10 Tips to Be Skin-Smart This Summer
Thursday, July 8th, 2010
Summer is in full swing! It’s time for fun and recreation, and to bask under the glow of the sun! Summer is about good skin care, too. Many external factors could damage your skin and visible signs of aging could appear sooner than you think.
Dr. Joseph Mercola, founder of Mercola.com, the world’s most visited natural health web site, warns that skin damage doesn’t always involve “pain or immediate visible change” and can even go unnoticed at times. But if you start setting the groundwork for proactive, natural skin care now, you can see your skin improve slowly over time.
So how can you make summer a skin-smart season? Dr. Mercola provides these 10 simple tips:
1. Avoid or minimize harm from hot water and chlorine. Taking showers may appear to be relaxing and health-promoting, but your skin may not agree. Chlorine in tap water causes oxidative damage. Hot water can cause damage, too. The rate of chemical reactions increase along with temperature. So limit your showers to one per day, use a lower water temperature, and decrease your soak time in the bath.
2. Use gentle, organic skin care products. Don’t compromise the health of your skin with toxins masquerading as effective skin care products. As much as possible, your regimen should only include organic skincare products, preferably ones that use nourishing botanicals for that healthy glow.
3. Remove your makeup at night. You don’t want makeup and environmental grime on your skin when you sleep. Wash your face every night before you go to bed.
4. Sleep on your back. “Gravity creates a downward drag on your skin all day,” warns Dr. Mercola. To give your skin a break at night, he advises sleeping on your back to reduce gravitational pull on your face. Pressing your face on to the pillow can increase puffiness in the morning.
5. Don’t smoke! Free radicals, which accelerate the signs of aging, are produced when you smoke.
6. Use sunscreen with safe and effective ingredients. If you will be under the sun for extended periods of time, use a natural sunscreen, such as Mercola Natural Sunscreen.
7. Limit exfoliation to twice a week. Exfoliation refreshes and brightens appearance since it removes dead cells from the surface of your skin. But don’t overdo it, because you can risk damaging living cells. Use a gentle exfoliator.
8. Apply organic skincare products to warm skin. Your skin appears healthier this way, and absorption is maximized. If your skin is cold, a warm towel can do the trick.
9. Never pull or rub your skin! “Apply skincare products gently, and lightly tap for a few moments to help your skin absorb them,” suggests Dr. Mercola. Rubbing and stretching your skin can promote sagging and wrinkling. This principle includes leaning your face on your hand while sitting at a desk.
10. Don’t expect overnight changes. Rome, as they say, wasn’t built in a day. If you practice natural skin care daily, it may still take 1-3 months to see changes.
