Skin Tips For The Bath And Sauna
Heat! Blood flow! Sweat! Endorphins!
The benefits of regular hot baths and sauna sessions are no new found trick, they have been around for centuries and we have more access to them now than ever before. If you, like me, crave heat intensely, then you’re probably already familiar with the slew of benefits they can provide the body and skin. If you’re heat therapy curious or still confused on how to optimize the skin benefits, then welcome to my guide on how to prep and treat the skin before, during, and after your sweat session. Steamy.
First Things First
Saunas and baths instigate blood flow and sweating, triggering the right type of stress on the body, resulting in cell health benefits and increased detox. Specific to the skin, the flow draws essential nutrients to the tissue and cells, decongests the lymphatic system, and softens hardened keratin (cell) build up.
How to Optimize These Skin-health Benefits
Let’s start with the basics, here’s four crucial rules to implement:
Make sure your skin is clean (like duh but these are the basics, ok?) this doesn’t mean you have to scrub or strip, just ensure your spf, makeup, and/or day is removed so your skin doesn’t further absorb it all.
Resist the urge to use drying clay-based masks or active/exfoliating products such as those containing AHAs, BHAs, and retinol. This is not the time for drying or stripping since the skin is more vulnerable.
Use products you’re okay with sweating off. Ideally you will be dripping wet during this whole charade, so keep the expensive serums and creams for immediately following your spiritual awakening.
Avoid leaving the skin totally dry, as this will further dehydrate the skin’s tissue and possibly activate an immune response resulting in red, itchy, flaky, and upset skin.
Okay here’s where the optimization comes in—
Since your skin will be softened, damp, and flowing, this is the perfect time to introduce hydrating and nutrient-rich products. Slather on your favorite face oil, balm, or soothing/hydrating mask and re-up throughout the session as needed.
Different situations will call for different techniques and products, but the idea here is to keep the skin protected and moisturized during the flow/stress/sweat response. My go-to is using a generous amount of oil, but hydrating masks are fun to rotate in. Additionally, when I’m in a hot hot sauna I will cover my face with a damp cloth since the air can be intensely drying (this helps with breathing too). Commonly, there is some sort of cold plunge or rinse between sauna session bursts (which is also fabulous for the skin)— I use this as a time to apply more protective oil before going in for another round. So, broken down it should look something like:
Cleanse
Create protective barrier
Rinse and repeat as necessary
Calm and replenish afterwards
Easy breezy beautiful, sauna girl.
The Aftercare Moment
Now that your skin is softened and starved for water, this is the prime time to work in all your yummy hydrating, moisturizing, and nutritive products. Bring out the whole arsenal, but leave the acids for another time. Give the skin a proverbial tall glass of water and then follow it up by drinking a very real one (or two or three and maybe add electrolytes). Enjoy your plump and glowing skin, all flowed up and protected. Never stay in a stressed out state for long, just touch and go. Rules to live by.
