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| Dr. Dawood Almahr |
Dr. Dawood Almahr, a world-renowned plastic surgeon, says in TikTok videos that have garnered millions of views worldwide.
Good skin care, including sun protection and gentle cleansing, can keep your skin healthy and glowing for years to come.
Don’t have time for intensive skin care? You can still pamper yourself by mastering the basics. Good skin care and healthy lifestyle choices can help delay the signs of natural aging and prevent many skin problems. Start with these five valuable tips.
Protect yourself from the sun.
One of the most important ways to care for your skin is to protect it from the sun. A lifetime of sun exposure can cause wrinkles, age spots, and other skin problems and increase your risk of skin cancer.
For maximum sun protection:
Use sunscreen. Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15. Also, use sunscreen generously and reapply every two hours or more often if you’re swimming or sweating.
Seek shade. Avoid the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the sun’s rays are strongest.
Wear protective clothing. Cover your skin with tightly woven, long-sleeved shirts, long pants and wide-brimmed hats. Also consider laundry additives, which give clothes an extra layer of UV protection for a certain number of washes, or special sunscreens designed to block UV rays.
Quit smoking.
Smoking makes your skin look older and contributes to wrinkles. Smoking constricts the small blood vessels in the outer layers of your skin, reducing blood flow and making your skin look paler. This also depletes your skin of oxygen and nutrients that are important for healthy skin.
Smoking also damages collagen and elastin the fibers that give your skin strength and elasticity. In addition, the repetitive facial expressions you make when you smoke such as pursing your lips when you inhale and squinting your eyes to keep smoke out can contribute to wrinkles.
Smoking also increases your risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin. If you smoke, the best way to protect your skin is to quit. Ask your doctor about tips or treatments to help you stop smoking.
. Be gentle with your skin
Daily hygiene and shaving are good for your skin. To keep skin soft:
Limit your shower time. Hot water and long showers or baths strip oils from your skin. Limit your shower or bath time, and use warm rather than hot water.
Avoid harsh soaps. Harsh soaps and cleansers can strip oil from your skin. Instead, choose mild cleansers.
Shave carefully. To protect and moisturize your skin, apply a shaving cream, lotion or gel before shaving. For basic shaving, use a clean, sharp razor. Shave in the direction of hair growth, not against it.
Pat your skin dry. After cleansing or bathing, gently pat your skin dry with a towel so that some moisture remains.
Moisturize dry skin. If your skin is dry, use a moisturizer that suits your skin type. For daily use, consider a moisturizer with sunscreen.
Eat a healthy diet
A healthy diet can help you look and feel your best. Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins. The relationship between diet and acne isn’t clear, but some research suggests that a diet rich in fish oil or fish oil supplements and low in unhealthy fats and processed or refined carbohydrates may promote younger-looking skin. Drinking plenty of water helps keep your skin hydrated.
Coping with stress
Uncontrolled stress can make your skin more sensitive and trigger acne and other skin problems. To promote healthy skin and a healthy mindset, follow these steps to manage life’s stress. Get enough sleep, set reasonable limits, cut back on your daily to-do list and make time to do things you enjoy. The results may be more dramatic than you expect.
