Tips for Healthier Skin

If you search "healthy skin tips" you can find DIY facial masks, skin treatments, detox waters, and a million other different ways to achieve "perfect skin."  However, some of those tips are a pain to keep up with or just plain don't work.  Here are some foolproof skincare tips that are easy to incorporate into your everyday or weekly life that truly WORK: 

1. Clean Your Makeup Brushes/Sponges

I used to never wash my brushes and once I finally did it was disgusting how much makeup was stuck in them.  The makeup clogged in the bristles or sitting in the sponge becomes old and bacteria ridden.  So basically you're spreading bacteria all over your face everyday when you put your makeup on, which makes me cringe just thinking about it.  I am still guilty of not cleaning them as often as I should, but at minimum you should cleanse your brushes, sponges, or whatever you use to apply your makeup once a month.  Not only will freshening up your brushes improve your skin, it also makes your makeup look nicer and your brushes will last longer.  I use the Real Techniques brush cleansing gel, but you can also use baby shampoo or another type of gentle soap.    

2. Take ALL Your Makeup Off at Night

This is one of those things that everybody knows, but not everybody does it.  After a long day or night it's hard to not just crawl into bed with a full face of makeup on, but leaving all of that makeup caked on your face for that long clogs your pores and irritates your skin.  I can't live without makeup removal wipes because they make it so quick and easy to take everything off.  You'd be surprised at how much makeup is still left behind, so I follow up with a toner on a cotton round to remove anything the wipes missed.  I use the generic Walmart brand wipes and lately I have been a fan of using Witch Hazel afterwards to make sure my skin is all clean.         

3. Clean Your Phone Screen

People don't really think about how dirty your phone screen can get, but take a second to imagine all of the things your phone touches everyday.  The germs and bacteria from every floor you drop it on, public table you set it down on, or thing you spill on it is then transferred to your hands and face.  It takes about 5 seconds to grab a Clorox wipe and swipe it across your screen, but it makes a huge difference.  

4. Change Your Sheets Often

Your body sheds dead skin cells all the time, and although you may not see it, your sheets get covered in a lot of that dead skin.  Besides just sounding gross, it also irritates your skin and causes break outs to sleep in sheets that are not cleaned often.  It can be hard, especially in college, to take time out of your busy schedule to wash sheets that appear clean, but it's so so important.  At school I have two sets of sheets, so even if I don't have time to wash, dry, and remake my bed I can at least switch out my sheets weekly so my bedding is always fresh.

5. Cut Down On Makeup

I love getting creative with makeup and I think it's so fun, but I also love wearing no makeup.  I used to wear makeup pretty much everyday, but now I wear barely any or none at all on a regular day.  During a breakout, the first thing I want to do is load on the makeup to cover up all the blemishes, but it's so important to let your skin breathe.  If you aren't super confident going bare faced, try to ease yourself into it and start doing "No Makeup Monday's" and before you know it you'll be confident in your own skin.

  

6. Stop Touching and Picking at Your Face!!

I am soo guilty of doing this.  I get lost in my magnified, light up mirror poking, prodding, and popping every tiny mark on my face until my skin is all red and splotchy.  I, and I'm assuming many of you, do the same thing and then hate yourself afterwards for irritating your skin so much.  Try putting a sticky note on your mirror to remind yourself not to do it  or just have amazing self discipline to stop yourself.  Every pimple will go away in about 7-10 days so just relax and leave it alone.  Aside from the purposeful poking at your skin, try to stop yourself from mindlessly touching your face.  Our hands have so many germs on them that you can stop transferring to your face by simply not touching it so much.

7. Clean Your Face Before/After Working Out

I love to workout and stay active, and I noticed that my face and back/shoulder area started to breakout.  My ponytail touching my back and shoulders along with sweat is what was irritating my skin, so this seems pretty obvious, but it's important to shower right after you workout to prevent breakouts.  Also, washing off your makeup before you hit the gym is another necessary step to prevent pimples.  The sweat mixing with makeup will just clog your pores more and create more issues.  Throw a pack of those trusty  makeup wipes in your gym bag so you have no excuse for not taking 2 minutes to wipe off your makeup before you workout and your face afterwards too.