Blog 6: Moisturizer

Hi, and thanks for visiting!  This week, I'm covering moisturizers.  There are three main things that I always recommend above all else at minimum that anyone do (man or woman), and that is exfoliate, use sun-screen and moisturize! I covered exfoliation in my microdermabrasion blog.  I've talked here and there about the importance of sun-screen, but one of the best favors that you can do for yourself, no matter what age you are is to moisturize your skin.

When I was younger (highschool and in my early twenties), I had really oily skin.  I had occasional break-outs, but nothing terrible. To counter-balance my oily skin, I refrained from putting anything on my face that even remotely resembled moisture.  Consequently, my face became more and more oily.  So get this, although my face was really oily, when I'd wash it with soap, it would be so dry...it would crack and be pink and itchy.  Later, I learned that because I did not put moisturizer on my skin, my oil glands were over producing to try to hydrate the superficial layer of my skin. So...you can be oily and dry at the same time.  Once I started using moisturizer, my skin balanced out and plumped up. 

Not only is moisturizer good for the obvious...moisturizing your skin, it also acts like a barrier to toxins from the air and pollutants around us.  To boot, most moisturizers now come with a minimum SPF of 15, which is awesome!   I have used moisturizers from every category ranging from over the counter cheap stuff to more expensive lines from Merle Norman, to samples of really expensive stuff that you can only get from the dermatologist.  Notice...I said, "samples". 

I've settled into a small selection of Olay Complete SPF15 & Olay Total Effects 7.  I also keep a tube of Merle Norman's Moisture Rich Facial Treatment-Mask, which is a really thick moisturizer that you wipe off after 10 minutes, but I add a tad bit of water and just leave it on my face.  I use it every now and then, and the whole thing lasts almost a year. 

Here's a huge tip that I learned in my early twenties that I'm so thankful someone told me about.  Starting as early as possible...moisturize your neck and decollete' (chest), and hands the same as your face!!!  Use a daily SPF moisturizer on your face, neck, chest and hands/forearms.  Get into the routine now and hopefully, when you're fifty...you will NEVER KNOW how bad you would have looked!! 

Try this...look at a woman in her thirties and fourties. (After that...the disctinction is clearly wrinkles and saggy skin/musculature).  Really look at them and then ask yourself what makes them look older than you or someone that is 19 (for example).  When my daughter and I sit together (she is 21 and I am 39...until Oct 12th Whoo Hoo!), the difference isn't so much the fine wrinkles that she has (no...JK--"I" have)...it is the spots or freckles that I have that really identifies me as the older one.  Using a moisturizer with SPF in it, over the course of years...really goes a long way when you're thirty and fourty.

Does that mean that you can't tan or lay-out?  No, I love to lay-out in the sun and before every summer vacation, I tan for 1 month prior.  When I lay out in the sun, though, I use a minimum SPF of 30 on my body and at least a 50 on my face.  Trust me...I still get a tan!!  Then, I exfoliate and moisturize the dickens out of myself daily!  After I tan in the tanning bed for the one month, I work hard to undo the damage for the rest of the year until the next summer! Ha!

Take care of your youthful skin!!  Don't take it for granted!  Invest in good practices now that will certainly pay off later-- YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!!  Drink lots of water!!!!!  Eat lots of foods with anti-oxidants in it! 

Happy October!!
Happy Fall!!
Happy Halloween!!
Happy PotLucks!!
Happy Crockpots!!

Lydia