Not only thin and sensitive facial skin needs daily care. The skin of the body no less needs our attention and care. Some expert advice.
A persistent stereotype that arose from commercials: the face requires anti-aging care, and the body needs only anti-cellulite. But in dreams of a perfect figure, it is easy to forget what literally lies on its surface. Namely – about the skin of the body.
“While spending significant amounts on facial products and procedures, women rarely think that the areas below are also suffering and aging,” says Beauty Plaza creative cosmetologist Nata Topchiashvili. “Many believe that since the body is protected by clothing, it is inaccessible to external aggression, and therefore does not need special care. A simple milk or perfumed cream, coupled with anti-cellulite products – this is the maximum beauty for the body. Although in fact the skin here is changing at about the same pace as on the face. Moreover, she suffers not only because of the summer overdose of ultraviolet radiation, but also because of its absence in winter. During this period, the production of vitamin D decreases, the absorption of calcium, the fibers weaken. Add to this clothes that prevent the skin from breathing, a natural tendency to dehydration, weight changes … In general, by the age of 35-40, the body literally needs care, ”adds the director of research laboratories Clarins Lionel de Benetti (Lionel de Benetti). It is care, he emphasizes and encourages from young nails to regularly moisturize the skin from head to toe in order not only to feel better, but also to avoid many problems. For example, experiences due to the same cellulite: after all, one of the reasons for its occurrence is the loss of tone and weakness of the fibers that occur during dehydration.
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- Cleansing through the skin
Power on
The spa menu of almost all beauty centers includes from five to fifteen body treatments. But the most popular are again anti-cellulite. “For most clients, body care is in the nature of “jerks”: before the beach season or a solemn event, they urgently take a course of weight loss, and then disappear again,” says Elena Panasenko, master of the Aldo Coppola salon at Barvikha Luxury Village. And he complains that, focusing on the struggle for the silhouette, the majority does not pay attention to the condition of the skin of the body at all: “Unfortunately, even for many young girls, it is thin and sluggish, like parchment. And at the same time, I have to literally beg them to take a course of body wraps! It just doesn’t occur to them that something is wrong with their skin.” Many experts also note the paradox of generations: in 45-year-old women who take care of themselves, the body looks much more appetizing than in their 20-year-old daughters! “I’m tired of explaining to them how important it is to alternate popular fat-burning and draining treatments with those that nourish and strengthen the skin,” says Tatiana Voznesenskaya, trainer of Jean d’Estrées body programs. But today there are a lot of anti-aging body wraps based on plant cell extracts, collagen, bioflavonoids and others. In composition, they differ little from face masks, but the concentration of components in them is higher. After all, the skin of the body is denser and can absorb more of the necessary substances.
at home
Home care products have long overtaken (if not surpassed) facial products. There are firming, and tightening, and rejuvenating, and even lifting creams. It is creams: due to the rich texture, they give a more pronounced result, weeks of liquid products. Especially in winter, when heating, tap water and layered clothing make the skin rough, dry and flaky. The mere sight of solid, solid jars of body creams declares the effectiveness of their contents. Ascetic bottles of milk or gel are more associated with solving specific problems: cellulite, edema, stretch marks, and so on. Another thing is a thick, oily cream that envelops the body like a second skin, giving a feeling of protection and “saturation”. In addition, the stroking movements with which we apply the product calm the sensitive nerve endings. That is why, in difficult moments of life, the old-fashioned advice remains invariably relevant: take a shower (or rather a bath), exfoliate your skin well with a scrub, slowly oil yourself with cream, wrap yourself in a soft bathrobe and lie down for five minutes. The world will be much better! Those who do not like products that are dense in consistency should make friends with at least one such product. After all, it can also be applied locally: on the shins, calves, feet, which often become rough and “cling” tights. And also on the elbows and forearms, which are also prone to dryness. By the way, men always pay attention to such trifles. “When I meet a woman, the first thing I do is take her – no, not below the waist (although some people do just that), but by the elbow,” says 29-year-old Roman with a smile. “And I immediately understand whether it will be pleasant for me to caress this woman, or whether I will spend the night with a roll of emery.”
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Layered cake
However, if we follow all the recommendations of the manufacturers, then we will have to apply five or even ten products to the body. In other words, we are advised to buy separate products for the neckline, chest, abdomen, thighs, buttocks, calves, arms and feet. From above, “cover up” everything with a rejuvenating cream, and then, if desired, perfumed. By the way, recently anti-aging serums have been added to this army, which must be rubbed before all of the above. Question: where to get the time, money and skin that will learn all this? The answer is simple: you should listen to the voice of reason. And act according to the needs of your body. Do not forget about biologically active food supplements. This is by no means about dietary supplements for weight loss or the fight against cellulite (most of them are a mixture of a laxative with a diuretic, coupled with polymers that swell in the stomach). But complexes for skin tone have proven themselves very well. They do not rebuild the natural processes of the body, but only supply substances, the lack of which the skin acutely feels with age. For the density and elasticity of the fibers – antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. And for tenderness and softness – unsaturated fatty acids (omega 3, 6, 9). Although manufacturers in the annotations focus on improving the condition of the skin of the face, it is worth remembering that the body is a single whole. And anti-aging dietary supplements have no less beneficial effect on the skin of the body. So it’s better to adjust your diet and save on the “layer cake” of numerous creams.
Conductor of our feelings
Heat, cold, soft or rough touches – our skin feels all this, absorbs it, catches any signal from the outside world in order to immediately transfer it to our brain. The surface of our body is approximately 2 m2 of skin, on which there are about 5 million nerve endings. It is in it that an infinite variety of our sensations is born, on which the way we generally feel at the moment in this world directly depends. American anthropologist, philosopher and researcher Ashley Montagu was the first to confidently state: “The skin is the main organ of our senses. Each of her sensations corresponds to one of the most important human messages. And the main among them, of course, is love and care, to which our whole being responds with gratitude.
* A. Montagu «Touching: The Human Significance of The Skin» (Columbia University Press, 1971).