Too Many Products
If you use a toner, a serum, an eye cream, a night cream, or another combination of multiple products, check with a dermatologist to make sure that you aren’t doing more harm than good. Many products contain ingredients that can interact negatively with other products, or even neutralize them entirely. Not only can bad reactions wreak havoc on your skin, but buying counteractive products is also a waste of money. Ingredients that are more prone to react poorly with other products include benzoyl peroxide, retinols, and glycolic acid.

Not Enough Sleep
As if anybody needed an excuse to get more sleep … During deep sleep, our bodies rejuvenate our skin by digesting dead cells and regenerating new ones. When someone has a prolonged lack of sleep, this “taking out the trash” doesn’t get done, and the result is that the skin begins to look dull and lifeless. A lack of sleep also results in higher levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that promotes inflammation.

Running
The good news about running is that it promotes blood flow and releases stress. The bad news is that it exacerbates the effects of gravity, and the repetitive up-and-down pounding motion can eventually lead to sagging. Dermatologists caution that avid runners simply avoid other behaviors that can contribute to aging, and start an anti-aging skin care regimen earlier than normal.b

It comes as no surprise that many of the most beautiful and famous people go to great lengths to maintain their youthful appearance. They work out with personal trainers. They go to the best hair salons and rejuvenating spas. They use exotic skin care products. And they go to the best cosmetic surgeons.

Cosmetic or plastic surgery can be as simple as a "lunchtime peel" or as involved as a complete face-lift. Botox injections can eliminate "frown lines." Liposuction can reduce excess fat. You can reduce or enlarge just about anything! But there is one beauty secret that is not well known. It beautifies the most looked-at part of the body. It provides dramatic transformations in one visit. It doesn't require surgery. In fact, you can stay awake through the entire procedure. What is it? Cosmetic Dentistry.

While plastic surgery certainly has its place, cosmetic dentistry has its own distinct advantages. It doesn't matter how beautiful the rest of the features are, if the teeth are ugly, no one's going to pay much attention to the rest. Beautifying a smile provides instant gratification. The changes to one's appearance can be incredible! A "smile lift" immediately improves confidence and self-esteem. The recovery time is insignificant. You can eat with it, smile with it, talk with it and kiss with it!

Beyond appearances, cosmetic dentistry has the unique advantage of being able to improve one's health. So many people are walking around with historical dental work that is compromising their oral health. Many others have worn their teeth to the point that their bite is causing symptoms of "TMJ," such as headaches, muscle pain, and even dizziness. Top cosmetic dentists address these problems. The frosting on the cake is that patients leave looking their very best.

If you use sunless tanning products it's probably because your skin's health is very important to you - yet you still love the tan look. The following tips will help you make the most as you protect your skin and stay bronze at the same time.

Exfoliate is great! Scrub nice and hard in the shower a few hours before application. Getting rid of the dead skin will help your canned-tan to stick a little longer.

Shaving is great a few hours before applying lotions, but.. avoid shaving right before applying sunless tanning products. Chemicals in the lotion can cause irritation if you don't give your skin time to recover from the shock of the blade.

Stay dry after you apply. Don't get wet and don't sweat for at least a few hours after applying sunless tanning lotions. This will help prevent irregular streaking in your fake-bake.

Gloves, gloves, gloves. Unless you want your hands to be neon orange, wear cheap latex gloves when you apply your bronzers.

If you notice some areas of your body, like your elbows, get too dark after applying sunless tanning lotions, apply baby oil or gel to these areas before hand. This will help balance out your bronze.

Try these self-tanning tips this summer, and enjoy looking golden without sacrificing your skin to the sun!

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What can you do to recall your dreams more often and interpret them more clearly? The experts offer these tips: 

1. Incubate an idea. Before you go to sleep, consciously think about a topic or a person you'd like to dream about. Pose a question that's troubling you and see how your dream responds to it. 

2. Keep track. Next to your bed, place a pad and pen, or a tape recorder or laptop, to record your dreams as soon as you wake up. 

3. Try to awaken naturally, without the help of an alarm clock or barking dog that can disrupt your dream cycle. If your schedule doesn't allow you to sleep in during the week, begin your dream journal on a weekend or during a vacation. 

4. Wake up slowly. For the first moment after you awaken, lie still and keep your eyes closed, because your dream may be connected to your body position while you slept. Try to recollect the dream and then store it in your memory by giving it a name like "Late for an Exam" or "My Date with Ashley Judd." When you rise, immediately write down as many images, feelings and impressions as you can. 

5. Connect the dots. To better interpret your dreams, try to make connections between your recalled dreams and recent events. Do you recognize people from the present or past? Can you detect any themes from the dream? Look for patterns over several dreams that might help explain an individual dream. 

6. Change the outcome. If you have recurring nightmares that make it difficult to sleep, try to change the endings. Once you awaken from a bad dream, visualize a change in the action to create a more positive outcome. If you are trapped, try to fly. In your dream, you can do what you want! 

7. Be patient. It may take days or weeks before you're able to recall your dreams in detail, but the experts advise to keep practicing. Dream memories are fragile, and trying to recall all the plot twists and turns on consecutive nights seems to have a cumulative effect.

When my pale-skinned, Anglo-Irish father was a kid, his parents would lovingly scoot him out of the house and into the blazing California sun with the order to, “Go out and get a good, healthy sunburn!” As we bask in the enlightenment of the modern age, however, such a scenario might warrant a call to Child Protective Services.

Not so long ago, a feverish red hide was perceived as a sign of good health. But with scientific research of recent decades consistently linking UV-ray exposure to the development of deadly skin cancers, staying shielded from the rays seems like a no-brainer. Instead, shrewd retailers have brought this bad habit indoors with ubiquitous tanning bed franchises like Hollywood Tans, L.A. Tans, and Planet Beach. Americans with bronze ambitions flocked to the beds like moths to a flame, and the indoor tanning industry now brings in $5 billion annually.

Indoor tanning—like smoking and the occasional six-margarita evening—is one of those guilty behaviors that we all know probably isn’t super-duper good for us, but which many otherwise-intelligent women indulge in anyway. Not surprisingly, young women constitute the majority of tanning bed users. According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), every day more than one million Americans patronize tanning salons and over seventy percent of customers are Caucasian women between sixteen and forty-nine.

Preventative Medicine

In response to the escalating number of young tanning bed users—and the correlated rise in skin cancers among this population—the AAD has launched an aggressive campaign to educate young women on this issue. Print ads, internet banners, and TV spots warn of the harm that tanning beds can cause to users’ health and appearance. The ads are direct and informative, albeit a little grating in that strained, teen-speak way: one poster quips that “tanning beds can B 2 risky 4 wrds.”

Spokesperson for the campaign is Miss Maryland 2006, Brittany Leitz, who knows the dangers of tanning all too well. She began tanning, (both at salons and outdoors), at the age of seventeen, and was diagnosed with stage II melanoma at twenty years old; she has since undergone twenty-seven surgeries to remove the tumor and other moles on her body, and has the scars to prove it. Melanoma is the second most common cancer in women between twenty and thirty-five, and the leading cause of cancer death in women ages twenty-five to thirty.

It’s nice to know that the AAD professionals who might actually benefit from our health problems are taking steps toward preventing them. And it’s a good thing, since the tanning salon industry is pretty self-serving in its portrayal of the dangers and benefits of UV exposure. Contrary to what salon-owners claim, regular tanning is not “needed” for the production of Vitamin D; even in winter weather, the incidental rays absorbed during your daily routine should be sufficient.

Salons also purport to offer a safe tanning experience by filtering out most UVB (sunburn-causing) light. But the sunlamps’ flood of UVA rays penetrates deep into the skin, causing genetic damage to skin cells and accelerating the skin’s aging process. The National Institute of Health and the World Health Organization have indicated both UVB and UVA rays as causes of cancer.

A Ban on Indoor Tanning?

With so much information underlining the hazards of tanning bed usage, does it become the government’s responsibility to do away with tanning salons? Not really. After all, sunlight is a natural resource, and many people still contract skin cancer the old-fashioned way—by baking out in the sun. Indoor tanning, like drinking and smoking, can be regulated but is unlikely to be abolished.

What’s important is that aspiring golden girls get the facts on tanning before going under the lamps. I spoke with my friend Maria, a twenty-two year old Ivy-Leaguer and future law student, about her tanning habit. She has an unlimited tanning package at a local salon and likes to go three or four times per week (promotions like this encourage frequent use by customers wanting to maximize their spending). She admits that tanning can be addictive: “You look more attractive when you are tan, you feel thinner, your skin is clearer, it’s way cheaper than going on vacation to get that tan you want, plus it’s the only way to stay dark during the school year.” When asked whether she’s concerned with the health risks associated with tanning beds, she replies that “Occasionally I worry about the long term effects of tanning beds … but I don’t really think about it too often. At the moment, the short term effects outweigh the risks.”

Such shortsightedness is a downfall for many of us who should know better. But hopefully, with more efforts like the AAD’s public awareness campaign, and concerned friends sharing the facts about tanning with one another, young women will think twice about getting into bed with cancer-causing UV rays. Fortunately, the alternatives to a sun-baked tan are just as sexy: add a skin-tinting moisturizer to your daily routine, dust on some bronzer, or adopt the glamorous porcelain look a la Dita von Teese. The verdict is in: Indoor tanning is out.

Everyone dreams of having skin that is healthy, smooth and radiant. This state of skin perfection would have to derive from proper and attentive care. Your skin could convey its wishes, its needs for nutrition and concern. Listen to its voice, pamper it with timely care, and your skin will maintain its very best condition always. Balance: The First Criterion for Perfect Skin

At the crux of the latest global beauty concepts, lies the need for skin balance, which is the first criterion for perfect skin. Here, "balance" refers to the natural physiological functions of the skin, such as regulation of moisture, oil secretion, sensitive reactions and organisational structures. Only when these four areas are regulated and balanced, can the skin present its very best. Conversely, if there is an imbalance in the four factors, the skin will develop problems accordingly.

Warning Signal 1:
Dryness, lack of moisture, slight peeling, dry wrinkles

Skin's Revelation: 
Functional imbalance in regulation of moisture

The Best Solution: 
Emergency replenishment of moisture

Suggested Method: 
Give skin the ample moisturising nutrition it needs. Choose special moisturising skincare products that contain natural minerals, effective moisture-replenishing factors, natural compound vitamins, collagen, etc.

Warning Signal 2: 
Insufficient or excessive oil, whiteheads, blackheads, acne

Skin's Revelation: 
Functional imbalance in oil secretion

The Best Solution: 
Balance oil secretion

Suggested Method: 
Choose skincare products that have oil-absorption, inflammation-reduction and germ-elimination properties. For skin that secretes excessive oil, take care of cleanliness and inflammation reduction.

Warning Signal 3: 
Sagging, signs of aging such as wrinkles

Skin's Revelation: 
Functional imbalance in organisational structure

The Best Solution: 
Emergency replenishment of nutrients

Suggested Method: 
Focus on the replenishment of effective anti-wrinkle and skin-firming ingredients, such as amino acids, various vitamins, protein essences, etc, so as to enhance skin metabolism and restore its natural vitality within the shortest time.

Warning Signal 4: 
Weakness, itch, red spots

Skin's Revelation: 
Functional imbalance in sensitive reactions

The Best Strategy: 
Emergency desensitisation

Suggested Method: 
Conduct a self-diagnosis first. If the condition is mild, nurse it using Bel'Air's prescription. If the condition is severe, involving burns or abnormal swelling, consult a doctor or specialist.

Listen to Your Skin

These are some of the warning signals that will be sounded when a problem in skin balance occurs. Usually, the prologue will take the form of itch. When your skin gives the signal for help, it is time to give it the nutrition and moisture it needs. In this way, you can effectively maintain your skin at a state of healthy and optimum balance. So, when your skin sounds the warning signal for imbalance, don't ever neglect it. Putting the balance back into your skin will ensure its radiance and beauty!

Deciding to slather on sunscreen should be a no-brainer. The hard part is choosing one that's right for your skin type. Even if you have a deep, dark tan, you still need to use sunscreen. Experts recommend using one with an SPF of at least 15 (higher if you have fair skin or live in the South or at a high elevation.) You should apply it liberally to all exposed body parts at least 30 minutes before going out in the sun. Then make sure you reapply every two hours and after swimming or sweating.

And if you're still holding on to last year's sunscreens, don't. Some ingredients degrade, so get rid of old sunscreens and buy some new ones. To help you make sense of the ingredients and terms you'll see on the bottle, here's a guide to sunscreen lingo.

Just click on the words to get their definitions.

Avobenzone: Also known as Parsol 1789, it protects against both UVA and UVB rays.

Broad-spectrum protection: A broad-spectrum sunscreen helps protect your skin from ultraviolet A (UVA) as well as ultraviolet B (UVB) rays. UVA rays cause premature wrinkling and may cause skin cancer. UVB rays burn and are considered the main cause of basal and squamous cell carcinomas as well as a significant cause of melanoma. Experts recommend using a sunscreen that protects against both types of ultraviolet radiation.

Lotion, cream, or gel: One is not more effective than another, so the type of sunscreen you choose depends on your preference. You may want to use a cream on your face, since gels can sting around the eyes.

Oil-free: Look for this label if you have oily or acne-prone skin and want to avoid breakouts caused by sunscreen.

PABA or PABA-free: Short for para-aminobenzoic acid, and used in many sunscreens, but some people are allergic to it. If you're one of those people, make sure to look for a PABA-free sunscreen.

SPF: Short for sun protection factor, SPF measures the length of time a product protects against skin burning from ultraviolet radiation, compared to how long the skin takes to burn without protection. If it takes 20 minutes without protection to begin burning, using an SPF 15 sunscreen theoretically prevents burning 15 times longer -- about 5 hours. Experts recommend using a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15, since that number blocks most of the sun's rays.

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation: Invisible rays that are part of the energy coming from the sun. UV radiation that reaches the earth's surface is made up of two types of rays, called UVA and UVB rays. UVB rays are more likely than UVA rays to cause sunburn, but UVA rays pass deeper into the skin. Scientists have long thought that UVB radiation can cause melanoma and other types of skin cancer. They now think that UVA radiation may also add to skin damage that can lead to skin cancer.

Waterproof: Indicates that the product provides protection for at least 80 minutes even when swimming or sweating.

Water-resistant: Different from waterproof, this means that the product provides protection for only 40 minutes while swimming or sweating.

Zinc oxide, talc or titanium dioxide: These ingredients are non-chemical, physical sunblocks. They provide good coverage, are waterproof and, most important, cause fewer allergic reactions than chemical sunscreens. The only drawback: These products are not absorbed by the skin, so they tend to create a masklike appearance.