If you devote time and energy to look after your skin, the results will be reflected on how your skin looks. It’s important to follow a daily skin care regimen as well as a weekly one.

But often, even after following a strict regimen, the skin does not look good. This can be due to some of the unhealthy habits that people often become habituated to without having knowledge of their consequences.

Inadequate Diet –  The effects of poor diet go beyond the usual warnings concerning teen-age acne. Even mature men and women ignore the obvious fact that balanced meals provide the necessary nutrients for continual cell growth.

Crash Diets – When you go on a crash diet, you literally starve your skin. It becomes dry and flaky from lack of adequate oils. Wrinkles appear from lack of hydration.

Lack of Exercise – Regular exercise helps skin as well as muscle. As muscle tone improves, the fit of the skin over it improves. Just as important, is the fact that exercise brings more blood to the skin’s surface. The cells are stimulated with extra nutrients and wastes are flushed away faster.

Alcohol – Alcohol destroys youthful looking skin in two ways: it causes vasodilatation that is enlarged blood vessels. The other problem of alcohol consumption is water retention, seen most often as puffy bags under the eyes. Repeated stretching and shrinking of the super delicate skin around the eyes will result in permanent damage.

Smoking – Smoking robs the skin of oxygen, leaving an unattractive gray pallor. Nicotine stains the skin. Pursed lips and squinting eyes leave behind deep wrinkles.

Lack of Sleep – Beauty rest is not a joke; one bad night can leave behind dull, lifeless skin and dark circles under the eyes. The cells in the body produce more protein while you are asleep, which in turn aids the body in recovering from damage caused by ultraviolet radiation, and other harmful exposures.
A continual lack of sleep increases the incidence of acne as well.

Poor Stress Management – Stress may well be the number one cause of acne for both the adolescent and the adult. Of course, as the acne increases, so does the stress.

Picking at your skin – Hands off! Look, a zit only lasts a few days—a week, max—but residual redness and hyper pigmentation from picking and scratching can remain for months or even years. “Picking isn’t just an issue with acne—it can cause scarring whenever and wherever you pick, whether it starts with keratosis pilaris, a bug bite, or for no reason at all.

Dirty makeup brushes – can lead to acne because of bacterial infection. You can clean the brushes with a good quality makeup brush cleaner, which will not only remove the dirt, makeup, and bacteria but will also disinfect and condition the bristles. You can even wash your make-up brushes using a gentle shampoo at least once a week and let it dry overnight.

Over exfoliating -Gentle exfoliation is the best thing that you can do to your skin as it removes dead skin cells and gets rid of the dull, dry skin and will reveal a youthful and fresh looking skin. However too much exfoliating or harsh cleansing can worsen breakouts and exacerbate oil production.

Use of wrong products – It will not do any good to your skin and eventually it may even damage your skin beyond repaid. This is one reason why experts always recommend buying products according to your skin type. If you are not aware of your skin type then you must consult a beautician to get the right answers.

Not washing off your makeup before bed – No matter how tired you maybe you, you need to clean your face before you go to sleep. Sleeping in your makeup exposes your skin to the free radicals in the environment, which the makeup holds on to and can cause the breakdown of healthy collagen, which results in fine lines and prematurely aged skin. Additionally, makeup can clog the pores while you sleep, resulting in the development of acne.

Ignoring the importance of sunscreen: Regardless if it is summer or winter, you need to use sunscreen daily to protect your skin from the harmful UV rays of sun. Prolonged sun exposure without the protection of a good quality sunscreen lotion can cause serious skin damage. It is advisable to apply a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 before going out.
If you want your skin to look radiant, glowing and young, avoid these common bad skin habits.