Skincare is very tricky. We spend an ample amount of time everyday cleansing and moisturizing it only to notice that we have an acne breakout a couple of days later. “Skin conditions affect many people and can isolate them both physically and emotionally,” wrote Matt Fraube, MFT. “They often create intense feelings of shame and guilt that slowly diminish self-esteem, building a negative emotional snowball that gradually grows until it limits people’s lives.” While it’s easy to speculate about what could be causing our skin problems, finding the right reason is harder than that because there are a lot of things that can affect the way our skin looks. From the food we eat and the habits we unwittingly do, up to the places we go to and our knowledge when it comes to skincare, there are tons of factors that can deliver significant effects on our skin.
Speaking of habits we unwittingly do, there are a lot of seemingly ordinary things that can affect our skin more than we think they could. And to give you an idea regarding what they are, we listed some of them right below.
Taking Your Sleep For Granted
“While you sleep, cortisol is at its lowest and anti-inflammatory molecules like beta endorphins and growth hormones are at their highest, so that’s when skin heals,” psychodermatologist Amy Wechsler, M.D. explains. “That cortisol boost breaks down collagen, which is the start of wrinkles, and increases inflammation and oil production, both of which create acne.” And so, whenever we sleep, our skin takes that rest time to repair our damaged cells and restore some of the moisture we lost all throughout the day. If we don’t get enough sleep, we are not giving our skin all the time it needs to fix all the damage, therefore making ourselves more vulnerable to things that can affect it negatively. These things include skin dullness, dark spots around the eye, higher risks of acne breakouts, and more visible fine lines.
Not Drinking Enough Water
Extensive skincare is useless unless you give your skin all the natural moisture it can get and the best resource for that is water. We get it, water is monotonous, but this bland substance will do wonders for your skin. Water can not only keep the skin moisturized, but it can also drive out impurities from within your body, making your skin look healthy inside out. Lack of water can cause the skin to become dry and dull, which can only lead to more skin problems that you wish you avoided.
Forgetting To Remove Your Makeup Before You Fall Asleep
Using an extra few minutes in the bathroom to remove the makeup on your face will save you more money and time in the future. Sleeping with your makeup still on is very unadvisable because the chemicals present in it and all the dirt you acquired throughout the day can seep into your pores and increase your chances of having a skin infection, acne breakouts, dryness, and even irritation. In addition to that, it can also accelerate the process of skin aging, which will eventually become a problem. So you have to think about that the next time you decided to go to sleep with your makeup on.
Our skin is extremely delicate, and there are a lot of things that can cause adverse effects to it. What we listed here are just some of the many well-known bad habits that we must avoid so as not to harm our skin. Now that you have an idea what they are doing with your skin, best not to do any of them.
Moreover, Michigan-based psychiatrist Mohammad Jafferany, M.D. concludes that, “In a majority of patients presenting to dermatologists, effective management of skin conditions requires consideration of associated psychosocial factors.” Hence, “Increased understanding of biopsychosocial approaches and liaison among primary care physicians, psychiatrists, and dermatologists could be very useful and highly beneficial.”