It's fair to say we live in an era of busy lifestyles. Sometimes we can barely find the time to wipe off our make up caked faces before collapsing into bed for the night. But did you know that failure to remove make up is one of the biggest factors contributing to ageing skin?
Our faces come into contact with millions of bacteria in our day to day lives. The face is prone to spots, blackheads, redness, patchiness, puffiness, bumps and acne to name a few. It also tends to be the part of the skin we care about the most, and can affect how old we look and our confidence.
A simple but consistent skin care routine can do wonders for your looks. By taking some simple steps you can get clear and healthy looking skin and a youthful, glowing complexion. Here are my 7 tips below:
1. Clean your phone, make up brushes and glasses
These everyday items come into contact with our face time and time again. They also come into contact with all types of yucky surfaces, our bags and other peoples hands. Now just imagine the writhing jungle of bacteria that has accumulated in all of those places. Transferring that directly to your face is a direct route for pesky bacteria to get onto your face and cause skin ailments.
The best way to keep our phones and glasses (including sunglasses) clean is to wipe them down on a daily basis. This can be done with antibacterial wipes or just a simple cotton wool pad soaked in a dettol / warm water mix. It is a good idea to wash make up brushes around once a week to keep them clean also.
2. Remove your make up before bed every night
Not removing your make up before you sleep is a death sentence for healthy looking skin. Some studies show that this is a direct link to faster ageing skin. Spot causing bacteria are able to fester on your skin, the day old foundation and powder sinking deeper into your pores. If you only follow one step from this post, please let it be this one!
3. Amend your diet
- Drink water-
Water is good for your body period. It can do wonders for your face by providing essential moisture and increasing elasticity and skin tissue. Water does more for your skin than all of the expensive creams combined! Many scientists claim it contributes to healthy, more radiant looking skin. Try and aim to drink at least 8 glasses of water per day. For an easier life, just replace the majority of drinks you drink for water (especially fizzy drinks which do your skin no favours!)
-Eat Avocado-
Avocado is my favourite wonder food. It is good for the skin because it contains antioxidants vitamin E and carotenoids. This is a great article which outlines the skin benefits of avocado in more detail.
It also helps to apply avocado directly to the face as a home made face mask.
4. Exfoliate
Exfoliation helps to speed up the skin's shedding and renewal process. By rubbing off dead, tired and worn skin you are bringing life to healthier new skin underneath. Exfoliation also helps to unclog dirty pores, and is essential if you have a lot of black heads you wish to eliminate.
5. Monthly facials
If you are serious about your skin care routing, then absolutely don't miss this step out. A professional facial will treat your skin to products and equipment you probably don't have or know how to use at home. A therapist will know what your skin needs and proceed to give it a thorough deep clean. In addition to this if you have had a facial before, you will know how relaxing it is. Just relaxing facial muscles for 60 minutes can make a huge difference to your overall appearance. Which leads to my next point...
6. Relax!
It's amazing how we go through life unconsciously tensing our eyebrows and our mouths, especially through frowning. Try to relax your facial muscles regularly. This is a good exercise to do in bed or on the train. Many people also claim it has a soothing and calming effect on the brain and is good for dealing with stress.
7. Use antiseptic products on the skin before bed
Good examples: sudocrem, manuka honey, lemon and sea salt.
If your face is prone to spots, night time is a great time to load up some goodies and let it soak in for several hours. This can make a dramatic difference on your skin's overall appearance. Sudocrem has great antiseptic qualities and works well as a spot prevention tool. If you have a rash or concentrated area of bumps then sudocrem works well.