Maria V Marcotte’s blog

There are some people out there who wonder why people spend money on expensive contact lenses or expensive glasses.  If you’ve never worn glasses or contacts, then chances are that you have really good vision.  On the other hand, those that don’t have really good vision will need to get either contact lenses or glasses in order to have near perfect vision.

Contact lenses, in most cases, will drastically improve your vision without having to get glasses, which is reason enough to invest in a pair of contacts.  They are very lightweight, and they offer you a full range of sight and mobility.  Unlike wearing glasses, contacts don’t hang on your face - when you wear them others won’t able to tell.  If you wear glasses, you may want to look into getting a pair of contact lenses.

You can buy contact lenses in several different ways.  You can order them online, which is what most people tend to do.  Companies such as contacts.com offer hundreds of contacts and prescriptions, which they deliver right to your door.  When you order online you can get a great price, and then have the contacts brought right to you - with no travel or waiting in line required to get your contact lenses when you need them.

You can also purchase your contacts at your opticians office as well.  Buying this way is a great decision if you don’t have access to the Internet.  You can also purchase at a local store that sells contacts and glasses, such as Wal-Mart.  The prices are great here as well, as they offer a variety of different contacts for those who need them.  You can also buy solution here as well, making it well worth the trip to get your contact lenses.

If you shop around, you can normally find some great deals for your lenses.  Depending on the brand and type your optician prescribed, the prices will vary.  If you are buying the latest and greatest brands of contacts, you can obviously count on the price to be a bit higher.  This is to be expected, as contacts cost the most when they first come out and are available for purchase.

Several people who need contacts will want them, although they think bad things and normally don’t end up purchasing them - choosing to go with glasses instead.  Contrary to what many think, contacts don’t get stuck behind your eyes, nor do they damage your eyes when you wear them.  If this was indeed the case, contacts wouldn’t be legal to sell - or recommended by top opticians.

In order to buy contacts, you’ll need a prescription.  When you go to an optician for the fitting process, he will examine your eyes and let you know if you can wear contacts.  There are a few types, such as soft and hard.  Depending on your eyes, you may have to get a special type of contact lens.  The optician will give you his recommendation, and tell you everything you need to know and do for the contacts that he will give you a prescription for. 

If your vision is bad, or if you just want to ditch the glasses, you should look into a pair of contact lenses.  They are very affordable, easy to take care of, and easy to use.  You can wear them during the day, then take them out at night - or get a pair that you can wear night and day.  They won’t stick out like glasses, as it is very hard to tell if someone is wearing contacts.  With many ways to buy them - contact lenses are the best option for those with not so great vision. Maria V Marcotte

Acne is defined as a diseased condition of the skin that involves the hair and oil glands. It is characterised by pimples, black/white heads, reddishness and cysts. Face acne can spoil your appearance to a great extent and body acne can really ruin your day by making you very uncomfortable. Considering acne as a minor problem, some people tend to totally discard the topic of ‘Acne skin care’. However, the importance of ‘Acne skin care’ cannot be undermined in any way. 

Acne skin care should really start much before the acne actually appears. ‘Acne skin care’ is more about being proactive than reactive. Acne skin care is about being aware of preventive measures. Acne skin care is - following daily skin care routines with complete discipline.  So let’s have a look at how ‘acne skin care’ can be applied to our daily routine.

‘Acne skin care’ starts with the most basic thing - cleanliness. So morning showers are the most basic way of keeping the skin clean. In fact, a lot of people take night showers too (that not only helps in keeping your skin clean but also provides relaxation to your body and enables a good sleep). If you are living in a hot and/or humid place, a night shower becomes a must. In fact, a shower is recommended after any activity that causes high levels of sweat to develop. It’s a very effective ‘acne skin care’ technique.

However, acne skin care is not about just showers. Acne skin care is also about wearing clean clothes and sleeping on clean pillows. Moreover, too tight clothes can cause sweat to accumulate quickly; so soft and comfortable cotton clothes are recommended, especially if you already have acne.  In the same sense, ‘acne skin care’ also advocates regular cleaning of your make-up brush and any equipment that you use on your body.

Besides that, you should also use a mild, water-soluble, oil-free and soap-free cleanser for keeping your face, neck and arms clean. Cleansing is the most important part of any acne skin care routine. Cleaners are the easiest and the most effective way of removing dirt, grease, pollutants and excess oil from your skin; thus reducing the probability of acne  occurrence.  Acne skin care also recommends removing your make up using a make up remover, and this should happen before you go to bed (not in the morning).

If you already have acne, do not try to touch them or squeeze them; it can lead to permanent scars. ‘Acne skin care’ advocates gentle cleansing and cleaning of the affected area using an over-the-counter medication and a clean/soft cotton pad. There are various acne skin care creams and lotions available over-the-counter (a lot of these acne skin care products are actually cleansers). However, if these ‘acne skin care’ measures don’t give you the desired results, contact a dermatologist for ‘acne skin care’ advice and treatment. Maria V Marcotte

There is really nothing like a best skin care product. There really can’t be anything like ‘The best skin care product’, because skin care products work differently for different people (based on the skin type to some extent). A product that is the ‘best skin care product’ for one person might end up being the worst for another person. So, a more logical question to ask would be ‘What is the best skin care product for my type of skin?’. However, this still is not completely logical. We tend to segregate people into 4 groups based on their skin types – i.e. dry skin, oily skin, normal skin and sensitive skin. However, this classification is just too broad to be used definitively in determining the best skin care product. We can say ‘best skin care product for a dry skin’ or ‘best skin care product for an oily skin’ are better statements than just ‘best skin care product’. But really, that is what it is – ‘better’; still not accurate.

So, it really comes to rephrasing the question to – ‘What is the best skin care product for me’. Yes, this is exactly the question that you should be asking, and unfortunately there is no easy answer for this. Arriving at the best skin care product for self will need some effort on your part.

First of all, you need to understand how the skin care products work. This is simple. You can consider all skin care products to be composed of 2 types of ingredients – Active and inactive. The active ingredients are the ones that actually work on your skin. The inactive ones just help in delivering these active ingredients to your skin. Both the ingredients need to work for your skin, in order for the product to be effective (and move on to become the best skin care product for you).

Besides the ingredients, the way you apply your skin care products is equally important. In fact, this is even more important. If you do not know how to apply skin care products, you might forever be hunting for the best skin care product for yourself, when that has already passed you. Moreover, it’s also important to decide on the frequency of application (of the skin care product). The environmental factors - temperature, humidity and pollution level, also affect the selection of best skin care product. Here are a few rules that you could use to ensure that your best skin care product is really the best for you:
* Cleanse your skin before applying that best skin care product.
* Use a makeup remover instead of plain water and remove your makeup before going to bed.
* The effectiveness of active ingredients is reduced when applied over another product e.g. over moisturiser. So apply that best skin care product first and then apply a bit of moisturizer if needed.
* Apply the products on moist and warm skin.
* You will have to experiment with a few products before you arrive at the one that is the best skin care product for you.
* Do not exfoliate too much or too hard.
* Vary your skin care routine as per the seasons (winter/summer etc), changes in environmental factors and changes in your skin type

Note that the best skin care product cannot be determined overnight. It’s only through experiment (and awareness) that you can find the ‘Best skin care product’. Maria V Marcotte