Beauty & Fashion

Six Lifestyle Habits that Could Make or Break Your Skin

When it comes down to it, beauty is health.

When you have a health, you feel good and you look great. That’s why, to look your best, you can’t just focus on the exterior aspects of beauty. You have to live healthy, too. Believe it or not, your lifestyle can actually have a great impact on the quality and condition of your skin. It all comes down to what your body needs and how well you listen to it. Here are some major lifestyle habits that could make or break your skin, and what you can do to make the best of your situation.

Eating Habits

You are what you eat, and that’s why diet is the number one habit for a truly healthy lifestyle. Food is fuel and provides the materials your body needs to build, heal and thrive. If you give yourself badly, unhealthy materials to work with, that will reflect on your health and skin. Ditch the junk and stay healthy by eating a high amount of dark green, red and orange veggies, along with lean proteins and healthy fats like avocados – and less sugar and dairy, for optimal health and skin.

Sleeping Habits

It’s hard to be busy and get enough sleep, but you really do need it.

Sleep is crucial for good skin because while you sleep, your body gets the chance to heal, repair and renew itself. Plus, sleep reduces cortisol (the stress hormone) levels in your blood. When you’re sleep-deprived, you produce higher amounts of cortisol, which provokes acne. Try to get about 8 hours per night to sleep, even if you are the type to wake up every 4 or 5 hours. It’s actually good for your brain, too.

Getting Stressed Out

There is nothing quite like modern stress and the terrible effects it has on your body and skin. When you’re stressed, your body produces cortisol, a hormone that can have a bad effect on your skin. To begin with, stress triggers premature aging. Cortisol triggers inflammation in your skin, and that breaks down the protein that makes your skin appear firm, full and smooth – collagen. High levels of cortisol also cause acne breakouts. To beat stress in your life, stop and take a deep breath. Don’t multitask or take on too many tasks at once. Pace yourself and stay focused in the moment. Try something like yoga to master stress-management techniques.

Your Personal Hygiene

It should be obvious that these types of habits play a huge role in the quality of your health and skin. When you don’t remove the toxins and dirt that accumulates on the surface of your skin, your chances of being infected by bacteria and germs increase. This can make you sick and ruin your skin. Contrastingly, washing your skin too much – and coming into contact with too many chemical products – can dry out and damage your skin, as well. Your skin protects itself with a natural oil that secretes slowly over time. When you wash too often, you lose that natural shield and your skin risk more damage. When you do wash, be informed about the products you’re using, by reading things like acne product reviews before buying a good face wash, for example.

Breathing Habits

In mere minutes, the body dies without oxygen.

That is a testimony to how important oxygen and breathing are to our health and beauty. Your skin needs good air and proper blood flow to be at its best. Whether you live in the airy suburbs or a congested urban jungle, it is important to take in the fresh air and do it deeply. Pay attention to your breaths and how well you breathe. As adults, we commonly find ourselves taking shallow breaths, especially when we’re stressed or frustrated. This only works to make us more stressed, which comes with cortisol (and breakouts!) Take deep breaths and focus on the way they feel, as a form of a calming breathing practice.

Drinking Habits

Our bodies are made up of nearly two-thirds water, so it’s safe to say that your drinking habits have a huge impact on the quality of your skin. Just like you are what you eat, you are what you drink, too. That’s why, when you drink dehydrating beverages like coffee and alcohol, your skin becomes dull, dry, flaky and easier to damage. But that’s not all. Extensive indulgence in these habits can result in chronic skin conditions, like psoriasis, which can be onset by alcohol consumption. To have beautiful, luxurious skin, be sure to get your daily intake of water.

These are only some of the most crucial habits that affect the health of your skin. Other important ones include exercise, time spent in the sun, and personal care, like being kind to yourself or seeing the doctor regularly. Being aware of your personal habits is part of the work involved with having beautiful skin.

11 Comments on “Six Lifestyle Habits that Could Make or Break Your Skin

  1. Interesting post. Sleeping is the most needed habits also drinking lots of fluids makes our skin healthier.

  2. Thanks for these reminders. Sometimes, it is so difficult to get enough sleep or to eat properly. I will be more disciplined when my skin beaks out. Happens every time. LOL

  3. Thanks for sharing this helpful tips! There’s definitely some helpful lifestyle for us to lead a healthy lifestyle.

  4. I think for me my problems would be eating habits, sleeping habits and getting stressed out easily. T.T I am still trying to fix it though…because it is getting pretty obvious till my face is starting to show signs of ‘abuse’.

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