Dan's Papers - January 18, 2008

The other day, I was holding my baby nephew in my arms, and his skin felt like freshly whipped cream. It was so soft I wanted to just burrow my face in it. And then I looked down at my own rough hands, chapped from the cold and worn from doing the dishes. Could there have been a time when my skin felt like his?

As we age, we dehydrate. It's a natural part of the aging process, and it happens from the inside out. Add to this the wear and tear that our skin suffers over the years, and then compound it all with the dead of winter, and you will find yourself with a rough epidermis. The first way to combat this is to hydrate as much as possible. One mistake that many people make in their quest for the fountain of youth is they forget to stop by the water fountain on the way. Ironically, that would make their quest a whole lot less urgent. By drinking enough water, you will help counteract some of the inevitable dehydration that the skin experiences as we age. But if your Nalgene bottle is attached to your bag or your recycling is filled with Smartwater bottles and your skin still looks like leather and feels like sandpaper, then you may benefit from some external aids. There are some really excellent lotions out there that can penetrate deep below the surface of the skin, healing and hydrating thoroughly.

Bliss Spa, with locations all over the country and in London as well, has become known for its delicious beauty treatments. It started in New York, gaining a reputation for high quality and an unpretentious attitude. But what I know them for is one product - the lemon and sage body butter. This stuff is thick and cooling without leaving a greasy film. Just smooth a dollop of this sweet and citrusy cream over your cracked wintry legs and you'll be hooked. It literally transforms the texture of your skin in one use. Learn more about Bliss at www.blissworld.com.

Jimmyjane is a super-fun, super-smart company that specializes in sultry beauty products. Their line of hydrating massage lotions, BEYOND, can be used for everyday moisturizing or for yummy massages. Made with natural ingredients and an emollient for extra hydration, there are three varieties of BEYOND lotions. Warming, which uses Citrus Bergamia oil to calm the senses and Rosewood oil as an aphrodisiac, actually raises the temperature of the touch when applied to the skin. Cooling, with its revitalizing peppermint oil and soothing cucumber extract, awakens the senses when applied to the skin. And Euphoric employs the essential oil ylang ylang, which is known to stimulate endorphins. Coconut and Monoi oils in Euphoric help to moisturize the skin. Visit www.jimmyjane.com to see a full line of fabulous products.

If you're looking for a healthy way to moisturize the skin, there's really no better place to turn than a doctor who's interested in using sustainable products from the Earth. So Dr. Lani Simpson's skin protection program is a great choice. These products, of the Eco-Lani brand, are completely chemical-free and made of all organic ingredients. They are coral reef safe and are never tested on animals. And the bottom line is that they work. The face and body lotions are made up of organic aloe, organic shea butter, organic green tea extract, organic rose hips oil, grapefruit extract, vitamin E and vitamin C. They are deeply hydrating and completely healthy. The recovery gel will relieve major sunburn or other burn pain, and the sunscreen is very effective as well. Learn more about Dr. Simpson's background and mission, as well as her products, at www.lanisimpson.com.

If you're finding that your skin just won't respond to regular lotions, check out Awakening hand cream. It seems to hydrate even the most unresponsive of skin, and it absorbs in thirty seconds without leaving an oily residue. Awakening products use natural potassium and magnesium, extracted from salts from the Dead Sea. These minerals are then enhanced with selected essential oils and made into amazing mineral therapies. Hands, Feet, Body, Scalp, and Mudface are all available so you can isolate which part of your body needs the most help. Check them out at awakeningskincare.com.

These products harness the wealth of our planet to heal our bodies, and they do so very well. We can't turn back the clock, but by hydrating our skin with natural moisturizers, we might just be able to hold a baby without feeling like our hands are made of sandpaper.