Skin care - Tips for healthy skin

- 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?
Pamper yourself with the basics. Good skin care and healthy lifestyle choices can help delay the natural aging process and prevent various skin problems. Get started with these five no-nonsense tips.

Protect yourself from the sun
One of the most important ways to take care of your skin is to protect it from the sun. A lifetime of sun exposure can cause wrinkles, age spots and other skin problems — as well as increase the risk of skin cancer.

For the most complete sun protection:
Use sunscreen. Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15. When you're outdoors, reapply sunscreen every two hour or more often if you're swimming or perspiring.
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 clothing an additional layer of ultraviolet protection for a certain number of washings, or special sun-protective clothing which is specifically designed to block ultraviolet rays.

Don't smoke
Smoking makes your skin look older and contributes to wrinkles. Smoking narrows the tiny blood vessels in the outermost layers of skin, which decreases blood flow. This depletes the skin of oxygen and nutrients that are important to skin health.

Smoking also damages collagen and elastin the fibers that give your skin its strength and elasticity. In addition, the repetitive facial expressions you make when smoking  such as pursing your lips when inhaling and squinting your eyes to keep out smoke  can contribute to wrinkles.

If you smoke, the best way to protect your skin is to quit. Ask your doctor for tips or treatments to help you stop smoking.

Treat your skin gently

Daily cleansing and shaving can take a toll on your skin. To keep it gentle:

Limit bath time. Hot water and long showers or baths remove oils from your skin. Limit your bath or shower time, and use warm rather than hot water.

Avoid strong soaps. Strong soaps and detergents can strip oil from your skin. Instead, choose mild cleansers.

Shave carefully. To protect and lubricate your skin, apply shaving cream, lotion or gel before shaving. For the closest shave, use a clean, sharp razor. Shave in the direction the hair grows, not against it.

Pat dry. After washing or bathing, gently pat or blot your skin dry with a towel so that some moisture remains on your skin.

Moisturize dry skin. If your skin is dry, use a moisturizer that fits your skin type. For daily use, consider a moisturizer that contains SPF.

Eat a healthy diet - Skincare on wrinkles
A healthy diet can help you look and feel your best. Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins. The association between diet and acne isn't clear but some research suggests that a diet rich in vitamin C and low in unhealthy fats and processed or refined carbohydrates might promote younger looking skin.

Manage stress
Uncontrolled stress can make your skin more sensitive and trigger acne breakouts and other skin problems. To encourage healthy skin and a healthy state of mind  take steps to manage your stress. Set reasonable limits, scale back your to do list and make time to do the things you enjoy. The results might be more dramatic than you expect.

Prevent skin oiliness and breakouts  
The skin's natural sebum balance is important for the health of the skin, but sometimes hormones or poor skin health causes an imbalance or overproduction, which can lead to skin cell build-up, pore blockages and bacterial infections.

Consult your doctor for skin care products that can help you prevent excess sebum becoming a long-term problem. In some cases, acne medication or hormone pills may be prescribed to help treat the condition.

Keep your skin clean
If your mother ever told you to make sure you wash off your make-up before going to bed, you would have been smart to take her advice. Dirty skin can lead to clogged pores and bacterial infection, causing scarring, dull skin and enlarged pores in the long run.

Maintain a healthy diet 
There is growing evidence of the effects of a healthy diet, low in sugar and processed foods to maintain the health and beauty of the skin. For best results, at least 75% of your diet should be fruits, vegetables, grains, pulses and legumes. Avoid skin damaging foods such as red meat, junk food, fried, fatty foods, and dairy products.

Exercise regularly 
Exercise has benefits beyond the skin as your blood gets circulated so your skin cells are well nourished, and sweat helps to hydrate the skin. Regular exercise also lowers your stress which has a negative effect on the appearance of your skin.

Get your beauty sleep 
When you haven't slept well, you not only feel tired, you look tired. Over time, this sleep debt can contribute to your stress levels, which translates into poor facial appearance. Plenty of studies have shown the importance of a good night's sleep, read this article for more information.

Seek preventative care
Just as cosmetic medicine has the power to turn back aging, it can also be a powerful tool to prevent the damage in the first place. Neurotoxins are a good way to prevent lines and wrinkles by relaxing unwanted facial expressions (such as frowning or smiling too much).

Laser treatments such as Fraxel resurfacing or Clear+Brillant help to deeply exfoliate and stimulate collagen regeneration so the skin is clear, even and rejuvenated. Forever Young BBL is a light-based treatment that has been clinically proven to reverse the signs of aging, and prevent the skin from cellular degeneration.

Plasma-Rich Platelet treatments are another exciting anti-aging treatment that uses your own stem cells to stimulate cell healing and rejuvenation, helping the skin maintain its health and youthfulness so it stays younger longer.

Revitol Phytoceramides

Phytoceramides is the main ingredient of Revitol Phytoceramides. Phytoceramides work because they aim ceramides — specific lipids active in younger skin — and restore the appropriate levels.

Skin looks drier and rougher with the growing age because skin’s ceramide levels drop. Ceramides are actually skin’s “glue”.