Sensé:Food for healthy skin

By USANA ANZ Staff
                  
Protecting your skin everyday – no matter the weather or the season – is the foundation to a lifetime of great-looking skin. Sun protection is a summer skin priority, but the winter brings a different set of challenges.

So, as the days shorten and the temperature dips, your skin may feel the changes. Protect and nourish your skin to help it stay supple, healthy and glowing.

Winter skin challenges

There may be plenty of rain around in the autumn and winter seasons, but moisture in your skin rather than on it, is what you need to focus on! Protect your skin against colder outside temperatures and artificially-heated homes, as the harshest seasons can play havoc with your skin. So if you don’t have one already, a daily skin care ritual is vital.

Take your next step in Total Body Health – Discover the beauty of Sensé

Here are 16 tips to healthier winter skin.

1. Start with the basics. You (and your skin) are what you eat. So go for the glow and defend your skin against the free radical damage with a diet that’s rich in antioxidant vitamins and minerals. Vegetables and fruits contain plant antioxidants and vitamin C to help strengthen collagen fibres, the structure that holds your skin together and helps skin stay firm. Vitamin C also helps to mop up free radicals which can damage body cells including skin cells.

2. Get going. Exercise helps boost blood flow to nourish every cell in your body including your skin.

3. Get enough rest. You can’t look your best without enough good quality sleep. Lack of the vital eight hours or so, can leave you feeling down and exhausted and makes resisting unhealthy fatty/sugary treats harder. Overeating and/or opting for high GI/fatty eats, can trap you in cycle and leave you feeling drained and down. So, try to opt for a regular bed time and wind down with a best seller rather than television or computer games (the bright screen lights can interfere with your natural sleep cycle).

4. Stay hydrated. Getting enough water to your skin helps keep it full and plump. Weak tea and coffee are fine but water is the most natural way to hydrate. Add a squeeze of lime or go for foods with a high water content such as fruits (especially melon) and warming low-fat, low-salt soups and veggie juices like carrot, beetroot and tomato.

5. Take your supplements. Vitamin E guards against free radical attack by providing a potent boost of anti-ageing skin protection. Find a wide range on nutrients in Essentials™, HealthPak™, BodyRox™ (for teenagers), Proflavanol® C™ and Poly C™ (and vitamin C and E).

6. Dish the Fish. Choose oily fish like salmon and fresh tuna for their valuable omega-3 fats which the vast majority of us are very low on. Amongst its many health benefits, getting enough omega-3s can help to reduce water loss from the skin helping it to stay moisturised and plump. BiOmega™ is a great source of pure omega-3s if you can’t manage the recommended two to three oily fish dishes each week.

7. Wash in not-too-hot water. Warm water is best as it’s not so drying. Afterwards, moisturise to trap a layer of water on your skin.

8. Moisturise your lips. Your lips don’t contain oil glands so they can get chapped and dry. Keep them protected with a light layer of your favourite lip balm.

9. Don’t be so sensitive! Many products including food and cosmetics contain preservatives. These are added to help prevent microorganisms including bacteria and moulds from multiplying and causing spoilage. One of the most common groups of chemical preservatives is parabens; they are relatively cheap to use. If you are prone to sensitivity or irritation from cosmetics and toiletries, you may be reacting to parabens in the product. And, because your body is exposed to chemicals every day – including via skincare products – and we don’t yet know what the long-term cumulative effects on health could be, think about choosing a preservative free range of product like Sensé. By investing a little more in research and development, USANA has been able to bin chemical preservatives.

10. Keep it clean. Cleanse with Sensé Gentle Daily Cleanser (twice a day); it’s soap free, non-drying, and contains natural botanicals that soften the skin and lock in vital moisture.

11. Exfoliate your skin.
Exfoliate two or three times a week using an effective but gentle product like Rice Bran Polisher which lifts off dead, flaky skin for a softer, fresher look. Your hands and feet are under seasonal attack, too. So gently exfoliate hand and heels after soaking in warm water and follow with lashings of moisturiser. For extra soft toes, exfoliate and moisturise before bed and slip on some cotton socks to trap in the extra moisture while you sleep.

12. Sun Safety. Even on cloudy days, sun protection is a must as the UVA rays can still trigger premature ageing. Daytime Protective Emulsion provides a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 15.

13. Brighten and Tighten. Part of the skin ageing process occurs when natural enzymes break down the proteins that keep skin looking youthful. These enzymes become more active with age. Dermal Surface Renewal (DSR™) is USANA’s exclusive anti-ageing complex. In two effective ways, DSR helps reduce appearance of existing signs of ageing and the appearance of new lines and wrinkles, too. It also helps to even skin tone re-texturising, refining, brightening and firming the skin’s surface. Find DSR in Perfecting Essence, Night Renewal, Serum Intensive and Eye Nourisher.

14. Renew. Wake up to Sensé Daytime Protective Emulsion SPF15. It contains moisture-locking ingredients and is enriched with vitamins and botanicals to keep your skin hydrated and glowing.
It also contains Regenisomes, substances which supply enzymes to the skin that help cells to renew themselves – these are called Photosomes. Find these fast-acting, light-activated substances in Daytime Protective Emulsion.

15. Sleep on it. Ultrasomes like Reginosomes help skin cells to renew themselves but Ultrasomes work more slowly to protect the skin overnight; find them in Night Renewal and Eye Nourisher.

16. Keep age on your side. Apply Perfecting Essence (for younger skin) or Serum Intensive (for mature skin) twice daily to fight wrinkles and reduce the appearance of ageing before applying your Night Renewal every night.

The Sensé range centres on the holistic belief that for skin to function and look at its best, products need to provide much more than just a surface solution. They need to nourish and protect. So as you nourish your body from the inside this winter season, nourish it from the outside, too.

N.B. The exclusive self-preserving technology that is currently used in all Sensé – beautiful science™ skin care products is protected under U.S. Patent No. 7,214,391. The Sensé and Sense – beautiful science trademarks are the property of USANA Health Sciences