I remember a few years ago I got it…the “crud” as some call it. Chest & sinus congestion with laryngitis. Oh happy day! Not your normal cold, this lasted well over 10 days of being too sick to work. This also meant, honestly, I was too sick to do much more than lay around, drink fluids and take medications (both allopathic and “non-traditional”/herbal). It meant I wasn’t washing my face morning and night and obviously not doing an at-home facial or even simply exfoliating. How did my skin look? IN NEED! Adding to this, I had gone on a camping trip (where I caught the bug) the weekend before I got sick, so I wasn’t able to take great care of my skin in that situation either. What this all amounts to is: My skin needed some emergency care!

Whenever you are temporarily unable to take care of your skin, you can do a few things on the back end to help your skin look its best.

1. Drink a lot of water. It helps clear your skin and keep your organs moving toxins along. Even if you weren’t sick but still weren’t taking care of your skin, drinking more water will benefit your whole body, including your deprived skin.
2. Get back into your twice daily cleansing routine ASAP. Without giving your skin a general cleanse morning and night, you are asking for trouble eventually. When your circumstances change (ie: you’re feeling better after an illness), just do it!
3. Exfoliate at the least; give yourself an at-home facial at best. The at-home facial involves a (clay-based) mask. The addition of the mask after exfoliation will help to revive your skin and put moisture back on the surface.
4. Exfoliate (preferably with Yonka’s Gommage) 3 days in a row. Once is fine, but if your skin is in need (especially if it’s breaking out), exfoliating consecutively will help to snap it back into shape. It improves circulation, gets rid of dead skin and excess oil, and improves texture immediately.
5. Get a professional facial. For some this is not possible, but if you can, do. During a facial your aesthetician will be able to assess your specific needs and give your depleted skin everything it needs.

Getting your skin back in shape after (hopefully only a temporary) absence from care isn’t so hard to do. It just takes a few steps every day and your skin will be glowing again in no time!

This entry was posted on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 10:18 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.