Safe and Healthy Skin
By Jason Bowers, Personal Trainer, Nutrition Consultant, Strength Coach
This article was first published in the March 2009 issue of Fusion.
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It’s March, and time for spring break! Before you head outdoors and into the bright sunlight, I encourage
you to stop and think about how you intend to protect and care for the largest organ in your body—your skin.
Besides boasting the largest surface area of any other organ, your skin also pulls triple duty as an absorbative,
excretory, and barrier organ. In other words, your skin works hard! What are you doing to help it out?
Did you know that UV rays, which cause everything from burns to cancer, can still penetrate the clouds and harm your unprotected skin? When you are out working in the sun, avoid deep tans or burns by wearing sunglasses that protect against UV rays, keep your head covered with a hat, sporting long sleeves, and staying indoors during the middle of the day. Remember that water, sand and even concrete can reflect most of the sun’s harmful rays, and make it easier to incur burns.
If you do incur sunburn, apply lavender essential oil to the area to speed healing and stem ripple effects on
your immune system. I carry Lavaderm cooling spray, which contains lavender oil, on all of my hiking, camping,
and outdoor adventures. The spray bottle makes it easy to apply to children and animals, and the small size is
convenient to carry. At the end of the day, I use lavender oil and Lavender Lotion, which contains the oil, to
soothe burns, scrapes, cuts, and sores.
In addition to protection, exercise is a great way to preserve your skin’s health. While doing facial firming
exercises may not give you better skin, overall body exercise probably will. Exercise temporarily increases your
blood pressure and helps you get more blood to the skin, which brings more oxygen and nutrients are provided
and this helps the skin to be better nourished and become a lot more firm.
Did you need more reasons for you to add exercise to your daily regimen? Consider some of the other benefits that exercise has on the skin; all of them are chemical– and surgery-free!
Sweat can reduce acne: When you exercise, you increase your heart rate; your body reacts by sweating. Think
wet armpits are a bad thing? Sweat is one of your body’s means to cleanse your pores, removing chemicals and
toxins that are deep in your skin. Keep in mind that using an antiperspirant will prevent your body from excreting
these toxins, and can cause dangerous toxic build ups in the arm pit region.
Increase your circulation: Regular exercise increases the blood circulation in your body, which benefits your skin by increasing the delivery of essential nutrients to your skin cells. An added benefit of increased circulation is your body’s higher collagen production keeping those wrinkles away.
Less stress: exercising reduces your overall stress, which will help the natural glow of your skin.
Keep in mind that you do not need to spend every day at the gym working out to get these benefits. Nearly
any type of exercise and general activity will benefit your skin, from a brisk walk during the day to yoga, biking,
swimming, running, or aerobics classes. Everyone starts somewhere, and the most important thing is to get
moving and stay moving—not only will your skin look better, but you will feel better overall too.
Finally, refrain from smoking, and quit if you do! In addition to the negative impact on your lungs, an
increased risk of all cancers, and negative impact on mental health, smoking slows the flow of oxygen to your skin.
The constant puckering of wrapping your lips around a cigarette will help wrinkles form on your upper lip, similar
to laugh lines.
Keep these tips in mind to ensure that you, and your skin, enjoy a safe and healthy spring!
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Also in this issue (click to view):
Cleaning House: Simple Recipes
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