Help protect your skin from harsh winter winds

This winter, we’ve encountered what weather professionals deem the “bitter” cold, and our faces aren’t happy. I’ve done some research and conducted a few experiments to figure out the best way to take our skin from chapped and dry to soft and smooth.
There are important steps everyone can take to help heal their skin. I’ll name a few and mention what products I think are worth your dollar. By chance, I just so happen to have had the opportunity to raid the beauty closet of a particular magazine and left with a bag filled with lotions, potions and pretty things that ooze guarantees of beauty. I’ve seen, used and given away a lot of those pretty things. Interestingly enough, the pricey products are equivalent to their cheaper counterparts.

When it comes to skin, most can agree what beautiful skin is. If we consider our skin first and foremost, we begin to become the healthiest and most outwardly attractive we can be.

I’ve got several, simple steps everyone can take without spending a bundle and without spending too much time.

1. Start a regime.
Troy Surratt, celebrity makeup artist and all around sweet guy, once told me, “Jen, be sure to take your makeup off every night before you go to bed. If you don’t your skin will age seven days.” Aging? I thought, why worry about that now? Well, although aging is inevitable and in reality quite a beautiful progression of one’s journey through life, (props here to the Dove campaign for coining the term ‘pro-age’ instead of ‘anti-aging’ in referral to their new skin care line) we can help ourselves by practicing and implicating a healthy skin care regime.

2. Exfoliate and moisturize.
Exfoliate at least once a week all over. Spend some time on every inch of your body from your toes to your shoulders. Exfoliating rejuvenates new skin cells and increases cell regeneration, which is critical in the winter months when skin becomes particularly dull. When exfoliating your face, be gentle, or you can actually damage instead of help. A great and classic exfoliative to try is St. Ives Apricot Scrub. I’ve actually met the chemists from St. Ives for Alberto Culver, and the product line, available at any drug store, is often hyped as one of the best for skin and at the best price. Moisturize, my friends. Depending on your skin type, pick a body and face lotion to suit. Obviously, this is the number one thing to do this winter. Slather more on at night and less during the day. Keep a smaller bottle in your bookbag or purse to keep your hands smooth.

3. Lip balm.
Do not lick your lips; this will automatically give you a semi-permanent Kool-Aid mustache. The original Chapstick brand is great; find it in the impulse purchase section at Wal-Mart or Walgreens. Also, you can exfoliate your lips by brushing them with a toothbrush before you add the Chapstick. Keep that brush in a clean place just for that purpose. (Side note) A very inexpensive beauty tool and skin saver, ‘Seventeen’ Beauty Assistant Desi Gallegos attests to, is the multipurpose Vaseline. Vaseline can be used as makeup remover, lip balm and moisturizer.

4. Sunscreen and proper attire.
Sunscreen is crucial. In our 20s the only skin concern we really have is protection and the occasional breakout. When purchasing a moisturizer, be sure to grab one with an SPF already in it (two birds with one stone). The UV rays still get’cha, especially when they bounce off the snow.

Don’t look when you drive past the tanning salon. I know it’s hard, but research shows tanning can actually become addictive, so if you do, be sure to use lotions and limit your sessions. You’ll love your skin, and your health will thank you for it later. Instead, get a glow with sunless tanning. The options for sunless tanning have exploded, but I find the best daily to be Oil of Olay’s option; it doesn’t smell.

Wear gloves and a scarf to block windburn. I always feel like a giant puffball rolling down the street, but it’s cool to be warm.

Work in some time at the gym, be gentle to your skin, and get your Valentine to give you a massage. Look and feel beautiful, think about your skin first, and show it off, maybe tonight. (wink) Happy Valentines Day.

Source: www.royalpurplenews.com