DERMABRASION

If you rub away at your skin with a rough face cloth you will remove the superficial layer of cells. That is a very mild form of dermabrasion. For people who have a very bad complexion, dermatologists and beauticians sometimes offer a more severe form of dermabrasion, using a special brush or chemicals. Unfortunately, there are many potential hazards with this type of treatment. The exposure of a layer of raw skin can result in permanent damage and scarring. In my view this type of treatment should only be used as a last resort and never by anyone other than a skilled cosmetic surgeon or a specialist dermatologist.

DIET AND YOUR SKIN

If you want a good, healthy skin then it is obviously important that you eat a good varied diet, eat fresh fruit and vegetables regularly, avoid animal fats (such as butter, cream, milk and the fat on meat), eat fresh food as often as you can so that you cut down your consumption of additives and chemicals, drink plenty of fresh water each day. The foods like spinach and wheatgerm will dramatically change your whole appearance and that you must take vitamin and mineral supplements if you want to develop a perfect skin and a healthy glow. Just eat a good, varied diet and you will consume all the vitamins and minerals your body needs.

CUTS AND GRAZES

The human body is amazingly good at dealing with minor cuts, grazes, scratches and abrasions. If the skin has been broken, blood will course out for a few minutes to wash out any possible infection. Then, the blood in the wound will clot, forming a hard, p[protective scab. Any dirt left inside will be dealt with by scavenging white blood cells and the scab will stay in place as a protective shield until the skin underneath has healed. All this means that you don't have to do very much if you get a small cut or graze: simply wash the whole area very thoroughly with clean, running water or with a liquid antiseptic. Then leave your body's own defense mechanisms to deal with the problem.

COLLAGEN

Collagen is a protein which makes up a very large proportion of the dermis. Because of ts natural value in the skin, collagen has become a popular constituent of many fashionable and expensive skin remedies and cosmetic products. According to some manufacturers it is possible to revive old skin simply by smearing collagen-laden creams on to the surface layers. This is, in my view, absolute nonsense. Collagen just can't be added to the tissues in this simplistic way and to suggest that you can improve skin quality in this way is like suggesting that you can improve a motorcar's upholstery by rubbing a leather extract on to the bodywork.

CELLULITIS

An inflammation of the tissues. There is usually redness, swelling and some pain. There may be a fever too. When the inflammation is spreading through the skin it is possible to see red lines showing the direction in which the infection is going. It requires medical treatment. I believe that cellulite is simply fat that happens to be stored in fairly large quantities in a fairly conspicuous place. Special exercises and diets were claimed to rid the body of accumulated fat. If you are a women and you have the normal assortment of sex hormones circulating in your body then you are bound to have some cellulite too.

CANCER

The word cancer is rather misleading for, to most of us, it suggests a single disease. In fact the word ' 'cancer' is rather like the word 'infection' in that it simply denotes a type of problem. There are probably nearly as many different types of cancer as there are types of infection. This means, inevitability, that the types of treatment used, the prognoses and the causes will all vary too. We still don't know very much about cancer but we do know that skin cancer develops most commonly on areas of the body which are most frequently exposed to the sun, skin cancer is commoner among fair-skinned individuals, it is commoner in parts of the world where there is lots of sunshine, it is sometimes associated with the use of artificial sun lamps and chemicals of many different kinds.

BUBBLE BATH

Bubble bath usually consist of a detergent in solution, and are similar in composition to shampoos. They may also contain ingredients to increase the amount of foam produced. The more powerful the force of the water, by the way, the more satisfactorily they will bubble up. Bubble baths need to me mixed well before you get into the bath and should be abandoned if they cause an allergy rash of any kind. Because a bubble bath contains detergent you should not need yo use soap as well. Bubble baths can cause cystitis and they can make dry skin worse. So, unless you're a starlet or a model having publicity photographs taken, they're probable best avoided.

BLEACH

A bleach is a substance used to lighten colour. Bleaches are most commonly used on the hair and the bleaching ingredient is usually hydrogen peroxide. This strips colour from the hair fairly effectively but it can be dangerous if used without due care. Ideally it should only be handled by a skilled, professional hairdresser. More recently, skin bleaches have become available. For example, there are products containing hydroquinone, a powerful chemical with the ability to remove pigmentation from the skin. This chemical is so powerful that it can actually turn dark skins white. Products containing this ingredient are sometimes used for the treatment of skin blemishes, freckles and so on, but I do not recommend its use for any such procedure. Hydroquinone is unpredictable and you could end up with permanent, patchy depigmentation.

BASE

A base is a bland substance, usually a very simple cream with no medicinal qualities of its own, used in the preparation of medicated creams and ointments which carry other, active substances, or to dilute powerful, medicated creams such as those containing hydro cortisone. If you have difficulty in finding a moisturizer that does not contain any added ingredients or one that does not irritate your skin, ask your pharmacist to sell you a pot of one of these medically approved 'base' creams – it will usually be effective and inexpensive. Hence base never mainly acts as an reactor instead used for the fore said purposes.

BOILS

Boils are simply large, infected spots - and there isn't a great deal that you can do about them once they've arrived. Smearing them with antiseptic creams is more likely to do harm than good (even if the boil dies down the chances are that the infection that caused it will remain and pop up somewhere else). Squeezing them is likely to push infected matter down into the tissues. The simplest, cheapest and most effective remedy is to put a warm compress on top of the boil. A piece of clean cloth or cotton wool dipped into warm water and squeezed out will do. Warmth speeds up the rate at which a boil bursts and the pain and dischage will be over that much quicker. Heat also reduces the discomfort.

AROMATHERAPY

The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all used aromatherapy in one form or another, so it has been around for a long time. The theory is that if special oils are massaged into the skin they will have a healing effect either on the skin or on the whole body. Some 'specialists' claim that aromatherapy simply helps soothe dry skin. Others claim that it can improve poor circulation, or bust shape or size. It has also been suggested that aromatherapy can have a rejuvenating effect. Although there is a good deal of exaggeration in some of these claims it is true that being massaged with pleasant smelling oils helps to soothe and relax many people. But I think that's all it will do.