The Beauty Diet (22 page)

Oats, lemon juice, and honey.
This is an excellent combination for a moisturizing facial mask. The oats and honey hydrate and plump, while the lemon lightens.

Plain yogurt.
This is an excellent mask for oily and combination skin. Yogurt, oatmeal, and honey are a great combination to use for balancing the skin.

Milk.
Excellent for soothing irritated skin. Milk contains lactic acids, which are enzymes that help to exfoliate dry patches and make skin smooth and soft. Great for soothing mild sunburns and shaving irritations.

Water.
The best natural resource ever! Drinking water hydrates the skin and helps flush out toxins, which can cause all types of skin problems. Dehydration is a major cause of dry, dull, and patchy skin, as well as acne with dry patches. Water is one of the great balancers of life.

According to New York City–based plastic surgeon Dr. Aron Kressel, the character of our skin will change as we age due to a combination of external and internal factors. Externally, the sun's rays and air pollutants will cause the skin to become wrinkled, rough, and darkened and to develop red spots. Internally the chronological, inevitable aging of the skin causes thinning of the skin and loss of elasticity. Following is a summary of Dr. Kressel's lowdown on popular skin treatments.

Numerous products have become available with the promise of rejuvenating the skin. What these products share is their ability to stimulate the components of the skin to develop thicker, plumper, shinier, and smoother skin. Products containing alpha-hydroxy acids are available in concentrations ranging from 5 percent to 15 percent. Alpha-hydroxy acids (glycolic acid) have been shown to improve hyperpigmentation, color, and to a lesser degree the character of wrinkles. When used in moisturizer products at a 4- to 5-percent concentration, skin smoothness has improved.

Tretinoin (Renova/Retin-A) is a prescription product that has been shown conclusively to improve wrinkles and smooth skin by stimulating collagen production. Unfortunately, when use of the product is discontinued, the skin reverts to its untreated condition. The major drawback of this product is that the skin becomes quite sensitive to sun exposure.

Glycolic acid and trichloroacetic peels have been shown to smooth skin and reduce hyperpigmentation. The higher the product's concentration, the greater the resulting effect, though with deeper chemical trauma to the skin. More peel means more posttreatment redness and crusting, which can often last for several weeks or months. Another potential complication is the development of areas of scarring or irregular skin lightening.

Treatment with laser or LED light causes a controlled thermal burn on the layers of the skin. The depth of injury depends on the type of laser and other factors varied by the laser operator. Often small variations in the settings can cause significant trauma to the skin. Just as with chemical peels, these burns can cause redness and crusting and potentially areas of irregular skin lightening. Many of the lasers/light products will require multiple treatments over several months. The hope is that, by using a less aggressive treatment more frequently, the posttreatment side effects will be minimal.

When evaluating options for skin rejuvenation, take a historical perspective. Over the years numerous products have arrived with great promise that did not stand the test of time. Clearly, if there were a perfect product, research would cease. When looking at a new product or treatment being offered, we have to look at its potential for improvement and also weigh it based on the number of treatments that will be needed, the time commitment required, and the potential for skin damage.

Zest is the secret of all beauty. There is no beauty that is attractive without zest.

—Christian Dior

On a good hair day, anything seems possible! When your hair is lustrous and shiny, with extra bounce and body, you feel energetic, attractive, and sexy. With the right color and a terrific cut, you know you'll make a good first impression on a date, you'll turn heads walking down the street, or you'll command attention when you need it most. When and with whom you choose to let your hair down later is your business!

Beautiful, healthy hair is not only a pleasure for others to see; it's a pleasure to have—even show off. Our hair says a lot
about who we are and how we're feeling. In fact, when someone makes a drastic change in her hair, we wonder if she is the same person. Maybe that's why it was so disturbing when Britney Spears shaved her head. Or when Faith Hill chopped off her long blonde curls and got a trendy, razor-cut, bottle blonde style. In fact, when actress Keri Russell cut her long ringlets in favor of a short crop, viewers stopped watching her top-rated show, "Felicity"!

We all want thick, healthy hair that looks shiny and fresh. The best way to get great hair is to grow it. While this chapter does include information about taking care of the hair you have, the real story is the hair you are
going
to have in about six months. Starting today, you are going to grow your own lovely, lustrous locks—then treat them gently so your hair stays full and fabulous.

Just like your skin, your hair reflects your nutritional status. Behind great hair is great nutrition. There are no hair products that can be applied on the outside that will make up for poor nutrition, and there's a limit to how much conditioners can help damaged hair. Unlike your skin, hair can't repair itself, so if your hair has become thin or brittle, it's time to switch your focus from buying expensive hair products to growing a new head of healthier hair from the inside out.

After you start my Beauty Diet, it usually takes two to three months to start seeing results in the condition of your hair. Scalp hair generally grows at a rate of about half an inch per month, or six inches a year, but this growth rate is very individual—yours could be slower or faster. Also, as people age, their rate of hair growth slows. This means patience and consistency are very important as you await your new halo of fresh hair.

Hair follicles can be found all over the body, but the highest density of follicles is on the head, which is also where the longest hairs grow. No new follicles are formed after birth. This means you'll want to take care of the follicles you've got. It also means no product can give you more hair than you already have.

The average person has around 120,000 hairs on his or her head. Blondes tend to have more than the average, brunettes are about average, while redheads tend to have a little less than average.

The hair follicles in your scalp are like little pockets. Each hair grows from rapidly dividing cells in a bulb at the base of the follicle. The root of each hair is nourished by the connective tissue around it. Each follicle needs a constant supply of oxygen, nutrients, and moisture to grow hair properly, which is why good circulation in the scalp is important to gorgeous hair.

Each follicle is associated with one or several tiny sebaceous glands that produce sebum. This natural oil softens and protects both the hair and the scalp. It's easier for sebum to travel down long, straight hair, which explains why curly hair tends to be drier. It's important to make sure sebum does not accumulate and clog the follicles, which can cause loss of hair.

The part of a strand of hair that is visible above the surface of the scalp is called the
shaft
. Each shaft consists of three concentric layers: the cuticle, the cortex, and the medulla.

The
cuticle
is the tough outside layer that protects the inner sections of the hair. The cuticle is thin and colorless. Damage to the cuticle can make your hair look dull. It also makes the hair more porous, which means it will absorb more humidity.

The
cortex
is the middle layer of hair. The proteins twisted together inside the cortex give hair its elasticity. The cortex contains the melanin that gives your hair its color. Eumelanin creates brown or black hair, while pheomelanin makes hair appear red. Blonde hair is a result of very low amounts of melanin; the shade of blonde depends on which type of melanin is present. When melanin is no longer produced in the hair root, the hair grows in without pigment and appears gray.