Perfect Skincare

People spend millions on skin products every month, but how much do they really know about their skin needs?
Do YOU know what your skin type is? Do you know what kind of soap to use? Is the cream you are using appropriate for you skin type?
If you have doubts, take 5 minutes and read this article- your skin will definitely be grateful!

Skin is the largest organ of the body- its main function is to eliminate body’s waste products through sweating. When toxins are eliminated, they disrupt the skin’s health integrity and if maintaining improper skincare, pores clog and microbes on skin cause acne flourish and skin irritation. Skin is a first line of defense that prevents bacterial, viral, and fungal organisms from causing disease.
 
Besides proper skincare, skin is affected also by:

Our skin type is partly determined by our genes and we cannot change that: if your mother and father never had blemishes, it is less possible you will ever have them. Nevertheless, we should make impact where we have the influence, and we have it in all other areas stated above.

Skin Types

First and inevitable would be deciding what skin type you have. There are three basic skin types: dry, oily and combination skin, but most people have a mixture of these types.
The following statement is not a universal rule, but it may be worth mentioning: dark skinned people are more prone to greater extremes of dryness and oiliness that are people with pale skin.
Skin should be treated according to your skin type: if you don't cleanse it enough, you could find yourself prone to spots; on the other hand, if you cleanse it too often, you could be stripping away essential oils and be susceptible to dry skin or even eczema. Understanding your skin type and appropriate skincare is secret key to healthier skin.

Dry skin 
Dry skin simply looks dry: if dermis does not secrete enough oil or sebum, this results in tight, flaky skin and dull complexion. Dry skin often feels tight, especially after being washed with soap and water. It also happens that dry skin lacks elasticity and can be extremely sensitive to environmental influences, such as sun, wind, and cold temperatures.
The only benefit of dry skin is that it is less likely to develop acne than oily skin.
Most important for dry skin is regular moisturizing, and when wearing foundation, you should wear moisturized foundation. 

Oily skin
Oily skin has, comparing to dry skin, over-reactive oil producing glands, which make the face shiny- the good part is, excessive sebum prevents the skin from drying out. Most oily area is usually the T-zone: forehead, down the central panel of your nose and the chin. Oily skin tends to attract more dirt than dry skin, and since pores in oily skin are very often enlarged, this makes oily skin more prone to blackheads and acne.
Best care for oily skin is washing face with face wash and water: warm water should be used to loosen dirt, and cold water should be used to rinse and to close large pores after the process of skin cleaning. 
Oily skin often needs no extra moisturizing. 
Interesting, men have approximately 15% oilier skin and significantly larger pores than women do. Also, woman's skin is subtly different than a man's skin: women have thinner skin than men do, so the sun's penetrating UVA rays damage female skin to a greater degree. This is one of the reasons why women may seem to age more quickly than men.

Combination skin
Most of us have combination skin, which means that we have some oily and some dry or normal skin areas. Oily skin most often occurs in T-zone across the forehead, nose, and chin, and areas of dryness occur on the cheeks, and around the eyes and neck. 
Ideally, people with combination skin should have one product for the oily areas and another one for dry areas. Such skincare is unnecessary and too expensive, unless the areas of dry and oily are very different.
The drier areas may need to be moisturized more often; for oily parts skin cleanser should be used, while for drier skin parts cleanser should be diluted with water. Anyway, you may have to experiment a bit.    
People with normal to oily skin generally have normal skin on their cheeks and oily skin with enlarged pores on their T zone, while people with dry to oily combination skin have oily skin in the T zone and dry skin on the cheeks. For example, in some cases, the skin could be normal everywhere outside the T-Zone, but this skin type is still considered combination skin.
Many people with combination skin react to the weather and different climates. For instance, in warmer weather, the skin may be much oilier and does need to moisturized as much. However, in colder weather and at higher altitudes, moisturizer may be all that is needed. Also, elasticity may vary on the face. Collagen-promoting supplement can help when added to your skincare regime

Normal skin
Normal skin is the skin type we all wish we had! It is usually soft and plump with small to medium size pores. It has good elasticity and is smooth and firm to the touch. Typically normal skin has evenly toned texture and has unclogged pores. It has a balanced oil and water content and feels smooth and velvety, not dry or oily.  It only occasionally breaks out in spots.  As said, it is balanced and already neutralized, but it is still important, however, to deliver proper nutrients and moisture to ensure that keeps its dewiness.

Keeping it clean

Cleansing
If you want your skin to feel and look great, you should cleanse it regularly and properly.
First thing you do in the morning is washing your face; the same, the last thing you do in the evening is washing your face and removing makeup. Of course, too often cleaning is not recommendable as it may dry out your skin and strip away essential oils. If cleaning your face twice daily with a mild moisturizing face wash you will not cause any dryness or irritation.
You should use cleansing products that are chemical-free. You shouldn’t use deodorant soaps on your face, because they cleanse with harsh ingredients and may irritate your skin and clog your pores. Soaps also tend to be very drying on your skin because they do not match the natural balance of skin: soap is namely alkaline, while skin is naturally acidic.
When you wash your skin, some of the dead cells are rubbed off and that allows new cells to rise to the surface to take their place. Excess oil and dirt are also washed off.

Toning and exfoliating
Toning does three things: it removes anything that your cleanser didn't already take care of, it restores the pH level of your skin and it prepares your skin to receive the moisturizer.
If you use toners, use alcohol-free toners, that remove last traces of cleanser, while also helping to tighten and refine pores and prevent the build-up of dead skin cells. If you spend lots of time outside, your face is more exposed to pollutants and sun damage. In this case toning helps keep the skin clear and firm. Also, when skin ages, it tends to loose elasticity: astringents and toners with glycolic or alpha hydroxy acids work the best for toning the face. On man’s skin astringents and toners with glycolic or alpha hydroxy acids help avoiding ingrown hair when shaving. Of course, if you spend plenty time outside, make sure to look for products that are not sensitive to light (photosensitive).
A good scrub is essential for healthy skin. Main scrub feature is to remove dead cells and smooth the surface of your face. Scrub should be strong, but not damaging: for that reason, avoid scrubs that contain rough elements, since they may damage skin.

Moisturizing
After face cleaning and toning follows skin moisturizing! Moisturizing differs according to skin type. People with dry skin must use creams that moisturize their skin. It is also the case that people with dry skin have to re-apply creams several times daily. On the other hand, oily skinned people, especially in their teen years, often do not have to apply moisturizers, but people with oily skin should choose a moisturizer that hydrates their skin whilst helping absorb any excess oil.
Daily creams differ from night creams: daily creams must contain SPF and must be absorbed easily, while night creams should be richer and more nourishing, as night is the time when skin relaxes and is more readily absorbs moisture.
Nevertheless, moisturizing is a necessity: apply moisturizer to help restore the moisture loss caused by the drying effects of sunlight, central heating, wind, cold and pollution.
Everyone, no matter what skin type, should use products with the least amount of chemical additives. It is always best to use a light moisturizer on your face and your neck.
When choosing the right moisturizing, you have to apply it in a right way. Moisturizer has to be applied from the centre (nose area) to the outer corners of the face. The same is with eye area: from inner eye corners to the outer corners. When applying moisturizer to the neck area, you should apply from lower to the upper part of the neck.
   
Sun protection

Some might not think so, but sun is the skin biggest enemy: on the long run sun causes wrinkling, brown spots, broken blood vessels, sallowness, roughness, and cancer.
Basic rules to follow when talking sun protection:
Stay out of the sun between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.: sun damage leads to hyper-pigmentation (brown spots) which can develop into serious skin disease. Excessive exposure can also exaggerate and thicken fine lines.
Apply sunscreen on daily basis: use a SPF 15 or higher on all exposed skin, especially on your face.
Relax in the shade and stay in shape: exercise promotes capillary functioning which can decrease premature aging; exercising also increases oxygen to the tissues which keeps skin looking young.
Eat right: keep vitamins such as C and E in your diet regimen, and drink at least 1, 5 liters water daily.  
Proper sunscreen must contain both UVA and UVB radiation protection. UVA and UVB radiation have different wavelengths and are thought to have different effects on the skin.: UVA causes the skin to tan and age prematurely; UVB causes sunburn.     
Sunscreens contain SPF (sun protection factor) that numerically rates the sunscreen's ability to protect from sunburn. If you use SPF 15, you have to multiply SPF 15 with the time spent on the sun, and you get the timing spend on the sun before you get burned. For example, if you spent 10 minutes on the sun, and if you apply SPF 15, you can (after applying SPF) spend 150 minutes on the sun before you get burned.  
This number, however, says nothing about preventing aging of the skin.
For best protection, use a broad-spectrum sunscreen containing active ingredients such as microfine zinc oxide that protects against both UVA and UVB radiation.
Truly, protect your skin from sun exposure, because even occasional unprotected sun exposure can cause most serious form of skin cancer- melanoma. Melanoma can occur anywhere on the body and appears as an asymmetrically shaped and irregularly colored spot with uneven borders that is larger than a pencil eraser. Suspicious moles should be examined by a dermatologist immediately. If diagnosed early before it penetrates deeply within the skin, melanoma is completely curable.

Conclusion

Preserving youthful skin is easier than trying to repair skin that has been abused for decades. For this reason let’s briefly repeat the basic guidelines for healthy and glowing skin:
Sun protection will help to prevent the skin aging and skin diseases.
Avoid smoking! Avoid gray skin, early wrinkles around mouth and eyes, circles under eyes, bad breath and smelling like an ashtray, not to mention lowering the risk of getting cancer.
Eat and exercise: combination of balanced nutrition and exercise can greatly improve the skin appearance. Drink plenty water, and avoid soft drinks, alcohol and coffee.
Sleeping wrinkles? Certain sleeping positions can cause sleeping wrinkles in the morning, additionally, sleeping in the same position can permanently crease your skin. Thus, change your sleeping position!
Don’t frown- smile! Your face tends to conform to the position or expression that you carry most of the time. So, if you often frown your skin is more likely to develop lines or wrinkles- much better solution would be putting on smiling and relaxed expression.