Taking Care of Your Skin

Everyone's skin is as different at their hair color. There may be some elements in common, but typically it's very unique just to you.

Taking care of your skin might involve some particular steps that you yourself need to be aware of and what works for one person isn't going to work for you. Someone with very oily skin should have a different skin care regimen than someone with very dry skin. However, skin is still an organ of the human body and like all the other parts of the body, there are some things that we all have in common when it comes to its care.

When it comes to wrinkles in particular, sometimes an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say. Anything and everything that you can do to keep your skin healthy before you begin to see the first sign of wrinkles is going to help tremendously. Also, taking good care of your skin in general is going to help your wrinkles fade or at least be less noticeable. We'll discuss wrinkles themselves specifically in a later section, but for now we're going to cover some very basic but important aspects of general skin care.

Skin, like so many other parts of our body, survives with blood and oxygen. Let's discuss those two elements now.

OXYGEN CIRCULATION

Most people think that oxygen in the body is provided by the lungs. In reality, the lungs filter the oxygen that we breathe in through our air passages. However, once that oxygen is filtered it is actually the blood that carries it to the cells in the body, including the skin cells.

Oxygen is important because it is a necessary chemical that all our body's cells use for nourishment. The fresher the oxygen in our body the healthier we will be. This is why it's important to breathe deeply and to breathe fresh, clean air. Persons living in highly polluted environments or that smoke are not just poisoning their skin from the outside but are also delivering very poor-quality oxygen to the skin cells from the inside. The lungs can filter out only so much.

Using air purifiers is a good way to improve the oxygen in your system. Of course you don't want to go overboard and think that you can never breathe in a room that doesn't have an air purifier, but if you live in a very polluted area you might want to consider using one in your home or at least in your bedroom. This gives your lungs a way to cleanse themselves from all the impurities they're breathing in during the day.

Another way to improve the oxygen in your system is to exercise regularly. This helps to strengthen your lungs and makes them better able to filter out those impurities.

People that exercise regularly seem to notice that their breathing becomes deeper and less labored. Think of someone that needs to catch their breath when they walk up the stairs; usually someone that is in good shape because of regular physical exercise doesn't have this problem. If your lungs are working well, your skin is going to naturally look better.

BLOOD CIRCULATION

As mentioned blood is one of the most important parts of your body's health and your skin's appearance as well. Blood brings all the nutrients that your body needs to each and every cell, including those of your skin.

Fresh blood means more nutrition for those cells, and the better your blood circulation the better your body will be nourished. Your skin will look better if your circulation is better.

Improving blood circulation usually involves improving your physical activity level. The more you exercise the more your heart beats, pushing fresh blood to every cell of your body. Your heart also becomes stronger itself, meaning that your circulation will be improved even when you're at rest.

You don't need to overexert yourself when you exercise in order for your blood circulation to improve. You simply need to do this enough to increase your heart rate for a prolonged period of time, and do this on a regular basis.

If you're very overweight right now or very sedentary and not used to exercising, just start walking more often. Walk for 30 minutes after dinner, and get into the habit of parking your car further from whatever building you're going into.

It may sound a bit disgusting to think that your skin needs blood in order for it to be healthy, but as we said previously, your skin is nourished from the inside out, not just the outside in. Improving your blood circulation is therefore a very important part of skin care.

WATER

The human body is made up of mostly water; some estimates put it at some 90% or even more. Our blood is mostly water, and water is contained in all our muscles and organs as well.

The skin is no exception. It is made of quite a bit of water and a lack of it in our system can cause dry skin and therefore premature wrinkles. While we often think about things we can use to add moisture to our skin including creams and lotions, we sometimes forget that water is just as important if not even more so.

We get quite a bit of water from the foods we eat but often need to supplement this with just plain water or other beverages.

When the body ingests water, it will send it to vital areas such as the heart and the muscles; the skin is the last area of the body that will get any leftover water in the system. This is why we need to add extra hydration so that our skin is properly taken care of. Very dry skin is often a sign of dehydration.

Keep in mind that caffeine is a diuretic meaning that is actually causes the body to lose water, so drinking beverages that contain caffeine are actually going to make things worse. People who really don't enjoy water itself might do better with sports drinks, unsweetened fruit juices, and the like.

AVOIDING THE SUN

Since the sun does so much damage to the skin, we do well to be mindful of it everyday and especially if we're going outside or will be out for any length of time. Wear a hat or visor when you play golf or baseball, or are going to be doing some gardening or otherwise be outside.

Use sunscreen everyday; many skin care products now contain a good sunscreen. You can get in the habit of putting on a nice moisturizer with a sunscreen even if you don't plan on wearing makeup.

This goes for the men as well. There are many skincare products that are available for the men and don't smell like flowers or cosmetics. Using a bit of moisturizer after you shave can actually do wonders for your skin's feel all day, and can keep you protected from the sun as well.

If you're someone who enjoys tanning, this is the time to stop. You may think it gives your skin a nice healthy glow but in reality you're doing untold damage to it by purposely exposing it to the sun all the time. Learn to appreciate your skin's natural tone, and wear sunscreen at the beach and when by the pool. Stop going to the tanning salon, even in the winter.

Tanning is one of the worst things you can do, along with smoking, when it comes to premature aging of the skin.

AVOIDING THE ELEMENTS

There is such a thing as wind burn, when your skin actually gets burned from being out in cold wind. While it is usually extreme cases of wind and cold that cause this, more mild weather conditions in the winter can also do a great deal of damage to your skin.

It's imperative to keep yourself covered when in the winter weather, and especially when participating in sports that will only add to the exposure and wind on your face and neck. It's not unusual for those who are outside during the winter months to have small rashes and patches of dry skin on their cheeks, necks, and other such exposed areas.

Anyone outside consistently during the winter months is going to have premature wrinkles if they don't properly cover themselves and make up for this exposure with extra moisturizers.

CLEANSING YOUR SKIN

Keeping your skin clean is important to its health, especially on your face. But unfortunately we often fall prey to the thinking that if some is good, then more must be better. It's not unusual for people to overdo it with the cleansing, being harsh and abrasive with the products they use or the methods they try.

Soap is one of the worst things to use for your face. While you need regular soap for your hands in order to kill the germs, your face doesn't have these same germs and doesn't need this same level of cleansing. Soap is very harsh and strips your skin of its natural oils and moisturizers.

It's always a good idea to use facial cleansers that are designed specifically for the face. Whether they're foaming cleansers, gels, or just liquid, they are usually designed to be less harsh than regular bath soaps and cleansers.

Toners and Astringents

The purpose of toners is to neutralize oils and make all parts of your face the same pH or composition. This means that it will reduce the oil around your nose and forehead but add some moisture to your cheeks as well. Toners can also typically be used as cleansers for just light cleaning of the skin on the face.

Astringents on the other hand are also very harsh and typically shouldn't be used by anyone but those with severely oily skin. They are known to strip the skin and leave it exposed to the elements.

Sometimes teenagers use astringents because they are more prone to oily skin and acne, but these can do quite a bit of damage to their skin. While they may remove so much of that oil, they also remove the good natural oils from the skin as well.

MOISTURIZING

A common mistake that many people make is thinking that only those with dry skin need moisturizers.

In reality, even if you have very oily skin it's a good idea to moisturize your face. Cleansing and washing take away much of the skins' needed oils. There are also areas of the face that don't have oil glands and so aren't getting any needed oil at all. This includes the area around your eyes and your cheeks. While these areas of the skin do get moisture from the water in your skin cells, adding some extra moisture on top of the skin is going to help tremendously with the prevention of wrinkles.

It's also true that sometimes when the body senses that we have dry skin on the face it will have the oil glands work a bit harder, thinking that it will make up for this condition by sending additional oil to the surface. When you use a good moisturizer you may actually be cutting off the body's signal to add this additional and harmful extra oil.

Moisturizers also protect your skin from the harmful elements in the atmosphere. They provide a protective coating or barrier to wind, sun, and pollution. Most also have a sunscreen built in, so there is even additional protection in this way.

Go on to the next page -->