Let’s call it a sparkle!
Sweating has gotten a bad reputation. And I mean, it’s not surprising. It’s the ultimate “scheeve”, or Ew, when someone sweaty brushes up against you, or leaves a seat with a ring of sweat. We associate sweating with acne, BO, poor hygiene and smelly locker rooms. We can be honest. It is gross in excess, but it’s also extremely important and, you might be surprised, good for your skin.
Sweat Everyday
In fact, sweating is actually your body’s way of helping to keep your skin clean, producing an antimicrobial peptide, dermcidin, which naturally helps to destroy harmful bacteria on the skin. Breaking a sweat once a day will make your skin glow! Aside from the natural antioxidants sweating produces, exercise which leads to sweating improves your circulation and oxygen levels to result in a gorgeous complexion.
But Not All Day
That being said, we don’t need to marinate in our sweat. Like a good face mask, you should only “wear” your sweat for so long. Soon after working out, cleanse your skin, or some adverse effects might override the DIY Nature facial you just got. (Obagi Medical Foaming Cleanser is an anti-oxidant rich microfoam you can use to capitalize on the antioxidant goodness of sweat when it’s time to cleanse!)
When we sweat, perspiration pushes out oil and dead skin from our pores. If all that extracted junk sits on your face for too long, it can actually resettle and clog your pores with added substance. Sweat also releases ammonia and urea. If left to settle in our pores, they can cause irritation and, mingling with the natural bacteria on the skin, make us stanky.
And Replenish With Water
We know that sweating depletes our body of its water storage, using up electrolytes and hydration our skin sorely needs to stay supple and dewy. After sweating, drink! And we mean water.
Staying hydrated replenishes fluids lost while sweating and can clear up your skin. People often report a healthy glow after drinking water. It won’t happen overnight, of course, but just a week of drinking a healthy amount of water can have good effects on your skin.
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