SMOKING
Like you need another reason to quit? Seriously—it’s time. Because if you keep smoking, you’ll not only damage your health, but you’ll develop more and more deep wrinkles and blotchier skin tone. In fact, every decade of smoking results in a perceived extra 2.5 years of age, according to research published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
STAYING UP LATE
“Sleep deprivation causes stress, which can aggravate all skin conditions, including acne, eczema, and psoriasis,” says, a dermatologist. “Sleep is also the time when your body repairs the damage from the day, and interrupting that process will slow down cell turnover.” In the short term, this can mess with the way blood flows to the skin, which can make your complexion sallow.
POPPING ZITS
We know, we know: It’s tempting. But the reality is that squeezing a pimple just pushes bacteria deeper into the pores, causing inflammation, infection, and scarring—and almost doubling the zits life span (from about one week to two). Napalming it with the harshest chemicals in the bathroom won’t help, either. “Treating any breakout with too much benzoyl peroxide damages the skin around the spot and can cause more irritation,” says Boston dermatologist Jeffrey Dover. Here’s what you should do: Use a spot treatment with no more than 2.5 percent benzoyl peroxide at night, and reapply it to major zits in the morning.
