Benefits of Dates

Skin and Beauty Glossary

To care for your skin, it helps to know the lingo of dermatology conditions, treatments, and beauty products. Here is the essential glossary to help you get clued in.
By Eleanor Roberts, PhD Medically reviewed by Lindsey Marcellin, MD, MPH

 

Acne conglobata: Type of acne in which interconnected nodules are located beneath the surface of the skin.

Acne mechanica: Acne caused by exposure to heat, covered skin, pressure, or repetitive friction.

Acne vulgaris: The most common type of acne, associated with blackheads, whiteheads, papules, and pustules, commonly referred to as pimples or zits.

Actinic keratoses: Precancerous growths that can appear red, thick, and rough; usually found on sun-damaged skin.

Age spots: Flat, brownish patches on the skin caused by sun exposure and perhaps aging; also known as “liver spots.”

Alopecia: Unusual hair loss, most often on the scalp.

Alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs): Exfoliating ingredients derived from fruit and milk sugars and used to help reduce the appearance of wrinkles and age spots.

Antioxidants: Vitamins A (including beta carotene), C, and E, thought to repair and protect skin cells by neutralizing damaging free radicals.

Atopic: When an antibody present in the skin makes someone more likely to experience allergic reactions.

Basal cell carcinoma: Type of skin cancer that forms at the base of the epidermis of the skin and usually does not spread to other parts of the body; associated with long-term overexposure to the sun.

Benzoyl peroxide: Topical acne treatment that kills acne-causing bacteria.

Blackhead: A clogged pore usually filled with hardened oil and dead skin cells; the tip is visible at the pore opening.

Blepharoplasty: Cosmetic procedure to remove excess fat and skin from around the eyes.

Chemical peel: Chemical solution applied to the skin to remove damaged outer layers.

Dermabrasion: Procedure in which a rotating brush is used to abrade, or remove, the outer surface of the skin.

Dermatitis: Inflammation of the skin.

Dermis: The middle layer of the skin.

Eczema: Inflammatory response in the skin that can lead to redness, itching, and scaling.

Epidermis: The outer layer of the skin.

Exfoliate: To slough off the outer layer of skin cells.

Follicle: A shaft in the skin through which hair grows.

Isotretinoin (Accutane and other brand names): Oral vitamin A-based medication used to treat severe acne.

Laser resurfacing: Laser procedure to remove signs of aging, including fine lines, wrinkles, and age spots.

Melanin: A chemical in the body that gives skin and hair their unique color.

Melanoma: Life-threatening form of skin cancer that usually develops in an existing mole.

Mole: Pigmented skin lesion also known as a nevus.

Noncomedogenic: A product not likely to clog pores and cause acne lesions.

Papule: Acne lesion that appears as a small, red bump on the skin.

Photo-aging: Skin damage that results from prolonged overexposure to the sun.

Phototherapy: Artificial ultraviolet (UV) radiation treatment for some skin diseases.

Plaque: Raised, but relatively flat, patch of skin.

Psoriasis: Skin condition characterized by red, raised, scaly patches.

Pustule: Inflamed acne lesion containing pus.

Retinoids: Derivatives of vitamin A used to treat a variety of skin conditions.

Rosacea: Skin condition characterized by prominent spider veins and sometimes swelling.

Sclerotherapy: Treatment that reduces the appearance of varicose veins and spider veins by injecting them with a special solution.

Sebaceous glands: Oil-producing glands in the skin that are attached to hair follicles.

Seborrheic dermatitis: Scalp condition associated with itching and flakiness (dandruff) that can also occur on the face.

Skin biopsy: Diagnostic procedure in which a portion of the skin is removed for examination in a laboratory.

Spider veins: Small reddish or purplish sunburst-shaped veins under the skin.

Squamous cell carcinoma: Type of skin cancer that forms in outer layers of the skin, capable of spreading to other parts of the body, and associated with long-term overexposure to the sun.

Subcutis: The layer of fat beneath the skin.

Telogen effluvium: Hair loss that is temporary, often related to stress, illness, or recent childbirth.

Topical: A product applied on the skin.

Tretinoin: Topical retinoid used to treat acne by unclogging pores; also used to lessen signs of photo-aging.

Ultraviolet light: The sun’s UVA and UVB rays that can cause both skin damage and skin cancers.

Urticaria: Raised reddish, itchy areas, also called hives.

Varicose veins: Large blood vessels that appear as blue bulges beneath the skin; may be associated with swelling, pain, and other symptoms.

Whitehead: Closed acne lesion caused by a clogged hair follicle.

Smart Phone vs. Smart People

It’s a must for every one of us to own a smart phone.
Or maybe more than 1???
I do understand why smart phones becomes necessity
nowadays.. Yes.. can email, make calls, take photo, browsing,
send photo, whatsapp. wechat bla bla bla..

but what makes me wonder is the user of the smart phone!!
They are not smart enough.. (to me at least)
Haha..

i travel using public transport to work daily and i find it
very interesting while travelling in it.

Some listens to music, some sleeping, some reading but
MOSTYLY are playing GAMES!!!!

OMG!!! Games??? Duhh…
Ha hAh ha…

Come on people… use it smartly…

No Offense people.. just stating what is obvious that happen in front of my very sexy eyes…
wink..wink…

It’s a heartache…

Surely you will have the uneasy feeling when you had sudden flashbacks on your past love life…

oh yes.. i know that feeling.. especially when knowing that he’s happy with his family and you still stuck here feeling lonely..

i don’t normally do  this but i looked into my ex schoolmate sweetheart’s Facebook and saw his latest photo… lucky i don’t know how to reach him… haha!!

but i don’t plan to break any marriages ya…

and then the gloomy feeling comes… oh it hurts… it hurts so bad…

i pray hard that one day, God will grant me the husband that i deserve to spend my life with….

Thought for Today

 

“If you want to change a person, you must first change their awareness of themselves.”

—  Dr. Cheryl Grills

Famous Poets Reveal How They Found Their Calling By Kimberly Hiss

How did they know they were meant to be poets? We polled Pulitzer Prize winners, poet laureates, and professors to find out.

Maxine Kumin was caring for a family of small children in the Massachusetts suburbs and writing little more than “jingly light verse” in the 1950s, when she saw a brochure for an adult education creative writing course on poetry, and signed up. It was through that course that she met classmate Anne Sexton; they started carpooling together and began holding raucous poetry workshops at each other’s houses with fellow poets (Maxine’s kids would see her setting out snacks for a workshop and say, “Oh no, not the poets again!” and ask to sleep in the room over the garage). Kumin honed her craft by working on poems in her head while chauffeuring her children to their various activities, and the connections she made through that workshop helped to jumpstart her career. In 1981 Kumin became Poet Laureate of the United States.

Carole Muske-Dukes feels like she had no choice but to become a writer, given her childhood in St. Paul, MN. “My mother was from that last generation of Americans who learned poems by heart in school, and she recited everything—Milton, Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson—she just spoke poetry as she went about her housework.” Muske-Dukes remembers in particular her mother pushing her on a swing to the lines “How would you like to go up in a swing, / Up in the air so blue?” by Robert Louis Stevenson. “Those moments touched me. In the sense that I was meant to be a poet, I was receptive to it all, and the words stayed with me.” Muske-Dukes is currently the California Poet Laureate.

Azure Antionette had been working a grueling office job when she came home one night to her Montclair, California, apartment and watched an episode of Def Poetry Jam. The spoken-word poet Marty McConnell was giving an electrifying performance that ended with the words, “Do not let this universe regret you.” As Antoinette remembers it: “With that last line my arms were literally in the air meaning, I’m done! It changed my course of thinking: You can’t let the world not know you were here—you’ve got to be impactful. That piece definitely influenced my decision to do spoken word full time.” Antoinette quit her job and called her mother to announce, “I’m going to be a poet! ” She was all passion and no plan, but she started hitting the open mic circuit in earnest, and soon joined a Los Angeles-based non-profit that promotes poetry among teenagers. Antoinette is now a working spoken-word poet and youth literacy advocate.