Not taking care of your skin can lead to skin cancer. Not taking care of your skin can also help contribute to disease. Your skin is the body's first line of defense against germs, bacteria, diseases, and infections. If your skin is damaged in any kind of way, then it will not be able to provide the protection that you need to help prevent the development of disease and infection.

Taking good care of your skin doesn't mean that you need a number of different products that take half an hour each morning and each night in order to take care of. Taking good care ofyour skin takes just a few minutes every day. The pay off will be worth it: protection against cancer, disease, and help preventing wrinkles, liver spots, and other problems associated with aging and the course of time.

1. Wash your facial skin twice a day.

All that you have to use is a mild soap, such as Ivory soap. Don't use a strong soap or a deodorant soap: these types of soap can irritate your face. Finally, after washing your face, rinse it off with warm or cool water.

2. One or two times a week, wash your face with something just slightly stronger.

Use lukewarm water and then also use a deep facial cleanser. A good cleanser that is gentle for your skin but also can thoroughly clean your skin is Noxzema or Cetaphil. Get a washcloth slightly damp, and then work the gentle cleanser into your skin with the washcloth using a circular motion. Cleaning your skin in this way will help you clean all of the pores on your face and remove the dirt and any type of buildup. Finally, rinse your face off slightly and then pat it dry with a clean and soft towel. After cleansing your face, moisturize it with either a gentle moisturizing lotion or with aloe vera lotion.

3. Protect your skin from the elements by taking everyday precautions

Everyday elements such as the rain, the wind, and the sun can cause intense damage to your skin. For example, the sun emits ultraviolet rays in two forms: UVA rays and UVB rays. Both of these rays can cause serious damage to your skin, causing wrinkles, skin dryness, skin roughness, liver spots, and even cancer in either squamous cells or in your basal cells, causing melanoma.

In order to protect your skin from the sun, you need to take every day precautions. Wear sunscreen when you go outside. You should use a sunscreen that has an SPF rating of at least 15. When you are outside for an extended amount of time, then you should reapply the sunscreen every two hours. If you have been in the water, then you should reapply the sunscreen after being in the water. You should also reapply the sunscreen if you have been sweating. Make sure that you are using a sunscreen that has aloe in it and/or moisturizers. These extra elements will also help protect your skin from the sun and the wind.

If you have been in the sun for quite a while, then after you go inside then you need to apply a facial moisturizer in order to protect your skin and keep it hydrated. You should use a skin moisturizer that has Vitamin E in it. Use this Vitamin E facial moisturizer every time that your skin feels dry.

4. Don't skimp on shaving

No matter what, shaving is going to be rough on your tender facial skin. Make sure that you put hot water on your skin before you apply shaving cream. Allow for a few minutes so that the shaving cream can settle into your skin. Use a double blade sharp razor. Then after you are done shaving, rinse your face with cold water. Then apply an after shave cream like Afta.