32 Surprising Things that Ruin Your Skin

Healthy, glowing skin is usually beauty priority number one for women, so we've rounded up the most surprising bad skin habits you need to kick to the curb.
1. Chlorine Criminal: Your post-pool regime is vital when it comes to your skin. Even after a shower, chlorine can cling to skin reacting with topical medications, cleansers, even lotions. To effectively remove chlorine, always use an extra sudsy soap or body wash after you take a dip.

2.Makeup Mayhem:
Falling asleep with your makeup on can lead to bacteria infections, clogged pores which can cause acne (hello, morning pimple!), and residue that can stay on your pillow and cause you to get sick. Keep makeup removing wipes next to your bed so you'll never make this beauty mistake again.

3.Coffee and Your Mug:
Caffeine is a major culprit when it comes to dry skin. Avoid the magnification of wrinkles and instead, quench skin by drinking lots of H2O. To make sipping on water more enticing, add fruit slices like orange or lemon to enhance the flavor.

4.Pimple Popper:
Ask any girl if she's ever been tempted to pop a pimple on her face and she'll reply yes, in fact, most have probably done it. To those that don't, we applaud you. Popping and picking at the skin on your face will only push dirt and bacteria deeper into pores, resulting in more breakouts - as hard as it is, keep your hands away from your mug!

5.Skipping the Scale:
While dropping those last few pounds may be number one on your priority list, make sure you do it the right way. Skipping meals can cause skin to age faster and dry out more quickly. Always try to include vitamins C (oranges), B3 (peanuts), E (avocados), and A (sweet potatoes) in your meals to build up your skin's health.

6.Shower Power:
While many of us love super hot, long showers, unfortunately they strip away the outer most layer of epidermis causing scaly and dried skin. When your skin starts to turn red and itch in the shower, you know its time to step out.

7.Tester Terror:
If you're like us, you love trying the latest and greatest new product out there. Whether it's cosmetics, lotions, or cleansers… we're addicted. However in order to avoid a skin nightmare, always test a product out on small patch of skin (like your arm) to avoid an unexpected allergic reaction, say on your face.

8.Water Wellness:
It's true, 8 glasses a day will keep your wrinkles away! Hydrating yourself daily will not only help to fight off aging, but also gives your skin a healthy glow. Skip the water, and you'll be stuck with rough and 'shrunken' skin.



9.Chatty Kathy:
Hours spent talking on your cell phone can lead to breakouts and rashes along your jaw line and cheek. Think about it, most of the time, we leave our phones sitting on counters or in the bottom of our purse where bacteria hangs out. Make sure to keep antibacterial wipes with you to swipe your phone clean and keep skin clear.

10.Hair Scare:
Can't seem to kick your facial breakouts even though you've tried everything? Next time you apply hair spray, use a clean towel to cover your face, protecting your skin. Also, always make sure to use a sweatband when you hit the gym so no hair products drip down when you begin to perspire.

11.Shady Shocker:
We're all for wearing big sunglasses on sunny days, but remember to wipe them clean! Build up and bacteria on your glasses can get into the pores around the bridge of your nose where your glasses sit all day, causing breakouts and irritation.

12.Yo-Yo Dieting:
Sticking to a diet is not an easy task. Between work, social life, and down time it's not always easy to maintain one weight. However constant yo-yo dieting can negatively impact your skin--frequent weight gain and loss can cause the fibers in skin to loosen over time creating stretch marks and sag.

13.Sound Asleep:
Need an excuse to feel better about pressing the snooze button? Getting the recommended 8 hours of sleep a night will not only help you look refreshed, but it will also replenish and rehydrate skin. Not getting a good night's sleep can result in dull skin and clogged pores.

14.So Long to Salt:
If savory snacks are your weakness, you may be experiencing dehydrated skin. Excess sodium in your diet can suck the moisture out of skin leaving it dry and dull. To avoid this, cut back on salty treats and invest in a hydrating facial moisturizer.

15.Squinty Peepers:
Skipped your annual optometrist appointment? It's time to pencil it into your calendar. Wearing outdated contacts and glasses will cause you to squint more, and in turn, lead to fine lines and wrinkles around your eyes. To avoid unnecessary ageing, make sure you visit your eye doctor at least once a year.


16.Wax Attack:
Resist running to your waxer at the first sight of any new hairs. While we adore that feeling of zero stubble, too much waxing can result in raw skin and increased bumps. Give your skin at least three weeks to regenerate, especially in sensitive areas.

17.Shower Surprise:
The heat from prolonged showers can lead to dry skin, but so can your shower head! With all the purifying agents used these days to filter public water, chemical build up on skin over time is very common. Invest in a shower head filter to fight off dry skin caused by chlorine and other elements.

18.Pucker Up:
With three to five cellular layers of skin that rest upon lips, make sure your beauty regime includes them too! Dried out lips not only look bad, but also causes them to age faster. Look for lipsticks and lip balm that contain petrolatum, dimethicone, and glycerine to help keep your smackers hydrated!

19.Sleeping Beauty:
At night your skin gets a chance to rest and shed its dead cells in order to build new ones. While this is all fine and dandy, those dead cells can build up over time on your pillowcase leaving behind bacteria and toxins. In order to keep skin healthy, make sure you change your pillowcase at least once every two weeks.

20.Exfoliation Emergency:
You know when you can't put down the loofah and scrub because it just feels so gosh darn good? We won't lie, we've been there. We love a refreshing scrub every now and then, but over exfoliating can strip your skin of its necessary oils it needs to maintain your natural glow. Exfoliate skin once a week to keep it healthy.

21.Frown Faux Pas:
Constant movements of the muscles in your skin from facial expressions are what lead to frown lines. To give your skin a rest, try avoiding scrunching and pouting of the face which will cause permanent wrinkles and lines in your skin.

22.Don't Sweat It:
Consider stress the heavy weight knock out when it comes to your skin. Not only can it cause blemishes, acne, dullness and rashes… but stress lines from facial movements will also ingrain in your skin over time. Best way to avoid stress? Take time to do something you enjoy like yoga, read a book, cook, or take a walk.

23.Candy Girl:
Dear Sugar, it's not you, it's me… I'll miss you! We know breaking up is hard to do, but keep in mind when you intake excess sugar it hurts the collagen nestled in your skin leaving you with sag. Fight your sweet tooth with organic fruits like pineapple or mango.

24.Time to Hit the Gym:
Exercise seems to be the cure for almost everything these days and rightfully so! Exercising helps to increase blood flow and give your face a healthy glow. In addition, it also cleans the body of toxins which are expelled during perspiration and cleanses dead skins cells allowing new ones to grow. Without regular exercise you may see an increase in age spots, so lace up those sneakers and hit the pavement.



25.Clean as a Whistle:
With all the harsh chemicals and toxins out there these days, it's hard to know when you're safe and when you're not. To avoid skin irritation, take the plastic off your dry cleaning as soon as you get home, allowing the clothes to breath. The longer the plastic stays on your threads, the more chemicals are absorbed.

26.Left Arm Letdown:
The seat-belt tan may be a girl's biggest pet peeve in the summer months, but what you don't know is that those sunburns on your arm add up! Since your left arm is always exposed to more sun when driving, make sure to lather up with extra sun block on that side. The same rules apply to those who are riding in the passenger seat with their right arm exposed.

27.Put a Cork In It:
Just one more reason why you'll want to put the bottle down - You know how being hung-over makes you want to chug a huge water bottle? Well it does the same for skin. Drinking too much alcohol can dehydrate your skin leaving it quenched for moisture. Without that moisture you are more prone to wrinkles and dryness.

28.Steamy Surprise:
Bad news for all your spa buffs out there. Keep your sauna and steam room usage to a minimum. These spa treats can cause sagging (as they break down elasticity and natural collagen in the skin) over time.

29.Breezy Bummer:
If you're an 'AC' junkie like us during the summer months, this tip will probably catch you off guard. Instead of cranking up the cool air, turn your air conditioner down, giving your skin extra moisture. If your cooling unit is always blaring, you're stripping the air of humidity and moisture your skin needs.

30.Shady Smoke:
We all know smoking is bad for you… make that very, very, bad for you; but did you know second hand smoke can be harmful to your skin? While you may not smoke, being around smokers can cause skin sagging and speed up the wrinkle process? Just one more reason to steer clear of nicotine.

31.Makeup Overload:
Leaving the house without makeup on may feel like you're walking around naked for a few minutes, but after awhile it's kind of refreshing! Allowing your skin to breathe will help prevent clogged pores and breakouts while avoiding premature aging. So take a walk on the wild side - ditch your makeup every now and then.

32.Brow Control:
Over tweezing brows can cause major damage to your skin, not to mention the overall shape and look of your face. When tweezing, always remember to wash tweezers with antibacterial soap before hand. Prep skin by placing a hot towel over the area to open up your pores and soothe post tweeze by using a cleansing aloe lotion to avoid ingrown hairs.

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