, Collagen Elastin Plus for the job. It's like my child as I dictated the ingredients in this seaweed based serum. It will give your face an improved day to day appearance while helping you lessen long term expenditures on skin rejuvenation.

To help you update your fashion statement with accessories consider the advice of Jezebel.com. an e-news for alternative minded women’s http://jezebel.com/5616391/dress-code-accessories-101?skyline=true&s=i.

If your health seems sluggish, you may need to detox. After reading Gilles Marin’s book Healing from Within with Chi Nei Tsang, I would advise against any detox products that contain alcohol. Alcohol, according to Gilles, intoxicates our organs thereby needing to be detoxed. You can visit my past blogs for some ideas. Just avoid the liver detox if you want to avoid alcohol.

If you need some help in deciding your future, you can call Steven Dao at 416-846-0588 and get a objective reading. See my past blog for more on Steven.

An now for a deserved feel good break -- go to Jezebel.com to see the controversy over untouched photos of Jennifer Aniston. While she looks older I believe she looks more beautiful without the touch ups.

Ayurvedic Doshas

For those unfamiliar with Pure + simple I have prepared a succinct description of Ayurveda, the science or study of life.

Ayurveda is based on the Indian concept of holistic healthy living which recognizes the three types of energy referred to as Doshas. Everything seen and unseen in our world has all three characteristics but in most one or two Doshas dominate. The Doshas are Vata, Pitta and Kapha.

Vata : Air, Ether Energy

Vatas are slim, small boned people with chiseled features. Their skins are delicate, thin with small pores. Their complexions darken with age due to loss of moisture. They need to take care of their skin from a young age due to their skin’s natural dry dehydrated state.
Vatas are spiritual, creative, and innovative. They make good spiritual leaders, strategists and entrepreneurs as they invite change and are risk takers.

When Vata is in imbalance the afflicted person can appear fickle, indecisive, unpredictable, and confused and confusing. Their skin will be parched appearing dry, dull and with fine and or deep lines.
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Vata governs the nervous system so when nervous disorders, like mental illnesses or physical shaking appear there is usually a Vata imbalance whether Vata is the dominant Doshas or not.


Pitta : Fire, Water Energy

Pittas are of a medium, athletic build. Their skins have a golden hue with redness caused by dilated capillaries. Pittas can reveal themselves with their red toned hair and piercing eyes.

To avoid redness, rosacea, moles and hyper pigmentation, Pittas need to keep their skin hydrated and protect their skin from inflammation from excess sun, heat or wind. Pittas are prone to acne due to the heat caused by diet, toxins or stress.

Pittas are intelligent, logical and love fairness. They make good leaders in Business, Politics and Law as they enjoy competition, power, order and status.

When Pitta is in imbalance, the person is irritable, petty, overly structured and overly competitive. Skin can appear red, acneic and congested, like it is swollen.

Pitta imbalances show in inflammatory disorders like hypertension and heat rashes and allergic disorders like intolerances, allergies and eczema

Kapha : Earth, Water
Kaphas have a large bone structure and can be fleshy, curvaceous. They have oily skin which if Kapha is in balance will have a healthy glow with even poring.

To avoid skin that appears deeply lined, orange peel texture and cystic acne, Kaphas need to make sure they keep their skins hydrated to prevent excess oil production.

Kaphas strength is physical. They have strong stamina and their bodies can maintain a youthful appearance into old age. Kahas are dependable, loyal, nurturing and work well with routine.

Kaphas make good bankers, accountants, administrators and for those who prefer physical work, tradesmen and craftsmen.

When Kapha is in imbalance, a person can appear to be overly possessive, greedy and dependent. There can be a tendency for depression.

Imbalances with Kapha can lead to cancer, hypothyroidism and diabetes.

For chart of the characteristics go to:
http://www.pureandsimple.ca/2005/files/products/ayurvedic.html

For a more complete description go to http://www.pureandsimple.ca/ for information on BEAUTY 2.0 by Kristen Ma