January 08, 2016

5 Simple Skincare Tips You Can Easily Keep in 2016 As Part Of Your New Year’s Resolutions

We want to share with you five easy resolutions to keep your skin healthier in 2016. We believe in the natural beauty of your skin and we encourage you to appreciate your skin for what it is and take care of it in a natural way.

1. Wear sunscreen (SPF) every day

No matter if you work indoor or outdoors, if it is summer or winter, you should create a habit of wearing sunscreen, not only on your face, but also exposed areas such as the back of your neck, shoulders and hands. Indoor lamps can also cause skin damage, and you never know how sunny it will be when you go out for lunch.

Researchers have found that ultraviolet radiation seeping through CFLs may damage skin cells.

2. Take better care of your hands, feet, neck and ears

Many of us have established daily rituals to take care of our face. We encourage you to move one step further and expand that habit to regions that are also exposed to the elements, such as your neck, ears, hands and feet.

Despite being so close to your face, your neck and your ears are areas that are often left unprotected because we are so focused on our complexion. But as irrelevant as it may sound, protecting your ears with sunscreen is crucial as this is an area that has a higher risk to have skin cancer. The back of your neck is also an area prone to sunburn. Use the same product you use for your face for the front of the neck can to prevent wrinkles.

Hands and feet are our natural tools for interacting with the urban environment, and are therefore more prone to get worn out by the elements. In extreme weather, they can get dry and cracked. Use high quality creams throughout the day to moisturize these areas.

Apply sunscreen on you ears and back of your neck. Every day.

3. Cut down the time you spend taking a hot shower

112 F x 5 min seems to be the magic formula. A 5-minute shower at 112 degrees will get you shiny and clean for any occasion. You can also put a day or two in between showers.

There’s no set number of times we should all shower every week but those of us who are desk-bound can probably cut back. “A sedentary person can get away with a shower once, twice or three times a week, especially in winter. It varies on your skin type and what you are doing.”

Anything hotter than this will literally melt away the fatty lipid layer that our epidermis has to protect us from germs and to keep our skin moisturized. Furthermore, anything longer than this will only be a waste of water. Also, setting up your water heater to 120 degrees is also recommend to prevent burns and injuries.

You can always set up your phone timer to measure your shower time, but Harvard University has some old-school and fun ideas to measure your shower length like singing the ABCs 10.5 times and counting backwards from 300.

4. Don't pick your skin, hair or nails

We all have tics, like twisting your hair with your fingers, biting your nails, rubbing your eyes, picking pimples, wiping your nose with your hands, etc.

Try to make yourself more conscious about your tics, remember that before touching your face, you held the subway rails, grabbed some coins, touched your smartphone, grabbed some food and encountered other germs. Stop touching your face and this will help prevent illness.

5. Use less makeup

All recommendations about makeup are very important such as not exercising with makeup on, removing it every night, and wearing sunscreen under your makeup. All those are valid, but we encourage you to go one step further and wear less makeup. Maybe you can start by changing your heavy foundation for a lighter BB cream, or try to reduce your usage of eye liners.