General Skin Care
Taking care of your skin is an important part of your health regimen and can have as positive an impact on your appearance and health as eating a good diet and getting daily exercise. Youthful, healthy skin is one of the most commonly recognized characteristics of beauty, and if you take care of your skin you will feel more healthy, comfortable, and confident.
Appropriate Treatment
If you are starting a skin care routine, first examine your skin. Figure out if you have dry, sensitive skin, or if your skin is oily and prone to breakouts. Whatever skin care regimen you decide on should be appropriate to your skin. Try a number of different products and evaluate the results. Do certain lotions give especially good results? Do some soaps dry out your skin too much? Once you find the right products for your skin, appropriate skin care will become an easy part of your daily routine.
Keep It Simple – Daily skin care doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective. You don’t need to use a lot of different products to get the best results. Most people get good results by introducing even a very quick and simple skin care routine into their daily schedules. Even if you are busy, a quick skin care routine will show significant long- and short-term benefits that make it well worth the investment.
Your quick-and-easy skin care routine should include three parts:
- A daily gentle cleansing of the face
- Moisturizing your skin to keep it soft and smooth with a lotion or cream
- A broad-spectrum (UVA/UVB) sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher
Using these three techniques will give good results. A daily skin cleanser will prevent breakouts and help keep the pores small, a moisturizer will keep your skin tone high and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles that occur as the skin loses elasticity, and sunscreen will help prevent additional photodamage.
If you have been neglectful in the past, you can make up lost ground using these daily steps, treatments or a chemical peel.
Dry Skin
The main danger with dry skin is that a harsh cleanser can dry it out even further. It can even cause it to break out or become painful and sensitive. To keep your skin properly hydrated, bathe your skin in lukewarm water. Hot water can dry out your skin. After you bathe, apply lotion or cream immediately to the skin to keep the moisture your skin has absorbed. Experiment with several different creams and lotions to find which one works best for you.
Oily Skin
If your skin is oily, you should use an oil-based cleanser that is effective at dissolving sebum. Although you want an effective cleanser, some harsh products can strip your skin completely of its natural oils, leading to flaking and causing your body to produce more oil in response. Using hot water increases the effectiveness of these cleansers and can help prevent pores from clogging. After cleansing, use an oil-free moisturizer. Sometimes people get good results using a deep-cleaning exfoliant followed by a light moisturizer every other night or using an antiseptic night cream and a weekly mask. By experimenting, you can find the best skincare regime for your skin, and remember that the Smoothbeam™ laser is a good treatment option for oily skin.
Sun Exposure
Since the golden age of Hollywood, people have been under the impression that a tanned body is a healthy, attractive body, but overexposure to the sun can lead to discomfort, pain, premature aging of the skin, and eventually skin cancer. If you are going to be out in the sun, make sure and apply a sunscreen with UVA/UVB protection of SPF 30 or higher and re-apply over prolonged periods and following swimming.
Proper skin care will help you look and feel your best. Faithfully cleaning and moisturizing your skin daily will help you look youthful, healthy, and attractive for years to come.
If you would like to learn more about a proper skin care regimen and how we can supplement your daily routine with cosmetic dermatological treatments, schedule a skin care consultation with one of our doctors at the Dermatology & Laser Surgery Center in Houston, Texas today.