3 Ways to Care for your Skin

1. Keep Skincare natural

Avoiding harsh ingredients is a must if you want to keep your skin feeling healthy. 

Two of the main offenders to avoid are SLS (Sodium Laurel Sulphate) or SLES (Sodium Laureth Sulphate.  

These are lathering agents used widely in shower gels and bubble baths because they give a great foaming action and are inexpensive. 

However they are known skin irritants and strip the skin of its natural oils, which can can lead to it feeling dry, itchy and tight.  

We never use SLS or SLES in our products, and have opted for a more gentle lathering agent instead: Cocamidopropyl Betaine, which is derived from coconut oil. This lathering agent still gives a lovely foam, but it is non-irritating and so gentle that it can be used on babies, children and skin prone to eczema. 

Our multi-award winning bath and shower gels are favourites with the team at Cosmopolitan UK, and can be used to wash your body, while also doubling up to create a pampering foam. We love to use them alongside our pure bath salts.  

2. Use only warm water 

Although it can feel great to turn up the heat in your bath, hot water can wreak havoc on your skin, especially if you’re prone to dryness or sensitivity. 

We advise keeping your bathwater at a warm 37-40 degrees, so its not far from body temperature. When testing the water with your forearm it should feel similar to your body temperature, and you certainly shouldn’t have to ease yourself slowly into the bath to get used to the heat.  

A bath or shower that is too hot depletes your skin of it’s natural oils so you’ll have to work harder to keep your skin feeling soft and hydrated. The heat can also cause your blood capillaries to dilate which can trigger sensitivity and lead to broken capillaries. 

3. Be gentle 

Our busy everyday lives often result in us rushing from one thing to the next, so we can forget to be as gentle with our skin as we probably should be.  

Rubbing your skin dry after a bath or shower is a definite no-no, but many of us still do it as we’re pushed for time or unaware of what it’s doing to our skin.  

The experts advise gently patting your skin dry because rubbing it with a towel removes moisture and dehydrates your skin. 

It also can damage the skin’s natural barrier which can lead to sensitivity and irritation, plus over time it’s thought to reduce elasticity.  

Finally, patting your skin dry leaves it slightly damp, which is the prime time to moisturise to help improve absorption and lock in hydration.