With sunshine and warmer days ahead, you’ll likely transition into your summer wardrobe soon. There’s no better time than now to start paying extra attention to your skin health. By following these five tips, you’ll be well on your way to radiant, healthy skin.
1. Cleanse and Exfoliate Regularly
Properly cleaning and exfoliating skin regularly is the first step to maintaining healthy, glowing skin. Your skin regenerates rapidly, and exfoliation is essential because it helps to remove the dead skin, revealing the layer of new skin cells underneath. When you exfoliate regularly, you will start to notice improvements immediately. Another benefit to exfoliation is that after getting the dead layer of skin out of the way, the products you use on your skin will penetrate better.
If you suffer from acne, exfoliating the skin is an easy way to help rid your face of blemishes. There are many ways to handle exfoliation, for example, using a brush or an exfoliation cleanser. It’s best to try a few different options to see what works well for your skin type.
2. Stay Hydrated and Eat Antioxidant-rich Foods
Staying hydrated will improve your skin health by helping get rid of the toxins that cause irritation and inflammation. Drinking a lot of water and hydrating the skin with moisturizers will also give your skin a healthy glow.
Antioxidants also protect skin by counteracting free radicals that dull the appearance of the skin. In addition to using antioxidant-based serums, you can try incorporating antioxidant-rich foods into your diet. Such foods include:
- Plums
- Raisins
- Strawberries
- Prunes
- Spinach
- Kale
All of these foods and more provide tons of antioxidants that help to promote radiant skin. Green tea is another excellent option when looking to up your antioxidants and improve your overall skin health. Green tea is also rich in epigallocatechin gallate, a chemical proven to help prevent the breakdown of your body’s collagen.
3. Sleep Well and Reduce Stress
Sleep and stress also have significant effects on the health of your skin. While you sleep, your body hits its peak productivity when it comes to repairing the body. Getting a healthy amount of sleep is essential to overall health and wellbeing, as well as supporting healthy skin.
When you get the right amount of sleep, you help balance your cortisol levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone that increases in the body when you lack a healthy amount of rest. High cortisol levels raise your body’s inflammation and stress levels, ultimately affecting the health of your skin.
Some additional skin issues that can result from lack of sleep include:
- Acne breakouts
- Skin sensitivity
- Increased collagen breakdown
- Increased flare-ups of eczema and psoriasis
- Less skin hydration
When you’re sleeping, the body can redistribute moisture and combat inflammation and collagen deterioration. Make sure you get a full eight hours of rest to help promote healthy, glowing skin.
4. Take Collagen Supplements
Collagen is the binding protein in the body that keeps everything together. As people get older, their natural collagen production begins to decrease, and existing collagen can start to degrade. To combat this, taking a collagen supplement can prove to raise collagen levels and help improve health overall. Skin benefits of collagen include:
- Strengthening the skin
- Adding hydration and elasticity
- Reducing dryness and wrinkles
- Promotes collagen regrowth
- Promotes growth of elastin and fibrillin, which help provide structure to skin
Taking extra collagen is a great way to help improve your body’s protein levels and skin health. By using collagen powder in your morning coffee or smoothie, you can help combat skin problems and promote healthy cell regeneration. As with any other supplement, you should talk to your doctor before adding collagen supplements to your diet.
5. Protect Your Skin from Sun Damage
Protecting your skin from sun damage is another essential part of maintaining healthy skin. A few tips for protecting your skin from sun damage include:
- Use Sunscreen Daily – Even if its a cloudy day, UV rays still shine through. Protect your skin by applying sunscreen every day, regardless of cloud coverage. If you wear makeup, try buying a foundation that offers sun protection.
- Limit Sun Exposure During the Peak of the Day – From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the suns rays are strongest. Try to find shade and avoid prolonged time in direct sunlight.
- Wearing a Sun Hat and Sunglasses – Wearing a sun hat and sunglasses can help protect your face from overexposure when out in the sun.
Following these tips to maintain healthy skin will help combat your chances of sun damage. Too much sun exposure has been known to cause skin cancer. Following the tips above, while doing what you can to promote skin health, is essential to maintaining a healthy body and skin.
Healthy Skin All Year Long
It’s not too late to start working on the health of your skin. Using the tips mentioned above, you can achieve not only glowing skin all summer but also healthy skin throughout the year. Keep your skin looking soft, radiant, and beautiful by taking intentional steps to protect your skin every day.
