What am I supposed to put on my skin?

 

Beauty and skincare trends come and go, and with so many skincare products to choose from it is hard to know what works and what doesn’t.

With trends ranging from the Korean 10-step skin ritual, to mixing up your own masks from ingredients inside your pantry, it can equally be too confusing and too tedious to keep up with the trends. And not to mention all your hard-earned dollars that have been wasted on the newest ‘miracle’ lotions!

Here are a few pointers to help you get healthy, glowing skin with skincare ingredients scientifically proven to achieve results.

Wear your sunscreen
We all know that excessive sun exposure can lead to skin cancer, but did you know that it can also ruin your skin’s health and appearance? Excessive sun leads to skin losing elasticity much sooner and developing lines and wrinkles prematurely. It can also lead to dark spots and uneven skin tone, to name a few.

Sunscreen should be worn throughout the year, not only during the summer months or when you are out and about.

All sunscreens aren’t created equal. Opt for sunscreens containing physical filters such as zinc oxide and avoid sunscreens with chemical filters.

Hydrate
Hydration is key if you want healthy, plump and glowing skin. Choose light-weight humectants such as hyaluronic acid, that will attract water to your skin and not leave an oily or sticky residue on your skin.

Dehydrated skin can lead to other skin problems such as dryness, inflammation and premature ageing.

When hydration is not enough
If you are slathering your hydrating products on but your skin is still feeling dry or overly sensitive, it might mean that your skin’s barrier isn’t functioning the way it should. With an impaired barrier, your skin will be unable to hold on to any hydration, plus your skin may be susceptible to infections or developing acne.

Take essential fatty acids and use moisturisers with barrier repair ingredients such as ceramides to bring relief.

Your A, B, C’s
Vitamin C helps your skin to heal and helps to achieve even skin tone. Wear it during the day for extra protection against the sun.

Vitamin A is considered by many to be the holy grail of anti-ageing ingredients. It can visibly improve your skin tone and texture. Be sure to wear it only at night time, as some forms of retinol can be harmful when getting in contact with the sun.

Vitamin B can improve blood circulation and add hydration to your skin.

Let your skincare do the work
Unfortunately having the right ingredients alone won’t help much. The skin is essentially created to be an intricate barrier, and to keep foreign substances out. Good skincare products will make use of delivery mechanisms such as liposomes or phosphatidylcholine to make sure the ingredients get to the layers of the skin to where they can actually do their work. Without these mechanisms, your products will just sit on top of your skin and make no difference at all.

You are what you eat
Your skin tells a story of your lifestyle, diet and overall health. For healthy skin, eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and include healthy essential fatty acids in your meals. Too much sugar will cause your skin’s collagen fibres to go brittle, meaning lines and wrinkles will appear sooner. Remember also to up your water intake. This will help to hydrate your skin from within and improve the overall functioning of your skin.

Following these steps will take you a long way. Certain skin conditions such as rosacea, acne and pigmentation will require some professional help.

 Lilly Halgryn is a qualified beauty therapist available for appointments at Waipu Natural Health on Saturdays. Call 022 039 9459.