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Exercise and caring for your skin

Exercise and caring for your skin

It’s no secret that regular exercise holds countless benefits for both physical and mental health. Not only do you rid your body of toxins and boost your energy levels, you also improve blood circulation, great for reducing stress and inflammation. During mild to vigorous exercise your body perspires to help regulate your body’s temperature. During perspiration your pores open and your body loses moisture. This flushes away dirt and debris trapped in your pores. In this sense, exercise is great for healthier skin. But what about skin care?

1. Cleanse

Debris left on your skin’s surface after exercise leads to body odour as bacteria metabolises. It is thus important that you cleanser your skin to remove this debris as soon as possible. Most important is to use gentle cleansers to not irritate the skin or strip the sebum layer off the skin. Mélan’s range of face and body cleansers have been specifically  formulated to gently cleanse your skin after mild to vigorous exercise and restore the skin’s natural balance and moisture levels. All our cleansers are soap free and excludes harsh foaming agents, sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) and sodium lauryl ether sulphate (SLES). As such, Mélan’s cleansers do not lead to the over production of sebum, so often triggered by harsher more chemically based cleansers and soaps. The inclusion of essential oils immediately tones (closing of pores and restoring the skin’s pH balance) and nourishes to calm the skin and regulate sebum production after rinsing. Your skin is thus cleansed and ready for further toning.

2. Tone

The benefits of toning are often debated – should you or shouldn’t you… In short, you should! Toning after cleansing is important to remove impurities, excess oil and to refresh and revive the skin before applying your favourite moisturiser. Mélan’s Revitalising Mist is an alcohol-free toner containing Witch Hazel, Geranium, Damask Rose, Lavender and Frankincense extracts to protect the skin’s natural sebum layer whilst toning, hydrating and reducing inflammation and calming the skin – especially important after exercising! Finally, it is necessary to restore the skin’s moisture levels.

3. Hydrate and Moisturise

It is vital that you drink plenty of water to replenish your body’s moisture levels from within, after exercising. It is just as important to replenish moisture levels topically. The Mélan Skincare range contains two day moisturisers both with SPF 15 sun protection. The Balancing Day Créme was developed for those with oily to combination skin types and the Hydra Day Créme for those with dry to dehydrated skin types. Both day creams contain Sodium Hyaluronate which penetrates deep into the skin’s layers to boost moisture retention and thus restore moisture lost during exercising. For those requiring higher or additional levels of hydration our very popular Intensive Treatment Créme is ideal. The Intensive Treatment Créme is enriched with Avocado Oil (rich in Omega 3 & 6) high levels of Sodium Hyaluronate, peptides (to increase collagen production) and Vitamin B5 (to lock in moisture).

Very strenuous exercise can also deplete collagen levels leading to increased skin sagging. Our Collagen Booster Créme, with active peptides, stimulates the skin’s natural production of collagen and improves skin firmness. It is also important to restore and revive the skin on the rest of your body. Melan’s Hand & Body Wash is a gentle (soap free) wash with Lemon Verbena and African Lemon Bush to cleanse and revive the skin. Melan’s Body Sense, enriched with Lemon Verbena, Patchouli and Vitamin E, is ideal to further revive, soften and moisturise the body and particularly those dry patches which can so often develop with regular exercising.

4. Conclusion

Here we explored the benefits of caring for one skin after exercising through effective yet gentle cleansing, followed by toning and thereafter by hydrating and moisturising. Mélan Skincare was developed over 10 years ago in Cape Town as a natural, vegan-friendly, skincare range to effectively balance and hydrate the skin. Our range was formulated using the highest quality naturally derived ingredients supported by essential oils, actives and peptides. All our products are free free from harmful chemicals: Parabens, mineral oils, gluten, aluminium, perfume, alcohol  and petrolatum. This means our range is safe for even the most sensitive skin types and is thus your ideal companion for any degree of mild to vigorous exercise!

If you’re looking for a little bit of motivation to get exercising this Summer, whether it be to simply lose some weight or learn an exciting new skill like kickboxing, we recommend checking out Fighting Fit who offers a variety of engaging virtual classes.

Happy exercising!

The Mélan Skincare Team