How Does the Environment Effect Your Skin?
The environment affects everything around you, but specifically, what can it do to your skin? Your skin is the body's barrier to the outside world, it protects you from the elements. It is exposed to all sorts of things in a day, some that you may not be aware of. The environment you live in affects premature aging, for instance. Continue reading to learn how the environment affects your biggest organ, the skin.
Winter
In the winter, the indoor heat sucks the moisture out of the air, thus making your skin very dry. This dryness is usually higher than the rest of the year.
The combination of indoor heat and outdoor cold can make your skin extremely dry. However, the cold causes pores to close up, making the skin less oily. With the right skin care products, such as a biological skin care balm, you can keep your skin moisturized.
Summer
In summer, air conditioning and fans are used to cool down the indoor environment. They have a dehydrating effect on the skin, because they speed up the evaporation process from the surface of the body. Unless one drinks plenty of water to make up for the dehydration, inelasticity of the skin will be the result.
Once outside, there is the heat to consider, which opens up the pores on the skin. This in turn allows for increased oil secretion and thus oily skin. As a consequence, the stale oil on the skin combined with environmental dust and other pollutants can lead to blocked pores and result in black heads and pimples.
Sun
It is common knowledge that the sun can be harmful to the skin. Regardless of the season, it still reaches the skin and cause problems, such as sunburns and sunspots. This is one of the biggest environmental issues the skin has to deal with. UV rays can cause skin cancer to develop, as moles and freckles appear more often and darker. It is wise to use a facial moisturizer that has SPF protection in it already, so that you won't have to remember sunscreen everyday. The sun also dehydrates your skin, and prolonged sun bathing can lead to leathery textured skin. Therefore a hat when you are outside can really be useful.
Air Pollution
Vehicles emit a large part of the earth's air pollution. Cars emit a wide variety of pollutants, mainly carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. Factories are also culprits causing bad air that can upset the skin. Sulphur dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels produces smog, and factories are major contributors.
The contaminants in the air around us interfere with the skin's normal pH. It can cause it to become acid or alkaline, depending on the type of pollutant the skin is exposed to. This is followed by an abnormal release in oils from the skin, which is actually our skin's natural defense. The body's natural detoxification system is impaired, leading to acne. Pollutants in the air also encourage free radicals, which speed up aging.
For anti aging skin care to fight off the effects of the environment around you, choose products that contain cell renewal agents. People with sun damaged skin, which includes most people at some level or another, products containing cell renewal agents are also crucial for rebuilding the damaged cells. Also, skin care products with extremely high quality moisturizers become increasingly important as the years go by. BioBeautyBalm is a great product to protect your skin from the environmental factors discussed above. It's highly moisturizing and it contains a very special ingredient which stimulates cell renewal. This ingredient is a natural substance produced by the little snail to rejuvenate it's own sun exposed skin.
Published April 23rd, 2009
Filed in Beauty
