With summertime on the way, it’s natural to want to show more skin in the coming months. The ongoing development of beauty treatments and skincare trends indicate that the drive for smoother, younger-looking, and radiant skin is never-ending.
From battling with acne as a teenager to stress-related breakouts, sun damage, and the earliest indications of aging as an adult, you’re continually fighting the good fight to keep a youthful appearance.
While sticking to your skincare routine will help keep your skin smooth, many other things can make or break your skincare goals, especially when you consider how your skin is subjected to many external stimuli.
What Can Damage Your Skin?
Several factors like stress, pollution, and sun damage affect your skin, making it more prone to wrinkles, age spots, roughness, and sagging over time.
Those who suffer from genetic conditions such as Eczema, Psoriasis, Keratosis pilaris, Ichthyosis Vulgaris, and those who live in arid places with low humidity are more prone to having dry and rough skin.
The chemical and hormonal alterations during perimenopause and menopause can lead to a loss of overall skin smoothness in older women.
The natural aging process has a significant impact on your skin’s health. As we get older, our bodies produce fewer and less vital components that preserve our youthfulness.
Collagen protein is a compound that offers support and firmness to our body. However, by the time a woman enters menopause, her collagen levels usually drop by roughly 45 percent.
Furthermore, the accumulation of keratinized and dead skin cells and repeated irritation negatively impact your skin’s appearance and texture.
The stratum corneum is the skin’s topmost layer, and it comprises dead skin cells ingrained in a waxy matrix of cholesterol, fatty acids, and ceramides.
These vital substances are various kinds of fats that keep moistening the skin and maintain an effective barrier.
6 Habits that Can Make Your Skin Smoother
Although recapturing the firm blemish-free skin of your youth might be tricky, it doesn’t mean you should abandon your quest to age gracefully.
Here are six habits that can get you smoother skin this summer:
1. Improve Your Diet
You already know that junk food is bad for you, but here’s another reason to limit your intake of those tasty snacks.
Processed foods, alcohol, and refined carbohydrates destroy healthy bacteria and cause an imbalance in your gut microbiome, resulting in inflammation that can show up on your skin.
Instead, increase your vitamins and antioxidants intake in the form of berries and other brightly colored fruits and vegetables to strengthen your skin’s defensive capabilities against free radical damage.
Fish is also high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are necessary for smooth, radiant skin.
Vitamins A and C, and zinc, are essential for skin repair and health. The first two are found in most fruits and vegetables, while zinc can be found in poultry products and dairy, meat, legumes, and dark chocolate.
2. Exercise Regularly
Your journey to attaining smoother skin won’t be complete unless you incorporate regular exercise into your daily routine.
Exercise causes more blood volume to pump through the face’s vessels resulting in healing properties and more micronutrients for the facial skin.
It also aids in inflammation reduction, the regulation of skin-relevant hormones, and the prevention of free radical damage. Furthermore, sweating is an excellent way to clear debris from pores.
3. Get Enough Sleep
Stress can negatively impact your skin, especially if you don’t give your body time to rest and recover from the day’s activities.
Because your body repairs itself and heals from daily stress while you sleep, inadequate sleep can result in premature aging of the skin.
Exhausted people often have dry, sunken-in, or sallow skin. On the other hand, those who are well-rested often have minor scalloping under their eyes and in their tear troughs and fresh-looking, plump skin.
It’s highly beneficial to prioritize beauty sleep. Getting at least seven hours of quality sleep every night will rejuvenate your skin and body.
4. Use a Good Moisturizer
Whether you have oily or dry skin, moisturizing is essential for balancing sebum production, preventing flaking and dry patches, and replenishing lost moisture.
Moisturizers are oily products that can soften dead skin cells and give a smoother surface by adding an oily coating to the skin’s top layer.
The moisturizer can be made more effective by adding active substances. Consider the lotion or cream as a carrier for a more robust component like vitamin C, retinoid, growth factor, or alpha/beta hydroxy acids.
It’s crucial to consider your skin type and sensitivity when selecting the proper ingredients.
Before you attempt anything new, you should know if you’ll be treating other skin disorders like acne, brown spots, or eczema because improper moisturizer can make your skin get worse.
Mild hydrating powerhouses such as hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and ceramides are your best bet. Apply your lotion or moisturizer to damp skin to trap water, then seal and lock in moisture with a face or body oil.
If your skin is bumpy due to stretch marks, you can consider searching online for renowned products that can eradicate the lines.
According to RewindGuide, Maelys B Flat is a suitable solution for preventing those unwanted stretch marks from appearing on your body.
5. Cleanse and Exfoliate Your Skin
Cleansing and gentle exfoliation can give your skin a smoother and more radiant appearance. It does this by eradicating dead skin cells from the surface and allowing light to reflect from your skin.
Double-cleansing your skin is also an excellent way to ensure that all traces of grease, pore-clogging dirt, and makeup are removed without risking drying out or over-washing your skin.
Exfoliation can be conducted mechanically or chemically. Peels and scrubs may already be a part of your skincare regimen, but you may be overlooking the regions of your body that take the most damage, which are your hands and feet.
Mildly abrasive scrubs with hydrating and antioxidant-rich substances can help soften and smooth rough, bumpy, and calloused legs and feet.
If you have delicate skin prone to micro-scarring, use a soft puff to slather your body with a moderate glycolic-acid body wash.
6. Drink Lots of Water
Proper hydration is an essential step on the journey towards acquiring smoother skin. Have you ever spent an entire day in the sun and arrived home with chapped lips?
This dryness is most likely due to dehydration throughout your whole body. Drinking water usually benefits the human body significantly.
Dull skin is caused by inadequate hydration and a buildup of dead skin cells. So, consider injecting a dose of hydration into your skin to fight surface dullness.
As you get older, you may notice a more significant requirement for hydration because our skin gets duller as we age.
Your body will have the moisture required to get you through the day if you drink lots of water. Additionally, your skin will appear naturally brighter and more hydrated.