Nine Steps to
Make Your Face Soft
1. One Word – Hydration
The
basics of having smooth, soft skin comes down to one word – hydration. There
is no better ally in battling against dry skin, and it is highly important for
your overall health. Always stay hydrated.
Ok,
lets’ not get carried
away, you don’t really have to drink gallons of
water every day, but you really should drink a minimum of 6 glasses. The amount
varies according to things you eat, and other drinks you have. Coffee and
alcohol, for example, require you to increase the amount of water, while
freshly squeezed juices allow you to decrease it a bit.
The
general rule is – try not to get thirsty. Drink water
after everything you’ve eaten and increase the amount
after exercising, and during warm summer months.
2. Healthy Diet
You may not want
to believe this, but things you eat show on your skin. A healthy diet is one of the key ingredients towards having soft skin.
Try to eliminate
all the bad stuff from your diet – such as fast
food, fried food, sodas etc. but don’t exclude any
ingredient completely. Your body needs meat, just as it needs vegetables,
fruit, dairy products and cereals. Of course, you should limit the amount of
red meat you eat, and increase the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables.
4. No Stress
Ok, we can’t completely run away from stressful
situations, but we can learn how
to reduce stress. Believe it or not, stress is one
of the worst enemies for beautiful, soft skin.
Stressful
situations not only make you nervous, but they can also do some serious damage
to your health. Your skin is probably what suffers the most. You may get stress
induced redness and rashes and, as we all know, stress causes premature
wrinkles. Do your best not to be stressed.
5. No Hot Showers
Hot showers and
hot tubs make your skin dry. I know, it’s not something
you want to hear, because every girl loves a hot bath, but unfortunately it is
true.
This, of course,
doesn’t mean that you can’t have a hot bath ever again, but try to reduce them to a minimum. Shower with warm
water, or even better combine cold and warm intervals – this is good for your skin and your
circulation as well.
6. Good Shower Products
Shower
gels and creams can do a lot of good, but also a lot of bad to your skin.
Unfortunately, there is no universal shower gel I can recommend (if you can,
please do so), because it all depends on how your skin reacts to a certain
product.
However,
I would always recommend you to try natural and organic soaps, and shower gels.
These products are made with organic ingredients, such as bee’s wax and goat
milk, and are free of all the chemicals that could be bad for your skin. I’ve found organic
soaps to be the only solution for my skin that gets extremely dry, during the
cold, winter months. Try them, but be careful as you would be with any other
product – your skin could
react to anything.
7. Moisturizers
Every
girl knows that body lotions and moisturizers are a key to making your skin
soft, and smooth. Preferably try one of those that are labeled with “soft and silky” or anything
similar.
Bear
in mind that you can get a reaction to a body lotion, so always try it on a
small part of your skin, and wait for 24 hours. Also, don’t go crazy with
lotions, and give your skin a break every once in a while. That way, you’ll make it
remember that it’s supposed to have its own defense
mechanism, not always waiting for you to provide it artificially.
8. Avoid Salt Water
There
is nothing like swimming in the ocean, is there? The crystal waters, the mighty
waves and that feeling that you’re a part of something great.
Unfortunately, this could be quite bad for your skin.
Salt water makes
your skin dry, and itchy. If frequently exposed to salt, your skin could become
permanentlydry, and if it’s sensitive you can even develop
some sort of chronic rash. Now, I’m not saying that
you should never swim in the sea again, but make sure you shower with regular
water right after.
9. Avoid Sun
Sun damages are
the most serious, and the worst looking damages on your skin. I know that most
of you probably love to sunbathe, but seriously – cut it down a bit.
While sunbathing
outside can be acceptable in reasonable amounts, and always with sun
protection, tanning booths are completely forbidden. I’m not even going to start about how
these things are bad, I only have two words for you to think about – skin cancer.
Always protect
your skin with sun screen. The SPF factor you’ll use depends on your natural skin tone. SPF 20 means that
you can stay safely in the sun 20 times longer, than you can without sun
screen. Lower the amount of time you spend in the sun, but don’t completely stay out of it. You
still need it for production of melanin, the pigment responsible for your
natural skin tone.
That’s all the advice I have for you on
how to make your skin soft. If you have any thoughts on the subject, feel free
to share them.