Stretch marks are cosmetically unpleasing to all eyes. They really do get in the way of people’s self-confidence. And even in some cases, they prevent people from socializing. They aren’t harmful physically, but they are emotionally and psychologically. However, there are solutions to stretch marks. If you want to know how to remove stretch marks, simply use 3 famous beauty secrets.

Beauty Secret 1: Drink Lots Of Water

You’ll not see a single woman who is extremely concerned of her health and looks without a bottle of water with her everywhere she goes. That’s because water has so many health and cosmetic benefits. Drinking water is known to reduce stretch marks because it is healthy for the skin. It helps carry nutrients over the skin and flush toxins out of the body like nothing else can (aside from fiber). There is no better substitute for water. Our body needs it to function properly and stay healthy. Nearly anyone who drinks enough water each day has good skin and rarely bad skin.

Beauty Secret 2: Moisturize

Mothers and aunties will tell their daughters and nieces to moisturize, moisturize and moisturize! This is never bad for skin. Moisturizing the skin adds a protective barrier to prevent the skin from drying up, getting irritated or contracting an infection. Moisturizing is sort of like lubricating a bike to prevent it from getting rusty. Stretch marks usually appear because skin is not elastic enough. As a result the skin becomes “rusty” and easily chips and tears. Drinking water alone cannot treat stretch marks immediately. That’s why you need to moisturize topically as well. You can use good stretch mark creams, which already contain natural moisturizes.

Beauty Secret 3: Use Sunscreen

As you may already know by now, UV rays are not good for your skin. Not only can UV rays cause skin cancer, but it also generally causes premature aging. When your skin has extensive sun damage, it is unable to do repair work properly, thus resulting in scarring and stretch marks. So each time you go out under the sun, always wear sunscreen.

If you want to learn other secrets on how to remove stretch marks, get more free tips on stretch mark removal from one of the most reliable stretch mark sites online.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sapphire_Rylee

Are you pregnant or have recently given birth and are trying to prevent or get rid of stomach stretch marks?

Pregnancy and the period afterwards is an emotional time and the sight of pregnancy stretch marks can make you feel worse.

Having a baby should be one of the happiest events in any woman’s life. Seeing your little one and knowing they are a such a big part of you is difficult to put into words. Many things come with having a baby including an increased feeling of pride, a desire to be the best person you can be, and unfortunately, tummy stretch marks. Most women who become pregnant and have a baby all seem to get those unsightly marks on their stomach as well as other areas such as breasts, bums and thighs.

Stretch marks are sort of a badge of honor in being a mother, and even though they are well worth the end result of having a child, they can be discouraging to many women to look at. Although you want them to disappear, you can’t just wave a magic wand and hope they go away, but you can do something about them.

What Are Stretch Marks?

Why are stretch marks happening anyway? The exact cause for a stretch mark is due to the skin being pulled. This can easily happen in people who are overweight as well as pregnant mothers. The second layer of skin can also be damaged and the severity of the stretch marks will vary depending on how far the skin was pulled as well as the original condition of the skin. When the skin does go back to where it was originally, either from having a baby or losing weight, those marks will often become more noticeable and fading them becomes a goal.

There are several avenues you can take when it comes to fighting stretch marks. One is to purchase a cream or lotion specifically developed to combat the effects. What these stretch mark creams will do over time is to fade the stretch marks enough that they won’t be as noticeable.

How To Get Rid Of Stomach Stretch Marks

Stretch marks are will usually look like a pinkish to red colour when they first develop. This is also when you’ll probably first spot them. In many cases they can naturally fade over time but if you are impatient and what to get back your pre pregancy body as fast and as close to it as possible then here are the main options.

Stretch marks creams are extrememly popular. A cream/butter that is said to have good results is cocoa butter. It’s fairly inexpensive and can produce good results in fading stretch marks.

Stretch mark oils are also popular. Examples include bio oil, emu oil as well as coconut oil.

Some people opt for more expensive and invasive treatments such as chemical peels and microdermabrasion.

Diet is another important area to consider. This can be combined with a topical external treatment whilst eating healthier to improve the appearance internally, from the inside out.

There are two stands regarding the use of vitamin A for stretch marks. Some believe that it can only worsen the marks. While some believe that it helps in mark removal. This article focuses on the latter, specifically on how vitamin A can help in reducing the appearance of stretch marks.

What is Vitamin A?

Vitamin A, or retinol, is popularly known as the vitamin that contributes to a healthy vision. It is also anti-xerophthlamic, meaning it prevents the coverings of the eyeball and linings of the eyelids from drying up.

However, only a few people know that it also contributes to the overall health of our skin. What vitamin A really does is that it stimulates the rhodopsin’s regeneration. Rhodopsion is a pigment found inside our retina. This thus implies that vitamin A has a hand in the regeneration of new cells. What this tells us is that vitamin A can help our skin cells regenerate and is thus capable of making our marks go away or fade.

In most women, their stretch marks appear during their pregnancy. This is because the skin on their abdomen expands in order to accommodate the growing baby inside. Because of overstretching, stretch marks start to form as the dermis and epidermis breaks and develops little tears and wounds. These wounds then turn into scars after the skin has healed. These long and thin scars are what we normally call stretch marks.

It has been found that the appearance of stretch marks may improve when our skin regenerates cells. However, this regeneration is typically insufficient and happens at a slow rate. The result is that the marks become a permanent fixture on our problem areas.

How Does Vitamin A Function?

Vitamins are antioxidants that fight free radicals, which can contribute to skin aging and sagging. They also enhance our overall health. Vitamin A can reduce the severity of marks, and it can accomplish this in three different ways.

- First, vitamin A blocks ultraviolet radiation from penetrating the outer layer of our skin. There are two forms of ultraviolet radiation that are known to cause damage. The first is UVA, which is related to skin cancer. The other is UVB, which causes sunburn. When our skin absorbs UVA and UVB, its ability to heal decreases. Vitamin A stops UVA and UVB from doing further damage to skin with existing marks.

- Second, vitamin A can bring about the regeneration of epidermal cells, or skin cells. When our skin cells are encouraged to regenerate, new and healthier skin will take the place of our unsightly stretch marks. This way, the severity of the marks will be decreased. It may even lead to a total elimination of the unwanted scars.

- Finally, vitamin A regulates the growth of our cells. When this happens, our skin would continue to produce smoother and healthier surface.

Where to Get Vitamin A?

Vitamin A comes from fruits and vegetables, such as squash, carrots, and green leafy vegetables. You may also use mark removal creams and other products out in the market today that has vitamin A as one of its ingredients.

Stretchmark-s.com is a health resource dedicated to providing factual information about Stretch Mark Treatments. This free resource including topics: “Eradicate Stretch Marks and Boost Your Confidence”, “Can Stretch Marks be Totally Eliminated?” and more.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wong_Darren

Both men and women are successfully preventing and reducing the unsightly effects of stretch marks as we speak. There are dozens of solutions to choose from; what’s important is finding the one that’s right for you. You don’t have to pay for expensive surgery (that’s often painful). Instead, why not try a more natural approach that is helping thousands of people forget their stretch marks.

I have asked around to see what methods people were using for dealing with their stretch marks and there were some pretty good methods out there. I decided to include them in this article just for you. Let’s look at them now!

Top Home Remedies For Stretch Marks

ElastiSkin Oil

This method is a natural remedy to prevent the onset of stretch marks and scarring if it is used as directed. It’s called. It gives your skin the elasticity it needs in order for your skin to expand during pregnancy and during fluctuating weight gain/loss. This is good for teens and growing toddlers too, because they experience rapid weight gain and growth. This product is all natural and has no negative side effects. Your skin will be soft too. You can get it from elastiskin.com.

Aroma Oil

You can try massaging the body with aroma oil during pregnancy which helps to reduce your chances of getting marks

Body Scrub

Try making this body scrub: Mix a little olive oil, cod liver oil, vitamin E oil/cream and aloe vera gel together. Be sure to exfoliate first and then apply the scrub. Make sure that you are scrubbing in circular motions towards the heart because this stimulates more blood flow and is great for getting rid of cellulite.

Oil & Gel Mix

Apply aloe vera gel, cod liver oil, or vitamin E oil to stretch mark areas to help speed up the healing process.

Oil/Gel/Vitamins

Mixture of 1/2 virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup aloe vera gel, and liquid from 6 capsules of vitamin E, and liquid from 4 capsules of vitamin A. Put them in a blender and store this mixture in the refrigerator. Use daily.

Home made Stretch Mark Cream

1/4 cup Cocoa Butter

1 Tbsp. wheat germ oil

1tsp. light sesame seed oil

1tsp. Apricot kernel oil

1tsp. Vitamin E oil

2 tsp. grated beeswax

1 tsp Vanilla extract (optional)

Yield: 3 oz.

Mix together all ingredients except vanilla extract. Heat gently until the cocoa butter and beeswax has melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract, if desired. Allow to cool completely before use. Store this mixture in a clean jar with a tight fitting lid. Massage into your skin.

Vaseline Rub

Vaseline intensive care on your stomach every morning and every night the minute you find out you’re pregnant.

Vitamin K

Vitamin K can be used topically to help the skin heal from wounds including stretch marks. Apply Vitamin K cream directly to stretch marks or other scars and Depending on how bad they are, your skin type and activity levels, you will see results in as little as 8-14 days to 6-8 weeks when used twice daily. Major food sources for Vitamin K include green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, green cabbage, kale, Swiss chard, turnip greens, broccoli, tomatoes, liver and lean meats and dairy products.

Lavender Essential Oil

Putting Lavender Essential Oil directly on scars will help them fade. You can also heal wounds faster with the application of this oil.

This article to naturally removing your stretch marks is just the basics. It is best to do something, rather than nothing at all; research, read and gather knowledge to help in your fight against unsightly stretch marks.

So, women of the world, don’t be afraid to get in there and try out some of these home remedies. The more you give a go, the more confident you will become in your own skin and with your own body.

‘Natural Stretch Mark Remedies’ – made simple right here:

http://www.harmoniusebooks.com/wellness/stretchmarks

http://www.HarmoniusEbooks.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jane_Bennett

Applying cocoa butter for stretch marks is a common recommendation for people to fade stretch marks or prevent them in the first place.

One of the main reasons for such popularity is the fact that it is an all natural ingredient which is less likely to aggravate your skin.

Cocoa butter is also known as theobroma oil or theobroma cacao and is a pale-yellow, pure edible vegetable fat extracted from the cacao bean.

When applying creams and lotions the more natural the product the more it will work with your skin. If it’s full of man made chemicals then it can be too stressful for your skin and could cause irritation.

If you are depressed and fed up with your stretch marks and don’t know where to start, then cocoa butter is a great inexpensive treatment to start off with.

Another reason many people opt to try cocoa butter first is because it is safe on the skin. Compared to other stretch mark treatments like laser therapy, cocoa butter butter won’t cost you a fortune or have any risks associated with it.

How Does Cocoa Butter Work On Stretch Marks

The main property of cocoa butter is that is promotes skin re-growth. This is good for the treatment of stretch scars because the tears in the skin are old skin tissue so the more we can stimulate new skin the more faded the scars will look.

There are many different types and formulations of cocoa butter to suit your needs or preferences. Not only is it available in rich thick creams, heavy butters but also light lotions.

If you don’t have a preference then it’s beneficial to read the product descriptions so that you know which type will work best for your skin and the severity of your marks.

Where you have your stretch marks may be an indication of what type you should go for. For example, on tougher areas like your thighs, body butter would be a good option.

If on the other hand you have a lot of strech marks on your stomach, then it may be best to opt for a rich cream formulation.

Some of us also have stretch marks on sensitive areas like the breasts, so in this case it would be good to try a light lotion first.

Remember not to be too impatient and expect to see results overnight. And don’t forget the more you help your skin by eating healthier, drinking more water and doing a bit more exercise the better results you will see.