Beauty Helpline

 

                              SKIN DEEP BEAUTY

To keep your skin flawless, soft and beautiful, extra and intentional care cannot be overemphasized. Your skin can only be free of blemishes such as pimples, acne, blackheads, whiteheads; burns and scars, if only you give adequate attention to it. In today’s world, with everything moving so fast; juggling between jobs, multi-tasking at work, the responsibility of paying the ever piling stack of bills and keeping abreast with your kids’ demands can increase your stress levels, which can adversely take a toll on your skin. So what can you do to protect your skin from all these hassles?

First of all, you must eat well and right. Taking a balanced diet daily helps to keep your skin glowing. There’s a saying that you are what you eat. If you go dumping “junk foods” into your system, all the time, before long your skin will reap the adverse effects of not eating the right kinds of foods. If you don’t have the time to cook proper meals, or most of the times you are just plain tired to prepare meals, and you virtually live on sandwiches, pastries and the like, you can still make sure these quick easy to prepare light meals are healthy and laden with the nutrients you need. Creatively combining ingredients from all the six categories of foods which will give your fair share of the usual amount of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals, fats & oils, and water daily can go a long way to keep you on track. Try including lots of milk, fruits, vegetables and nuts in your diet. Bananas, avocados, coconuts and especially peanuts are good for your skin. And if you’re already in your forties and beyond, you need to take foods that have natural oils in them to give your skin the natural oil it needs and not dry out. Even if your skin had been the oily type when you were much younger, as you grow old, well into your forties and fifties, you find out you don’t have the acne problem that plagued your skin initially. Your skin feels and looks dry when you haven’t been eating properly.  This goes for women with dry and normal skins too. You need to indulge in the right kind of eating to boost your skin’s immunity.

Secondly, as a single mum, you need to get your required hours of sleep at night.  This varies from six to eight hours depending on the individual. If you don’t have enough sleep it reflects on your skin. There are times one needs to work at night, either reading, catching up with some office work or carrying house chores to be able to meet the demands of the next day. Still, it’s advisable, not to keep awake for more than two nights in a row.  This will definitely have terrible effects not only on your skin but your overall performance as an employee, business woman and as a mother. Drink a tall glass of water before going to bed, and make sure your bedroom is well ventilated to ensure a good sound sleep.

Finally, using the right skin products is yet another food for thought. You should know your skin type and treat it with utmost care. The skin is a very delicate part of the body, and can be easily hurt or injured if you use the wrong products. There are various skin products which have been formulated for women of colour, white skinned and Asian women.  Always use products that suit your skin colour and type, only then will you get the maximum results that you need. Cleanse your skin at least once a day with a good cleansing lotion and soft cotton pads. A good toner should follow the cleansing process and moisturizing with the right moisturizer for your skin type should come last.  There are numerous face and body soaps, gels and washes available to choose from. Finding the right can take some time; but when you do find it, stick with it. Avoid harsh bleaching and toning creams but use mild body lotions which have natural ingredients like aloe Vera, olive oil or olive extract, avocados, coconut oil, milk nutrients, rose water and so on.  Furthermore, having a skin care plan will also help to keep your skin from blemishes and aging prematurely. And this doesn’t have to be so expensive!