Beauty Potions Beauty potions have something of a bad rap these days, possibly because of their association with magic. As everyone knows, magic altogether flaunts the everyday laws of physical reality, making life absurdly easy for those who have it. Perhaps that's why shysters and crooks have been able to make a pretty good living flogging so-called "beauty potions" for centuries now: because people want to believe it's as easy as drinking a little bottle of liquid, just like they want to believe that taking magical fat-burning pills will help them lose weight while they watch TV. While magic may very well be alive and well in this world, it's doubtful you'll come across a truly magical beauty potion anytime soon. As for the Fountain of Youth, forget it --the Spanish conquistador Ponce de León went looking for it back in the 1500s, and all he found was Florida (a pretty fair trade-off, all things considered). Nope, fairy tales are great when you're a kid, but once you hit twelve or so and those hormones kick in, reality starts to bite -- big-time. At that point, it takes a lot of proactive skin care to keep you looking your best. The questionable reality of beauty potions hasn't kept people from experimenting with various brews and elixirs for centuries now -- and to some extent, they've succeeded in finding them. While you can still get "magical" beauty potions from the occasional online witch, our increased understanding of human physiology that has resulted in true beauty potions, though not necessarily in the form that people have long dreamed of. It turns out that a truly youthful appearance is the result of taking good care of yourself, particularly your skin. In other words, good skin begins with good health, which is compounded of equal parts diet and exercise. Absence of stress, daily skin cleansing, adequate hydration and supplements can also help give your skin a radiant glow. Beauty potions, such as they are, can also be applied to the skin the help maintain a youthful appearance, partly through a process of hydration, and partly because they protect the skin from damaging environmental factors. These potions are cosmetic concoctions that can help you keep your skin soft, smooth, supple, and radiant with health -- the very definition of beauty, in many a man's eyes. As the largest organ in your body, your skin is exposed to a wider variety of environmental factors than most. Not only does it have to protect the rest of your body from intrusion and infection, it has to be able to heal rapidly, exude a good portion of your bodily wastes (as sweat), help cool you off in hot weather (sweat again), keep excess solar radiation from frying your insides, remain elastic no matter how much you weigh, and, by means of hair (a modified form of skin), help keep you warm in cold weather. In the process of doing all this, your skin can become dry and wrinkled, and lose its elasticity. Back in the pioneer days of America, women used beauty potions brought over from the Old Country, most of which used materials at hand to slow the ravages of time and the environment. Herbs, juices, vinegar, and other common items were popularly used on the skin and hair. Castor oil was used for shiny hair and to increase the suppleness of skin. Whether they were effective is a matter of conjecture and opinion. Some women still make their own natural beauty potions from the contents of their kitchen cabinets and refrigerators (milk and cornmeal are much favored), and herbal beauty potions are as popular as ever. These days, however, the most beauty potions take the form of an addition to milady's daily cleansing routine. Just about everyone knows about Oil of Olay, which has been pleasing women for ages, and there are plenty of beauty potions (and creams, and ointments, and unguents) very much like it on the market. Most such potions are moisturizers, which work by hydrating the skin, and are the end-stage of the daily cleansing process. Other modern beauty potions take the form of special liquids that one uses between the initial scrubbing and toning phases of the cleansing process. While it's rarely made clear exactly what's in these potions, apparently they work by helping to clean and/or tone the skin. One more thing. Few people think of sun block as a beauty portion, but in a way, it is. Women have known for centuries that avoiding sunlight can help you maintain a flawless complexion, but these days it's hardly practical to haunt the back halls of a Gothic manor like some Edgar Allen Poe character. If you need to go into the sun for an extended period, use sun block to protect your exposed skin from solar radiation. It wouldn't hurt to wear a hat, too.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------If you are a business owner get listed at Best Personal Care Site, part of Localwin Network.