Skin care: 5 tips for healthy skin
Good skin care — including sun protection and gentle cleansing — can keep your skin
healthy and glowing for years to come.
Don't have time for intensive skin care? Pamper yourself with the basics. Good skin care
and healthy lifestyle choices can help delay the natural aging process and prevent
various skin problems. Get started with these five no-nonsense tips.
One of the most important ways to take care of your skin is to protect it from the sun.
A lifetime of sun exposure can cause wrinkles, age spots and other skin problems — as
well as increase the risk of skin cancer.
For the most complete sun protection:
Use sunscreen. Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15. When you're
outdoors, reapply sunscreen every two hours — or more often if you're swimming or
perspiring.
Seek shade. Avoid the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the sun's rays are strongest.
Wear protective clothing. Cover your skin with tightly woven long-sleeved shirts, long
pants and wide-brimmed hats. Also consider laundry additives, which give clothing an
additional layer of ultraviolet protection for a certain number of washing, or special
sun-protective clothing — which is specifically designed to block ultraviolet rays.
Smoking makes your skin look older and contributes to wrinkles. Smoking narrows the
tiny blood vessels in the outermost layers of skin, which decreases blood flow. This
depletes the skin of oxygen and nutrients that are important to skin health. Smoking
also damages collagen and elastin — the fibers that give your skin its strength and
elasticity. In addition, the repetitive facial expressions you make when smoking — such
as pursing your lips when inhaling and squinting your eyes to keep out smoke — can
contribute to wrinkles.
If you smoke, the best way to protect your skin is to quit. Ask your doctor for tips or
treatments to help you stop smoking.
3. Treat your skin gently
Daily cleansing and shaving can take a toll on your skin. To keep it gentle:
Limit bath time. Hot water and long showers or baths remove oils from your skin. Limit
your bath or shower time, and use warm — rather than hot — water.Avoid strong soaps.
Strong soaps and detergents can strip oil from your skin. Instead, choose mild cleansers.
Shave carefully. To protect and lubricate your skin, apply shaving cream, lotion or gel
before shaving. For the closest shave, use a clean, sharp razor. Shave in the direction the
hair grows, not against it.Pat dry. After washing or bathing, gently pat or blot your skin
dry with a towel so that some moisture remains on your skin.Moisturize dry skin.
If your skin is dry, use a moisturizer that fits your skin type. For daily use, consider
a moisturizer that contains SPF.
4. Eat a healthy diet
A healthy diet can help you look and feel your best. Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables,
whole grains and lean proteins. The association between diet and acne isn't clear — but
some research suggests that a diet rich in vitamin C and low in unhealthy fats and
processed or refined carbohydrates might promote younger looking skin.
Uncontrolled stress can make your skin more sensitive and trigger acne breakouts and
other skin problems. To encourage healthy skin — and a healthy state of mind — take
steps to manage your stress. Set reasonable limits, scale back your to-do list and make
time to do the things you enjoy. The results might be more dramatic than you expect.
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