Our skin is extremely important. It’s what keeps us together – literally – and it can grow or lessen our confidence, depending on how it looks. Our skin is also a good indicator of our overall general health. It’s easy to see when someone is unwell, for example, because their skin won’t look healthy.
Yet, despite the fact that our skin is supremely important, and we need to take care of it, there are many things we might be doing that could actually be harming our skin. Often, we won’t know this is the case, but if you try your hardest to look after your skin and then find that nothing is helping, you might be undoing your good work due to some of the issues we’ll mention below.
Not Drinking Enough Water
One of the biggest causes of bad skin, or at least skin that looks unhealthy, is not drinking enough water throughout the day. If we lack water, we can easily become dehydrated, and that’s unhealthy for all kinds of reasons, but it really shows on our skin. Skin needs moisture to look healthy and function properly – that’s why, ideally, we should moisturize every day. Yet moisturizing alone isn’t enough; we have to drink plenty of water as well.
Remember that it should be just water to have the best effect. Soda, energy drinks, and hot beverages, such as coffee and tea, aren’t as healthy, and they can even be dehydrating due to their ingredients. When you hydrate properly, your skin retains its elasticity, meaning that lines and wrinkles don’t form so easily, plus blood will flow more easily, and that keeps your skin able to function in the way it’s meant to.
Picking
When you have a pimple or blemish on your skin, do you immediately want to pick at it? If so, you’re not the only one – it’s a habit many people have. They either do it because they think it will make the zit disappear more quickly, or because they enjoy it. The problem is that when you squeeze a pimple, you actually spread the bacteria to other areas of your face, and this leads to larger breakouts.
If you can’t seem to stop picking or you want to know how to treat your pimples, so they go faster without having to squeeze them, it’s a good idea to see a professional dermatologist such as those at NHS GP. You’ll get plenty of good advice and may be able to stop this bad habit for good.
Cleansing Too Much
We’re told we need to cleanse, tone, and moisturize our faces on a daily basis, and this is true. However, too much cleansing can be bad for the skin, which is one this should really be a once-a-day practice, rather than twice – or even more times.
Cleaning your face thoroughly before bed is a great plan. You’ll remove the build-up of grease and dirt you’ve accumulated throughout the day, and as you sleep, your skin will be able to get on with repairing itself. When you get up in the morning, you should look rested and youthful.
However, rather than fully cleansing again in the morning, it’s best just to wash your face with a wet cloth. This is because it’s useful and healthy to keep some natural oils on our skin. Washing this off too soon can result in pimples forming.
