Bad Old Habits That Affect Your Skin, And How To Remedy Them Now

You’ve decided that it’s time to make aging gracefully a priority. But all of a sudden, you’re regretting those not-so-great choices you made in your early adulthood — smoking with friends during your weekly nights out, spending too much time in the sun or tanning bed, crashing in the early morning hours without taking off your makeup. Now that you know better, how much damage has your skin sustained, and what can you do to make it look — and actually be — healthier?

Smoking

If you were a smoker several years or even decades ago, you can probably see the effects of it on your complexion. Smoking encourages the opposite of aging gracefully — it causes you to age at a dramatically faster rate, taking your once-youthful complexion and making it wrinkled, leathery and crossed with fine lines. If you’ve already kicked the habit, good for you; now it’s just time to get your skin looking healthy again. Because smoke dehydrates your skin and causes it to wrinkle, you need to get it hydrated and smooth again. An anti wrinkle face cream can help infuse moisture, which will help with the texture. Anti wrinkle face creams can also help you rehydrate and reduce wrinkles even if you’re still trying to quit your pack-a-day habit, but for your skin’s sake you should give up the cigs as soon as possible.

Excessive Alcohol Consumption

Especially in college and your early 20s, there’s a fascination around drinking excessive amounts of alcohol. But how you behaved when you were that age can affect your skin later on. Excessive alcohol consumption — usually more than two drinks per day for women — can really dehydrate not only your body, but your complexion. It can also cause capillaries to swell or break in your face, leaving you with flushed red cheeks. To prevent skin from getting dry and red, limit your alcohol consumption and apply an anti aging skin cream all over your face and neck after you wash your face every evening. Anti aging skin care products work great to help heal and hydrate skin while you sleep. Remember to drink water after a night out as well.

Sun Exposure

One too many sunburns as a child or young adult can cause sun spots or age spots when you’re older, not to mention wrinkles and fine lines from the UV exposure. Hopefully you noticed the problem early on and started slicking on SPF when heading outdoors, in addition to staying in the shade and wearing clothes or head coverings to protect your skin. If it’s too late and the spots and lines have taken up residence on your face, it’s not too late to smooth out the wrinkles — just apply an anti wrinkle facial cream at least once per day to plump the skin and disguise the appearance of wrinkles as your skin heals.