Spring: time of rebirth and awakening, also for our skin. “This season it’s important take care of your skin and pay particular attention to it for 2 reasons: on the one hand to ‘erase’ the dull and gray complexion resulting from the winter period, on the other to prepare the skin for summer and exposure to the sun and UV rays” underlines the professor Antonino Di Pietro, scientific director of the Dermoclinico Institute of Palazzo della Salute – Wellness Clinic.
Let’s discover together with our expert the golden rules for beautiful and healthy skin this season and in view of the holidays, from beauty routine tips to regenerative dermatology treatments.
Fill up on vitamins at the table
First rule: never miss out right intake of vitamins. “Vitamins are essential for the well-being of our body, including the skin. In fact, they carry out an important antioxidant action which translates into younger and brighter skin: they help to counteract the action of free radicals, molecules responsible for oxidative stress, a cellular process that can promote aging – explains Professor Di Pietro – .
To ensure an adequate amount of vitamins, it is important to start at the table, by eating fruit and vegetables, possibly in season, always varying and alternating types and colors. One tip is to consume them as much as possible raw or at most steamed or boiledto preserve higher percentages of vitamins and mineral salts.
In particular, the skin, especially during periods of seasonal change, needs:
- vitamin A (or retinol)contained in vegetables such as carrots, tomatoes, red peppers, spinachpromotes cell regeneration and collagen production, helping to keep the skin elastic;
- B complex vitaminswhich are found in meat, milk and dairy products, dried fruitthey help maintain normal skin trophism and have a fortifying and preventive action against redness;
- C vitaminwhich is found, for example, in red fruits, such as strawberries, raspberries, currantshas an important anti-aging action, helps maintain an even complexion by preventing and combating the formation of blemishes;
- Vitamin Eof which they are rich walnuts and hazelnutshas a hydrating action, protects the skin from the attack of free radicals and helps the skin in its barrier and repair functions, which are important in view of exposure to the sun and UV rays.
Supplements: what they are and when they are needed
In addition to nutrition, in cases where it is unable to provide the necessary vitamin intake or in particular situations such as, for example, the change of season, taking vitamins also through supplements can help to give a ‘boost’ (push) more.
“It is essential, however, that they are chosen based on your skin and dermatological needs – warns the specialist -. THE best skin supplements they are the ones that contain B vitamins and in particular the biotinan essential vitamin that the body does not produce and must therefore be introduced with food supplements or vitamin injections for the skin.
An integration of vitamin D3on the other hand, proves useful in people who are sporty or who start (or start again) doing physical activity: in addition to supporting the skin and preventing sagging skin, it helps maintain the well-being of muscles and bones.
In case of rosacea the best ally is C vitamin, thanks to its beneficial action on the microcirculation. Finally, the vitamin AND for those who suffer from particularly dry skin”.
The skin care to do this season
In this season, skin care must aim, as mentioned, on the one hand to remove dead cells and impurities accumulated during the winter, promoting the turnover cellular and restoring brightness, on the other to restore correct hydration in order to make it stronger against external aggressions, primarily the sun’s rays.
- Cleansing: it must be neither too aggressive nor too delicate; in the first case there would be a risk of removing the hydrolipidic film of the skin, in the second case the sebum could accumulate and weigh down the epidermis. In general, it is better to bet on gel or mousse formulations or up micellar waters with natural prebioticssubstances that help keep the skin microbiome in balance, the skin’s first barrier against external agents;
- Creams and serums: skin needs ‘lightness’ in spring, so go ahead sera or creams with a lighter texture and less rich than in winter. Excellent for stimulating the natural production of hyaluronic acid by the skin are those containing phospholipids, glucosamine, deltalactone, coenzyme Q10, Fospidine, to be applied morning and evening. After evening cleansing, in addition to the cream, a good habit is to apply cosmetics based on urea, salicylic acid or other fruit acids which exfoliate the skin, thus thinning the stratum corneum, and stimulate the dermis (the part of the skin located beneath the epidermis) to increase the production of collagen, the fiber that supports it. A last, but important tip, is to choose creams and serums that also contain a sun protection factoressential to protect the skin from the risk of photoaging due to UV rays.
- Scrubs and exfoliants: in this season, to renew the skin, it may be useful to carry out exfoliating scrubs or treatments, choosing formulations that are not too aggressive, preferably if also enriched with refreshing and soothing substances. The frequency of facial scrub for combination skin is 1 time a week, while 1 time every 15 days for dry skin.
The medical treatments to be done in view of the summer
“Unlike what you think, in this season it is not only possible to carry out chemical peeling, but it is actually recommended as it promotes ideal skin exfoliation, but at the same time improves the hydration of the skin, acting in the dermis (the deepest layer of the skin) where skin regeneration takes place and collagen and glycosaminoglycans are produced, fundamental macromolecules for skin hydration – observes Professor Di Pietro -.
Peeling can be performed with different substances (glycolic acid, salicylic acid and trichloroacetic acid) which can intervene with different intensities in the skin layers.
The specialist will choose the type of peeling more suitable for the characteristics of each person’s skin”.
During the spring and summer months, the following are recommended: treatments that work by reducing the signs of skin agingbut at the same time they help to protect or strengthen the skin in anticipation of exposure to the sun, among these the best are those that use thehyaluronic acid.
In the aesthetic field, hyaluronic acid has been used for years in anti-aging treatments, precisely because it is a ‘natural’ and biocompatible substance, i.e. free of thickening chemicals. These particular characteristics allow the easy reabsorption of this acid by the skin, which is revitalized, more compact and strengthened.
There are several anti-aging aesthetic treatments that involve the use of hyaluronic acid, among these there are: