Beautiful, glowing skin is a reflection of good health.
This can be achieved with the right lifestyle practices and skincare habits.
- Skin Care Routine
- Regular exercise
- Eat Right And Healthy
- Stay Hydrated
- Sound Sleep
- Quit Smoking And Alcohol
To begin with, follow a skincare routine religiously using products that suit your skin. Try and avoid harsh chemicals, sulfates, parabens, phthalates, dyes and fragrances.
Layer your skin beginning with the lightest product and ending with the thickest. Remove all your makeup before you go to bed.
- Here is an ideal skin regime
a) Cleansing
Cleansing is the most important part of your daily skin regime,
“For ingredients to properly absorb, you need clean skin , free of oil and grime,”
Cleansing helps your skin ward off grime, excess oil, makeup residue and dead skin cells. It also prepares your skin for the remaining steps in your skincare routine.
Limit it to two times a day as over cleansing can strip off essential oils from your skin and can interfere with your skin’s natural pH
b) Exfoliate your skin once a week to once in a fortnight
your skin cells move from deep layers up to the surface and shed off.As we age, shedding these dead skin cells becomes a task for the skin. They do not shed on their own and require our intervention. Exfoliation is a process that helps you get rid of the dead skin cells. They come in chemical, physical and enzymatic forms.At home you can use the physical exfoliation in the form of scrubs.
If you have lot of blackheads and your skin type is normal to oily then you can scrub once or twice a week
If you have normal to dry skin then may be once in fortnight
Always remember, don’t over exfoliate your skin by repeated scrubbing, because at the end you will damage your skin by scrubbing more often.
c) Use a Toner
cleansing and scrubbing can change your skin pH level
Toner is a skin product which maintains pH of your skin
Look for non-alcohol based , gentle and moisturising toners
Use it once at night
d) Address Skin Concerns Using An Active ingredient
Skin concerns like acne, dark patches, tan, fine lines, etc. are the biggest hindrance to glowing skin.
Address your skin concerns using serums that contain active ingredients.
Use this active agent once at night or as prescribed by your doctor.
e) Moisturize twice a day
if you have oily and acne prone skin then look for light, gentle and gel based moisturizer.
And if your skin is dry and sensitive then use greasy and intense moisturizing creams.
moisturisation has to be done at least twice a day.
Lack of moisturization can trigger extremely dry or extremely oily skin. Both of these can cause a variety of skin concerns including acne.
Moisturizing your skin helps in repairing the barrier of your skin.
Moisturizers helps trap in all of the products underneath it to make the ingredients even more effective.
f) Wear a sunscreen twice in a day time.
Once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
Ideally every 3 hours till sunset.
If you are working in strong light (after sunset) like in salons , photo shoots or spend time infant of screen then SPF coverage is recommended at night too!
Sunscreen has to be UVA,UVB and infrared spectrum sunscreen. So look for a broad spectrum sunscreen with SPF at least 30 to 50, which will protect from all possible exposure like sun light , heat from gas flame , from computer screens and halogens too!
2) Exercise regularly
Stress is one of the causes of a lot of skin concerns.
Stress can lead to breakouts, fine lines and wrinkles, early skin aging.
Keep stress at bay by practicing meditation and mindfulness.
Any kind of exercise like stretching, yoga, meditation and few breathing exercises will improve blood circulation to skin and hair.
It improves body metabolism.
It improves skin immunity.
3) Eat right and healthy
‘you are what you eat’. This is absolutely true and will make sense once you switch to a healthy diet. If you eat fresh and healthy food, your skin will reciprocate the same,
Diet full of vegetables , whole grains and all citrus fruits.
Proteins like sprouts, curd or yogurt , paneer & fish at least twice a week is good for skin, hair & your health.
- Tomatoes
- Broccoli
- Walnuts
- Avocados
- Berries
- Green vegetables
- Fish
- Lemon
- Oranges
- Sweet potatoes
- Stay hydrated
The fact is that skin is an organ, and just like any other part of the body. your skin is made up of cells. And skin cells, like any other cell in the body, are made up of water. Without water, the organs will certainly not function properly or at their best.
If your skin is not getting the sufficient amount of water, the lack of hydration will present itself by turning your skin dry, tight and flaky. Dry skin has less resilience and is more prone to wrinkling.
Drink more water. Drinking at least 8 glasses a day will help rid the body and skin of toxins.
4) A good night’s sleep can mean good skin health because when you’re sleep-deprived, your body makes more of the stress hormone cortisol.
Elevated levels of cortisol can lead to increased stress and inflammation in the body, hurting your skin’s quality.
A good, sound sleep at least 7-8 hrs. will definitely reduce stress hormones and all triggered skin issues.
5) Quit smoking and Alcohol
Some of the toxins in cigarette smoke damage collagen and elastin, which are fibrous components of skin that keep it firm and supple. This damage speeds up skin aging, making smokers more prone to wrinkles on their faces and body.
Alcohol dehydrates the body and skin causing dry and flaky skin.
Alcohol can lower the antidiuretic hormone in your body, which causes puffiness.
Alcohol drinks tend to be high in sugar that influence acne development.
Alcohol causes a surge of blood into the skin often called as flushing (redness)
Alcohol also depletes our body of vitamin A causing fine lines and wrinkles on your skin.
All these alcohol effects are enough to take a decision on tapering off or to stop the alcohol.