SKIN CONCERNS

Everything you should know about your skin’s radiance

At any age, radiant skin is a symbol of healthy-looking skin. Keep your skin glowing from within by first understanding the factors of radiant skin and ways to brighten up your complexion.

Remember the last time you had a facial? That refreshed, glowing look after a pampering session is what radiant skin should be. While it’s possible to mimic a healthy glow with makeup, true radiance is evident even when you’re bare-faced.

On the other hand, dull skin is ashy, lacklustre, and usually rough to the touch. Here’s what’scausing your skin to look less than megawatt and how you can treat it.

You’re looking at skin that’s a month old

Our skin operates on a renewal system, and it takes about 28 days for new skin cells to move from the deeper layers to the top layers of our skin. At the end of the cycle, the skin surface cells are dead and ready to be shed. However, these dead cells build up quickly, inhibiting light reflection, causing roughness, and preventing your skin from absorbing all the benefits from your serums and moisturisers. The buildup of old surface cells also gives your skin a dull, grey tone.

To prevent that look to gentle exfoliation to help remove the old surface cells and reveal smoother, brighter, and younger-looking skin. Give your skin’s renewal a boost with Alpha and Beta Hydroxy Acids 2, which speed up the rate at which new cells replace dead ones on the surface of your skin.

Give your skin a hand

Chemical exfoliation , which uses AHAs and BHAs, is actually gentler on your skin and more effective than physical exfoliation, which uses abrasive scrubs or microbeads.

You’re often out in the sun

It’s often said that the sun is your skin’s worst enemy – and that’s especially true when it comes to radiance. There are two ways the sun impedes your glow. The first is exposure to UVB rays which increases melanin production in skin, creating dull clouds of pigment under the surface that leads to an uneven skin tone. The second is that UVA radiation generates free radicals in your skin. These unstable molecules wreak havoc on your skin by causing oxidative stress – a process in which your skin is unable to neutralise free radicals completely — which degrades collagen and prematurely ages your skin.

Quick tip

During your night skin routine, try gently massaging your face to both relax you and boost blood circulation. Using your usual moisturiser and light pressure, start from your jaw and move towards your undereye area in circular motions.

UVA rays reach deeper into your skin than UVB rays, even on the cloudiest of days. It can also penetrate glass and windows.

Protect your skin well

Sun damage from years ago can show up on your skin now, so even if you’re actively protecting your skin against UV rays, you also need a serum that targets hyperpigmentation already in your skin. Look for one with brightening actives and botanical extracts that are known to brighten skin and prevent dark spots.

Treat existing issues

You work yourself too hard

How many hours of sleep do you get? Are you often stressed out? Both lack of sleep and tension trigger the production of cortisol in your body. This stress hormone not only prompts glycation (a process that damages collagen in your skin), decreases your body’s natural production of hyaluronic acid, but also reduces blood flow to the skin. This decline in circulation and blood pressure takes away important nutrients and oxygen from your skin, causing toxins to build up. The result? Skin that is dry, dull, and tired-looking.

Take it this way: if you’re happy, so will your skin be. Make sure you get ample rest (at least 8 hours!) as this is when your skin repairs itself. When you’re feeling stressed out, go for a relaxing facial or light a candle that contains lavender or chamomile to soothe those frazzled nerves. Exercise regularly to get that heart rate (and circulation) up. Take deep breaths when you’re in a stressful situation. Remember: that glow from within sometimes do have to come from within!

Be good to yourself