WANT BETTER SKIN? MAKE THIS TINY CHANGE

The skin-care advice delivered to me during a facial is typically some sort of overwhelmingly large lifestyle change ("Do you consume a lot of cheese and milk? Stop." "No more spicy food, ever." "Go gluten-free." "Cut soy."). So when Carrie Lindsey, a facialist at Shen Beauty in Brooklyn, told me about a tiny tweak that could transform my skin—washing my face with cool water instead of my usual steaming-hot splashes—it seemed surprisingly manageable. I was in.

Cranking the faucet handle to the far left every morning and in the shower every night (even when outdoor-air temperatures aren't plunging) is as automatic for me as breathing. But it turns out, that's a major skin sin: As comforting as hot water feels, it saps moisture, leaving your face dry and tight. "I tell my clients to wash their faces with cool-to-lukewarm water, then rinse with cold water to seal and close the pores," says Lindsey. "Too much heat is never good for the skin."

Dermatologist Joshua Zeichner echoes this advice: "While we all love long, hot showers in the winter, they're no good for our skin. They can actually strip the skin of essential oil that protects the outer layer." It can also exacerbate other skin problems, according to dermatologist Judith Hellman. "Hot water dilates the blood vessels and can result in flare-ups of rosacea and other conditions. Washing in general, but especially with hot water, removes the protective layer of lipids over the skin," she says.

When the skin's lipids (or fats) start to wear away, moisture creeps out of the gaps in your skin's barrier. "The skin develops cracks, can't properly protect itself, and further loses water content," explains Zeichner. (And if tiny, moisture-leaking cracks in the skin weren't bad enough, dehydration causes dead skin cells to cling to the skin, rather than sloughing off, making it look drab in addition to feeling thirsty and desperate.)

Lindsey's cool-water switch is a simple, no-fail way to fight this drying, dulling process. "Treat skin like delicates in the laundry—cool wash and a cold rinse. Every now and then a little steam session or warm water won't hurt," she says, "but not very often. Once a week is my recommendation." In addition to nixing that twice-a-day hot-water habit, "look for products with ingredients like hyaluronic acid, a humectant that pulls water into the stratum corneum for hydration" advises Zeichmer (try Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel or Kaplan MD Cellular Rejuvenating Concentrate). "Ceramides help replace the fats that may have been lost and seal in cracks between skin cells” (he likes CeraVe Moisturizing Cream).

Source link: http://www.allure.com/beauty-trends/blogs/daily-beauty-reporter/2015/10/cool-water-skin-care.html