2 Days left in official summer!!!

Wow, what an end to summer it has been. We had a trip to NYC (first for the whole family), and managed to head back North a few days before hurricane Irene! We've had some hot weather since then, but believe it or not, also had to put the heat on on September 16th because it got so cold. I cannot remember another year EVER when when I've had to have the heat on so early. And then today, another beautiful day.

What prompted me to write today was a reminder that mother nature can be harsh. We took a road trip to Montreal (the whole family thankfully), and returned around 2:30 in the morning last Tuesday. When we got to the driveway, all we could see was branches and huge tree parts. Our 55+ yr old maple had apparently been hit be a twister (unknown in these parts). The neighbour across the road said he actually saw the clouds down to the ground, and a vortex like shape pass through. Luckily, the huge portion of the tree that fell ended up right on the driveway - no damage to the house, and no damage to the car (since we were in Montreal). After many hours of having the debris chopped up - I realized this was a message. That coupled with feeling a minor earthquake yesterday (only the 2nd I have ever felt, and all within one year!!!)

The message is - mother nature is powerful. If you want to do anything to mitigate the force of mother nature, the time to do it is now. I know that I should have trimmed (in a big way!!!) the tree back many times over the years - but did not. If I had stayed on top of the maintenance, the tree would probably be fine now.

The same lessons hold true for skin care. Read this article and see if there is anything that can apply to you! Also be sure to check out to good info at this useful site.

   J

So many spam comments on my website blog!!

I recently set-up a wordpress site to share information about skin care products. This can be found at http://undereye-cream.com/. It is amazing how flexible the internet is to share information and to get user feedback, but with that flexibility also comes a downside.

There seem to be a ton of people whose main objective is to get backlinks to their material through simple brute force techniques. I have started to get higher volumes of spam comments on my pages, most of them from http://www.facebook123.com/. There typically have a sentence or two, often quite cryptic and non related to the page they are commenting on. In wordpress I have it set up to moderate the comments, so thankfully I need to approve each comment before it gets posted as "visible"

I would imagine that a web site that starts to post a profusion of bogus comments, probably starts to look bad over time.

A better way for users to generate valid backlinks, is to do the work by writing and contributing valid quality content to other sites. While this does take significantly more time, the impact is much more positive in the long run. Check out sites like ezinearticles.com, streetarticles.com, qondio.com and squidoo.com to name a few. Make sure that you are publishing good quality - because over time, you may be locked out, or if not, certainly ranked to a level where you articles value will diminish.

Here is an example of an article that provide good "non-sales" type information - but then helps the reader to find more information if they are so inclined:
http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Simple-Approach-to-Under-Eye-Care

Happy Blogging!

J

I like to know what I'm putting on my face

The cosmetics and skin care industry can be a strange and scary place. Even the fact that there have to be cautions about dangerous chemicals and animal testing, sets of all sort of red flags for me. The way I look at it, our bodies were made to thrive and survive - but sometimes they just need a little help. This help should not be in the form of a replacement of everything natural, or by spreading extracts from animals in and on my skin.

That is why I was pleased to hear about a company called LifeCell, and to find a write-up about how they came to be, and how the fundamentals of their products work.

It is sort of sad that the products that end up making it to us are those that are chosen by the large corporations. These are typically designed to maximize profit (I understand that), but in so doing, they often block other innovative solutions from reaching us. That is where the power of the internet comes in! It makes more options available to us, without having to have them worked through the corporate pipelines!

It I can find a product that has solid fundamentals and a good track record, I'm not really concerned now about getting is stocked in the local store - you can get just about everything online now.

Labor Day Trip

Well, Labor day is alway a good weekend to spend that little bit of extra time outside. This weekend I plan to make a trip to a beach that is a few hours away from here. It won't be long before the leaves are changing!

Being on or near tha water always makes me calm.

I can't believe that the kids are going to  be back in school next week.

Here is how I put the squeeze on those damaging rays from the Sun :)

Squeeze ....!!!

See The Results of LifeCell For Yourself!

Hey there.

I hate the idea of blindly trying products, so when I was looking for a skin care solution, as well as reading reviews, I wanted to see the results.

To find out more about this product, and why I fell in love with it, check out the info here.

This site seems to be very commonsense, and talks about the overall approach of skin care. I like the idea of not looking for one magic solution, and trying to addresss my skin care needs from multiple dimensions. That being said, the video testimonials are pretty hard to refute!.

Features You Should Seek For Skin Care Products

There is such an array of skin care and beauty products out there, that it is often hard to decide how to proceed. Some are well suited to only certain types of skin. Some are best suited for certain climates, some a merely cover-ups that don't have long term results. So the difficult question is "How do I decide which products or solutions to investigate in more depth?"

There is no easy answer really, but luckily today we have a wealth of knowledge at our disposal - the Internet! There are many tools to learn about products, and not just the marketing fluff from manufacturers, but real results based upon the writing of actual users. Just do a Google search for

+Eye +Cream +Solution-Advantages

and you'll see wealth of material presented to you for your easy browsing.

Of course look carefully at this material, consider some additional reading from many of the good e-books or plain-old bookstore books, and you'll quickly be able to weed out the sensible and valuable information from the hype and fluff.

The key features I look for are:

1. Products that suit a wide range of skin types.
   (sometimes my skin seems oily, sometimes a bit dry, and I don't want to be switching between solutions all the time)
2. Products that are simple to use and don't require lots of effort
3. Products that do not contain animal derivative products
   (I don't want to be rubbing dead chicken parts on my face thank you)
4. Products that help my body repair itself.
   (Rather then just adding an instant short lived fix like added collagen or moisturizer, I look for products that can help me produce my own collagen and moisture)
5. Products that not only reduce the look of wrinkles and lines, but ones that also actually repair, prevent and reduce them.
6. Products that don't exclude the use of other complementary solutions.
   (If I need to add a high SPF product from time to time, I need my solutions to work together)

It is also a good idea not to put all of your eggs in one basket. Do not expect one solution to be the magic bullet to solve dark circles, wrinkles, skin discoloration, .... etc... bu make sure you've got a good overall plan in place to address your overall well being. This should include diet, exercise, grooming, dress, as well as any product your might find to help.

One good short reference that outlines a reasonable approach is at a site specializing in under-eye treatments

Good luck on your search for overall health and wellness - which will lead to improved appearance!

Please post comments below with your suggestions.

  J

The search for an under eye solution

If you are anything like me, or the typical person, I would bet that as time goes on, you've noticed your appearance changing. For me, the place where I notice this the most, is under and around my eyes. While there is lots you can (and should) do, to improve your overall appearance through dress and basic grooming, the question is "Is there anything further I can do to fix and prevent further damage?"

Common things that many people see are, skin discoloration, fine lines, wrinkles, puffiness around the eyes, areas that require smoothing, dark circles, bags.... al of which can lead to that tired-looking appearance.

Some common things to consider are;

1. The need for a moisturizer (may depend on your climate)
2. The need for sun protection (so important). A good SPF is essential.
3. Allergies to environmental influences (pets, ragweed, pollen)
4. Allergies to certain products
5. Desire not to have harsh chemicals of animal based products on your skin
6. Ways to make your body boost its own protection (collagen production)
7. Cost of products (make sure not to confuse the plain old purchase price and the actual cost of using the product. Sometimes a product which costs more to purchase, might actually be cheaper to use!!!
8. Pigmentation of the skin
9. How to remove or reduce those dark circles or bags.
10. How to make your skin look younger
11. ... and many other factors

I was lucky in my search, and found three products that when used together worked for me.

1. My primary under eye and facial cream
2. A product used when I am going to be in extreme sun
3. A cream to help when my eyes are irritated due to occasional allergies

Details of my exploration to find the right solution can be read in detail here.

The approach that I used was to examine all the characteristics that I needed in a solution, the attributes, the advantages of one versus the other, and finally the specific decision points to help make those final selections.

I found that by doing adequate research, I was able to quickly zero-in on what worked for me. In looking at my problem areas, I needed to address the appearance of lines as well as prevent the occurrence of further damage. Moisturization and dark-circle treatment were also important. I had also noticed some sun damage leading to discoloration and perhaps some age spots.

It is important if you feel that you have more than cosmetic issues, to consult with your MD or a dermatologist. Never let the signs of skin cancer go untreated.

I read about a few ingredients that seem essential for not just masking, but actually treating some of my symptoms. These were Ascorbyl Palmitate, CQ10 and Lipoic acid (Dithiolane-3 Pentoic Acid). Together these seemed to help skin regenerate, produce collagen and plump-up, without all the effects of harsh chemicals.

Do your research and I'm sure that you will also find a set of products that meet your needs.

  Good Luck,

   J.