1. Drink a lot of water.
I once read a Tweet from Bobbi Brown that if you’re having a bad beauty day, think about how much water you drank. When I’m in the office, I try to drink as much water as I can, especially when work gets stressful. It also helps that I have a cute water container from the Cupcake that encourages me to keep drinking.
Just keep hydrating yourself—you can never have too much water!
2. Get enough sleep.
Of course, getting a good night’s sleep is beneficial to the whole body because it allows you to rest and recharge completely. If you aren’t getting enough hours in, this can actually take a toll on your skin! Just like your body, your skin goes on repair mode when you’re asleep. New skin cells grow and replace older cells, and production of collagen is at its peak.
3. Quit smoking.
We all know that smoking has a lot of negative effects, but did you know that it affects your skin as well? Smoking causes pores to enlarge, dulls the skin, and makes you look older than you actually are.
4. Lessen the stress.
We all go through stress, especially when in school or at work. When you feel yourself getting stressed, just stop, take a deep breath, and tell yourself everything is going to be alright. The less stressed you are, the better effect it will have on your skin.
5. Have a strict skincare routine and religiously follow it.
Make sure you know what your skin type is, so you know what kind of facial wash and toner to use. You may not always see the results right away, but it’s an investment you will be thankful for one day.
6. Apply sunblock daily.
Even on a cloudy day. Even when it rains. Wear sunblock with at least SPF 30. The later you start doing this, the more you’ll regret it when you’re older. I’m thankful that my mom and dermatologist instilled this in me very early (I was around 12 years old) but because I was a softball and ultimate frisbee player for the longest time, and was exposed to the sun a lot, I learned to reapply sunblock almost every hour. I also have my top sunblock brands, which you can read here.
I’m hoping that being exposed to the sun more than your average girl won’t take a toll on my skin one day, but nowadays since I’m not as active with either sport, I try to really take care of my skin by never forgetting to apply sunblock and investing in good skincare products.
7. Wear makeup only when you have to.
Though I love playing with makeup, I don’t wear it everyday. I only choose the days I wear my makeup—usually when I have an event or special occasion to attend. Wearing makeup everyday, especially heavy foundation and concealer, can actually make skin age faster.
Also, removing makeup entails wiping the face a lot—if you do this all the time, especially around sensitive areas like the eyes, imagine all the unnecessary tugging and stretching you do on your skin, even if you’re being careful.
8. Eat a lot of skin food.
These are fruits and veggies that are beneficial to the skin. Some of my favorite skin food include strawberries, which contain anti-aging Vitamin C, tomatoes, which aid in the production of collagen, avocados, a great source of vitamin E, broccoli, which aid the proper function of skin cells, green tea, which is full of anti-oxidants, salmon, which helps speed up the skin’s healing process, oysters, which are packed with skin-clearing nutrients, yogurt, which prevents wrinkles, and oatmeal, which makes you look younger over time.
9. Apply a topical cream that contains adapalene and benzoyl peroxide.
If you’re acne-prone, adapalene and benzoyl peroxide are incredibly effective in treating acne and clearing up the skin. It helps decrease acne formation by causing skin peeling, and kills bacteria that causes acne. Benzoyl peroxide has an antibacterial effect and a mild drying effect, which allows excess oils and dirt to be easily washed away from the skin, while adapalene is a medication similar to Vitamin A that helps the skin renew itself.
10. Get a facial once a month.
Though I hate all the pain and the pricking, you’ll find that getting a facial once a month will really make all the difference in the world. I also get a monthly diamond peel session, which I keep telling everyone, has had amazing results on my skin.
So those are ten tips that will definitely help you achieve clearer and healthier skin. If you guys notice, I value skincare way more than makeup and cosmetics because if you have good skin, you don’t need makeup to hide it! Please feel free to comment if you have any questions, or if you have your own tips to share!