Salt Of The Earth: How An Easter Sea-Bath Restores Skin

A good salt-water bath will fix that.

If you’re a Trinbagonian reading this, then you’ve heard that line (of some riff on it) at least once in your life.

For the non-locals, this was a phrase sometimes thrown at us growing-up. It meant that whenever some ailment struck, the cure was a trip to the beach to take a dip in the salty goodness of the sea.

Feeling blue?

Let’s drive-up to Maracas, we’ll get a bake-and-shark while we’re there.

Got a cold?

A weekend in Mayaro waters will make it go away.

But best of all, a splash in seawater does the skin wonders.

Slough it off with salt

The most talked-about benefit of salt water is its ability to exfoliate your skin.

Having a swim at the beach is one of the very few natural ways to scrub-away dead skin cells and open your pores. This is why it’s a good idea to massage some moisturiser across your body when you get out of the water. The open pores will allow it to be absorbed much more quickly, leaving you with a silky glow.

Remedy for acne?

This is a good tip for teens.

Thanks to the bactericidal activity of its minerals, salt water is good at removing the pus-filled sacs (overfilled sebaceous glands), helping to restore balanced pH levels in skin.

Salt water is also good at drawing-out excess skin oils that build-up and make acne even worse.

Skin hydrator extraordinaire

For those days when you can’t make it to our spa for one of our replenishing skin treatment, spending 15-20 minutes waddling around the shallow waters at the beach is a good holdover until you get here.

The salt water will open your pores, balancing its oil levels, infusing magnesium and hydrating your skin.

Sea water is full of magnesium which is what maintains your skin’s protective barrier, locking in moisture that keeps skin cells regenerating. This combined effect is what helps to keep fine lines away. This is why after you come out of the water, your skin sometimes feels super-tight. That’s not dryness, that’s the magnesium at work.

Just be sure to use moisturiser before you leave the beach.

The secret salt

So, what is it exactly in seawater that’s responsible all these wonderful effects on our skin?

It turns out that there’s more than just salt:

• Magnesium
• Potassium
• Selenium
• Calcium
• Sulphur

These combination of these minerals are believed to be the reason why frequent salt-water baths are so good at treating skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema.

Although there are clear benefits to the occasional sea bath, excessive time spent in salt water can have damaging effects on your hair, by drying it out too much.

There’s no sense in trading one problem for another. So the best thing to do, is enjoy nature’s salty treat in moderation.

And there’s nothing better to fix that than a trip to the beach for the Easter weekend!