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Getting clear, healthy skin doesn’t have to be super-complicated or cost thousands of dollars. Sometimes, the answer to how to get clear skin naturally lies in the little things you do every day. It’s about how you treat your skin and your body overall.
Sure, clear skin products can help. But they must be used in combination with a consistent, healthy, daily skincare routine. It’s no point buying expensive clear skin products if you ignore a few basic, everyday tips for clear skin.
Here are 12 daily habits you should add to your skincare routine for healthy, glowing, clear skin.
12 Tips For Clear Skin
1. Wash Your Face Twice A Day, Every Day
One of the best things you can do for your skin is to wash it. It seems so simple and basic that most of us ignore this clear skin tip.
The key of course lies in washing your skin the right way. Here are some tips for washing your face:
Wash your face twice a day – You really need to wash your face twice a day. When you wake up, splash water on your face to wash off any bacteria and dead skin cells from the night. Repeat in the evening to remove makeup and wash away the dust and perspiration of the day.
Use lukewarm water – Lukewarm water is best for your skin. Water at lower temperatures is always better than hotter water. Avoid very hot water.
Use a gentle cleanser – It’s best to avoid using soap for your face. Instead, use a gentle, alcohol-free face cleanser that is appropriate for your skin type – dry, oily, or combination.
Don’t scrub or rub – The skin on your face and neck is very delicate and needs to be treated gently. While cleansing your face or when using an exfoliating cleanser resist the temptation to rub it vigorously. After washing, pat your face dry with a soft towel. Avoid rubbing your skin dry.
2. Maintain Different Morning and Nighttime Routines
In addition to washing your face twice a day, it’s a good idea to maintain different skincare routines for after you wake up in the morning and before you go to bed at night. You should not have an identical routine in the morning and at night.
Morning – Your morning skincare routine should focus on getting your skin ready for the day ahead. After splashing your face with water, your morning routine should include a daytime moisturizer and makeup if you wear it. If you’re going to be spending time outdoors, don’t forget the sunscreen.
Night – The end of the day calls for double cleansing before you get into bed. The first cleanse is to remove any makeup or products from your skin like sunscreen. Then, the second cleanse is to remove any remaining bacteria from your pores.
3. Change Your Skincare Based on the Season
Your skin’s needs change with the weather. You must take the season into consideration and adjust your skincare routine accordingly..
During spring, your skincare routine should factor in the warmer weather. It’s time to switch over to a lighter moisturizer and body lotion.
In the summer, you’ll need to keep that sunscreen handy, especially if you’re going to be spending a lot of time outdoors. And you should! It feels so good to soak in the sun and it has some powerful health benefits too.
Fall and winter call for thicker, more luxurious moisturizers as the skin tends to get very dry. Pay special attention to your lips during these seasons. Use a lip balm regularly to prevent chapping.
4. Maintain a Clear Skin Diet
We may not realize it, or we may know it but prefer to ignore it, but what we eat does have a major impact on our skin health. Gut health is particularly important for our overall health and wellbeing, including our skin health. It does affect how we look and feel.
Applying vitamin E or products with vitamin C improves the way your skin looks, but maintaining a clear skin diet helps to improve your skin from the inside out.
An easy way to ensure you are getting proper nourishment for your skin is to eat a diet with all the colors of the rainbow. Try to get as many colors as you can, from red and orange bell peppers, to yellow lemons, whole grains and potatoes for your beige and lighter colors, spinach or kale for your greens, bright berries for your purples, reds, and blues, and apples for your reds. The more colors you include in your diet, the more nutrients you’re getting into your body. And this will reflect in your skin too.
5. Take Steps to Reduce Stress
Emotional stress can be disastrous for your mental and physical health. Your skin shows signs of stress before the rest of your body. Stress impacts your body and skin a lot more than you may think.
Your skin looks more sallow when you’re under stress. If you suffer from acne or rosacea, you may have noticed the symptoms tend to flare up when you’re under stress. If you keep getting breakouts for no reason you can think of, it might be because of stress.
Sometimes it feels like no matter what we do, stressors are just everywhere. I get it. But that’s life with its many ups and downs. The best we can do is learn and implement a few stress-relief techniques in our daily routine.
And it’s not just for clear skin. Feeling stressed constantly is detrimental to your physical and mental health and lowers your quality of life.
Choose one, two, or more of these stress-relief techniques and set aside time for them every day:
Meditate
Write in a journal
Take a walk outside – better still, try barefoot earthing in spring and summer
Get some exercise every day, even if it’s just a 10-minute walk
Give yourself rest and breaks
Get enough sleep
Try yoga or tai-chi
Do something you enjoy – put on your favorite music, read a book, cook your favorite dish
6. Drink Enough Water
Your skin needs water and moisture, but not just on the outside. Keeping the skin hydrated from inside is just as important. The more water you drink, the clearer your skin will start to look.
One of the easier tips for clear skin is to stay hydrated. If you keep forgetting to drink water, these tips to stay hydrated will help.
If your skin has started to look dull, dry, and flaky, it might just need a little extra hydration from the inside.
7. Use Adequate Sun Protection
If you only apply one thing on your face every day, it should be sunscreen. Even on days when it isn’t hot and sunny, when it might be cloudy or even snowing outside, the sun’s UV rays can still damage your skin.
Make sure you are applying sunscreen to your face every single day, regardless of how much time you think you will spend outside and what the weather is like. You never know how much sun exposure your skin will get, and it needs protection!
Remember if you have fair or sensitive skin, you need to apply sunscreen separately even if your moisturizer or makeup contains some SPF. You are prone to sunburns and damage to your skin, so it is extremely important not to skip this step.
8. Leave Skin Imperfections Alone
Stop picking your pimples! It is not making them go away or helping them to heal. If anything, this is causing more damage to your skin, prolonging your acne, and might even be leaving behind scars. It can be very tempting to pop a pimple, but this opens up that skin to bacteria that could make it worse and give you even more acne.
Try to resist the urge!
9. Let Your Skin Breathe
Do keep trying out different clear skin products when you hear about a ‘revolutionary’ product from others who have successfully cleared their skin?
While it is okay to try new things on your journey to clear skin, you want to be careful not to overdo it.
If you want to try a new product or skincare routine, do so slowly and gradually. Do not try all the things at once. Trying several changes at the same time puts your skin through unnecessary stress, which may damage it further.
Introduce just one thing at a time, whether it’s a new product or a change in your skincare routine. Give it some time and see how your skin reacts to it. If your skin looks clear with the change, that’s it. You’ve found your answer to how to get clear skin naturally.
10. Get Enough Sleep
Sleep … That one important but often forgotten tip for clear skin. It’s amazing how much sleep can affect your skin health.
A restless or sleepless night can leave your skin looking just as tired as you feel. When you get a good night’s sleep, you feel refreshed and rejuvenated inside and out.
So why does sleep, or the lack of it, affect the skin? The body produces new skin cells when we sleep. When you don’t get enough sleep, the body doesn’t get enough time to rejuvenate or replenish dead cells. This is what causes the skin to look fatigued.
Make sure to remove all makeup and wash your face and neck with lukewarm water before you head to bed.
11. Keep Your Bedding Clean
To reduce bacteria on your skin, you need to have clean bedding, especially when it comes to your pillow. You lie on your pillowcase for about 6 to 8 hours or longer every night. Imagine what that does to your skin if it isn’t washed regularly.
Make sure you are washing your pillowcases at least once a week, but more often on nights when you might be sweating a lot. Use a gentle laundry soap meant for sensitive skin, preferably unscented.
You may also want to wash your other bedding regularly as well, since it might also come in contact with your face.
12. Understand your skin type and Care for the Skin You Have
The final habit is one that is really important and people often overlook. Your skin is unique to you. It might have certain skin conditions, sensitivity to ingredients, or simply not do well with some face masks.
You need to care for the skin you have, not the skin your friends have. Most importantly, don’t get tempted to use the same products those beauty gurus are using. Their skin may be different from yours. Their lifestyle is also different and so are their resources. Moreover, many of them follow extensive skincare routines that many of us may not have the time or resources for.
If you have a condition like rosacea or eczema, you can’t really use all the toners, exfoliants, and serums that people without these conditions may use. Talk to a dermatologist about treatments that work for your skin.
