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Skin Care – Advice for Caring for Your Skin

By Luz Azul

What is skin? What types of skin are there? What changes can damage your skin? How do you care for your skin?

Skin care is of upmost importance because your skin protects your body, so you must first understand its importance. Then, you must take care of it in the best possible way to avoid suffering some type of severe or irreversible damage. In this article we offer some advice.

Foto por Tucia

What is skin and what does it do?

Skin care is a straightforward task. Skin is a large organism, forming a barrier that impedes the passing of toxic substances into the body, controls the loss of liquids, regulates body temperature through perspiration, and protects the body from harmful ultraviolet rays.

Skin also protects the human body from external traumas and microorganisms that can produce a variety of illnesses.

Types of Skin

What types of skin are there?

There are various types of skin and depending on which you have, there are products or treatments that you should use.

• Oily skin
• Dry skin
• Combination skin
• Sensitive skin
• Normal skin
• Skin with acne

Oily Skin

Oily skin is resilient and shiny, sometimes with blackheads and enlarged pores. Occasionally there is flaking of the skin around the nose. Oily skin can appear younger because it is resilient.
The shine comes from the accumulation of secretions from the skin. This can clog pores and therefore create pimples and blackheads in any place on the body.

Caring for Oily Skin

• For this type of skin, cleansing is very important because this skin type tends to retain more impurities.
• Facial or body products, including body lotion, designed for oily or sensitive skin should be used.
• Strong creams and cleaners stimulate the sebaceous glands, making the skin even oilier, and should be avoided. Soaps and other products containing large amounts of alcohol should be avoided as they can cause skin irritation and dryness.
• Skin should be exfoliated using: granular products, liquid exfoliates containing enzymes, peelers using fruit-based acids, salicylic acid, among others.
• Clothing should be worn that helps absorb sweat and maintain good personal hygiene.

Dry Skin

This type of skin produces little natural oil. Climate factors such as sun, wind and pollution worsen this situation and can produce cracking. Dry skin has small pores, is smooth and rarely forms excess oil, pimples, or blackheads.

Caring for Dry Skin

• Use moisturizers
• Use cleansing cream
• Use oil-based cleaning lotions
• Avoid using very hot water
• Drink plenty of water
• Aloe and essential oil of neroli help keep skin soft
• Exfoliate dry skin with care to gently remove the impurities caused by the dryness
• Wash the skin everyday with warm water
• Use skin gels as recommended

Combination or Mixed Skin

Combination skin has a greater amount of sebaceous glands located in areas such as the nose and chin, areas in the face that have more fat. But this concentration can also be found, for example, in the upper back, or front or back of the legs.

Caring for Combination Skin

• Apply creams made for combination skin
• Lotions made for combination skin can help to soften skin

Sensitive Skin

It is not easy to characterize this type of skin. It can result from broken capillaries, visible blood vessels and dry areas that are easily irritated. It also can be slightly dry and the result of allergic reactions. This type of skin can carry an important genetic load that requires much effort and is easy to damage.

Caring for Sensitive Skin

• Avoid saunas
• Do not disrupt pimples
• Avoid exposure to the sun and use sunscreen
• Hydrate the skin and use products that do not cause irritation
• Be careful about what you eat, and drink plenty of fluids
• Avoid frequent exfoliation and only use exfoliates with acid or enzymes. Avoid using exfoliates with granules
• Use tepid or warm water. Do not use hot or cold water

Normal Skin

Normal skin is characterized by its balance between oiliness and dryness. Normal skin rarely has pimples, bumps or blackheads. This type of skin is firm and possesses small or medium-sized pores. It is fine, flexible and smooth. Normal skin requires much less time to care for.

Caring for normal skin

• Use regular soap (pH balanced)
• Use warm water
• Use creams for normal skin
• Eat healthy
• Use standard moisturizers

Skin with Acne

This skin type is oily. Acne is often a problem and, if not adequately cared for, will result in acne scars. Pores in this skin type become clogged from the oil. This skin condition grows worse in situations of stress, constipation, menstruation, and upon consuming foods high in fat content.

Hormonal changes can also produce acne, and it is possible that it can appear not only on the face but on other parts of the body as well.

Caring for Skin with Acne

• Wash daily with clay soap and thyme water.
• Apply essential oils of tea tree and lemon to the acne to help to disinfect it and prevent further breakout.
• At night, cleanse the acne area with an anti-acne oil that is helpful but that does not make the skin oily.
• Oils recommended for skin with acne:
• Mandarin: acidic, exfoliating and moisturizing.
• Tea Tree: fungal, antiseptic, regenerative.
• St. John's Wort: bactericidal, decongestant.
• Camphor: stimulates circulation, astringent.
• Calendula: oestrogenic and soothing.
• Juniper: purifying, healing and astringent.
• Patchouli: anti-inflammatory, antiseptic.
• Lavender: sebaceous regulator, soothing.
• Shower with these types of moisturizing oils, which soften skin and help control oil and acne.

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Learn the Four Basic Principals of Massage Therapy
Learn about the Five Best Massages in the World

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