There’s a comprehensive article by Alisa Miller on how to maintain a healthy skin at any age over at RNCen+ral.com.

It’s important to remember that your skin is a giant organ, and just like the heart or lungs, you need to take care of your skin to ensure it performs at it’s peak. When your skin is healthy, you feel better and look younger. You also work to prevent more serious illnesses such as skin cancer. The fifty tips below will help you improve your skin and keep it healthy no matter if you are fifteen or sixty-five.

Good beauty advice with a medical edge.

Read it here.

It’s a fact that in a cool country like Britain there are more cases of skin cancer than in blazing Australia. Clearly a reliable sun cream is now essential wherever you are. Here are a few ideas :

Lancome Soleil DNA Guard contains “white willow flower to create a protective shield, jasmine flower and African mango extract to nourish”.

Experts say, it’s absorbed easily, leaving skin soft. However, it didn’t stand up to water and needed to be reapplied after swimming.

Recommended retail price, US$35. The UK price varies around £18.

The Organic Pharmacy Cellular Protection Sun Cream is said to “promote safe tanning. Red, white and green tea protect and shea butter hydrates”.

Experts say, it’s easily absorbed and didn’t leave a chalky residue like other organic creams. I had to reapply every few hours.

Hawaiian Tropic Shimmer Oil Protective “The microfine sparkles enhance your natural tan”.

Experts say, the “shimmer” got onto everything, so is not very practical. The low SPF (strength of protection) meant it was more suitable for the end of a holiday.

Clearly, you have to choose your sunscreen product very carefully.

Most people have read about so-called beauty serums. But how should they be used and do they work? Should they be used with moisturisors, or instead of them?

Serums always work better if you use them beneath your normal moisturiser. Experts say you should see some changes in the texture and tone of your skin after about a month, but it will depend on many factors. These include what your skincare program was before using the serum, your lifestyle, diet and other conditions in your lifestyle.

In Britain, one of the industry’s best-kept secrets — serums — are rapidly becoming the new must-haves thanks to a product sold by Boots that is rapidly flying off shelves nationwide.

Sales of No7 Protect and Perfect Serum increased by nearly 2,000 percent with 13 being sold every minute, after it was mentioned by the BBC Horizon TV show as a “wonder cream” that reduces wrinkles.

Dr Barry Cohen, founder of pH Advantage, says: “The molecules in a serum are smaller than that of a traditional moisturiser, and therefore are able to absorb more effectively into the skin’s pores.

“Concentrated ingredients are packed into a serum which can penetrate the skin much quicker and more deeply for an intensive treatment. They can also help to address certain skin problems such as dehydration and dullness.”

It’s always best to consult an experienced practitioner though, before trying out products of this kind.

Some skin lotions may soon come with the label “recommended by doctors” as a result of a new study at the University of Michigan Health System which proves that lotions containing retinol actually do reduce fine lines and wrinkles.

The study showed that retinol improves the appearance of skin that is wrinkled due to the natural aging process as well as skin affected by photoaging, or sun damage.

Wrinkle reduction was the result of increased collagen production and the induction of glycosaminoglycans, which are known to retain large quantities of water.

The study involved a lotion prepared by U-M just for the experiment. Sorry, but they won’t be selling their lotion so you will have to buy another of the many commercially prepared cosmetic lotions that contain retinol. Specific brands were not tested.

Retinol lotion reduces the fine wrinkles from natural aging of skin, University of Michigan study finds.