Expert Skin Care

U.S. Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard not only has to overcome her competitors in the pool, she also faces a relentless obstacle: the sun.

"Here I am a swimmer and I have tried every sun block out there and I don't care how water resistant it says they are, I still would get sunburned by the end of practices," she said in an e-mail from Beijing.

Now, she is sponsored by a company that makes sunscreen designed for athletes that is supposed to last longer in the pool. "I love it, it will stay on for hours and even put it on under my makeup," she wrote.

The product was made by Mission Product, a startup company targeting professional athletes and exercise enthusiasts with skin care products tailored for them. Mission and competitors are trying to capitalize on the world's attention on the Beijing Olympics.

Johnson 'n' Johnson is an Olympic sponsor that is heavily advertising on the games and its Neutrogena brand has Active Breathable sun block lotions and sprays made for athletic users.

Mission Product is sponsoring several other Olympians. Basketball star Carmelo Anthony, softball player Jessica Mendoza and triathletes Hunter Kemper and Sarah Haskins are designing a Mission line for athletic needs.

Nevertheless, its good to see skin care and athleticism put together. 

Hollywood beauty Charlize Theron recently splashed out on expensive Super Berry moisturiser, which helps her retain her younger looking skin. The Monster actress is determined to preserve her youthful appearance, and thus uses the Sugar Acai Age-Delay Body Cream, made from a unique fruit found in the Amazon jungle.

The cream costs a whopping $65 for a tiny tube, boasts a slow down time process, and comprises of age defying technology to nourish, protect a firmer looking skin, reports China Daily. Theron is not the only celebrity to resort to unusual methods to retain younger looks, for 'Desperate Housewives' actress Teri Hatcher's beauty regime reportedly involves pouring a glass of wine into her bath, while Gwyneth Paltrow uses an anti-wrinkle cream containing snake venom to maintain her looks.

L'Oreal might feature Beyonce in milky white complexion, but this has created a great furore on both sides of the Atlantic.Bollywood, too, is not lagging behind as superstar ShahRukh Khan and the dusky beauty, Bipasha Basu claimed that brown is certainly beautiful. “It’s bizarre this obsession with fair skin. It reflects a lack of intelligence; something is wrong with their heads,” says Basu.

However, its ironic that most Bollywood stars promote skin-lightening creams including King Khan himself. Defending his stance, Khan said, “I don’t think like that and I am not perpetuating this. I like tanned complexion in men and women to be honest. I am not fair myself. The whole idea is to say to men in India that they need to look after their skin.”

It's great news for those who want to look equally gorgeous even beyond 60! Distinguished as the world's fastest aging society, Japan is all set to take a giant stride in the cosmetic industry, thanks to the Japanese cosmetic giant, Shiseido Cosmetic Company. The company is all set to introduce a completely new line of products specially made for women aged 60 or above.

Over the years, anti-aging market has shown a growing trend and is becoming a favorite amongst cosmetic manufacturers. Market analysis apart, it's a win-win situation for women who want to defy age at all cost.

It's not always feasible for everyone to rush to the parlor for manicure. Given below are some easy tips for truly enviable nails. Prior to initiating the process, you need to do the following:

a) Wash your nails thoroughly even with the nail polish on your fingernails
b) Try to get the nails clean underneath the nail cartilege where it is not attached to the skin from the beginning
c) Underlying growths, tiny knobs or redness should immediately be consulted with a doctor.

To begin the process, the following items are required:

a) 1 pack of cotton balls
b) 1 fingernail polish remover
c) 1 emery board
d) 1 nail trimmer
e) 1 cuticle remover
f) 1 bottle of fingernail polish
g) A couple of paper towels

Nail polish removing

Firstly, take out as many cotton balls as needed one at a time, and safely douse each fingernail with nail polish remover, until your whole fingernail is your natural true color. It is available now at the stores in bottle or sponge form in a bottle. For the sponge type, you have to dip your finger into the container, usually a plastic one, and swish your finger around frequently checking it to make sure your fingernail polish is coming off. For the fingernail polish in the bottle without a sponge embedded in it, you have to carefully tip it about a fourth of the way over using the cotton ball at the top to stop up the top from spilling out all over, and If you need to, you can have some paper towel handy to wipe off any excess fingernail polish remover that spills over as a result. Whichever fingernail polish remover you choose, swab your fingernails one by one until they are your natural color.

If you frequently use fingernail polish, your natural nail can become tinted a little of a yellowing color, not to be confused with bold yellow, and not red or green, or swollen. If your fingernails or fingers start to become red, green, or swollen, seek medical attention immediately. If you are doing ok, and your nails are now their natural color, go to step 2.

Filing your nails with an emery board

Next, you should have what is called an emery board. An emery board is usually a very inexpensive fingernail board used for filing down rough nail surfaces that is rough on the surface at least on one side. An emery board should not be used to scrape your natural nail surface at all. It will make your smooth fingernails rough.

You can use the emery board quite effectively on the end of your nail, in order to give it a consistent shape and make the tip of your nail smooth, not rough. Emery board comes in all shapes and sizes, and you can even look for one to fit your personality or wardrobe color-wise. As soon as you are done smoothing the tips of your nails in a uniform manner, proceed to the next step 3.
Trimming your fingernails

A fingernail trimmer is used in your home nail process when you want to reshape or shorten your nails more efficiently than with an emery board. You can make your fingernails shorter using fingernail clippers, which are clippers that are small in size designed to fit your nail shape and be able to cut your fingernail tip surface, without having enough force in them to really do massive cutting damage, but still use safety.

You should trim your nails at least once a month if they are healthy. Never trim unhealthy, discolored or brittle fingernails. Never trim your nails to the quick, which is the place where your fingernail cartilage meets your skin.

Be mindful of safety, even at this stage of the process. If you have hypoglycemia, or any other disease such as Parkinson’s or nerves, do not clip your own fingernails if you might have an issue of safety. Some fingernails are hard, and take some sharper fingernail cutters to cut through them. If this is the case with yours, you may want to consider going to a salon or a simple medical visit and have a professional trim them. However, if not, trim away. This is mostly a basic and fun procedure for most people. Then start with step #4.

Cuticle removing

Next, you need to use your cuticle remover to remove your cuticle, or actually push it down. Your cuticle is that soft skin that forms at the bottom of your fingernail at the place where your fingernail cartilage and your skin meet. It is just like a foreskin. Its job is to cover the place where your nail cartilage meets your skin, and make a smooth transition for that to happen. As your fingernails grow, your cuticle skin stretches, and this process of removing your cuticle pushes back that excess to promote your nail growth and health.

Again, you would want to check your cuticle area for rashes, redness, swelling, discoloration of any kind, and if any of those issues are present in your cuticle, seek the advice of a medical professional before pushing it back.

If you find that it looks pretty much like your fingernail and finger color, but with a different smoother and softer texture, go ahead and push the cuticle back with the cuticle remover, which is a little stick like device with a softer but firm tip made especially for the cuticle. It is not a cutting type tool. It looks a little shorter than a chopstick, but has a necessary soft tipped end to make sure that your cuticle does not get damaged.

Push back your cuticles one at a time using the cuticle removing tool. These are available from nearly any beauty supply store, or store that carries fingernail accessories of any kind. These are also relatively inexpensive.

It is important to note that if at any time in your process for any reason, if your nails start to bleed mildly or a lot, stop this procedure at once. This is not likely to happen in a normal fingernail manicure, but it may be a nice way of warning you of a problem with your own nails that you may need to get medical attention for.

Pick a color

Now you are ready to pick out a nail polish color from your own home nail polish collection. Pick out a color that matches your skin coloring, outfit styles that you wear, or shade of lipstick. If you polish your nails frequently, make sure that you give them one or two days to air out and breathe naturally to promote healthy nails in between polishes.

Application of finger nail polish color

Each bottle of nail polish comes with it's own applicator inside the bottle, attached to the handle of the fingernail polish bottle. Just unscrew the fingernail polish bottle, and scrape off the excess fingernail polish on the fingernail polish brush applicator on the side of the bottle itself. You can use a paper towel for this process, but you may end up with paper towel residue mixed into your color, so I would not recommend it. Also, you need to make sure that you have a steady hand for this in order to get your finger nail polish on your fingernail area only, not on your skin. Skin always needs to breathe, and cannot with polish on it.

When you are ready, take the applicator holding non-dripping color to your nails, brushing from the base of your fingernails upward towards the top tip of your nail. Make sure you coat your whole nail evenly. Starting at the base of the nail and applying polish in an upward motion helps you evenly coat your nail.

Correcting polish mistakes

If you make a mistake, take a paper towel and douse it with nail polish remover as you did with the cotton ball in step one, and try to get the excess polish off your skin using the flat edge of the paper towel. Then, if you need to re-coat that fingernail, go ahead. If not, great. Just move on to the next fingernail until you are done.

Second coats of nail polish

Wait at least ten minutes before applying a second coat. You should not paint over your nails another time unless your nail polish is dry the first time. Without air, or low to medium speed fans blowing on them, it will take about five minutes for your fingernails to dry. Using high-speed fans near your wet nail polish can move your fingernail polish around your fingernail and mess its even coat up.

Quick drying nails

You can buy the quick drying kind of nail polish at the stores, or a quick drying sealer that is clear over the color of your nail polish to quicken drying if you are in a hurry. As a reminder, do not attempt to polish your fingernails in an area that does not have proper ventilation. And do not polish your nails around the face of infants.