Higiēna for Cilveks

Staying cool and jovial is the result of good personal hygiene

Nowadays, having a good personal hygiene is one of the vital requirements to enjoy a good health. This is because our skin is one of our most important organs, due to its protective function that prevents the passage of germs into our body, and besides contributes to the regulation of the body temperature (through sweat). Furthermore we have the sebaceous glands, which secrete the fat responsible for waterproofing and the skin lubrication. Therefore, keeping our skin healthy is an important mission: we must keep in mind the different products we will use in the bathroom, taking always into account our skin type and the specific care we need. From Perfume's Club we want to give you some guidelines for you to know the products that you can use and how to apply them in your hygiene routine.

Having reviewed the age and the type of your skin, will be much easier to know which shower gel is the one that you need, or which type of moisturizer or deodorant works better for your skin.

The personal care that better suits you

The most important thing for our skin is to treat it with those products that it needs and that better suit to its characteristics and needs. However, not all the skins are equal and therefore is not a simple task. For this reason is important to know what type of skin you have and what products are best suited for you:

• Normal skin: this skin type has very balanced features, so if you are lucky enough to possess it, you won't need a very strict care. However you should always ensure a proper hydration, and try not to use gels or moisturizers that unbalance your natural pH.
• Dry skin: This type of skin presents a dry and cracked appearance, because it doesn't retain liquids well and tends to dry quickly when is exposed to the outside. In this case we must pay special attention to our hydration. Certain properties, such as aloe vera and the vegetable oils, will benefit us a lot and help us keep our skin firm and elastic. We may also use "cream-gels" that contain specific moisturizing properties for our skin, or those that contain glycerin that will help us with the fluid retention.
• Oily skin: we have this type of skin when we produce an excess of sebum naturally on our skin surface. What we have to do is try to correct this by using gels with neutral pH stabilizers. In this case, it is important that the gels and creams are oil-free, and if they also provide antiseptic and astringent properties (such as alcohol) will help us reduce a good amount of sebum.  Although it may seem that no, some vegetable oils can also improve the metabolism of the oily skin and help stabilizing it (for example: the argan oil).
• Mixed skin: the characteristics of this type of skin are halfway between the dry and oily skin, which is why the products recommended for both dry to oily skin can help us too. It will benefit us more using soaps, gels and body creams free of oil or astringent ingredients, but without neglecting the hydration of those areas that present dryness.
• Sensitive or atopic skin: it is the most delicate type, and is prone to redness and allergic reactions to many components. To its care, it will be better seek for hypoallergenic gels with moisturizing properties. It is important that its ingredients are soft (without free radicals) and are suitable for this type of skin. The properties that can help us more are the omega 3 or the emollients agents, organic and natural such as aloe vera and jojoba oil.

General characteristics of our body gels

Reading the labels of our bath products is important and often we don't do it because we don't understand well what they really mean and what those components can really do for our skin. Therefore, in general lines, we are going to detail you which are the basic ingredients that will make our products be the most effective, and if they properly respect your skin type:

• Water is the essential element for any product, as is the main diluent of our gels, although in some cases can be the vegetable oil.
• Emulsifiers and detergents as, for example, the anionic surfactants that are responsible for generating foam and at the same time is the detergent responsible for the removal of the dirt and microorganisms.
• There are also some types of surfactants that can be present, depending on their formula: the glycosides are notable for being soft agents, biodegradable and much tolerated by sensitive skins. They proceed from natural raw materials such as coconut or sugar. We can also find others that reduce the eye and skin irritation that can produce this detergent present in the recipe, among others.
• Glycerin provides moisture to our skin. It retains water in the surface layers of the skin. They are good for dry skin, since they prevent the dryness provoked by the detergents.
• Fragrances: are the perfumes and fragrances that give that characteristic smell to your gel.
• pH correctors: are some like the citrus acid (lemon derivatives) that help keeping the level of acidity (pH) of the product to avoid altering the natural acid mantle of the skin.
• Preservatives lead us to talk about a subject of great controversy nowadays: the parabens. Its primary mission is to protect and maintain the cosmetic product in proper microbiological conditions during its storage. However, it contains very aggressive chemicals (which can be toxic when are absorbed by our skin), and therefore are being discontinued in favor of other more respectful types with our skin. Our intention is to offer you the best products for your skin, which is why our personal hygiene products contain natural preservatives and antioxidants components harmless to the skin and effective in its function, without the need of parabens.

From now on you don't have any excuse to not look at which are the components contained in your gels and bath soaps, and check whether they are appropriate and respectful of your skin. This also will serve you to prevent any component that you can be allergic to (as they also indicate which are the most likely to cause allergies generally).

Steps to follow a perfect personal hygiene

The most important thing of all is knowing how to apply your product. So we will offer you a few simple steps for your daily care routine that will be very useful for you:

• First of all, when we go into the bathroom, we must know which one will be the most beneficial gel or body soap to start cleansing our skin. To do this you need to know:
  • An oily skin is going to need products that are rinsed easily with water and oil-free. Better if you use gel, and better if it creates good foam.
  • Mixed skins can be treated with similar gels to the ones for oily skins (oil-free), but if they contain a moisturizer will be better. They should also be soaps that can be rinsed well with plenty of water.
  • If you have dry skin, better not spend too much time underwater. If you use cleansing milks emulsifying you'll do much better and of course your main allies will always be the vegetable oils and other moisturizers. You must avoid rubbing too much the different areas of your body.
  • For sensitive skin the best will be using gels without free radicals, no alcohol and no other element that can be rough. You must try to be gentle and massage instead of rubbing when cleaning your skin. Neither is advisable a long time exposure to water when rinsing.
• The next step will be the body exfoliation, a not very common practice, that if we got used to follow it will provide us a smooth and shiny skin. The different types of exfoliators are: in gel, cream or exfoliating salts bathed in oil. At the time of its election, we must consider the same guidelines as the ones followed with the gels. Therefore, if your skin is oily or mixed is better to avoid the exfoliating salts or the cream and opt for the gel; if instead is dry, the best option will be the exfoliating creams with moisturizing features or the salts bathed in oil; in the case of sensitive skin the best will be to use those especially designed for this type.
• After rinsing well the skin we will pass to apply the moisturizer, the most important step of the whole process. When we are going to choose the cream, milk or moisturizing body oil, we will keep focusing on our skin type. We will apply the product with special emphasis on the areas that often present dryness (such as elbows and knees) and wait about ten minutes, without dressing up, to give the skin time to breathe and absorb all the nutrients. If we also use a good tonic, as a vegetable oil or micellar water with firming properties, we will give a splendid touch to our skin.
• Finally, we must choose a good deodorant for our skin: spray, roll-on or stick must be suitable for your skin type. They are not all equal, but usually the spray deodorants contain alcohol, perfume and other harsh agents, so they are not recommended for sensitive skin, but instead can be beneficial for oily or mixed skin. The stick and roll-on deodorants are good for both, dry skin and sensitive, as they help to keep the skin hydrated, while protecting the area in a smooth and delicate way.