4 essential steps of effective facial skincare routine:

1. Cleansing:

Cleansing is the first essential step in the facial skincare routine. Proper cleansing helps in removing dust, pollutants, grease, and extra oil from your skin. This helps in preventing clogged pores and skin damage. So, to begin cleansing, spot your face and neck with a good cleansing lotion or cream. Then gently massage it into your skin using upward strokes. Finally, use cotton wool or a soft face tissue to wipe your face in a gentle patting fashion. Do not rub your face vigorously.

Try to clean your face in this way at least twice a day. That is, clean your face every morning and evening. Water-soluble cleansers are considered best for facial skin cleansing.

2. Toning:

Once your face is thoroughly clean, the next step in your facial skincare routine is Toning. It helps in removing all traces of dirt, grease, and excess cleanser. However, you don’t need to do it every day. Proper cleansing can compensate for Toning. So, you don’t need to make Toning part of your daily facial skincare routine. You can do it occasionally. Use it when you have been exposed to particularly harsh environment or pollution.

3. Exfoliation:

Exfoliation is also an essential step for healthy facial skin. However, you don’t need to do it every day. Make it a weekly activity in your facial skincare routine. Or you can do it twice in a week, depending on your skin type and the environmental conditions.

Exfoliation is an important part of the facial skincare routine. Your skin has the natural ability of your skin to replenish the skin cells every 3 or 4 weeks. Exfoliation helps in removing the dead skin cells that may block the pores. Thus, it assists the skin in the natural process. However, always remember that excessive or harsh exfoliation may damage your skin. So you need to be careful. Exfoliate with gentle strokes, and always use good quality products.

4. Moisturizing:

Moisturizing is perhaps the most important part of the facial skincare routine. Moisturizers prevent your skin from becoming dry. When your skin gets dry, its upper layer breaks, leading to dead skin cells. So you must include moisturizing in your daily skincare routine. Use a good quality moisturizer at least once daily. Apply it using light upward strokes to make the moisturizer more effective. Moisturizers work the best when they are applied on warm and damp skin. So, apply them after a bath or after the above mentioned facial skincare steps. You can also moisturize your face whenever you feel dryness later in the day.

Other things to remember:

Besides the essential facial skincare routine mentioned above, also take care of the following to have healthy skin and glowing complexion:

• Always use good quality make-up remover instead of just washing the make-up away
• Understand your skin type and the environment and choose facial skincare products accordingly.
• Before you use any new facial skincare product, test it by applying it on a short patch of skin. For example, you can apply it on ear lobes.
• Never rub your skin too roughly.
• Whenever stepping out of home, always use a good quality sunscreen lotion for protection against the sun.

Conclusion:

With a proper facial skincare routine, you can maintain your youthful looks and glowing complexion for longer. Combine the above steps with a healthy diet and an active lifestyle and enjoy the beauty of healthy skin.

The post The best way to take care of your facial skin appeared first on WellnessHub Nourishing Your Mind, Body, and Soul.

According to a Seattle-based nutritionist, Susan M. Kleiner, R.D., Ph.D., eating foods rich in antioxidants is beneficial for your health. “There’s no substitute for getting nutrients through food. The body absorbs and assimilates them far better than in supplement form.”

Food Guide Pyramid:

Kleiner suggests you should follow the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Guide Pyramid. You should eat three to five servings of vegetables and two to four servings of fruit every day. Kleiner further suggests you should choose at least one citrus fruit, such as an orange, a grapefruit, or a tangerine for vitamin C. And eat at least two orange-yellow or leafy green vegetables every day to increase beta-carotene intake.

Eat Right for Younger Looking Skin:

When you eat a nutritious diet, it helps in making your skin healthy and younger-looking. If you drink a cup of orange juice and eat one raw carrot, you can get twice the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of vitamin C and beta-carotene. However, if you are on a low-fat diet, meeting the RDA for vitamin E may get harder to meet. As per Dr. Kleiner, you can add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to your diet, or eat some nuts or seeds.

Recommended Dietary Allowance:

Here are the RDAs for three of the most common antioxidant nutrients: Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and beta-carotene.

Vitamin C:

RDA at least 60 mg. As an estimate, 1/2 cup orange juice contains 70 mg.  Take plenty of citrus fruits, juices, and tomatoes as they are good sources of vitamin C. Eating whole fruit is better than drinking juice as fruits are full of fiber. Avoid heat-pasteurized juice or taking juice in glass containers. Light and heat may destroy some of the vitamin C.

Vitamin E:

RDA for Vitamin E is 8 mg for women / 10 mg. for men. As an estimate, 1 tablespoon of canola oil contains 9 mg of Vitamin E. Good sources of this vitamin include nuts, seeds and their oils. Also, wheat germ and fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, halibut, and trout are a good source of Vitamin E. Instead of butter or margarine, use canola, olive, or another vegetable oil when cooking.

Beta-carotene:

There’s no established RDA for Beta-carotene. However, Dr. Kleiner recommends 5-6 mg. One carrot can give you 12 mg of Beta-carotene. Leafy green vegetables including broccoli, yellow and orange vegetables are all good sources. To get plenty of Beta-carotene, avoid snacks like popcorns and potato chips and opt for prepackaged, washed and peeled baby carrots.

Antioxidant vitamin supplements:

If you feel you are not getting sufficient nutrients through diet alone, you can take an all-in-one antioxidant vitamin supplement a day. But continue to have a healthy and balanced diet.

Conclusion:

There are several over-the-counter cosmetics containing antioxidants. But by themselves, they may not be effective enough. So it is best to ‘feed’ antioxidants to your skin with a healthy, antioxidant-rich diet for younger-looking skin.

With proper skin care, regular exercise, a healthy diet, adequate sleep, and plenty of water intake, you can enjoy better health, improved quality of life, increased stamina, with a younger-looking skin and a glowing complexion!

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11 simple tips for healthy skin

1. Know your skin type:

You can’t care for your skin properly unless you know your skin type. This is important because most skincare products are specialized for different skin types. Using a product that’s wrong for your skin type may do more harm than good.

How to know your skin type?

Knowing your skin type is very simple. Remove all makeup and wash your face with a face cleanser. Wait for an hour then pat your T-Zone (forehead and nose) with a tissue paper. If the tissue paper shows marks of oil, your skin is oily or combination. If not, then your skin is dry. Also, if you have dry skin, your face will feel taut after washing it. If you have oily skin, your face will feel cleaner right after washing. If you have combination skin, your T-Zone will feel cleaner, but your cheeks will feel taut. If you don’t feel any of these, you have normal skin.

Once you know your skin type, choose the skincare and cosmetic products that are best suited for your skin type.

2. Stay hydrated:

Drink plenty of water. This is not just a tip for healthy skin. It will also help in maintaining your overall health. If your body feels parched, your skin will show effects too.

3. Keep your skin clean:

This is a basic skin care tip, but an important one. Cleanse your skin at least 1-2 times every day. Wash your face whenever you have been out of your house. This will help in freeing your skin of the pollution and dust of the outside. Always remove your makeup and cleanse your skin before going to bed. Use lukewarm water and a gentle cleanser to wash your face.

4. Don’t be harsh on your skin

Be gentle with your skin. Don’t scrub or exfoliate too vigorously. Also, avoid overuse of makeup and skincare products.

5. Keep your skin moisturized:

If your skin stays dry, its outer layer tends to break and get rough and patchy. So always keep your skin moisturized. Use good quality moisturizers/emollients. Apply a moisturizer after bathing when the skin is still damp, or whenever your skin feels dry and taut.

6. Avoid soap on face:

The skin on your face is very delicate, and soaps might prove too harsh for it. So, avoid using soap on your face. Use good quality face wash and cleansers instead.

7. Never step out without sunscreen:

Sun’s UV radiation can be very harmful to your skin. UV rays may even cause skin cancer. So, you must follow this tip for healthy skin. Always wear sunscreen when you step out of your home. Apply it to all exposed areas of your body. You need to apply sunscreen even if the weather is cloudy.

8. Balanced meals and regular exercise:

If you want glowing and flawless skin, then you need to take care of your overall health. Eat a nutritious diet and exercise regularly to stay fit. When you avoid junk food and eat a healthy diet, the nutrients will make your skin healthy too.

9. Sleep and relax:

Sufficient sleep is also very important for healthy skin. Lack of sleep can lead to dark circles and wrinkles below the eyes. Lack of sleep may also lead to stress, harm your immunity, and cause several health problems. So, take sufficient sleep and maintain a regular sleep/wake routine. This tip for healthy skin will also help you towards better health.

10. Beat the stress:

Stress may also dull your skin and lead to skin problems. Taking sufficient sleep will help you reduce your stress. If you still feel stressed, try meditation, spend time with friends, enjoy a leisurely walk, take a warm bubble bath. In short, do the things you enjoy and try to relax.

11. Don’t ignore skin problems:

If your skin problems persist or increase, don’t ignore them, or try to treat them on your own by experimenting with different skincare products. Consult a dermatologist.

Conclusion:

If you follow these simple tips for healthy skin, you will surely see a difference soon. Just understand your skin type, use trustworthy skincare products and cosmetics, keep your skin clean and hydrated, and take care of your overall health and wellbeing. You will soon have the glowing and flawless skin you dream of.

The post Looking for simple tips for healthy skin? Check these out. appeared first on WellnessHub Nourishing Your Mind, Body, and Soul.

Here are some tips that can help you feel fit and beautiful

Eat well:

Eating well doesn’t mean eating a lot. It means eating a healthy diet that helps you stay fit. So eat food that is full of nutrition. Avoid processed food and saturated & trans fats. These can cause you many health problems like obesity, heart disease, hypertension. And they may also rob the luster of your skin and hair. Replace bad fats with good fats. These are Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats found in food items like olives, peanuts, walnuts, soybean, fatty fish, and sunflower, sesame, pumpkin seeds, etc.

Include more veggies, fruits, and whole grains in your diet. They will keep your body fit and beautiful. They may also help in brightening your eyes, keeping your teeth strong, giving you healthy skin and hair, and ensuring a leaner waist and toned muscles.

Exercise:

If you don’t stay active, eventually your body will show bad effects. A sedentary lifestyle is linked to many diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease. And, of course, it increases the risk of obesity.

So, include a regular dose of exercise in your daily life. Choose an exercise that you’d enjoy doing. And include cardiovascular and weight training exercises in your routine. You can sweat out in a gym, working out at certain parts of your body such as abdominal muscles or biceps. Or you can walk, jog, or run for better health and leaner body. Even playing games like football with friends helps.

Regular exercise doesn’t just improve your health and looks, it also improves your mood. When you exercise, it promotes the growth of certain chemicals in your brain that can make you feel happier. These include the feel-good chemicals called endorphins. That is why exercising can even help you fight depression and anxiety.

But consult your doctor before starting any exercise regime.

Protection from pollution:

Pollution is increasing all over the world. It can affect your skin very badly. So choose beauty products that contain antioxidants and can protect your skin from pollution. Also, wear a good sunscreen so the sun doesn’t spoil your skin either.

Give up bad habits:

Smoking and excessive drinking also spoil your health and beauty. If you want to stay fit and beautiful, give up these vices. If you don’t smoke, you should also try to stay away from people who do. Secondary smoke inhalation can also harm you.

Don’t miss that beauty sleep!

Taking sufficient sleep is essential for maintaining a healthy body. Sleep promotes the production of proteins called cytokines. These help fight against infections, inflammation, and stress. Lack of sleep makes you vulnerable to several health problems, irritates your mood, and may also give you dark circles. Sleep may disturb your neuroendocrine function and glucose metabolism. Too little sleep harms the hormonal balance in your body and increases your risk of obesity.

A nutritious diet and regular exercise can help you feel fit and beautiful. But don’t forget, true beauty is not skin deep only. You will feel truly beautiful when you feel good and happy about yourself. A person who feels unhappy will remain uncaring or insecure about his or her looks. So, maintaining a healthy mood is as important as maintaining a healthy body.

Having a healthy diet and exercising will help in improving your mood. Here are a few more tips that can improve your emotional health:

Read:

Reading is not just a boredom-killer. It keeps your mind sharp and gives you a better understanding of the world. Reading fiction also makes you more forgiving of yourself and others. It is one of the best ways to pass idle hours, stay entertained, and feel good.

Enjoy music:

Good music is excellent to lift your mood. So listen to beautiful and peppy melodies, and try to sing along or dance to your favorite tunes. Dancing can be a great exercise, and it will make you happy too.

Social interactions:

Spending time with friends and family can be great for boosting your mood. It makes you feel happy, improves your self-esteem and self-confidence, strengthens your immunity, and may even reduce the risk of some cancers, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. And, of course, when you are with friends, you can have a merry time sharing health and beauty tips too! Exercising with friends can also keep you motivated to stay active and fit.

Indulge yourself:

Life often gets too hectic and stressful. That takes a toll on your body. So it is essential to take time out to relax and enjoy yourself. It will reduce your stress and make you feel rejuvenated. Research has shown indulging yourself in activities you enjoy keeps you from looking haggardly. So soak yourself in a bathtub, go on a stroll with friends, give yourself a beauty treatment, or go shopping — anything that makes you happy will help you relax.

Smile and stay positive:

Just like exercise, smiling can make you feel happier too. So smile and keep a positive outlook. Even if things are not going well for you, stay strong. Time will change and better days will come. Don’t let worry spoil your health and beauty.

Conclusion:

If you want to feel beautiful, you need to become fit first. You need to take care of your body and save it from chemicals, bad diet, and bad habits. To have a fit and beautiful body, emotional health is as important as physical health. So adopt healthy habits and maintain a positive outlook. When you are healthy and happy, you’ll feel beautiful.

The post How to feel fit and beautiful? Just try these tips. appeared first on WellnessHub Nourishing Your Mind, Body, and Soul.