5 Simple Tips for Keeping Skin Healthy and Protected

Modern women and men both strive to keep their skin looking youthful. Having fresh, healthy-looking skin helps you preserve overall youthfulness and who wouldn't enjoy looking a few years younger?

Use these skin-care tips to keep your skin fresh, healthy, and protected so you, too, can enjoy that youthful look:

1. Aim for eight hours of sleep. There’s a direct correlation between how much sleep you get on a regular basis and how healthy your skin is. Of course, the exact number of hours your body needs depends on your body's unique character and age, but it's important for your skin for you to get enough sleep.

• When you sleep, your body has a chance to heal from the day's wear and tear. Depriving your body of this necessity interferes with its natural daily maintenance and ages you more quickly.

2. Keep hydrated. Staying hydrated is a key element for fresh and youthful-looking skin. Water is very effective at flushing the system of free radicals that can cause your skin to look dull and unhealthy.

• Drink the recommended 6-8 glasses of water per day.
• Consume lots of fresh fruits. Besides hydration from the fruit's natural juice, another skin-enhancing benefit of fruit is its Vitamin C.
• Heating and air conditioning dry out the skin, so give your skin a break periodically and bask in the natural outdoors.

3. Taking a break from the day to day hustle and bustle protects your skin in several ways. Tension and stress show up on your face, causing strained expressions. In addition, when you're stressed, your skin is more sensitive, leading to acne breakouts and other skin challenges.

• Take weekends off if you can.
• Use your days off to unwind instead of running errands.
• Allocate a budget and a few weeks each year for a vacation.
• Meditate daily or partake regularly in yoga.

4. Use sun block. As much as you may enjoy lounging around in the sun, be wary of the fact that overexposure to sun can dramatically age your skin. Therefore, if you must bask in the sun’s rays, always remember to wear sun block.

5. Stock up on antioxidants. Antioxidants are essential in banishing damaging free radicals from your system and improving the healthy appearance of your skin.

• Take vitamin supplements that are rich in antioxidants.
• Eat lots of raw fruits and vegetables that contain antioxidants, like watermelon, berries, spinach, kale, broccoli, and many more.
• Avoid foods that can contribute to the free radical build up in your body, like highly processed foods, foods with preservatives, meat cooked at high temperatures, and most saturated fats.

These simple, yet effective, tips will help protect your skin and keep it looking fresh, healthy, and youthful. Plus, you can adapt them with very little cost or effort.

How great it is to know that more youthful skin is within reach! Give these techniques a try and you’ll be pleasantly surprised to realize how easily you can achieve – and maintain – the enviable skin you’ve always wanted.