Living Well From Your Suitcase

James Bond; international spy. Always jet-setting across the country, tending to mysterious assignations and covert operations, complete with a full supply of weapons, infrared binoculars, microchip voice recorders, and knives that can be concealed in his cufflinks. You may wonder, where does he pack his three-piece suits? Living out of a suitcase can definitely be limiting. Luggage weight limits, different activities, and changeable weather are only part of the things that make packing for a trip challenging. However, if Bond can do it so can you. Here are some ways you can use your Bondlike powers to maximize your luggage capacity.

Mix and Match
One of the greatest challenges to suitcase living is finding a matching outfit. You may find the perfect sweater mercifully at the top of your bag, but the matching pants nowhere to be seen. Pack versatile pieces that you can easily mix and match. That way, not only will a coordinated outfit be easier to find, you will also have a variety of outfits to chose from using the same five or so pieces. A good rule of thumb is: if it can’t be a part of at least two different outfits, leave it out.

Color Scheme
A good way to make sure your clothes match is by sticking to the same general colors. Dark and neutrals tend to be the easiest to work with. Bring a lot of white, black. and gray and add in pops of color, like red or teal, to keep it interesting.

Dress Up or Down
Usually, trips require both dressy and casual outfits, some of which will require some on the spot wardrobe adjustment. Accessories are the answer. Bring outfits that can go either fancy or sporty with the addition or omission of different shoes and pieces of jewelry. Shoes are great outfit transformers. Skinny jeans can instantly go from day to night be swapping your tennis for some super spiked heels.

Layers
Layers are both practical and fashionable, especially when you’re traveling. Weather is hard to anticipate and even seasonal averages are no guarantee. Layers are a crucial component to keeping comfortable while traveling. Make sure to throw in a few scarves, tanks to go under shirts, hoodies, hats and extra socks, that can be easily removed or added.

Packing
Packing is often something learned from mistakes. Begin with shoes and toiletries and be sure to multitask socks and underwear by using them to protect nice shoes and fragile jewelry. Shove the rest of the undies into crevices. Roll up your jeans, camisole, sweaters, and t-shirts for maximum space and minimal wrinkles, and put them in the suitcase next. Blouses and dress shirts should be folded minimally and placed on top. You may want also want to put the pajamas on the top for easy access after a tiring trip. Ironing spray is your best friend; it will eliminate wrinkles without the burden of a space-hogging, heavy iron.

Do you have any traveling tips for us? Be sure to take some time from your jet setting to make a few notes. We would love to hear from the experts.

Expert Advice For Fixing Sun Damaged Skin

“Beautiful skin today. Young-looking skin tomorrow.” This is a slogan from a vintage ad. Talk about false advertising! When looking back at some of the old ads for tanning products, it is sometimes hard to believe that extended periods of sun exposure were actually encouraged as recently as the 1970’s. One has to wonder if all those hunks and babes having fun in the sun in the ads are now singing the woes of damaged skin. Well, if you are one of those hunks or hunkettes battling with the results of a misspent youth, take heart, your days of woe may be over! Read on for some expert advice about fixing sun damaged skin.

Exfoliate
Dead skin buildup can make skin look uneven and blotchy. In addition, the remains of self tanning products tend to collect in dry areas of the skin, like elbows, causing the to appear dull and even dirty. Scrubs, loofahs, alpha hydroxy cleansers, and home dermabrasion kits are all recommended to remove those dead skin cells and leave skin looking smoother and brighter.

Bleach Brown Spots
Skin lightener can help to lessen the appearance of brown spots. Deborah S. Sarnoff, MD for the Skin Cancer Foundation recommends over the counter products containing kojic acid used in combination with Retin-Q, hydroquinone, and a mild steroid cream to lighten discoloration and unwanted color.

Hydrate
Exposure to sun, salt water, and chlorine can all result in skin dryness. Moisturize with a hand and body cream, and a foot cream for dry heels and feet. Moisturizers with AHA and serums with hyaluronic acid can help to plump skin around eyes, reducing the appearance of wrinkles, and continuous use may even help the skin synthesize collagen, an important protein for maintaining skin elasticity.

LED (Light-Emitting Diode)
Dr. Sarnoff recommends using these electronic light sources, which are available in home units as well as in salons. The low energy LED, Tanda is noteworthy for its effectiveness against fine lines, wrinkles, and acne.

Dermatologist Vist
If you have a skin problem, there is probably a laser treatment for it. IPL, or photodynamic therapy can work on anything for discoloration, to wrinkles, to removal of scaly skin patches

Sunscreen With SPF of 15 or Higher
Sunscreen is key for maintenance of young looking skin and may even lower risk of skin cancer. Sunscreen reduces your amount of sun exposure, allowing skin time to heal and giving your immune system time to fix existing damage.

How did you go from Tantastic to fantastic? Let us know!

Why You Need Retinol in Your Skin Care

Retinol is a powerful anti-aging ingredient in skin care products that can do a lot of good for the health and appearance of your skin. But Vine Vera thinks it’s more than one of many optional ingredients that you may or may not want to include in your skin care repertoire. We tend to think that the benefits of retinol are so diverse and so profound that you basically need to be using at least a little of it.

If you’re not convinced yet (or even if you’re already a fan of retinol but would like to hear why we love it so much), keep reading, because Vine Vera’s not just going to tell you that you need retinol, we’re going to tell you exactly why you need it in your life, in full detail.

Retinol Boosts Collagen Production
Collagen is one of the main substances responsible for providing skin with its elasticity. It makes up the bulk of the extracellular matrix, the system of connections between cells that hold tissues together. The more you have in your skin, the better the skin, well, holds itself together, meaning it will stretch tight and smooth out wrinkles and lines, and using retinol regularly can potentially boost the collagen production of your in.

Retinol Improves Cellular Communication
Retinol’s biggest draw, and the mechanism by which it performs most of its anti-aging feats, is its role in cellular communication. Retinol has the unique distinction in being one of the best substances that can be used to enhance communication between cells. Why is this a big deal? More on that next.

Retinol is an Antioxidant
Along with resveratrol and vitamin C, retinol is among the ranks of powerful antioxidants in the skin care world. As a refresher, antioxidants are substances that reduce oxidative stress on cells and help keep damaging free radicals at bay. This ultimately means happier, healthier cells, and when talking about skin cells in particular, this means a lovely boost to anti-aging effects.

Retinol Reduces Wrinkles and Discoloration
With the improved communication between cells that retinol provides comes the phenomenon of old and/or damaged skin cells behaving like younger, healthier skin cells. This carries a number of benefits, but chief among the is retinol’s ability to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and discoloration, quite possibly the two characteristics that can age a face the most.

Retinol Improves Pore Function and Size
As if all that weren’t enough, retinol also stimulates pores to behave themselves, as it were. This results in improvement and maybe even elimination of acne and eczema, as well as reducing pore size, which makes the skin visibly smoother.

Bottom Line
The reason Vine Vera says “need” instead of “you should consider it” is because very few ingredients in the skin care world do so well. The reason we heavily recommend retinol for your skin isn’t because it has antioxidant properties, because it helps with wrinkles and discoloration, or because it maintains pores, but because it does all of these things, and does them very well to boot. Retinol is a rare gem as a highly effective multitasker, and you should add some to your routine right now.

Vitamin C as an Antioxidant and More – Vine Vera Reviews

It’s no secret—and Vine Vera has certainly made mention of it—that vitamin C is essential for health and general well being; when ingested or otherwise absorbed into the body, it boosts immunity and benefits the cardiovascular system, eyes, and even prenatal health. When applied topically to the skin, it brightens discolorations, nourishes, and smooths wrinkles (which, incidentally, is why Vine Vera has a collection of products that feature Vitamin C as a key ingredient).

But did you know that vitamin C also acts as an antioxidant? Yes, you read that right, vitamin C, the essential vitamin, immune boosting supplement, and wrinkle-defying, sun spot-brightening powerhouse ingredient to skincare and cosmetics also happens to work alongside other powerful antioxidants like resveratrol to fend off nasty free radicals and slow aging in its tracks. In fact, vitamin C has so many health benefits—both when ingested and used in skin care products—that Vine Vera saw fit to compile a list of them for your benefit.

Essential Mineral and Antioxidant
Regular ingestion of vitamin C is essential for survival. It’s an electron donor, which makes it a potent water-soluble antioxidant. Antioxidants help prevent cell degradation and death due to free radicals, pesky little particles that contribute largely to the aging process. As an essential mineral, vitamin C is necessary for metabolism and everyday bodily function. As an antioxidant, whether ingested or applied topically, it tends to—like other antioxidants—prolong the life of individual cells, decreasing the rate of cell death, thereby slowing down the aging process and keeping you feeling young and vigorous.

In light of the fact that vitamin C also acts as an antioxidant, consider this: Vine Vera has an entire collection of products that contain ample amounts of both vitamin C and the super-powered antioxidant resveratrol.

Immune Booster
Research into the effects of vitamin C is still in progress, but so far it’s incredibly promising. Studies have shown that vitamin C contributes to an increase in overall health, and can help the body fight against heart disease, stroke, eyesight problems, and even cancer. It’s actually recommended you take a supplement to achieve about 500 mg of vitamin C daily for the maximum benefit; currently established daily values for vitamin C are based on its necessity as an essential mineral, but even higher quantities than are necessary for simple survival can be beneficial in numerous ways. Further, vitamin C is water-soluble, and this means there is less risk from taking more than the required daily value. The safe upper limit for vitamin C intake is 2,000 mg in a day.

Skin Brightener
Another great property of vitamin C? When applied topically, it brightens dark spots and other discolorations, and evens out skin tone for an overall healthy-looking glow that lasts. As such, when used in skincare products like Vine Vera’s vitamin C collection, it’s pulling double-duty as a brightener and antioxidant! Such topical applications of vitamin C products can be more targeted; while taking vitamin C supplements or getting it through your diet (such as by eating lots of citrus fruit) is hugely beneficial to your overall health, applying it topically can specifically target your skin, applying all of vitamin C’s wonderful benefits right where you want them.

Sugar and Wrinkles – What’s the Connection?

Slimmer waistlines have done wonders in curbing the desires for sugar for many ladies. But if the lure of slimmer waistlines hasn’t managed to sway you, the joy of better looking skin definitely will. According to experts, those who have too much sugar in their diets suffer from dull and wrinkled skin. What makes sugar so dangerous to the skin is a process known as glycation. Glycation makes the sugar in your bloodstream attach itself to the proteins and form new substances known as AGEs. Therefore, the more sugar one eats, the more AGEs they develop.

According to Fredric Brandt, a dermatologist in New York City, the accumulation of AGEs damages proteins lying adjacent to them like dominos. And the ones that are the most vulnerable to this damage are collagen and elastin, two proteins that are essential to skin care because they help in keeping the skin firm and elastic. Once these two proteins have been damaged, they become brittle and dry, thereby leading to sagging and wrinkles. In fact, a study published in the British Journal of Dermatology stated that anyone with a sweet tooth can expect to age quite rapidly after the age of 35.

Furthermore, a diet that contains too much of sugar also affects the type of collagen that a person has. Dr. Brandt states that this is another factor that determines how resistant the skin is to wrinkling. Some of the most commonly found collagen proteins are Type I, II and III, with all three proteins being extremely stable. However, the excessive sugar turns Type III proteins into a type I protein, something that is not as strong as it should be.

As a result, the skin begins to look less supple than before. What makes it worse is that AGEs deactivate the natural antioxidant enzymes in the body, thereby leaving it susceptible to damage from the sun, the main reason behind skin aging. If you’re still not convinced of the ill effects of sugar, all you need to do is have a conversation with someone who is diabetic. All such people suffer from high blood sugar that usually goes undetected for years. And they mostly show early signs of skin aging as well.

The good news? It’s never too late. The best way to build up on your diminished collagen levels is to use retinol based products. This helps you to minimize the damage that is caused to your skin by sugar and ensure that your skin remains supple and also allows you to prevent more AGEs from forming. Here are some of the best ways of ensuring that your skin remains young, supple and healthy.

Wear a broad spectrum sunscreen that offers SPF 30 protection every single day.

Make sure that you never ditch your sunscreen lotions, irrespective of whether its raining, its cloudy, its wintertime or its the peak summers. Irrespective of the climatic conditions, the harmful UV rays always manage to reach your body. Therefore, you should ensure that you keep your skin protected accordingly.

Add 1mg of Vitamin B1 and Vitamin B6 to your diets on a daily basis

According to Dr. David J. Goldberg, a dermatologist based in New York City, Vitamin B1 and Vitamin B6 act as extremely potent AGE inhibitors. He states that even though B1 and B6 are easily found in food, it always helps to  add them as multivitamins.

Use products that protect your skin from sugar

There are a number of compounds such as alistin and aminoguanidine that are known to inhibit AGEs. Experts believe that Alistin acts as a decoy and gets damaged before the AGEs can end up damaging your proteins. Similarly, Aminoguanidine attach themselves to the molecules which begin the glycation process and stops them from binding t elastin and collagen.

Reduce your sweet intake

The best way to prevent damage from sugar is to regulate your sugar intake to acceptable levels. Even though it is impossible to eliminate sugar from your diets, you can always regulate its intake to a level that is acceptable to your body. It always helps to ensure that the sugar is not more than 10% of the total number of calories you consume. Don’t forget to watch out for sugar in your prepared foods as well. Some food items can contain hefty amounts of sugar under alien names such as dextrose, maple syrup, turbinado, fruit juice concentrate, barley malt, maltose, etc. Furthermore, a single 12 ounce of Coca-Cola has enough sugar to match the total amount of sugar that an average woman should be consuming in a single day (about 160 calorie/ 10 teaspoons of added sugar). You should also avoid corn syrups with high fructose levels. These sweeteners simply change the sugar found in cornstarch into fructose, another form of sugar. Moreover, they  are also known to produce more AGEs than other types of sugar. However, since the product enhances the shelf life of foods and is cheaper to produce, it is commonly used in flavored drinks, soda, packaged foods and snacks. Always make sure that you check the ingredient list before purchasing any product. It can do wonders in terms of protecting your skin.

Take care of antioxidants

Antioxidants are extremely important compounds as they form the first line of defense against the free radicals. They also prevent sugar molecules to attach themselves to your proteins. Therefore, you need to ensure that you eat antioxidant rich food items such as cranberries, fruits, red bell peppers, green tea and walnuts. You can also supplement your food intake with topical applications of antioxidants. There are a number of skin care products that contain Vitamins C and E and green tea extracts. Dr.  Goldberg believes that the best way to ensure that these antioxidants reach the dermal layers of your skin, i.e., the layer where all your elastin and collagen proteins are located, is by way of topical application of antioxidants.

Smoking and Wrinkles

The damage to your skin that is caused by smoking might seem irrelevant when compared to the damage it causes to your lungs, but your skin is the usually the first place to show the damage that smoking causes. Smoking has become common all over the world, particularly among the younger generation. As a result, experts continuously find women in their early 30s asking them for advice on how to negate the ravaged complexion that smoking has given to them. The simplest solution for all such men and women? Stop Smoking.

The good news for smokers is that if you do manage to give up smoking, your skin shall automatically start to repair and heal itself. However, if you don’t give up your habit and continue smoking, your problems shall become irreversible once you grow old. Smoking is a habit that affects your entire body by putting it under stress using a combination of cyanide, tar, carbon monoxide and other harmful chemicals.

The presence of nicotine reduces the flow of the blood to the dermis and this results in a lesser amount of oxygen being delivered to the skin. The lack of oxygen makes the skin sallow and it also affects the quality and quantity of cell production, which ultimately leads to dry and flaky skin.

Furthermore, the skin begins to sag over time and the wrinkles become all the more obvious due to the fact that the skin cannot produce collagen effectively. To make things worse, smoking also saps up Vitamin C from the body – a major component required to produce collagen. This in turn, disturbs the production of the metalloproteinase enzyme, an enzyme responsible for regulating the collagen production. However, in the case of smokers, the enzyme ends up damaging more tissue than it creates. This leads to more fine lines and less plump looking skin.

When you puff a cigarette, you also place your skin under duress. This commonly leads to crow’s feet, puckered lips and hollow cheeks. Even if these effects are not obviously visible, you may still have damaged your skin and would not know it because it can take as many as 25 years for the signs of damage to show.

Now that you’ve understood how damaging smoking can be for your skin, would you like to learn about how to negate and reverse the damage?

The moment you stop smoking, your skin begins to heal itself and the presence of more oxygen in your body makes your cells function better. This should help you prevent any more damage from smoking. However, if wish to negate or reverse the damage that has already been caused to your skin, you need to follow a strict skin care routine.

First of all, a broad spectrum sunscreen that offers an SPF of 30 is a must. Secondly, you should empower yourself with face creams that contain Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Vitamin E.  It is also advocated that you add lycopene supplements and fish oil supplements that contain high concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids. The lycopene should help you to reverse skin damage and the fish oil should dampen inflammation, aid in moisture retention and promote overall healing for your skin. Finally, don’t forget to exfoliate your skin two times every week, regulate your diet, eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and exercise for about 30 minutes each day.

You will not believe the wonders that this routine can do for your damaged skin until you try it out. This works for those who have been chain smoking for a really long time as well.