Six things you can do to improve the moisture in your skin

Who doesn’t love that hydrated, dewy, fresh and healthy skin look? It’s #skingoals right? Well, over the years I’ve sought to find out what helps keep my skin like this and I thought I would share what I’ve learnt. I believe there are two parts to maintaining and/or improving the moisture in your skin. Today I’m sharing my top six tips (plus a bonus one thrown in for good measure!) to improve the moisture in your skin. Have a read and see if you do them too!

Nourish Skin From the Inside

1. Stay hydrated – drink water!

Water helps remove toxins out of your body, which can otherwise accumulate in your skin, causing clogged pores & acne. Aim for 2-3 litres a day. It’s easier to meet your water intake if you always choose water over sugary drinks and drink an extra glass of water for every dehydrating caffeinated drink you have.

2. Eat foods that are good for improving skin moisture

Omega-3’s are great at helping increase and retain skin moisture. Omega 3’s form the cellular structure of your skin and support skin elasticity. These are found in fatty fish like salmon, tuna, trout, mackerel and sardines and in nuts and seeds (such as chia seeds, flaxseeds/linseeds and walnuts). These foods also help reduce skin inflammation and redness. Soy products like tofu, tempeh, soy milk also aid dry skin due to the isoflavones found within soy.

Here’s a few examples of how to get some of these foods into your daily diet:

• Add walnuts to your salads or you could add them to things like a rainbow nourish bowl, carrot cake bliss balls or to your overnight oats
• Try this baked salmon with orange and avocado salad or top your toast with smoked salmon, baby spinach and avocado for breakfast!
• Make yourself some linseed crackers to serve with sweet potato hummus
• Add tofu as your meals protein source – you might add it to some vegetables for dinner, or even scramble it for breakfast.

For general skin health foods

For more tips on foods that help with healthy skin in general (ie. looking after fibres like collagen and elastin that support your skin structure) see this post from my good friend and knowledgeable dietitian, Rebecca Gawthorne. She’s taught me so much over the years!

CARE FOR SKIN FROM THE OUTSIDE

3. Choose quality products

Your skincare routine can largely affect the health and moisture of your skin so finding the right products that work for you is important. The last month or so I’ve been using the Olay Total Effects range. No, it’s not just a Mum range found at the supermarket, but there is good reason that Mum’s use it (Mum, why are you right, again?!).Olay Total Effects offers skin an antioxidant boost and contains Vitamin E, B3 and Pro-B5 to revive dull and tired looking skin. Here’s a quick overview of how each of these 3 active ingredients will benefit your skin:

• Vitamin E: antioxidant known to defend skin surface from free radicals that cause skin aging
• Vitamin B3: brightens skin tone and known to boost skin energy
• Vitamin Pro-B5: known to soothe skin
• Olay Total effects also fights 7 skin problems:
• fine lines and wrinkles (I’m keen to keep these at bay for as long as possible!),
• uneven skin tone,
• dark spots (younger women yes we still need this – think of those unseen and ghastly dark sun spots you can only see under UV light!),
• uneven texture,
• dryness,
• dullness, and
• visible pores.

So let’s chat about the exact products I recommend for helping ensure you have moisturised, radiant skin today and always!

4. Use a serum

I only started using serums a couple of years ago but I love them! They work on reaching the deeper layers of the skin by their lightweight molecular structure. Using a serum morning and night can give your skin a firmer, smoother texture, make pores appear smaller and increase moisture levels. However, serums will not offer sufficient moisture to your skin, so it is recommended using them in conjunction with heavier moisturisers which will also help lock in the moisture to the lower layers of skin that serums are designed to reach. I’m currently using the Olay Total Effects Daily Serum and have really noticed a different in my skin’s suppleness and radiance as a result – bring on that plump glow, baby!

5. Use a day moisturiser with an inbuilt SPF

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know I’m crazy about wearing SPF50+ if I’m heading outdoors since viewing my skin under ultra violet light and seeing the damage the sun has caused it. Not to mention that sun protection is the easiest and most effective way to avoid skin cancer!

The difficulty I have found with applying SPF 50+ after a SPF free moisturiser, is some days I won’t take the extra step if I am not planning to be in the sun. The problem then comes when I go out unplanned because I’ll often forget to head back to the bathroom to apply the sunscreen. So to make sure I’m covered, I’ve now gone back to using Olay Total Effects Day Moisturiser that has SPF 15+ built in – enough SPF to back me up for a short time if I forget to apply the SPF 50+ sunscreen.

6. Use a night moisturiser

The time that you sleep is the perfect time to give your skin a ‘drink’ from a heavier night moisturiser. Our skin is in tune with our circadian rhythm (ie. our day/night body clock) and it goes into ‘repair and replenish’ mode at night. It produces less sebum (natural skin oils) which means it can more effectively absorb the active ingredients into the skin. I have been using Olay Total Effects Night Moisturiser in conjunction with the serum at night and again, I highly recommend as it has helped improve my skins moisture but doesn’t feel as thick as a paste like some night creams.

A few extra notes to get the most out of these moisturising tips

You’ll also benefit from using a cleanser before using any of these moisturising products (to remove any dirt from the day, preventing clogged pores which cause acne). It’s just as crucial to use an exfoliator a couple of times a week too to remove dead skin cells – because there’s no point in moisturising dead skin cells!

Don’t forget that managing other factors like stress, hormones, your environment, sleep patterns and the weather can help improve your overall skin health too.

This post is proudly sponsored by Olay Total Effects. All thoughts are my own and I have tried, tested and loved the products I recommend in this blog post.