Wash Away the Years

Do you ever look into the mirror and see a face that doesn’t represent the person you really are?  Is your skin dry or oily, broken out or wrought with deep lines and wrinkles?  If you do you are not alone. The anit-aging market is a multibillion-dollar industry but that doesn’t mean it has to cost you a fortune to take years off your face and revitalize your skin and appreciate and become comfortable and confident in the skin you are in.  

Even people who spend a lot of money on Botox, microdermabrasion, peels and creams and cosmeceuticals and surgeries often forget or simply skip the simplest and most cost effective way to significantly reduce the signs of aging and other skin conditions.  That anti-aging miracle?  It is simply to wash your face.  This applies to both men and women.

 By the time you are an adult it is assumed you know how to wash your own face, but that may not be the truth.  What we learned as a child, the washing of our face with the same soap we use to wash our hands, could be adding years to our appearance and reducing the health, elasticity and youthful glow of our skin. Just making some easy changes in the way you wash your face can make a huge difference in your appearance.  If you do it correctly you will probably wash away years. By the way, everything you do to enhance the appearance and health of your face can and should be used on the rest of your body to give you an overall glow. 

Some men and women who don’t want to be bogged down in “aesthetics,” regard a basic skin care regime as a “beauty” treatment.  They may even assume that it is vanity driven and shun cleansers, toners and moisturizers, masks and even sunscreen.  It is better that they view this process as part of their basic hygiene because it is, in fact, better for their skin’s overall health first and foremost and the aesthetic benefits are only a byproduct.  Hygiene has become more complex because the things our skin is exposed to has also become more complex. Your skin is the largest organ in the human body and it does a lot of work for us.  It protects our body from infection, and up to two thirds of our blood supply is in the skin at any given moment among other things.  It makes sense to take care of it.

The simple act of washing your face alone removes dirt, make-up and will unblock the pores.  This alone can improve your appearance.  Switching to a cleanser if you use soap will make a difference in the feel and appearance of your skin.  The cleansers that rinse clean with water are a good choice for most skin types because they aren’t too harsh.    

Wash your face twice a day:

The reason you need to wash your face twice a day is because your skin is exposed to free-radicals, pollution, toxins, bacteria, sun and the elements.  The morning cleansing is to refresh the face and prepare it for sunscreen and make-up if you wear it.  The evening cleansing is so your skin can breath at night and repair while you sleep.  This gives it a clean palate and helps ready the skin for any night time moisturizers you might use.  If you are going to forget a skin cleansing it is better that you go to work without washing than to leave that dirt on your face all night while you sleep pushing it into the pours as you rub your face on your pillow.

What you use to cleans your face makes a difference:

Cleansing your face with a skin cleanser twice a day is a crucial part of the anti-aging process.  Skin cleansers are different than your normal bar soap.  They are better for your skin because they clean without excessive drying like the a detergents you might see in a bar of soap.  They also can contain ingredient made for your individual skin type or to improve issues caused by skin conditions.  

Your skin type and conditions and personal preferences will help you choose between a face wash which is a detergent-type foaming cleanser which is best suited for oily and combination skin and a cleansing lotion which is a water based emulsion which is good for normal to combination skin.  If you have acne-prone skin you may want to choose a cleanser that has an antimicrobial to kill bacteria.  For those with dry or mature skin (this applies to people taking hormones, birth control and other medications that dry and thin the skin) A cleansing cream made with a oil based emulsion will probably be the best for you to use because it is great at dissolving make-up and dirt without drying.  If you have skin conditions like acne, rosacea or other sensitivities and conditions there are cleansers that will help those conditions improve. 

So if cleansing is so important and there is so much they can do then how do you find the correct products?  The best place to start is with a licensed esthetician or facial technician who can help you analyze your skin type, conditions and help you select the best products for you.  You can find an esthetician in a number of places, salons, medi-spas, spas, eco spas, some beauty counters, and dermatologists offices, to name a few.  

How to Apply Cleansers:

Each cleanser has different instructions. Use those instructions above anything written here.  Some people prefer sponge rounds that can be bought at beauty supply stores and they have a slight exfoliating effect as well because they are somewhat rough.  However, a clean wash cloth is also very effective.  Some cleansers are applied with clean fingertips and massaged in and around and rinsed with away with handfuls of water or with a damp cloth.  Some can be applied and removed with disposable gauze or cotton rounds.  Removing all the product is important.

There’s more:

 Cleansing is the first step to reclaiming the health of your skin.  However, basic skin care consists of cleansing, toning, exfoliating, masks, treatment creams, moisturizers and sunscreen.

 Adding an exfoliant to your cleansing twice a week can have often dramatic positive effects as dead skin builds up on our skin and an exfoliant will remove this build up and let the new healthy skin show it self.

A clay or gel mask twice once or twice a week can help to rejuvenate dry skin or draw out impurities in oily skin and help skin in a number of other ways as well depending on your skin’s unique need plus it is relaxing.  

Tone or freshen after you rinse and before and after you exfoliate, or use a mask and before you use your daily or nightly moisturizer or sunscreen.  Toning helps get the skin back to a normal PH level before the next product is applied.  This helps with the over all effectiveness.  

Don’t over do it:

Over cleansing and over exfoliating can actually make your skin more of what you don’t want.  If it’s oily over  exfoliating can make it even oilier for instance. This happens because nature and our body is part of nature strives for balance if you dry it out the body will produce more oil to balance it out.  Limit exfoliating to twice a week unless under doctors orders.  If you wear make-up you will notice it goes on smoother and lasts longer.  If you don’t use make-up you will still notice your face being smoother, more youthful and a healthier complexion.  

Always use a sunscreen

Many moisturizers and make-up foundations and powders contain sun screen.  Even if you just go to the car and back your skin is being exposed to the prime culprit when it comes to skin damage.  Besides, you never know when you will be held up outside.  Just make it a part of your daily hygiene ritual to combat the signs of aging and skin cancer.   You can also get a sun screen and apply it separately.  

Making these changes to the way you take care of your skin will go a long way toward improving the appearance and health of your skin.  It will also give you a look at what even simple changes in your life can do to create a better more vibrant you.  Sloughing off the dirt and grime of daily living is a ritual you can use to get in contact with your inner self and be part of what you do for your own self-care.  It is a metaphor for other things in your life you need wash away.

Other things you can do:

Drink enough water and get plenty of rest.  Avoid alcohol, smoking and do things to reduce unnecessary stress as these things age the skin as well as the rest of the body.