It’s National Healthy Skin Month

November is National Healthy Skin Month.

As I've said many times, anti-aging skin care is not just a matter of vanity but also a matter of health. The skin is the body's barrier against disease and infection. Thick healthy skin insulates us from the cold and perspires to release excess heat. Healthier cells are more resistant to disease, sun damage, and breakouts. Healthier skin not only looks younger, it reacts as younger skin would.

Healthy skin is young skin. To paraphrase John Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn” …

“‘Beauty is health, health beauty’ - that is all,
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”

Here are some tips to keep your skin young and healthy – this month and for the rest of your life.

• Protect from the sun’s harmful UV rays – by avoiding the sun’s most intense rays and with daily broad spectrum topicals and/or clothing.

• Protect from (other) free radical damage inside and out – with antioxidants in your skin care products, your daily diet and your daily supplement pills.

• Cleanse well but not roughly – adding chemical exfoliants when your body slow/stops hormone production that supports cell turnover.

• Moisturize inside and out – by hydrating your body inside with (non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic) beverages and your skin outside with skin-identical topicals.

• Minimize stress – both physical and mental stress can wreak havoc on your skin. Stick to your skin program no matter how stressed you feel. Find stress-reducers that work for you. Faith (reliance on God or a higher power), meditation and exercise are just a few proven ways to manage stress.

• After (approximately) age 45

• See your dermatologist for an annual skin cancer check and do a monthly self-check.
• Step Up Your Skin Care with cosmeceutical peptides to stimulate new collagen and elastin.

Love the skin you’re in. It's the only one you’ll get.

Tags: skin care, National Healthy Skin Month, skincare tips, sun protection, moisturize, exfoliate, skin cancer check, cosmeceutical peptides