What Exactly Is ‘Healthy’ Skin?
How can you tell if your skin is living its best, healthiest life? Well first up you need to know what healthy skin truly means. Let’s get on that…
While it doesn’t pump blood around your body or enable you to breathe, your skin is just as important as your heart and lungs. It regulates your body’s internal fluids and temperature, protects you from everything the world throws at you and enables you to sense important things like heat and pain. It’s also the biggest organ you have and the only one you can actually see, so it figures that looking after your skin and helping it be as healthy as possible should be a top priority.
We spend our lives talking about healthy skin but it occurred to us recently that perhaps not everyone understands what the term ‘healthy skin’ really means. What words come to your mind when you think about healthy skin? Radiant? Fresh? Soft? Zit-Free? Well, you wouldn’t be wrong because these are all strong indications that your skin is in good shape. In fact, there are three important questions to ask yourself when thinking about the health of your skin.
Does your skin feel fairly smooth to the touch? Does it have an all-over, even skin tone? And does it feel comfortable and well-moisturized?
These are the fundamental basics for healthy skin: smoothness, evenness and a comfy, moisturized surface. Of course, your skin doesn’t have to be perfect to be healthy (whose is?) but if it’s way off on any one of these factors, something is clearly not quite right and it might be time to take a look at some of your skincare and lifestyle habits.
4 Simple Ways To Improve The Health Of Your Skin
1. Cleanse & Moisturize Twice Daily
Keeping your skin clean and moisturized are the absolute basics of great skincare. Cleansing ensures things like sweat, makeup, oil, dirt and bacteria don’t get left around for too long at the surface of your skin where they can block up your pores, causing irritation and acne breakouts. But as awesome as cleansing is, it can compromise the skin’s protective barrier function which plays an important role in keeping irritants out and moisture in. This means that what you do following your cleansing routine is just as important as the cleansing itself. And whatever that may entail, moisturizing should be your number one priority – no matter your skin type.
To nail an effective cleansing and moisturizing routine that balances your skin and avoids harsh ingredients that can upset your barrier function, try our new Soothing Cleansing Milk morning, night and always after exercising. Skin a little on the oily side? Then Tea Tree Super Cleanser + might be better for you because this gets to work on excess oils without stripping the skin.
Cleanse with lukewarm, never hot water, rinse thoroughly and don’t over dry your skin afterwards. Simply pat it with a soft, clean towel then moisturize straight away while your skin is still damp to help lock in extra water. We love Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer in the daytime and Deep Hydration Night Cream before bed.
2. Don’t Smoke
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, smoking speeds up the aging process like nobody’s business. You see tobacco contains thousands of toxins, chemicals and harmful substances that are not only terrible for your entire body, but truly do affect the health of your skin. Smoking decreases blood flow to the surface which starves it of essential oxygen and nutrients. Furthermore, it increases inflammation, upsets your healing process and completely compromises your skin’s collagen and elastin supplies which inevitably results in premature lines, wrinkles and sagging skin.
Smoking has also been shown to worsen skin conditions like psoriasis. Plus it smells real bad, ruins your fingernails, stains your teeth and, well, there’s just no point.
3. Eat Well, Sleep More, Stress Less
Practising sensible lifestyle habits might not seem important when it comes to the health of your complexion, but far from it. Stress, for starters, can be terrible for your skin because it overloads your body with cortisol which can trigger inflammation, acne, oiliness, dehydration, irritation and all sorts of other skin woes. Poor sleep is another skin no-no because this precious time is when your skin heals and rejuvenates itself ready to face another day. And your diet? Well, sugar, salt, refined carbs, alcohol and processed meats are fine in moderation, but overload your body with too much bad stuff and not enough of the good and you’re asking for skin trouble.
Thankfully the solutions are pretty simple. Eat plenty of antioxidant-rich fresh fruit and veggies, try to get into a rhythm of seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night, and practice some daily de-stressing tricks to help clear and calm your mind. This can be anything from 10-minutes of yoga each morning to reading a book before bed. Just set out some time for yourself each day to do something you enjoy and you’ll be amazed at the difference in your mental wellness. And hopefully, your skin!
4. Shun The Sun (And Yes, That Includes Tanning Beds!)
It’s no secret that UV radiation is the single most damaging thing you can subject your skin to. So don’t. UV rays trigger erratic melanin and cause an overload of free radicals in your skin which completely screw up your collagen and elastin supplies. And all this is a one-way ticket to fine lines, wrinkles, poor texture and an uneven skin tone.
A lifetime of exposing your skin to UV radiation – whether at the beach, in the park or on a tanning bed – also increases your risk of developing skin cancer. In fact, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation having just five sunburns throughout your life doubles your risk of developing melanoma.
In bright sunshine always wear a wide-brimmed hat and a good pair of sunnies to protect your face, neck and eyes, and cover up with protective clothing – especially if you’re planning to be out in the midday sun. Most importantly, get into the habit of using a broad-spectrum sunscreen like our fabulous SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen with Vitamin C every morning without fail.
And if you really can’t live without tanned skin? Then fake it with some self-tanning lotion. It’ll save your skin a lot of unhealthy heartache in the long run.
PS: Healthy skin is a real blessing, and good skincare and lifestyle practices aren’t always enough. Ask anyone who suffers with chronic skin conditions like acne, psoriasis, rosacea and eczema and they will firmly attest to this. So, if you’re in a real pickle with your skin right now and are experiencing excessive redness that won’t go away; inflammation; itchy skin; painful pimples and/or dry, flaky patches, these are all signs that something’s not right. Our advice? Visit a skin specialist pronto to find out what’s going on.
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![5 Unusual Things That Can Trigger Breakouts]()
No idea why you’re getting an influx of acne right now? Many lifestyle habits can trigger your breakouts – and sometimes they’re found in the most unsuspecting places.
As you know, acne is caused by one thing and one thing alone: an excess of sebum that causes your pores to become blocked with oil, dead skin cells, bacteria and other impurities. Eating too much chocolate doesn’t give you pimples. Neither does moisturizer. Sure, they can trigger breakouts if you’re genetically susceptible to them, but acne isn’t caused by uncleanliness, a poor diet or crummy skincare routine. It’s caused by blocked pores. End of.
OK, so this begs the question: why bother trying to cure them if your breakouts are totally out of your control? Well, here’s the thing. You can’t change your genes, that’s for certain. However, what you can do is keep acne-triggering factors under control to help lessen the blow. Sleeping well, reducing emotional stress and eating a healthy, well-balanced diet; all these things are important for maintaining balanced sebum and therefore reducing the likelihood of you breaking out week after week.
But there are also some less obvious reasons why you face might be suffering with regular breakouts. So if you’ve already dispensed with things like smoking, poor cleansing and too much exfoliation, but you’re still getting pimples on the reg, it might be time to look at some of the more unexpected areas of your life.
On that note, read on for five slightly more unusual causes for your breakouts.
1. Your Pillowcase
Getting enough beauty sleep is crucial for the health of your skin, but if you’re sleeping on a dirty pillowcase for a solid eight hours every night dirt and bacteria is inevitably going to build up and irritate your pores. This is especially true if you sleep on a synthetic pillowcase because man-made fibers don’t absorb sweat as effectively as natural fibres like cotton or linen.
The answer? Go natural all the way, for starters. Also, cleanse and moisturize your skin before bed to reduce the amount of grime getting on your pillowcase. Tea Tree Super Cleanser+ is a great acne-fighting cleanser that balances and clarifies your pores. Follow this with Retinol Moisturizer to lightly hydrate and moisturize your skin while boosting cellular turnover to keep your pores free of dead skin cells.
Finally, wash your pillowcase every three or four days. And ditto, your face towel. Old, dirty towels that are used by the whole family for drying their hands and who-knows-what-else are another breeding ground for germs and bacteria. Do you really want to be swiping this all over your freshly cleansed skin? Thought not. So, invest in a couple of cotton face towels for you and you alone and wash them every other day.
2. Your Makeup & Hair Products
Your skincare routine might be spot on, but what about your makeup and hair products? Rich hair conditioners, for example, are notorious for containing heavy ingredients like cocoa butter and coconut oil which, granted, are incredible for moisturizing your precious locks, but are not so great for acne-prone skin. Of course, we know you’re not smothering your face with conditioner but still, it can settle on your face when you rinse your hair so always cleanse your skin after, never before conditioning.
Makeup can similarly clog up your pores, especially if you use formulations that contain oil. So don’t do that. Instead, look out for noncomedogenic products (this means they’re less likely to block pores) and use powder rather than liquid formulations whenever possible.
3. Your Workout Routine
Do you love to get a good sweat on when you’re working out? High fives to you. However, allow all that sweat and grime to sit on your skin and your pores are going to clog up quicker than your instructor can say ‘hit the floor for ten push-ups.’
Cleanse your skin thoroughly and swiftly after exercising (the longer you leave your skin doused in sweat and grimy workout gear, the more bacteria is likely to breed), and always use a mild but effective cleanser that helps to detoxify your skin without drying it out. Our Charcoal Clarifying Cleanser is a goodie as it harnesses the powers of coconut-derived activated charcoal which destroys skin-smothering impurities to offer a deep, gently purifying clean every time.
4. Your Winter Cover-Ups
Any fabric that rubs against your skin can lead to unwanted issues in the long-term. Remember how face masks were causing ‘maskne’ back in the pandemic? This was all due to friction from the mask combining with the obvious culprits of sweat, dirt, oil, bacteria and humidity which caused dryness, irritation and pimples.
Thankfully, for most of us, the days of having to wear a mask 24/7 are over. However, if you spend a lot of time outdoors in the winter and like to wrap yourself up in woollen hats and thick, heavy scarves, these can cause similar problems, trapping sweat and increasing friction around your chin, jaw, neck and forehead.
To help reduce breakouts caused by beanies, scarves (and even turtleneck sweaters), avoid synthetic fabrics and launder your winter cover-ups regularly. Weekly, at least.
5. Your Laundry Detergent
Speaking of laundry, your choice of detergent is also imperative. Just like your beauty routine, certain ingredients in your laundry detergent can be super irritating – especially if you have extremely sensitive or acne-prone skin. Fragrance, for example, can be a real Debbie Downer, as can harsh dyes, essentials oils, strong surfactants and preservatives.
To reduce the likelihood of your laundry detergent triggering those pesky breakouts, first up, choose liquid over powder detergents. Why? Because these leave behind less residue on your clothes and fabrics (who knew?!). Also, never use more detergent than is recommended on the label, avoid fabric softeners and try double rinsing your laundry after washing to remove as much residue as possible.
5 Unusual Things That Can Trigger Breakouts
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