The Basics of Skin Care

Everybody wants to have beautiful, healthy and younger-looking skin. And who wouldn’t? In this society where appearances are valued significantly, having a radiantly glowing skin can already be considered a great treasure! Here’s a bit of good news – do you know that keeping a more youthful looking skin can be achieved just by observing 3 basic principles? Yes, a more beautiful skin can be within your reach and what’s more – caring for it can be as easy as A-B-C!

The 3 Basic Principles in Skin Care – There are 3 basic principles in skin care – cleansing, toning and moisturizing.

Cleansing – Cleansing can be viewed as the foundation of good skin care. It helps keep your skin healthy by removing dead skin, dust, dirt and other environmental pollutants, which may have accumulated during the day. It also helps keep the pores of your skin free from any impediment that may otherwise prevent the natural secretions of your oil glands from reaching the topmost layer of your skin. These secretions are extremely vital to skin care – they help fight infections and other toxic agents that may come in contact with your skin and provide that natural glow to your skin.

Using soap for cleansing your skin is a definite no-no. Most soaps have a high pH that can damage the natural acid mantle of your skin and may eventually lead to premature skin drying and aging. So, go for skin cleansers that contain vegetable oils and stearic acid instead. These are mild enough to be used safely on any skin type.

Using facial scrubs can also be a great help in cleansing the skin but its use must be limited to 3 times a week. For best results, choose a scrub that contains a mild abrasive.

Toning – While cleansing may help keep the skin healthy by stripping away dirt, dust, grime and dead skin cells, it may also invariably strip off the skin’s protective layer in the process. This is where toning comes into the picture. After thorough cleansing, you must apply a skin toner to close the pores of your skin, tighten it and protect it from the toxins present in the environment.

There is a wide variety of toners available in the market today. However, it would be wise to avoid those that are alcohol-based since they can damage the soluble collagen below the skin’s surface that may eventually lead to the premature drying of your skin.

Moisturizing – Ever wondered what the secret of dewy-fresh skin might be? It’s water! Water moves through the body and when it leaves, it does so through the surface of your skin. This process leaves your skin looking plump and firm.

However, when your body is deficient in water, the skin’s surface eventually shows the problem. It becomes dry, chapped and weak. As such, it is important to keep our bodies sufficiently hydrated at all times. This is a basic premise for good skin care. Drinking at least 8 glasses of water and eating a lot of moisture-rich fruits and vegetables may help provide your body with enough moisture to keep your skin looking good.

Then again, this may not be enough. Your skin also needs to be moisturized from the outside. This is the reason why the use of moisturizers and humectants is recommended. Like any other skin care products, there are a wide variety of moisturizers available and you are free to choose the product that agrees most with your skin.

A word of caution – avoid moisturizers and any other skin care products that contain mineral oil. Mineral oil may do more harm than good since it can dry the skin by blocking your skin pores, hence making it difficult for your skin to breathe and eliminate wastes.

Shaving Tips For Smooth, Healthy Skin

There is no real trick to shaving. We all know how to do it, but not everyone knows how to get the best results and the softest legs. The following tips are the basics of a great, smooth shave:

 * Use a mild scrub (sugar scrubs are great), damp washcloth with your body wash, or a daily exfoliant such as AHA or BHA to help keep flaky skin at a minimum (which means you can get a closer shave).

* It is essential for your legs to be wet for at least two or three minutes before starting; wet hair is soft, pliable, and easier to cut. Nothing is as irritating or chafing as shaving dry or slightly damp legs. However, skin should not be soaked (as you might experience in a bathtub) because the skin swells up around the hair follicles, thus preventing a close shave.

* Finding a razor that works well for your skin, given the pressure you use while shaving, the texture of your skin, and the density of hair growth, takes some experimentation. No single type of razor works well for everyone, though the newer triple blades seem to work wonders. After finding the one that works best for you, the main thing is to change the blade frequently—dull razors make for poor shaving results.

* When it comes to shaving creams or gels, for both men and women, those that contain emollients (usually those identified as being good for sensitive dry skin) work perfectly on the legs! There is absolutely no reason to buy shaving gels or creams in pretty pink containers when in truth they are virtually identical to those in more masculine or unadorned packages. The only real difference in products targeted specifically to men or women is the type of fragrance, and fragrance-free is best for the least risk of irritation.

* Avoid shaving products that contain irritants (such as alcohol, menthol, and peppermint). Used over newly shaved skin, irritating ingredients can cause red bumps and ingrown hairs. If you find yourself without shaving cream in the shower, use hair conditioner or body wash instead. This is far easier on the legs than shaving with a bar soap or bar cleanser.

* For best results, shave against the growth of hair using careful strokes and applying even pressure.

* After you are done, do NOT use a loofah or washcloth. The action of shaving has already exfoliated your skin and further rubbing can cause irritation and create problems.

* At night apply a moisturizer, and during the day, if your legs are going to be exposed to sun, apply a moisturizer with sunscreen (SPF 15 or greater) that contains the UVA-protecting ingredients.

* Avoid AHAs after shaving. The glycolic acid in AHA products can be unnecessarily irritating to freshly shaved skin.

Understanding Skin Care

The skin serves numerous functions – detoxifying, protecting, regulating – but the primary protective or barrier function is the most obvious. The top layer of skin cells has the most important function in maintaining the effectiveness of the barrier. Here the individual cells overlie each other and are tightly packed, preventing bacteria from entering and maintaining the water-holding properties of the skin.

Fatty substances (lipids) are secreted by the cells during the course of their journey from the base layer of the skin to the top. These lipid molecules join up and form a tough connecting network, in effect acting as the mortar between the bricks of a wall.

The cell wall barriers are simply layers of fats that surround the watery contents. Therefore, the communication mechanisms must operate through these fatty cell walls. In fact, many of the substances that are involved in this communication process are various fats since it is easiest for fats to move within the fatty layers that comprise the cell walls. Despite its bad reputation, proper fats and cellular fats are of major importance in our body’s biochemistry and physiology.

Damage to the skin barrier can result from a combination of genetic predisposion and exposure to sensitizing chemicals and other substances. That is why avoiding irritants is as important as using products that help. In skin care, the most common irritants are usually perfumes and preservatives.

Fatty substances control the majority of our body’s physiology through receptors that activate many important genes. Likewise, our skin barrier is comprised of a supporting structure of collagen, a protein that contains fats that serve a critical function. These fats prevent the excess loss of water through our skin and prevent the cells of our body from becoming dehydrated and dying.

A major sign of a defective skin is the dryness that results from excessive water loss. This water can not be applied topically but must be ingested. To prevent the excessive water loss and the resulting dry skin, we must repair the skin barrier. We find that the skin composition in individuals with dry skin is due to an improper mixture of the skin fats. This is commonly due to a deficiency in our diet of the correct fats, those contained in natural olive oils, avocados, and healthy nuts, etc. On a nutritional basis, we can provide these necessary fats through the skin sometimes through topical treatments containing natural butters or oils, like Shea, olive and cocoa butter. The epidermis is not a usual means to acquire nutrition but it can absorb enough fatty substances to correct the fat imbalances that are the cause of the defect in the skin’s barrier function and thus correct the dry, itchy skin or sensitive skin problem. Try to be aware of chemical preservatives in any topical products you do use.

Top 10 Lifestyle Habits for Beautiful Skin

Anti Oxidants and Sun Damaged Skin

Sun damage or photo damage produces both skin cancers as well as photo-aging. Photo-aging shows itself on the skin as wrinkling, scaling, dryness, and mottled pigmentation. Ultra-violet light is absorbed by skin, which in turn produces a photo-chemical reaction.
The UVA light is absorbed by both DNA as well as urocanic acid, the photo-chemical reaction produces oxidation of both DNA, nucleide acid, and protein, as well as lipids, this is known as oxidative damage. Anti-oxidants have been evolved to protect against, and reverse some of the damage produced by sunlight. An anti-oxidant mechanism is very advanced in plants that protect against the damage from sun exposure.

Oxidation:

Oxidation is produced by reactive oxygen molecules. The DNA absorbs ultra-violet light mostly in the UVB (290-320 manometres) range. This produces damage mainly within the epidermis. UVA (320-400 manometres) penetrates deeper into the skin and produces damage in the epidermis, the dermis as well as affecting blood vessels. The UVA has a much more oxidizing effect on cells.

The carcinogenic or cancer forming effects of ultra-violet B produce mutations within the DNA. This initiates tumours within the epidermis. The UVA promotes these tumours as it has much more oxidizing stress on the skin than UVB. It may as a result be more cytotoxic and immunosuppressive.

Sunscreens:

Sunscreens certainly protect against ultra-violet light, the sunburning spectrum is UVB and sunscreens are very effective. Ultra-violet A is the most difficult to protect against. It is important to realize that the SPF numbers are calculated with an amount of sunscreen on skin that exceeds what most of us put on our own skin.

The SPF is calculated with a quantity of 2mg. of sunscreen per centimetre2. Most people will put on about half to one quarter of this when used as sun protection. Unfortunately, low quantities of sunscreen of per centimtre2 will have minimal sun protective effects. Usually if 5mg. per cm.2 of sunscreen is applied to the skin, the sun protective factor is in the region of an SPF of 3.

Anti-Oxidants:

Anti-oxidants play a significant part in the protective and repair mechanisms within animals and plants. This can be achieved by anti-oxidants that are produced within the skin itself or by those consumed or applied from plants. The anti-oxidant effects can be divided into those that have their protection through enzymes, and those that tend to reduce the quantity of hydrogen peroxide as well as lipid hydroperoxides.

Topical Anti-Oxidants:

The use of topical anti-oxidants has certain requirements, these have to be stable as well as being cosmetically acceptable. It is clear that anti-oxidants have a photo-protective benefit. The physiological anti-oxidants include vitamin C, vitamin E, and ubiquinol. Vitamin C is water-soluble and is a free radical scavenger, it is required for collagen synthesis and may inhibit elastin formation in the dermis.

It may also reduce pigment synthesis, as well as enhance epidermal barrier function. For it to be active it must be present on the skin at a pH of 3.5 or lower in order to have an anti-oxidative effect. Vitamin E is different from vitamin C, in that it is lipid soluble, there is evidence that combining vitamin E and vitamin C may be of some benefit. Other anti-oxidants to be considered will be selenium as well as zinc.

Plant Anti-Oxidants:

Plants synthesize vitamin C, vitamin E and flavones, and polyphenolic compounds.

• Silymarin
• Soy isoflavones
• Tea
• Polyphenols

These are all potent plant anti-oxidants.

Silymarin:

This is a Milk Thistle extract, the main component in terms of anti-oxidants is silybyn. This prevents lipid peroxidase action. It also has been shown to inhibit tumour promotion in animals.

Soy isoflavones:

Soy has been connected with a reduction in cardiovascular disease, and in some incidents’ of breast cancer when taken by mouth in large quantities. It has a phytoestrogen effect, which can reduce menopausal symptoms. The isoflavones are genistein and gaidzein. The genistein has a collagen synthesis effect. It is also anti-cancer. It has been used both orally as well as topically.

The genistein is a powerful scavenger of peroxyl radicals. This has a significant reduction in lipid peroxidase activity. It has been shown to reduce redness in the skin of mice which are subject to ultra-violet A. It also has an anti-inflammatory effect. The use of this compound reduces the immune suppression effect of ultra-violet light.

Tea polyphenols:

Tea is fermented initially to green, and then to black tea. The drinking of black tea has been shown to reduce the frequency of squamous cell carcinomas. Work done with green tea both topically and taken orally, shows that it reduces the ability of ultra-violet to produce skin cancers and redness, particularly in animals. The possibility of combining tea, plus vitamin E, to work together as anti-oxidants is interesting.

Much more work needs to be done in order to establish how combining anti-oxidants with sunscreens will have a very beneficial effect on reducing sun damage to skin.

Smart Skin Care

Although genes certainly play a role in one’s skin condition, decades of neglect, or even mistreatment of their skin is most frequently the source of their skin problems.  Many say that if they knew then what they know now, they would have done things very differently and taken better care of their skin.
There are numerous explanations for unhealthy skin but the main causes tend to be an unhealthy diet, an ineffectual cleansing routine, and poor lifestyle choices.

“Is it too late to save my bad skin? I never paid much attention to my skin because I never had any skin problems. I never bothered with skin care products because I didn’t need to. Now I’m seeing wrinkles and spots forming, I guess it’s just too late to anything about it.” If this sounds like you, you may want to keep reading.Never fear, because there is still much that you can do to help your skin. If you are lost in sea of product choices, you can still be assured cosmetic dermatology can offer many alternative treatments.

Not surprisingly, many adults rarely consult a dermatologist that is until AFTER the signs of aging have appeared. Wrinkles, of course, are the chief complaint. Your skin may feel  rough to the touch, and even sore, especially in drying environmental  conditions such as on an airplane or in a low-humidity environment like the desert or high-altitude cities. In the winter, when indoor heating is used, your skin gets even more dehydrated, making the wrinkles look worse. Your skin may catch on rough clothing. You may also notice wrinkles on your neck or others parts of your body.

Poor Diet
Your skin is a living, breathing organ of the body and it needs proper nourishment and hydration to look and feel its best. When your skin is deprived of the necessary vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that it needs it is unable to functional at optimal levels and the structure slowly begins to break down. This breakdown results in dry skin, blemishes, discoloration, wrinkles, and premature ageing.

In order to avoid this breakdown you need to feed your skin a varied mix of important nutrients each day. Ingesting sufficient amounts of vitamin A, a nutrient that can be found in citrus fruits and orange vegetables, can help you avoid dry skin and blemishes. Eating foods rich in the vitamin B group like brewer’s yeast or breads, or taking a vitamin B group supplement, can help you ward of skin discoloration, dry skin, dermatitis, shallow skin, and premature ageing.

To help discourage wrinkles, pale skin, sun damage, blemishes, and other unhealthy skin symptoms, nutrients like calcium, protein, iodine, niacin, folic acid, iron, and copper are very important to a healthy diet. Get these effective skin helpers by enjoying foods like mild, eggs, cheese, chicken, fish, leafy vegetables, fruits, and grains.

Poor Hygiene
Another common cause of unhealthy skin is poor hygiene. Whether this involves the failure to clean your skin often enough or the use of an ineffective cleansing routine, built-up dirt and grime can lead to blemishes, premature ageing, shallowness, dry skin, and wrinkles.

When your skin is not properly cleaned on a regular basis, dirt, pollution and other harmful substances are allowed to build up on your skin and clog the pores. Clogged pores result in breakouts, dry skin, and the reduction of cell renewal.

To get the most out of your cleansing routine make sure that you wash your skin twice a day, everyday. Also, make sure that you are using an effective cleanser like a soap that is specially formulated for deep cleansing. Make sure that you use gentle pressure when cleaning the skin, do not scrub or pull on the skin since this can result in tiny tears that are susceptible to irritation and infection. Finally, always follow your cleansing routine with a hydrating moisturizer that also contains a sunscreen in order to hydrate your skin and protect it from sun damage.

Bad Lifestyle Habits
Even if you enjoy a healthy diet and pay special attention to your skin care regime you can still be sabotaging the health of your skin by indulging in unhealthy habits. Habits like sun tanning, smoking, choosing fizzy drinks or sodas over water, and wearing heavy makeup can lead to the development of unhealthy skin. Avoid excessive sun exposure, always wear sunscreen with an SPF (sun protection factor) of at least 15, stop smoking and avoid those who smoke, drink plenty of water, and choose light cosmetics if you want your skin to stay young and healthy looking for years to come.

What is Your Skin Type?

The type of skin that you have plays an important role in how acne will affect you and also in how you should treat it. Different skin types need different types of treatments in order to effectively handle acne.

One size definitely does not fit all when it comes to acne skin care.

There are four basic types of skin, oily, normal, dry, or combination skin, a combination of two of them. Combination skin may be normal-to-oily or normal-to-dry. For each type, a different skin care regimen is needed. Skin types also change over time, skin that may have been combination normal/oily may become more normal or dry as the skin ages. Changes in skin requires adjust of skin care routines to maintain a healthful appearance.

Five Questions To Ask Yourself.

First, start with some basic questions in order to determine your skin type. The answers to these questions will help you to decide what type of skin you have.

1. How frequent are your breakouts?
2. Do you have blackheads?
3. Do you have large pores?
4. How does the skin feel after it has been washed with soap and water?
5. Are there facial lines?

The answers to these questions help determine the type of care your skin will require to look its freshest.

Basic Descriptions of Skin Types

Each skin type is determined by several factors such as the amount of oil produced, texture, and the frequency of acne breakouts. Skin tones often seem to coincide with certain types of skin, but skin tone is not a determining factor in what type of skin you may have. Quite fair skin may also be oily, while dark tones may be dry. Therefore, skin color is not a good metric to use when determining what type of skin you may have.

People with dry skin usually have few breakouts and seldom experience blackheads. The reason for this is that excess oil blockages are what form blackheads, and dry skin is not prone to excess oil. This generally means that acne breakouts are rare for this skin type, although other problems may exist. Dry skin generally has few if any visible pores, and the skin will feel tight and/or dry after cleansing. Those with dry skin are usually fair-skinned and often develop facial lines early in life. This skin type may sunburn very quickly.

People with normal skin and with combination skin suffer occasional breakouts, with mild-to-moderate blackheads that occur for the most part in the “t-zone.” The t-zone is the area which runs across the forehead and down the nose and mouth area, it also includes the chin. Pores are often larger and more noticeable in the t-zone area but are usually not as large as those that appear in oily skin. The skin may feel dry and tight immediately after cleansing but will soon feel more lubricated. The skin tone for normal skin usually is fair to medium, and a few early lines may appear around the eyes. This skin type usually will sunburn when first exposed to the sun, but then will tan. Prolonged sun exposure can produce temporary dry skin conditions.

Oily skin is characterized by more frequent breakouts and the presence of comdones or blackheads. The pores are enlarged and visible. After washing the face quickly becomes oily, the nose and forehead quite rapidly growing shiny due to increased oil production. The skin tone is frequently olive or dark. Facial lines are not very prevalent with this type of skin; oily skin tends to be resist aging longer than the other skin types. Therefore, over the long term, oily skin stays youthful for a longer period of time than the drier types of skin. Oily skin rarely burns when exposed to the sun and usually tans easily.

A Final Word

Determining what type of skin you have should enable you to make better choices when it comes to skin care products. There are numerous products on the market that are designed to improve skin quality. For improving your acne, choose products that won’t cause further problems for you by basing your choices upon the type of skin that you have. Adjust your skin care regimen as your skin changes in order to be on top of your acne problem.

How To Know Your Skin Type

Basically, there are four common skin types: oily, dry, combination, and normal. The way your skin reacts and behaves classifies the type of skin you have. Skin types react in different ways to creams and/or lotions
, environment, and weather. The skin on your face is the great point to categorize type of your skin.

Here are four skin types that you should know:

1. Oily Skin

Skin may look oily, sallow, and coarse; it has large pores and tends to have pimples, blackheads and whiteheads. The texture of skin is thick; the touch is often sticky. It is usually youthful-looking due to the presence of oil on the skin. Besides that, within hours of cleansing the oiliness will reappear and makeup is usually absorbed quickly. Often, individuals with this skin type have a propensity to develop acne in their teen and middle years.

2. Dry Skin

This skin type has a transparent looking and fine texture. It may lack natural oils, may look rather flaky with small pores, blackheads and blemishes. It feels particularly dry after cleansing and may have whiteheads around the eyes and dry patches. Without sufficient moisture, this skin type can simply become chapped. It’s more likely to become wrinkly than other types.

3. Combination Skin

This type can be characterized as oily on the T-zone (forehead, nose and chin) and the rest of the face, cheeks and around the eye, is dry. However, to restore both areas to balance, they need a separate cleansing routine.

4. Normal skin

If this is your skin type you are very lucky, because less than 20% of women have this skin type. It is the “healthy” type of skin. It’s smooth, soft, and supple; not too dry, not too oily, characterized by few blemishes, and has a nice glow. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that you don’t have to take care of it.

The first step just before choosing a skin care routine that will make you look beauty is knowing you skin type. Therefore, I want to give you simple tips how to know what type of skin you have exactly:

1. Cleanse your face, and wait for an hour, without applying any skin care product to it.

2. After that, take a tissue and wipe each of the following areas of your face: your forehead, nose, chin, and cheeks.

If oil appears on the tissue, then you have oily skin. But, if skin particles can be seen on your skin, or remain on the tissue, then you have dry skin. Other than that, If you see oil in some areas (T-zone: forehead, nose and chin), and none in others, then naturally you have combination skin. And, if you don’t find oily residue or flake is left on the skin, you have normal skin.

One thing that you should keep in mind, cleansing and moisturizing twice a day is an important thing of having attractive and healthy skin, regardless of what type of skin you have. For maximum results, select products that are intended for your particular skin type.

Japanese Skin Care Secrets for Beautiful Skin

Japanese skin care has drawn a lot of interest lately.  This is no doubt in response to the noticeable fact that the men and women of Asia seem to retain their youthful looks for far longer than people in other areas of the world.  What is it exactly that they are using in order to look so young?  What are the Japanese skincare secrets?

Hidden Skin Care Secrets Revealed

Consider this:  It may not be so much what they are using on their skin that is producing such a drastic difference in their skin.  It may be more of what they are eating that is preserving their bodies for such a long time.  Let’s take a look at diet as a factor in maintaining youthful looking skin.

Japanese Skin Care Diet

One of the reason that diet plays such a big factor in Japanese skincare is that many of the essential oils and fatty acids that are necessary in order for the skin to stay healthy are in the foods that they eat.  Being an island nation a large part of these people’s lifestyles have revolved around both fish, and sea vegetation.

Secret #1 – Omega-3

Of course everyone knows about the overwhelming health benefits that come from eating foods containing omega-3 fatty acids.  We are always being told that we have to eat fish two to three times per week in order to ensure that our levels of omega-3 are where they need to be in order for us to maintain our healthy bodily functions.

Including a lot of fish in their diets probably plays a huge role in Japanese skincare, but it also plays a role throughout your other organs and tissues also.   That is why it is advised that anyone who can’t eat fish take at least some sort of natural oral omega fatty acid supplement.

Secret #2 – Phytessence Wakame

What many people away from Asia don’t realize is that there is omega-3 in many forms of plants also, green leafy vegetables especially.  The Japanese also eat a lot of these vegetables, along with kelp and seaweed.  It is simply no wonder that these people look as young as they do with all of the fatty acids that they consume.

The same wonders of Japanese skin care are also available to you through either your diet, oral supplements, or through the use of selected skin care products that contain these ingredients.  Many skin care products now contain vegetable oils that will give you high doses of both omega-3 and of antioxidants.

One such company uses a type of sea kelp in their skin care products that can only be found in the Sea of Japan, which the Japanese have for centuries touted as their number one anti aging skin care secret. For more details see author box below.  It raises the level of hyaluronic acid in your skin to levels much higher level than normal for your age group.

So, if you want to follow a Japanese skin care regimen be sure to find a product line that contains Phytessence Wakame as an ingredient.  Also supplementing your diet with Omega-3 Fish Oil is a very wise move. Then you to will hold the secret to Asian beauty in your hands.

Skin Care Diet – What Is Bad For Skin

you’ve had a bad week – or maybe a bad month. You’ve been working overtime, your child is going through a difficult phase, your boyfriend’s eyes have started wandering, your boss seems to hate you, and you have insomnia. In other words, nothing in your life is going smoothly and you are feeling more stressed than ever. Chances are a few obvious pimples have sprung up since your life got so hectic. How do I know that? What do you think my face does when I’m feeling frazzled?

The reason for a spotty complexion is simple: When the body is under stress, it releases adrenal hormones, which are known generally as “stress hormones.” These hormones generate a number of changes in skin, including breakouts, oily patches, dry patches sallowness, dark circles under the eyes, and rashes. Obviously, you can’t avoid all forms of stress, but you can learn how to deal with them. Deep breathing, visualization, a professional or at-home massage, or even a spa-night at home can help relieve some of the tension.

Exercise boosts circulation, which in turn delivers oxygen-rich blood to the skin’s surface. The short-term result is a beautiful glow. According to some skin-care experts, the long-term benefit of exercise is improved skin elasticity and more efftcient new cell growth.

Rough treatment

As resilient as skin is, it also has a delicate side. Aggressive handling can make skin appear worn, abused, and just plain old. What qualifies as rough treatment? Picking pimples, which can cause scars; using overly hot water, which can break small capillaries and make skin dry; tugging at skin, which can break down collagen and elastin fibers and lead to slackness; and using harsh skin-care products, which can cause sensitivities and redness.

Skin and your diet

Severe diets that skimp on calories and on one or more nutrients are detrimental to your skin, and so are eating habits that include plenty of complexion-spoiling fast food. Here’s a rundown of common nutrient deficiencies and how they affect your complexion:

A lack of protein can lead to a dull, dry complexion and poor wound-healing.

A shortage of iron can result in a pale complexion.

A lack of vitamin A can produce dry skin or unexplained breakouts.

A deficiency in vitamin B Complex can result in cracks at the corners of the mouth, unexplained breakouts, impaired wound-healing, and pallor.

A lack of vitamin C can cause poor wound-healing, dullness, and easy bruising.

A shortage of vitamin E can lead to poor wound-healing and dry skin.

A lack of vitamin K can result in weak, broken, or distended facial capillaries.

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