Steaming your face is an important way to get rid of oil, dirt, pathogens and excess sebum. It can be used as part of a daily routine or to cleanse in the morning before applying make-up. It is also recommended by some doctors as a complementary treatment for skin conditions such as acne or rosacea. Steaming the face is highly beneficial to our overall health. People often tend to undermine the outcome of face-steaming and in this article we look at some of the good reasons why you should include face steaming in your daily routine.
10 Benefits of Steaming Your Face
1. Cleanses the Pores
Cleansing your skin pores is one of the most important face steaming benefits you can reap from the steaming and cleansing process, as it washes away dirt and oil that has been accumulated over the day through exposure to the sun and other pollutants. An effective technique is to steam your face first, then apply an oil-free, non-comedogenic facial cleanser in a gentle circular motion for about one minute before washing off with warm water and patting your skin dry with a soft towel.
2. Boosts Exfoliation
Steaming helps to exfoliate the skin and remove dead cells. This process improves the overall texture of your skin and prevents hyperpigmentation by reducing inflammation. As a result, you can expect healthier, glowing skin. Steaming face benefits the skin by aiding exfoliation and improving your skin’s texture.
3. Health of Your Skin Cells
When steaming the face, you are actually increasing the rate of water and oxygen uptake by the epidermis. This process allows your skin cells to better retain nutrients and moisture, so they become healthier, firm and stronger. Steaming also improves blood circulation in skin by bringing oxygen and nutrients to it.
4. Improves Skin Texture
With steaming the face, pores are stimulated to emit a natural oil (sebum) that reduces their size. This makes your pores appear smaller and also evens out the texture while helping to prevent blackheads and whiteheads. Steaming the face benefits the skin by aiding the full improvement of the skin texture by reducing the size of the pores.
When you steam your face, you stimulate blood circulation to the skin, which increases the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the skin. As a result, your skin becomes more radiant and nourished. Steaming also makes skin cells more flexible, which provides a glow on the face, especially when done regularly. Exposure to high temperatures while steaming will help to open pores and soothe inflammation, resulting in a tighter and smoother skin texture.
5. Promotes Skin Detoxification
Steaming is an effective way to clear out clogged pores and toxins from our body system without causing much harm. It helps to stimulate blood flow by increasing oxygen intake in our body and in turn cleanses out toxins by minimising blocked pores as well as providing deep cleansing for the skin cells.
6. Hydrating the Skin
An essential part of the benefits of steaming face is hydration. It cools your skin effectively and provides relief from dryness in sensitive areas such as around the eyes or nose. Also, it hydrates the oil glands so that they will produce less oil yet more watery sebum in the future. It hydrates the skin by providing moisture while helping to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
7. Treats Acne and Other Skin Conditions
Experts often recommend that it is beneficial to steam the face if you have acne or rosacea. It is actually effective for both conditions. But for acne sufferers, steaming the face will not only remove excess oil from the skin but will also calm redness and inflammation caused by pimples as well as unblock pores making them appear less big and noticeable.
As mentioned earlier, steaming also treats rosacea, which is a chronic inflammatory skin condition characterised by folliculitis (the inflammation of hair follicles), papules (small bumps) and pustules (pimples). A hot compress on the skin can also help heal acne. It triggers a process called vasodilation that opens up blood vessels. In turn, this helps to release chemicals into the pores that fight bacteria and reduce inflammation. Since it flushes out bacteria and dirt from your pores, it also prevents acne breakouts without causing any side effects like those caused by applying harsh chemicals on your skin for clearing your face.
8. Aids in Blood Circulation
The benefits of steaming the face include improving the blood circulation system by raising oxygen intake in the body. The skin gets extra attention in terms of blood circulation and this causes the skin to become radiant. It also promotes the circulation of blood, which improves the health and the appearance of your skin.
9. Improves the Appearance of the Skin
A relaxing effect is generated after exposure to steam, which makes you feel refreshed and revived. This process optimises and helps to improve the appearance of your skin. As a result, you will notice an improvement in your skin tone and a more distinctive glow on the face. It has been known for many years that steaming effectively detoxifies the skin and removes impurities from within our system.
10. Increases Perspiration
This is also another very important benefit of steaming the face. Perspiration is the natural process of the body that helps in releasing toxins from the body. It effectively releases toxins and increases blood circulation, which in turn reduces stress, acne, skin rashes and inflammation caused due to blocked pores.
How to Steam Your Face Properly
There are ways to carry out your face steaming to ensure that you get the maximum steaming face benefits. You can purchase a specialised face mask and steam basket, you can purchase a device that heats water and allows you to steam your face on top of it, or you can steam your face over the bathroom sink. One important thing to remember is that the steam is extremely hot so it is important not to leave your skin exposed for too long. Always make sure not to get water in your eyes.
Following are some necessary tips
● Maintain proper temperature for the face as mentioned earlier. Choose a heat source that is safe and matches your skin type. If you have sensitive skin, then use a lower temperature at first and gradually increase it to a higher setting.
● You can find many different types of steamers today to suit all personal needs and preferences. You may opt for a traditional iron-based steam boiler or a more modern steam jacket that offers maximum benefits as well as an option of steaming facial masks in the same manner. For optimum results, use only distilled water or water filtered through an activated carbon system or an ionising filter.
Conclusion
Face steaming is a traditional practice that dates back centuries and is still very popular today. Face steaming helps to bring many of the benefits mentioned above by opening the pores and removing toxins from the body. It also helps add radiance to theskin, reduces stress, cleanses the skin and improves blood circulation.
If you have never tried it before, we recommend that you try and see how much better your skin looks afterwards. It can be a challenge at first to clean your face after steaming because everything clings to your natural oils. As long as you don't overdo it with the soap or get frustrated, eventually it will all rinse off.
FAQs
What is face steaming?
Face steaming helps to remove all the impurities from your skin and promotes healthy skin care as well as make you look younger and happier. Simply, it is a procedure of steaming your face with hot water that allows for deep cleansing, circulation and moisturisation of the skin cells. It will also effectively unblock blocked pores and make you look younger.
Is there a difference between steam bath, facial steamer or steam facial?
In short, it's mainly the same thing but you tend to use different devices. You can find many different brands of steamers or face steamers that are designed for various applications like treating acne, removing skin tags, reducing wrinkles and removing dead skin cells from your face.
Why do I want to steam my face?
The purpose of steaming your face is to open up clogged pores that may cause acne and other skin problems, unclog blocked pores and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles around your eyes. It also helps to remove excess oil from your skin, which makes you look younger and healthier.
Is steaming good for your face?
Yes, steaming is beneficial to the face.