BYE-BYE DULL SKIN
Who doesn’t want glowing and youthful skin? No one enjoys dull and boring skin, do you? No, right!? Due to hectic schedules, work stress, environmental harshness, and many other factors, we get tired and so is our skin. Our stress and tiredness start reflecting on our skin instantly, making us feel even duller and faded.
What exactly is the reason for your not-so glowing skin? What is dull skin?
Dull skin is the skin that is deprived of radiance or a glow, basically not-so-healthy skin. Our skin continuously sheds dead cells and if the natural process is inefficient, the skin will remain deprived of needed oxygen which will take a toll on the skin. This will lead to lustreless, tired, unhealthy skin that emphasizes wrinkles and ageing.
We have seen many people being casual about it and summing it up with the ‘process of ageing, but the reality is if your skin is healthy ad maintained, you will have brighter and dull-free skin for a lifetime.
What are the causes of dull skin?
Let’s understand a few of the causes and their prevention.
1. Dry Skin
Dryness is an important factor in making you look dull. Without sufficient moisture, the skin becomes flaky and builds dead cells up. This becomes worse as the cracked skin makes your complexion look dull, there’s uneven skin tone and texture.
Prevention: It is of the utmost importance that you are hydrating your skin from time to time. Use a moisturizer that’s suitable for you and avoid hot showers. When you apply moisturizer every morning and evening, it fills the cracks with lipids (acting as natural fats for the skin), hence smoothify your skin surfaces. Moisturizers with ingredients like ceramides and hyaluronic acid repairs skin, improve water retention and plump up the skin respectively.
2. A dehydrated body
A dehydrated body not only is tired and fatigued, but the skin also lacks lustre, looks pale and tired. You may think that dehydration is a short-term problem but is not. When a body doesn’t get enough hydration, the skin starts losing elasticity, causing fine lines, wrinkles, uneven skin tone, dryness, and dullness.
Prevention: The solution is simple. Drink up! Drinking at least 8 glasses of water every day should be your habit. Avoid sugary and canned drinks, beverages for healthy skin. Also, make sure to get enough hydration from the topical products you are choosing for skincare.
3. No exfoliation
Most of us, sometimes, miss the most important part of our skincare routine, and that’s exfoliation. When you exfoliate, it removes the dry and dead skin cells, allowing better penetration of the topical products into the skin. The building up of dead skin cells clogs the pores, which results in acne. Hence, exfoliating skin will manage them and gives smoother and glowing skin.
Prevention: You can always incorporate either physical or chemical exfoliators in your skincare routine. Physical exfoliators include topical and homemade face scrubs, and chemical one includes face peel. Whichever process you like to choose, just remember to not overdo it. Exfoliating skin 2-3 times a week is enough to avoid skin damage and irritation.
4. Environmental Factors
We all know how pollution is bad for our lungs but is your skin safe? Air pollution, UV rays, dust, dirt, low humidity, harsh winds, etc, affects the skin terribly. The dust particles and pollutants clog the pores and lead to acne with dull skin.
Prevention: Protecting skin from outdoors doesn’t that you have to be indoors all the time. Just make sure to follow your night care routine diligently and always wash your face before sleeping to avoid pore-clogging. Also, when you are stepping out, make sure to wear SPF30+ sunscreen to protect your skin from harmful sun rays and blisters. Antioxidants like face serum will also stop the free radicals from the environment’s detrimental effect. Don’t forget to wear sunscreen even if you are indoors.
5. Not so healthy diet
What you eat shows on your skin. Nutrients and minerals like copper, iron, zinc play an important role in your skin health and glow. You must be wondering how food can affect the skin (LINK THE FOOD BLOG)? When your food lacks sufficient nutrients, minerals, and vitamins, skin doesn’t get ample anti-oxidants they require for healthier and glow skin.
Prevention: Food definitely impacts your skin health and fast food, beacons, fried food, packaged & processed food, chocolates, soda, baked items, and spicy foods negatively impact skin health even more. These foods aggravate sebum production that causes wrinkles & makes the appearance dull. Keeping your skin hydrated and eating a balanced diet is the key to glowing and healthy skin. Time to make some changes in your food habits for young and blemish-free skin.
6. You are stressed
Stress or feeling anxious due to work, deadlines, college, studies, big events, and much more is a common feeling that plays a vital role in making your skin appear lusterless or dull. But how? When you are stressed, the cortisol level goes up, which negatively affects the blood circulation in the skin, hence, you look dull.
Prevention: Try to de-stress and calm your mind. Take out a few minutes in a day for yourself, and focus on the activity that relaxes your mind. Yoga, meditation, exercise are some practices that will help you to calm and relax. Use some nice fragrances like lavender while taking a bath and while sleeping. Take an adequate amount of sleep and indulge in activities that give you happiness and calmness. Over time, you’ll realize that along with your mind, your skin has also brightened and your skin is radiating!
7. Sleepless Nights
Sleep is essential for a body to recover, and so is the skin. If you are not getting enough sleep or sleeping at odd hours, this takes a toll on your skin too. When we sleep, that is the time when our skin heals and recover from the damage done during the day. Sleepless hours make your face look dull, puffed, and tired.
Prevention: Try to improve your sleeping pattern and get enough sleep your body requires. Don’t oversleep, as it also makes the body tired and fatigued. If you are having trouble sleeping, make sure to avoid screen before time, read books, get yourself some nice fragrance, do meditation, and don’t forget your skincare night routine.
8. Can’t avoid smoking
If someone is an avid smoker, then puffing out is not only terribly affecting their lungs but skin too. Smoking decreases collagen production, which affects the elastic fibres in the skin and increases oxidative stress in the body. All this factor leads to the dehydration of the body, making their skin appear dull, tired, unhealthy, and also causing pre-mature ageing!
Prevention: You know this already. All you have to do is try to quit smoking for healthy skin and body. And if you know someone who is an avid smoker, help them to quit and lead a healthy life!
These are some of the causes and their prevention for getting glowing and brightening skin. Along with all these factors, there are some other factors too that are the prime reasons for your dull and lusterless skin.
– Not working out or not keeping yourself active affects blood circulation.
– Hormonal changes or imbalance due to puberty, pregnancy, or menopause.
– The epidermis, our skin barrier is damaged or lacks moistures, causes dryness, more fine lines, irritation, redness, and skin conditions if severe.
Food for glowing and happier skin.
By now you have understood how skin can lack glow and lustre. When it comes to food, food is a source of nutrition, vitamins, and essential minerals which are highly important for healthy skin and body. What you consume reflects on your skin, hence we become conscious of what to eat and what to avoid, and which sometimes can happen that we skip the essentials.
So here are a few tips related to food that dermatologists recommend for perfect skin.
• The Foremost is to reduce the amount of sugar you consume. Replace the refined sugar with natural ones like honey, sweetness from fruits, or maple syrup. Consume fruits in moderation and avoid c=sugar if you have bad skin.
• Include vegetables of all colours and green juice in your diet. This would really help your skin to get better.
• Do not compromise on water. Hydration is the skin for a healthy body and skin. Have 8-10 glasses of water to hydrate the skin and flush out the toxins.
• Avoid crash diets and processes food to avoid breakouts and dull skin.
• Get yourself a balanced diet. Include healthy carbohydrates and protein in your meals for balanced skin.
• Spices like Haldi or turmeric is perfect for perfect skin.
Here’s the list of some food that is good for glowing skin if included in a diet.
1. Olive oil
A very beneficial ingredient of healthy skin. Oil gives an instant glow and lustre to the skin and helps in overcoming the dryness. The presence of monosaturated fatty acids, olive oil boosts youthfulness and its anti-oxidant property, protects the free radicals of the skin.
2. Green tea
This acts as an anti-oxidant that helps in improving the skin’s texture and evens out the skin tone.
3. Tomatoes
An anti-oxidant that prevents sun damage and protects from free radicals.
4. Salmon
These are a good source of omega 3 fatty acids that help in improving skin elasticity and preventing fine lines.
5. Eggs
An adequate source of protein prevents dryness, boosts collagen production, and repairs the skin cells.
6. Avocado
A good source of biotin, that helps in providing hydration to the skin and also makes the nails and hair strong.
7. Pomegranate
Apart from increasing collagen production, they improve immunity, blood circulation and minimize cholesterol.
8. Beans (legumes)
Beans are a source of proteins that boosts collagen and repair and regenerate skin cells.
9. Walnuts
It encourages smooth, youthful, glowing, and radiating skin as they are enriched with Omega3 fatty acids.
10. Dark chocolate
The antioxidant property of cocoa flavanols, 28 gms of dark chocolate once or twice a week, improves blood circulation and hydrates the skin. If you have a rough and scaly skin, this is the best food option for you!
Having glowing and radiating skin is everyone’s need and desire too. You can overcome dull skin with some simple tweaks in your lifestyle and diet.
If you have any severe skin condition which requires medical assistance, you can contact experienced dermatologists of Sakhiya Skin Clinic on the toll-free number (1800 1200 70000).