The Do’s and Don’t of Skincare
The skin is the largest of the body’s organs, and one that plays a crucial role in excluding harmful bacteria, fungus and viruses. But more than that, it plays a crucial cosmetic function. By and large, people who have good skin look good, and those who have bad skin look bad. There now exists a sizeable industry dedicated to providing the modern gentleman with everything he needs to keep his skin in top-notch, glowing condition. But all of those products won’t be of any use if they’re improperly used. Let’s take a look at some rules to follow when caring for your skin – but in doing so, let’s bear in mind that, like the Pirate Code, these ‘rules’ represent guidelines more than they do hard-and- fast commandments. With that caveat out of the way, let’s begin!
Buy Skincare Products That You Like
When you’re shopping for skincare products, you’ll want to match your skin with the right product. But this doesn’t just mean considering whether your skin is dry or oily; you’ll also want to consider your personal preference. If you find the sensation of apply your product to be cumbersome, annoying, or unpleasant, then you’re unlikely to persist in applying it. Achieving great skin isn’t a test of religious devotion; buy products that you enjoy using.
Check the Label
Many popular skin care products, particularly at the mass-market end of the spectrum, come crammed with artificial chemicals. This isn’t to say that their synthetic nature is a bad thing, but it can sometimes mean that they’re harsher than their more expensive alternatives. If you find that you respond badly to a particular product, it might be that one of its ingredients doesn’t agree with you.
Don’t Forget to Hydrate
Your body has an exceptionally powerful inbuilt mechanism that’ll deliver the right amount of water to your skin, preventing dryness. Of course, sometimes this mechanism isn’t as effective as it might be, but if there isn’t enough water available, your skin is certain to dry out. This means drinking plenty of water at regular intervals throughout the day.
Don’t Drink Too Much Alcohol
Alcohol, famously, has a dehydrating effect that’ll interfere will your skin. By the same token, smoking will interfere with your circulation and lead to your skin sagging.
Turn the Temperature Down on Your Shower
A scalding hot shower is sure to damage the top layer of your skin and prevent it from properly moisturising. In this case, water can actually dehydrate your skin after you’ve dried it out, as it’ll expand your pores and promote water loss. There is a difference, after all, between water inside the cells of your epidermis and water running across the surface. If you turn your shower down to a frosty setting, then you’re likely to spend less time in there, and more time getting the business of washing done with so that you can get on with life.
Don’t Skimp On Oils
Just as you might think a shower would provide hydration to your skin, you might also think that providing oils to already oily skin might make an acne problem worse. But this is a misunderstanding. What you must remember is that not all oils are the same – some of them dry, others hydrate. The aim of the game is to supplement the oils your skin produces naturally. These contain crucial fats and salts which help to keep the surface of the skin in good condition. Moreover, by removing oil from the top layer of skin, you’ll signal to the layers beneath that more oil is required – and the result might be a overcompensation which causes you to break out in spots.
Don’t Over-exfoliate
Scrubbing away the dead skin cells on the top of your skin will help those underneath to properly breathe. But doing this every day will do more harm than good, as it’ll expand your pores – particularly if you’ve already got large ones. Bear in mind that the abrasive action of a shave will also have an exfoliating effect.
Shave With a Sharp Razor
It should go without saying that a dull razor will have a harder time cutting your hairs. This will cause the roots of those hairs to be pulled, disturbing the surrounding skin and causing irritation – as well as small cuts and nicks.
Get Out Into the Sunshine
Staying indoors all day will lead to a vitamin D deficiency that you’ll need to compensate for with supplements (or diet). Fortunately, you don’t need all that much exposure to feel the benefits of a day in the sun.
Apply Sunscreen
This is another piece of advice which has been around for awhile, but which is stubbornly resisted by a minority. A more sizeable demographic will just apply sunscreen once in the morning and then consider themselves protected for the day – which is a recipe for burning in the late-afternoon sunshine. With that in mind, you don’t need to opt for an extremely high SPF factor to feel the benefits – in order to achieve a factor fifty, companies will often add irritant chemicals that offset the product’s strengths. Go for fifteen or thirty and make sure that it’s constantly refreshed, particularly after you’ve been swimming.
Consider Nutrition
One of the best things you can do to improve the quality of your skin is ensure you’re enjoying a balanced diet. That means taking on board five servings of different vegetables each day, and around two servings of fruit. The anti-inflammatory minerals and vitamins present in such a diet will help to bolster the natural function of the skin, and keep it in the best possible condition.
Get Enough Sleep
Sleep doesn’t just act as a maintenance session for your mind; it’ll also help to control the way that your hormones are released over the course of the day. Since your skin can suffer when your hormone levels are inconsistent, a lack of sleep will often produce poor skin quality. You may also want to read our post in better skincare tips for men.