I have always heard that you can tell a woman's age by looking at her neck and her hands. Know what? It's true! Well, not on every woman of course. But it is true that by looking at other people's skin, you can tell what kind of lifestyle they lead. Go ahead, I won't tell. If you are reading this in public take a minute to look around at other people. Discreetly of course. Notice the over-tanning? The age spots? How about that woman who's face looks great but her neck and chest are wrinkly and covered in spots? That's what happens when we don't pay attention to all of our skin.
It's okay, we all do it. We get so involved with our face that we forget about the rest of our skin. But our necks, chests and hands get just as much exposure to the environment as our face does. Make sure that your day cream for your face contains an SPF. We really have no excuse not to wear sunscreen these days since there are tons of daily moisturizers out there that contain at least an SPF 15. But don't be afraid to go a step further. When applying a facial moisturizer don't stop at your jaw bone. Keep going all the way down your neck and onto your chest. Have some left over? Go ahead and rub that into the backs of your hands. Our hands go through so much through out the day that they need all the extra help they can get.
In the summer months our skin gets so hot and dried out. If you have dry skin this makes your face dull, itchy and peel. If you have oily skin hot conditions will actually make your skin produce more oil making you shiney and break out. I have a couple of tips to help keep your skin cool and calm:
Number one: wear less makeup. I know, I know. It's hard to cut down on the stuff we love so much. However, all that makeup clogs pores, causes irritation, and in general makes your skin worse. I don't wear a lot of makeup to begin with, but when I do I wear bare minerals. For those of you that have yet to switch over to mineral makeup, DO IT! For one, it's natural. You don't have to worry about all those odd random chemicals that go into other makeup. You also don't have to worry about all those fragrances and dyes that are in makeup that can actually lead to further irritation of your skin. I'm not going to push a particular brand, but I will tell you that mineral makeup sits on top of your skin, so it's lighter and your skin can actually breath. And mineral makeup doesn't clog pores.
Number two: put it in the fridge. Now I know this sounds odd, but putting your products in the fridge during hot summer months actually has a couple of great effects. For one, it's refreshing! Nothing feels better on a hot tired face like a cool cleanser or toner. This will instantly cool off your face and improve your temperament (at least that's how it works for me lol). A second great reason for doing this is that cold product and cool water will help to shrink your pores. This means they look smaller and produce less oil. I put all my products in the fridge, including cleansers, toners, makeup removers, etc. The only products that this won't work with are oil based ones, since the chill tends to thicken up the product.
I would also recommend that you use cool or tepid water. I'll cover more about this in my next blog post but you should never take a scalding hot shower or bath. This will only dry out your skin further and make matters worse.
The last thing I would like to talk to you about is your lips. Your lips are just as important as the rest of your skin. The skin on your lips is thinner and more sensitive. You really need to take care of your lips and keep them moisturized. If you are going to be out in the sun for hours please try to find a lip balm that has an SPF. Your lips can get just as much sun damage as the rest of your face. Don't have an SPF lip balm? When applying your day moisturizer skim over your lips with just a little bit of the product left on your fingers. Then apply a lip balm over top to seal in moisture. Ta-da! Instant lip protection. Many of the lipsticks and glosses out there dry your lips out and make them look horrible. Make sure you apply a thin layer of lip balm BEFORE you put on your lipstick or gloss. This will keep your lips hydrated and not let the product you are wearing dry them out. This also keeps your lips from feeling super sticky when wearing a heavy shiney gloss.
So go out and be safe in the sun! Remember to think about ALL of your skin and take care of it :) And of course I have to include a shameless plug for my own products. At Swan Creek Soap we carry a full line of Shea Butter Lotions in 16 different scents and Shea Butter Lip Balm in 10 amazing flavors. If you are local come on in and try some! If you're not local we offer all of our beauty products on our website at swancreeksoap.com. Until next time!
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