Our skin is a fascinating organ that has a unique type of resilience, but yet still needs gentle care in order to thrive and be healthy. It’s never too early or late to avoid the seven deadly things that can harm your skin, aging and damaging it beyond repair.

1. Smoking:

Besides the dangerous effects on the heart and brain, smoking also damages the body’s largest organ, the skin. Filled with harmful chemicals, cigarette smoke causes premature aging, wrinkles, and generally has a negative affect on the overall quality and appearance of our skin. Smoking saps the skin’s cells of vitamin C, which is necessary to create collagen, restricts blood vessels, and also reduces oxygen intake, which causes the skin to take on an unhealthy pallor.

Smoking also causes an increase in the amount of fine lines and wrinkles, particularly around the mouth. Dermatological studies have shown clear signs of skin damage in smokers as young as their early 20s. Although, after quitting smoking, the skin will begin to show significant signs of improvement over time, and with proper care, actually reverse some of the damage that’s been done.

2. Excessive UV Exposure and the Environment:

Without protection from ultraviolet rays, our skin is prone to a host of conditions such as deadly skin cancer, photoaging, which is the term used to describe the type of aging that’s caused by excessive sun exposure, and blotchy, rough or wrinkled skin. Although in limited, controlled amounts, natural sunlight provides us with the essential vitamin D, sunscreen should still be worn religiously anytime you are outside. wearing wide-brimmed hats when in the sun, and wearing protective clothing when needed.

Much like smoking, pollutants in the environment have similar harmful effects on the skin. Protecting our skin from the every day ravages of the environment should also entail avoiding exposure to any type of harsh chemicals or substances.

3. Poor Nutrition:

A well-balanced diet rich with the necessary vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants is imperative for healthy skin. The old saying that we are what we eat still proves true today as every system relies on us to make the right choices about what we provide our body with.

Likewise, repeated or excessive weight loss or gain also damages the skin, causing stretch marks, sagging skin, and a loss of tone and elasticity.

4. Dehydration:

Dehydration is one of our skin’s very worst enemies. Besides causing it to age faster and lose its youthful elasticity, it also prevents the skin’s cells from regenerating themselves. Dehydration also causes the body to become constipated, storing up toxins that otherwise should have been eliminated, but instead may be secreted microscopically through the skin’s cells.

5. Alcohol:

Many people are surprised to learn that alcohol is harmful to the skin in addition to the damage it does to the liver and other organs. Besides depleting the body’s supply of the essential vitamin B, alcohol also severely dehydrates the skin.

6. Some Prescription Medications:

Some types of prescription medications may actually cause a condition known as photosensitivity, which causes the skin to overreact to sun exposure, making it prone to burning and suffering permanent damage, not to mention increasing the risk of skin cancer. Other types of medications may cause acne breakouts, sensitivity, dryness, and redness or blotchiness.

Medications or creams for acne skin care may actually cause blemishes to become far worse before showing any signs of improvement. This, unfortunately, sometimes causes people to stop using the product before it actually has a time to truly be effective as they fear it is really making matters worse due to the appearance of more acne.

7. The Wrong Skin Care Regimen:

Overzealous cleansing of the skin can be just as harmful as not taking care of it at all. Our skin, particularly on the face, is comprised of innumerable cells and delicate tissue that respond best to regular, gentle cleaning as opposed to scrubbing or scouring. To exfoliate the skin, which helps remove dead cells, causing it to regenerate new cells a bit faster, and also removes any build-up of cleansers or oils, use a gentle scrub that contains natural ingredients applied using light but steady pressure.

Using your fingertips, and a cleanser, toner, or moisturizer that’s formulated for your skin type, gently and slowly apply the product to the skin before rinsing with warm, but never hot, water. Tugging or pulling on the skin will cause it to sag and lose elasticity, so makeup products should also be applied and then removed gently.

If you watch out for these seven skin problems, you’ll look and feel much better.

By: Black