Skin Care

Garra rufa or doctor fish is a species of freshwater fish which breeds in the river basins of the Northern and Central Middle East, mainly in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. It is also called the doctor fish, because of the role it plays in healing persons affected with psoriasis.

Garra rufa is often called the nibble fish, kangal fish, and doctorfishen. In non-medical terms the fish is also called reddish log sucker.

Majority of Turkish spas breed the doctor fish in an outdoor pool, where they feed on an unusual diet- the skin of psoriasis affected patients. Just like the combfish, the doctor fish devours the affected and dead areas of the skin, while leaving the healthy skin to grow.

Though, the spas are not meant to be a treatment center, patients come here regularly for temporary cure of the symptoms. Inspite of the unpredictable nature of the disease, some patients have experienced complete cure as a result of their repeated exposure to the doctor fish.

Garra rufa can be kept in an aquarium at home, but regular food supply can effect their skin-feeding behaviour, which arises mainly due to scarcity of food and hence aquarium specimens are not suited for treatment of skin diseases.

The doctor fish is nature’s gift to mankind and we should do our best to conserve the species.

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Forget a visit to the dermetologist for your skin treatment, Get treated by the doctor fish if you have a skin disease. The latest fad to get rid of your flaky, scaly or scabby skin is to feed them to fish.

The idea behind these spas is that you soak your hands, feet or you body in a tub filled with hundreds of hungry tiny toothless fish who’ll happily chomp away the diseased skin leaving your body exfoliated and glowing.

Doctor fish are a species called garra rufa and they originate in Hot Spring pools of the Tigress and Euphrates rivers, in the East Anatolian Kangal region of Turkey and Iraqi and Iran.They have long been known for their ability to treat the symptoms of skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema and dermatitis.

The ravenous fish will attack diseased skin with a vengeance and will lick it up happily. Just like others they have their preferences too when it comes to treating the skin; The more diseased skin gets the first preference which means if you soaked yourself in the fishy pool along with your partner who has chapped and scaly skin, your partner gets the special treatment first.

Cashing in on this new found craze,more and more spas are offering treatments with doctor fish but not every body enjoys getting their bodies nibbled and tickles by fish.

This treatment may offer a hope to thousands of sufferers who may prefer to give in to the doctor fish for a few hours rather than suffer for the lifetime though the spas don’t promise that it is a permanent solution.

So, are you ready to get nibbled by Dr.Fish?

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Ciao Bella’s extraordinary moisturizing hand and body cream will make your skin soft like silk as they are packed with vitamins for protection. The deep conditioning treatment of these non-greasy creams will restore skin’s moisture levels.

They are specially designed with a blend of vitamins, natural botanical extracts, pure essentials oils and shea butter that will keep your skin feeling nourished and naturally soft and supple.

These ultra-moisturizing creams are available in lavender, gardenia, peppermint and more; use them after bathing to replenish skin or with a calming and rejuvenating massage.

Price: $18

Shiseido Future Solution Total Revitalizing Cream is a luxurious age targeting treatment that reduces the visible signs of wrinkles, fine lines and loss of resilience with skin-fortifying botanicals and vitamins, and rich revitalizing hydrators. I wonder it really works or not!!!

However, it claims that Future Revitalizing Shiseido Solution Total is more of a science than a common beauty product. It frees your skin from of external stresses, which cause signs of aging.

It claims to provide these Shiseido anti aging benefits:

• It claims to be a total revitalizing beauty treatment.

• Prevents the appearance fine lines and wrinkles.

• Keeps moisture balance for hours.

• Makes skin look softer and smoother.

And it is suitable for all skin types. So if you are impressed by this Shiseido skin cream, buy it for $225.

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Pimples or acnes badly affect the beauty and sometimes they even leave behind marks, effecting skin badly. So, question arises that how pimples or acnes could be prevented. Following are some of the tips to enjoy beauty without pimples:

1. Pimples usually appear on oily skin, therefore, make sure that you wash your face at least 2 to 3 times in a day.

2. After consulting dermatologist, apply only medicated creams, which may most likely include benzoyl peroxide.

3. Make sure that you drink at least, 6 to 8 glasses of water daily.

4. Use a mud mask once a week to clean out pores.

5. Avoid too much make-up.

6. Don’t rub off pimples or acnes as it may leave behind bad scars.

7. Do physical workouts, as they help improving blood circulation through the whole body and through sweating clean out the pores too.

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Via: The Health Blog

Often cold winters make skin dry and dull. But now Origins has released a new product that will bring back the warm glow to your face and will make your skin soft and smooth for the spring and summer.

Origins Modern Fusion Skin Transforming Catalyst, a lightweight serum revitalizes the skin in just one month. It has rice as a key ingredient and is touted as a ‘daily facial from nature.’

This remarkable skin smoothing serum is derived from the ancient rituals performed by Asian women working in rice fields. It combats skin dullness, roughness, sallowness, brown spots, fine lines and signs of sun damage.

The serum’s tiny, light-diffusing particles help shrink pores and restore resilience to your skin. Origins Modern Fusion Skin Transforming Catalyst is gentle and won’t cause redness, flaking or unpleasant sensation. Ingredients such as ingredients purple rice and oryzanol are powerful anti-oxidants.

For best results use this serum twice daily on clean skin or with your favorite moisturizer.

Price: $36 for a 1 oz. container

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When it comes to skin, male skin is three times more likely to develop certain types of skin cancer. Researchers from the Ohio State University have come out unveiling this fact, after testing the effects of UVB rays on mice.

Explaining the reason behind this, researchers state that where female skin possesses a higher level of antioxidants in their skin, while male skin does not, turning male skin more susceptible to skin cancer or skin damage.

Relying on this study it could be asserted that male skin requires more protection than female skin. Therefore, males should be more conscious about their skin. Giving similar advice Dr. Jennifer Linder, a skin-cancer surgeon in Scottsdale, Ariz states:

Males should use a skin cream or gel that contains antioxidant vitamins, preferably A, C and E.

This study is quite significant but question remains unanswered that how far study conducted on mice be applicable for human beings. Therefore, if experts moves further with similar study on mice then results, looming out of that would be more conclusive. In this regard, following remark of Susan Wattz, a cancer researcher at the University of Cincinnati seems to be sounding the same:

Researchers need to determine whether antioxidant levels are significantly different in human males and females.

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Via: Dispatch

Boots No7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum that claimed to reveal younger skin in just 4 weeks, have soared by 2000 percent following an independent study.

This anti-ageing cream featured in a BBC science programme Tuesday, sold out remarkably in UK, with 13 bottles sold every minute and now many stores have run out of the ‘No7 Protect & Perfect Serum.’

And by the next day Boots.com sold out of the beauty product almost instantly with all stock sold overnight after the programme ended at 10pm on Tuesday. Demand rocketed to such an extent that a number of Boots outlets have had to draw up waiting lists for customers.

The cream was praised by researchers on the BBC’s Horizon programme during an investigation into the science behind cosmetics claiming to prevent and repair the signs of ageing such as pigmentation, lines and wrinkles.

Medical expert Professor Lesley Regan found the Boots product was effective for repairing sun-damaged skin and ironing out wrinkles.

Tests were carried out on human volunteers and by measuring levels of fibrillin - a skin protein affected by UV damage to skin and the university team was able to see the serum begin to repair damage to the skin’s structure. They were surprised by the results attained with the Boots product.

Professor Griffiths, who is Foundation Professor of Dermatology at the university, said,

At both basic science and clinical levels Boots No7 Protect & Perfect has been shown scientifically to repair photo-aged skin and improve the fine wrinkles associated with photo-ageing.

The fact that the product sells for just £17 for a 40ml pot is all the more attractive. Women across the country are keen to find more about the product.

Ian Filby, director of beauty products at Boots, said,

We have been overwhelmed with the response following BBC’s Horizon, with women literally racing each other to get hold of the last product in stores.

We are getting more stock out to our stores on an hourly basis to manage demand.

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If you think that smoking would affect just your facial skin then unfortunately you think wrong because in a study a fact came out stating that smoking affects the skin all over the body, no matter skin was exposed to sun or not.

Throwing more light on the conclusions, which sprang out through the study Dr. Yolanda Helfrich of the University of Michigan, who led the study said:

We examined non-facial skin that was protected from the sun, and found that the total number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day and the total years a person has smoked were linked with the amount of skin damage a person experienced.

Further, the same study stated that participants who were older than 65 years, their skins were carrying more wrinkles than nonsmokers. Interestingly, same was the case with participants aged 45 to 91.

It was already known that smoking is not good for maintaining healthy skin, since it reduces blood supply to the skin by constricting blood vessels. However, this is somewhat more shocking that smoking affects not only the sun-exposed skin but also the skin unexposed to the sun. Following are some of the links that would help you understanding more effectively the way smoking affects health:-

• How smoking affects the way, you look

• Smoking - Wrinkles/Skin

• The Effect of Smoking on The Skin

• Smoking ‘triples skin cancer risk’

Image credit: Women Lifestyle

Via: CNN

Women’s search for eternal beauty never ceases and they are willing to spend on any thing that will claim to add more beauty and glow on their skin. It seems that the people at Coco-Cola are cashing in on the idea of a beauty drink to pamper the needs of women.

Coco-cola has been manufacturing drinks to quench your thirst and this time it has come out with another drink to quench women’s thirst for beauty. It has partnered with L’oreal to make Lumae- a tea based drink which is supposed to have all the ingredients to make your skin glow.

We all know the benefits of drinking green tea which is rich in anti oxidants that help fight aging and weight loss. As much as I know these benefits, I am a bit lazy when it comes to actually preparing it. If someone offered me a beauty drink where I don’t have to go through the process of preparing it, I would probably jump at it and that’s exactly what Coco-cola is doing.

Lumae will be marketed as a beauty drink aimed at women over 25 rather than a soft drink. The product is still in the developmental stages and will hit the market by 2008. So, I’ll still have to depend a while on others to make this beauty drink before I can stock up my fridge with loads of cans of Lumae.

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