Your skin takes a beating day in and day out from pollution, stress, bad foods, and especially smoking. Every once in a while, you need to detoxify your skin so that it can breathe again. There are many ways to detoxify your skin, as well as many different products out there on the market, but all you need to know are just the 5 main ingredients. Include these 5 ingredients in your skin care regimen, and say hello to beautiful, healthy skin!
How to Detoxify Your Skin
#1. Sea Salt
Sea salt scrubs and soaks detox your skin by way of minerals, but did you know that sea salt also has moisturizing effects? In a study at the University of Kiel in Germany, subjects with chronic dry skin soaked themselves in sea salt for 15 minutes and found their skin's moisture barrier was significantly stronger for a full 6 weeks. “When you improve the skin's barrier function, it is very likely that less particulate matter penetrates skin,” says Jean Krutmann, a toxicologist and professor of dermatology and environmental medicine at the University of Düsseldorf in Germany.
#2. Antioxidants
Although antioxidants don't protect your skin from everyday pollutants, they play a major role in detoxifying your skin. Good antioxidants decrease the damage done by pollution and improves the collagen and elastin of your skin. Therefore, it's important that you use serums that contain Vitamin C, idebenone, niacinamide, or botanical antioxidants such as pomegranate.
#3. Charcoal
Charcoal has proven to benefit the skin immensely, and for good reason too. Basically, charcoal works like a vacuum. “Charcoal is absorbent enough to pull all the gunk you don't want, like pollution and dirt, out of pores,” says Ron Robinson, a cosmetic chemist. You can find charcoal in many face washes as well as face masks, or you can even make your own charcoal face wash. The trick with charcoal though, is that it only really works if you leave it on your skin for at least a full minute. Charcoal needs time to activate so when using it, keep that in mind.
#4. Soft Clay
We've long known the benefits of clay and mud-like cleansers, but soft clays are a little bit different in the sense that they usually contain an essential oil such as lavender or almond for a kick of moisture. If your skin is already dry, use soft clay instead of charcoal as it is much more moisturizing. Soft clay has the same benefits as charcoal though, drawing out impurities and toxins. You can choose from an array of soft clay masks from virtually anywhere or you can make your own organic soft clay mask right at home.
#5. Algae
Like seaweed, algae protects your skin and makes it glow by stimulating blood flow to the skin. A great antioxidant, algae is also rich in detoxifying minerals. You can now find algae in many different types of facial cleansers as well as masks.
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