It's that time of the year when using a moisturizer is absolutely essential. Which kind of cream suits your skin more? You need to know it to have glowing skin, this winter. Leading cosmetic surgeon, Dr Mohan Thomas gives you the necessary tips:

Skin without moisture is like leather without polish. Even people who have normal or oily skin need moisture to retain the health of the skin. The skin goes through a lot of trauma all through the day due to sun damage and the surrounding pollution. This causes aging changes to the face. Moisturizer helps in the following way-

Protecting the skin from the harmful effects of the UV rays of the sun. Moisturizers with sunscreen are specially beneficial. This should be all the year round as the sun's rays are equally harmful in winter.

To repair the damage caused by loss of moisture. Bad eating habits, cold wintery breeze, pollutions and stress can all sap the moisture out of our skin. This can be replaced only by an external application and a healthy diet.

Moisturizers usually contain Humectants (work by absorbing water- hence to be used when body is a little damp) like glycerine and alpha hydroxy acids and Emollients (fill in the skin cracks to give a smooth skin) like mineral oil or petroleum jelly. This can be present in the form of lotions, creams, body washes, soaps or even deodorants.

Any type of skin whether it is normal, oily or dry has to be moisturized so as to prevent redness and flaking which are the early signs of appearance of wrinkles and aging. The way to use the moisturizer is to first use an exfoliating scrub so as to remove the dead skin. When the skin is still damp apply the lotion to trap the moisture. This will allow the skin to absorb the product better.

For the face use a moisturizer which is oil free especially for oily skin so as to prevent comedogenic activity. Even if you have acne, you should be using moisturizers as the acne medications usually dry the skin to a great degree.

As a general rule it is a good idea to apply a moisturizer every day after a shower or a bath. At that time the skin is holding a small portion of the water used for bathing. Moisturizing products will help to hold that moisture in and allow it to permeate the skin. If the skin is very oily then do not use moisturizers having emollients as then the comedogenic activity starts. However, people with particular skin conditions should consult a skin specialist to determine if moisturizing should take place more or less often.

To be able to use the right moisturizer, one has to know what is his or her skin type. Different types of moisturizers work differently and every person has a different type of skin in different parts of the body. Usually all moisturizers contain all the different constituents in some proportion, different parts of the body may need different moisturizers.

BDST: 1640 HRS, December 24, 2014