Healthy Skin Tips – Skin 101

Since November is National Healthy Skin Month, let’s talk healthy skin tips.

Healthy Skin Tips:

• Wash up. Shower in warm—not hot—water; use mild cleansers that don’t irritate; and wash gently—don’t scrub.
• Block sun damage. Avoid intense sun exposure, use sunscreen, and wear protective clothing. We recommend a Broad Spectrum UVA UVB SPF 30 sunscreen. Reapply throughout the day.
• Don’t use tanning beds or sunlamps. They emit the same harmful UV radiation as the sun.
• Hydrate. Drink plenty of water and use gentle moisturizers, lotions, or creams.
• Reduce stress. Stress can harm your skin and other body systems.
• Get enough sleep. Experts recommend about 9 hours a night for teens and 7-8 hours for adults.
• Examine your skin monthly. Pick a day you’ll remember, like the first day of the month. Examine your skin for anything that looks different and take note. Talk to your doctor if you notice any odd changes to your skin, like a rash or mole that changes size or color. We have a great resource online all about Self Skin Exams.

Here are 10 facts about your skin:

1. Your skin is made up of three lay­ers. The epi­der­mis, which is the most out­er lay­er of the skin; the der­mis, which is the mid­dle lay­er; and the sub­cu­ta­neous lay­er, which is the inner most layer. 
2. Your skin is the largest organ of the body. It weighs approx­i­mate­ly 8lbs.
3. The aver­age human being has 21 sq. ft. of skin and about 300 mil­lion skin cells. 
4. Col­la­gen is what deter­mines how smooth your skin is. Exer­cise increas­es blood flow of nutri­ents and water to the skin’s sur­face, mak­ing col­la­gen thicker. Your skin loses collagen as you age.
5. Your skin renews itself every 28 days. As you age, your skin takes longer to renew. That’s why it is rec­om­mend­ed that you exfo­li­ate and sup­ple­ment your skin’s renew­al process with derma­plan­ing and chemical peels.
6. Caf­feine, nico­tine, and alco­hol con­strict blood ves­sels and pre­vent nutri­ents from feed­ing the skin, there­fore speed­ing up the aging process.
7. Going to bed with make­up on can age your skin up to sev­en times faster than nor­mal. Tox­ins and pol­lu­tants remain on the skin if you do not cleanse each night. So don’t for­get to wash your face nightly!
8. The skin on your mouth is 200 times more respon­sive than your fin­ger­prints. It is fac­tu­al that lips are high on the scale of most sen­si­tive body parts.
9. Oily skin is more prone to break­outs, but less prone to wrinkles. 
10. Skin col­or is caused by melanin. Melanin is a substance in your body that produces hair, eye, and skin pigmentation. The more melanin you produce, the darker your eyes, hair and skin will be.