Fashion is On

A. Vitamin A
It’s hard to find a derm who doesn’t love vitamin A in the form of topical retinol, one of the most effective weapons in the antiaging arsenal. When converted by the skin into retinoic acid, vitamin A boosts collagen production, stimulates cell turnover, and reduces the size and secretion of sebaceous glands, making it a potent cure-all for wrinkles, uneven skin tone, and acne. While stronger retinoic acids are available only by prescription, retinol—a milder form of vitamin A—is widely available over the counter.

B. Butter
Derived from the nut of the African karate tree, shea is one type of butter you can pile on guilt-free. It mimics skin’s own lipids, protecting it from irritation and speeding up its repair process.

C. Coffee
Talk about a wake-up call: Applied topically, vasoconstricting caffeine reduces redness and deflates undereye puffiness. Plus, the extract of the coffeeberry has 10 times the antioxidant power of other polyphenols such as green tea and pomegranate.

D. Vitamin D
Just a few minutes of sun exposure is enough to soak up a hefty dose of UVB rays, which help skin synthesize vitamin D, a proven deterrent to osteoporosis and heart disease. There’s no excuse for a bake-off, though—salmon and milk restock the nutrient without the risk of that other D: sun damage.

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Sometimes when one suffers from dry skin the thought is they can re-moisturise their skin by bathing it in water. Doing this will in fact make things worse, as it removes the protective sebum (oil layer) from the skin, making skin more prone to drying than before. Some of the best ways to re-hydrate skin are:

• Have a healthy balanced diet full of foods which contain sulphur, Vitamin A, B and C which are all great for the skin.
• Wash with good soap products such as Dove or Olay, which don’t dry skin so much.
• Don’t bathe more than once if you can help it. Bathing excessively removes the protective sebum (oil layer) from the skin.
• Use lukewarm water when bathing, hot water dries the skin out more.
• Use a good moisturising cream, particularly after shaving.
• If you can afford it, buying an air humidifier to use throughout the winter months can help counter the drying effects of central heating usage.

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Sensitive skin always needs extreme care and attention than the normal skin. There are certain basic rules to be followed for sensitive skin care treatment.

First of all you must know the type of skin you are having and then go for proper treatment.

Avoid chemical based products, as any kind of skin reacts adversely to chemicals if they don’t suit to your skin, especially if your skin is sensitive.

It has low tolerance level towards chemicals and detergents. So try to avoid chemical products for proper sensitive skin care.

Several sensitive skin care products are available in the market. Try to use only those specially designed products, if your skin is really sensitive. Also go through the instructions given with the product before using it.

These sensitive skin care products contain low concentration of chemicals which can avoid irritations of your skin.

Avoid toners for sensitive skin, as they are rich in alcohol based ingredients. They might not suit to your sensitive skin.

Apply sunscreen lotion whenever you go out. It is always important for sensitive skin care. Do not expose your skin to sun; the UV rays coming from sun may cause harm to your skin.

Covering your skin as much as possible while you go out doors is essential for proper sensitive skin care. When your skin is exposed to pollution and dust, it may get damaged or gets irritated, so always try to avoid your skin from exposing it to sun.

Use cleansers and skin moisturizers which are free from alcohol, soap or any other harmful chemicals. Try to prefer hypoallergenic creams.

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This is a soothing face mask and great if you have bananas around the house.

Ingredients:

• 1 banana, preferably ripe (you can keep ripe bananas in the freezer. Let it thaw before using)
• 1 tbsp honey
• An orange or a lemon

Preparation:

Mix the banana and honey together.
Add a few drops of juice from an orange or a lemon.
Apply to face for 15 minutes before rinsing with a cool washcloth or a steaming warm washcloth.

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It is a common fact that excessive sun exposure can be damaging to your skin. However, cold weather can take its toll on your skin, too, especially if you have sensitive or dry skin. The lower temperatures outside, increased windiness and the fact you are turning up the thermostat in your home can all make your skin chapped, flaky, blotchy, dry and itchy.

During the summer, we are more prone to take care of our skin because of the constant need for topical relief measures such as sunscreen and insect repellent. However, the winter is the season when our skin actually needs the most extra care. To help your skin to survive the brutality of the season, keep in mind the following simple winter skin care tips:

1. Continue to use a sunscreen with SPF 15 or better. Although you may not feel it as much, the sun can be just as powerful when reflecting off the snow or while taking a long walk outdoors as it is on a summer day at the beach. A convenient suggestion is to use a moisturizer or foundation with a built-in sunscreen everyday.

2. Use a mild cleanser as opposed to soap, which can strip your skin of the essential oils it needs.

3. Though you may not be as thirsty as during the summer, continue to drink lots of water to provide the necessary hydration to your skin.

4. Avoid products with high alcohol content, heavy perfumes or other additives that can irritate your sensitive, dry skin.

5. During the cold weather, you might want to try using a thicker, richer moisturizer, two to three times per day, to help your skin to adequately replenish the moisture it loses.

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My skin type is combination, which means I have a blend of oily and dry skin. The patch on my T-zone from the forehead down to the nose and chin is oily while my cheeks are dry. So this means that my T-zone needs too be treated like oily skin while my cheeks should be treated like dry skin.

In terms of skin care, I should really be using a dual approach and deal with the different areas of skin individually with different products. This is because I found out that treating my entire complexion like oily skin will leave the dry areas even drier and tighter while treating it only like dry skin can provoke excess oiliness. But in actual fact, I have always used one product for my entire face and it is not until recently that I started to make a slight switch to this routine.

Here, let me share some skin care tips for combination skin:

1.  Cleanse the T-zone more thoroughly
I like the squeaky clean feeling on my skin after cleansing and hence, I’ve always like to use a gentle foaming cleanser.  In the morning when my face is free from makeup, I just use the foaming cleanser but in the evening, I use the double cleansed method where I will first apply an oil or cream cleanser to get rid of my makeup first.   When using the oil or cream cleanser, I tend to massage more into my eye area and my cheeks that are drier.  This is then followed by massaging my entire face with a gentle foaming facial wash.  When lathering, I focus more on my T-zone, massaging a little more into the oily areas before splashing clean wtih cool water.

2.  Alternate between two different types of cleansers
If you like, you can also alternate between an oil or cream cleanser and the foaming facial wash to have a more balanced approach; using only one for the day and the other only in the night.  In fact I started testing out the oil cleansing method and this is exactly what I do.  I use the foaming facial cleanser only in the morning and in the evening when I come back from work, I use an oil based cleanser and rinse out with warm water.

3.  Apply more toner on the T-zone
Although I like to tone my entire face, the first step is always to apply the toner on my T-zone with my saturated cotton cool pad.  So by the time the cotton pad reaches my drier cheeks, the amount of toner is much lesser.  Sometimes when I’m under stress, my T-zone gets excessively oily an hour or two after washing.  To combat this oiliness, I use a toner to wipe the excess oil from the T-zone lightly, provided I’m not wearing my makeup. If I’m wearing makeup, I use a blotter or tissue paper instead.

4.  Apply two different types of toner on different zones
Another approach I’ve read is to use two different strengths of toner to deal with the differing skin types.  A stronger astringent toner for the T-zone and a milder toner for the dry zone.  I haven’t tried this method before although I might try using witch hazel on my T-zone soon just to see how it fares. 

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The great advantage of oily skin is that it ages at a slower rate than other skin types. 

Oily skin needs special cleansing with plenty of hot water and soap to prevent the pores from being clogged. Avoid harsh products that strip your skin of oil and encourage flakiness. They can cause a reaction known as reactive seborrhoea, where the oil glands work overtime to compensate for the loss of natural oils.

Avoid skincare products that leave your skin feeling taut and dehydrated. They cause the upper layers of the skin to shrink. This restricts oil flow through the pores leading to blockages and breakouts. 

To cleanse oily skin, use oil-based products as they dissolve sebum effectively. Opt for oil-free moisturizers to maintain a shine-free complexion.

Keep your skin very clean. Limit washing your face to two or three times a day. Too much washing will stimulate your skin to produce more oil.

Choose your cleanser with care. Avoid heavy cleansing creams. Avoid the use of harsh soaps or cleansers. Use a pure soap with no artificial additives. Try an antibacterial cleansing lotion or a lightly medicated soap, and use it in combination with a water rich in minerals, not tap water. Do not use cleansers or lotions that contain alcohol. After cleansing, apply a natural oil-free moisturizer to keep the skin supple.

Use hot water when washing your face. Hot water dissolves skin oil better than lukewarm or cold water.

If your skin is extremely oily, three or four daily cleansings may be in order and little or no moisturizing necessary before you are 30 years old. After that point, the skin around your eyes and mouth and on your throat may benefit from a nightly moisturizing, plus a mere touch of moisturizer in the morning. 

When cleansing, massage your face well with your fingertips, using an upward and outward motion. Be careful not to rub soap into the skin; it can clog pores.

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Dry skin is familiar with many of them. It has to be taken care as it is more prominent and prone to ageing and other serious problems. Dry skin is fine-pored skin which looks dull. It has a sallow tone and also is easily irritated. Those having dry skin will be surely experiencing from flawlessness, taut and flaky feeling and also hardly breaks into spots. This skin type feels more comfortable with night creams, moisturizers and voila.

People having dry skin have a thin and papery texture. This is because of the pores it has as they are very fine. The appearance of flaky patches is very common in many of them by the midday. After each wash the skin feels very tight as it is very small for the face.

It is always the best to use creamy cleanser for melting the dirt away. Let it stay for sometime in the skin before wiping it away. Then gently wipe it with cotton wool. For cleaning the face splash cold water and the skin feels refreshed. Next use a thick creamy moisturizer to seal the moisture content.

DRY SKIN CARE

The skin becomes worse in the winter season as it starts to crack and also leaves moisture. This is because the skin has more moisture in the upper levels and very little in the lower levels. Therefore it is both dry as it lacks oils and even dehydrated as it lacks water. It is even vulnerable to climatic and weather changes and also produce wrinkles easily if it is not cared for. Any exposure to harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun or air conditioning would lead to increased loss of moisture. Mostly it becomes worse when you move from the sun directly into an air conditioned room or even while moving out from the air conditioned room to the sun.

The skin’s dry condition is aggravated by the use of soap, detergents and toners. So a gentle approach which boosts the skin’s moisture levels and makes it soft and supple which is considered to be a must.

Day care for the dry skin calls for the use of a creamy moisturizer. If the moisturizer has a high Sun Protection Factor (SPF) then it considered to be the best. An SPF indicates the number of times the skin is saved from the sun. So if your skin normally burns in five minutes, a 30 SPF sunscreen will let it burn only 30 X five minutes which is equal 150 minutes. In India it is considered that an SPF of about 30 is a must for any skin type.

DOs AND DON’Ts for Dry Skin

Do’s:

1. Using moisturizer during the day is very helpful.
2. Always use a sunscreen of SPF over 30.
3. Eat a diet rich in fruits, yoghurt and vegetables, whole grain cereal and drink plenty of water which is about eight glasses per day.
4. Try using rich night creams for repair of the skin.
5. Take special care of the delicate skin around the eyes.

Don’ts:

1. Expose the skin to too much sunlight.
2. Drag the skin while applying or removing make-up, since dry skin tends to wrinkle faster.

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