Keep skin healthy and beautiful with natural cleansing products

How you clean your body not only helps prevent bacterial growth, gets rid of dirt, keeps your body fragrantly fresh, but also helps beautify your skin, preserving it well for the years ahead.

To soap or not to soap?

Nothing beats time-tested soap for washing away dirt and bacteria. But there is no need to scrub your face and body like when cleaning the dinner dishes.

Overuse of soap or bathing with harsh soaps strips away the body's natural oils, which, consequently, harms and prematurely ages skin.

Natural body oils help protect our skin from infection. Once oils get scrubbed off, bacteria can more easily enter the body.

Washing methods vary with skin types.

No one method of washing works well for all types of skin. Dry skin may do better without soap at all. Instead, it may be best to use a milky cleanser.

Those with oily skin, however, may find "gentle" cleansers too greasy, which could create or accelerate skin problems.

If you have oily skin, don't assume scrubbing reduces oiliness. In actuality, the reverse happens.

Whether you scrub your skin with a harsh cleanser, wash too frequently or clean too vigorously, you stimulate the skin to produce more oil because the skin then feels deprived of its natural oil.

An increase in your skin's production of oil and the irritation can lead to unsightly skin eruptions.
Here are some skin treatment suggestions for all of us:

* Body wash. Instead of soap, try the new all-natural body washes. Body wash rinses off easier than soap, giving it one advantage over soap. Body washes are also formulated with other ingredients that help hydrate and soothe skin while they clean.

Natural ingredients like lavender for soothing or peppermint for stimulating add a new sensation to cleaning your body. Emollients and botanicals help soften and smooth skin, and also promote better-looking skin. Natural humectants hold in anti-aging moisture.

* Keep out of hot water. Hot water causes blood to rush to the skin's surface, warming and easing tight muscles and stiff joints, but damaging skin. Heat causes the body to perspire. This loss of moisture leads to dry skin. Hot water may also result in broken capillaries.

* Bathe with care. A vigorous bath or shower refreshes the body, but be careful. Over manipulation can stretch the skin, leading to wrinkles and sags.

In addition, scrubbing enlarges pores, making them more susceptible to dirt and environmental impacts.

Many people neglect an essential part of a bath -- rinsing. Soap may leave a film over your body, drying skin. After you wash your hands, face or body, be sure to rinse thoroughly.

* Use scrubs sparingly. Resist the temptation to clean pores with a gritty scrub. Misuse of these scrubs, some made with crushed shells, may widen pores and cause them to droop. Use scrubs gently and sparingly. If your skin gets the slightest bit irritated, stop the product's use right away.

* Astringents may not help. Astringents may clean pores, but, in the long run, make the problem worse. Astringents inflame skin, and, with the skin swollen, the pores look temporarily smaller. But, because astringents dehydrate skin, they age skin, further enlarging pores.

* Natural skin aids. Advocates of natural products suggest using jojoba oil to cleanse pores. This oil, from the bean of a desert bush, is said to resemble skin oil.

Researchers believe this proximity to our natural oils helps break up sebum, a mixture of fat and wax produced by the oil glands that clogs pores.

Usually we think of herbal extracts as an addition to a bath that aids in soothing, relaxing or refreshing -- as in aromatherapy.

But cleansers and soaps made with herbs can also help clean, soften and protect skin.

The French have long honored the belief that chamomile has beneficial effects for the skin, helping to reduce inflammation and soften skin. Many find arnica soothes skin irritation and promotes healing. Comfrey is used to soothe, moisturize and cleanse. Ask at your health food store for an herbal cleanser that meets your skin's needs.

With care and attention and use of natural products, you can help your skin, the body's largest organ, stay clean, healthy and looking great.