Above: Sheetal Rawal, scientist (human genetics) & founder of Apsara Skin Care
By: Marty S.
If you think about it, your daily and weekly skin care routine is actually a series of habits that you do every day. From moisturizing your skin in the morning to cleansing it at night, these small steps are just helpful habits that you do to take care of your skin and maintain your complexion. However, there are plenty of other habits in your lifestyle that could pose a risk not just to your skin but also to your hair, general health, et cetera. You may not even be aware of just how dangerous these bad habits are, which could be one reason why your skin might look lifeless and aged rather than flawless and youthful.
And yet, even if certain bad habits are ingrained into your lifestyle, identifying them is the first step in getting rid of these habits for good. Today, you will learn 5 risky habits that can cause your skin to age quickly. With this information, you will be able to make better adjustments to your lifestyle so that your skin starts to look years younger. Moreover, cutting these risky habits could lead to minor or even major improvements in other areas of your life.
1. You Aren’t Using Natural Products in Your Skin Care Routine
As you may have guessed, getting youthful skin starts with your skin care routine. You should always prioritize all-natural skin care products. Why? Skin care products made with harsh chemicals like parabens and phthalates can damage your skin rather than help it; these chemicals can travel deep within your skin and make issues like lines and wrinkles look far more pronounced. On the contrary, all-natural skin care products are made with ingredients that have been time-tested for thousands of years. Turmeric, for example, is well-revered in Ayurveda for its skin-brightening and anti-aging properties. Natural ingredients like turmeric can heal your skin without exposing it to anything harsh or irritating.
While buying skin care products with harsh chemicals only takes a trip to your local supermarket, making the switch to all-natural products is just as easy. At Apsara Skin Care, we have plenty of products to assist you no matter your skin type or skin issues. To find out what your skin type is, click here.
Related: Apsara Skin Care products can help your skin glow more.
2. You Experience Negative Emotions Often
Taking care of your skin and doing your best to avoid premature aging isn’t just physical; it’s also mental. When people want their skin to look more youthful and flawless, they tend to stress out over every little thing that could impact it. All of this stress is not good for the health of your skin. Stress has been linked to premature aging as well as inflammation. Higher levels of stress make you more prone to developing early lines, wrinkles, and other signs of aging. Stress can also make your existing lines and wrinkles more prominent.
Negative emotions such as stress should have no place in your mental state. One easy tip that can help reduce your stress levels is to remind yourself that you can’t control everything. Having youthful skin that hasn’t aged a day would be amazing, but worrying about your skin too much and too often is not worth it in the end. If a pimple or a blemish appears on your skin out of nowhere, focus on how to minimize it without agonizing over how it got there in the first place. Lowering your stress levels will take time, but hopefully, your skin and mind will be in a much better, more youthful state after some time.
To learn other tips to manage and reduce your stress, click here.
3. Your Skin’s Exposure to Chlorine Is High
This summer, many of us are planning to spend a lot of time at the pool, which means exposing our skin to chlorine. Chlorine is a chemical used to sanitize pools and hot tubs without having to drain them. Chlorine makes pool and hot tub upkeep much more efficient, but it can pose a risk to the health of your skin. Chlorine can dry out your skin and irritate it, leading to more inflammation, itchiness, and redness. If your chlorine exposure becomes more frequent due to regular pool trips, it can make your skin look more aged. Chlorine is even bad for your hair; it can make your hair dry and more prone to frizziness, split ends, and hair breakage.
Luckily, you don’t have to skip the pool and hot tub this summer if you take a few precautions. Chlorine becomes less of a problem the shorter it stays on your skin. After you finish swimming in a pool or relaxing in a hot tub, take a shower right away and use a cleanser to wash off the chlorine from your skin as well as your hair. Also, make sure to moisturize regularly so that your skin isn’t dry from chlorine exposure.
Even if you don’t plan to go into the pool or the hot tub this summer, you should know that a tiny amount of chlorine is added to tap water to remove contaminants and impurities. The levels of chlorine in tap water are small enough that it is considered safe to drink, but if you are sensitive to chlorine or concerned about how much chlorine is in your body, invest in a water filter.
4. You Experience Regular Water Retention
When you are feeling bloated, this is typically a sign that you are experiencing water retention. If you are consistently dehydrated, your body will respond by conserving as many fluids as possible. This can make your skin look not just duller and more discolored, but also more aged. Conserving more fluids may result in fewer toxins in your body being flushed out on a regular basis. The more toxins in your system, the more harm they can do to you, which may show up as lines, wrinkles, and other signs of aging.
Of course, one of the easiest things you can do to stop toxic build-up, water retention, and dehydration at the same time is to drink enough water every day. Plus, drinking water has the added benefit of helping your skin look soft, supple, and moisturized. By prioritizing your water consumption as a daily habit instead, your skin may start to look more youthful soon.
5. You Have Unchecked Underlying Health Conditions or Illnesses
Though we don’t say this often, your general health and well-being should be your utmost priority. You should always be taking measures to ensure that you remain in good health, whether that be regular check-ups with your primary care physician or maintaining a well-balanced diet. After all, beautiful skin starts from within, and if you are in poor health, your skin may start to look aged, sickly, and lifeless.
What’s worse is if you are sick and you don’t know the severity of it. Sometimes, premature aging, dull skin, or inflammation could be a symptom of something far more serious. If you aren’t feeling well and your skin looks the same as you feel, you should find out if the two are related, and perhaps see a doctor to make sure you have no underlying health conditions or illnesses that could be causing these problems. Remember, take good care of yourself, and your skin is sure to reflect that as well.
Related: Sheetal's Top 4 Tips to Get Flawless Skin, Gorgeous Hair & a Healthy Body
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Go natural. It is good karma!