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Face
Facts
Critical Skin Care Mistakes
This is not another
column boosting the benefits of one product over another.
Nor is this about the simple things that can be done every
day to insure you will have the skin you want as you age.
Seeds cast upon the water harvest where they fall.
Your face is the first
thing people see - but the person who matters most is you.
Most of us take for granted that as we get older there will
be subtle changes in our skin. And depending on how conscientious
we were about taking care of our skin, we see the results
now.
I want to make a distinction
between the skin on your face and the look on your face. For
thousands of years, women have been searching for ways to
preserve their skin from signs of aging. Cleopatra is said
to have bathed in honey and milk – certainly a low tech
way to get the nutrients that are used in some skin care products
today. Can you imagine Cleopatra’s amazement and confusion
if she were to walk up to the cosmetic counter in any department
store today? There is a lot of information about skin coming
to women from a lot of different directions. I do not plan
to add to that confusion. On the contrary, I will keep it
simple.
The expression on your
face is a reflection of how you view the world. Ever notice
how beautiful people look when they are laughing and having
fun? A smile is the best and cheapest facelift around. That
is the look on your face. We’ll talk more about that
in the months to come.
These are the most common
mistakes women make when choosing how to take care of their
skin.
1. Being seduced by the newest “magic potions”
2. Smoking, which deprives the skin of oxygen
3 Not protecting your skin from the sun all year long.
4. Waiting too long to pay attention to your skin
5. Not staying with one product long enough to judge results
6. Having a regimen too complicated for your lifestyle.
7. Not being aware that the skin is an organ which must be
nourished constantly
8. Not drinking enough water and feeding the body nutritionally.
As we age, we lose moisture in our skin. Those of us who started
out with oily complexions find that our skin is less oily
as we mature. Those who began with normal and dry complexions
will find that our skin becomes taut and overly dry.
Taking care of our
skin doesn't require a lot of money, just some simple steps.
As long as you cleanse your face every night, it really doesn’t
matter what good cleansing product you use except for soap.
Noxema, soap or anything loaded with lanolin cannot get into
your pores to clean them well.
Wash your face with
a cleanser that is appropriate for your skin type. Do not
use soap! Though soap may be right for your body, it is not
a good quality cleanser, especially for your face. Soap is
made of wax. And you wouldn’t consciously want to use
wax on your face.
Wash, tone and moisturize
your skin morning and night even if you didn't wear makeup
that day. Just because you didn’t wear makeup does not
mean that you haven’t collected dirt and grime just
walking around.
Toning your skin after
cleansing helps to further clean the pores, closes them and
prepares your skin to better absorb your moisturizer and restore
the PH balance. Toner is milder than what men put on their
face after shaving but it is the same principle.
Now it is time for
moisturizing. Use a facial moisturizer and an eye cream. Why
two different products for the same area? Regular moisturizer
is too heavy for the delicate eye area and could create wrinkles
rather than minimize them.
Remember you are what
you eat. If you eat unhealthy foods, smoke and drink alcohol
it will show up on your face. Aerobic exercise is great for
warding off wrinkles since it helps the blood circulate throughout
the body and face and invigorates the skin. Truly a fountain
of youth! It improves muscle tone, and the improved circulation
helps to keep that younger looking skin we all would like
to maintain
Drink enough water
!!!!! I can’t say that often enough.
More than anything else, sun protection will help to prevent
the aging of your skin, The sun is largely responsible for
wrinkling, blotchy pigmentation, broken blood vessels, dryness,
texture changes, uneven color and some sun related skin diseases
that make the skin look older. Daily use of sunscreen products
with at least an SPF of 15 along with protective clothing
such as full-brimmed hats, long sleeved blouses and shirts,
and slacks instead of shorts will greatly reduce the aging
of the skin and the possibility of skin cancer. Sunglasses
also will protect the eyelids from aging and will help reduce
crows feet by reducing squinting which comes from sun exposure
without eye protection.
Smile…Your face
tends to conform to the position or expression that you carry
most of the time. If you often frown or scowl, your skin is
more likely to develop lines or wrinkles between the eyes,
down-turning lines at the corners of the mouth, or other lines
or furrows that conform to the frowning facial expression.
A smiling, pleasant, relaxed expression is good for your face
and will help keep you looking younger.
Coming next
month:
Next month I will list some of the treatments that will help
you get back the face that you want. Trust in that I will
never suggest anything I wouldn’t do myself. I will
be talking about non-invasive treatments that work and show
you some pictures to prove it.
Your goal this month
is to get a simple routine that you can follow both AM and
PM - and do that consistently. If you haven’t been doing
that, you will see an improvement in your skin within a week
or two.
“Here’s
looking at you.”
"Remember
that the Ark was built by amateurs: the Titanic was built
by professionals." |
Lois
LeSavoy