Perhaps as of this moment, you already have a skin-care routine which you religiously follow. Or you’ve altered your diet in a way that would give your skin that healthy glow.
These routine and diet may be working miracles on your skin but you might still notice something missing. Perhaps you still get that occasional breakout, or maybe your skin is still too dry without moisturizer. The underlying cause of these minor skin problems may lie in some habits you never knew could affect your skin in such a detrimental way. Some of these habits may not only be affecting your skin, but your health as well. If you want to discover the optimal state of your skin then stop doing these bad skin habits and continue an effective skin-care routine with a healthy diet.
1. Skipping Exfoliation
You may have been skipping this essential step in a basic skin-care routine because you believe it’s too harsh on your skin. Exfoliation is very important because it gets rid of the dead skin cells that are pushed out to the surface of your skin when new skin cells generate underneath them. These dead skin cells do slough off eventually but some stick around for too long, causing clogged pores and dull-looking skin while preventing your skin-care products from absorbing deeply into your skin.
If you experience skin problems when exfoliating, try different brands and see which would suit your skin type best. Also, exfoliate in moderation. Never exfoliate every day, only twice, more or less depending on your skin, weekly.
2. Too Much Salt, Sugar, Caffeine, And Alcohol
Maybe you follow a skin-care routine, but not a healthy diet. Or perhaps you do but skip out on some ingredient regulation either because you believe that you need it or because you didn’t know it could have such an effect. Well, four of the ingredients you need to watch out for includes salt, sugar, caffeine, and alcohol.
Too much salt and caffeine are dehydrating which would eventually show through a dull-looking skin. Sugar breaks down collagen and elastin in the skin which would promote the formation of wrinkles. Alcohol dehydrates and inflames your skin, causing dullness and blotchy skin.
3. Sleeping With Make-up
You should know by now that sleeping without removing your make-up is very harmful to your skin and even to your health. Make-up encourages bacterial infections from the dirt that cling to your make-up during the day and promotes clogged pores thereby causing acne among other skin conditions. Even the make-up residue that falls on your pillows and sheets can cause harm by sticking to your skin the next night and cause the same skin problems even though you’ve removed your make-up for that day before going to sleep. Those make-up residues can also make you sick when you inhale them during the night.
Remember to always remove your make-up before going to bed even by just using make-up remover wipes.
4. Lack of Sleep
When you sleep, your body repairs itself, including your skin. If you don’t get enough sleep, your skin doesn’t get enough time to repair itself as well. Also, your body won’t be able to optimally de-stress itself from the day’s worries which could show in your skin in the long run.
5. Not Minding Your Skin-Care Product Ingredients
Usually, when people buy skin-care products, they try out different brands and use whichever suits their skin best. This is not necessarily a bad habit but it’s not good either. Your skin gets used to the skin-care products you’re using but if it contains harmful ingredients, it may harm your skin in the long run. Most skin-care products are very promising at first but will only show their detrimental effects once you’ve been using them already for a long time.
For instance, alcohol is one of the common ingredients you’ll find in some skin-care products such as toner. It will temporarily shrink your pores so you’ll think it’s good for your skin but it’s actually very drying, irritating, and damaging. Benzoyl peroxide clears up your skin by killing bacteria and reducing oil production but is also very drying in the long run.
