Health And Beauty Tips From A Beverly Hills Beauty Expert

Honey, trust me on this?

QUESTION: I just hate my skin in the winter; it?s so dull and pasty. When I try to liven it up with make-up I end up looking like a drag queen, so what?s the solution?

ANSWER: Honestly, the solution is NOT what you do to the TOP of your skin ? which is all we can see. That dull, pasty surface tells the sad story of all the holiday fun, food, and fat we indulged in. Also, January is ?get back to work? time with short, dark days creating a shut-in environment for us. If your skin is looking sluggish it?s because your circulation and organs are sluggish. Bottom line reality: Rev everything up inside with aerobic exercise of any kind, and it will jettison rich blood and oxygen to your muscles, through your skin, and out your pores. I don?t need to tell you what kind of aerobics to do because you know what they are: Just move your body and move it fast! What you want is that pink, moist glow?right? Trust me, working up a good, honest ?sweat like a horse? is the one and only path to a peaches and cream complexion. While you?re at it, here are the token side effects: You will #1: detoxify the sins of December (well, dietary ones anyway); #2: energize your brain cells and elevate your mood with happy endorphins so you can actually KEEP a FEW New Year?s resolutions; #3: get a light year?s head start on (ugh!) swimsuit season by throwing in squats and lunges; a few dozen will, literally, kick your butt and make you pant for dear life. If your lower body doesn?t need any fine tuning (you bitch), just sit in a sauna or steam and let the sweat flow?same result. One caveat to skin purging, though, is: If you don?t exfoliate diligently (especially your face), you?re begging for clogged pores and blemishes. Don?t expect luminous skin if you don?t sweep away dead skin cells so the poison can escape. But you should already know, from this girl, that exfoliation is a year-round requirement anyway. Be prepared: if you work up a heart-pumping, red-face sweat every day and wear an endorphin smile, your friends might start begging to know what?s going on in the bedroom. You don?t HAVE TO tell them you got your ?afterglow? at Sportsclub L.A.!

QUESTION: The number of facial moisturizers and anti-aging products on the market makes my head spin, and they all make the same outrageous claims. How?s a girl supposed to choose one?

ANSWER: You?re so right about all the products and claims. There?s, literally, a new product introduced every day with every new product?s ingredient list more exotic and outlandish than the one before. (I remember when placenta cream was considered really ?out there.?) Then along comes caviar cream and even copper cream. Believe it or not, scientists are toiling away right now in their labs trying to reproduce vernix (the white, waxy coating on a baby while it?s in the womb) which will, allegedly, be the next miracle moisturizer! Anyway, please trust me on this: Feed your skin cells like your body cells. By that I mean anti-oxidants (vitamins C, E, A), proteins from milk, and superfoods like spirulina and royal jelly. Look for them all in a base emollient of evening primose oil or shea butter, and you?ve got the true formula for a peachy, perfect complexion! Whatever you do, though, avoid anything with perfume or colorings. Come on, pink may be prettier, and we all like a good fragrance, but would you aim an atomizer of Chanel No. 5 at your face? Of course not, and massaging it in is even worse. Why do you think women suffer so many mysterious irritations and breakouts after spending $150 for a small jar of pastel perfumed ?24 hour, Turn Back the Clock Treatment?? Just read those labels and shop for purity; but, whatever you do moisturize with, don?t forget Sandy?s #1 rule: exfoliate every day, or leave the glow down below!

Sandy Steele is a mother, wife, author, Health and Beauty Editor and monthly columnist for the "Beverly Hills Times" and "Women on Top" magazines and CEO of her own public company (OTC: SSTU). http://www.sandybeverlyhills.com/