What's the best part of summer? Some may say a healthy, sun-kissed glow to your skin, but how can you keep that radiance year-round? You may think keeping your skin bright and beautiful throughout the seasons is a challenge, but with the following eight tips, you can easily hold the radiance you gained over the summer and keep your skin healthy and nourished.
Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize
Dry skin saps that radiant glow you love. Moisturizers play a big part in maintaining a fresh, healthy look regardless of the season. However, moisturizing isn't as simple as applying any lotion you find. During the colder, drier months of the year, you should use oil-based lotions and creams for richer nourishment of dry, chapped skin. Natural oils can get stripped from the skin during this time of the year, so these products help balance your skin's oil production. Use water-based moisturizers in more humid months to prevent clogged pores.
Besides the type of products you use, you can use other moisturizing techniques to make your lotions and creams even more effective. Below are a few of the best moisturizing strategies:
- Look for Products with Natural Ingredients: Many moisturizing products contain chemicals or harsh ingredients that strip protective barriers from the skin. Therefore, you won't get the glowing results you seek. Natural and organic lotions are gentler on your skin, so you can soak up as much moisture as possible. Plus, these lotions leave a sleek, smooth appearance that helps you maintain a natural radiance.
- Apply Moisturizers After Showering: Ideally, you should apply moisturizers to your skin within three minutes of getting out of the shower or the bath. This application helps lock in moisture quickly. To reduce moisture loss, you should also limit your showers to 10 minutes or less and use warm, not hot, water. Another good time to apply moisturizers is before bed. For added results on your hands and feet, wear gloves and socks made of a thin, breathable fabric to bed after applying your lotions.
- Choose a Skin-Brightening Lotion: Many lotions contain ingredients that will help your skin shine. When you choose a skin-brightening lotion, look for specific ingredients that help enhance a natural glow, such as vitamin C, green tea, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, and alpha hydroxyl acid. These ingredients give your skin a soft and supple feel while reducing blotches and hyperpigmentation. The result is brighter, smoother, and more radiant skin that begs to be touched.
Exfoliate Regularly
If your skin is looking dull these days, don't feel down. You can find an easy way to get your bright, healthy glow back. Exfoliating helps slough off the top layer of skin cells, which are often dead or old. By gently scrubbing these dull cells away, you show brighter, healthier-looking skin lying underneath.
How can you exfoliate effectively? Use the following tips for the right amount of scrubbing power:
- Use only very gentle exfoliating products on your face and neck. Some products are too rough on the skin, so look for products made with gentle, natural ingredients.
- Get a dry brush or exfoliating shower glove to keep the rest of your body free from dead skin cells. These products are great for maintaining an all-over glow.
- Limit exfoliating sessions to once per week. You don't want to scrub away the fresh cells underneath a recently exfoliated layer of skin. Wait at least seven days to allow the top cells to die or dull before you scrub them away.
- Apply exfoliating products to wet skin. This application allows the formula to gently scrub away dead cells without being too rough on the skin. Rub in circular motions for about 30 seconds on the area you exfoliate before rinsing with warm water.
- Pat the skin dry after exfoliating. Drying also helps to reduce skin irritation.
- Apply a moisturizer while your skin is still slightly damp. Moisturizers and serums are better able to penetrate freshly exfoliated skin.
Use a Radiance-Enhancing Serum
If you're serious about maintaining a healthy glow, a radiance-enhancing serum should be on your must-have product list. These serums are specially designed to banish dullness for vibrant results. When combined with skin-brightening lotions, these products can be effective at giving you glowing skin at any time of the year.
A good skin-brightening serum will have several ingredients to help lighten and brighten skin. For example, ingredients like vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, apha arbutin, and niacinamide are often included since they target hyperpigmented skin. By creating a more even, clearer complexion, these ingredients enhance your skin's radiance every time you apply the serum. Meanwhile, skin-brightening serums feature nourishing and moisturizing properties so your skin has a dewy finish.
Keep Your Eyes Looking Alert
Even if the rest of your skin is glowing, having puffy, dark circles under your eyes takes away from that natural radiance. To make sure you always look fresh and perky, find an eye cream that gives your eyes a makeover. Find an eye cream, gel, or serum which reduces puffiness and dark circles while also helping to curtail wrinkles and fine lines. The best formulas often include ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, vitamin C, and vitamin E. For the best power against puffy eyes, your eye serum should also include caffeine.
The skin near your eyes is extremely delicate; always use a separate eye cream in this area. In addition, you should apply eye cream only by dabbing it on with your ring finger (the weakest finger on your hand) to reduce agitation in that area.
Apply Sunscreen
The SPF factor you require does not decrease as summer fades. In fact, skin experts report you need to apply sunscreen always, rain or shine. The sun's rays still reach you even in the darkest winter months, so don't forget this incredibly important skin care step. Without sunscreen, you can experience skin damage. That damage includes everything from sunburns to skin spots, both of which will dampen your chances of achieving a radiant glow.
To make sure you're always wearing sunscreen on your face, use a primer or face moisturizer with sunscreen included. That way, you'll be less likely to forget this step. Keep sunscreen near the door you most often use to leave your house. Seeing a tube of sunscreen daily will remind you to apply it before you leave. You can also buy small travel containers to keep sunscreen in your purse for quick reapplication.
Use a Humidifier
If you've never used one of these devices before, you'll be pleased by its simplicity. Learn how to use a humidifier below:The dull, scaly skin that often develops in cooler months is directly linked to the amount of moisture in the air. The lack of moisture affects every inch of your skin. To get that healthy glow back, you need to spend time in air with more humidity. Most of us can't spend hours a day in the sauna, but that's OK. Instead, use a humidifier at home and at work. A humidifier puts moisture back into the air. Your skin will naturally soak up the moisture to heal and prevent dry, chapped skin.
- Fill your humidifier's tank with distilled or demineralized water. Tap water has some minerals, which can create deposits in your humidifier that promote bacterial growth. Using the right kind of water ensures you're breathing in healthy air.
- Change the humidifier water often. Ideally, you should empty, rinse, and dry the tank daily before refilling it with clean, fresh water.
- Clean the humidifier every few days. Follow the manufacturer's instructions: Most recommend using a hydrogen peroxide or chlorine bleach solution. Always unplug the unit before and rinse with clean water after use.
- Change the humidifier filter according to manufacturer instructions. In most cases, you should clean the filter about once a month, but you may also want to check your filter more often.
Drink Plenty of Water
While your humidifier works from the outside to help your skin glow, water works from the inside to produce the same effect. Drinking lots of water every day keeps all of your organs hydrated, including your skin. Instead of tired, dry skin with a dull look, you'll have dewy, hydrated skin with an elusive natural glow.
Ideally, you should drink about six to eight glasses of water each day. Rather than gulping down water, try keeping a water bottle with you throughout the day. The water bottle can help you keep track of your water intake and also remind you to drink water throughout the day.
Take Steps Toward a Healthier Life
While all the steps above can have a direct effect on your skin's radiance, focusing on a healthy lifestyle will have equally visible effects in the long term. When you take steps to be healthier, your skin benefits in several ways. You look more refreshed and alert. Your skin ages more slowly, and your retain firm, youthful skin over time. These factors are all important considerations that will help you keep a radiant glow not only year-round, but also throughout your life.
If you're looking for some tips for healthy living that will have a positive effect on your skin, check out the following suggestions:
Eat a Healthy, Balanced Diet
Processed foods and excessive sugar have long been associated with acne and uneven complexions. Eating healthy, wholesome foods is so important for maintaining clear, glowing skin. Your best results will come from foods that are low in unhealthy fats and refined carbohydrates. Some of the foods most closely linked with clear, glowing skin are avocados, tomatoes, olive oil, spinach, and berries.
Get Plenty of Sleep
Getting enough sleep is actually one of the most important steps you can take to improve your skin. When you get a full night's sleep, your skin's repair mechanisms have time to activate, which helps support youthful, firm skin. When you're sleep-deprived, your body can become stressed easily, and stress can trigger breakouts. Aim for seven to eight hours of sleep per night to get the best skin results.
Minimize Stress
Stress is hard on your skin, leading to increased production of hormones like cortisol, which increases oiliness and can exacerbate conditions like acne, seborrhea, and rosacea. In addition to causing breakouts, stress can also contribute to a lack of sleep, which also takes a toll on your skin's appearance. Find ways to manage your stress if you want healthy, radiant skin. Techniques such as yoga, meditation, and aromatherapy can be effective for eliminating stress before you experience skin reactions.
Stay Active
While exercising regularly is great for your heart, lungs, and muscles, exercise is also good for the skin. When you work out, your blood flow increases, which helps to keep the skin cells nourished. The blood delivers oxygen and nutrients to the cells while carrying away waste, like harmful free radicals. In fact, exercise can actually be compared to cleansing your skin from the inside. An added benefit is that exercise decreases stress, which will also give your skin a radiance boost.
Avoid Poor Air Quality
Many situations can affect your skin, and poor air quality is one of them. While smoky air or conditions can be an obvious culprit, other environmental conditions, such as air pollutants or very dry air, can also be hard on your skin and will reduce any radiance your skin has. To ensure your skin stays healthy, minimize your exposure to smoke or poor air quality conditions, use humidifiers, and change your furnace's air filter regularly.
While a healthy, radiant appearance comes more easily during some parts of the year than at others, the steps oulined above are important to keep in mind regardless of the calendar. Each step you take today will help keep your skin healthy and protected for the future. In the end, you'll have a more youthful, healthy appearance regardless of the season.
