a simple skincare tip...because I love you!!

While for the love of a house started as a renovation blog some 10 years ago now; I feel it has morphed into a lifestyle blog at this point.  I love sharing our life, our girls, our home, my designs, projects, the gardens, my favorite things, et cetera with you.  I have several "favorites" posts that I've been compiling for over a year that I'm excited to share, but this one simple tip deserves it's own quick post because it has had a huge impact on the health and well-being of my skin, not to mention my daily comfort level since it has been over a year now since I've experienced a single day of dry skin, I kid you not!  I'm sure you can imagine the toll a winter in New England can take on one's skin;)  I hope this tip will aid (at least some of) you too if you suffer from dry, itchy skin. (fyi- we do this year round, not just in winter)
Sometimes I feel foolish sharing such random little things with you and I will question myself and talk myself out of sharing, but I always revert to the old adage "if it helps one person... ." I have found over the last 10 years of blogging that those little random tips/shares are often the things that I get repeat feedback/thanks about even years later.  I'm also trying to post more on what's on my mind instead of overthinking posts which I usually do and then end up not posting at all.... you know, like for over a year😲 ;)  Enough of my rambling...


Does your skin look or feel like this?!

Are you ready for this wonderful tip for your body's largest organ?!  It is simple and will cost you zero, nada, zip....nothing (except for the moisturizer ;)

I learned this from a board certified dermatologist that I follow on YouTube,

 Dr. Andrea Suarez aka, Dr Dray 
She is like having a best friend who is a dermatologist and goes into depth about all the things you want to know from your own dermatologist, but there is just never enough time in your annual exam to ask everything!
You DO get an annual exam from a dermatologist yes????????
If not, find one and make an appointment now as they can easily book be booking now for an appointment 6 months down the road.  

After you shower/bathe apply moisturizer IMMEDIATELY to wet skin.  

Do Not towel dry or even pat dry- simply apply moisturizer and air dry.  Yep... that's it. 
Mike drop🙋!!!!!! hahaha  
Yes, it is a wee chilly to air dry (even in the summer), but I promise you your skin will feel amazing and it is totally worth it!  (I will address this more below;)


By doing this simple act you are preventing transepidermal water loss (TEWL) from taking place.  TEWL is the process in which moisture from the deepest level of the skin (the dermis) evaporates through the outmost layer of the skin (the epidermis).  TWEL is a continuous, passive process that is not to be confused with sweating.
Towel drying or pat drying your skin and then applying moisturizer allows for transepidermal water loss to occur, because TWEL happens very fast!  In less than a minue (between the time you have towel dried then applied moisturizer) the TWEL may have decrease by more than 50%  SOURCE

This is an excellent article that explain TEWL
HERE

(Also, for those of you who use olive oil as a moisturizer you should know that Dr. Dray has stated that when olive oil is used as a moisturizer (i.e. left on the skin) it has been shown to increase the TEWL.  It impairs the skin barrier.)


We use CeraVe moisturizing cream in the tub HERE,  We use this on our face and body, but they have lighter moisturizers, and daytime with spf/nighttime moisturizers as well.  (Check with Dr. Dray for more recommended moisturizers- she has many favorites and gives honest reviews on all.)
Yes, it's a bit difficult to get on your back, but the application helps you get much better with the reverse prayer pose in yoga!!

Why CeraVe,  because it contains ceremides, it is readily available and is inexpesive.    "Ceramides are lipids that help form the skin's barrier and help skin retain moisture.  Ceramides make up 50% of our skin barrier.  They also help the skin protect against environmentail aggressors like irritants, and pollution.  Without the proper ration of ceramides, the skin's barrier can become compromised, leading to dryness, itching and irritation." SOURCE
As we age our body makes less ceramides.  But the amazing thing is that if you apply ceramides topically (i.e. in the form of a moisturizer) your body will start to make more of your own ceramides!


 
(Yes, yes I know-  it contains petroleum and I got on my high-horse and told you how I quit using mineral oil (a petroleum based product) on my soapstone kitchen counter tops for a natural wax product, and here I am using it on my entire body!  WTW?!!  I am a hypocrite😁 and I accept all responsibility 😂 But here's the thing... upon researching petroleum it is an organic compound that was formed millions of years ago from the remains of ancient marine organisms.  So doesn't that make it organic?!
It you are worried about the use of petroleum based products, and/or mineral oil I highly recommend you read these articles
HERE
HERE
HERE

Okay, so the mere thought (much less the actual event) of getting out of the shower with still-wet moisturizer in the dead of a freezing New England winter makes me have goose bumps!  To make it bearable I purchased this little heater HERE (I found mine at Costco) that I turn on for only a couple of minutes to take the chill off.  (The heater part is SO NOT Dr. Dray approved, but if I didn't do it I wouldn't moisturize on wet skin, and then my skin would still be dry and itchy, so I figure it is a motivational tool for me!:)

I am a skin care junkie, and I'm not going down without a fight with this whole aging business!  Dr. Dray's YouTube channel has been an eye-opening fact-based education as she teaches what actually works, what doesn't, reminds you to wear sunscreen every single day of the year and in the meantime saves you tons of time and wasted money on ingredients/products that don't work and actually harm your skin barrier (i.e. anything with fragrance.)   She has topics on all types of skin issues/diseases and cosmetic procedures, suncreen ingredients, etc, etc.  If it has to do with dermatology she talks about it!  The following are links to two vlogs she did on how to moisturize skin and on mature skin.  (And to my sweet young things reading this, you can NEVER start taking care of your skin too early!  Moisturize and use sunscreen daily! xxo)
don't forget to follow her too!

HERE
and
HERE

I will leave you with this cute story...
At the end of October Dan and I flew out to Portland, Oregon where my mother lives in a lovely retirement center, to surprise her on her 91st birthday!

When we arrived my mother's skin looked like a peeling onion, even her ears😰 I took out a tiny tube of CeraVe Healing Oinment (which I keep in my purse to use on cuticles) and started applying it to her face.  Her skin went from peeling onion to peach and looked ah-mazing! (Look how great it looks in the photo above!)  I then went out and bought her literally 6 tubs of both the moisturizing cream and the healing ointment and had her start applying it herself.  She looked, and more importantly, felt so much better- no more itchy, peeling skin.  So about a week later my 50-something cousin, Kim -aka Saint Kim as we call her;), went to visit my mother like she does most weekends, and she could not get over how "incredible" my mother's skin looked.  Kim told my mother that she looked like she was only 70!  My mother told her about the CeraVe that she had been religiously applying.  Kim said she needed to get some!
Kim then went to visit her 23 year old daughter and her roommate and told them how her aunt got this great cream and her skin looks amazing , like she's 70.  The twenty year olds laughed and said "that's great, if you want to look 70!" 😄😜😀
Then a couple of weeks later, after Kim had been using CeraVe she was back visiting her daughter and roommate and was bragging how great the product was and that they should try it.  They teased her and said that now she looked 70!
Fastforward a few more weeks and Kim is visiting her daughter and roommate again, and the roommate thanked Kim for telling her about CeraVe!  She said her skin had never been softer!  The other girls laughed and said they wanted to look 70 too!!
 My mother loved the story and Kim told her that she had started a trend because now everyone wants to look amazing like her and look 70!!

Now go on...and make that Dermatologist appointment, moisturize and apply sunscreen every day-  because I care about you and Dr. Dray said so!!
xxojoan