Your skin is the largest single organ in your body. It protects your delicate anatomy from the outside world. Taking care of your skin is not just an aesthetic exercise, healthy skin contributes to your overall health and can even extend your life. In this article you can find some great tips for treating your skin better.

One of the obvious points of skin care is the daily cleansing of your face and pores. If you resist this regular routine, your pores can build up and you will notice annoying blackheads beginning to appear. Simply rinsing them out nightly with warm soap and water is just enough to get the job done.

While regular bar soaps can work very well on your body, try to avoid using them when washing your face. Bar soaps can irritate and dry out the sensitive skin there. Instead use facial soaps that are meant for such use. This will leave your skin better moisturized and clearer.

To keep your skin looking beautiful and help with aging you need to keep it hydrated. Keeping your skin hydrated from the outside is important, and this can be achieved by a simple misting. Drinking enough water will also help keep your skin hydrated internally. Hydrated skin will age slower and look more beautiful.

If you have combination skin, you need to address two challenges at once. First you will want to get a handle on the oil production, usually in the “T-zone” extending across your forehead and then vertically down your nose and chin. The second, is to provide enough moisture to the dry areas of your skin, usually your cheeks. You can achieve both goals by assiduously washing with gentle cleansers that will remove excess oil, without stripping your skin completely and then making sure the dry areas of your face are adequately moisturized.

Try not to overdo it with long hot baths and showers. The steamy, warm environment strips your skin of essential oils. This causes unattractive, flaky, dry skin that will have a hard time holding an moisture. Try to use warm instead of hot water and try bathing for shorter periods of time.

If you have oily skin, you should exfoliate regularly. Don’t do this though, if you have any breakouts as it could irritate them. Depending on your skin’s needs and the amount of oil it produces, you can do this anywhere from one to three times a week. Check with your dermatologist to see what will work best for you.

Try to bathe after exercising and try taking showers, at least twice a day. Make sure to use the body washes and soaps that work with your individual skin type. Also, make sure that you do not bathe with hot water and keep it warm or average. Bathing with hot water can strip the oil from your skin, leaving it very dry.

To protect yourself from the sun, you should use sun screen. However, applying sun screen can actually be tricky. If you do not do it properly, you will clog your pores. Use a soft sponge to gently apply the sun screen, and allow it to penetrate your skin instead of staying at the surface.

If you have sensitive skin, avoid facial scrubs that feel gritty or grainy; they will only make your skin retreat in pain. Instead, wash with a gentle castile soap (Dr. Bronner’s is a quirky but reliable brand) and pat gently dry after rinsing. Your sensitive skin is very reactive to its environment and needs the gentlest of treatment. Using grainy scrubs, or especially any products containing AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) will further aggravate your skin’s sensitivity, creating redness and irritation.

There is little vanity involved in good skin care. It is true that well-tended skin looks more appealing, but there are much better reasons to take care of your skin than aesthetics. Using ideas like the ones presented above can keep your skin healthy, and healthy skin is your first line of defense against the dangers of the outside world.