7 Surprising Ways Your Lifestyle Affects Your Look

Your skin mirrors your lifestyle. In fact, besides some inherited skin conditions, your skin is largely determined by your lifestyle choices and behaviours. The healthier you are, the better your skin looks.

If you're looking to improve your looks, you might need to reassess your lifestyle. Start by taking healthier diets and doing light exercises, and trying to reduce unhealthy exposure being mindful of your beauty products and opting more for natural ones instead.

Here are 5 ways your lifestyle affects your skin.

Too much stress and no exercise

Stress has been linked with acne breakouts and aggravating skin conditions such as eczema. You can try to destress including a short period for mental and body exercise, such as meditation and yoga, in your daily schedules. Exercising produces happy hormones, including serotonin, which help reduce stress and make your skin look brighter and fresher.

Just make sure your skin is thoroughly cleaned every time you work out. You can find organic and natural products with brands like Okana Skin Care NZ that you can use to clean and moisturise your skin.

Not having enough

Sound and adequate sleep is probably one of the most obvious signs of a healthy lifestyle. It is recommended that the body sleep 7-8 hours a day to function effectively and optimize the secretion of human growth hormones, which promotes the production of collagen.

People usually sleep less in today's high-paced lifestyle and wind up getting more exhausted at the end of the day. When you're tired the skin loses its glow and starts to appear darker and duller. Lack of sleep also triggers the body to release cortisol and other stress hormones linked to inflammation, allergies and irritation.

Smoking and alcohol consumption

The dangerous twin habits of smoking and alcoholism one fastest routes to early ageing of the skin. As people regularly constrict their faces and squint their eyes when they smoke, it makes the skin around their face to wrinkle and sag a lot faster.

On the other hand, alcohol prevents water from being absorbed into the bloodstream and also causes the person to pass water more frequently. Therefore, increased intake can lead to dehydration, which leads to pale skin and a sick appearance.

Excessive exposure to the sun

If the sun is searing hot, as much as possible, avoid working, playing or carrying out any other activities directly under it. Generally, if possible, don’t spend time in the open between 10 AM and 4 PM - otherwise, try to apply a sunscreen that has at least a 30 SPF for proper skin protection against the sun’s direct UV rays.

Excess exposure to direct sunlight can make your skin to start wrinkle and discolour, which are some of the signs of early skin ageing. But using sunscreens can help keep off these symptoms.

Unhealthy food consumption

A clean and healthy diet for better skincare is sometimes difficult to maintain. We frequently get food from fast-food cafes where we take lots of carbs and small vitamins. We are also tempted to eat more protein so the body doesn't feel hungry too often when we're on the go.

You need to prepare your food for the best skin condition, and make sure you have enough vitamins and antioxidants. If you have a hectic schedule, take your lunch bag or sack to the office with you. Don't forget to accompany your food with water, not drinks.

Yes, water. Always drink lots of it too! When you make a habit of drinking water often, your body is constantly hydrated and your detoxification organs, such as your skin, gets good support. Your skin also stays well moisturised, ensuring elasticity and healthy skin glow.

Sleeping posture

Everyone has their preferred sleeping posture and no one can say precisely what is the best sleeping position. How and where you sleep may affect you in specific ways. Sleeping on the side, for example, will cause wrinkles on your face. And that could take some time before the skin smooths out (a few hours).

If repeated often or it becomes a habit, that may mean though that you end up with a long-term wrinkled face. There’s a good side to sleeping on the side, however, as it helps to keep your spinal cord straight. Sleeping on your back is comparatively better for your skin - except you need to regularly alternate your sleeping postures to make yourself comfortable.

Environmental factors

If you live in a busy city, chances are your skin will be damaged by air pollution. Dangerous airborne impurities interfere adversely with the skin's surface and can also intensify the damage from the sun's UV rays that you are receiving.

To remove pollution from your skin, especially your face, neck and hands, it's important to cleanse morning and evening. A gentle exfoliation, many days a week, can help to remove tougher impurities and dead skin cells. A diet rich in antioxidants also helps fight dangerous airborne free radicals.

To sum it all up, having a healthy lifestyle will reflect on your skin's appearance. You will inspire more radiant and glowing skin by making a couple of changes in your lifestyle.