Washing & Your Skin
Soaping Up and Your Skin
Who doesn’t love a long, hot shower or bath in the morning or evening?
Your Skin.
How and how much you wash can have serious effects on your skin.
The Pearls and Reasons
1. Wash up in warm, not hot water.
Hot water opens your pores more and strips away your natural oils which are protective. This can leave you dry or make your skin work harder to produce more oils.
2. Try to spend less time in the water.
Same reason as above. The longer you shower the more you are stripping the natural oils on your skin. The skin then needs to replace these oils and is temporarily open to allergens and irritants.
3. Use a gentle, natural soap and shampoo.
The function and nature of soap is to bond to and then wash away dirt, oils, etc. This includes your protective oils. Natural soaps are milder and get the job done without being excessively drying or harsh. Many mass market bars and liquid soaps use detergents rather than soap which make for lovely foam but are even more drying and harsh. Don’t take my word for it, compare and see.
4. Do not scrub too hard or with abrasives.
Are you really that dirty? Unless you have been dirt biking or alligator wrestling, you probably do not need to scrub much or use harsh abrasives. As explained above, the nature of soap is to bond to dirt, oil, etc. and then wash it away. Except for particularly dirty or smelly parts, scrubbing and using abrasives or a lot of soap is usually overkill. It just strips more of your natural oils and leaves the skin open to potential irritants. Lightly soap up and wash it away. That’s enough!
5. Avoid products with lots of chemicals or fragrances.
Your skin is protective. Everything that it comes in contact with is a potential challenge to it. The more ingredients there are the more potential irritants and triggers. Be kind to your skin.
Additional Gems for Specific Situations
If you have a dry skin condition, like flaking psoriasis or dry itchy eczema, try to prolong the period between showering and washing your hair. If you are not too “ripe” for the public, skip a day and let your skin and scalp get a rest. You may notice your hair or skin is a little greasy, this is good if it is not uncomfortable because your skin and hair has had time to produce more protective natural oils.
If you have really oily skin, still try to follow the rules above. It may seem counterintuitive or strange, and people with oil skin can often get away with washing more. But, sometimes when you wash away the natural oils and leave the skin squeaky clean, that just signals your body to produce even more oil again. It’s a vicious oily cycle.
A better idea would be to try to blot up excess oil. Use a tissue or a cotton pad and gently dab or blot it on oily areas to absorb excess oil or shininess. Do not scrub or rub because of reason #4 above.
I hope these simple tips will help you clean up while still being nice to your skin. Please let us know if you learned anything or if any of these tips helped you on our Feedback page (link).
Links for Readers Who Want More
About Soap:
If you really want to know about soap check out the Wikipedia page on it. You’ll learn about how it works, how it is made and its history. Here’s the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap
About Skin:
I’m not a dermatologist, but the author of this blog, Dr.Benabio, is. He writes in an engaging way about skin, research, skin care and so on. I like his site. It is:
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