Both women and men are under a lot of pressure to look good at the moment. Since the dawn of social media, filters and selfies have become the norm. It’s unfortunate, because it has made people very conscious of how they look to everybody else in the world rather than worrying about how they look to themselves. The constant need to look good and to look our best and be ready for every camera all the time has created a lot of pressure. It’s not just pressure on us as people, but it’s pressure on the way that we look after ourselves.
We like to be complimented on the quality of our skin, and we like to get those social media likes. But if you aren’t paying attention to the products available online that could be helping you with your skin care routine, no filter in the world is really going to help that. We have to be as kind as possible to our skin because even without the cameras and even without the filters, your skin is so much more than just your face on display. It’s a living organ and it’s protecting you from a hostile environment. Your skin protects you from pollutants and UV rays, reactive oxygen species and more. Every wrinkle that’s caused by the weather can still be covered up if you want to, but protecting your skin is your first port of call. So, here are some of the things that you could be doing to look after your skin.
- Limit your exposure to the sun. If you are out and about in the daytime, you should be wearing a wide brimmed hat and trying to stay in shaded areas. Of course, we do benefit from the sunshine on our skin to be healthy, but too much of it can cause sunburn, skin cancer and discoloration. Nobody wants to have patchy skin, so taking enough sunlight to get the health benefits you need but not too much to avoid sunburn is important. Ensuring that you spend some time in shaded areas will really help you here.
- Wear sunscreen. Rain or shine your skin should be covered in a layer of sunscreen. Any areas of your skin that have become exposed should be protected from the UV rays. It’s not just for summertime and it’s not just for the beach. You don’t have to find something heavy, because there are plenty of lights, moisturizing sunscreens and makeup options that feel good to wear and apply it to your face and neck every single day. When you wear sunscreen, you’ll be able to protect your skin and it will feel good, too.
- Be sure to choose a gentle exfoliator. Always more, and a hard exfoliator is only going to hurt your skin rather than help it. A gentle exfoliator can be as simple as washing your face with warm water and a soft washcloth. There are plenty of exfoliators out there which are designed to be gentle, and try to avoid anything with plastic beads in it. The beads cannot be good for the environment, and when you wash them down the sink you’re going to do damage to the wildlife.
- Try not to use harsh chemicals. A chemical peel may feel good, but using harsh chemicals and abrasive materials on your skin is never going to be a good thing. It’s very easy to get sucked into the more is more way of looking at the world but that’s why we talked about light exfoliation materials instead of heavy ones. Avoiding over exfoliation or washing is important, because your skin still needs the oils that naturally occur.
- Avoid alcohol. You may have noticed through the pandemic that alcohol sanitizers are harsh on your hands. So, it stands to reason that you should avoid alcohol based toners. You want to ensure that your skin is not stressed and it’s not dry, and alcohol does dry out the skin and it puts it under stress which can make it crack and split. If you’re going to use toners, make sure it doesn’t contain any alcohol and ensure that you are comfortable with the toner that you use.
- Avoid putting your skin under oxidative stress. There are plenty of chemicals out there that are used in skin care products, but you don’t have to use them. Benzoyl peroxide is one of those and you can find it in any store. Read the packaging every time you buy a product because you need to know that the stuff that’s in it is kind of your skin not harsh.
- Be sensitive with your hair removal. Hair removal creams that are sensitive in nature is a good plan for your skin rather than threading or waxing. You need to be gentle on your hair follicles and that’s not just the ones that are on your head. Your eyelashes and eyebrows can be damaged, and even when you are pursuing great hair, you don’t need to go in the opposite direction. Take care of your hair, but also make sure that you are taking care of the cells that are working to create your hair. Look for things like keratinocyte growth factors and look for protein in your hair care.
- Nourish skin as much as possible. It’s not just about good moisturizer, but about choosing products that will feed your skin. You want your skin to be soft and supple, and the best thing that you can do with it is to ensure that you are adding the right moisturizers and the right materials. You may even choose to make homemade face masks and skin care so that you can make your skin look great.
- Go and see a dermatologist. If you don’t quite know how to look after your skin or which product would be best for it, you need to go and speak to an expert in skin care. Dermatologists are those experts. They’ll be able to help you with which products to use or what routines to use as you age and ensure that as you go through the trials of life, your skin isn’t going to show those.