By N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe

New Delhi, Aug 4 (IANSlife): To prevent the skin from taking excessive damage from the heat and the humidity that Indian monsoons offer, you can resort to several herbal or Ayurvedic formulations in the form of gels or creams. However, the availability of these two options also leads to the tough question -- a gel or a cream -- which is better for the season?

Broadly speaking, gels tend to be the better option during the humid season. Shahnaz Husain, chairperson and managing director of the Shahnaz Husain group of companies, helps us settle this debate once and for all:

There are several reasons for that. They are as follows:

* As the heat grows during the summer season in tropical countries like India, the skin tends to become oily and greasy. Since most gels are water-based, they are light on the skin and hydrate it deeply, which is why they are excellent at preventing and healing breakouts and acne.

* Also, gels work excellently well for different oily, dry, as well as combination skin types. They are, however, especially beneficial for people who have oily skin. Being water-based, they keep the skin's oil content in check and prevent stickiness while hydrating it to the maximum and keeping it healthy.

* Moreover, people who have sensitive skin can benefit a lot from gels during the hot summer months in India.

There are, however, a couple of things that you should consider before buying yourself a healing gel for the summer. Your skin type plays a major role in deciding the type of gel that you should use.

* If your skin is oily, you would be better off using gels that contain salicylic acid, lactic acid, or tea tree oil.

* However, if you have dry skin, you need to perform a little test. Take a small drop of the gel and apply it to the backside of your ear. If your skin starts getting excessively dry, itchy, flaky, or tense, then the gel that you may have picked may not be hydrating your skin properly.

* It is, therefore, best to choose a soothing herbal/Ayurvedic gel for your skin as they tend to have no side effects.

* If your skin is neither too dry nor too oily but somewhere in between, then you should consider getting gels with hyaluronic acid as it moisturizes the skin thoroughly.

Even though gels are generally better than creams during the summer months, there are different types of gels out there that are suited to different skin types. Make sure you get the one that is compatible with your skin