Your skin and how you take care of it says so much about your personal brand.
Skin is the body’s largest organ, protecting you from the slings and arrows of the world in a metaphorical sense.
It’s an always on filter that regulates your body temperature and in a constant state of flux.
Healthy skin helps your body to fight infection and minimize the impact age takes on your outward appearance.
Good health starts with taking good care of your skin.
The sun as many of you know is not good for your skin. Protect your skin from the sun, as it can cause wrinkles, create age spots and even accelerate your risk of getting skin cancer.
Three Easy Ways to offset Problem with the Sun
- Use sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 and reapply every two hours and more frequently if in and out of the water.
- Use shade liberally, especially if in higher elevations, and 10-2PM is when the sun is at its strongest and the best time to camp out in the shade.
- Wear clothing that blocks the sun rays and know geeky looking wide brimmed hats are always in style – some are adding sunscreen products to their laundry. But, the jury is still out on how effective this is.
Smoking is just “road hard and put away rough†on your skin. It narrows your blood vessels in the external layers of your skin, which negates good blood flow.
Smoking also takes a toll on your elastin and collagen. These fibers are critical to having great looking skin, regulating the elasticity and strength of your skin.
Night time is the right time to use a lot of moisturizer on your face and neck.
Nighttime moisturizers are heavier for good reason. Your skin simply needs more at night but, most nighttime products are not as aesthetically pleasing as a daytime lotion.
A diet rich in proteins, whole grains, fruits and vegetables is great for your skin.
Some nutritionists and physicians believe a diet rich in vitamin C, with minimal unhealthy fats and refined carbohydrates is good for your skin.
Stress takes a toll on every part of your body, including your skin, making it more sensitive to and triggering acne breakouts and related issues.
Our always on, tech drenched “never getting away†is not a good thing.
Take a tech detox once and a while and hang out without a phone and exercise is always great for offsetting stress.
Be gentle with your skin and keep it in mind as you move through life.
- Stay away from strong soaps, they are hard on your skin.
- A hot bath is always soothing; but, hot water (shower too) removes essential oils from your skin. Go warm only instead of super hot.
- Lubricate your skin when shaving with shaving cream and lotion or gel prior to shaving. Always try to shave in the direction of hair growth, not against the grain.
- Moisturizing your dry skin is almost always good for you skin and you can’t overdo this.
- Pat dry after a shower or bath to to keep important moisture in your skin.
Choose products carefully and know your skin type (dry or moist) determines what type to use.
There are a number of companies who make specialized skin products, Life Cell Skin Care has a wide variety of skin products for aging, anti wrinkles and cleansing.
Pay attention to fragile areas; your eye contour and lips have fine, fragile skin and you need to treat them differently. Your eye contour areas are ten times more finer than the rest of your skin.
Lasers are becoming more popular for some women. – more aggressive way to “take care of your†skin by removing age and sun spots, scars and uneven texture after some damage has been done.
Two types of laser treatments: ablative and nonablative, with the former being the more effective of the two. But, you are removing some thin layers of your skin with an ablative process and it can be painful.
Exfoliation treatment should be once or twice a week with a pH-neutral product that is gentle on your skin.
- Use a good facial scrub. You can buy a great scrub or make your own scrub with a mixture of brown sugar and coconut oil.
- Take a washcloth and put a drop or two of cleanser and sprinkle on some refined sugar and massage your skin in a circular motion. Then, rinse and any dead skin is removed. If your skin is dry try a dash of extra virgin coconut oil.
- A good chemical peel can remove 6-12 months of aging and well worth the time.
Retinoids, although only available via prescription here in the U.S., are very popular.
They help to thin the top layer of your skin (stratum corneum) and thicken the smoother second layer, the epidermis – giving you a more luminous and youthful look.