o-factory Bath and Body Works

Are you moisturizing the wrong way?

Most of us are.

You get itchy, you look at your skin, you notice it's dry and flaky, so you load on the cream.

And that's ok, but it's not really the best way to moisturize.

Of course, if you notice your skin is dry, say, from frequent washing, moisturize right away, but moisturizing properly will help you avoid ever having dry, flaky skin in the first place.

The trick is to understand how and why moisturizers work and get into a routine that really works

Moisturize before your skin starts to suffer.
If you’re like most of us, you don’t moisturize until you notice that your skin is dry or rough. The fact is, if you’re dry and flaky, your skin is already too low in the oils it needs to stay healthy. You don’t let your car run out of gas before you fill it up; don’t let your skin dry out before you moisturize.

Avoid yo-yo-ing oil levels.

Ah, bedtime. Time to relax, snuggle in, and take some “me” time to care for ourselves and our skin. Now, believe it or not, moisturizing at bedtime can be a pretty bad habit. All day long, your skin is steadily losing oils through handwashing and the very act of touching things, so if you wait until bedtime before you moisturize, your skin oil levels can get really low through the day. On the other hand, your skin will be working all night to replenish its own natural oils, so adding extra moisturizer at bedtime can result in oil levels that are way too high through the night (unless you shower or bathe at night).

The best time to moisturize is mid-day (when oil levels are not too high and not too low) and after bathing or showering (which takes moisture out of the skin).

Make moisturizing an event, not an afterthought.

You’re busy. Who has time to stop and go moisturize? Besides, it’ll just get washed off when you do the dishes anyway, right? Well, it’s all in the way you look at it. If moisturizing is something you need to go do quickly so you can get back to what you’re doing, it will always slip your mind until it’s too late. But if you make the time for it, it can become part of your day, just like eating lunch or reading the paper.

First, set the tone – use moisturizing as your quiet time. Make it part of your after-shower routine, when your skin is warm and your pores are open, or just warm up the room and plan to spend a bit of time on yourself. Bottom to top or top to bottom, the order doesn’t really matter, but it helps to find an order and stick to it so you don’t miss any parts. Don’t rush. Massage the moisturizer in, slowly but firmly, until it’s absorbed. Your skin’s circulation will benefit from the massage, and this offers you a great opportunity to take stock of any blemishes or other issues with your skin.