Staying indoors, protecting the NHS, and saving lives, doesn’t have to mean put up with lacklustre, unhealthy skin.

Follow these simple rules to beat the lockdown blues, and have healthy, glowing skin.

Keep your skin clean …. but, don’t strip away its protective barrier

It’s important to thoroughly cleanse your skin before going to sleep. Soap or bar cleansers tend to be too harsh; they are generally more alkaline (remember the pH scale from school – alkaline things like chalk, have a high pH, whilst acids have a low pH?), whilst the surface of our skin has a natural acidic film. This film, called the ‘acid mantle’, is essential to protect our skin against bacterial infection and irritation, and its effect is reduced when cleansers with a higher pH are used. So, use a good quality, lower pH cleanser, that is suitable for your skin’s needs 

• gentle lotions and emulsions for those with drier, rough or flaky patches, or who suffer with sensitivity.  

• light washes or gels for those with oily zones or who are prone to breakouts.

Be sure to pre-cleanse, to remove make-up or sweat and grime if you have been outside to exercise. You can use an oil to emulsion product for this, most are even suitable for those with oilier skins. But while we’re staying indoors, why not give your skin a rest and go make-up free? 

 Unless your skin is particularly blemish prone, try simply rinsing in the morning instead of using a cleanser. If your skin is clean when you go to bed, it’s not essential to use a cleanser in the morning, simply use tepid water to freshen your skin and gently pat dry.  

For those of you with acne-prone skin (that’s about 48% of adults…) make sure that your pillow case is changed every day to reduce cross infection and keep blemishes at bay.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate

Our bodies need water to stay healthy, and being inside for prolonged periods of time, especially where the central heating is on constantly, we can lose moisture from the outer layers of our skin into the surrounding air. This causes our skin to become dehydrated and a patchwork of very fine lines to develop on the surface…. just think about that apple in the fruit bowl that you kept meaning to eat…!

The solution?

If you need to keep the central heating on, think about investing in some humidifiers to place over the radiators, they stop the air from drying out. You can add your favourite essential oils too, some, like Chamomile, Rose or Ylang Ylang are considered to be mood enhancing, great if the lockdown is making you feel a bit blue, and well they just smell nice!

Try to drink between 1.5 and 2 litres of water a day. Try herbal teas if you can’t face plain water, but limit coffee and black tea, both of which are high in caffeine and so have diuretic properties.

Invest in a good quality hyaluronic acid serum, which despite the name is actually a humectant that occurs naturally in our bodies. It’s the same substance that is used in many dermal fillers to give skin its youthful volume. It works by attracting and retaining moisture in the lower layers of our skin. The catch? In its natural form it has a large molecular structure, and so a lot of products that say they contain it simply won’t work, because it can’t penetrate into the skin. So, it’s important that you choose wisely, look for a low molecular weight product.

Moisturise…..keep that hard-won moisture in your skin!

Dry skin, and dehydrated skin are two completely different things, although they can be closely connected. Dry skin, also called Asteatosis, refers to skin that is lacking in oils, and is often associated with conditions like Eczema. In fact, it isn’t as common as people think, more often skin that is deemed to be dry is actually dehydrated and lacking water not lipids.  

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But regardless of whether your skin is actually dry, or dehydrated, you need those oils, to keep the moisture in and your skin supple. Even skins prone to breakouts need moisturisation, because water is essential for the processes that keep blemishes at bay. So, you should make sure that you moisturise both morning and night, after cleansing and hydrating.

Choosing a moisturiser

Choose a moisturiser that will support your particular skin needs, 

• creams or heavier lotions for those with drier, rough or flaky patches,
• water-based lighter lotions and gel type products for those with oily zones or who are prone to breakouts. If you’re unsure, look for products that are ‘non-comedogenic’, which means they won’t block your pores.
• avoiding those with essential oils if you suffer with sensitivity

We naturally lose more moisture during the night, so you may find that you need to use a richer moisturiser at bedtime, than the one you use during the day. Those of you that do have dry skin may also need to reapply your moisturiser throughout the day.

Don’t forget the Sun Protection……even on those miserable cloudy days!

You can be forgiven for asking, why not say ‘don’t forget your SPF’, after all it’s sun protection, right? Well not exactly. Sun Protection Factor (SPF) products do indeed protect our skin from damage by the sun, but generally only protect against UVB radiation. This is the short wave ultraviolet rays, largely responsible for the sun burn that we all try to protect against whilst being out in hot sunny weather. But research has shown that we really need to protect against UVA rays too. These are longer wave rays that are able to penetrate our skin more deeply, reaching the dermis – the lower layer of our skin, where new cells are produced – where they can disrupt cell processes, damaging the cells ability to produce the structural proteins, Collagen and Elastin, which leads to the development of lines and wrinkles. Even more worrying, is the evidence that they are able to switch off our cells ability to prevent tumours, and so promote cancerous change. 

Unlike shorter UVB rays, UVA rays are able to penetrate cloud cover, light rain, glass and even light clothing! Similarly, UVA is also not limited by latitude, or time of the day, and so can potentially penetrate our skin 365 days of the year during daylight hours. It is therefore absolutely essential that the last step in your morning skincare regime is to apply a broad-spectrum solar protection product that screens for both UVA and UVB. 

 As with your other products, buy one suited to your skin, but ensure that it has a minimum SPF 30 if you will be out in strong sunlight. Many cosmetics now contain SPF, and it is fine to use these in addition to your main product. 

You should apply solar protection to all areas of skin routinely exposed to the sun – face, neck, décolletage and backs of your hands! Make sure that you buy separate products for your face and body, as the skin on your face is thinner and more delicate than other areas of the body. If you are out in strong sunlight the recommendation is to reapply your sun protection every 90 minutes. Finally, if you nip to the loo whilst out, remember to reapply after washing your hands!

Keeping it simple….

The four basic steps above are the essentials needed to keep your skin healthy. Don’t be a slave to prescriptive skin care regimes, give your skin what it needs. 

So, is that all I hear you ask.  What about serums and other specialised products, are they not needed? 

The answer is, that it really depends on what concerns you have about your skin, and what your goals are. If you are looking to resolve established issues, like Acne or Rosacea; signs of premature ageing like lines and wrinkles; pigmentation issues or scarring, then you will certainly need the support of serums, and other products containing more active ingredients. We’ll look at more advanced products in part 2 of this ‘Skin Fit’ blog.

Afterthought

One final reminder about the importance of choosing your products carefully…… 

whilst price isn’t always an indicator of quality, remember the old adage –

if it seems too good to be true, it probably is!