Is Your Showering Habit Drying Your Skin?

The previous post discussed how important it is to keep your skin properly moisturized during the colder days of the year. Along with the use of season-appropriate products, it's also crucial to maintain some basic rules of ... showering (yep, that's right).

If you are a warm-loving creature, you know there is nothing more tempting than a hot bath, or a shower, while it is freezing cold outside. However, dermatologists advise against this habit, particularly during the cold months. Hot water and vapor are quick to open the pores of the skin, which is one of the fastest ways it loses moisture (proteins and fats).

Generally speaking, it is not a good idea to linger under the hot shower, even if you plan to richly moisturize your whole body afterward. People who often take very hot (and/or long) showers, suffer dry and itchy skin that is very irritable. The appearance of rashes is also a common. Yet, these are completely preventable, if you limit hot steamy showers. Lukewarm water is ideal for your skin.If you absolutely cannot resist a hot shower (a crime of which I am guilty myself), at least try to make it every other shower you take and try not to exceed 15 minutes under the running hot water. Something else you could try is run cooler, almost cold water, right before you get out of the shower. I've been doing this for years now and find it very refreshing, but the more important benefits are that it closes your pores and improves blood circulation in the outer layers of the skin (the dermis and epidermis).

Lightly apply your favorite body lotion right after (the best time to moisturize) and you are good to go.