Everyone knows that our skin is the largest organ we have. Everyone knows that our skin is the ONLY organ we have that is constantly exposed to damaging environmental impacts. A short list of the damaging factors that take a toll on our skin includes sun, wind, rain, desert air, and high-altitude UV rays. How big of an issue is our skin and its care and protection? Enough to keep Dermascope, Skin Inc., and Shape Magazine’s Skincare section in business. Enough for skin care to be a billion dollar industry in this country alone, and a budget item on everyone’s ledger.
With all of these resources, publications, and blogs investigating our skin we surely know everything about how to take care of it. There can’t be any ways of revitalizing and protecting our skin that hasn’t been hashed rehashed and hashed over. Right?
Actually, not right. Gildshire Magazines shares your concern about the health of your skin. We also share your concern about the expense of taking care of your skin. Here are some ideas that you may have overlooked on your own path to glow and vitality.
Your Skin Reacts What You Eat: It isn’t just teenagers that should avoid too much greasy, pore-clogging foods. Every day your skin reads what you eat and reacts accordingly. Fried foods slow circulation. The key ingredient in glowing skin is blood-flow and circulation. Artificial sweeteners, colors, and flavorings create inflammation, which is the Number One factor in disease, including skin cancer. Too much caffeine raises your sorbitol level and leads to wrinkles. What are the foods that can counteract that kind of abuse? The incorporation of anti-aging foods, such as fish, fresh or frozen berries, spinach, beans, nuts, and kale will help.
You Deserve Silk, My Love: Your skin deserves silk, as well. Sleeping on a silk pillow reduces wrinkles and keeps your skin cool at the same time. If you naturally sleep on your back you are a step ahead of the game, as well. Side sleepers get pillow marks. Over time this pillow marks get set.
Protect That Neck, At All Costs: This is an important one! There are a lot of ways to hide the number of candles on your birthday cake. Don’t let your neck tell on you. The products you use on your face should be liberally applied to your neck and upper chest as well. That’s the area that will show age before almost any other part of the body.
See Your Eye Care Specialist: You didn’t want glasses when you were young, and your eyes were always pretty good. You were lucky in that regard. Your eyes will change, though. You may not even know that you’re squinting to see the next street sign. Squinting and repetitive brow movement invite wrinkling.
Jealously Guard the Collagen in Your Skin: Your skin issues aren’t just a matter of age. Declining collagen is the bigger culprit. What erodes collagen? Sugar. Can it be replaced? Yes, in part. Eat foods that contain the amino acids lysine and proline. The collagen with which you were born contains large quantities of these two amino acids. Egg whites, wheat germ, and lean meat are collagen sources.
Call a Time Out: Basketball teams do it several times over the course of two hours. You should do it once a day. Make time for a massage or a time of meditation a part of your daily routine. Your skin will thank you for it. The rest of your body will too.
Serum is a Skin Tonic: Are you serious about skin care? You aren’t just paying it lip service? Okay then, you need to know that serum is a skin care essential that will deliver potent skin care ingredients to a deeper level of your skin. Their quick absorption rate makes them easy to use.
Less Can Be More: That isn’t just a trite phrase. Less makeup, in particular, foundation, can be a skin tone enhancer as you age. Prominent Doctors of Dermatology are recommending that women eschew the use of foundation as early as 30 years of age. The foundation seals the skin and it needs air flow to breathe. Also, the established facial lines are magnified when makeup settles into the channels. So let your skin breathe free!
Skin care is something we take for granted for far too many years. That’s a shame because playing catch up is far more difficult than taking good care of your skin in the first place. The results of neglect are living with unsightly lines or spending a fortune on skin repair. Aren’t taking these steps, none of them too expensive, a better idea? We thought you would agree. So, what’s for dinner tonight? Lean meat, with fruit for dessert? Good choices!