The first step to skin care is to identify your skin type and then
follow the prescribed medication and method to care for it.
If you desire a good skin, you really need to make a concerted effort
towards the same. It should become a habit. Besides a healthy diet,
composed of cereals, fruits and vegetables along with exercise and
adequate sleep is essential for a healthy skin.
Do avoid going out in the sun and if you need to, begin using a
sunscreen to protect your skin from getting damaged.
Drink 8-10 glasses of water daily, to keep your skin hydrated.
As a guideline your skin needs two staples: Cleanser and Moisturizer.
Other products might include-toner, exfoliator and eye cream or
gels.
Avoid using more than three or four products daily to protect your
skin from breaking out and reacting. Simplify your routine (it should
not take more than 10 minutes to do twice a day) and use basic formulas.
The following is the basic skin care which a
women can follow:
Cleansing
This is the first step, in caring for your skin depending on your skin
type. Throughout the day, sweat, grease, dust, stale make-up, dirt and
bacteria tends to collect on your skin and needs to be removed. Soap and
water do tend to remove the impurities but are incapable of removing
make up completely, hence proper cleansing is required. Use water
soluble emulsions or gels (with tepid-not hot water) or cleansing wipe
pH -balanced soap-free bars.
While cleansing the skin with a cream,
lotion or milk, it must be massaged into the skin with a light upward
and outward movement, paying particular attention to the grease of the
nose, under chin area, neck and ear lobes. If using a cotton wool for
cleansing moist if first or the day cotton wool will absorb the moisture
from the skin. You might need to repeat the cleansing process 2-3 times
until the cotton wool or tissue is clean.
Toning
Always follow the cleansing routine with toning done with a mild skin
freshener, rose water or skin tonics. Toning removes the greasiness
remaining from cleansing preparations, closes open pores refines the
skin giving it a smooth clean texture.
Toning stimulates the blood
supply of the skin and give it a fresh look the best toner is in fact
cold water, other skin tonics are generally composed of infusions of
herbs, flowers, vinegar, rose-water and witch-hazel. Avoid using strong
skin tonics or astringents as they might dry the skin. Basically they
are suitable for oily-skin type.
Moisturizing
All skin types need some type of moisturizing. Ideally used water based
creams or emulsions if your skin breaks out a lot, try a lighter,
oil-free moisturizer. The best choice of a moisturizer is that which has
a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 15. Petrolatum, an ingredient used in
many lotions and creams is an excellent moisturizer, because it helps
seal in the skin's natural moisture.
Because moisturizers contain
different ingredients, no particular product is best for everyone. You
may have to try several before you find one that is most effective for
you.
A light moisturizing emulsion is the most suitable type for young skin.
Moisturizers work best only if they are applied everyday. Many
moisturizing creams contain alpha-hydroxy acid (also present in milk,
fruits and sugar) which might help diminish wrinkles.
Protecting The Skin From Sun
Protecting the skin from the sun needs to be an essential part of your
daily skin care routine.Most of the UV light from the sun falls in two
main wavelength bands: UVA & UVB.
UVA:- ages the skin, the rays travel far into the skin and start
free-radical activity. These are responsible for cancers and certain
skin sensitive reactions.
UVB:- burns and browns the skin (by triggering the pigment melanin) &
can cause skin cancer. The UVB rays are even stronger than the UVA rays.