Over the years, there have been fads that bring me new challenges. This happens because people desire better, clearer, softer, healthier skin. They try products and services that do not deliver. Here are just a few tips that will deliver healthier, clearer, better skin.

Open the drawers and cabinets. If there are eight different products from six different companies, there is a problem. We want healthy and holistic, yet we are mixing chemicals with no real idea of what we are mixing together. Find a botanical line from a cosmeceutical company, because they make their own ingredients from raw to finish. Over-the-counter-products buy ingredients in an open market.

Clean make-up brushes weekly with a liquid soap like Dove and air dry them. Keeping two sets of makeup brushes is an excellent idea. We do not want to putt bacteria on our skin from an oily buildup.

Use broad-spectrum SPF sunscreen for full protection. If it is not white when we place it on your skin, we are using chemicals. Zinc is a natural ingredient that is white. Warm the product in the hands and on the skin and the white will disappear.

Clean pillow cases or flip them, but we should not sleep in our body soil and elimination. At night, cellular respiration occurs and our body is dumping waste. We will notice this in the mirror in the morning. Clean pillow will make a difference and slow the aging process.

Products are only part of the answer. Our body is eliminating more cells with every year that passes, and keeping up is key to a healthy, soft skin. A good esthetician can help with enzymes, mild acids for bacterial issues and microdermabrasion, a mechanical exfoliation that can be mild, but is incredibly effective when combined with other exfoliation methods.

Energy, is another incredibly holistic opportunity to deal with skin concerns or aging. LED light therapy can turn on different signals in the brain, create cell-to-cell communication, stimulate cell growth and take free radical oxygen cells and turn them into water at a cellular rate, creating a softer appearance in the skin while slowing the aging process. Controlled electrical devices can stimulate cell growth, exercise muscles, reduce bruising or introduce vital minerals to the skin to combat dehydration at a deeper level than any home product.

Everyone has their own genetic heritage. Do not experiment and waste money just to end up with with a drawer or shelf of half-empty products. A guru is fine, but an expert is better. Remember that our skin will reflect the choices we make, so make informed choices.

Deborah (DD) Heinsohn has been a licensed esthetician since 1981, an author and founder of DD’s Skincare, at Preston-Royal, in Dallas. She also developed the patented Intensa LED equipment.