Reversing your aging process is now a reality

Reversing your aging process is now a reality

You may be shocked to know that as many as 98 percent of the personal care products you and your family put on your skin may contain harmful ingredients. These products are not helping your skin and may actually be aging you more rapidly

by Linda Leibl — 

Another year, another wrinkle — no way! Now you can actually reverse your aging process. Today, we are combining all the new and exciting technology of the past decade with many of the results hard-working herbalists, biologists and organic chemists are presenting to us.

It is now possible to actually look and feel great without radical surgical procedures. Most of my clients are educated, professional women who want less radical alternatives for looking and feeling younger. They are open to guidance, suggestions and choices to help them live healthier, longer lives.

Looking from the outside in

You can take an objective view of your life by pretending you are standing outside your house and looking in your window — let’s say, your bathroom window. Do you know exactly what is on your vanity, or do you have a cosmetic graveyard underneath it?

Now is a great opportunity to schedule time to clean out your old skincare products, makeup, shampoos and conditioners, and other miscellaneous personal care items. You also might check your other bathrooms and clean out everything you do not recognize, that has expired or contains chemicals. Use this time to teach your children how to clean, read labels and make positive choices for their futures.

You may be shocked to know that as many as 98 percent of the personal care products you and your family put on your skin may contain harmful ingredients. These products are not helping your skin and may actually be aging you more rapidly.

Check the ingredient lists on your skincare products. They should contain no mineral oil, which may be listed by any one of 22 different names. Skincare manufacturers realize that educated consumers are no longer purchasing their products. As they find their revenues falling, they are ramping up their advertising campaigns, aiming at less savvy and less educated consumers. It is disturbing to realize that companies out there are distributing consumable products that may be harming their customers.

Did you know?

• A sun tan is the skin’s first indication of sun damage.
• Fewer than 20 percent of Americans wear sunscreen year-round.
• More than 1 million new cases of skin cancer occur in the U.S. each year.
• Skin cancers occur three times more often than breast cancer and lung cancer combined.
• Eighty percent of the visible signs of aging are due to sun exposure and can be avoided.

From your skin’s perspective

Consider the condition of your skin for the past 20, 30, 40, 50 or 60 years. Have you treated your skin with products that actually benefit it? Have you kept yourself healthy, your stress levels down and protected your skin from the sun?

The sun is the skin’s number one enemy. In Arizona, we are embarking on the time of the year when we tend to get more active outdoors. Spending time in the fresh air and the great outdoors does wonders for the body and soul; however, your skin needs extra protection from certain outdoor elements — with the sun heading the list. Sun damage is not limited just to painful sunburns. Other effects include premature aging, wrinkles, spots and skin with a dry, leathery texture. Too much sun exposure also can lead to skin cancer.

There is a line of sun protection products that contains anti-aging elements and key sun protection factors to address the skin’s need “before” you go out in the sun. Formulated with technologically advanced nanospheres and other revolutionary anti-aging elements, these products are not just for a day of skiing, jogging, an outing to the park or your next vacation; they are for you and your family everyday — before the damage is done. This product is from a family-owned company called Arbonne International.

Do your part for your family, loved ones and friends — and educate them. Shift to skincare and personal care products with chemical- and toxic-free ingredients. Check all areas of your home. Is there a toxic wasteland under your kitchen sink? Consider using environment- and people-friendly nontoxic cleaners for your home.

It’s your life, so it’s up to you to take full responsibility for it, your environment, your health and your future. Why not begin today by taking charge and making wise choices?

Linda L. Leibl, B.S. has been a clinical esthetician since 1986 and founded Advanced Skin Technology in 1993 in Scottsdale, Ariz. mybeautifulskin.myarbonne.com, [email protected] or 480-443-3445.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 23, Number 1, February/March 2005.