Everyone wants healthy, beautiful skin, but you may be inadvertently ruining your chances for a gorgeous glow with these 21 skin stomping habits.
Sleeping Without Cleaning
You should always wash your face before you go to bed. When you don’t, your skin absorbs all the oil and dirt you’ve accumulated throughout the day.
It is especially important to cleanse your skin if you’ve been wearing makeup.
Too Much Cleaning
Cleaning your skin too much is almost as bad as not cleaning it enough. When you clean your skin too often, you remove necessary oils. Your skin can become dry and flaky.
Too Much Alcohol
Drinking may be fun, but it can wreak havoc on your skin. Alcohol robs your skin of necessary moisture, the same thing that causes hangovers. It is also very damaging to your liver, which is what detoxifies your body.
To avoid looking terrible the day after drinking, make sure you are getting plenty of water with your alcohol.
Too Much Sugar
When your blood sugar spikes, your body experiences inflammation. This can make your skin appear red and splotchy.
Using Harsh Products
Be careful with exfoliators and peels that can be rough on your skin. Even simple cleansers can leave your face red, irritated and bumpy. You could end up with dry, flaky skin or with more breakouts.
Test new products on a small area of your skin before using them all over. If you have a reaction, find a different product to try.
Messing with Acne
Your mother was right. Keep your hands off your acne. Avoid popping pimples and squeezing blackheads. It doesn’t help, and it can really irritate your skin and make the acne last longer. You could even end up with a scar that lasts for months or more.
You can use a credit card or beauty tool to carefully scrape the whitehead off a pimple, but that’s the most you should do.
Not Enough Sleep
Sleep is the time when your skin comes back into balance and heals itself. Blood flow is increased during sleep, leaving your skin bright and energized. Missing sleep can make skin appear dull. Unbalanced moisture levels can leave you with bags under your eyes.
When you don’t get enough sleep your body can over produce cortisol, which inflames skin and can even lead to eczema.
For radiant skin, get plenty of rest.
Not Changing Bedding
Your sheets and pillowcases absorb a lot of dirt, oil and dead skin cells throughout the night. These are reabsorbed into your skin the next time you sleep.
Keep your bedding fresh and clean, especially pillowcases, to avoid skin problems.
Smoking
Smoking can make you look older and increase wrinkles in your face.
Cigarette smoke causes your blood vessels to constrict, reducing your blood flow. This decreases the nutrients your skin needs to be healthy. Smoking also damages collagen, which is what helps give your skin elasticity. That means you’ll see more wrinkles.
Even the physical movements associated with smoking can cause small lines to form around your mouth.
Skipping Sunscreen
The wonderful sun provides life-giving light, but too much sun exposure can damage skin.
Besides protecting yourself from skin cancer, blocking your skin from too much sun can help you avoid wrinkles, dark spots and inflammation.
Chlorine
Chlorine in pool water kills the harmful bacteria that can lead to illness, but it also strips your skin of necessary bacteria and oils that are there to protect you.
The lack of good bacteria can increase inflammation, making acne and eczema worse.
If you are regularly exposed to chlorine, be sure you are replacing moisture in your skin to avoid dryness.
Hot Showers
Showering in extremely hot water can dry skin out and even lead to redness.
Too Much Tweezing
Tweezing is hard on your skin and can cause red bumps and irritation. Try tweezing after a shower when your pores are open, and pull the hair straight out in the natural direction is it growing.
Tweeze carefully with disinfected tools to avoid ingrown hairs and possible infection.
Too Much Dairy
Many dermatologists believe that the hormones and additives in dairy can lead to inflammation and breakouts.
Try cutting back on dairy for a week or more to see if it improves your skin problems.
Not Hydrating
Your skin needs water to stay elastic and supple. Be sure you are drinking plenty of it, especially when the weather is warm or you are working out.
Too Much Phone Time
Any time you are holding a phone against your face, you are creating a breeding ground for the bacteria that causes acne. You are also trapping dirt and oil in your pores.
If you must be on the phone a lot, invest in a hands-free headset or Bluetooth ear buds with a speaker.
Sweaty Sunglasses
Your sunglasses protect your eyes from the sun’s harmful rays, but they can wreak havoc on your skin.
Make sure your glasses or sunglasses are adjusted correctly and clean them often.
Hair Products
The products that make your hair look great can be ruining your skin. Many hair products contain chemicals that will damage your skin. Shield your face when you spray your hair, and clean off any products that make their way to your skin.
Too Much Stress
Believe it or not, your mental state can make a big difference in the health of your skin. There is even a field of study called psychodermatology that examines the relationship between skin and emotions.
All kinds of dermatological problems can be irritated when you are stressed, including acne, rosacea and rashes.
Learning stress management techniques can help.
Lack of Exercise
Healthy skin requires adequate blood flow throughout your body. If you aren’t moving enough, your blood flow levels may not be sufficient.
Spend some time each day in physical activity.
Skipping the Dermatologist
Seeing your dermatologist is the single best thing you can do for your skin. Your skin care specialist will tell you exactly what you need to know to help your skin looking its best.
Your skin is one of the first things people notice about you. Keep it looking healthy, clear and radiant by taking good care of your skin and avoiding these 21 mistakes.