Keeping your skin health on track and knowing which habits to change is essential if you want to maintain your skin as you age. The skin is the most sensitive part of the body, and the one that’s most exposed to environmental stressors. Thus, you want to take good care of your skin, so it looks great, but some of the daily tasks you may not think about can damage your skin over time. Other than the fact that it’s the largest organ in our body, the skin plays a vital role in our health and overall wellbeing. It protects us from the external pathogens and prevents internal injuries. However, we tend to take our skin for granted by often neglecting it, and we cultivate poor habits that harm it before we realize.
Here are some of the bad habits you should eliminate from your life to have healthy skin.
1. Smoking
Seriously-it’s time for you to stop smoking. Because if you keep smoking, you will not only harm your health but also develop more and more wrinkles and blotchiness on your skin. A smoker’s skin is dull, sallow, and dry due to smoking, a condition that cannot be rectified by moisturizers or skincare routines. It is better for your overall health and wellbeing to quit smoking. Furthermore, smoking damages the collagen and elastin that make the skin smooth and plump. It also accelerates the signs of skin ageing. Tobacco smoking causes the outermost layers of the skin’s blood vessels to narrow, causing reduced blood flow to those areas and also accelerating the ageing process.
2. Applying face oils before stepping out
Face oils tend to replace moisturizers, and as a result, we go out into the world looking all greasy. Get rid of this habit now! When we apply oil to our skin, it opens our pore which allows dust and impurities to settle in and clog them, causing breakouts. Face oil should only be applied at the night, when the risks of impurities is lesser.
3. Ignoring Your Neck and Chest
Jawline skincare is important. “These areas are almost always visible, yet they don’t receive the same level of hydration or sun protection as their facial counterparts. According to Los Angeles dermatologist Howard Fein, the skin on the neck and chest is more delicate and vulnerable to photoaging. Thus, applying serum, creams, moisturizers, or exfoliating treatments to your décolletage is essential to protect you skin from further damage.
4. Applying too much product
Makeup is great and can make you feel like a million bucks, but before you spend so much money on cosmetics, ask yourself whether this is beneficial for your skin type. Applying too much makeup, especially if the makeup is not suitable for your skin type, can clog your pores and lead to breakouts. Before you buy makeup, ensure that it is suitable for your skin and will allow your skin to breathe.
5. Using Dirty Makeup Brushes
Our makeup brushes hoard a lot more bacteria than our naked eye can see, so it is easy to ignore it and keep using it, nonetheless. However, these dirty makeup brushes can be extremely hard for our skin. In the event that you fail to wash your brushes, you may end up with muddy colors, clogged pores and bacterial infections. Use a gentle shampoo or soap every three weeks to wash your makeup brushes, rinse well, and then let the brushes air dry or use brush cleaner wipes,
6. You don’t wash your face before bed
While it’s totally understandable to skip the sink, especially after a long day, grime is still there no matter what you see, so over time, your skin will suffer. When oil, dirt, and pollution accumulate on the skin, inflammation and breakouts can occur. Thus, washing your face after a long of pollution is imperative if you want to have clean skin. QNET’s Physio Radiance Gentle Foaming Cleanser is one of the most effective facial cleansers that can give your skin the ultimate rejuvenation after a tiring day. The cleanser is an ultra-mild formula containing a balanced mix of amino acids, sugars, urea, vitamins and sodium PCA, a natural hydrating agent that helps maintain your skin’s hydrolipidic balance and keeps it moisturized. Ensure that you end your day by washing your face to wake up with a clean, glowing face.
7. You Exfoliate Flakey Skin.
Dry skin is characterized by flakes and flaky patches on the skin. Exfoliating can remove those loose patches, but Zeichner says that rough exfoliation disrupts the moisture barrier. You need to hydrate instead of scouring away dryness. You need to use exfoliators that can sooth and calm your skin, whilst effectively removing all the skin’s impurities and giving your skin the extra boost, it needs. The Physio Radiance Firming and Lifting Double Action Serum is a mild exfoliator which is devoid of any harsh chemicals. This double-action serum aims to reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation and dark spots, correct uneven skin tone, brighten the skin, reduce wrinkles and fine lines and improve skin firmness and elasticity.
8. Staying Up Late
A dermatologist in Santa Monica and New York City says sleep deprivation causes stress, which worsens acne, eczema, and psoriasis. In the short term, this can mess with the way blood flows to the skin, which can give you a dull complexion. Sleeping is also when your body repairs the damage caused by the day, so interrupting that process can lead to slower cell turnover.
9. Eating Junk Food
In the past, it was thought that food didn’t affect your complexion. But sorry to say, that is no longer true. A study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology shows that people who replaced processed carbohydrates with high-protein foods and whole grains suffered fewer breakouts. High-glycemic foods will increase your blood sugar, which will increase insulin levels, which then trigger oil-producing hormones called androgens, and ultimately lead to pimples,” Baumann explains. With less junk food around, you can see an improvement in acne in about six weeks. Instead, choose snack foods such as peanut butter, nuts, avocados, which are packed with nutrients for hair, skin, nails, and digestion.
10. Going to Bed With Your Makeup On
If you’re guilty of wearing makeup to bed, it’s time to break the habit. Our skin is constantly exposed to makeup, pollution, dirt, oil and other components throughout the day that accumulates on its surface. Avoid letting the grime accumulate on your skin before bed to prevent irritation, clogged pores, breakouts, and dull-looking skin. If you’re lazy, keep a pack of face wipes or micellar water at your nightstand to eliminate trips to the sink.
11. Not Wiping Down Your Phone
Almost all of us are stuck to our phones, but did you know that the very thing we can’t be without could be causing havoc on our appearance? Phones promote bacteria that can cause acne on the side of your face, around your chin, and around your jawline. Keeping your phone clean is all the more important nowadays, as it is often our only social outlet. Cleaning it regularly will prevent bacterial growth. Without precautions, a surface that is so regularly touched and exposed to a variety of changing environments will pick up a variety of impurities that could be passed onto your face.
There are a few not-so-obvious reasons you could be experiencing breakouts or premature ageing as a result of washing your face too much, skipping SPF, and neglecting to wipe down your phone. The skin-friendly supplement SkinHealth offers valuable phytonutrients and antioxidants for a youthful appearance. It contains lycopene, an antioxidant from tomatoes, wheat germ oil, and vitamin E, nutritional components known for their anti-ageing properties.
