Personal Skin Care

The theory of personal skin care is very subjective and differs in different parts of the world, because climate has an effect on how you should look after your skin too. Some people, mostly men, do absolutely no skin care tasks at all except everyday washing; others also put some cream on regularly too; still others add an occasional visit to the beauty salon and others go to a sauna or Turkish baths as well.

Residing in a hot climate calls for frequent showering, because dust and bacteria can enter the open pores more easily causing dermatitis, whereas living in a cold climate can cause dry skin requiring frequent moisturizing. This is why skin care should be a routine personalized to the personality of the person and the climate of the area.

Besides those factors, different people have different skin types. The most common skin types are normal, dry, oily, sensitive and mixed). So, you will have to ascertain your skin type and work out a personal skin care routine with all these factors in mind. A basic skin care routine for people with normal skin might be as follows.

Cleansing: there are many different cleansing agents on the market, so you will have to try a few until you find one that suits you. Your cleanser should include oil, water and surfactant(s). The idea is that the oil and the surfactants lift the dirt and the water washes it away.

Some cleansers are quite severe, others contain soap, try to steer clear of both of these kinds. The water you use to wash away your cleanser is important too. Try to use unchlorinated luke warm water, because chlorine damages skin and both hot and cold water are not beneficial for it either. Do not cleanse too often or you will lose your skin’s natural oils.

Exfoliation: skin renews itself by killing off the uppermost layer and creating a new layer deeper down. This dead layer of skin will erode and fall off on its own, but you can speed up this process by exfoliating or rubbing the dead skin off. Dead skin cells are just that – dead – and nothing you can do will enhance or save them, but they do absorb (and therefore waste) the lotions you rub in, preventing some of that goodness getting to where you want it to go.

Therefore, exfoliating will enhance the effectiveness of the lotions that you put on. If you have oily or normal skin, you should exfoliate four or five times per week, whereas people with dry or sensitive skin should do it only once or twice a week. Exfoliate a couple of times more a week in hot, humid weather.

Moisturizers: moisturizing is probably the most critical skin care routine after washing. Every skin type needs to be moisturized, however, there are so many types of moisturizer that you will have to find a good one by trial and error. You should know within a week or so whether your moisturizer is good for you. Moisturizer is best applied when the skin is still damp.

Sunscreen: the sun’s UV rays are harmful to your skin, so it is best to filter them out when you go outside, even when it is cloudy. Factor 15 is the sunscreen for ‘normal’ use, sun and skin.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is now concerned with Obagi skin products. If you are interested in Natural Face Products, please go to our web site now.