Your face cream could be increasing your chance of getting cancer. The Chairman of the US Cancer Prevention Coalition says that ingredients found in some of these creams can cause cancer. This would include AHA (alpha-hydroxy acids) and limonene.

Many products claiming to rid skin of wrinkles and fine lines actually strip away the protective top layer and leave it vulnerable to sun damage and dangerous toxins, according to Dr Sam Epstein, chairman of the US Cancer Prevention Coalition.

He said the active ingredient alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs), found in many leading brands of face cream, were “probably the most dangerous cosmetic products on the market”.

Read the full story at Anti-ageing creams 'increase cancer risk'. Photo via Flickr

If you're interested in knowing more about how the sun affects your skin, what SPF really means and why skin cancer rates are going up, we'd recommend listening to a half hour podcast at NPR where they talk with Dr. Rigel, a leading dermatologist who's written the leading textbook Cancer of the Skin

At one point in the talk he says he calls tanning beds 'coffin beds' as they really do lead to skin cancer.

See also Tanning Beds Cause Cancer.

If you've got cellulite (most women do after puberty) and are trying to find a treatment for it, check out this review at the New York Times. It's got accurate, truthful info about cellulite treatments.

In summary, at this point, there is no outstanding treatment for cellulite.

See another point of view here about natural cures for cellulite.

The Daily Mail has a sad story about a young girl who says she wanted three little tattoo stars on her face but the tattooist gave her 56 stars! Now it will cost about $14,000 to have these tattoos removed. The tattooist insists she asked for all the stars and he has a witness that seems to confirm it.

The tattoo removal will be painful and will still leave deep white marks across her face. See more about tattoo removal here.

See Kimberley's unwanted tattoo story and more photos here.

Chemical sunscreens are definitely effective in preventing sunburn, but at what cost to our greater health?

Chemical sunscreens have been in use for many decades now, and oddly enough skin cancer rates are highest in those parts of the world where sunscreens are the most heavily used and promoted by the medical community. (See a PDF article about this here.)

If a combination of chemicals is strong enough to block the sun from tanning your skin, what else may it be doing to your skin, and could it be seeping into your body, blood and organs?

It doesn't seem that there's been that much research conducted as to the safety of sunscreens. But here's a summary of one University of California study done a couple of years ago, that concludes that "three commonly used ultraviolet (UV) filters -- octylmethoxycinnamate, benzophenone 3 and octocrylene -- eventually soak into the deeper layers of the skin after their application, leaving the top skin layers vulnerable to sun damage. UV rays absorbed by the skin can generate harmful compounds called reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can cause skin cancer and premature aging. The researchers found that once the filters in sunscreen soak into the lower layers of skin, the filters react with UV light to create more damaging ROS.

The Cal team's research is the first to indicate that sunscreen filters -- intended to protect the skin from the very UV damage they apparently promote -- have reacted in such a way."

Sunscreen does encourage people to stay out in the sun for longer than they would otherwise. While we may be avoiding sunburn while using it, we really can't be sure what's going on beneath the surface of our skin while the powerful chemicals act to block the tan on the outside.

Sunscreen suppresses our natural warning systems that we've had too much sun. It often keeps us from taking traditional measures such as wearing a wide-brimmed hat and protective clothing.

We're no scientists but we have a hunch that we'll be hearing more about the hazards of sunscreen soon.

The above photo of a mannequin tanning on a bench is via Jeremy Burgin.

The beauty FAQ at elf cosmetics has some good makeup and skin tips. Here's what they say about getting rid of a broken blood vessel on your face;

Before bed wash your face and moisturize, then take a green grape, cut it in half and massage the open ended juice onto the problem area. Repeat this several times in 2 weeks and see the difference!!

See their other beauty secrets and tips.

Brooke Shields, age 43, tells More magazine that she likes her body but not her crow's feet.

Can reiki help one feel and look better? We asked Myorei, a specialist in Reiki in Vancouver, to tell us a bit about it.

CM: What is Reiki?

Myorei: Reiki uses spiritual energy to return us to wholeness: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Reiki supports our well-being and healing by encouraging balance.

CM: If I came to you wanting to be healthier and to look younger what would you do?

Myorei: Reiki is one of the most significant factors I have found and experienced in looking and feeling good naturally. And in losing weight naturally also.

CM: Alright, after you told me this, then what would you do?

Myorei: A Reiki session helps the whole body to function more effectively. It regulates the thyroid and improves digestion and the assimilation of nutrients. It also regulates the hypothalamus, which is the body’s hunger regulator. Thus a Reiki session would help you lose weight and keep it off. The deeply relaxing effect of the Reiki session will also have a refreshing and relaxing effect on your skin.

Ongoing Reiki sessions would support you in taking responsibility for your own well-being and to move in the direction of maintaining positive wellness.

After the Reiki session I would also encourage you to move towards a wholesome, vital diet and start an appropriate exercise program.

CM: Thanks so much for this interview. We hope readers will check out your site for more info on Reiki's benefits.

Apparently Miley Cyrus, at age 16, is in love, and she wants to get a tattoo of her boyfriend’s initials with a heart around it.

Her parents haven't yet given their consent, but they need to for anyone under the age of 18 who wants a tattoo.

We really hope she goes for the non-permanent type of tattoo. First loves rarely last, and it is a real pain to get silly-looking tattoos removed when the love affair is over.

See the expensive and painful procedure for removing tattoos.

The image above is by JonasBrothersRok at Flickr.

See also how to do Miley Cyrus inspired hair and makeup.

Is it really possible to be more beautiful in three weeks by mixing a daily scoop of powder in your drink of choice? The creators of BeautyScoop say it is.

BeautyScoop was co-founded by a Manhattan-based plastic surgeon. The powder provides 'essential peptides and lipids'. They say these ingredients will give you a youthful glow, reduce the appearance of your wrinkles, provide luster and intensify shine to your hair, and strengthen your nails.

A three week supply costs $95.

The main ingredients are
* Safflower: the essential lipids from this plant provide the building blocks for youthful skin, lustrous hair and strong nails
* Canola Flower: the essential lipids from this plant provide omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin E and anti-oxidants vital for healthy and beautiful skin, hair and nails
* Vanilla Flower: flavor booster and natural sweetener
* Soy protein isolate and whey protein concentrate: vegetable sources of highly absorbable and bio-available peptides

The complete ingredients are listed as;

Essential Lipid Carthamus inctorius(Unsaturated Safflower Oil), Pure Crystallized Fructose, Pure Hydrolyzed Soy Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Concentrate, Hydrolyzed Gelatin (Kosher Dairy), Maltodextrin, Calcium Carbonate, Natural Vanilla Flavor, Lecithin Oil (Soy), Magnesium Oxide, Vitamin E (di-alpha tocopherol acetate), Essential Lipid Brassica Napus (Unsaturated Canola Oil), Xantham Gum, Zinc Oxide, Copper Gluconate, Manganese Gluconate, Biotin, Riboflavin and Calcium Silicate.

The product has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and is not claiming to cure any diseases.

We'd be interested in hearing from anyone who tried BeautyScoop for three weeks. We are looking for honest, objective reviews from people who are not profiting from sales of this product. Please comment below if you've tried BeautyScoop.

If you are looking for a cheaper alternative to shiny hair, healthier nails and glowing skin, also check out the natural food sources for fighting wrinkles.

Rosacia is a common skin condition affecting one in 20 Americans. In the video below, we see an introduction to treatment of rosacea using laser therapy. Six monthly treatments are recommended. Laser therapy is not the only way to treat rosacea but it seems to be an effective treatment.

Some creams, lotions and sunscreens now contain tiny nanoparticles that can "penetrate the skin, swarm through the body and overwhelm organs like the liver."

This relatively new cosmetic component is beginning to create 'nanophobia' according to an article in the NYT yesterday. Nanophobia is "the fear that tiny components engineered on the nanoscale — that is, 100 nanometers or less — could run amok inside the body. A human hair, for example, is 50,000 to 100,000 nanometers in diameter. A nanoparticle of titanium dioxide in a sunscreen could be as small as 15 nanometers."

See their discussion about the unregulated use of nanoparticles in the cosmetics industry here.

Here's MissChievous with some really unique (and inexpensive) facial exfoliation tips. Basically her preferred method involves cheap generic aspirin, where you can find 20 aspirins for under $4 dollars. Wet a couple of them so they are granular, rub them on your face in the shower, keep it on for a couple of minutes and the exfoliation results will be amazing in terms of baby smooth skin. She doesn't recommend this procedure more often than weekly.

Her readers completely agree about the effectiveness of this method. Read the comments of the many women who've tried her exfoliation tips on her video page.

Latin tattoos are in high demand these days. But is it a good idea to depend on a Latin/English dictionary online to get the right translation? You might end up walking around with complete junk and nonsense on your arm.

The Latin Translator has been around for nine years and they've noticed the huge spike in demand for Latin tattoos lately, so they've opened a special translation service just for helping you with your Latin tattoo ideas. For a fee of $30.00 and with a 24 hour turnaround they provide accurate translations into Latin of up to 25 words of English, alternatives to assist problems of spacing out words, advice on authentic forms of Roman lettering, advice on pit-falls for tattoo artists unfamiliar with Latin and an mp3 sound file of the translations.

They've been doing web Latin translations since 2000, with 1000+ customers in the last year (they say you can verify this from their Paypal pages). They claim a combined experience of more than 80 years of studying, teaching and translating Latin.

Might be worth checking them out if you are considering forever embedding something Latin on your body.

Dr. Oputa writes that there are two different kinds of wrinkles and that they respond to different treatments;

There are two categories of wrinkles; fine surface lines and deeply set furrows. They differ in structure and origin and respond to different types of therapy.

These categories of wrinkles respond to different therapies.

Read more of her article about wrinkle treatments.
The supersmoker photo above is by Walter Watzpatzkowski