Protect for Gorgeous Skin!

On March 19th I started a series about car­ing for your skin and this week I com­plete the tri­fecta and talk about pro­tect­ing your skin.

There are many ways to pro­tect our skin and many dif­fer­ent things we need to pro­tect against.  We all need to pro­tect our skin as it forms the first line of defense for our bod­ies against the ele­ments.  The process does not have to be time-consuming, dif­fi­cult, or expen­sive, and if you make it part of your daily rou­tine (the way you pro­tect your teeth by brush­ing them), you can help your skin look and feel gorgeous!

We’ve already spo­ken about hydra­tion and exfo­li­a­tion, so I am not going to cover those here.

1. Take Pre­cau­tions with your Health

Nasty things like cold sores can be caused by a viral infec­tion of the skin that bor­ders the lips.  Bac­te­ria con­tribute to acne and other skin con­di­tions and infec­tions if not kept in check.  Pay close atten­tion to every­thing that comes into con­tact with your skin, to lower your chances of expo­sure to germs, and fol­low proper make up han­dling.

 

2. Use Gen­tle Skin Care

Wash your face!  This removes dirt, oils, germs, and if you exfo­li­ate, removes icky dead cells.

• Wash twice daily with warm water and mild cleanser.
• Gen­tly mas­sage with a wash­cloth using a cir­cu­lar motion.
• Rinse thor­oughly to remove all soap and debris.
• Pat dry — never rub — then apply moisturizer.

3. Get to Know your Skin

Odd freck­les, moles, and growths on the skin should be mon­i­tored, and your doc­tor con­sulted when/if you notice any changes. Changes in a mole might indi­cate poten­tial skin can­cer. Treat any cuts to ward off infection.

If you have any of these skin con­di­tions (Which might be signs of one of the many types of der­mati­tis, or skin inflam­ma­tion), you may want to visit your dermatologist:

• fre­quent acne
• inflamed or irri­tated dry skin
• skin rashes and irri­ta­tions that don’t go away

4. Use Sun Block!

When you care for your skin both inside and out, pro­tect­ing it comes down to a few sim­ple steps. Remem­ber, though, should you ever notice any­thing out of the ordi­nary, get med­ical atten­tion to resolve them quickly and avoid putting you and/or your skin at risk.