Tights are a bit like Marmite: some women love them and some women hate them. Half of us look forward to winter, when we can cover our legs in the warm hug that is a pair of tights. Others can’t wait for sunny days to get them off and let their legs tan. But however you feel about tights, could they actually be damaging the skin on our legs?
Tights and Skin Irritation
Dermatologists claim that tights can cause the skin to become irritated by trapping dead skin cells. Sweat also finds itself with nowhere to go, and as we walk in and out of warm buildings, we may not realise how much sweat and thus toxins are caught between our tights and our legs, effectively trapped there all day. According to some dermatologists, those that suffer from skin conditions such as eczema are particularly prone to irritated skin when they wear tights.
The Solution
As worrying as this news sounds, we don’t have to think about hanging up our tights and baring legs during the coldest months just yet. We simply need to take better steps to protect the skin on our legs. Both moisturising and treatments such as a London chemical skin peel are important steps.
Treatments such as skin peels, skin scrubs and facials can in fact be applied anywhere on your body, you’ll find your legs remain smooth and soft throughout winter despite incessant tight-wearing.
Another key preventative measure is to buy tights that contain more natural materials such as cotton and fewer man-made materials such as nylon. The more natural the materials in your tights, the more likely your skin will be able to breathe through them. Of course, this means compromising on elasticity and could see you going all Nora Batty before the day is out, but provided you buy a pair that offer some elasticity and that you wear them only when necessary, you’ll still prevent damage to your skin.
As you can see, tights are a common enemy to our skin that many of us never even knew about it. The good news is that a good skin-care routine and canny tights shopping can easily reduce the impact of them.