“I’m moving to Puerto Rico! My skin was amazing at your wedding! I need that climate in my life.”
This comment found its way to my ears, despite the fact I was zoned in on the football game on the television about my friends head. In an attempt to spend time with my girls while visiting the city we ran through as college students, I dragged them all to a sports bar in between events so I could watch my favorite college football team beat up on their opponent. As the only true football fan at the table, I jumped in and out of conversations about everything from the Kardashian's to escapades at my recent wedding to the babies who will be joining us shortly. It wasn’t until the topic of humidity and skin dropped that I had more than a few words to contribute.
Puerto Rico is one of my favorite destinations; I’ve spent numerous girls’ trips on the beaches in San Juan, I got engaged there in an exotic garden and married my husband there a year later overlooking the ocean. However, jumping on an airplane to simply take advantage of the climate to clear your skin seems a bit excessive. Weekly trips to tropical locations aren’t feasible for most people, even weekly facials can be costly, but an at-home facial steamer is a great solution to opening pores for the deepest cleaning possible.
Hot steam opens and unclogs pores, which clears the way to removing more dirt, oil, and buildup than with just washing alone. A good facial steaming session can replace exfoliating scrubs and chemical peels, that have a tendency to more bad than good on extra sensitive skin. The steam softens the first layer of skin, where the dead skin cells reside. Once those dead skin cells are softened and removed, whatever has been trapped is now free to go! Deeper cleansing can help control or reduce future breakouts.
Facial steaming has been traced back as far as the ancient Greeks and Romans; many of beauty and medical treatments we use today can be accredited to the same people who gave us the Grecian style dress we love to wear today. The Greeks and Romans recognized that hot steam increased the circulation in their skin, leaving them with a youthful glow.
As simple as it might seem, there are dos and don’ts to steaming the skin on the face. Getting too close to the steam can causing burning that may leave a scar, and prolonged exposure can have the opposite effect leaving the skin dry. Once you get your at-home steamer (they can range anywhere from $25 to $200), it is best to slowly lower your face into the steam until it feels comfortable, after that initial use you will know moving forward how close you can get to the steam. Some users choose to add herbs or essential oils to their steam sessions, which haven’t been proven to have direct effects on the skin, but can be helpful for breaking up congestion and altering your mood.
There are an abundance of at-home remedies and tools that can be used to ensure we all walk around with clear, glowing skin…minus the togas.
Do you have an at-home steaming system? How often do you use it?
Have you been curious about at-home steamers, but were not sure how to use one?
