How To Replenish Your Skin

As temperatures start to warm up or cool down, it’s important to remember the biggest organ of the body — our skin. And one way to do that is to stay hydrated, wear sunscreen, and try your best to stay out of the direct sun. It’s an all day long process of replenishing your skin, not just at the end of the day. Replenish your body’s protective layer throughout the day, don’t take your skin health for granted because it often leads to dehydrated, dull, and dry skin. UV rays trigger free radical damages like wrinkles and fine lines so, make sure to take great care of your skin while having fun under the sun. And I’ll share some tips on how to replenish your skin to keep it radiant, healthy, and glowing. 

How to Replenish Your Skin

Your skin is subjected to all sorts of external factors that could damage it. Every season has its threat to your skin, summer included. While the sun can bring in so many fun activities, it can also cause damage brought by toxins, dust, and grime clogging the pores. To keep your skin safe from possible freak-outs, here are tips to help you be your skin’s superhero:

Hydrate

Drink water, warm water if possible. It’s the most basic and most vital tip to replenish not just your skin but your entire body. It helps in

flushing the toxins and paves the way for nutrients that help keep your skin glowing. Dehydrated skin means that it lacks water. It’s dry, sometimes itchy, and lackluster. Water invigorates cells which gives a clearer and look. Set the alarm on your phone, create reminders for you to drink water. You can also sustain skin hydration by preparing a container to take with you throughout the day, helping ensure you consume at least 8 glasses of water each day. When you can, use a reusable water bottle, like my favorite Hydroflask, which I take everywhere with me and I only need to refill one time a day since it’s 40 ounces. Skin care starts with drinking water! 

If you are local to Phoenix, or want to support people who don’t have regular access to cool drinking water in Phoenix, you should check out this amazing non profit, Ara Water Foundation. Ara donates a reusable stainless steel water bottle filled with cold water to anyone in the local Phoenix area with the purchase of any of their water bottles. It’s not just about hydrating the skin in Arizona, without access to water, you die really quick, and people experiencing homelessness often are the most vulnerable and their skin is the first place which sees improvement once they are able to keep hydrated with these water bottles.

Eat food that helps replenish your skin

As you aim for radiant skin, make sure to fuel your skin cells from the inside. Eat food that nourishes them, like fruits and vegetables. Consult

your dietician and ask which food is best for every layer of skin. Here’s my roundup of the most hydrating foods with high water content to help replace all that water loss!

One of those commonly suggested is Avocado, considered as a superfood with vitamin E. It has an anti-inflammatory function that keeps your skin glowing and hydrated. 

For supple skin, orange juice is your best bet. Its B1 and folate improve oxygen distribution in your blood, resulting in a balanced skin tone. 

Meanwhile, green tea that is chock full of vitamin E and B2 supports maintaining your skin’s collagen levels. It serves as a hydrator for dry skin.

Add Kale to your diet because it’s packed with vitamins A and C that stimulate the healthy growth of your cells by producing collagen. 

Olive oil is a natural anti-aging agent. It is packed with antioxidants, fatty acids, and vitamin E that improves the skin whether consumed or topically applied.

These are just three examples of food that are natural replenishers of your skin and body. There are more options out there; research and look for the best ones that suit your diet and lifestyle.

Use a gentle cleanser

Whether your have healthy skin or acne prone skin or anything in between, its actually always a good idea to use a gentle cleanser when washing your face. Using harsh ingredients on your face is one of the best ways to ensure dull, scarred, and downright painful dry skin. This is why dry skin especially calls for a gentle cleanser. If you can, choose one with hyaluronic acid to further help hydrate and replenish your skin’s moisture barrier.

Exfoliate

It bears stressing that exfoliating is necessary, but the most vital part is how you properly do it. Dry and dead skin cells can make our skin look and feel dull. It often leads to pimple breakouts and sometimes eczema. It’s all about speeding up the life cycle of your cells. The faster they replenish, the more glowy your skin will look. 

Exfoliating, it can allow the serums and moisturizers to penetrate your skin better. It makes your complexion brighter and healthy-looking at

the same time prevents pores from clogging. I can tell when I need to exfoliate because my skin starts to feel heavy on my face and my makeup products don’t work as well on my face. This one is my favorite by far. 

However, it’s essential to choose wisely when it comes to exfoliating skincare products. If you prefer something that doesn’t suit your skin, especially the top layer, it might bring more damage instead of progress. So, know your skin type and get to know your products better. Also, do not over-exfoliate because it leads to redness and flaking.

Keep stress in check

There’s a study that links the psychological stress in college students and skin symptoms. It claims that those experiencing high stress levels show specific skin issues like itchy skin, hair loss, flaky and oily scalp, too much sweating, dry, scaly skin, and hand rashes. These researchers suspect that stress causes an increase in sebum production. It blocks the pores and creates more skin problems. 

Look for a stress-relieving activity, maybe yoga, working out, Zumba, reading a book, or simply watching a good film. All this for you to relax your mind and learn to classify your thoughts.

Get your beauty sleep

Never underestimate the value of sleep. Just like drinking water, napping and sleeping are free and can improve your skin tone. According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep deprivation is detrimental to your health and impacts the skin. One possible result is premature skin aging. Sun exposure is a stressor, and without sufficient sleep, it will be a challenge for your skin to repair any damages. So sleep adequately to keep that skin glow permanently.

Moisturize your body

The holy grail of skincare is skin moisturizers. They keep your skin hydrated, smooth, clear, and your future self will thank you later.

Your skin’s moisture barrier can maintain the proper balance if you use the right moisturizer that matches it. Blemishes are evened out, and they can help your skin repair itself. 

Again, choose a moisturizer that works best for your skin and that gives you the best result—saying that I have some tried and tested brands that work for me that I’ll share with you below. If you’re not sure where to start, make an appointment with your board certified dermatologist. 

My Favorite Skin Moisturizers

Eucerin Calming Cream is one of my favorite moisturizers because it’s thick and holds in the moisture and doesn’t cause a stickiness.

Coconut Oil is my next favorite because it’s natural, usually doesn’t have any additives, and is easily accessible for everyone.

And the last one is a two for one – bronzer and moisturizer. Lux Unfiltered No 32 adds moisture while giving you a glow for a few days. Active ingredients include shea butter, cocoa butter, natural DHA, and more! Love it!