Steps to Having Beautiful, Healthy Skin

1. Cleanse. No matter what type of skin you have, removing dirt and excess oils at the end of the day is a must. At night, rinse your face with warm water to loosen dirt and clogged pores. Using a dime-sized amount of cleanser, lather and apply to your face in small, circular motions. Rinse with cool water (to tighten pores) and make sure you rinse away all the cleanser! Not rinsing enough with water may leave traces of cleanser, which may clog your pores. Try Liana Vinessence Cleansing Milk. This lightweight, silky cleanser contains natural herbal ingredients to soothe and nourish skin.

2. Exfoliate. Skin cells are replenished every three weeks. Exfoliating daily will help to remove dead skin cells on the surface to reveal the fresh, new skin cells underneath. If you have oily skin, exfoliate 4-5 times a week, but only exfoliate every other day if you have dry or sensitive skin. Keep in mind you want to lightly exfoliate, because the skin on your face is extremely gentle. Being too harsh on your skin may cause broken capillaries. There are several types of scrubs out on the market for all skin types. Try St. Ive’s Apricot Scrub; they have scrubs made for normal, oily/acne prone skin, and sensitive skin.

3. Moisturize. After cleansing and exfoliating, your skin needs a boost of moisture. Before you go to bed at night, make sure you use a light moisturizer to help plump skin cells and to prevent your skin from looking dry.

4.  Use Sunscreen! If you are like the rest of the world population, you don’t want wrinkles. The #1 cause of wrinkles is sun damage! Choose a daytime moisturizer with SPF in it to protect your skin from those damaging UV rays. Don’t be fooled if it’s not sunny out – the rays are still out there! Don’t use SPF moisturizer at nighttime though; the SPF ingredients are not made to be worn throughout the entire day and can aggravate skin.

Protect your skin. Know your skin. Love your skin. Your skin is constantly growing and changing with each passing day. One wrong move today could scare your skin tomorrow. Thankfully, I’ve provided some helpful tips to help you keep a good relationship with your largest organ.

Don’t…

Smoke. Not only does smoking restrict blood flow but the toxins from the smoke encourage free radical formation. This not only damages your skin but also allows wrinkles and fine lines to be more prevalent.

Drink excessive alcohol. Although it’s nice to celebrate with a few Margaritas every now and then, making it a lifestyle leaves you with more than a nasty hangover the next day. Aside from damaging your liver, alcohol slows circulation and dehydrates the body leaving skin looking older and less lively.

Stress out! Easier said than done, I know. Stress causes breakout on the face that, in turn, leads to even more stress and even more breakouts! It’s a vicious cycle. Invest in some Yoga classes or tell the kids to watch a movie while you slip into a nice warm bath after a long stressful day. Your skin will thank you.

Bake in the sun. What’s that sizzling sound? Although a day at the beach and blistering sunburn may sound like a great idea, your skin is screaming for help. UV rays intensify free radical formation, which, as stated earlier, leads to a more aged look. Get to know SPF protection. Use it wisely and it will treat you well.

Enough yelling, now it’s time to tell you what you’re doing right!

Do…

Exercise. Sometimes it can be difficult to motivate yourself to get up and work-out after a long strenuous day at work followed by running around after the kids. Aside from toning those abs, exercise can help you look younger in the process. Exercise encourages oxygen and nutrients to be more open and free, allowing clearer circulation and giving you firmer, younger looking skin. It also may help with stopping breakouts during those stressful weeks (and an even better excuse for a warm bubble bath).

Rest. A woman on the go makes her look puffy and slow. You make your kids go to bed early enough to get a full night’s rest, but those nighttime dreams are just as important to you. Not enough sleep results in puffy eyes and dry, dull skin. You and your skin both deserve a good night’s rest, every night.

Drink water. It seems like today, everyone is walking around with a bottle of water tied to their hands like a little kid with mittens tied to his coat. Aside from being the cool, “hip” thing to be drinking water, we can actually benefit from this fad. Loss of moisture in skin not only loses firmness in the skin but also creates and intensifies wrinkles. So keep drinking that water and do your body a favor while blasting wrinkles at the same time.

Eat well. When fast food restaurants like McDonald’s are trying to convince you to eat healthy, maybe there’s something to this eating your vegetables line that mom used to scream. One rule of thumb is to remember that greasy foods equal greasy complexions. Looking younger doesn’t mean looking like your acne prone teenage daughter. Vitamins are the key in eating well. Vitamins help fight free radical formation (is that the word of the day today or what??), increase moisture, and energize your skin like it deserves to be. Now if only we could make vegetables taste like McDonald’s French fries…