How to Get Perfect Radiant and Happy Skin

EntertainmentMany people, especially in their teenage years strive to have perfect, blemish-free skin that glows “for the gods”.

Many YouTube bloggers and dermatologists will advise you to “wash your face two times a day” and “drink two liters of water a day” but even tho those two are important, realistically, it’s not that simple to achieve the perfect skin.

Fortunately for some people, genetics have blessed them with perfect skin, but for the rest of us mortals, here are some useful tips to make your skin happy and blemish free.

Tip # 1: Try To Clock At Least 7 Hours of Sleep

Beauty sleep is a real thing! Unless you have a team of professional makeup artists waiting to do your makeup every morning, it can be really hard to look gorgeous with dark circles under your eyes (unless you’re going for the panda look on purpose). Researchers have proved that a lack of sleep can contribute to periorbital hyperpigmentation, a.k.a. “raccoon eyes.”

Top #2: Protect Your Skin From Sunlight

Sunlight causes many problems to your skin, such as aging, frecking, skin thinning, facial lines and wrinkles, and can contribute to the development of skin cancer. Doctors and dermatologists advise to use a sunscreen that blocks and protects from UVB and UVA light, that can both be very damaging to the skin.

Tip #3: Learn How to Relax

Useful not just for your skin, but also your mental health, relaxation is very important in your everyday life. Chronic tension and physical stress cause surges of cortisol in the body, a hormone that can break down collagen and elastin, ultimately leading to wrinkles, says Mona Gohara, M.D., associate clinical professor at the Yale Department of Dermatology.

Tip #4: Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize!

Maintaining the water content of the skin is very important. Moisturizers slow down the process of water loss in your skin, making it stronger, more elastic and glowy. When the air is dry in the winter, people with flawless skin know to ramp up their moisturizer use on their entire bodies. But when the weather is humid, they can ease up the moisturizer, since there is moisture in the air that helps hydrate the skin.

Tip #5: Physical Excercise

Dermatologists strongly recommend that you do at least 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week. Research presented at last year’s annual American Medical Society for Sports Medicine meeting showed that previously sedentary subjects who started a regular exercise routine actually experienced a reversal in their skin’s signs of aging. In fact, the participants’ skin “looked like that of a much younger person [under the microscope], and all that they had done differently was exercise,” study leader Mark Tarnopolsky, a professor of pediatrics and exercise science at McMaster, told The New York Times when the results were first reported.

Tip #6: Lay Off the Excess Sugar

Make sure that your diet includes more healthy fats (like olive oil), omega 3s (found in walnuts and salmon), antioxidants (greens), and vitamin C (berries and citrus fruits), and less processed sugars. Foods with a high glycemic index (think sugary sweets and white carbs) create an increase in cortisol through a process called “glycosylation,” where sugars bind to collagen and weaken it, Gohara says.

Tip #7: No Smoking!

Smoking has many bad effects on your health, which you probably well know by now. Besides its cancerous effects, smoking also affects your looks! “Nicotine destroys skin substructures leaving it saggy and listless,” Gohara says. Nicotine also causes nasty lines around your lips and causes your nails and your teets to turn yellow. Run while you can!