(BlackDoctor.org) — Hot fun in the summertime! Yes, summer’s finally here! No more bulky winter clothes And it’s time show a little more of that beautiful, radiant, healthy, African-American skin! Are you ready?
Wait a minute! Hold it right there! You’ve got dry skin? You mean to tell me that you haven’t been moisturizing regularly and now you’re self-conscious about showing your skin?
Since your skin is your body’s largest organ, it’s very important to take very good care of it. After all, it’s the first thing everyone sees. But no worries. As usual, I’ve got the perfect solution for you that will make your skin glow like a baby’s bottom. And it won’t take a lot of work, time or money.
Exfoliate & Moisturize
The first thing you want to do is to exfoliate and moisturize. You want to scrub off all that dry, dead skin, then you want to protect the underlying layer – the smoother, healthier, newer layer – by keeping it moisturized.
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Scrub. For the body scrub, rougher does not necessarily mean better. Don’t go out and get liquefied Brillo pads – they just work to damage your skin. Instead, get a moisturizing body scrub that gently exfoliates while keeping your skin moisturized. Stay away from most products with alcohol because they tend to suck the moisture out of your skin, making it more dry and flaky.
Moisturize. There are a variety of products that are especially formulated to moisturize African American skin. I recommend a body butter or nutrient-rich oil, because generally, they’re thicker and more moisturizing than lotion. Translation: they stay on your skin for a lot longer, keeping more moisture in.
Sunscreen, Sunscreen, Sunscreen
Have you ever gone out on a foggy or overcast day and come home with your face feeling a little hot? More likely than not, you got sunburned. Yes, even on cloudy days, UV light can still penetrate and damage your skin.
Sunscreen isn’t just for sunny days at the beach. Your best bet to protect yourself from the damaging UV rays – which causes premature aging of the skin like wrinkles and age spots – is to wear sunscreen anytime you step outside.
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It’s best to choose something that is water resistant (in case you go swimming or sweat). A good rule of thumb is to apply sunscreen that has a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15 or higher.
SPF tells you the amount of time it would take for you to get sunburned when you have sunscreen on your skin versus without. For instance, if your sunscreen is SPF 15, and it normally takes you 5 minutes to burn when you don’t have sunscreen…your SPF 15 sunscreen will allow you to be exposed 15 x 5 minutes (75 minutes) before your skin burns. Make sure the sunscreen you get protects you from UVA and UVB light.
Don’t Forget!
Now that you’ve protected your skin from the harmful rays of the sun, how about a little pampering INSIDE your body?
Try mango and raspberry infused iced green tea for a refreshingly cool, crisp drink full of antioxidants.
You can make this yourself by making a pitcher of fresh green tea and adding slices of mango and a few raspberries in each glass. It looks great, tastes great, and best of all, it’s good for you!
Here’s to hot fun in the summertime!
By Juliette Samuel, BDO Contributing Writer
Juliette Samuel is a person who definitely knows beautiful when she sees it. Juliette has had a very eclectic career working in and around the beauty industry.
She has worked as an instructor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. She has also been a Professional Image Consultant.
Currently, Juliette works as a Skin Care Therapist, acting President and Chief Nose for NYRAJU Skin Care. As such she is in charge of product formulation and development of all scents produced for the line. Juliette is also a member of NAHA-The National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy, The Society of Cosmetic Chemist and is the Fragrance Editor for BellaOnline.
What does all that mean for you? It means Juliette is ever-on-her-toes when it comes to the type of information that you want and need to know!
