How to look after your skin

If you want to retain beautiful, youthful looking skin well into middle, and perhaps even old age, then you will need to make an effort to look after your skin. This includes eating a healthy diet, and avoiding sources of free radical damage, following a good skin care regime, and using effective skin care products.

Firstly, smoking causes serious damage to your skin’s ability to prevent oxidative damage. Smoking produces many times more free radicals in your body than the normal processes of breathing and eating, and your body’s natural defence system struggles to keep up. This is why smokers develop wrinkles far more than non-smokers, especially on the face where the smoke actually penetrates the skin. If you want to remain youthful, it is essential to give up smoking.

Secondly, you should get plenty of antioxidants in your diet. Good sources include fruit (especially blackberries, blueberries and cherries), vegetables (especially broccoli, kale, spinach and peppers) and legumes (especially kidney beans and pinto beans). As you can see, there really are plenty of sources to choose from. Generally, if you eat a good healthy diet antioxidants aren’t something you necessarily have to think about.

Thirdly, always follow a good skin care regime. The most important features to remember are exfoliation and moisturising. Cleansing isn’t actually so important unless you work in a particularly dirty job or suffer from greasy skin and acne. Generally, an exfoliating cleanser is best since it performs a dual function. Exfoliation gets rid of the dead skin cells that cause blocked pores and acne. Once you have exfoliated, moisturise immediately to allow the moisture to penetrate and be locked into your skin cells.

Make sure you use products with effective ingredients such as antioxidants to fight free radical damage and AHA’s and retinol to retain skin cell moisture and encourage a higher rate of skin cell renewal. Follow all these steps, and you’ll be doing all you can to keep your skin looking more youthful and radiant for longer.

Priori skincare products contain AHA’s and will make a great additition to your skin care regime.