Breaking Bad Skin Habits

We all have bad habits.  Some of them, like bad skin habits can age our skin and make us look older than our years. Or can cause embarrassing breakouts. Take charge of your skin health and learn how you can go about breaking bad skin habits.

Quit touching your face – Do you find yourself resting your face in a hand while in a meeting? Or playing with that zit on your chin numerous times a day?

Quit touching your face so much. Dirt, germs, and oils from your hands transfer to your face making breakouts worse. 

Also, being rough with your face can lead to undereye bags and can cause excess wrinkles. Touch your face only when necessary and with gentle fingers.

If you need help keeping your hands off your face, ask a friend or loved one to mention it to you when they notice you doing it. This can be annoying enough to make you stop.

Remove makeup at night – One of the most beneficial things you can do for your skin is to wash your face and moisturize at night. You not only wash off all of the dirt and grime (and makeup) from your skin, but you prevent clogged pores and allow your face to breath while you sleep.

By having a nighttime skin care routine you can go to bed with a clean face and you will reduce skin damage and aging. Sleeping with your makeup on and face dirty is a recipe for wrinkles.

If you need a reminder to wash your face at night, set a reminder on your phone each night. Or place a washcloth next to your toothbrush so you see it.  Make it pat of your routine.

Wash after working out – Not washing your face after working out will lead to breakouts and can increase premature aging in your skin.

While sweating is good for your skin – it releases toxins and grime from your pores, if you don’t wash it off right away, it will turn into bacteria and sink back into your skin.

Wash your face with soap and immediately moisturize to maintain hydration in your skin. This should be done as soon as you are done working out.

Improve your diet – What you put in your body can have an impact on on your skin.  Everyone's body reacts to food differently.  Some people have breakouts from eating too much oily food or sugar.  

If greasy foods are one of your triggers opt for healthy oils and Omega-3s. Healthy oils and fats can increase collagen in and improve the look and feel of your skin.

Pay attention to your body and note what triggers breakouts. 

Drink more water – Our bodies are mostly water, so it makes sense that staying well hydrated will have a beneficial effect on your skin. If you want a natural glow, drink more water.

Drinking adequate amounts of water will flush toxins from your body, ensuring you and your skin is healthy.
Do you have a hard time remembering to drink enough water? Find a water app for your phone or start carrying a water bottle with you wherever you go.

Stick with a beauty routine – This is fairly general, but it is a bad habit many have. Make sure you are taking care of your skin more than once a day. 

Set yourself up with a skin care routine and stick to it. You will see improvements in your skin within six weeks.

Sunscreen (year-round) – Many of us neglect to wear sunscreen during the winter. We believe that the overcast days will not harm our skin, but they can and they will. 

Break the bad habit of not wearing sunscreen outside. Most foundations contain SPF – look for ones that have the highest rating. And if you head outside without makeup on, make sure you apply a normal sunscreen half an hour before going out.

If you have a hard time remembering to apply sunscreen – try putting a tube in your car, your bag, by your front door, etc. The easier you make it for yourself, the easier it will be to break the habit.

Practice good pimple care - Quit picking at your pimples. It can be very tempting to pop that zit on the end of your nose, but when you do, you push bacteria into the now open pore which can lead to extra redness, swelling and/or infection. And if things get bad enough you can end up with acne scars.

If you want to reduce the appearance of pimples – you can use a little tea tree essential oil as a spot treatment, add toothpaste to the zit overnight, ice it, apple cider vinegar, aloe vera, or use a concealer.

However, if you feel you must pop your zit before leaving the house, wash your hands thoroughly. You can attempt to use two cotton swabs to pop a white head.
 
For blackheads, you can use blackhead remover tools. They are inexpensive and can be found on Amazon. If you’ve ever watched Dr. Pimple Popper, you know what I’m talking about.

You can also use an allover facial serum as part of your skincare routine to help balance out the skin and prevent those breakouts from happening in the first place.
 
By breaking your bad skin habits, you should see an improvement in how your face looks and feels. Use quality skin care products and put quality food into your body.

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