6 Habits That Are Harming Your Skin

Having a healthy and glowing skin is one among the priorities in anyone’s beauty list. If you want your skin to look right, you must treat your skin right. But some of the daily routines you may not think about can add up to damage over time. Here are a couple of habits which you are not aware might be interfering with your goal of healthy skin:

* You don’t wash you face before bed

Your skin goes through a lot during the entire day. Constant exposure to dirt, pollution and of course the regular secretion of oil build up in your skin and lead to break-outs. To negate the effect of all the contaminants, it is advised that you break the habit of skipping the sink after a long day. Use a gentle cleanser with moisturizers like glycerine or botanical oils to keep your complexion hydrated. And if you can’t get to the sink or just don’t want to, a few passes with a facial wipe will work effectively as well.

* Smoking

If you smoke, you already know you need to quit because smoking is bad for heart, lungs and brain. What you don’t know is that it is bad for your skin as well. Nicotine reduces blood flow to your skin, which means it doesn’t get enough oxygen and nutrients. Every time you light up, you inhale over 4 000 toxic chemicals that cause oxidative stress and inflammation in your skin. Because of these chemicals, smokers have been known to develop signs of aging early on. Chemicals in tobacco smoke deprive the skin from oxygen and damage collagen and elastin molecules.Quitting smoking cold turkey isn’t easy, but the overall health and wellbeing of your body and skin, it’s surely worth it.

* You’re not a regular user of sunscreen

Prolonged exposure to sun can cause serious damage to your skin. Sun damage doesn’t discriminate. It can happen all year-round, affects all skin types and the damage builds up each year. If you want to protect your skin from getting wrinkled, saggy and unevenly pigmented, SPF should be a non-negotiable part of your daily skincare routine.

* You have a sweet tooth but not big on fruits

Some studies have found that diets heavy on sugar can speed up the aging process. That goes for sweet treats like lollipops and ice cream as well as starches in refined carbs like white bread and pasta. A skin-friendly diet should focus on vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.Fresh fruits and veggies may help prevent damage that can lead to aging skin.

* You exfoliate too often, even with flaky skin

Going overboard with exfoliation does more harm than good to your skin. Scrubbing too hard and too often can damage the protective barrier of your skin and hinder its ability to retain moisture. If you have dry skin it is likely that you experience scaly and flaky skin. Exfoliation may help remove dead skin cells but it is better to soothe dryness with hydration instead of trying to scrub it away.

* You squeeze zits and pimples

Popping, as tempting as it may be, it is not the answer to acne and pimples because that can lead to scars, acne hyperpigmentation and infections.Squeezing zits just pushes bacteria and deeper into your skin, causing inflammation, irritation and scarring. It is also unhealthy for your skin as doing it transfers new germs from your fingers which can again infect another area of your face if you absent-mindedly touch it.