Face to face

Your face — it’s all about the skin

By Barbara Pierce

“‘How do I look?’ That’s what most of us ask ourselves when we look in the mirror. But here’s the thing — it’s really our skin that should be important to us, not how we look,” said nose filler expert and skin care adviser Denise Passero of Amsterdam.

“The part of our body that we take the most for granted is our skin. But it’s really important to take good care of our skin,” she said.

“I’ve been researching skin care for years since I have struggled with problem skin my entire life,” she said. After taking classes on ways to improve the appearance and health of skin using organic and natural products, she became a distributor for Young Living Products — personal care products and therapeutic-grade essential oils. Her business is Mohawk Valley Essential Solutions.

“Women pay tons of money to put things on their face. But it’s not just about how you look,” she said. “It’s important to have good health and wellness inside and out.”

She said one of the best ways we can take care of our skin is through what we eat.

“If you have a bad diet, everything you eat shows on your face. I can personally attest to that fact. If I go through a few days of eating foods with a high-sugar content, it’ll show up on my face,” she noted.

A mother whose teenage son had bad breakouts asked Passero what she could do to help him.

“I asked her if he drank a lot of soda, and ate a lot of sugary foods, because that could contribute to his problem skin,” she noted.

Passero said if you have problem skin, the first thing to look at is your diet.

“Bacteria love sugar and if you tend to eat foods high in sugar or drink sugary soft drinks and you have problems with your skin, one of the first things to do to improve the health and appearance of your skin is to remove those foods and beverages from your diet. Whatever we put in our bodies ultimately shows up on our skin,” she said.

Eat healthy for your skin, Passero stressed. Eat healthy and stay hydrated; that is the first and most important component of a good skin care routine.

Stress also can contribute to problems with your skin, said Passero. Some stress is unavoidable and natural. However, our emotions can play a huge role in the health of our skin. Some people tend to break out more when they are stressed out because stress causes the body to produce a hormone called cortisol that causes the sebaceous glands to produce more oil, which can result in acne-prone skin.

Manage that stress

“One way to manage stress is through the use of aromatherapy,” Passero said. “I keep a diffuser in my office at work and use it almost daily to help with focus and to help me keep stress levels at a dull roar.”

Passero said ylang ylang has become one of my favorite oils. “This oil has a very calming and uplifting effect for the heart, mind, and spirit. Added to bath salts, it is excellent for a nice, long soak in the tub,” she said.

It provides excellent support for the nervous system, she added. “It is a strong, intense essential oil and a little goes a long way. One drop can provide intense aroma,” she said.

To care for our face, Passero recommends we do these four things daily:

— First, clean with a cleaning agent to remove makeup, dead skin cells, bacteria, dirt, and excess sebum (oil).

— Next, use a toner that helps to remove soap film and traces of other materials that were not removed during cleansing. The type of toner to use depends on whether your skin is oily or dry.

— We all need an exfoliant to remove, brighten and refresh skin cells.

— Last, we all need some kind of moisturizer to help to retain fluid in the skin by protecting the skin from water loss.

Regarding of what products to use, Passero says there are no rules.

“You really have to listen to your skin and its needs,” she said.

Young Living offers products for each of these steps. Your local drugstore also has products designed to do these things. “It’s important to use quality products,” she cautions.

“I’m passionate about Young Living products,” she noted. “They work best for me and my skin. In my research, I learned about the power of essential oils, hydrosols, and herbs to improve the appearance and health of the skin using organic and natural products.”

For more information on skin care from Passero, see her website by Googling “Mohawk Valley Essential Solutions.”