By Michelle D’Allaird
Do you look your age? Older or younger? Or maybe you just don’t want to say! The health and condition of the skin is extremely influenced by each individuals’ genetic makeup, but can easily be manipulated (for better or worse) depending on daily maintenance.
For many years, there has been a growing trend toward acquiring a youthful appearance and maintaining the ageless quality of the skin. With so many products bombarding the marketplace, it’s sometimes difficult to know where to start. Fortunately, taking good care of your skin is not a hidden secret, and not as difficult or as costly as many think.
As we age, we lose the firmness and flexibility in our skin. Sun exposure results in dark spots and darkened areas on the face, as well as the development of wrinkles. We had no idea 15 years ago, as we basked in the sun smothered in baby oil, that it wasn’t a good thing. Now we know. A little known fact is that it takes 15-18 years for one severe sun exposure to show up on the surface of the skin. Therefore, those sunbathing episodes from years back are now showing up as lovely reminders on our skin.
But there’s an upside! By enlisting proper care and protection now, you can stop the hands of time from jolting forward. Cleanser, moisturizer and sunscreen are the basics to a skin care regimen:
• Healthy skin begins with proper cleansing and moisturizing. The skin should be cleansed two times per day, morning and night, but always prior to bed when dirt, debris, makeup and environmental pollutants can be washed away. Skin cells renew themselves 30 percent quicker at night, while the body is at rest, than during the day. So allowing the skin to “breathe freely” while you are counting sheep will behoove your appearance.
• Everyone needs a moisturizer, regardless of how oily or dry your skin is. All skin needs water. Moisturizers provide the skin with necessary hydration; the trick is to choose a moisturizer best suited for each individual skin type.
• Sunscreen is a must. Regardless of the season or the amount of time spent outside, a sunscreen should be worn every day. A minimum SPF of 15 is just the start. If you are an individual that spends a great deal of time outside an SPF of 30 is needed and if you are active or swimming it is necessary to re-apply frequently.
Though the above are the basics to a skin care regimen, additional products can provide great benefits such as eye creams, vitamin products and masks. Eye creams are designed to treat the delicate eye area. They hydrate and often add “plumpness” to the eye area, which will create the appearance of diminished fine lines and wrinkles. Unfortunately, there is little that can be done to diminish dark circles around the eyes. Dark circles are generally shadows created by the way the eye socket sets, hereditary, or are caused by a health issue. Vitamin products serve a whole host of benefits. Vitamin A helps to promote cell renewal, which results in softer, smoother skin, improved texture, decreased fine lines and even a decrease in dark pigmented areas. Vitamin C increases collagen production, resulting in increased firmness of the skin. Vitamin E is a phenomenal antioxidant that heals, hydrates and protects.
Vitamin ingredients can be found in many creams and serums on the market. Masks can be used a few times a week as a way of giving your skin its’ own little facial. They come in many forms – gel, mud, clay and cream. Choosing which mask to use depends on your type of skin and the results you are looking to achieve.
Determining your skin type and products that are best suited for you can easily be accomplished with a visit to a professional skin care expert or esthetician. Professional facial treatments have increasingly become a necessity and not simply a pampering experience. A professional esthetician can analyze your skin and provide you with specifics as to why your skin may be in the condition it is in, and what to do about it. They can then point you in the direction of a few options for proper skin care products.
The skin is the largest organ of the human body, and it’s the only one that you get, so why not start right this minute and put it in the best condition that it can be? It’s never too late or too early to be as beautiful and youthful as you can be!
Michelle D’Allaird is owner of The Esthetic Science Institute located at 1202 Troy Schenectady Road in Latham. For more information call 786.0760 or visit www.aestheticscienceinstitute.com.