Exfoliate and Radiate II

Exfoliating our skin is a must. If we want that beautiful radiant glow, we have to exfoliate to get rid of the dead skin cells that are sitting on the top layer of our skin, and yes we ALL have dead skin cells.
I wrote on this topic a couple of years ago, but that was before Real Raw Beauty had their own face exfoliator. Well, we are happy to say that the Pink Himalayan Salt Face Exfoliator is now one of our permanent products.  This product contains Pink Himalayan extra fine salt along and organic oils. Perfect combination for radiant glowing skin.

Here are a few reasons why it is so important to exfoliate.

1) Helps diminish signs of aging. As we age our skin becomes drier and has less elasticity, which results in fine lines and wrinkles. Also, the texture of our skin is not what it was in our younger years. This is because of the multiple layers of dead skin cells that accumulate over the years. Exfoliating helps your skin to maintain its radiance and lighten and brighten age and sun spots. The organic oils will help to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles 

2) Helps clear acne and breakouts. Exfoliation helps to reduce the occurrence of acne and blackouts. Acne-prone skin sheds extra skin cells more than other skin types, but the cells do not fall away. Instead the dead cells stick to the skin, clogging the pores and hair follicles. As the dead cell debris builds, the skin produces excess follicle oils, which leads to blackheads and breakouts. You have to exfoliate to get rid of these excess dead skin cells.

3) Reduces large pores. Along with removing dead skin cells, exfoliation removes the dirt stuck deep in your pores. Cleansing your skin alone will not accomplish this. When pores become clogged they appear larger. Exfoliating will diminish the size of the pores and give your skin that healthy polished glow.

4) Improves the texture of your skin. You can speed up the skin renewal process by exfoliating the dead skin cells, allowing the new healthy cells to take their place. This process turns your complexion from dull to bright, vibrant and smooth. It also reduces fine lines and wrinkles and keeps your skin softer.

5) Helps promote cellular renewal.  This in turn helps produce collagen and helps improve the skins elasticity.

Those are some great reasons why all of us would want to exfoliate.

The Face Exfoliant is made from pure pink salt from the Himalayan mountains and 5 organic oils. The combinations of salt and oils is perfect for daily exfoliation.
Click onto www.realrawbeauty.com and the first 50 buyers will receive 10% off their purchase.

You are going to love what you see!!

Until next time,
Jan

My daily skin supplements....

Beautiful healthy skin is not only dependent on the products we use on our skin, but also on what food and supplements we take in to our bodies.  Actually the question, "what supplements do you take and where do you get them?",  consumes most of the emails and texts I receive.
I have written on most of them, but I will re post the ones that I take daily.  Before I list them all, I want to show a diagram of what happens to our skin as we age. This is a cross section of our skin. The top pink layer is the epidermis, the middle section with the collagen and vascular tissue is dermis and the bottom section is the hypo dermis.

It's a little hard to read the words below the pictures, but there are 2 gray lines under each picture and the first line points to the collagen (looks like a ball of cotton) in our skin and the second gray line shows the blood flow to our skin. As you can see in your 20's you have plenty of blood flow and collagen. It begins to diminish in your 30's and 40's and by the time you are in your 50's there is very little collagen and and blood flow.  The result,  wrinkles,  which is depicted by the wave portion of the epidermis on the 50+ photo.

This picture of the sliced opened apple shows what happens when you cut it in half and it is exposed to oxygen. This is called oxidation.  It begins to age the apple and turn it brown. That is exactly what happens to our skin when we encounter free radicals. Our skin begins to oxidize and age.
Free radicals are produced in the body to aid in metabolic processes like digestion and conversion of food into energy. But they are also found in the air we breathe, food, water, cigarette smoke, car and industrial exhaust, to name a few. When we have too many free radicals they affect the skin. They speed up aging by breaking down collagen and reduce the amount of oxygen to our cells. They age our skin. Antioxidants save our cells from free radicals, and help slow down the aging process. There are foods that are full of antioxidants along with supplements you can take. I am just going to tell you about the supplements I take today,  I'll save the foods with highest antioxidants for another post!!

The supplements I take are for the purpose of helping rebuild collagen and increase blood flow and fight free radicals. 

My newest discovery is Phytoceramide. This is a plant derived equivalent of ceramics, a lipid that keeps your skin hydrated and plump in the epidermis part of our skin. We start to loose ceramics as we age just like collagen and blood flow. The result, your skin begins to appear rough and wrinkled. Taking phytoceramide helps restore the outer layer of our skin. These powerful molecules are carried to the inner layer the dermis and then seep into the epidermis and restore the damaged barrier, hydrate, moisturize and help fill out wrinkles.

Most pytoceramides are derived from wheat, but I am not a fan of wheat products so I found one that is wheat free.

In addition to the Phytoceramides I take these also.

Chinese Herb-Pearl Powder

Antioxidant- Astaxanthin

Antioxidant- Sea Buckthorn berry

Astragalus Root

You can look back through older posts if you want to read about Pearl Powder, Astaxanthin, Sea Buckthorn Berry and Astragalus root.  I purchase all of them from Amazon. I also detox with supplements and juicing on a daily basis. All these things along with Real Raw Beauty products continue to improve the overall quality and texture of my skin.

If you have any questions about any of the supplements or products, please feel free to email me at realrawbeauty@gmail.com.

Until next time,

Jan

www.realrawbeauty.com

Update..... and my newest product, Pearl Powder...

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a Chinese herb, He Shou Wu. I told you that one of the benefits of this supplement was that it slows down the hair graying process. I will have to say that I do believe it really works. I normally get my hair colored once every 4 weeks. And that is because by the 3rd week after going to my salon I am pretty gray. Not just my roots but my eyebrows. I actually called my salon and changed my appointment because I clearly don't need to go next week. So if you are like me and visit your salon quite often, you might want to try out this herb. I couldn't believe it worked so fast and so well. I don't know if it works on everyone, but it is definitely worth a purchase. I also think it would be a great preventative if you are younger and not experiencing graying yet. But if you want to go naturally gray, I would say don't take it  because it will delay the process.

So Pearl Powder....who would have ever thought that you can grind up pearls and they are so beneficial for you and your skin.

Here are a few things to know about Pearl Powder.

Pearl Powder is an ancient Chinese beauty secret that has been used for over 3000 years to promote lustrous, pure beautiful skin. It is renown for fighting wrinkles and the signs of aging.

It has very high concentrations of calcium and minerals as well as anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial. It has been found to promote cell regeneration. It helps clarify the complexion and treat acne. It is good for lightening hyper pigmentation.

It is made from ground pure freshwater pearls. Once the pearls are chosen they are disinfected and then ground into powder. They contain 18 amino acids and over a dozen minerals. These essential building blocks of collagen and protein each have a specific function. If your skin lacks any of these amino acids the result is dry skin and wrinkles. When taken internally, it strengthens bones, muscles and nerves. It reduces skin blemishes and and helps remove pigmentation. the powder enhances the activity of super-oxide dismutase (SOD), this helps eliminate free radicals, skin aging and wrinkles.
It has special attributes for removing skin ulcers, melasma (cause of freckles, age spots and dark spots on the skin.  It nourishes the skin and makes it smooth, elastic, healthy and naturally beautiful. It also contains natural sunscreens.

A few thoughts, it's been taken internally for over 3000 years....
Helps clarify complexion and treat acne...
Strengthens bones and muscles....
Helps reduce skin blemishes, skin aging and wrinkles...
Smooth healthy skin....
Natural sunscreen...

Yes, I bought mine from Dragon Herbs and in a short time notice tighter skin and it seems to helping reduce small wrinkles. Read about it and add it to your Real Raw Beauty skin care line.

Which by the way we are having a special Labor Day Sale through Monday September 1, 2014.
10% off all products and FREE SHIPPING. Don't miss out. www.realrawbeauty.com

Until next time,
Jan

He Shou Wu

I have just recently come across this Chinese herb that is considered the most amazing longevity herb of all the 10,000 herbs. This article written in Natural News explained it's benefits so well, there was no need for me to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. I love this herb, but I haven't been taking it long enough to know if it will reverse the graying of my hair, as it claims that it does for some people that take it. But everything else it claims to do I am experiencing. But trust me, I will let everyone know, especially my hair dresser if my hair begins to reverse and stop graying!!
So just take a few minutes and read about this incredible Chinese herb. It's worth the read.

Out of about 10,000 Chinese medicinal plants only about 60 belong to the class of Superior Tonic Herbs. Out of these 60 herbs He Shou Wu is the most amazing longevity tonic of all. It is widely used in Chinese herbal medicine as a tonic to prevent premature aging by tonifying the Kidney and Liver functions. It also is known to bring up Jing (vital essence), nourishing the blood, and fortifying the muscles, tendons and bones. It strengthens and stabilizes the lower back and knees. He Shou Wu is also used to enhance sexual drive and fertility in men and women. It can increase sperm count in men and help build more semen even in old age. It helps build ova in women as well. It is also widely used in Asia to maintain the youthful condition and color of the hair. This is, for some reason, its most popular attribute but it does so much more than this! There are countless legends of people that have lived well past the century mark taking this herb, including Li Qing Yeun who lived to be 197 years old!

Many people (Including the author) have claimed He Shou Wu has made all the difference in the world as far as stopping pain in the knees and lower back.

He Shou Wu (Called "Foti" by some) is the "Prepared" root of Polygonum multiform - a large vining plant. It is prepared by slicing the root shortly after harvesting and then cooking it in black bean soup (in a proportion of 10 parts He Shou Wu to 1 part black beans) until the soup is exhausted. The "prepared" roots are then dried. This is what makes He Shou Wu a tonic worthy of taking for the rest of one's life. This process has been done in this way for around 1,500 years. If the herb is not prepared in this way it will not have the same tonic energy. However raw He Shou Wu is often used to stop acne and can have a strong laxative effect.

He Shou Wu is a tonic to the endocrine glands; it improves health, stamina and resistance to disease. It is used to reduce cholesterol due in part to its lecithin content. It is used for angina pectoris, bloody stools, hypoglycemia, diabetes, night sweating and has been found to be helpful in schizophrenia.

Science takes He Shou Wu very seriously:

Studies show that He Shou Wu extract improves the cardiovascular system, enhances immune functions, slows the degeneration of glands, increases antioxidant activity, and reduces the accumulation of lipid peroxidation. Such findings suggest that ho-shou-wu is helpful in combating some of the processes that lead to conditions characteristic of old age, thereby also reducing the risk of fatal diseases (e.g., cancer) and incidents (e.g., heart attack, stroke). He Shou Wu was shown to have effects on the antioxidant system superoxide dismutase (SOD), accumulation of lipid peroxidase, and enhancement of cell-mediated immune responses.

Pharmacological studies have shown that prepared He Shou Wu root extract can prolong the life cycle of somatic cells. Laboratory studies have shown that He Shou Wu can promote strong development and prolonged growing cycle in mammalian cells compared to cells in the control group, which demonstrated aging and degeneration.

He Shou Wu`s effect on protecting the liver:

In experiments on mice, prepared He Shou Wu reduces buildup of hepatic (liver) fat. He Shou Wu also lessens the enlargement of the liver caused by carbon tetrachloride poisoning.

He Shou Wu can significantly counter the liver damage in rats caused by peroxidized (spoiled) corn oil. The damage includes fatty liver, liver function damage and elevated levels of peroxidized lipids in the liver.

At a fundamental level in the liver`s cells, in vitro studies have demonstrated He Shou Wu`s ability to inhibit the lipid peroxidation of rat liver microsomes induced by ADP and NADPH.

These studies show that He Shou Wu`s liver protection mechanism relies largely in its ability to inhibit lipid peroxidation (LPO) and its damage to the liver cells.

Studies have also demonstrated that various laboratory animals fed He Shou Wu in their diets lived longer than control animals.

Study 1: A decoction with He Shou Wu as the main ingredient prolonged the lifespan of fruit flies. At 0.1% strength, the decoction could prolong the lifespan by 5.83%. At 0.5% strength, it could prolong the lifespan by 12.03%.

Study 2: He Shou Wu has been shown to slow down the aging of vital organs in aged animals, especially the reproductive organs, the ovary, the uterus and the testicle. The same formula also demonstrated significant results in open human clinical studies.

Study 3: In an attempt to prove Shou Wu`s legendary reputation as being able to reverse grey hair to black, Shou Wu liquor (dilute alcohol extract) was given to 36 people with gray hair. 24 completely recovered their dark hair and 8 more showed improvement. The total effective rate was of 88.9%.

Taking He Shou Wu:

Be sure to get it from a reliable source and be sure the roots are at least 4 years old and that it is traditionally prepared in black bean soup. 6-10 year old roots are available and can really show off the amazing powerful restorative energy of this Superior Chinese Tonic Herb.

Whether you plan on living to 200 years or you just want to preserve your vital essence and Qi to have the energy of a young person for the rest of your life, He Shou Wu should be tried by anyone. At least for the first 100 years of your life!

Written by Christopher Gussa, a formulator of Natural medicine. He is a Certified Master/Clinical Herbalist for 30 years. He is certified in both Western Herbal Therapy and Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine.

I purchase mine from Dragon Herbs on Amazon.

So  if you want to live longer, help protect your liver, increase your libido, improve your health and your immune system or possibly slow down the graying of your hair, give this herb your attention. 

Until next time,
Jan
www.realrawbeauty.com

Your Diet matters.....

Your diet matters....
 for the weight you gain or lose. It matters for the skin you want to have. It matters for your attitude and disposition. It matters for your energy level. It matters for your sleep. It pretty much matters for every aspect of your life.

I for the most part am a pretty "clean" eater. I don't like to put labels on myself declaring I am this kind of eater or another. I follow my intuition and knowledge of food and health. But I honestly have been trying to lose some weight for the last few months, with not much success. I told myself, it's because you had 4 kids, it's because you are 58 and don't produce estrogen anymore, you don't exercise enough.....blah, blah,blah. Basically, it's the stories I was telling myself. And I believed them all. Every time I looked in the mirror I focused on what I didn't like about my body instead of what I did. You do that long enough and you will keep getting more of what you don't want.
So I decided to "clean" up my diet even more and start drinking live juices and smoothies during the day and a light healthy dinner at night.  Green smoothies and juices are not only extremely healthy for you, but they are delicious, and filling. I always make more than I need and keep them in the refrigerator so I can grab some if I get hungry. I have a cold pressed juicer so I can store them during the day and not worry about them losing their nutrients.

And I am here to tell you that it is working! After just one week of following that set up.  I FEEL great which makes me ACT great, sleep better, have more energy and get more accomplished, oh yes, and I actually lost weight!! But one of the best results of juicing and drinking smoothies is what is does for your skin because your body is detoxing and getting toxins out of your skin and organs. Adding more alkaline foods to your diet also balances the body's PH. Why is this important for your skin? Because if your PH is off, your skin will react with wrinkles, inflammation, and acne or breakouts.
I will put a link at the end of the blog and it will explain more about your body's PH and give you a chart that tells you what foods are alkaline and which are acidic.
It is pretty easy to notice if your PH is off. You will have inflammation, headaches, bloating, blemishes, low energy levels, along with increased amount of sickness to name a few. It will also effect the way you act.

You just have to start somewhere. Make one minor change and notice how you FEEL! Start with a orange, pineapple carrot juice in the morning and notice how your body feels when you are drinking it. Buy yourself a book on juicing and get some ideas or surf the Internet. It is full of information on juicing and making smoothies. The more healthy items you add to your diet make it very easy to start dropping the things you don't want in it. 
I actually had someone tell me today that they had seen all the pictures that I posted on Facebook last week of my smoothies and juices, and that it inspired them so much they ordered a blender and started making making smoothies this weekend!!!

Here is a great book to give you ideas and recipes.

Get started and Feel better, improve your skin, lose some weight, increase your energy levels and look better!!

Check out this PH chart and compare it to your diet   www.rense.com/1.mpicons/acidalka.htmww

Until next time,
Jan
www.realrawbeauty.com

Save the Telomeres, don't be frayed....

You are probably saying.......what in the world???

If you are interested in aging gracefully or slowing down that process, here is some exciting news for you. Have you ever heard of telomeres?  If you haven't heard of them, here it is in a nutshell.

To start off with, a little 7th grade science.

Each of our cells has a nucleus. Inside the nucleus are our chromosomes, which contain our DNA. The ends of our chromosomes are called telomers. They are what cap off the ends of the chromosomes. Essential to the telomeres function is a special enzyme called telomerase, which replenishes the telomeres as cells divide.
But the body has a limited supply of telomerase, which restricts cells' ability to replenish their telomeres.

In this picture you can see the red caps at the end of the chromosomes, which are the telemeres.  Modern science has made a connection between telomeres and aging.
Whenever your cells replicate, (millions reproduce every day) your telomeres shrink and begin to fray and unravel like a shoestring. After so many replications the shortened stubby telomeres reach a critical place where they are no longer usable and that is an indicator to our body that life is over. So if we want to slow down the aging process, the telomeres need to be replenished with the enzyme telomerase.  Just think what this means for our skin and organs.
But where do we find something like that?

It's called Astragalus root! Astragalus causes the body to "turn on" the enzyme telomerase, this maintains and lengthen  the teleomeres. It also protects the telomeres in the same way a plastic cap protects shoestrings so they don't fray. This herb is in a class of herbs found in northern Asia and has been used in Chinese medicine for centuries.

And that is not the only thing Astragalus does. It reduces the amount of nitric oxide released from cells, which reduces inflammation. It has been used to treat ulcers, wounds and reduce hemorrhaging. It stimulates the immune system and strengthens the digestive system and increases energy levels.

I don't like to take tons of supplements. I would rather eat really clean, juice and drink smoothies, but this is one herb I will take from here on out. I bought mine from Amazon, Astragalus Supreme,

 I know other people that purchase theirs from Dragon Herbs, www.dragonherbs.com

Not all brands are the same, I started out with another company's brand and switched over to Gaia. It makes you feel wonderful on top of all the health benefits you get. So my new catch phrase is " Save the telomeres, don't be frayed".

www.realrawbeauty.com


Until next time,
Jan

Washing your face with oils....

Washing your face with oils dates back to the days of Cleopatra. An exceptionally beautiful woman in her day. She washed her face and entire body in oils. But somewhere between the days of Cleopatra and the 21st century we got away from that amazing cleansing method for our skin.

The booming skin care industry wants us to believe their claims of the need to rid the skin of oil completely and apply chemicals in order to avoid imperfections. It seems that we all have been influenced by the mega marketing claims, some so much that they find themselves stripping the oils from tender, delicate tissue of their facial skin with antibacterial this and that. I mentioned on Real Raw Beauty's  facebook page the other day that two of the main reasons to reconsider using OTC cleansers, 1) They strip the natural oils out of our skin leaving our face to try and produce excess amounts of oil to replace the moisture. This causes an imbalance in our natural PH which is necessary to maintain beautiful skin.
2) Most cleansers contain fragrance. Even most "unscented" products contain a fragrance. All of this leads to dry, irritated skin being replaced with oily inflamed skin.

People in the Health industry are beginning to see the importance of cleansing your skin with oils. Also publications, such as the Huffington Post and Cosmopolitan are producing articles about the subject.

The Huffington Post published an article "The Face Washing Method that will give your skin good oil." The article states that women in Europe have been using oils to clean their face forever.
 In 2013 Cosmopolitan served up an article "The Magic of Oils", Have you tried the sexiest product in history?" Here is a little exert from the article,
"As a cleanser, oils dissolve the denser sebum that collects in our pores, (causing blackheads). As a moisturizer, oils rapidly penetrate the deeper layers of the skin, protecting against the breakdown of proteins in the cell wall with fatty and linoleic acids mimicking what our bodies produce naturally. The oils act as humectants which help our skin retain moisture."

If you haven't tried this method of cleaning your skin you are missing out on a wonderful experience and glowing healthy skin. I will admit that the idea of cleansing an oily face with oil does sound a little strange. But here are a few reasons to give it a try:
*Oil dissolves oil
*They will cleanse your pores of dirt and bacteria NATURALLY
*With consistent use clears up skin issues such as oily skin, dry skin, whiteheads, blackheads, mild to moderate acne.
*Leaves your skin clean, balanced and moisturized.
*No harmful toxins or chemicals

Real Raw Beauty only uses the purest Organic oils in their products. The combination of the oils will dissolve the dirt and oil on your skin, help clear up your skin and leave it clean, moist and glowing.

If you are still not completely sure, you can order our sample bottles to try them out. Read the product descriptions and our Product Review page and find out what real customers are saying about using oils to cleanse their skin.

If you have any questions, you can email me from the contact section of the drop down menu at www.realrawbeauty.com

 

Until next time,

Jan