I’m really looking forward to seeing how my skin is going to improve even more this week by taking the time to start protecting it. I want to start out by exploring the world around us; the everyday elements our skin is exposed to. I especially want to focus on our face, since it’s the most vulnerable as it never gets covered up by clothing. When we go out everyday, we are exposing our skin to a variety of different elements. Though we can’t control most of them, we can protect from the inevitable.

Depending on the season and where you live, there are many different environmental elements to think about. Let’s try to understand a few of them.

Smoke/Pollution-Exhaust from cars and cigarette smoke can have an affect not only on our lungs, but our skin as well. The particulates that make up some of the chemicals are so small that they can settle on the top of our skin and in the long run cause premature aging. Hopefully, you are eating a lot of fruits and vegetables and supplementing with vitamins that break down these free radicals in the body to combat against it.

Winds- High winds obviously are no good for the skin as it can cause chapping, rashing, and dryness. Daily moisturizing is a good way to protect the top layer of skin from these issues, even if you don’t necessarily have dry skin.

Extreme Weather- Very hot heat in the summer and cold in the winter are also damaging to the skin and need to be protected. When you are out in the heat during summer, you sweat out a lot of toxins, which is good. But some nutrients can sweat out, as well as oils the skin needs. Keep a misting bottle with you for long outdoor day trips or picnics. Fill it with aloe vera liquid, mineral water, mint, or rose essential oils to cool and protect the skin. For the colder months, daily moisturizing will help seal in the natural compounds and protect from cold winds.

Don’t forget to wear your sunscreen everyday, no matter the weather! Sunscreen is so important that I am going to dedicate a whole post to it. Stay tuned tomorrow for some surprising facts about sunscreen.