Even skin tone is one of the signs of healthy and young skin. In order to prevent negative changes to your skin’s even tone and to prevent discolored areas (called age spots), you need to think both short- and long-term. When the skin loses skin tone, it’s not only due to aging, but also the cumulative effects of mistreatment over time.

Here are some points that can help you maintain your skin’s natural tone this summer and in the future:

• Treat your skin gently at all times. Avoid pulling, picking, squeezing, and over-scrubbing. You might not see the damage immediately, but all these skin no-no’s can leave marks and diminish your overall appearance.
  
  
• Use MenScience’s Microfine Face Scrub to exfoliate two times per week. Exfoliation helps accelerate the rate of cell replenishment which aids in the maintenance of healthy skin tone. You will see the benefits immediately after applying the product, and with regular use, your skin’s appearance be optimal.
  
  
• Strategically apply a sunscreen like MenScience’s TiO2 Sunblock SPF 30 to any shaving nicks, bug bites, acne marks, or other blemishes, will protect the skin. Sun exposure to unprotected skin will create a permanent scar with pigmented tissue.
  
  
• Keep in mind antioxidants help fight free radicals which may be responsible for aging signs, and keep your diet filled with healthy antioxidant-rich foods like fresh berries, red beans, and pecans. To make sure you are getting enough in your diet, and help combat negative effects of free-radicals that damage the cells and participate in the aging process, consider a supplement like MenScience’s Advanced Antioxidants, which provides a broad spectrum of true and tested antioxidants and also a new generation of highly effective antioxidants.
  
  
• Apply MenScience’s Anti-Aging Formula before applying a moisturizer, to reduce and prevent the visible signs of aging. It can help fight free radicals, improves the overall appearance of the skin, and diminishes the appearance of damages that come from environmental and biological aging sources.
  

If you have already developed discolored skin or dark spots, there’s still hope to improve it’s appearance, MenScience Pigmentation Repair Formula can help combat this problem and make the skin look smoother.If you’d like to learn more about maintaining an even skin tone and keeping your skin looking great this summer and for years to come, read our blog post called “Men Need to Learn Cream is Not Enough.”

It’s easy to get derailed from your well-intentioned nutritional goals in the summer. Just like any other time of the year, once you stop paying attention to what you are consuming, poor choices are often made. Sugar, the sweet stuff, scores high on any nutritionists list of “don’ts” and it’s frequently described as “empty-calories”. While generally a great source of quick energy, its role should also be considered closely in any men’s diet. Here are three of the most common sugar-related summer nutritional mishaps and easy fixes to keep your sweet tooth satisfied and your diet on track.

Mistake #1: Eating too much sugar.
Sugar can be bad for you because it gives you a quick sugar-high, but then can cause a crash in your blood sugar, which can impact your insulin levels and leaves you feeling hungry faster. Additionally, consuming too much sugar for too long may lead to long-term health problems like diabetes and obesity.

Fix: Consider reducing your consumption of simple sugars like candy, white bread, and sugared soft drinks (there are more than 9 teaspoons of sugar in just 12 oz. of soda!). Even protein bars are loaded with sugar. Did you know that some healthy-looking protein bars have more sugar than toaster pastries?

Summer brings a bounty of fresh fruits that are naturally sweet and contain fiber as well as essential vitamins and nutrients that help keep your body functioning at its best. If you are a sugar addict, consider gradually weaning your body off simple sugar (serious sugar addicts might get headaches if the diet is dramatically changed too quickly) by substituting with whole grains.

Mistake #2: Eating artificial sweeteners to lose weight.
It’s easy to think that since fake sugar doesn’t have calories it will help you lose weight. If you are trying to eat a sugar-free diet, switching to artificial sweeteners is not necessarily the best answer. Why not? The use of artificial sweeteners often creates a negative thought pattern for dieters – recent studies show that people that consume large amounts of artificially sweetened products don’t actually lose weight because in reality they consume more calories. When the body thinks it’s eating something sweet (whether it’s artificial or real sugar), it responds by increasing the insulin levels. With increased insulin comes lowered blood sugar. So picture this common scenario, you drink that diet soda, insulin rises, blood sugar drops and you feel your stomach growling because you are hungry. So you engage in binge-eating – and most often what people choose to eat when they are very hungry are not the best choices– and this causes you to gain weight.

Fix: Break your sugar addiction. Switching to a true sugar-reduced diet means that you do not over do the fake sugar products, and simply remove foods from the diet that are too sweet. It takes a few days for the taste buds and the body to stop wanting sweet things and adjust, but once your body is used to a sugar-reduced diet, your insulin levels won’t swoop up and down. The cravings for calorie and fat-laden sweets that sink your diet should decrease.

When trying to lose weight, you can help your body burn more calories and metabolize fat while giving yourself more energy for your workouts by supplementing with MenScience’s 24 Fit System, a natural combination of green tea and CLA to supplement your weight loss goals.

Mistake #3: Eating too little sugar.
Up to 10% of your carbohydrate probably comes from sugar, and the USDA says a healthy diet could include sugar for up to 8% of an average diet’s calories. The tricky part in tracking how much sugar you are taking in is the sometimes confusing nutritional labels on food packaging and in keeping track on this throughout the day.

All sugars are not the same. Sugars are lumped together on product labels, which means sugars like lactose and fructose are combined with sucrose. Since everything is combined, dieters are often not able to decipher between the sugars that are naturally occurring (like those found in dairy products and fruits) and those that have been added (like white sugar and corn syrup.)

You don’t want to cut your sugar intake to a point where it’s too low because carbs and sugars are your body’s main energy source. You also want to allow yourself some sugar to keep satisfied and keep you motivated, which means you’re more likely to have a dietary change that lasts a lifetime, rather than a temporary diet. Read labels, choose foods that are vitamin- and fiber-rich, and consider cuttin back on simple sugars that just provide empty calories.

To find out more about men’s diets involving sugar, carbs, and protein, read MenScience’s article “Proteins vs. Carbs: Which Ingredient is Better for Men’s Health and Diet?”

For added nutritional support, you can take Advanced CLA Supplement Formula which helps support muscle growth from your workouts while helping to metabolize bodily fat, which supports a net increase of lean muscle mass when used as part of your diet and exercise plans.

1. Use MenScience’s Facial Cleansing Mask instead of a foaming cleanser, you can feel its natural green tea and clay work, leaving the face refreshed and loaded with antioxidants. Spread a generous amount over face and neck, let it sit for 5 minutes or until it dries completely and wash away with plenty of cool water. Pat dry.
   
   
2. Apply a cold Eye Gel Mask simultaneously to soothe and refresh the tired skin around the eyes.
   
   
3. Spray Post-Shave Repair all over the face and let it evaporate. Yes, it’s intended for shaving but its effective ingredients work well for conditioning, soothing and refreshing the face even if you haven’t just shaved.
   
   
4. Lastly, apply a small amount of Advanced Face Lotion all over the face and neck using light, sweeping motions until absorbed. It’s ultralight and oil free so it’s ideal for the hot summer days.