How Lifestyle Habits Affects Our Skin

Welcome back to my blog! Today I’m going to focus on skincare beyond cosmetic products, which is lifestyle. Lifestyle goes hand in hand with skincare products where both contribute to maximising the condition of your skin. I will be talking about some common habits that may be the reason why your skin breaks out or prevents it from being in its best condition.

Food

This is an obvious one. Just like working out and having a healthy diet will contribute to an overall healthier body, this is the same case with the skin. For example, if you only eat junk food, too much sugar/fat/salt, whatever, and not having at least a balanced diet with fruit and veg, then it’ll be hard to get clear skin unless you’re blessed with good genetics 😔 same goes with liquids – drink lots and lots of water!! Try and refrain from alcohol because it makes you dehydrated, balance it out with more water haha, or drink in moderation. You should also be aware of dairy products especially if you experience hormonal acne. This is because milk has hormones that can affect sebum production levels but of course, it depends on each person (see more at Nichols, 2020).

Stress

Similar to food, how you feel can affect your skin. Again, stress can cause a rise in hormones and thus, an increase in oil production and breakouts. Also, it can cause inflammation like eczema and rosacea flare-ups which disrupts the skin barrier (Nathan, 2021). Whatever the cause, try and stay calm!

 

Sleep

You can immediately tell if someone hasn’t gotten enough sleep e.g. dark circles, eye bags, dull and dehydrated skin. It’s called beauty sleep for a reason. When we sleep, this is the time where our skin works EVEN MORE to repair and regenerate cells aka collagen production for plumper, younger skin. Hence, with less sleep, our skin won’t look as good compared to someone with a full night’s rest. You should aim for 7-9 hours as an adult. You should also make sure your face is clean when you sleep too i.e. free from makeup and dirt, as it can distort this process – you don’t want to wake up to clogged pores and spots. The night-time process begins as early as 9pm or as late as 2am and continues until when we wake up - night owls better go to bed earlier. When we wake up, the skin switches from the repairing stage to the protective stage to get ready for the day ahead and the cycle continues.

(Walk-in Dermatology, 2020)

 

Dirty, dirty

Throughout the day, we are touching so many things, including our faces, and they all have some sort of dirt and bacteria. These may be unconscious actions but they can be bad for your skin. Transferring this dirt to your face can break you out and picking your spots can leave acne marks and scars. Please, please refrain from touching them and your face in general! You, reading this are probably guilty of bringing your phone to the toilet, right? I’m guilty of having done this too ☹ yeah, that’s a bad idea by the way with all that bacteria in there. One thing you may not think about is your pillowcases. Essentially you are laying on oils, dirt, and sweat from your hair and then covering your face with it (Weatherford, 2017) 😓. I would suggest changing it regularly, I change mine on a weekly basis but the more often you can, the better.

Did you know? Silk pillowcases are better than cotton because it absorbs less moisture and provide less friction on your skin and hair.

 

That’s it for today! I hope you’ve learned some things and you’ll be changing your lifestyle habits for the better. My assignment requires me to write a minimum of 5 blogs and since this is the 5^th one, I may or may not see you next time…hopefully though if you’re all enjoying it 😊

 

 

References:

Nathan, N. (2021). Stress may be getting to your skin, but it’s not a one-way street. [online] Harvard Health. Available at: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/stress-may-be-getting-to-your-skin-but-its-not-a-one-way-street-2021041422334.

Nichols, H. (2020). Dairy and acne: How does diet affect the skin? [online] Medical News Today. Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/dairy-and-acne#causes.

Walk-in Dermatology. (2020). How Does Lack of Sleep Affect the Skin? [online] Available at: https://walkindermatology.com/blog/how-does-lack-of-sleep-affect-skin/.

Weatherford, A. (2017). Here’s How Often You Should Change Your Pillowcase. [online] The Cut. Available at: https://www.thecut.com/2017/07/how-often-you-should-change-your-pillowcase.html.