Assess Your Skin Type
July 9, 2008 
You’ve heard all the commercials. You’ve seen the advertisements in magazines. Everywhere you turn, even on the Internet, companies are selling skin care products that promise to reduce aging lines and provide a younger appearance. All the information can be pretty overwhelming.
Confused? Follow these tips to understand which skin care products are right for your skin.
The most important thing to remember when researching over-the-counter skin care products is to trust yourself: No one knows your skin better than you. There are a lot of skin care products on the market and it’s easy to waste a lot of time and money trying to find the best solution. So take a minute to educate yourself before purchasing skin care products. Remember, this information serves as a guide only. Be sure to check with your dermatologist or physician if you have specific problems with your skin.
Assess Your Skin Before You Buy
Before you consider buying any over-the-counter skin care products, there are a few basic facts about your skin you must know. These include:
- Your skin type. It is oily, dry, normal, sensitive, or a combination?
- Your skin complexion. Do you have fair skin that burns easily or light to medium that may burn? Or do you have a medium tone that usually tans or a darker complexion the only rarely burns? Or is your complexion so dark that you never burn?
- Your skin concerns. Do you want preventative maintenance to avoid premature aging? Do you have a skin problem, such as persistent acne, age spots, melasma or rosacea? You may also have large pores, sun damage, facial wrinkles or fine lines that require special attention. Do you have eye puffiness or under eye bags that will require special care?
- Your personal habits. Are you a smoker? Do you spend a lot of time in the sun? Do you take a daily vitamin? Do you consume a well-balanced diet? All these factors will affect how you should care for your skin.
With this information, you can wisely sort through skin care products to find the ones suited for your specific skin type. If you need help, ask a skin esthetician at your local hair salon or skin care counter for his or her recommendations. More…
Nature’s Path Organic Peanut Butter Granola Review
July 8, 2008 
We tend to eat a lot of peanut butter in this house. It usually makes its appearance in at least one meal every day. Unless we are eating waffles, pancakes or toast for breakfast there is no reason to have the peanut butter out though. Recently however I came across a granola that was peanut butter flavored. Now I realize that there are lots of cereals that work in peanut butter but this is the first time that I had seen a peanut butter flavored granola, and at that a granola that was organic. The granola that I saw was Nature’s Path Organic Peanut Butter Granola, and since it was on sale I decided to get a box to try it out.
Organic granola tends to be rather expensive, a simple ten ounce box can cost more than four dollars at some grocery stores. When I found the Nature’s Path Organic Peanut Butter Granola it was on sale for two dollars and fifty cents for an eleven and a half ounce box. The box contained about eleven half of a cup servings in it. At less than twenty five cents a serving it was actually a really good deal for organic granola. Had it not been on sale I wouldn’t have gotten this granola. The first thing I did was scan the ingredients of it. The ingredients of Nature’s Path Organic Peanut Butter Granola are organic rolled oats, organic evaporated cane juice, organic soy oil, organic roasted peanuts, organic crispy rice, which consists of organic brown rice flour, organic evaporated cane juice, sea salt, organic molasses and organic rice bran extract, organic peanut butter, organic oat syrup solids, sea salt and tocopherols which is natural vitamin E and likely used as a way to preserve freshness in the granola. I thought that the ingredients looked great and I tried a bowl out after I got home.
I found that the Nature’s Path Organic Peanut Butter Granola tasted great. The peanuts in it added a great texture to the oats and crisp rice portion of the granola. The peanut butter taste was not too sweet, something that I was worried about. The peanut taste was not too overwhelming either, there were enough peanuts in the granola to add a good flavor and texture but you didn’t find them in every single spoonful either. I was very pleased with the granola and was quite tempted to get more boxes if I found it on sale again. Now I was able to examine the nutrition facts for the granola. The nutrition facts of Nature’s Path Organic Peanut Butter Granola looked very good. The cereal contained one hundred and forty calories with sixty calories from fat in each serving. In addition each serving of the granola contained only forty milligrams of sodium, nineteen grams of carbohydrates, two grams of fiber, four grams of sugar and three grams of protein. In the minerals and vitamins section the cereal lists that it contained six percent for iron and two percent for calcium in each serving too. All in all I thought that the nutrition facts and ingredients of this granola were good.
I know that I will keep an eye out for when the Nature’s Path Organic Peanut Butter Granola goes on sale. I enjoyed the box that we had very much and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys organic granola cereals and of course the taste of peanut butter. Never did I think that I would be getting a breakfast cereal that was peanut butter flavored, I am very glad that I decided to try out this granola as it turned out to be very, very good. More..
