Recently, I've earned a new sense of appreciation for my skin. About a week ago, I used some questionable sunblock during a six hour outing to a local river on my day off. Long story short, I got a sunburn so bad that it caused me to be nauseous and dizzy intermittently for several days. Looking back on the whole ordeal, I've realized just how much I take my skin for granted, and that all in all I'm pretty fortunate to have the health that I do. In light of this, I've decided to dedicate this week's blog to taking care of the largest organ we have; our skin!
Wash it well!
None of us are strangers to showers I hope! Obviously just straight up washing your skin is an amazing way to keep it healthy. Regular old soap and water will do the trick just fine, but if you want to get extra fancy there are all kinds of scrubs and washes you can get! Recently my girlfriend convinced me to get a sugar scrub to use in the shower (to help knock off dead skin), and it has quickly become my favorite product! It will leave your skin super smooth and very soft, not to mention it will smell amazing! I highly recommend exploring different scrubs and other bath products! Now aside from general showering, its also good to wash your face a few times a day as well to prevent acne. I usually wash my face about two or three times a day, first scrubbing with hot water, and then rinsing with cold. The hot water will open up your pores for cleaning, and then the cold water will close them back up so that they don't fill with oil and dirt (this works in showers too)!
Drink Water!
There are countless health benefits to drinking water regularly, but even still, I know so many people who don't bother with it! Ideally you should be drinking around seven cups of water per day. Doing this will benefit you in a few different ways. First off, you'll feel a lot more energized when you're properly hydrated, It will often times help you lose weight (staying hydrated cuts down on hunger), and finally (not really, you can look up more benefits here) it will also help clear up your skin! I can personally vouch for this because back when I was in high school with terrible chronic acne, my dermatologist would always yell at me for drinking nothing but soda and then would lecture me on how drinking water instead would cut down my acne!
Use Moisturizer!
Moisturizer is great! It keeps your skin from drying out, which can cause numerous problems (acne being one of the major ones). According to most sites, you should use moisturizer about twice a day. This will provide enough coverage to keep your skin from drying out while also not being too invasive and clogging up your pores. You should be careful to use an organic moisturizer as well, because some synthetic ones are known to cause acne, breakouts, and even hives! Pretty much, just research whatever product you want to use and you'll be okay.
In closing, our skin is of vital importance to our body, and a lot of the time we take it for granted. If we don't take care of it while we are young it will end up giving out on us as we age! So if you aren't already, I encourage you to start some kind of skin care routine, even if its something as simple as washing your face a few times a day!