7 Reasons why your skin is breaking out
Nobody likes when their skin is misbehaving. Trying to treat the problem can add to the frustration when nothing you use works. Even the most expensive, time-consuming skincare routine won’t give you results if you don’t know what’s causing the breakout in the first place.
We are surrounded by skin irritants all the time, so the culprit could be an oversight that’s right under your nose (no pun intended). The good news is, all of the common causes are treatable, and most of them are directly within our control.
These are the 7 most common causes of skin troubles:
Smoking. From the cigarette club, to hookah smokers and the 420 friendly, smoking of all kinds is bad for your skin. It dehydrates you which dries your skin out, plus smoking constricts your blood flow and decreases circulation, making your skin dull and dry. On top of that, we’ve seen how long-time smoking causes wrinkles as you age. So, skin improvement and wrinkle prevention are two benefits of kicking the habit.
Pollution. Smog, like smoking, dries out the skin and air pollutants leave residue on the face that clog the pores cause breakouts. That’s why it’s critical that we wash our faces at night to remove all the air toxins that we come in contact with throughout the day.
Dry air and cold weather. It seems unfair that something like weather can affect your skin. We appreciate being outside. We hang out with friends and family, we exercise, we live a portion of our lives outside and we can’t let the weather’s impact on our skin stop us from doing so. However, dry air and cold weather do dry out our skin significantly, so it’s important to add a body butter that’s rich in moisturizing nutrients to your skincare routine. Plant-based moisturizers like herbal floral water and toners can help combat what dry weather does to the skin.
Being too rough/harsh with the skin. Sometimes our bad skin habits are what’s stopping us from having clear skin. If you’re a face scratcher, a skin picker, if you wear a lot of makeup or use a lot of skincare products, you could be causing blemishes. You also want to be mindful of how much you exfoliate. Exfoliation removes dead skin cells and embedded dirt from our pores, but too much could irritate the skin and trigger our sebaceous glands to produce too much sebum--the natural oil our skin produces. This can do more harm than good. Our faces are the most sensitive skin on our bodies so even though they seem durable, they should be treated gently and handled with care.
Alcohol. This is another sensitive subject because who among us doesn’t appreciate a drink every now and then? It’s on the list, though, because of the other effects of alcohol on the body. Let’s use me, for example. I drank an entire box of wine once. That’s four bottles, or 20 glasses. Within that week my skin erupted with blemishes and breakouts. Drinking alcohol in excess weakens the liver, which serves as the filter for our bodies’ blood stream. When too much alcohol is in our bloodstream, the toxins sit in the layer just under the skin and they can come through the skin in the form of blackheads, whiteheads, and blemishes. Consider cutting back on how much you drink and doubling your water regular intake, especially on the days you plan to drink.
Prescription drugs. If you take prescribed medication, have you read all of the side effects? Active and inactive ingredients in prescribed medications can throw off your hormonal balance and affect your skin.
Constipation and not sweating enough. Ok, maybe a touchy subject but let’s talk about the body’s natural functions. Sweating and defecating are ways that the body removes waste and toxins from the body. Your body needs to do both regularly to ensure your system is free from what shouldn’t be there. This is why healthy habits like a whole food diet and regular exercise are so important. A nutritious diet encourages your digestive system to function properly and to excrete waste regularly. Exercising regularly encourages a healthy sweat which also removes toxins through the skin.
OK, so now that we know what the culprits are, we can move forward with building a skincare routine that considers your habits and your skin type. Natural products free from chemicals and harsh ingredients are a great place to start. Add those to your routine to give your skin the nourishment it needs to give you clear results.
