Being in Calgary, we see a tonne of dry skin. Even dry
acneic skin, which seems like it would be an oxymoron, but it's totally
possible. The number one cure is water, water, WATER. I'm not a huge fan of tap
water (even though Calgary has one of the best water treatment plants), I
don't even like bottled water that much. I've been spoiled by the SanteviaWater Filtration System that I picked up at Community Natural Foods. Either
way, tap, bottled, or Santevia, water is an instant cure for dehydrated skin.
Chronic dehydration can lead to fine lines and wrinkles (not that there is
anything wrong with that), but hydrated lines and wrinkles feel a lot better
than the tight pulling you feel on your face after getting out of the shower.
Other than increasing your water (a general rule of thumb: half your body weight and drink that in ounces
per day), exfoliation is the key to hydration. I've created a 10-day challenge
to hydrate skin to 90% using Yon-Ka's Gommage & Masque No. 1.
What the heck
is a Gommage, you ask? It's a soft peel exfoliation technique that you will be
addicted to. Yon-Ka's Gommage 303 smells like what heaven would smell like. All
you do for the 10 day challenge is (before bed) cleanse your skin, squeeze a
chocolate truffle size of gommage into your hands, sit in front of the tv
and rub the product into your skin until it begins to rub away what feels like
dead skin cells. (Make sure none of the slough gets on your couch ... ), then use
Mask no. 1 as your night cream. Do this for 10 nights in a row to get perfectly
quenched skin. I lasted 8 days straight doing the 10 day challenge, and my skin
was so hydrated, it was oily. I had to use the next 4 days trying to mattify my
skin. After the 10 days, depending on how dry you are, I would do this every
2-3 weeks in the winter then ease up in the summer months. The good news for
those dry skin types is that you lucky bugs have the least visible pores!
