The skin is the largest organ of the body and yet most of usdon’t do enough to maintain our skins health. Most of us spend millions onbody products every month, but are they buying the right ones? How much do youreally know about what your skin needs, what type of skin you have, what kindof soaps and lotions are the best for your skin?

SKIN TYPES AND ITS CARE

Beautiful skin =loads of compliments=heads turningaround!!!!!

Every individual has his/her own skin type. It depends on genetic,environmental and hereditary factors. Diet plays and important role. Occupationaffects the type of skin too. For example a journalist who stays outdoors mostof the time have to face the harsh sun and hence would require more of sunscreen based moisturizer and a good cleanser.

Similarly a person sitting in an air-conditioned office maydevelop dry skin as cool air causes depletion of moisture from the skin thusmaking it tight and stretched. In this case a good creamy moisturizer and acold cream at night is a must to maintain the glow.

SKIN TYPES

It is important to find your own skin type so that you canselect the right products to be used on your skin.

There are four categories of skin: Normalskin, dry skin, oily skin, combination skin (dry and oily) and T-Zone.

1.Normal Skin: This type of skin is smooth in texture,elastic and supple with balanced proportion of oil and water. This type of skinis translucent and glows! It has tiny pores. Normal skin needs good care tomaintain its velvety touch and glow.

SKIN CARERECOMMENDED: Use a face scrub, which will remove any dead cells developed, thenuse a mild face wash to maintain the oil and water balance. A toner should beused followed by a mild moisturizer, which includes UVA/UVB sunscreen and antioxidant protection.

2.Dry Skin: This skinfeels tight and stretched after a wash. It is flaky and develops wrinkles andlines at an early stage. Dry skin has less amount of moisture and sebum.

Skin Care Recommended: It needs a good moisturizer inthe daytime and a good night cream as well. Night cream is very important asthe skin is relaxed and rejuvenates faster than in daytime.

Oily Skin: This type of skin is greasy and prone topimples, black heads, and white heads as it gathers dry dirt from thesurrounding environment. Sebaceous glands secrete more sebum than requiredhence making the skin oily. This skin looks younger when you get old as itretains the moisture which otherwise gets depleted with age.

SKIN CARERECOMMENDED: Oily skin requires thorough cleansing very regularly to remove thedirt, which stick to the oily surface. Use a gentle foam face wash that removesexcess dirt. Next step is to use an astringent and then a very lightmoisturizer. At night wash your face again with an astringent followed byminimum quantity of light moisturizer.

Combinationfor dry and oily skin type with a T-Zone: As the name suggests this type ofskin is a combination of dry patches and oily patches. Forehead, chin and noseare oily whereas the rest of the area feels dry. Oily patches develop blackheads, white heads and spots.

SKIN CARERECOMMENDED: Use a strong astringent on oily areas. Use a mild moisturizerconcentrating more on dry patches. At night apply moisturizer on dry areas.

SensitiveSkin: Sensitive skin feels irritable, scratchy, itchy and forms redness whenexposed to harsh environmental conditions like temperature above 28 degreeCelsius or temperature below 10degree Celsius.

SKIN CARERECOMMENDED: Avoid using soaps or face wash. Stay away from strong chemicalproducts as they might cause irritation. Wash your face with plenty of freshwater. Use a mild, unperfumed moisturizer, a sunscreen lotion and a good coldcream at night.

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Freckles

Freckles are brownspots on face especially on nose and cheeks which common in individuals withfair complexion. They might be as small as a pinhead or slightly bigger. Theycan be round or flat. Melanocytes are cells located in the lowest layer of ourskin called epidermis. Melanocytes produce pigment called melanin, which issecreted when skin gets exposed to sun to protect the skin from ultra violetrays. Uneven distribution of melanin causes its excessive secretion in somepatches resulting in formation of brown spots known as freckles. They might getreduced when exposed to cold weather but increase when skin gets exposed tohigh temperature. As a result in some cases freckles may fade away completelyin winters and gradually return in summers. Freckles also fade away with age.Tanning causes rapid increase in production of melanin thus causing increasednumber of freckles around cheeks and on nose.

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MYTH: FRECKLES ARECANCEROUS

No, freckles are NOTcancerous. They are just a form of pigmentation due to over production ofmelanin in the skin. Most of the times it is difficult to distinguish betweenfreckles and brown spots. Visit a dermatologist before going in for any kind oftreatment to know whether the appeared pigmentation are freckles or brownspots. Brown spots can be pre cancerous or cancerous.

Treatments suggested for freckles: Laser Treatment canbe opted for as the freckles melanin pigment absorbs the rays of laser lighteasily thus fading away slowly.

Sun Screen As exposure to the sun is the prime reasonbehind the occurrence of freckles, it gets mandatory to wear a strong sunscreenlotion to avoid the ultra violet rays from penetrating into the epidermal layerof the skin.

Cryosurgery: Though this method is not very often usedfor removal of freckles but in some cases individuals have been seen opting forthis surgery. Liquid nitrogen is applied on the affected areas with a pray gunor a cotton tip. But sometimes it causes appearance of permanent white spotsdue to long and direct contact with nitrogen.

Bleaching creams: Bleaching creams can be used tominimize freckles on the skin. Problem related with the use of bleaching creamsis that it bleaches the entire skin thus resulting in same colour differencebetween the pigmented skin and normal skin. Retin-A is recommended to minimizethe occurrence of freckles as it tends to normalize the pigmentation.