Skincare for 2022
When you ask someone what their skincare routine is, they will most likely say they use a cleanser and a moisturizer. The best way to protect one’s skin is to start with preventative products and treatments that help keep the dirt off but will not damage your skin. Follow these tips to keep your skin healthy this New Year.
1. Limit Your Sun Intake
While we might all love a sunny day, without the right products, you could be damaging your skin’s barrier. Over time, harmful sun rays can tear up our skin at a cellular level. The damage may not be as visible when you are younger. However, over the years, it becomes apparent what the sun has done in the form of wrinkling, moles, discoloration, and even skin cancer. To help prevent further damage, use sunscreen every time you go outside and avoid staying out in the sun for too long without protection.
2. Cigarettes Can Harm More Than Just Your Health
Smoking is terrible for the lungs, but the mere exposure of tobacco smoke to the skin also has damaging effects. The skin breathes microscopically, and when smoke is in contact it triggers a poison reaction, closing the pores in the outer skin layer. This, in turn cuts off circulation and causes oxygen-starvation to the outer skin. Smoking also causes wrinkling around the mouth area, the most exposed part. Finally, regular contact with tobacco, such as chewing tobacco, can directly trigger a squamous form of skin cancer. Simply put, avoiding smoking prevents any of the above from happening.
However, sometimes people must be around others who smoke, and second-hand smoke can be just as damaging. Utilizing a moisturizer helps block the direct contact of smoke to the skin and capture particles that otherwise land on the skin directly.
3. Skin Needs Its Own Spa
If you clean daily or shave, you’re likely exfoliating or stripping the outer layer of skin off at a microscopic level. This removes protection if done without care. Hot baths should be limited as well as harsh soaps. Instead, use cleansers that moisturize and use shaving cream that lubricates. Always use a clean razor versus an old one for shaving so the hair is caught and not the skin. Don’t work against the grain either. When done, wash with water, pat dry and apply a moisturizer again for exposure for the day. If you can find a version with sun protection, such as SPF, that is even better.
4. You Are What You Eat
Your diet makes a huge difference in the health of your skin and body. If you eat out on a regular basis, it’s going to come out when your body tries to process and restore itself. When stocked with healthy food, the skin will glow more and produce less gunk. When your diet is poor, the skin works with the rest of the body to actively purge the waste.
Water, a healthy diet of vegetables, fruit, lean meats, and limits on sugar and processed carbohydrates have been regularly recommended by numerous sources to control problems and maintain a healthy complexion. Your skin is the largest organ of your body, so, it is important to watch what we put in our bodies.
5. Tap Down That Stress
For some reason, the body reacts badly to consistent and repeated stress. It ages, wears down quickly, and produces many other harmful side effects. Find a way to let go of stress with sufficient sleep, exercise, relaxation, and getting the mind back to a calm level of thinking again. Many use tea, white noise, bath products, and other calming products to help relax and block out the world a bit to break the stress cycle.
