My mother has taught me many things, but the one thing that she taught me, my sister AND brother is to take care of our skin. Our skin is an asset, a currency in age, a little something-something, the extra you will always be grateful for safe keeping. How?
Moisturize. Moisturize. Moisturize.
I grew up watching my beautiful mother spending hours (and I do say HOURS) putting on make up, jewelry, trying on clothes, just beautifying herself and enjoying who she was in front of the mirror. And the one thing she did without fail every morning and evening is moisturize. I would stare at her through the mirror of her large wooden dresser, lay out her multiple moisturizers in a row one next to the other, and the process would begin. She would start from the feet up, carrying energy and blood to flow upwards to the face.
“Toujours vers le haut” – “Always towards the top” – a motto I live with in many ways … My mother to this day, moisturizes from her toes to the top of her forehead. And now in turn, so do I.
Think of every movie, sitcom, video clip you’ve watched – there is always a woman moisturizing her hands before bed….why? Well, there are PLENTY of reasons to moisturize your body and face, however, for the sake of easing you into this almost religious ritual, we will only cover 10 reasons.
1. Your Skin Is Thirsty
Whenever you clean your skin, you strip your skin of dirt, pollution, oil and all the funky junk you don’t want. However, you are also stripping it of moisture. So with washing your face and body every morning and night; you slowly eat at the existing moisture that sits under the first layer of skin; resulting in thirsty skin. So when you moisturize you replenish what was lost and you get to lock in that cleanliness.
2. Empower your skin to say “NOT TODAY STACEY” to your breakouts.
Alright, so you have oily skin? Combo skin? Dry skin? Get pesky breakouts? Moisturize. The key is to choose the right moisturizer for your skin, there are so many options available that will suit your skin. If you have oily skin, then opt for a water based moisturizer, or a light moisturizer, same goes for combination skin. If you have dry skin then go for the heavier creams. Moisturizing helps regulate the oil that is being produced on your skin, the skin surface readjusts the over production of oil (which is what causes the pimples) and you get a balance. The dryer your skin gets, the more your skin gets oily because it thinks it has to overproduce oil to help keep it “moist” – this causes blocked pores and trapped dirt in pores and that leads to… you guessed it breakouts. So lets be one step ahead of those nuisances and lets moisturize.
3. Slow down aging…get ID-ed more often.
Who knew getting ID-ed would be something to look forward too? Well honey, it is when you are officially way way over 21 and people don’t believe it. That could be thanks to good genes, but it is damn sure thanks to moisturizing. Moisturizing helps trap the water in the skin, which makes it less likely for those fine lines to show (which are essentially the culprits that make you look older), resulting in youthful and smoother looking skin. Youth!
4. Moisturize to lock in the moisture (yes).
Sounds illogical? Not really, there is plenty of natural hydration that occurs in the skin, however if we do not replenish it, the body (miracle that it is) will push out the hydration to the external layer of the skin where is it lost throughout the day and night. To keep your natural hydration in check, let it drink up. Be generous with your moisturizer on your body and face. And let that natural glow do its thing!
5. Make your products work that much harder.
When you moisturize your face and body, you help seal in the last product you used on your skin. This is why moisturizing is usually the last step in your skin care routine, right before sun screen. Whenever you use products on your skin, they seep into your pores; however, if left exposed can oxidize or be rubbed off during the day. Adding a layer of moisturizer helps lock the goodness in and all that $$ spent on those amazing products will be worth it, as the product can actually do its job within your skin’s epidermis layer.
6. Increase your skin’s elasticity.
Skin elasticity is the ability of your skin to bounce back when pulled. Try it, pinch a small part of your skin on your knuckles and see how quickly it bounces back…that is skin elasticity. When the skin is dry, it is not likely to bounce back quickly, and that goes to say that anything that stretches your skin if you don’t have enough elasticity will not bounce back…. think water retention, weight gain, injuries, scars, aging etc. This is why you must hydrate, elasticity’s core energy source is water. So hydrate your skin and let that skin bounce like a baby.
7. Protect your skin.
Your skin is exposed to an incredible amount of pollution, dirt and germs that float around in your home, car, office, mall, and city! Exposing your skin to this causes a lot of damage to your skin – from dirt entering your open pores, to breakouts, to skin exhaustion as it has to work twice as hard to protect and clean your skin from external abrasions. Moisturizing creates a barrier between your skin and the outside factors that can cause long terms damage.
8. Helps with that “chicken-skin”.
You know what we are talking about… it can be on the back of your arm, back of your thigh, on your legs or on your butt! This is a mixture of dead skin, ingrown hairs and dry skin that needs some hydration. Get rid of the dead skin and ingrown hair by exfoliating those areas, and then soften and smoothen out the skin with a good old over the counter moisturizer. Anything to replenish that thirsty skin. In hydrating those areas, you get softer skin and less of a reactive area; resulting in less of the chicken-skin texture.
9. Better finish with your make-up.
Your make-up can flake around the edges of your mouth, nose, and anywhere there are folds when your skin is not hydrated well enough. It also gives it a cake-ey and uneven look when placed directly on skin that isn’t hydrated. Moisturizing helps your make-up spread evenly across your face and neck; and helps its blend together easier. Moisturizing creates a wet canvas to allow for everything to sit right together on your face.
10. It’s an act of self-love.
Every time you pick up that cream and lather it on your body and face, you are honoring a skin ritual of centuries before you. Rituals of kings & queens, lords & duchesses, princes and princesses – wow; ain’t that something? Seriously though, you connect and touch your skin with the objective of improving it, listening to it, and giving it some love. That’s self-care right there. Especially when we are all so used to talking in a not-so-nice voice about our bodies, when we take the time to love it when we moisturize it; it is as though we are rectifying the wrong. We take a soft hand to it; almost in an appeasing gesture, one that seeks to calm and connect our own hand to our own body. Connecting mind, body and soul!
Love this! Thank you for sharing.
Really enjoyed it!
I really enjoyed it!