Skin care at home: 4 ways to get glowing, healthy skin

The stress and exhaustion of daily life is most reflected on one’s face and can take a toll on your natural beauty. It manifests itself in the form of wrinkles, dullness, dryness and breakouts on skin, creating a barrier for radiant skin. While it can be tough, it is imperative that you take out some time and treat yourself to the practice of self-care and wellness. Now, more than ever in the stressful times that we are all in, across the world. Pamper your skin with products that will deliver focused results and help you battle all your worries.

Targeted action: The first step to glowing skin is through understanding your skin type - best done through a consultation with a professional skin expert. Your skin might have different needs basis its type. It can most often be bucketed under dry, sensitive, acne-prone, uneven pigmentation, oily, normal or a combination of two or more concerns. These can be due to various factors with genetics and your hormones and their chemical balance being the deciding factor. In addition, your lifestyle habits – sleep cycle, quality and duration of sleep, food and alcoholic beverage consumption patterns, stress levels, hydration levels can deeply affect skin.

Following a routine: Develop a skin care routine using targeted products for your skin concern. Your routine should be in the order of cleansing, moisturising, repairing and protecting skin using minimal products that deliver the most effective results. Use a cleanser to remove excess oil, sweat and the accumulation of dead skin cells. Follow it up with a moisturizer to provide hydration and to help rebuild the skin’s moisture barrier to compensate for any loss of moisture. An under-eye repairing serum helps treat under eye dark circles and puffiness. Finish with a sunblock, to protect skin from sun exposure.

Sun protection: Even though we are indoors a sunblock is an absolute essential. The ultraviolet radiation emitted from the sun can be divided into 3 kinds of rays – UVA, UVB and UVC. Out of these, UVC rays are the shortest rays and don’t reach the earth due to ozone absorption. UVB rays can get blocked by the windows in your house (due to their design). However, the UVA rays account for 95% of the UV radiation that reaches the earth and can cause pre-mature ageing and other concerns. They can also penetrate the glass in your home through the windows, creating the need for you to use a sunblock. Especially if you are sitting near a space where there is an ample amount of sun light coming in. A broad spectrum sunblock in the range of SPF 30 to SPF 50, basis your skin type is best suited for Indian skin. Apply daily.

Holistic beauty: While one applies beauty products externally, it is as important to take a holistic approach to skin care. Following a clean and healthy diet without processed food and refined sugars is something you cannot avoid. Ensure you get a minimum of 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night, to rejuvenate your mind and body. Hydrate, hydrate hydrate with water as much as you can daily to flush out toxins (change it up with some flavoured water occasionally). Always protect your skin with a sunblock, that will coat your skin and physically block the harmful rays of the sun.

Gunjan Jain is National Education Manager – Cheryl’s Cosmeceuticals

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