What if the best skincare booster was simply… Temperature. Cold, like heat, has virtues to choose according to the skin’s needs.

First clue: take a look at your hair dryer, if it is recent enough you will find a switch to allow it to blow both hot (often very hot) and cold. And for good reason, if hot allows you to give a shape to the hair, cold closes the scales and fixes the shape. And well on the skin side, it's the same, cold and hot act on the tissues, blood vessels, the lymphatic network but also on the cells, in short, temperatures affect the body as much as they affect morale.

What is heat good for?

To make skin clear

A small facial sauna opens the pores, allows to extract the comedones, without mistreating the skin. Just boil water in a saucepan, add two or three drops of geranium essential oil and place your face above, a towel around everything to keep the sauna effect. The pores dilate. The skin becomes healthier.

For a beautiful complexion

Drinking a bowl of hot water also has a healthy glow and a pretty complexion. Indeed, add a dash of lemon juice and you will give your liver a boost for better digestion. A dull complexion will clear up! To be consumed occasionally or as a cure but not all year round at the risk of damaging your teeth with the acidity of the lemon. Unless you drink it with a straw.

To chase away tensions

Immersed in a hot bath, around 38°, you feel the body's tensions disappear, the muscles relax and well-being take over you. The pores of the body's skin open, toxins are eliminated. Indeed, the skin is one of the most effective emunctories. From 12 minutes, we know that the active ingredients in the bath penetrate the skin barrier, so if you have slipped essential oils, salts, algae, sea water etc... you will have the benefits beyond this time. Be careful not to stay more than about twenty minutes beyond which the bath water cools down and you too. When getting out of the bath, remember to moisturize your skin well with milk or cream.

For deep hair care

A mask without heat does not penetrate the heart of the hair! So do not hesitate to proceed as at the hairdresser: apply a treatment then place a damp and very hot towel (placed in the microwave) on the entire length of the hair while the treatment penetrates. Then rinse with hot water, then lukewarm and finish with a cool jet to tighten the hair scales. And there you have the combination of hot and cold for the keys to a successful beauty routine.

What is cold good for?

To soothe pain and gain energy

It is well known that after matches, rugby players immerse themselves in a large bin filled with ice cubes to recover and calm muscle tension. A process used to relieve certain myalgias and boost tone. The process is being developed in some institutes and offices with cryotherapy sessions by wearing shorts and a sports top refrigerated to -160° for just a few minutes or standing in a refrigerated cabin. When the entire body is in contact with the cold, it is a real boost to the metabolism and the quality of the skin! The body temperature drops by a few degrees, the vessels contract. When contact with the cold stops after 3 minutes, the body temperature rises, the vessels dilate, blood circulation is activated and the body secretes endorphins which generate a feeling of well-being, reducing pain in the process.

To energize the skin

Good news, the cold has a real effect on the quality of the skin. It tightens the pores and causes a phenomenon of vasodilation which reactivates the skin's microcirculation. Blood circulation in the capillaries is improved, leading to a real boost in the complexion! There are masks to put in the freezer, but you can also place ice cubes in a thin cloth and gently pass them over the skin. The skin toned by the cold, slackens less whether it is around the face or on the whole body for the bravest who finish their shower with an icy jet...

To reduce puffiness

On puffy eyes, cold also works wonders. Pat and smooth the eye contour with cold. Valuable alternative: a jade or rose quartz roller kept in the refrigerator will have the same vasoconstricting and de-puffing effect as ice cubes.

To boost the effect of the treatments

Not only does cold preserve the active ingredients in creams, serums and other creamy or liquid textures for longer, but it also increases their effects tenfold when the treatments are intended to relieve heavy legs or create an ice cube effect on the face in the event of heatstroke or burns. This action also increases the effectiveness of treatments intended to tighten the pores of combination or oily skin. With tightened pores, sebum secretion decreases.

For shiny hair

By tightening the scales, the hair is shinier and softer. It is no coincidence that more and more salons and hair spas offer hair cryotherapy treatments, combining nourishing care and smoothing with ice plates before rinsing with warm then cold water for a toning and sheathing effect.

For light legs

Beyond the treatments to put in the fridge, a daily cold shower on the legs, from the feet to the thighs, at the end of the day immediately chases away the feeling of heavy legs, fatigue and numbness. Be careful, if you are too prone to cramps, avoid ice-cold showers on the legs. Prefer a lukewarm shower and finish with a slightly cooler jet.