Exercise more, eat healthier and stress less are common resolutions for the New Year. This year the dermatologists at Sanova suggest you consider a resolution to take your skincare regimen more seriously. You’ve heard it all before but skipping crucial steps like taking your makeup off before bed or moisturizing can take a toll on your skin. Consider these New Years resolutions for healthier more beautiful skin in 2019!
Skincare Resolutions for 2019
- Cleanse with micellar water. Micelles are tiny droplets of cleansing oil suspended in water. These oil droplets pack a powerful punch to remove dirt, pollution, and makeup without leaving skin dry. We suggest you let the micellar water do the heavy lifting and follow it with a gentle moisturizing cleanser to leave pores squeaky clean.
- Stop over exfoliating. If you are using a granular scrub or chemical exfoliator with salicylic acid on a regular basis you are probably exfoliating too much. Over-exfoliating strips your skin of surface oils, exacerbate skin sensitivity, and causes irritation. We suggest you limit exfoliation to once or twice a week.
- Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize! Even if you have oily skin, you still need to moisturize. Facial moisturizer should be applied immediately after cleansing to replenish the natural oils that are stripped during the cleansing process. Apply your moisturizer to slightly damp skin both morning and evening.
- Wear sunscreen even on cloudy days. What most people don’t realize is that even on a cloudy day ultraviolet rays reach the earth’s surface at dangerous levels. UV is public enemy number one for our skin causing premature aging, discoloration, and skin cancer. Choose a sunscreen with broad-spectrum coverage for UVA and UVB rays and look for new ingredients like DNA repair enzymes. These enzymes help prevent skin damage on a cellular level.
- Stick to your skincare routine. Everyone needs a daily skincare routine that’s easy to follow, nourishes and replenishes the skin. Your routine should include specially selected antiaging products, eye cream, neck and décolletage cream. Check with your dermatologist who can help you chose the right anti-aging products for your skin type.
- Add a serum to your regimen. Serums are lightweight formulations that contain concentrates of powerful ingredients. Choose an antioxidant serum for an added layer of protection in the morning or a hyaluronic acid serum for plumping at night. Serums should be the first layer applied to your skin followed by the rest of your skincare regimen.
- Tend to your hands. You know what they say, don’t let your hands give you away. Make sure to apply your moisturizer, sunscreen and anti-aging product to the back of your hands at the same time you are applying them to your face. Looking to give the hands a more youthful appearance? Try vitamin C, retinol or a peptide cream to boost collagen and minimize brown spots.
- Toss out expired beauty products. Most skincare products are labeled with an expiration date but sometimes it gets lost when you discard the outer packaging. As a rule of thumb, if you can’t remember how long you’ve had a product it’s probably time to toss it. Any change in color, consistency or foul odor should be a red flag that the product has expired.
- Eat less sugar. Ever hear of sugar sag? Well as it turns out, eating too much sugar is a major culprit when it comes to saggy skin. When sugar enters your bloodstream it attaches to proteins like collagen and elastin through a chemical process called glycation. Glycated collagen and elastin molecules are stiff and rigid causing the skin to wrinkle and sag. Sugar also causes acne flare-ups, another good reason to skip the white stuff in the New Year!
- Get your beauty sleep. While you are sleeping, skin naturally increases blood flow. Skin repairs itself from the damage done by daytime environmental exposure while you are sleeping. Adding a couple of extra hours of sleep a week will leave your skin glowing, reduce dark circles and give you a more rested look.