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My friend Shari has a funny story about meeting her husband, Tim. They were both pastors’ kids, and at one convention, their fathers exchanged pictures and phone numbers of their grown children. Shari was an elementary school teacher in Texas, and Tim a physician in Southern California. They enjoyed talking on the phone, so a face-to-face meeting was arranged. Shari would fly to sunny California to pay a visit.
Shari looked at her pale skin with concern and decided she should go to a tanning booth before meeting Tim. With great enthusiasm, she went every day for two weeks, and now kissed by a bronze complexion, she was ready to meet her dream doc. Imagine her surprise when she saw Tim waiting for her at the airport. He was even paler than she had been.
Tim avoids the sun like the plague, and his first thought was, Oh no, she’s a sun worshipper. This isn’t going to work. Thankfully, the story ends on a happy note of holy matrimony, and Shari hasn’t visited a tanning booth since.
Did you ever go to tanning booths in your younger days? Bronze bodies are the rage of youth, but then there’s a price to pay in the golden years. Dermatologist Doris J. Day, author of Forget the Facelift, says, “Tanning used to be considered a sign of good health. It is now known to be quite the opposite for your skin…To get a tan, the skin must be damaged. There is no such thing as a healthy tan.”43 Whether you get that nice golden look from the sun or the tanning booth, it’s not good for your skin.
Does that mean you should become a hermit and just dash from one indoor location to the next? No, you still want to enjoy outdoor activities such as walking, golf, tennis, and picnics with friends. The idea is to take reasonable precautions to protect your skin by avoiding the following dangers.
Excessive sunbathing and overexposure to the sun damages your skin, increases your risk of skin cancer, and results in freckling and wrinkling. So before you go outside, use this checklist to save your skin:
• Use a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher on your face and body.
• Avoid the sun between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. when possible.
• Wear a hat to protect your face.
Smoking isn’t bad for just your lungs; it’s bad for your skin too. Nicotine causes blood vessels to constrict, preventing oxygen and nutrients from getting to your skin. Smokers often look pale and unhealthy as a result. Wrinkles, fine lines around the mouth, and stained teeth and fingers make smokers look much older than they really are. If you need extra motivation to kick the habit, try vanity. You don’t want crow’s feet, sunken cheeks, and a grayish complexion holding you back.
Did you know that salt can result in puffy bags under your eyes? When you have too much salt in your diet, you retain water, resulting in those troublesome puffy bags. To decrease your salt intake, start by taking the saltshaker off your kitchen table. Limit your trips to the drive-through since fast food is laden with salt. Read the labels on your foods and you might be surprised at how much salt is in your crackers, cereals, bread, and canned soups and vegetables.
On average, Americans consume about 6000 mg or one teaspoon of salt per day. Guidelines suggest the limit for the average person should be 3000 mg or half a teaspoon or less.44 Instead of reaching for the saltshaker, reach for a glass of delicious water. Your skin will stay firm and glowing as you stay properly hydrated. You can even spritz your face lightly throughout the day with a spray bottle of water.
Walking through the facial cleanser aisle at a drugstore or the cosmetics counter at a department store can be overwhelming. Which products should you buy to wash, exfoliate, scrub, moisturize, and protect your skin? How many products does one really need to get a clean face? I like the motto “keep it simple” even when it comes to your skin regimen. If you make skincare too complicated, you probably won’t regularly use all of your products.
In the morning: Use a gentle cleanser to wash your face. Use a circular motion and rinse or wipe off with a washcloth and warm water. Follow with moisturizer with an SPF of at least 15. If you want extra protection from the sun, add a layer of sunscreen.
In the nighttime: Use the cleanser and moisturizer again. You don’t have to put lotion on your nose if it’s already oily. Try to wash and moisturize your face 30 minutes before you go to bed so your moisturizer will sink into your face and not your pillow.
Once a week: Use an exfoliating scrub on your face.
Once a month: Use a firming mask. You can even make one yourself with ingredients you have around the house:
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon natural yogurt at room temperature (not low-fat or nonfat)
1 teaspoon honey (if needed, microwave for a few seconds to soften)
What to do:
Combine ingredients, then apply to face.
Let it sit for 15 minutes.
Wash face with steaming washcloth.
My mother-in-law, Marilyn, has beautiful skin. Her friends have asked how she has kept such a nice complexion, and she’s been gracious enough to allow me to share her recipe with you. Two simple words: olive oil. She learned about the beauty of olive oil from her friend Dina, who learned it from her Italian grandmother. She uses a little olive oil (the regular kind, not extra virgin) on her face every morning and night, washing it off with cold water. She puts the olive oil in a pump, just as you would do with hand soap. Then she uses a little bit each day and night to wash off her makeup. She’s been doing it for more than 20 years now. And you thought olive oil was good only for cooking.
While we’re on the subject of cooking, let me close with one last tip to save the skin on your hands. When you wash the dishes or use household cleaners, wear a pair of gloves. As you age, your hands produce less oil and lose their ability to hold onto moisture, so save your skin and put on some gloves.
Thought for Rejuvenation
Which danger poses the biggest personal threat to the health of your skin: sun, smoke, or salt? What’s one thing you could change in your life to preserve your skin?
Act of eXpression
Use a facial mask (you can try the yogurt mask from today’s reading) and enjoy a few minutes of relaxation today.