Your skin is the base for any beauty routine. That means that if you want to look and feel your best, you’ve got to take the best possible care of your skin. The issue is where to start.
This may sound counter-intuitive, but simplifying your skin care routine may be the answer. It isn’t always fancy face creams, and $200 a bottle serums. Sometimes, you just want to go back to the basics.
So here are some of my favorite ways to simplify your skin-care routine. Let’s take a moment to go back to essentials. Here’s how to simplify your way to beautiful skin.
Choose Your Food Wisely
You might assume that the only things that impact your skin are the things that you put on it. But your diet has a big impact.
If your diet is exclusively filled with greasy and salty junk food, your skin will show it. It will feel dry, oily, or just generally temperamental.
The same goes for hydration. You must drink enough water. This essential for healthy skin.
It’s also a good idea to track what you’re eating. That way you can see how your skin reacts to different foods. For example, a lot of people have breakouts when they eat red meat or gluten. Get to know which foods are your trigger.
Pick Your Products Carefully
Picking skincare products can be overwhelming. There are so many different products and so many different brands.
Do your research to better understand what goes into your beauty products. Know the ingredients and understand their use. That way you can make more informed choices.
In general, the more natural the better. Many skincare products contain synthetic chemicals that can have a detrimental long-term affect. Many anti-aging creams contain chemicals that can have an aging affect when used continuously. Natural is usually better.
Give it a break
Makeup can be really fantastic. It’s a wonderful way to express yourself and make yourself feel more confident. However, makeup can be hard on your skin.
Wearing makeup every single day can be damaging. Give your skin a chance to breath by taking a break from makeup. A couple of days a week without makeup can make a huge difference.
And here’s an added bonus. Releasing your dependence on makeup can help build your confidence. You should wear makeup for fun and creativity. Not because you need it to feel beautiful.
Remember To Be Gentle
We often are far too rough and aggressive with our skin. You think you’re practicing self-care. But you might actually be causing damage.
Don’t overdo hot showers and baths. You may be drying your skin by removing the necessary oils. Likewise, strong soaps can strip those oils away. And if you’re too rough when patting yourself dry in the end, you may remove essential moisture.
Take care of your skin. But make sure not to be kind. As we’ve already said, simpler can be better.
Make Sure To Use Protection
The one thing that your skin needs the most protection from is, of course, the sun. Lots of sun exposure over a long period of time can cause wrinkles, age spots, and other issues. Plus it can put you at risk of a whole lot of other serious health problems.
Check out this EWG sunscreen guide. Sure, getting a tan might look great now. But it can lead to wrinkles, sun spots, and disfiguring cancer. So you need to be careful.
Adjust Your Lifestyle
The most obvious part of your lifestyle that can have a serious impact is smoking. It can wreak absolute havoc by contributing to wrinkles, narrowing the blood vessels and making you look older. It even depletes your skin of oxygen and nutrients that are an essential part of skin health.
Of course, smoking isn’t the only culprit. If you spend all of your time out drinking and not getting enough sleep, your skin will suffer as well.
Breath In/Breath Out
Let’s be honest. Modern life can be pretty stressful – especially right now. However, uncontrolled stress can cause issues for your skin. It can make it more sensitive and trigger things like acne breakouts and other issues.
If you want to make your skin as healthy as possible, the best thing you can do is reduce the stress in your life. Make sure that you’re getting enough sleep. Don’t take on too much. Do things for yourself that you enjoy.
This might seem like a simple change. But the results of reducing the levels of stress in your life can be dramatic.
One of the most important things to remember is that it’s often not just a matter of how you look. It’s how the things you do impact your body and your health. If you’re not taking care of your health then you’re not taking care of your skin’s health. Which, in turn, is going to impact your looks and your confidence. The truth is that beauty really is more than just skin deep.
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