It’s the small things that matter the most. That holds even with your health. A day of junk and the next day of detox cannot take you much far. With skincare, it is the same since everything that you do in a day largely affects your skin. From cleanliness to how you treat your acne and what kind of clothes you’re wearing every day. It’s not so difficult to note though. We’re here with a list of 11 daily habits that you must take care of for skin health!

What happens to your skin when you break out? 

You breakout when your pores are clogged due to dirt, bacterial or fungal growth, or simply due to dead skin cells. What follows after this is a huge drama unfolding in your pore. 

Your pores have enlarged due to the bacterial growth that is taking up space and this causes pain. At the same time, since your pore is irritated and inflamed, your body will send signals to repair it by increasing the blood flow in that region. This shows in the form of redness and fragile skin. Inflammation partially helps bacterial growth too. 

In the end, what you will see is a red big angry spot on your face. Once it bursts, your pore is finally relieved but also left damaged. So your body will send melanin to make sure that there is no further damage. And this results in brown spots which take a long long time to fade away.

Here’s a list of ingredients that can help you treat acne!

What we’re really trying to say through this story is it’s better to take preventive actions towards breakouts instead of just focusing on treating them as and when they appear on your face. Let’s look at some daily habits that could be causing your skin to break out!

What are the 12 daily acts that are causing breakouts?

1. Partial cleansing or over-cleansing

Maintaining skin health is all about maintaining its barrier. Our skin barrier helps keep the skin structure by making sure that each of your skin cells has enough nourishment to not age sooner due to damage. Depending on your exposure to the external harmful factors, your skin will accumulate dirt which will clog your pores by destroying this barrier. If you partially cleanse then the dirt will remain on your skin causing more damage. On the other hand, if you over-cleanse then it will strip the natural oils that form your skin barrier, leaving your skin exposed to harmful factors. A tip to live by is to always pick a gentle cleanser to avoid over-stripping!

Sublime recommends Beaumark Maskne Gentle Cleanser that has BHAs like Salicylic Acid, Citric Acid along with Tea Tree Oil and Frankincense Oil to maintain the balance of oils for a healthy skin barrier. 

2. Unclean glasses

We’ve all heard what they say about touching your face. What we don’t keep in mind is that it is not just about not touching your face but also making sure that whatever touches your face must be clean. Something like glasses touches our face every day and we don’t attend to its hygiene every day. However, it is better to keep a soft cloth handy with which you can clean glasses in the middle of an active day. At the end of the day, clean your glasses with a sanitiser.

Sublime recommends 23 Yards Hand Sanitizer which comes in various packs (even travel-friendly packs) to sanitise your glasses and hands.

3. Overwhelming your skin with too many anti-acne products

Acne means that your skin cell is going through major drama and right now all it needs is something with a calming effect. However, if you use an active ingredient to destroy the acne bump and layer it with another ingredient that can help you soothe your skin, it is not going to help your skin. For example, if you use an AHA-based serum with Niacinamide-based lotion, your skin will not know whom to respond to since an active ingredient and a soothing ingredient have different mechanisms to work on your skin. Using a mix of everything from Benzoyl Peroxide, Retinol, AHAs, BHAs together may do more harm than good. For acne-prone and sensitive skin types, we recommend you opt for skin minimalism. 

Read more about skin minimalism here.

4. Improper diet

What goes in your body and mind, really shows on your skin. So if you’re eating junk every day and applying expensive skin care then I am sorry to break it to you but that is an utter waste of your money on skincare and food. Skincare achieves results on the skin’s cellular level. When it comes to your circulatory and digestive system, what you eat will be carried around in your body and show on your skin. So in other words, eat your greens to make sure that you’re meeting your body’s daily micro and macro nutritional requirements. 

Sublime recommends supplements in the form of tasty gummies like Within Nutrition Glowing Skin Gummies that are loaded with all the essential nutrients and Antioxidants that your body needs daily. This should be every mid-twenties must-buy because supplements aren’t something you must avoid after a certain age to prevent the accelerated ageing process.

You must also focus on your digestive system to ensure that you’re detoxing your body every morning. This will make your excretion regular. And while excretion is often not paid attention to, it is very important that you get the morning excretion call on time before you start your day. There’s deep science to it and if you want a clear skin, this cannot be neglected.

Sublime recommends Cosmix Happy Gut that has Mulethi, fermented Papaya, Ginger to support your digestive and metabolic activity. 

6. Smoking & drinking

We’ve listed this numerous times and we will list it again because you need to cut them off. Smoking will create havoc in your respiratory system which, by the way, is responsible for enriching your blood. Bad blood means clogged pores and dull skin. This is just the simplest way to understand how smoking harms your skin and let’s not go into details because it is really really nasty. When it comes to drinking, it can dehydrate the last drop of hydration from your skin. It really can. So there are two ways to deal with this issue- you cut down on alcohol or you catch up on drinking the next morning and make sure you use an extra hydrating sleep mask for the next couple of days at the least.

Sublime recommends Dr Sheth's Haldi & Hyaluronic Acid Sleeping Mask. Haldi helps repair skin and reduce acne and inflammation and Hyaluronic Acid is the king of moisturising your skin. So wake up to a happy skin even after a night full of drama!

7. Scrubbing too hard

Just stop right there when you feel the slightest discomfort while scrubbing. Your skin cells will react quicker than you know when you irritate it. So we can say that scrubbing puts our skin in a ‘hangry’ mood. If you’ve scrubbed hard then you’ve successfully managed to irritate it and now you must soothe it by using ingredients like Aloe Vera, Centella Asiatica, etc.

Sublime recommends Dear, Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Serum which has a rich mix of Celery, Carrot Root, and Broccoli Extract to reduce dryness and soothe your skin.

8. Letting sweat dry on your skin

Sweat is usually a good mix of oil and water that your body has thrown out while detoxing itself. It’s a great medium for dirt and bacteria to settle on and make it a home for them and their babies. As a result of letting your sweat rest on your skin, you will observe accumulated dead skin, zits, acne, blackheads, and whiteheads. None of this looks pretty so do your skin a favor and wash off the sweat before it dries on your skin. For those gym rats, keep a clean towel handy while working out.

Read more about the dos’ and donts’ of working out here!

9. Using hair styling products close to your hairline

Hair styling products and appliances don’t do good either for your face or your scalp. But sure, a girl gotta’ do what she gotta’ do to fix her hair for an event. In such cases, make sure to keep a hand or a band on your forehead to avoid blocking your pores there. This will help you prevent those small zits that we often observe near our hairline due to the dirty scalp and hair styling products blocking our pores.

10. Not washing makeup brushes, pillowcases, gym clothes

Observe what touches your skin daily. Not just the common items like makeup brushes, pillowcases, and gym clothes but also the masks and sometimes even our hair. Don’t let unwashed items near your face since dirty items create a great environment for the bacteria to grow in.

11. Not paying attention to your phone screen

Thanks to wireless earpods, we usually don’t stick our phones to our face but most of us still do. While holding multiple items at hand and attending a call at the same time, we press our phone to our cheek without paying attention to our phone screen. Then our face sweat is pressed to our phone and our cheek. Let’s say we happen to switch the side we’re pressing on our phone. Now the other side of our cheek shares that sweat and bacterial growth. This is how we successfully spread dirt and bacteria. To avoid this, clean your phone before picking up the call or be conscious and don’t press the phone to your face.

12. Ditching the moisturiser

It’s such a common myth that an oily skin type doesn't need a good moisturiser. But they do too. We all do. Moisturisers help our skin keep up its barrier and structure which together keeps our skin young. Moisturisers are also a great means to control oil production naturally. So chilly, rainy, or sunny, moisturiser isn’t a skippable step. Avoiding moisturiser will make the skin’s barrier vulnerable, leading to breakouts.

Learn more about picking the right moisturiser here!

Sublime recommends Aminu Harmony Multi-Vitamin Cream. We just love how this one bottle covers Vitamin C, B, and E. This is definitely worth giving a shot!

13. Popping your pimples and blackheads

Popping a pimple is so irresistible. But treating a popped pimple is even tougher. And did you know the acne marks are more stubborn than the popped pimples? So basically you cannot achieve your skin goals if you pop a pimple or a blackhead. Skin goes through immense trauma when you pop a pimple and so to make sure that there is no more damage to that region, your body sends melanin which gives it that prominent brown mark. However, if you’ve already popped that bump then here’s the guidebook to follow right after- Popped A Pimple? What Next? Here’s Your Guidebook!

If you have acne-prone skin, it is recommended to opt for an anti-acne skincare routine for prevention.

Read more about the skincare routine for acne-prone skin types here.

Summary

Daily habits make a huge difference to your skin eventually. With skincare, it is never about making a change for a day and then going back to your old routine. It is more about consistency and consciousness. So pay attention to what is touching your skin every day and what is going in your body every day. Eventually, you will understand what is upsetting your skin and causing breakouts. If you make these changes in your routine then you will surely notice a difference in a few months!

-Divya Salvi