Have been drinking too much? Smoking loads? Chatting too much on your cell phone? Insufficient sleep? Over-utilised makeup tools and not hygienic enough? Hands feel itchy when you notice popping zits? Oh well, all these should be passe like 2009! Here are the reasons why you will need to discard these bad skin habits.
1. Skipping Broad-Spectrum Sunscreen
Best way to keep your skin from getting wrinkled, saggy, and speckled is sunscreen, SPF 30 at the minimum. Broad-spectrum formulas (meaning they shield against both UVA and UVB rays) with Mexoryl or Helioplex offer the longest-lasting protection. Apply a whole tablespoon to your face, and the equivalent of a shot glass on your body. For workdays, reapply before you travel home if the sun is still out—even if you’ll be in a car. And for days when you’ll be outside for an extended period of time, reapply every two hours.
2. Smoking
You need another reason to quit? Seriously, it is time. Because if you keep smoking, you’ll not only damage your health, but you’ll develop more and more deep wrinkles and blotchier skin tone.
3. Drinking Too Much
Now, we’re not taking away all your fun—you can still have a glass of something. But drink more than one cocktail a day, and your skin suffers. Alcohol increases the level inflammatory agents in the bloodstream, this in which can hasten skin sagging over time.
4. Using Dirty Makeup Brushes
5. Constant Phone Chatter
Resting your chin or cheek against a phone can lead to breakouts, whether or not the phone is clean and bacteria-free. Leaning your face against it can cause friction, occlusion, and heat, all of which can make you break out. If your chatting habit is too ingrained to shake, consider a headset.
6. Staying Up Late
Sleep deprivation causes stress, which can aggravate all skin conditions, including acne, eczema, and psoriasis. Sleep is also the time when your body repairs the damage from the day, and interrupting that process will slow down cell turnover. In the short term, this can mess with the way blood flows to the skin, which can make your complexion sallow.
7. Not Washing Your Face at Night
Letting skin marinate in makeup? Not to mention a day’s worth of oil buildup can lead to clogged pores and zits, especially if you’re prone to acne. Your body temperature increases slightly when you sleep, which can enhance absorption of whatever’s on the surface. Thus, we bet you really want only beneficial ingredients on your face when you sleep.
8. Popping Zits
We know this would be tempting. But, the reality is that squeezing a pimple just pushes bacteria deeper into the pores, causing inflammation, infection, and scarring. Almost doubling the zit’s life span (from about one week to two). Treating it with the harshest chemicals in the bathroom won’t help either. Applying too much benzoyl peroxide on any breakout only damages the skin around the spot and can cause more irritation. Advisable to use a spot treatment with no more than 2.5 percent benzoyl peroxide at night, and reapply it to major zits in the morning.
Information and photos courtesy of Allure.
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