Skin Care

Skin Care

Easy as Pie
and Worth the Effort

Your life is so busy you barely have time to sleep or eat or go to the grocery store. You definitely don't have time for skin care--or do you?

The truth is, safeguarding your skin doesn't have to take much time at all. And, despite the hype that surrounds big-name products and mind-boggling multi-step beauty routines, it really doesn't have to be complicated or expensive.

It just has to cleanse, moisturize and protect your skin from photoaging--the wrinkling, crinkling, blotch effects of too much time in the sun.

If you use daily sun protection, doctors say you'll find that after a while your skin will repair some of the damage itself, leaving you looking younger and fresher and feeling good about it.

Some products, such as Neutrogena Moisturizer, that combine moisturizers with sunscreens and tints will save you time.

So let's look at a realistic routine that will leave your skin looking its youthful best, but won't detonate your day planner.

Go Gently into That Good Day

No matter if your skin is normal, oily, dry or sun-damaged, the watchword for cleansing is "gentle," dermatologists say. Gentle cleansers and gentle handling. Why? Every time you rub, pull, scrub or otherwise yank your skin around, you may loosen the tiny fibers beneath the surface that promote firmness and a youthful look.

"Everything you do to your face adds a little age damage," says Albert M. Kligman, M.D., a professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

Choose gentle products. Forget harsh cleansers and astringents, advises Seth L. Matarasso, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. Inexpensive mild soaps like Purpose, Basis, Neutrogena and Dove are all you need.

If your skin's particularly dry, even a thorough morning rinse with a soap substitute such as Cetaphil or no soap at all is fine, Dr. Matarasso says. Just experiment to see what feels best to you.

Nuts to the nut scrubs. Washing with those ground-up nut scrubs and abrasive sponges is like taking kitchen cleansers to your skin, says Carole Walderman, a cosmetologist and esthetician and president of Von Lee International School of Aesthetics and Makeup in Baltimore. The tiny scratches they leave behind inflame your skin and gather bacteria, so they can promote breakouts when you thought you'd left acne behind for good.

Keep water temperature moderate. Use warm, not hot, water to rinse off your cleanser, says Leila Cohoon, a cosmetologist and esthetician and owner of Leila's Skin Care in Independence, Missouri. And don't bother with a cold-water splash to "close your pores" afterward. Pores do not open and close as commonly thought.

Pat yourself dry. Pat your face not-quite dry with a soft towel as gently as a toddler's touch, says Dr. Matarasso. "Leave just a damp film on your skin, like a dew."

Try mild toners. For an optional extra-clean feeling, use a soothing flower-water, such as Rosewater, and toner after you cleanse and rinse, says Walderman. "In our thirties our pores can start to look larger, because gravity is pulling down around the hair follicles, making them look deeper," she says. "Toners will temporarily close pores, maybe for around 45 minutes, leaving a nice background for applying makeup." Apply toner with a cotton pad that has first been saturated with water and then squeezed out, using gentle upward strokes.

The Beauty of Moisturizers

Moisturizers do not add moisture to the skin, no matter what the ad writers say. They do help retain the water you've left on your face and body after washing, though, which plumps up fine wrinkles and smooths the surface, says Dr. Matarasso. If you towel 'til you're bone-dry, any moisturizer--no matter how expensive--will just sit on top and feel greasy. But if you leave a damp film after you rinse, the moisturizer will help water get into the pores and sink deeper into your skin. If your skin is oily, you may not need a moisturizer; it may aggravate acne.

Here's what else you need to know about moisturizing.

Ask about AHAs. Alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) are derived from food sources such as red wine, sour milk and fruit. Some studies show that these acids can increase cell turnover in sun-damaged skin, smoothing and firming its texture. Though they're hot topics in beauty magazines, researchers differ on whether the AHAs in many new moisturizers actually reduce fine wrinkling.

The problem may be the low concentrations found in commercial products, says Dr. Matarasso. Most cosmetic moisturizers use very small amounts of AHAs, he says. If you'd like to see what AHAs can do for you, your best bet is to discuss high-concentration AHA moisturizers with your dermatologist.

Choose non-clogging lotions. If you just want a good everyday moisturizer, but have a tendency to break out now and then, choose a moisturizer labeled "noncomedogenic," says Thomas Griffin, M.D., a dermatologist with Graduate Hospital and clinical assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, both in Philadelphia. These products won't clog pores.

Check the pH. If your skin is sensitive, use a product that is the same acid balance (pH) as normal skin, which is in the range of pH 4.5 to 5.5, says Cohoon. "Many labels say 'pH-balanced,' but that means nothing," she says. "It might mean pH-balanced acid, or pH-balanced alkaline, which is not good for your skin. You want it to be pH-balanced acid for skin care."

How to be sure? "Buy pH papers (such as pHydrion) from your skin-care salon and dip them in the product," Cohoon says. "The paper will change color, and you compare it to an enclosed color chart, which will show you what pH the moisturizer is."

Go lightly on the eye area. Use just a lightweight eye cream on the eye area during the day, says Walderman. Some women use heavy eye creams, which tend to make makeup appear thick and pasty.

Saving Your Face and Body

Any way you wear it, sunscreen is the single most important age-erasing step in skin care. Even if you've been slapdash in the past, using a sunscreen right now will pay youthful dividends for decades to come.

Make it simple. Unless you enjoy applying layer after layer of potions and lotions, the easiest way to add sunscreen to your routine is to use a lotion or cream-based sunscreen as your moisturizer, says Dr. Matarasso.

Be sure it's real protection. Choose a sunscreen or moisturizer-sunscreen combination with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15, says Dr. Kligman. And sunscreens that block both the UVA and UVB forms of light (often called full-spectrum suncreens) will offer you the best protection against both surface burning and the deeper tissue damage that causes wrinkles and sags, he says. Many cosmetic moisturizers trumpet their sun protection capabilities, but most contain very low SPF sunscreens.

As You Sleep

At night you cleanse again. Add an overnight moisturizer if your skin tends toward dryness, or perhaps tretinoin (Retin-A) if you're actively battling sun damage. Then, sweet sleep, which in its own way brings you younger-looking skin by removing stress and strain from your complexion.

Try adding these tips to your nightly cleansing routine.

Remove makeup. It's true what they say: You should never sleep with it on. For a very thorough job, use a cleanser with petrolatum for removing makeup, says Marina Valmy, a cosmetician at the Christine Valmy Skin Care School in New York City. But only at night; petrolatum is too heavy for daytime cleansing or moisturizing, she says. Your favorite gentle soap is an option, too; just clean and rinse thoroughly.

Try a deep-pore cleanser. Three times a week, use a deep-pore cleanser and a soft facial brush for deep-cleaning your skin, says Walderman.

Sleep with a wrinkle-fighter. If sun damage has etched your skin with fine lines, ask your doctor about a prescription for Retin-A cream, says Jonathan Weiss, M.D., assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. "Retin-A is a wonderful product for sun damage," he says. "It can improve the yellowed appearance of the skin and make it more pink. But its greatest improvement is on wrinkles and age spots." Dr. Weiss points out that the Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved Retin-A for the treatment of sun-damaged and wrinkled skin, though the cream does seem effective.

With your dermatologist's help, you can customize the concentration of Retin-A that best suits your skin. "After you cleanse with a mild soap, let your skin dry completely for 10 to 20 minutes," says Dr. Matarasso. "Then apply a pea-sized amount of Retin-A everywhere--around your eyes (leaving about a half-inch bare under your eyes), mouth, chest, forearms and back of hands. If you use Retin-A, you won't need a moisturizer at night unless the Retin-A causes a little redness and flaking. If that happens, use a moisturizer that night and alternate with Retin-A." You can also use petroleum jelly around your eye area. (For more on Retin-A, see Wrinkles, chapter 67.)

Moisturize if you like. If you like the feeling of moisturizer at night and your skin has gotten a little drier over time, apply a rich night cream, suggests Walderman. And this is the time to use heavier eye creams on the skin all around your eyes. Too heavy for daytime use or under makeup, these products are good for holding in natural moisture while you sleep, she says.

Don't forget lips. Put petroleum jelly on your lips at night, says Valmy. Because lip skin is very thin, the blood circulation is very near the surface and can encourage lips to dry out. The jelly won't allow the moisture to evaporate, and it prevents you from waking up with chapped lips.