Top 5 Habits for Healthy Skin | Cosmetics & Makeup

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Top 5 Habits for Healthy Skin

Your busy lifestyle leaves little time for pampering skin care. The
result: Your skin isn't the baby-soft body glove with which you were
born. With age, your skin gradually becomes thinner and finely
wrinkled. Oil-producing (sebaceous) glands grow less active leaving
your skin drier. The number of blood vessels in your skin decreases,
your skin becomes more fragile, and you lose your youthful color and
glow.

Good skin care - such as avoiding the sun, washing your skin gently
and applying moisturizer regularly - can help delay the natural aging
process and prevent many skin problems. These simple skin-care habits
will help you protect your skin to keep it healthy and glowing for
years to come.

1. Protect yourself from the sun

The best way to take care of your skin is to protect it from the sun.
Ultraviolet light - the invisible but intense rays of the sun -
damages your skin, causing deep wrinkles, dry, rough skin, liver
spots, and more serious disorders, such as noncancerous (benign) and
cancerous (malignant) skin tumors.

For the most complete sun protection, use all three of these methods:

Avoid the sun during high-intensity hours. The sun's rays are most
damaging from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Reduce the time you spend outdoors
during these hours.
Wear protective clothing. Cover your skin with clothing, such as long-
sleeved shirts, long pants and wide-brimmed hats. Also, keep in mind
that certain clothing styles and fabrics offer better protection from
the sun than do others. For example, long-sleeved shirts offer better
protection than short-sleeved shirts do. And tightly woven fabrics
such as denim are better than loosely woven fabrics such as knits.
Use sunscreen. Apply sunscreen liberally 20 minutes before going
outdoors and reapply every two hours, after heavy sweating or after
being in water.
2. Don't smoke

Smoking can accelerate the normal aging process of your skin,
contributing to wrinkles. Skin changes from smoking can be seen in
young adults who have been smoking for as few as 10 years.

Smoking causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the outermost layers
of skin. This decreases blood flow, depleting the skin of oxygen and
nutrients, such as vitamin A, that are important to skin health. All
of these factors increase damage to the elastic fibers (elastin) and
collagen which give your skin strength and elasticity.

In addition, the repetitive facial expressions you make when smoking -
such as pursing your lips when inhaling and squinting your eyes to
keep out smoke - may contribute to wrinkles. It's also possible that
repeated exposure to the heat from burning cigarettes may damage your
facial skin over time.

3. Wash your skin gently

Cleaning is an essential part of caring for your skin. The key is to
treat your skin gently.

Use warm water and limit bath time. Hot water and long showers or
baths remove oils from your skin. Limit your bath or shower time to
about 15 minutes or less, and use warm, rather than hot, water.
Avoid strong soaps. Strong soaps - those most capable of stripping oil
from your skin - can leave your skin dry. Instead, choose mild soaps
with oils and fats added to them during the soap manufacturing
process.
Avoid irritating additives. If your skin is sensitive, avoid products
containing perfumes or dyes. These can irritate your skin and may
trigger an allergic response.
Remove eye makeup carefully. Use a soft sponge, cotton cloth or cotton
balls when removing eye makeup to avoid damaging the delicate tissue
around your eyes. If you wear heavy, waterproof makeup, you may need
to use an oil-based product such as petroleum jelly.
Pat dry. After washing or bathing, gently pat or blot your skin dry
with a towel so that some moisture remains on the skin. Immediately
moisturize your skin with an oil or cream.