7 Habits That Make Your Skin Age Faster

Aging is inevitable. There’s not a lot we can do about that, but we are in control of the decisions we make. They may be harming your skin and causing it to age prematurely. Your lifestyle choices affect your skin. Caring for your skin is the first step in any anti-aging/beauty regimen.

These 7 practices will age your skin:

• Cigarette Smoke: Exposure to cigarette smoke, whether you are the smoker or not, significantly increases skin wrinkles and dryness because cigarette smoke depletes your body of Vitamin C, which is a key ingredient for keeping skin plump and moist. Vitamin C is water soluble and not stored in the body.
• Exposure to the Sun: Always use a sunscreen, preferably one with SPF of 15 or higher, and use it all year-round, even on cloudy days. Clouds can’t protect your skin from sun rays. Unprotected skin that is exposed to the sun can become splotchy. Those cute freckles can turn into brown sun spots, and your skin will start looking tough and leathery. The end result is an increase in wrinkles and sagging.
• Lack of Exercise: Exercise not only makes you feel better, it makes you look better too. Inactivity contributes to aging skin, because exercise gets your blood flowing and tones your muscles. Studies have shown living a sedentary lifestyle can also contribute to memory loss and dementia.
• Exposure to Cold Weather: During the winter months our skin takes a beating indoors as well as outside in the elements. Cold winds and low temperatures have a drying effect on the skin. Heated rooms when we’re indoors also zap the moisture right out of our skin. A good moisturizer is crucial. Use it lavishly and often.
• Lack of Sleep: In addition to feeling terrible, not getting enough sleep shows on your face. Baggy, saggy, puffy red eyes make you look as bad as you feel. Adults function best when they get 8-9 hours sleep each night.
• Stress: Stress and worry cause frowning. Developing some sort of relaxation technique, and incorporating it into our daily routine is vital. I can’t emphasize enough how important overcoming stress is to our physical and mental well being. I have frequently been caught off guard with this one. Someone will ask, “What’s wrong? Why do you look so angry?”  Usually I’m simply lost in my own thoughts about this or that and have no idea I’m frowning. We have to pay attention and learn to relax those facial muscles.
• Alcohol Use: We all know or are related to someone whose face has been beaten into a puffy, splotchy mask by booze. Alcohol dilates the tiny blood vessels in the skin. This causes an increase in blood flow near the skin surface. Over time, with repeated use the blood vessels will become permanently damaged. These damaged and broken blood vessels cause that splotchy, flushed look.

In addition to avoiding these 7 practices, make it a habit to drink plenty of water, all day, every day