5 Habits for Healthy Skin
Top 5 habits for healthy skin
Proactive skin care, from skin protection to proper shaving technique, will
help you keep your skin youthful and healthy.
Your busy lifestyle leaves little time for pampering skin care. The result: Your
skin isn't the baby-soft body glove with which you were born.
With age, your skin gradually becomes thinner and finely wrinkled. Oil-
producing (sebaceous) glands grow less active leaving your skin drier. The
number of blood vessels in your skin decreases, your skin becomes more
fragile, and you lose your youthful color and glow.
Good skin care — such as avoiding the sun, washing your skin gently and
applying moisturizer regularly — can help delay the natural aging process and
prevent many skin problems.
These simple skin-care habits will help you protect your skin to keep it
healthy and glowing for years to come.
1. Protect yourself from the sun
The best way to take care of your skin is to protect it from the sun. Ultraviolet
light — the invisible but intense rays of the sun — damages your skin, causing
deep wrinkles, dry, rough skin, liver spots, and more serious disorders, such as
noncancerous (benign) and cancerous (malignant) skin tumors.
For the most complete sun protection, use all three of these
methods:
- Avoid the sun during high-intensity hours. The sun's rays are most
damaging from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Reduce the time you spend outdoors
during these hours.
- Wear protective clothing. Cover your skin with clothing, such as long-
sleeved shirts, long pants and wide-brimmed hats. Also, keep in mind
that certain clothing styles and fabrics offer better protection from the
sun than do others. For example, long-sleeved shirts offer better
protection than short-sleeved shirts do. And tightly woven fabrics such as
denim are better than loosely woven fabrics such as knits.
- Use sunscreen. Like those with light skin, people with dark skin are also
at risk of premature skin aging from excessive exposure to the sun. This
includes wrinkles and mottled or uneven skin pigment. So regardless of
your skin in the sun by limiting sun
exposure and wearing sunscreen and
sun-protective clothing when outside.
Apply a broad spectrum sunscreen
liberally 20 minutes before going
outdoors and reapply every two hours,
after heavy sweating or after being in
water.
2. Don't smoke
Smoking can accelerate the normal aging process of
your skin, contributing to wrinkles.
Skin changes from smoking can be seen in young
adults who have been smoking for as few as 10 years.
Smoking causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the
outermost layers of skin. This decreases blood flow,
depleting the skin of oxygen and nutrients, such as
vitamin A, that are important to skin health.
All of these factors increase damage to the elastic
fibers (elastin) and collagen which give your skin
strength and elasticity.
In addition, the repetitive facial expressions you make when smoking — such
as pursing your lips when inhaling and squinting your eyes to keep out smoke
— may contribute to wrinkles.
3. Wash your skin gently
Cleansing is an essential part of caring for your skin. The key is to always
treat your skin gently.
- Use warm water and limit bath time. Hot water and long showers or
baths remove oils from your skin. Limit your bath or shower time to
about 15 minutes or less, and use warm, rather than hot, water.
- Avoid strong soaps. Strong soaps — those most capable of stripping oil
from your skin — can leave your skin dry. Instead, choose mild soaps
made for the face, with oils and fats added to them during the soap
manufacturing process.
- Avoid irritating additives. If your skin is sensitive, avoid products
containing perfumes or dyes. These can irritate your skin and may trigger
an allergic response.
- Remove eye makeup carefully. Use a soft sponge, cotton cloth or cotton
balls when removing eye makeup to avoid damaging the delicate tissue
around your eyes. If you wear heavy, waterproof makeup, you may need
to use an oil-based product such as petroleum jelly.
- Pat dry. After washing or bathing, gently pat or blot your skin dry with
a towel so that some moisture remains on the skin. Immediately
moisturize your skin with an oil or cream.
4. Moisturize regularly
Moisturizers help maintain your skin's natural moisture levels. They work by
providing a barrier over your skin — to keep water from escaping — or by
slowly releasing water into your skin.
The moisturizer that's best for you and the
frequency with which you need to moisturize
depends on many factors, including your skin
type, your age and whether you have specific
conditions such as acne. A good way to test if
you need a moisturizer is to wait 20 minutes
after bathing. If your skin feels tight, you should
apply a moisturizer.
Select a moisturizer with a sun protection factor
(SPF) of at least 15 to help protect your skin
from damaging ultraviolet rays. If you have
sensitive skin, look for products free of heavy dyes, perfumes or other
additives. If your skin is very dry, you may want to apply your moisturizer,
while your skin is still moist. This will draw the moisturizer in deeper and
prevents the evaporation of water from the surface of your skin. If your skin is
oily, you will want to choose an oil free moisturizer
5. Shave carefully
Shaving is a common and inexpensive way to remove unwanted hair. But
shaving can cause skin irritations, especially if your skin is thin, dry or very
sensitive.
For a smoother shave:
- Press a warm wash cloth on your skin before shaving to soften the hair.
Or shave after a warm bath or shower. - Don't shave dry skin, which can cause razor burn. Apply shaving cream,
lotion or gel before shaving to protect and lubricate your skin. - Use a clean, sharp razor. If using an electric razor, don't use the closest
setting, which can irritate the skin. - Shave in the direction of hair growth, not against it.
- Rinse your skin afterwards with warm water.
isopropyl alcohol. Though alcohol and alcohol-based products may feel
cooling, they don't really soothe irritated skin because the alcohol evaporates
rapidly from the skin.
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