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Trade These Bad Habits for Better Skin

Trade These Bad Habits for Better Skin

So you follow an excellent skincare regime, you use amazing products loaded with active ingredients, and love and want the best for your skin. There are still some unexpected ways you might be sabotaging the glowing, gorgeous complexion you deserve. Here are the bad skin habits you need to break now.

Using the Same Products for All Seasons

If you live somewhere like Canada, seasonal changes are significant and hard to ignore. For example, for us in Toronto, the cold, dry air of January is the exact opposite of hot, humid July and our skin reacts accordingly. In the winter we need hydrating, emollient-rich moisturizers to keep our skin happy, while in summer we only require a lightweight moisturizing serum to get the best results. And in spring and autumn, we make sure we stay on top of exfoliation to revive winter dryness and help repair any summer sun damage. Changing up your routine allows you to address what your skin needs now.

Skipping Sunscreen

You might think that if your foundation contains SPF, you’re totally covered, or that if it’s a cloudy day, sunscreen isn’t needed. In reality, no matter what level of SPF coverage your makeup contains, you won’t be applying enough foundation to get adequate sun protection, and harmful effects from UV rays are a possibility rain or shine.

Many of the visible signs of aging, including discolouration and fine lines, are caused or exacerbated by sun exposure and damage. Applying sunscreen every day is not only the most reliable anti-aging treatment in your routine, but it also protects your skin from harmful damage that has potentially serious consequences to your health. Protecting against skin cancer is always a good habit.

And while we’re at it, we should correct the record on one common sun myth we still hear repeated: sun exposure does not help clear up acne and breakouts. It just doesn’t! More than likely, unnecessary sun exposure leads to sweat, causing more clogged pores, and it also causes hyperpigmentation, which could cause existing acne scarring to appear even darker. Yikes!

Bad Sleep Practices

When you don’t get enough sleep, you increase stress, which can aggravate uncomfortable skin conditions including eczema and acne. To make matters worse, sleep is what allows your body to repair and heal itself. Interrupting the process will slow your skin’s ability to heal itself from these flare ups and will affect your skin’s rate of cell turnover.

And while we’re on the topic, another really common bad skin habit is forgetting to change your pillowcase frequently. While you sleep, your pillowcase collects dead skin cells, oil, and bacteria and keeps those unwanted materials against your skin for hours at a time without you even noticing. Changing and laundering your pillowcase once a week will eliminate those less-than-ideal conditions.

Not Moisturizing Acne-Prone or Oily Skin

It’s surprisingly common to hear that someone with oily skin avoids moisturizers. The logic is understandableラwhen your skin is naturally producing excess oil, adding more moisture would seem to create more shininess and lead acne prone skin to break out. But when you skip the moisturizing step in your routine, your skin tends to become dried out and overcompensates by producing even more oil, ultimately causing more breakouts.

Your best bet for controlling acne is hydrated skin suited to your needs. A non-comedogenic moisturizer like Veil is a great option as it keeps oily and acne-prone skin hydrated while also combatting the appearance of acne, minimizing breakouts and excess oil.

Using Dirty Makeup Brushes

If you’re a makeup user and apply it with brushes, chances are your look is impeccable. But are your brushes? If not properly cleaned, they can harbour bacteria that’s bad for your skin (and bad for your makeup). A simple solution is to clean your beauty tools regularly with a light cleansing spray and to make sure you give them a good, deep clean using brush cleaner or soap about once a month.

Overindulging, or Smoking

A bad hangover can cause more than just a headache. Alcohol increases the level of inflammatory agents in the bloodstream, causes dehydration, and can have an effect on skin quality. Best practice is to stay hydrated while enjoying a night out and to be mindful of the amount of alcohol you consume.

And if you needed another reason to quit smokingラbeyond the bad health effects it imparts to your vital organs and quality of lifeラyour skin will thank you a million times over if you can break the difficult habit. In addition to causing wrinkles and premature aging, smoking similarly endangers your skin health. And the great news is your skin can start to bounce back as soon as you quit, as many people report noticing an improvement in skin texture in as little as two weeks after quitting.

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