Intake of adequate fluids become very important as the
dehydrating effect of heating needs to be over come and
excessive loss of moisture needs to be replaced.
Simple daily routines, such as bathing and towel drying, may
actually promote dry skin. You may wish to modify your bathing
routine to help preserve your skin's loss of moisture. Bathing
provides the skin temporary moisture, but it removes the skin's
'Acid Mantel' and in the long run causes more moisture loss than
gain, particularly if you use commercially manufactured soap,
which by nature has a drying effect on the skin.
The correct
skin
care regime to counteract dry skin is crucial and the
following steps are suggested:
Do not wash, using soap, as it dries out your skin! - Instead,
use an exfoliant, such as the 'Skin Renewal Gel' from
Wildcrafted Herbal Products, followed by a cleanser
(Wildcrafted's Hydrating Cleanser is ideal) to keep your skin
from drying out unnecessarily.
Apply a toner to prevent loss of moisture from your skin - This
step is often neglected by many, yet it is a very important
step, especially if you have dry skin. Toning lotions, for
example Wildcrafted's 'Milk of Roses Toner' provides essential
oils and herbal extract that help to close the opened pores and
prevents loss of moisture.
Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise. - This cannot be stressed
strongly enough. Moisturising will not only nourish your skin,
but it will help to reduce loss of moisture even further, thus
preventing dry skin, as well as repair damaged skin.
Wildcrafted's Papaya Day Crème, for example is a good
illustration of using essential oils and herbal extracts to
re-hydrate the depleted skin and nourish it to help protect is
from loss of moisture.
Dry skin can also be itchy and become very sensitive, resulting
in eczema and dermatitis. The prevention of excessive loss of
moisture to prevent dry skin is important to prevent further
complication of dry skin.
Symptoms such as itching, flaking of the skin, cracking and
scaliness all point to you having very dry skin and this
requires attention. You will seriously need to look at the
amount of water you are not drinking, as this is beyond just
using a good skin care regime. Water needs to be consumed at 3
litres per day, no less, because that is what the body uses to
maintain proper metabolism. So whether you are physically active
or not, you will need to provide the body with at least 8-10
glasses of water every day to prevent your skin from drying out.
Of course if you are physically active, you will need to
considerably increase this amount to replace the water loss
through sweating.
Making sure you have sufficient mineral salts in your diet can
also help to prevent dry skin. I am not referring to Table Salt,
but the salts present in celery and other vegetables. As you
probably know, sweat is slightly salty and these are the salts
you need to replace. Celery is a vegetable high in mineral salts
and should be included in your salads and sandwiches.
In conclusion, combining a high quality natural skin care
regime with an adequate water intake and a diet high in
vegetables, which contain mineral salts and trace elements will
help you to combat dry skin.
About the author:
Danny Siegenthaler is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine
and together with his wife Susan, a medical herbalist and
Aromatherapist, they have created
Natural Skin Care Products
by Wildcrafted Herbal Products to share their 40 years of
combined expertise with you.
© Wildcrafted Herbal Products 2004 - 2005
