Giving thanks for… moisture.

November 24, 2015

I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.

Henry David Thoreau

Living in California this title hits especially close to home. I am a native Californian and no stranger to droughts and lack of moisture. I have been taking ‘5-minute military showers’ since I was 10. My oldest nephew remembers taking no other kind of shower.  We save bath water to water our plants in the summer.  My dog is my best dishwasher (we still stick the plates in the dishwasher afterwards – so don’t worry!) Moisture is a glorious gift from the heavens when it does fall….eventually.

Thankfully, here in California we’re hopeful for El Niño and a very wet winter. At least that’s what the weather-guessers are telling us.  Maybe I’ll get to take a luxuriously long shower this winter!

You get the point – moisture is a wonderful thing! Interestingly enough, studies have shown people suffering with acne feel the need to treat their skin harshly; they try to dry it out in an effort to get rid of their pimples.  But winter already makes our skin drier because of the dry, cold air and home heating.

So what is the take-away here?  Be nice to your skin and MOISTURIZE if your skin feels like a raisin!!!  Moisturize despite your breakouts. Moisturize to actually help get RID of your acne by rebalancing your skin. Most beneficial is, of course, a cleaning and moisturizing routine that won’t aggravate your acne by adding clogging oils and one that won’t strip your skin of too much of its natural oil causing future breakouts.

Then there’s the sage-old advice to drink water! Stay hydrated by drinking at least 8 glasses of water per day. Did you know that some doctors refer to the skin as the body’s third kidney? It’s because our bodies produce more toxins than the liver and kidneys can filter and that is when our skin kicks in. Our skin is actually the body’s largest organ.  The skin’s primary function is to expel toxic and metabolic waste from our bodies by sweating. When we are dehydrated, we don’t have enough liquid in our bodies to sweat enough and then our body and skin are stressed and you know what that does….it makes our acne breakouts go nuts! They get larger, stay longer and leave behind a bigger mark when they’re gone.

So as winter comes – and we all start doing the rain dance – put on your moisturizer as frequently as possible. Then when water starts falling from the sky, tilt your head back and drink it up! (Or just pour yourself lots of glasses per day!)