How to soothe and calm your skin

If your skin is currently irritated, stressed or just acting out maybe from overwearing of face masks, stress, or whatever it is, here are a few simple yet wonderful ingredients that will definitely help soothe and calm your skin.

If you're experiencing any itchiness, redness, or dry flaky skin, your skin will definitely love these few ingredients. They are basic, simple, perfect for everyday use and you can easily look for them in toners, moisturisers or face masks, preferably a non-rinse off so that your skin can just soak all the goodness these ingredients can offer.

Oatmeal

Aside from having this for breakfast almost every day, oatmeal really works wonders for the skin. It's an amazing ingredient to soothe and calm your skin. Thanks to a unique antioxidant called avenanthramides, in oatmeal, that helps reduce inflammation. Great for calming down any itch or irritated skin. A study even showed that oatmeal significantly reduced the itchiness in patients recovering from a burn injury. Oats also contain proteins and polysaccharides which moisturise and form a protective barrier on your skin. So this ingredient is really perfect for people with eczema, dry, irritated, sensitive skin. On product labels, they're called Avena Sativa Kernel Extract which is basically the scientific name for oats.

Rice Water

The next ingredient is the by-product of something you might be having every day. Rice water, another basic yet wonderful ingredient that's soothing and calming. The outer layer, rice bran, has many, many antioxidant compounds as well as polysaccharides. So it's a great anti-aging and moisturising ingredient. A study even suggests that it has skin lightening properties so if you want a natural skin brightener, rice extract is a great ingredient to look out for.

You can even make your own rice water by first giving the rice a rinse, boiling it, and then straining it. Using the leftover water, you can cleanse your face with it, or soak it in a cotton pad and use it as a toner. Another way is to soak the rice for about 30 minutes or more, instead of boiling it.

Aloe vera

Instead of going out of your way to buy the fanciest product, one simple way of relieving irritated skin such as itchiness, redness or dryness is applying aloe vera gel. Aloe vera is amazing at wound healing due to a compound called glucomannan. It can also help retain moisture and lead to a well-functioning skin barrier.

Herbs

Herbs such as Centella Asiatica and Portulaca Oleracea are amazing skin soothing ingredients due to certain unique compounds that can be found in them.

Dig deep

It is also best to dig deeper to see if there's an underlying issue that's causing your skin to act out. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself:

1. Have you not been eating well?
2. Could it be certain foods that you're intolerant to?
3. Are you currently stressing out or not getting enough sleep?

So the next time you’re facing irritated, stressed skin, it’s always best to look at things holistically before running out to buy the first product you see.