Bad Skin Habits to Break

Words by Katherine Castillo Eustaquio

Sure, you’re skin savvy. You spend half your paycheck for skin treatments and spa sessions, you avoid direct and long exposure to the midday, and you’re on the look out for the best (and probably most expensive) skin care names in the local and international market. Okay, so maybe you’re a little bit obsessed with having beautiful skin. But you smoke, you pile on make-up, party, and go to bed with all the gooey junk on your face, and you drink a total of 1.5 glasses of water a day. Talk about ironic.

In case you haven’t realized it yet, having good skin is not about using the most expensive creams on the market. Rather, it has more to do with healthy living and common sense. Here are some bad skin habits to break:

The increasing popularity of chemical peels and exfoliating techniques have misled women into thinking that “peeling away” the topmost layer of your skin is the key to a radiant and clear complexion. While chemical peels, microdermabrasion, and exfoliating can get rid of acne scars, dark spots, and dead skin cells, subjecting your skin to harsh chemicals and excessive scrubbing more often than necessary can destroy your skin’s natural defenses against free radicals.

A pack of cigarettes takes the life out of skin, literally. Sure it makes you look pretty fly for a while. But when you start to see the wretched trademarks of a cigarette smoker—blotchy, dull grey complexion, nasty yellowish teeth, and that wrinkled prune look—maybe you’ll realize that a stick of cigarette is, quite seriously, not worth it.

A glass of wine, a shot of vodka, and a bottle of good ‘ol beer might be good for your heart and complexion, but loading up on too much alcohol can lead to dehydration. Studies have also shown that alcohol dilates the blood vessels and worsens acne rosacea. If you’re a social drinker, sip water in between bottles of booze to avoid dehydration and to flush out the alcohol and avoid a hangover from hell.

You have the flair of a make-up artist. You have the expensive brands and professional tools and you use a high quality make-up remover before you go to bed. But you use the same sponge and brushes week after week without ever washing them. No wonder you’re complaining about acne. Keeping your make-up tools unwashed for weeks can lead to the growth of bacteria. Using them everyday will clog your pores with dirt and cause acne. Keep your tools clean by washing them every week and keeping them dry.

Your phone receiver and keypad are filled with microscopic thingamajigs that crawl and multiply in a terrifying rate. Pressing them on your cheek for a long time can cause acne and skin infections. Aside from keeping your gadgets clean, you might as well try not to gab on the phone for hours on end.

When you go out, your face is like a magnet for airborne bacteria. If you have a habit of rubbing your cheeks / nose / forehead / eyes, you’re directly spreading the bacteria and pushing them deep down your pores. You can use a hanky or sanitize your hands first if you really have to touch your face, but the best technique is to avoid it as much as possible.

There it is—red and ripe for the popping. For most women, it’s a Herculean task to resist the urge to pop pimples. If you squeeze one, the bacteria will spread and infect the surrounding areas and lead to more pimples. While your dermatologist can professionally pop your zits for you, for most women, it’s not worth spending their money on. If you really have to pop a zit, wrap your fingers with a clean facial tissue to avoid infecting the surrounding areas.