It’s easy to remember to moisturize the rough spots of your body, places like your elbows and knees that really stand out. But our faces don’t always seem rough or dry, and so get neglected when it comes to moisture treatment. For those with young soft skin, it seems even more unnecessary.
The point is that your skin won’t stay smooth and soft forever, and a consistent regimen of care and moisturizing is necessary now to protect against aging skin later. Even popular creams to reduce wrinkles, are based on the idea that moisture is the best way to stay looking younger.
Your face is one of the few areas of your body that is always exposed to the elements, and has to deal with harsh weather, UV sunlight and environmental pollutants all day every day. All of these things will slowly dry and damage your skin, leading to premature age spots, rough patches and plenty of wrinkles.
It’s not just about looks either. Dry skin is more likely to develop fine cracks, which means that it’s not protecting your body from germs or bacteria as well as it should. Injuries are going to take longer to heal, likely leaving more noticeable scars when they finally do. Moist skin is healthy skin.
Moisturizing Products
A good face cream that you use daily is the best way to keep your skin healthy and looking young. Look for ingredients that will nourish your skin without being heavy or greasy. That can block pores and lead to blemishes. Ingredients like lanolin, paraffin or dimethicone are great barriers that help your skin naturally hold its own moisture in. On the other hand, compounds like hydroxy acids, urea and glycerin actually help draw water to your skin cells to truly moisturize. A combination of the two approaches works the best. While you’re at it, look for antioxidants in your products too. They don’t add any moisture, but will help your skin repel damage better.
Along with a daily moisturizing product, you can also do occasional moisture therapy with a mask that does a deep treatment to keep your skin soft and supple.
Don’t Forget SPF
The idea of using a daily sunscreen with at least an SPF of around 15 to 20 is a new one, but a great idea to reduce skin damage. Many good moisturizers or foundation products now have some SPF factors to them, and would be a good investment if you are outdoors regularly.
Exfoliate
This is not exactly the same as moisturizing but it is part of the overall approach to keeping your skin healthy. Even with the most strenuous moisturizing plan, you will always have a continual layer of dead/dry skin on the surface. If you want the best benefits of your daily lotions, you need to gently buff off that layer as part of the process.
So even if your face seems “fine”, it could probably do with a little extra care, and a daily moisturizer can be just the thing.
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