Good skin care — including sun protection and gentle cleansing — can keep your skin healthy and glowing.
Tips for healthy skin from Mayo Clinic staff
Don't have time for intensive skin care? You can still pamper yourself by following the basics. Good skin care and healthy lifestyle choices can help delay natural aging and prevent various skin problems. Get started with these five no-nonsense tips.
1. Protect yourself from the sun
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 your risk of skin cancer.
For maximum sun protection:
Use sunscreen. Use a broad spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15. Apply sunscreen generously, and reapply every two hours — or more often if you're swimming or sweating.
Find shade. Avoid the sun between the hours of 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 clothes an extra layer of UV protection for a certain number of washes, or special sunscreens—designed specifically to block UV rays.
2. Don't smoke
Smoking makes your skin look older and contributes to wrinkles. Smoking narrows the tiny blood vessels in the outer layers of the skin, which reduces blood flow and makes the complexion pale. This also depletes the skin of oxygen and nutrients that are important to skin health.
Smoking also destroys collagen and elastin -- the fibers that give your skin strength and elasticity. In addition, the repetitive facial expressions you make when smoking — such as pursed lips when inhaling and closing your eyes to keep smoke away — can contribute to wrinkles.
In addition, smoking increases the risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma. If you smoke, the best way to protect your skin is to quit. Ask your doctor for tips or treatments to help you quit smoking.
3. Treat your skin gently
Daily cleansing and shaving can take a toll on your skin. To keep it nice:
Cut back on shower time. Hot water and long showers or baths remove oils from your skin. Cut back on your shower time and use warm water instead of hot water.
Avoid strong soaps. Strong soaps and cleansers can strip oil from your skin. Instead, choose mild detergents.
Shave carefully. To protect and moisturize your skin, apply shaving cream, lotion, or gel before you shave. For a close shave, use a clean, sharp razor blade. Shave in the direction of hair growth, not against it.
Leave it to dry. After showering or bathing, gently pat or towel dry your skin so that some moisture remains on your skin.
Moisturize dry skin. If you have dry skin, use a moisturizer that matches your skin type. For daily use, consider using a moisturizer that contains SPF.
Also read: How do you take care of yourself as a woman?
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 protein. The relationship between diet and acne isn't clear — but some research suggests that a diet rich in fish oil or fish oil supplements and low in unhealthy fats and processed or refined carbohydrates may promote younger-looking skin. Drinking plenty of water helps keep your skin hydrated.
5. Stress management
Uncontrolled stress can make your skin more sensitive and lead to acne and other skin problems. To encourage healthy skin -- and a healthy state of mind -- take steps to manage your stress. Get enough sleep, set reasonable limits, shorten your to-do list, and make time to do the things you enjoy. The results may be more dramatic than you expect.
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