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 &mash; such as avoiding
the sun, washing your skin gently and applying moisturizer regularly
&mash; 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 no cancerous (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. Apply 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 (elastic) 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 &mash; may
contribute to wrinkles. It's also possible that repeated exposure to
the heat from burning cigarettes may damage your facial skin over
time.
3. Wash your skin gently
Cleaning is an essential part of
caring for your skin. The key is to 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 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 seal 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 an oil, such as baby oil,
while your skin is still moist. Oil has more staying power than
moisturizers do and prevents the evaporation of water from the
surface of your skin. If your skin is oily, you may want to skip
moisturizing.
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 smooth
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.
If irritation does occur, apply a lotion
that doesn't contain ethyl or 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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