Facial Skin Care

Whatever you skin type is – oily, dry, normal or sensitive, it is very important to have a daily skin care routine to keep the skin healthy and glowing and to keep your complexion radiant. Ideally it would be good to properly cleanse, tone and moisturize the skin daily, especially for acne prone skin, and treat your skin to a weekly or monthly facial with gentle ingredients.

Walk into a drug store these days or even health food stores, and you will see rows and rows of different face products leaving one confused as to should you use, should you buy the most expensive ones as they claim to be the best or do miracles for the face, or should you go with the reasonably priced one that has the same benefits but different ingredients? Well, as a naturopathic Doctor, I see a lot of patients with skin issues especially acne, so here is what suggest when it comes to purchasing different facial products:

Facial cleansers:

Everyone should clean their face at least 2 times a day- on rising and before bed, and a 3rd time, if you are using any make up and other products on your face with warm water and a cleanser that works well for your skin and is gentle on your face and the environment. There are various cleansers and soaps available, which can be very harsh and strip all the moisture from the face, and hence too drying for the face – so my suggestion is to go with something that has few and gentle ingredients such as herbs, milk, yogurt, honey or oats in them.

Astringents and toners:

Astringents and toners are generally used after a face wash to restore the pH balance of the skin, as well, tighten the skin pores and help with blemishes or very oily skin to remove extra oils from the face. There are natural natural astringents such as witch hazel, lemon, peppermint that can be used on their own or in combination based on the skin type. Toners are generally milder – and more soothing for the face – such as rose water, aloe, lavender and even camomile.

Moisturizers:

Moisturizers are meant to do exactly what they say – moisturize the skin, and keep it hydrated and plump, as opposed to dry and wrinkly. So a great moisturizer that use you can use internally is water! Making sure you get your daily water intake will help with moisturizing you skin naturally all over the body especially in winter. Essential fatty acids are also important to keep the elasticity of the cells – hence a diet containing seeds, nuts and fish will also be beneficial to keep the moisture looked in the cells giving you a youthful healthy glow especially if you have a tendency to have dry skin. Choose natural moisturizers with great ingredients such as rose hip oil, cocoa butter, vitamin E.

Facial masks:

Facial masks are great to give the face an instant “pick – me – up” feeling depending on the ingredients you use. Facial masks can be made at home with simple ingredients such as clay, papaya, honey, yogurt. These should ideally be done once a week or once every 2 weeks and are great for tightening up skin pores, decreasing oily skin and healing acne and blemishes.

By: Sushma Shah, Naturopathic Doctor, at Natures Intentions Naturopathic Clinic.

 

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