Post Workout Skin Care Basics

So apparently, huffing and puffing is a good thing sometimes. Regular exercise has been proven to boost your mood and energy levels and improve your skin health. You read that right… exercise improves your skin health.

When you exercise, the stress hormone, cortisol, reduces. Cortisol can lead to the over production of sebum which would cause acne. Exercise also improves blood circulation, which helps deliver more nutrients to the skin and speeds up wound healing.

Before you head straight to ‘Get Physical’ you need to pack some post workout skin care essentials.

Gentle Cleanser

Yes, exercise improves your skin health but you need to wash your face and body within 10 minutes of finishing your workout to keep breakouts at bay! When working out, we sweat, and while sweat is not the cause of the breakouts, it’s the bacteria that breakdown the sweat that are the cause of acne and a nasty smell.

First things first, don’t rely on the generic soap provided by your gym to clean up. Carry your own gentle wash which will be used to thoroughly wash your hands before touching your face. After washing your hands use a  gentle facial cleanser to get rid of sweat, grime and make-u…wait, hopefully, you went exercising makeup free.

Proceed to clean the rest of your body with your gentle wash.

Moisturizer

After a gentle face and body cleanse, moisturize your skin to plump it up and complete the post workout glow. If your skin is very dry, use a hydrating serum underneath your moisturizer. If you are heading out into the sun, your moisturizer should have SPF to protect your skin from any free radical assault.

Sun Protection

Heading back out into the sun? Well, on top of your SPF laden moisturizer, apply some broad spectrum SPF and wear some stylish eyewear to amp up your sun protection.

Note that if you are using any targeted treatments like retinol, AHAs or BHAS, you don’t need to include them in your post workout skin care routine. The post workout routine is quite simple, involving cleaning, hydrating and protecting your skin.

The image above shows you my current post workout products.What are some of your favorite skin care products to use after hitting the gym?