Kerry Washington has lived with eczema since she was a toddler. “I’ve struggled with delicate, dry pores and skin since earlier than I can keep in mind,” she just lately informed Yahoo! Life. Now, at 46, the actor has discovered some reduction, thanks, partially, to an ingredient that appears to be popping up in each cleanser, serum, and cream.
“I’m studying to actually embrace hyaluronic acid,” she stated. “It has really reworked the best way that I’m capable of look after my pores and skin and the way my pores and skin appears to be like and feels.” (Observe: Washington is a Neutrogena ambassador, and hyaluronic acid is the model’s hero ingredient.)
The science backs her up on this: Eczema, a situation that impacts about 31 million individuals within the US, usually manifests as dryness, itching, and irritation, typically because of a compromised pores and skin barrier—the protecting layer of your pores and skin that retains the dangerous stuff out and the good things, like crucial moisture, in. Sustaining hydration with an ingredient like hyaluronic acid, a humectant that pulls a ton of water to the floor of the pores and skin, could be key for not solely managing flare-ups, however maintaining that barrier wholesome typically.
As a result of sure types of eczema could be triggered by allergens and irritants, like fragrances and dyes, it normally responds finest to light skincare, as SELF beforehand reported. Different soothing components that may ease itchy, dry, or in any other case delicate pores and skin embody glycerin (one other humectant that reduces moisture loss), ceramides (which reinforce the pores and skin’s construction), colloidal oatmeal (an anti-inflammatory), and petrolatum (an occlusive that seals in hydration and acts as a protecting barrier), amongst others.
For Washington, Neutrogena’s Hydro Enhance Physique Cream, is “actually efficient,” she informed Right now, and she or he’s additionally keen on the Hydro Enhance Gel Cream, she informed The Zoe Report. (The star ingredient in each moisturizers is, you guessed it, hyaluronic acid.) As for the remainder of her routine, the 46-year-old retains it easy with cleanser, sunscreen throughout the day, and retinol at evening.
For infrequent breakouts, she turns to pimple patches. “I is usually a little bit of a picker with regards to blemishes, which is such a foul behavior,” she stated. “I feel it comes from, as a child, having eczema and all the time itching and scratching—that form of sensory, tactile factor.”
Outdoors of slathering on lotions, Washington informed Yahoo! Life that her glow additionally comes from an general deal with wellness: sleep, hydration, train, meditation, the works.
She particularly struggles with stress (a identified eczema set off), and does her finest to handle it with a lot of self-care, together with remedy. Getting sufficient relaxation is a biggie too. “Taking good care of pores and skin is mostly a holistic job,” she stated. “Typically that [looks] like cocooning in my bubble bathtub and taking it simple.”
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