So today's book will help you understand more about the secrets of the skin, the misconceptions as well as the scientific skin care, the author of this book is Yael Adler, a famous German dermatologist, also a plastic surgeon, nutrition expert, member of many dermatology and nutrition medical associations. This book is her first popular science work on skin care, since its release it has been loved by readers, entered the bestseller list in Germany, and quickly published in 31 countries. When reading this book, I realize that the real secret lies in two words "science", caring scientifically is the best way to care, but what methods and beliefs are considered scientific, let's see what this famous dermatologist shares with us.
Common Misconceptions about Skin Care
To have beautiful skin, do we really need to follow a complicated daily routine with expensive skincare products? Nowadays we see a lot of advertisements with faces represented by celebrities, which make many people think that those skincare products can make people more beautiful, and the more expensive they are, the more effective they are, cosmetic companies all claim that their products have some miraculous technology that helps you quickly improve bad skin conditions, making the skin smooth and youthful. But in reality, simple skincare products cannot achieve these miraculous functions, some high-end skincare products, expensive ones are said to help the skin look younger, in fact, there is no active ingredient that can penetrate deep into the skin, it is important to note that this is a good thing, because the body is protecting you, because the protective barrier and tough epidermis of the skin are preventing these substances from penetrating inside, causing damage to the already loose and aging fibers of our skin.
So if skincare products cannot make us more beautiful, then will cosmetic procedures achieve that, right? Using medical cosmetic methods to directly change appearance is a shortcut, but taking shortcuts also means encountering many risks, and much higher costs, the first issue is that undergoing cosmetic procedures to care for the skin will be much more expensive than using regular skincare products, furthermore, maintaining beauty obtained from cosmetics is like buying a car, not only do you have to spend money to buy it, but you also have to constantly maintain it, if not, the effectiveness of beauty will gradually disappear, but once you see yourself looking better, it is very difficult for people to accept the return of ugliness. So you may see many people once they choose to undergo cosmetic procedures, they are very likely to become addicted and cannot stop. The second issue is the risks and side effects of repairing with high-tech, artificial technology, encountering damage is unavoidable. So how should we care for our skin scientifically?
Scientific Skin Care
The answer is actually very simple, so simple that you won't believe it, as mentioned above, we are very familiar with many media under the influence of businesses, sharing skincare routines with many steps, emphasized as indispensable, but for dermatologists, the core and basic skincare actually lies in the cleansing step.
- Do you really know how to wash your face?
Cleansing scientifically is different from what we usually do, it is estimated that most people use facial cleanser at least twice a day, but in reality this number is not suitable for the actual needs of the skin, scientifically speaking, it is best to cleanse the skin once a week, yes, you heard it right, once a week, because the skin is like the fortress of our body, the protective barrier on the epidermis, is your loyal fortress, the author says washing your face with facial cleanser twice a day is like taking a shower once a day with body wash, using many alkaline substances, even using exfoliating products regularly is a disaster, the protective barrier from the epidermis and the protective acid mantle that the epidermis has tried to create for us, is finally being completely erased by us.
If you use a foaming facial cleanser, choose gentle products that do not tighten the skin after washing, are fragrance-free, do not produce much foam, and do not contain additional pigments, and especially use fewer exfoliating and oily substances, another thing to note is not to apply facial cleanser directly on the face, but rub it evenly on your hands, create foam by hand, then rub it on your face, next is when washing your face, be very gentle, do not rub too hard, then dry your face by gently pressing with a towel for 3 to 5 seconds, instead of rubbing it dry, and a piece of advice is that you should use a disposable face towel, because normal towels are very prone to bacteria.
- Sunscreen
You need to know that sunlight will cause sunburn on your skin, there are three types of sunburn that you need to pay special attention to: first is freckles, second is melasma, and third is moles. Here I will emphasize the importance of paying attention to moles on your body, in fact moles are benign tumors, however, direct exposure to sunlight, not only promotes the formation of moles, but can also make them malignant, or lead to skin cancer. Therefore, the author advises that you should carefully observe the moles on your body and your loved ones, if the mole is not round, but has uneven edges, or no border, then they are dangerous moles, moles with multiple colors: brown, black, red mixed together, then they are likely to be damaged, in this case you need to see a dermatologist immediately.
The author also gives two pieces of advice: first, do not pluck hair on moles, it is very unsafe, second, if you accidentally scratch a mole, do not worry too much, it will not increase the risk of cancer, besides, if you have many moles on your body, then it is not actually a bad thing, scientists have found that people with more moles have a larger telomere reserve, and telomere is closely related to human longevity, but you need to pay attention to carefully observe whether your moles are deteriorating. So the effective way for us to prevent these skin issues is sunscreen, and this is also the method that the author wants us to focus on, to take care of the skin best, you need to apply sunscreen daily.
- Proper Nutrition
And diet is closely related, always remember a saying that: you are what you eat, a diet high in fats, salt, and sugar, is the cause of oily skin and acne, a particularly emphasized point is that we must avoid eating a lot of processed fats, refined white flour, and sugar. For example, rice, bread, cakes, cookies, bubble tea, sweets, these are the skin's killers, they make your face and body age quickly, instead, choose to snack on fruits, replace rice with whole grains, eat all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables to supplement vitamins and antioxidants. If you have acne and are prone to breakouts, then you should eat more fruits, nuts to promote the skin's self-recovery process, and if you are determined to avoid skin's enemies, then at least your skin condition will be improved to a certain extent.
- Get Enough Sleep
Drink plenty of water every day, then see if your skin quickly loses elasticity and looks lifeless, it is very likely that you are lacking sleep, and staying up late will make your skin dry, melanin cannot be metabolized and excreted, resulting in wrinkles, eye bags, dark circles, and other issues on the skin surface, in addition, these issues are very difficult to solve with regular skincare products, unless you use some medical beauty methods. However, as we mentioned before, undergoing medical cosmetic procedures is very expensive and risky, from this perspective, going to bed early saves money, and sleeping well every day is a simple way to have completely scientifically beautiful skin, here we need to note that losing sleep is like spilled water, don't think that you can make up for it tomorrow, sleeping in on Sunday to make up for the whole week, most of the damage on the skin from staying up late cannot be recovered by catching up on sleep.
- Exercise More
You will easily notice that athletes have smooth, firm, and elastic skin, this is the result of long-term exercise, so maintain daily exercise, if you want your skin to look better and younger than normal people, you don't necessarily have to exercise at a high intensity like athletes, but you just need to try to maintain a relatively stable exercise plan, which is also very good. In addition, avoid sitting for too long, you can set a time and remind yourself every 30 minutes to an hour to stand up.
- Be Happy
Finally, to look younger and more beautiful, the unexpected great way is to be happy, standing in front of someone you like, we are ready for the other person to touch our skin, this proves that the skin is a bridge connecting emotions, our skin is the mirror reflecting the inner state of you, and negative emotions will affect the skin. For example, prolonged anxiety can cause allergic rashes on the skin, a more common phenomenon is that when stressed, we are prone to acne, similarly, beautiful emotions will be written on the skin, a person in a happy state for a long time, their skin is very bright, so it is said that joy makes people radiant, for a truly happy person, at any age, joy can also be present through their skin, and perhaps that is the most attractive. In conclusion, to have healthy skin, the first thing to solve is your psychological issues, if you encounter something stressful, try to change your perspective, look at the problem positively and adjust yourself.