Focus

Are You Doing it
Right...
By Allison Stephens
Our daily shower seems pretty straight forward, right? But odds are, at least one step in your well-meaning
routine unintentionally leaves your skin or hair worse for wear. For anyone who’s ever gotten that dry, tight
feeling, an itchy scalp, irritation or redness after a shower, these five common shower mistakes are likely culprits
that unintentionally strip skin of oils and throw the skin’s pH balance out of whack. Fortunately, the fixes
are simple! Spending five minutes to optimize your cleaning routine makes can leave your body balanced
and refreshed:
• Mistake #1: Overdosing on Shampoo. Ninety-three percent of
the country’s adults shampoo almost daily, according to market
research firm Mintel. But so much washing strips hair’s natural oils,
drying and weakening the strands and irritating the scalp. Dermatologists
lathering up just 3 to 4 times per week (or less!) with just
a dime sized dollop of soap free shampoo, and only rinsing hair on
other days. If you can’t resist washing daily, make sure to choose
a pH balanced formula like Sebamed Scalp Activating Shampoo
($14.99 at SebamedUSA.com), as balanced formulations which
won’t strip hair of oils.
• Mistake #2: Washing with Soap and Hot Water. They may seem
innocent, but traditional soap bars can have a pH of up to 9, leaving
skin dry, tight and vulnerable to damage. Ditch the soap and
switch to a soap-free cleansing bar or soap-free milky cleanser for
both the face and body, like Sebamed Liquid Face and Body Wash
($19.95 at SebamedUSA.com).
62 FOCUS of SWFL 2014