Sound Skin Care Your skin is the largest organ of your body, just like your heart or your kidney. Its job is to protect your insides so it is important for it to be healthy. If you eat a healthy diet, drink lots of water, keep it clean, and protect it from the sun, your skin will stay healthy all your life. Sounds easy, right? Then you may ask, "Why has my skin started going haywire?" The answer is puberty and all the hormonal changes that go with it. When you hit the stage in adolescence where your body starts to change, your skin changes as well. These changes all are caused by extra hormones, or body chemicals, rushing through your body, telling it how to change. Think of hormones as your own construction crew. The extra hormones can cause your skin to be oily or to break out into pimples. You may feel self-conscious about it, but with some extra care, your skin can be under control. From the Inside Let's start from the inside. What you put into your body has a huge effect on how the outside looks and feels. Eating healthy foods is important. For information about nutrition, check out Eating Right the Girl Power! Way. It is also important to drink plenty of water. Over half of your body is water, and you lose 1 to 3 quarts per day1,2 without even sweating heavily! Imagine how much more you will lose when you exercise! You need to drink enough water to keep your body hydrated so that your skin is hydrated. Drinking water keeps your internal systems clean and lets your body work right. Regular exercise also helps keep your body working well, which affects your skin, too! Check out Feeling Fit for ideas and information about exercise. From the Outside Now that you know how to take care of your skin from the inside, let's talk about how to take care of your skin from the outside. The first step is to keep it clean. You may have been using regular soap on your face when you were younger, but now may be the right time to switch to a cleanser specially made for your face. Look for a mild, alcohol-free cleanser, and use it every day. Use it in the morning and at night, or after a workout. You may have heard about something called exfoliation (pronounced ex-foal-ee-ay-shun). That means to rub or scrub away the top layer of dead skin cells. Some people use scrubs with small grains in them to do this, but these probably are too harsh for many of us. You can exfoliate by rubbing your face gently once or twice a week with a warm, wet washcloth. If you have pimples, the first thing to remember is to keep your hands off them! Don't squeeze or pick at pimples—you might make the pimples worse or scar your skin. Along with your cleanser, you can use an over-the-counter product to help treat pimples and acne. The most common over-the-counter products contain benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid. If you have severe acne, it may be a good idea to see your doctor. Talk to your parents and see what they think. There are prescriptions that may help when home treatment doesn't. Sun Protection The last thing to think about in keeping your skin healthy is the sun. How does the sun damage your skin? Some of the sun's rays, called ultraviolet rays (UVA and UVB rays), have shorter wavelengths than the sun's visible rays. You can't see UV rays but they are much more powerful than the sun's other rays. They penetrate your skin and cause damage that can't be undone. Your skin turns red and then darkens with sunburn. The skin then thickens and may peel layers off. Sunburn causes wrinkles and early signs of aging. It also can cause skin cancer. Check out our Sun Protection page for tips on how to protect yourself from the sun. If you take care of your skin, it will continue to protect your insides for your whole life! For more information: Sources 1 KidsHealth.com. "Why Drinking Water Is the Way To Go," last accessed 7/24/2003. 2 National Women's Health Information Center. "Becoming a Woman," last accessed 7/24/2003. Fun, At-Home Skin and Hair Recipes Hair Conditioner—Mix 1/2 cup honey and 1/4 cup olive oil. (Use 2 tablespoons of oil for normal hair.) Work a small amount at a time through hair until coated. Cover hair with a shower cap; leave on 30 minutes. Remove shower cap; shampoo well and rinse. Dry as usual. Facial Toner—In blender, puree 1 tablespoon honey with a peeled, cored apple. Smooth over face; leave on 15 minutes. Rinse with cool water. Moisture Mask—Mix 2 tablespoons honey with 2 teaspoons milk. Smooth over face and throat. Leave on 10 minutes. Rinse off with warm water. Smoothing Skin Lotion—Mix 1 teaspoon honey with 1 teaspoon vegetable oil and 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice. Rub into hands, elbows, heels, and anywhere that feels dry. Leave on 10 minutes. Rinse off with water. Skin Softening Bath—Add 1/4 cup honey to bath water for a fragrant, silky bath. Hair Shine—Stir 1 teaspoon honey into 4 cups (1 quart) warm water. Blondes may wish to add a squeeze of lemon. After shampooing, pour mixture through hair. Do not rinse out. Dry as normal. (source: www.honey.com/recipes/beauty/index.html from the National Honey Board and rated safe by the Internet Content Rating Association [ICRA] http://www.icra.org) Banana Bread Masque: ½ really ripe mashed banana - moisturizing 2 tbsp. ground oats - soothing milk or cream, add as necessary - softening pinch nutmeg - antiseptic 2 tbsp. whole wheat flour - antioxidant Whip ingredients together, adding cream or oat flour as necessary to get a smooth, paste-like consistency. Spread on clean face and leave for 5-10 minutes, then rinse thoroughly and pat dry. (source: http://www.pioneerthinking.com/oatmealbeauty.html from Pioneer Thinking, which doesn't sell anything but allows advertising; also ICRA rated)