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The skin care industry is a virtual goldmine. With more women and even men growing more aware of the need to care for their skin, the skin care industry seems poised to get even bigger in the decades to come.

Already, the industry has shown a segmentation of various products that cater to specific market niches. There are cleansers, moisturizers and other skin care products for women as well as for men, and these are further divided by skin type or skin color as well as by age and lifestyle.

Overall, however, they share one single purpose: to make the skin beautiful - which is to say, to make the skin look fresh, young, vibrant and healthy. Nothing makes a person look younger - or older, for that matter - than their skin. Our skin is the first thing other people see and assess

In terms of skin care, the importance of starting young cannot be stressed enough. Many beauty experts believe that the sooner you start taking care of your skin, the better. Even children will benefit from constantly washing their face and hands as well as staying away from the sun. Over-exposure to the sun is the single biggest reason for the premature aging of skin.

The sun's UV radiation rays can also create free radicals (split oxygen molecules that are corrosive) tht damage the elastic proteins that the skin needs to keep it tight, causing sagging skin with prolonged and continuing exposure.

Teaching teenagers that tobacco and alcohol can make their age faster and look bad may well be the most effective way of making them avoid these vices, especially considering how sensitive teenagers can be about their appearance.

The general rule about health - that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure - applies to the skin as well. Once your skin has become weathered, sagging and wrinkled, there is no way to turn back the clock except perhaps through surgery. However, going under the knife is not an ideal method.

In the final analysis, bad skin is simply the result of a lifetime of accumulated bad habits. Paying attention to this process and taking steps early can give us a lifetime of great-looking skin.