Where are the mirrors?

I read this poem, one that described old age, horrified with the wordings of the poetry I ran towards the mirror, the same polished silver looking glass that I looked at every day , but never noticed the slow changes creeping to the sides of my eyes and around my lips. The first thing that came out of my mouth was “Oh my God look at me, is this me?”. Disbelievingly staring at my unrecognizable reflection I questioned myself “Look at me how much I have changed, but how come I never noticed my eyes and discoloring skin? Where have those beautiful dreamy eyes gone? I asked myself. I shook my head, “Wait a minute don’t be so pessimistic some good also comes with age like wisdom, senior citizen discounts and amazing grandchildren who always make me happy even with thinning gray hair, wrinkles and puffy eyes”. I would have noticed that before but I was so busy with the struggles of life, never getting time to take a long look in the mirror. “Anyways it’s not too late” I said to myself,I think this is the time I should seriously look for some of the anti aging products that available everywhere at malls and beauty salons. I decided to go to the mall and get some nice anti aging cosmetics to improve my looks. There were loads of beauty products but very expensive. Each unique brand promising that their product will take off ten, twenty or maybe even thirty years off your face. That’s a good solution for women who always want to look younger isn’t it?. Nowadays men are so conscious about their looks , and shelves are filled with special product for them as well . Last week I went to saloon and noticed that many men were waiting for their eyebrow and facial appointments, what a change! Confused about what to buy, I decided to do some research before spending handfuls of money. These are my findings from books about how to get rid of wrinkles and websites that are loaded with information and advertisement. Cosmetics industry is trillion dollar industry. Anti-aging products grow from $281.6 billion and industrialists are expecting a boost of 331.3 billion in 2020 according to Business Wire. These companies are targeting the consumers directly, there are always some miracle products that promise clear younger looking skin .Who is not worried about thinning hair due to aging? So my fellow seniors, they promise you thick, lustrous, voluminous hair and full lashes by using their products. The heartbreaking part for the senior women is that according to the FDA anti wrinkle creams cannot reverse the aging. it can’t repair DNA and rosacea.The FDA asked five famous cosmetic companies in the last five months to stop making medical claims for wrinkle creams. According to some research studies done in order to identify the most commonly used ingredients, the potential benefits to the skin were disappointing. Still we choose those products thinking that they might work. It seems that when it comes to beauty and general appearance there’s no limit to how much a women can spend. A study held by Stowaway and Poshly states that women in America use more product than we ever would have guessed. Surveying over 4000 female makeup-wearers the poll found that on average ,these consumers own about forty pieces of makeup per person. Apart from anti aging and beauty cosmetics products peoples spend 10.1 billion on dermatologist appointment visits not just seniors, according to the survey 18./.of them are at ages 20 to 39. 20% of these visits are for “cosmetic dermatology.” This shows how much we are obsessed with our face ,off course who doesn’t want to look beautiful and younger? Most of us do. These companies play with your emotions. Aside from the emotional aspects of all this, we felt that there must be some things that can be improved. A common problem of aging is “puffy eyes “special products for puffy eyes are quite expensive, some dermatologists suggest that it’s not necessary to use a product that claims to be specifically for the eye, any product loaded with antioxidants, emollients, skin-restoring agents, skin-brightening agents, and skinsoothing ingredients will work well around the eye area which are present in all well formu-

lated moisturizer or serum. The most important thing is to choose the product wisely and one which should contain following ingredients: Vitamin E (tocophero, an antioxidant that is present in the skin and found in various foods, such as vegetables, seeds and meat), Lycopene, green tea coffee Berry, Resveratrol, Grape Seed, Genistein, and Co enzyme Q10. When you are shopping for anti aging creams and serums or any cosmetics it’s important to use products that will help your skin and not damage it, the Food and Drug Administration cautions that you should avoid skin creams, beauty products ,antiseptic soaps, and lotions that contain mercury. Especially one that’s marketed as “anti-aging” or “skin lightening”? Check the label if the words “mercurous chloride,” “calomel,” “mercuric,” “mercurio,” or “mercury” are listed on the label, mercury’s in it—and you should stop using the product immediately. According to DrBrooke Rutledge Seckel, a M.D assistant clinical professor of Surgery Harvard Medical School, sun block can save you from aging, in his book “Save Your Face” he recommends a good sun block with antioxidants like A. C. and E are good protectors for aging skin. Anti oxidant vitamins and minerals and anti oxidant foods prevent or reverse some of the free radical damage to the facial skin. Grape fruit, soy extract, vitamin c, low fat yogurt, fish, and brightly colored vegetables are the best foods to protect skin from aging. He also recommended to decrease intake of high amounts of animal fat products like meat and dairy refined sugar. Drink generous amounts of water, do not smoke, exersise regularly and try to remove as much stress as possible because stress is number one enemy. Couple of things we can do easily to avoid damage to skin : 1. Stay out of sun or use good sun screen wear sunglasses to avoid squint which eventually form small wrinkles around eyes. 2. Exercise regularly 3. Use good anti aging moisturizer with SPF. 4. Eat right more anti oxidant fruits colored vegetables and drink generous amount of water. 5. Massage your face gently using finger tips and thumbs that will increase circulation. 6. Live with less stress .Stress is your no.1 enemy. Home remedies are also works well with out coasting a fortune or side effect ,using all natural organic ingredients mostly available in your kitchen. For dark circle around eyes ,puffiness and face 1. Soak some almond in raw milk overnight. In the morning remove skin and grind it in thick paste. Use the paste onto skin and under eyes, leave for thirty minutes then wash with lukewarm water. You can do it regularly. Massaging almond oil onto the same areas is good too. 2. Mix a few drops of honey with a few drops of olive oil and glycerin. Massage the mixture into your skin twice daily. This will eliminate dead cells and help tighten sagged skin 3. Mix a pinch of grated ginger with a tablespoon of honey. Eat this mixture every morning.You can also drink ginger tea twice daily. 4. Mash two ripe bananas into a thick paste. Apply the paste on the wrinkled areas. Leave it on for at least a half an hour and then wash it off with lukewarm water. Follow it with some skin moisturizer. Alternatively, you can use a mixture of one mashed banana and avocado, along with a little honey. Slather it on your skin, leave it on for 20 minutes and then wash it off. Papaya is good because of vitamin A contents and papain enzyme that digests dead cells. Papaya masks are good for eyes and Cucumber paste is also good to reduce under eye puffiness. Make sure you are not allergic to any ingredients listed above. References “Save your face “by Brooke Rutledge Sackel,M.D “Best skin for life” by Paula Begoun Environmental Working Group (EWG), FDA. http://www.safecosmatics.org Home remedies and the “Doctors book of home remedies” “Natural Cures “by James F.Balch ,M.D ,Mark Stengler,ND