A gorgeous glowing complexion makes you look healthy, youthful, and attractive but many factors affect the condition, texture, and appearance of your skin. While aging is inevitable and the rate at which you develop fine lines and wrinkles is generally hereditary, according to cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Carole Hazan. Lifestyle habits that can also speed up premature aging and cause unsightly skin imperfections, like dark aged spots, large open pores, and spider veins. The skin is the largest organ in the body it pays to be diligent about hydration, protection, and feeding it with vitamins and nutrients to maintain its health and appearance or you risk looking older and less attractive.
1. Dry Chaffed Skin
Dry chaffed skin on your face and body not only takes away your glow, it ages you and makes you look less attractive. Skin dryness can be caused by friction of your clothing rubbing, extreme weather, and dehydration. Drink plenty of water, lower your alcohol intake, and treat your skin with a soothing fragrance-free moisturizer (aloe vera, coconut oil, and shea butter are all ultra-hydrating) or petroleum jelly.
2. Premature Aging
There’s no stopping genetic aging which causes our collagen production to slow down resulting in loose skin, fine lines, and wrinkles. We can however accelerate the rate at which our skin loses its elasticity, texture, and radiance — the biggest culprits to trigger premature aging are sun damage, smoking, a poor diet, dehydration, and excess alcohol.
3. Eyebrow Droop
A loss of collagen and elasticity in the skin also causes droopy eyelids. Again how fast they head south is largely down to genetics however there are ways you could be speeding up the dreaded droop. Sun damage, lack of sleep, nutrient deficiencies, constantly rubbing your eyes, and excessive screen time are all factors.
4. Acne Scarring
Acne scars develop when blemishes cause inflammation and skin damage. How deep and noticeable the scarring is depends on the cause of acne but bursting cysts, picking and squeezing blemishes, and using harsh exfoliants and products high in vitamin C and retinol A can also wreak havoc.
5. Large Pores
Large pores, which are often most noticeable around the nose area, are generally caused by a loss of collagen and elastin and when the sebaceous glands produce too much oil. When the pores become blocked by excessive oil, dead skin cells, dirt, bacteria, and debris from cosmetics, this can also trigger blemishes and acne and pores can look even larger and more noticeable.
6. Rosacea and Redness
Rosacea is an inflammatory condition that causes skin sensitivity, redness, and a rash, mostly around the nose and cheek area. Genetic and environmental factors are the biggest causes of rosacea but you can make things worse by exposing your skin to ultraviolet radiation, heat, wind, and humidity. Lifestyle habits like hot drinks, spicy food, stress, alcohol, caffeine, and dairy products can also induce rosacea flare-ups.
7. Breakouts and Blemishes
Pimples and wrinkles hardly seem fair but adult acne is real and can be caused by hormonal changes, stress, oily skin and hair products, a lack of sleep, stress, and a diet high in fatty foods and refined carbohydrates. Keep your skin clean, eat a healthy diet, drink plenty of water, and never pick or squeeze pimples and blemishes.
8. Eczema and Dermatitis
Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, is a skin condition that causes dry, itchy, bumpy, and red inflamed skin. It is often caused by genetics but a poor immune system, smoking, exposing your skin to extreme temperatures, and irritants in soaps, perfumes, preservatives, detergents, and synthetic fibers can also cause flare-ups.
9. Dry Lips
Like our skin our lips lose elasticity and become drier and thinner with age however dry, chapped lips, can also be caused by environmental factors like sun damage, cold weather, dry air, and wind. Lifestyle habits like licking or picking your lips, not drinking enough water, vitamin deficiencies, drinking alcohol, and applying irritating lipsticks and balms that contain menthol or salicylic acid can also contribute to dry cracked lips.
10. Orange Peel
Cellulite, also known as the dreaded orange peel becomes more visible as we age when skin loses its elasticity. However, it can also be caused by hormonal changes and inflammation from consuming too much salt, sugar, processed foods, margarine, soda, pasta, and white bread. To combat the dimples, eat a clean diet, drink plenty of water, and exercise regularly — particularly interval training to increase muscle tone.
11. Stretch Marks
Stretch marks occur when the skin stretches or shrinks quickly often resulting from rapid periods of weight gain. This stretching causes the dermis, the skin’s middle layer, to tear and the collagen and elastin of the skin to rupture revealing the deeper layers of the skin and forming stretch marks. To help prevent unattractive stretch marks, avoid yo-yo-dieting and maintain a healthy weight, drink plenty of water, exercise regularly, and eat a balanced diet rich in vitamins A and C.
12. Aged Spots
Brown age spots are mostly caused by prolonged sun exposure, but can also develop if you have a family history, during pregnancy, and hormonal changes. The sun’s damaging UV rays speed up the production of melanin, the pigment that gives skin its color. When melanin goes into overdrive flat, painless, irregular-shaped brown spots appear on the face, hands, shoulders, upper back, and forearms. Dark spots ruin the appearance and texture of your skin and if this isn’t a good reason to wear SPF and protective clothing every day regardless of the weather we don’t know what is.
13. Dark Circles
Dark circles under the eyes, which depending on your skin color can look purple, blue, dark brown, or black are caused by genetics and a loss of collagen and thinning of the blood vessels due to age. Panda eyes can also be exacerbated when you’re tired, sleep-deprived, dehydrated, smoke, drink too much, have a poor diet, are under stress, or constantly rub your eyes.
14. Sun Damage
Sun damage, also known as photoaging is enemy number one for the skin. When the skin is unprotected against the sun’s ultraviolet light it damages the DNA in the cells causing them to grow and divide abnormally, triggering premature aging and wrinkles, causing pigmentation and sun spots, and can even lead to skin cancer. “My biggest skincare advice is to always wear sunscreen or a moisturizer with SPF, ” says cosmetic dermatologist and skin surgeon.
15. Spider Veins
Dark blue, twisted, and knobbly varicose veins appear mostly on your legs and face. Spider veins look similar but are red or blue in color and appear smaller and closer to the skin’s surface resembling spider webs or tree branches. Both are caused by damaged or weakened valves in the veins that prevent normal blood flow and while they rarely indicate a serious health problem, they are unsightly and uncomfortable. Factors that contribute to raised veins are hormonal changes, aging, sitting or standing for long periods, lack of exercise smoking and constipation.