Basic Skin Care Fundamentals for the Rest of Your Life
Have and keep good skin for the rest of your life.
Being that the skin is the largest organ of the body, and the skin on your face is the most visible to other people; it just follows that you would want to take the best possible care of this skin as it's your calling card to the world.
Humans have been caring for and protecting facial skin since the beginning of time.
And there have never been as many products available in all price ranges to address the care and condition of the skin on our faces.
There are three basic essentials to care for your facial skin for your entire life regardless of skin type or gender.
They are to: 1.
Cleanse 2.
Exfoliate, and 3.
Moisturize and Protect.
The products that you employ for each of these steps is determined according to your skin type and any problems that need to be addressed such as acne, wrinkles or sensitivities.
The formulas selected for use must be gentle for all skin types and contain beneficial properties such as vitamins and antioxidants.
Cleansing: For a cleanser, dermatologists and beauty experts recommend a liquid or cream water-soluble cleanser that is gentle enough to not strip skin, but effective enough to remove dirt, oil, and make-up.
Oilier, less sensitive types should choose a foaming, detergent base; whereas dryer, sensitive types would usually prefer a non-foaming cleansing agent with perhaps an oil base.
Exfoliation: To keep pores clean of debris, skin, and oils, gentle exfoliation is necessary.
A gentle scrub using polyethylene beads; or a facial brush, either manual or mechanical, can be used with the cleanser to exfoliate the skin.
Even a warm wet wash cloth gives enough of a scrub to dislodge particles in the pores.
Other forms of exfoliation include acids that are topically applied such as alpha hydroxy acids and beta hydroxy acids.
(AHA's and BHA's) As long as the ph of these products is at the correct level, the acids work on a cellular level and are much more effective than manual methods at refining the skin.
AHA's are better for sun damaged skin, whereas BHA's tend to exfoliate within the pores and are better for acne and enlarged pores.
Both acids are effective in reducing the appearance of wrinkles.
Moisturize and Protect: Lastly, there is the need to replace moisture that the cleansing process may have removed and protect the skin from environmental dangers - namely sun exposure.
Moisturizers are meant for dryer portions of the skin and include emollients to lubricate and trap in moisture provided by the water content of the moisturizer.
Lotion formulas work for normal skin and creams for dryer skin types.
Here is where you want to look for antioxidants that help repair and prevent sun damage.
The medical community are in consensus that the main cause of skin aging is caused by sun exposure; and so of course, to prevent wrinkling, spotting, and sagging, you should always wear a sunscreen of at least spf 15 whenever your skin is exposed to the sun.
Select one as you would your moisturizer, or better yet, incorporate the sunscreen in the moisturizer to skip steps.
Choose one that protects from both UVA and UVB rays.
(the UVA rays are the aging rays) So those are just the basics.
If you're battling acne or wrinkles, there are other ingredients to look for such as benzoyl peroxide and retinoids.
But that will come in future articles.
Take care of that skin!
Being that the skin is the largest organ of the body, and the skin on your face is the most visible to other people; it just follows that you would want to take the best possible care of this skin as it's your calling card to the world.
Humans have been caring for and protecting facial skin since the beginning of time.
And there have never been as many products available in all price ranges to address the care and condition of the skin on our faces.
There are three basic essentials to care for your facial skin for your entire life regardless of skin type or gender.
They are to: 1.
Cleanse 2.
Exfoliate, and 3.
Moisturize and Protect.
The products that you employ for each of these steps is determined according to your skin type and any problems that need to be addressed such as acne, wrinkles or sensitivities.
The formulas selected for use must be gentle for all skin types and contain beneficial properties such as vitamins and antioxidants.
Cleansing: For a cleanser, dermatologists and beauty experts recommend a liquid or cream water-soluble cleanser that is gentle enough to not strip skin, but effective enough to remove dirt, oil, and make-up.
Oilier, less sensitive types should choose a foaming, detergent base; whereas dryer, sensitive types would usually prefer a non-foaming cleansing agent with perhaps an oil base.
Exfoliation: To keep pores clean of debris, skin, and oils, gentle exfoliation is necessary.
A gentle scrub using polyethylene beads; or a facial brush, either manual or mechanical, can be used with the cleanser to exfoliate the skin.
Even a warm wet wash cloth gives enough of a scrub to dislodge particles in the pores.
Other forms of exfoliation include acids that are topically applied such as alpha hydroxy acids and beta hydroxy acids.
(AHA's and BHA's) As long as the ph of these products is at the correct level, the acids work on a cellular level and are much more effective than manual methods at refining the skin.
AHA's are better for sun damaged skin, whereas BHA's tend to exfoliate within the pores and are better for acne and enlarged pores.
Both acids are effective in reducing the appearance of wrinkles.
Moisturize and Protect: Lastly, there is the need to replace moisture that the cleansing process may have removed and protect the skin from environmental dangers - namely sun exposure.
Moisturizers are meant for dryer portions of the skin and include emollients to lubricate and trap in moisture provided by the water content of the moisturizer.
Lotion formulas work for normal skin and creams for dryer skin types.
Here is where you want to look for antioxidants that help repair and prevent sun damage.
The medical community are in consensus that the main cause of skin aging is caused by sun exposure; and so of course, to prevent wrinkling, spotting, and sagging, you should always wear a sunscreen of at least spf 15 whenever your skin is exposed to the sun.
Select one as you would your moisturizer, or better yet, incorporate the sunscreen in the moisturizer to skip steps.
Choose one that protects from both UVA and UVB rays.
(the UVA rays are the aging rays) So those are just the basics.
If you're battling acne or wrinkles, there are other ingredients to look for such as benzoyl peroxide and retinoids.
But that will come in future articles.
Take care of that skin!
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