Jamie Ortiz of Tru Skin Rituals and son as Dennis The Menace for Halloween 2018
Happy Halloween! Halloween just happens to be one of my family’s favorite holidays. We go all out and love to dress up with our young son. And I love it too! I mean who wouldn’t enjoy transforming into your favorite alter ego this time of year. But with the changes in the weather, the onset of drying winds, and the possibility of having to be in a face full of cake-y makeup for a Halloween costume, we all need to be concerned about our skin.
In order to ensure that you keep up (or craft up) a great routine for healthy skin, here are a few habits of people with healthy skin that you should follow:
1. Clocking the Zzzs:
If you’ve ever woken up with dark circles under your eyes, you already know the need for plenty of
beauty sleep is real. Unless you have a team of makeup artists waiting in your bathroom every
morning, it’s hard to look gorgeous and youthful when you’re skimping on sleep. But so many of us
overlook this very important rule and expect to look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed even when we’ve
pulled an all-nighter or two. Lack of sleep contributes to a condition called “periorbital
hyperpigmentation, which essentially refers to the dark and sunken circles under our eyes. They may
be great as part of your scary Halloween costume, but for an everyday look…not so much. So aim for
at least eight full hours of sleep per night.
2. Chill Out:
Did you know that stress and anxiety can really cause your skin to flare up with outbreaks? It’s all thanks to extra cortisol your body releases during times of stress. Chronic tension and physical stress cause surges of this hormone that can break down collagen and elastin, ultimately leading to wrinkles, so try to relax a little more, find your zen place and don’t sweat the small stuff!
3. SPF All Day, Every Day:
We all love basking in the sunlight, but UV rays from the sun are the cause of at least 80 percent of the signs of visible aging. Because of this, choosing the right SPF and moisturizer is super important. At Tru Skin Rituals we carry Osmosis Protect, an SPF that works really well for our clients. Whichever sunscreen you choose to use, you’ll want to make sure to protect your skin daily using “broad-spectrum” sunscreens that block both UVB and UVA light. Try to stay out of direct sunlight when the UV rays are the strongest, usually between 10 am and 4 pm.
4. Pack A Punch:
When we think of the benefits of exercise, we don’t always think of clear and glowing skin being one of them…but it is! In addition to the benefits that working out regularly will have on your body, having a regular workout routine can actually reverse the signs of aging! The trick is to aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise per day.
5. Girl, Wash Your Face:
Daily facial washing removes dirt, oil, and other unwanted debris that can clog our pores and live on our skin, with more and more accumulating daily if you don’t wash your face. Eww! To combat this and preserve the elasticity and a fresh clean glow, wash your face daily and don’t forget to moisturize!
6. Stay Away From Smoke:
They say that “where there is smoke, there is fire”, but smoking is not the kind of fire you want to make you look hot. Smoking cigarettes and other substances will make you age real fast. There are over 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke alone, and these chemicals damage the skin’s collagen and elastin, which are fibers that give your skin its strength and elasticity. As a result, skin begins to sag and wrinkle prematurely because of smoking. But that’s not even the scariest part! Smoking also increases your chances of developing squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) by as much as 52 percent higher than if you didn’t smoke. SCC is the second most common form of skin cancer and often appears on the lips of smokers, so keep yourself hot the healthy way, just don’t smoke.
7. You Are What You Eat:
Eat clean and reap the rewards, right? Absolutely! Have you ever come across an old friend who decided to change up their diet and is now eating super clean? The #glowup is amazing! That’s because eating clean and wholesome foods can really amp up benefits for your face and skin. From wrinkle-fighting antioxidants in fruits and vegetables to hydrating healthy fats in fish, eating clean matters just as much to your skin as it does to your waistline. And let’s not forget the water. It’s true that the more hydrated you stay, the fewer wrinkles and fine lines you’ll see. Drinking enough water can also help you combat a variety of skin issues including psoriasis and eczema, reduce puffiness and clear acne.
Now that you know what to do to improve your skin, here’s a short list of things NOT to do in order to maintain that good skin:
1. Don’t try to just cover up bumpy skin:
“If I put enough makeup on, it will hide my acne” Right?…Umm, no. Makeup is not like applying a mask. In many cases, makeup can cause the skin to not function properly as it’s blocking oxygen to the skin. If you feel your face and you feel that it has bumps – it is not perfectly smooth, then you need to work on getting the blackheads and toxins out of the skin through facials, treatments, and a good skincare routine.
2. Don’t over-cleanse, over-moisturize, or over dry-out your skin:
Many times when we notice that we are experiencing a breakout, we start to experience a freakout and go nuts with trying to use every drying cleanser, scrub, acid, or pimple lotion that is on the market. But when skin is stripped of all the oil, it suddenly signals the brain to send down more oil.
3. Stop touching, popping, or scratching your face:
Easier said than done, I know. But when you consider that your hands can transport millions of bacteria to your face from doorknobs, handles, towels, toilet seats and several other unclean places, you’ll definitely want to stop. When acne does pop up, you should also restrict the urge to pop it as it can spread the acne-causing bacteria to other locations. As an important side note, never touch acne located between the inner ends of the eyebrow to the two outer tips of the lips. Also called the “triangle of death”, this triangular area surrounding the nose is highly susceptible to serious and potentially life-threatening infections.
Now that you have a bit more to think about when it comes to getting clear and healthy skin, start putting some of these habits to use and I promise there will be nothing frightening about your skincare routine!
Jamie Ortiz of Tru Skin Rituals is a licensed esthetician, healthy skin advocate, age management strategist, and authority on corrective skincare.
