I talk about skincare several times throughout this blog. Our skin is the largest organ we have and should be in optimal condition always. Healthy skin is usually supple, soft, and well hydrated. No matter what skin type you are, you should try and prevent dryness. We are made up of water mostly; our organs are made up of large amounts of water. Moisture is essentially everything.
The body is 60% water, while the brain is made up of almost 73% water, our lungs are made up of 83% water, and the skin 64%. You can see by these ratios that water is essential to our wellbeing. It helps to keep us hydrated, and hydration keeps us at our optimal.
I recommend everyone should use a skincare moisturizer that helps keep their skin hydrated. Being hydrated is not necessarily the same as making the skin oily. Most moisturizers contain humectants that help draw water from the atmosphere and keep it moist. Hyaluronic acid, for example, is a humectant that keeps the skin supple and well moisturized.
To help maintain my skins moisture level, I layer my moisturizers, starting with a very light serum on my face, followed by a moisturizer that has a high moisturizing level. I advise even oily skin types to be well hydrated and moisturized, if they feel too greasy they can pat down the skin with a paper towel after moisturizing.
Avoid over-exfoliating your skin as this will eventually dry it out. A good tip is to try and get to the spa at least once a week. Steam helps to detox and get rid of toxins. Make sure you drink lots of water during the steam bath so that you don’t dehydrate.. After a full body steaming session, get yourself a body scrub. Once you have had your scrub, your skin is ready for moisturizing.
The most crucial aspect of skincare is to make sure to clean your skin thoroughly; this helps to unclog the pores in-between steam treatments. A good facial wash, preferably with an ultrasonic device, is adviced for cleansing, this will help see to it that your skin is squeaky clean. Follow up with a toner this helps balance the PH levels of the skin and then a light serum to help give your skin the moisture it needs, and you can then follow with a moisturizer.
Depending on your skin type, this is when you would choose if to go with a more oily moisturizer or something moisturizing but not too much on the oily side if you already have oily skin. What I also end up doing is throughout the day I spritz my face with either rose water or a moisturizing spray to help keep the face moist. You see the secret to supple skin is in helping maintain the moisture levels in the dermis and epidermis. Another thing to note is that you should exfoliate regularly. If you do not, moisturizers cannot penetrate deep enough to reach levels where they will help keep your skin supple, because if you do not exfoliate and remove dead skin, it stays on the upper layers of the skin and does not allow the moisture to soak in. Think of dead skin as a barrier that can prevent the skin from getting the moisture it needs. You don’t need an extra barrier preventing you from getting the moisture your skin needs.
Use a scrub twice a week to avoid this. Or you can use a toner that contains an astringent that is not too strong as this would help with daily exfoliation also.
Even with problem skin, I believe you should keep your skin moist. If you have extreme acne, you may not have as many choices, because a lot of times people with acne can sometimes use a lot of products that dry out the skin. Overly moisturized skin is believed to aggravate acne. I think you can stay hydrated without becoming oily. Oily skin could end up aggravating acne due to sebum produced by your skin.
Anyway, the most crucial step, as mentioned above, is get rid of the dirt, exfoliate, and moisturize. If you do these things regularly, you will see results in years to come. Remember, “Moisture is everything!”