What Exactly Is ‘Healthy’ Skin?
How can you tell if your skin is living its best, healthiest life? Well first up you need to know what healthy skin truly means. Let’s get on that…
While it doesn’t pump blood around your body or enable you to breathe, your skin is just as important as your heart and lungs. It regulates your body’s internal fluids and temperature, protects you from everything the world throws at you and enables you to sense important things like heat and pain. It’s also the biggest organ you have and the only one you can actually see, so it figures that looking after your skin and helping it be as healthy as possible should be a top priority.
We spend our lives talking about healthy skin but it occurred to us recently that perhaps not everyone understands what the term ‘healthy skin’ really means. What words come to your mind when you think about healthy skin? Radiant? Fresh? Soft? Zit-Free? Well, you wouldn’t be wrong because these are all strong indications that your skin is in good shape. In fact, there are three important questions to ask yourself when thinking about the health of your skin.
Does your skin feel fairly smooth to the touch? Does it have an all-over, even skin tone? And does it feel comfortable and well-moisturized?
These are the fundamental basics for healthy skin: smoothness, evenness and a comfy, moisturized surface. Of course, your skin doesn’t have to be perfect to be healthy (whose is?) but if it’s way off on any one of these factors, something is clearly not quite right and it might be time to take a look at some of your skincare and lifestyle habits.
4 Simple Ways To Improve The Health Of Your Skin
1. Cleanse & Moisturize Twice Daily
Keeping your skin clean and moisturized are the absolute basics of great skincare. Cleansing ensures things like sweat, makeup, oil, dirt and bacteria don’t get left around for too long at the surface of your skin where they can block up your pores, causing irritation and acne breakouts. But as awesome as cleansing is, it can compromise the skin’s protective barrier function which plays an important role in keeping irritants out and moisture in. This means that what you do following your cleansing routine is just as important as the cleansing itself. And whatever that may entail, moisturizing should be your number one priority – no matter your skin type.
To nail an effective cleansing and moisturizing routine that balances your skin and avoids harsh ingredients that can upset your barrier function, try our new Soothing Cleansing Milk morning, night and always after exercising. Skin a little on the oily side? Then Tea Tree Super Cleanser + might be better for you because this gets to work on excess oils without stripping the skin.
Cleanse with lukewarm, never hot water, rinse thoroughly and don’t over dry your skin afterwards. Simply pat it with a soft, clean towel then moisturize straight away while your skin is still damp to help lock in extra water. We love Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer in the daytime and Deep Hydration Night Cream before bed.
2. Don’t Smoke
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, smoking speeds up the aging process like nobody’s business. You see tobacco contains thousands of toxins, chemicals and harmful substances that are not only terrible for your entire body, but truly do affect the health of your skin. Smoking decreases blood flow to the surface which starves it of essential oxygen and nutrients. Furthermore, it increases inflammation, upsets your healing process and completely compromises your skin’s collagen and elastin supplies which inevitably results in premature lines, wrinkles and sagging skin.
Smoking has also been shown to worsen skin conditions like psoriasis. Plus it smells real bad, ruins your fingernails, stains your teeth and, well, there’s just no point.
3. Eat Well, Sleep More, Stress Less
Practising sensible lifestyle habits might not seem important when it comes to the health of your complexion, but far from it. Stress, for starters, can be terrible for your skin because it overloads your body with cortisol which can trigger inflammation, acne, oiliness, dehydration, irritation and all sorts of other skin woes. Poor sleep is another skin no-no because this precious time is when your skin heals and rejuvenates itself ready to face another day. And your diet? Well, sugar, salt, refined carbs, alcohol and processed meats are fine in moderation, but overload your body with too much bad stuff and not enough of the good and you’re asking for skin trouble.
Thankfully the solutions are pretty simple. Eat plenty of antioxidant-rich fresh fruit and veggies, try to get into a rhythm of seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night, and practice some daily de-stressing tricks to help clear and calm your mind. This can be anything from 10-minutes of yoga each morning to reading a book before bed. Just set out some time for yourself each day to do something you enjoy and you’ll be amazed at the difference in your mental wellness. And hopefully, your skin!
4. Shun The Sun (And Yes, That Includes Tanning Beds!)
It’s no secret that UV radiation is the single most damaging thing you can subject your skin to. So don’t. UV rays trigger erratic melanin and cause an overload of free radicals in your skin which completely screw up your collagen and elastin supplies. And all this is a one-way ticket to fine lines, wrinkles, poor texture and an uneven skin tone.
A lifetime of exposing your skin to UV radiation – whether at the beach, in the park or on a tanning bed – also increases your risk of developing skin cancer. In fact, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation having just five sunburns throughout your life doubles your risk of developing melanoma.
In bright sunshine always wear a wide-brimmed hat and a good pair of sunnies to protect your face, neck and eyes, and cover up with protective clothing – especially if you’re planning to be out in the midday sun. Most importantly, get into the habit of using a broad-spectrum sunscreen like our fabulous SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen with Vitamin C every morning without fail.
And if you really can’t live without tanned skin? Then fake it with some self-tanning lotion. It’ll save your skin a lot of unhealthy heartache in the long run.
PS: Healthy skin is a real blessing, and good skincare and lifestyle practices aren’t always enough. Ask anyone who suffers with chronic skin conditions like acne, psoriasis, rosacea and eczema and they will firmly attest to this. So, if you’re in a real pickle with your skin right now and are experiencing excessive redness that won’t go away; inflammation; itchy skin; painful pimples and/or dry, flaky patches, these are all signs that something’s not right. Our advice? Visit a skin specialist pronto to find out what’s going on.
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![The Easiest (But Most Effective!) New Year Skin Goals]()
Incoming... skincare goals that truly make a difference. Count us in.
We don’t know about you, but years of making pointless new year’s resolutions ‘just for the sake of it’ have made us somewhat over them. Sure, it’s great to have ambitions and personal goals to strive for, but forcing yourself to come up with something, just because it’s the start of a new year? That’s a hard pass from us.
Making skincare goals, however, is something we can totally get on board with. And if you’re reading this you’re probably in complete agreement. Because knowing you’re doing your best for your skin – even if you change only one habit or add just one extra product to your routine – is worth a thousand ‘I shall spend less at Starbucks’ false promises.
So, on that note, to follow are some very doable skincare goals for you to totally crush this year.
DO Reassess Your Skin
Your skin is not the same as it was ten years ago. Heck, it’s not even the same as it was this time last year. So, spend a few minutes taking a good, long look in the mirror to see what’s going on. Are you noticing some redness? Maybe a few extra dark spots have appeared? Perhaps your skin is feeling more dehydrated than it used to? Or, wait, is it weirdly oilier?
You can only deal with skin concerns if you actually know what they are, so make sure you’re totally on the ball with where your skin is at right now. Then you’ll be able to act accordingly with targeted skincare and better lifestyle habits.
DON’T Use Cleansing Wipes On The Reg
Face wipes are fine in a pinch but most of them are doused in drying chemicals that do your skin zero good. Granted, they might be called ‘cleansing wipes,’ but rarely do they actually cleanse your skin thoroughly – instead they simply move surface debris around a bit. Then there’s the fact that they’re mostly made from synthetic, non-biodegradable materials which end up hanging around in landfills for up to 100 (no joke!) years.
You might be tired, but make it a priority to cleanse your skin with a decent face wash morning and night. Try Vitamin C Brightening Cleanser which is so delightful, you’ll actually enjoy using it.
DO Moisturize Skin When Damp
You’ll have had undoubtedly heard this trick before, but we bet you don’t actually put it into practice, right? Well, try it. You see, applying moisturizing while your skin is still slightly damp from cleansing helps to seal in those tiny droplets of water that are left hanging around at the surface. It’s basically free moisture your skin will really benefit from – especially during winter when the air is extremely drying on your poor skin. C’mon, when we put it like that, it seems insane not to.
DON’T Give Up On Retinol
Retinol is one of the most effective topical ingredients for the skin. It deals with premature aging, it helps keep acne under control, it protects your skin from environmental damage, it does your laundry. OK, so that last one is a bare-faced lie, but you get where we’re coming from.
The problem with retinol is that its potency can be hard to deal with – especially during the first few weeks when it can make your skin especially dry, red, flaky and even a little itchy. As long as it’s not causing discomfort, however, a little initial irritation is OK, it’s just your skin adjusting, so don’t give up. Simply reduce your frequency of use as your skin acclimates, then build back up again. Easy.
DO Give Your Neck Some Love
You may be meticulous with your facial skincare routine but if your habits stop at your chin, you’re doing yourself a real disservice. How so? Because your neck is one of the first places to show signs of aging.
The skin on your neck has fewer sebaceous glands than your face, you see, which means it can’t produce as much oil to keep it soft and moisturized. This is seriously bad news in the fight against dry skin, fine lines, wrinkles and sagging because moisture is essential for the firmness and elasticity of your skin.
Whatever you do to your face, continue down to your neck and décolletage area. Cleanse it, tone it, treat it with serum, moisturize it (we love Renewing Longevity Moisturizing Cream for the neck area) and protect it from the elements. It’s the least you can do.
DON’T Fret About Your Imperfections
If we asked you to name something you hate about your skin we bet you could reel off a few without taking a breath. Well, do you know what, those crow’s feet you hate or monthly breakouts that drive you crazy are not worth crying over. You’re not perfect. But big deal, who is? So instead of sweating over the bad stuff, do the best you can for your complexion with a consistent skincare and good lifestyle habits. And, instead of feeling all the skin self-hate, try to focus on the good. Sure, you have fine lines around your mouth, but hey, isn’t your forehead looking pretty fabulous?
DO Trash Old Products That Rarely See The Light Of Day
Skincare products do not last forever. In general, they’re usually good for around one year if previously opened or two years if unopened. Unless it says otherwise on the label, of course.
Go through your vanity and trash anything that’s older than two years. Allowing your products to collect dust in the vain hope you might go back to them one day? Not gonna happen.
DON’T Underestimate Your Bedtime Skincare Routine
Sleep time is crucial for your skin. As your brain goes into rest mode, your skin gets super busy. Blood flow increases to nourish it with valuable nutrients; cell turnover accelerates to bring fresh, healthy skin cells to the surface; collagen production revs up big time and your natural antioxidant system kicks it to help nix any free radicals which may have built up during the day.
If you go to bed with unclean, unmoisturized skin, this whole rejuvenation process becomes compromised. So don’t do that. Make sure you’re doing everything you can to ensure your skin is thoroughly cleansed before bed, then apply your favorite serum and moisturize with Vitamin C Deep Hydration Night Cream.
DO Exfoliate More
As you get older, your skin doesn’t turn over as quickly. What does this mean? Well, when you’re in your 20s the life cycle of a skin cell is around 28 days during which time it’s created, moves up to the surface, then dies and sloughs away. Great. As you age, however, this process slows down and dead skin cells get ‘stuck’ at the surface where they cause uneven texture, blocked pores and dull-looking skin.
The good news is that exfoliation helps keep things moving at a more favorable rate, so how about increasing the frequency of your exfoliation game going forward? This can mean anything from once a week to three or four times a week but it depends on your skin so play around to find what works.
Our Vitamin C Gentle Face Scrub is fantastic for gently brightening and exfoliating your skin without drying it out making it ideal for regular use. You could also try our 6% AHA, BHA + PHA Liquid Exfoliant which does without scrubbing particles and instead uses gentle skin acids to slough away dead cells. Neither are a bad choice. Far from it.
DON’T Ignore Sketchy-Looking Moles
Noticed a change in a mole? Get. It. Checked. Out. Moles that change in color, shape, texture or just start to feel or look wrong should always be immediately looked at by a qualified expert to rule out serious concerns such as melanoma. The chances are your mole is totally fine or, at least, can be treated quickly and painlessly, but it’s better to be on top of them.
The Easiest (But Most Effective!) New Year Skin Goals
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