What Are the Main Factors Affecting Your Skin?

Many of us either blame genetics for having not-so-good skin or just live with it anyway. Genetics definitely play a role; however, your parents aren't the only culprits to problematic skin.

Understanding the main factors affecting your skin will help you take care of your skin properly and ultimately achieve a skin worthy of stares. Do you know that three main factors can affect skin health?

Biological or Internal Factors

Intrinsic factors that affect your skin include genetics, lack of sleep, stress, alcohol intake, hormones, nutrient deficiencies, poor diet, lack of hydration, hormonal imbalance, collagen or elastin loss, slow cell turnover, unhealthy blood vessels, and medical conditions.

Obviously, we can't control the kind of genes that we have. However, we certainly can manage most of these internal factors to have better skin. For example, you can eat more whole fruits and vegetables to get vitamins and minerals for skin health.

Also, increase your protein intake to boost collagen and keratin levels for firmer, wrinkle-free skin. If you can't avoid alcohol, at least limit your intake. Omega acids from fatty fish, seeds, and nuts are essential nutrients that help maintain hormonal balance. Overall, having a healthy body will always manifest in better skin health.

External Factors

External factors pose a threat to your skin every day. You may not altogether avoid them, but you can apply steps to reduce or prevent ill effects from these external causes. Extrinsic factors that can affect your skin include free radicals, smoke and other pollutants, ultraviolet rays of the sun, poor skincare practices, bad weather conditions, and misuse or overuse of products.

These things can be controlled and modified for the good of your skin. Avoid smoking at all costs. Increase your body's defenses against free radicals and environmental pollution by eating foods rich in vitamin C and other antioxidants. These nutrients will strengthen your immune system as well as build a natural skin barrier against free radicals. Follow a basic and natural skincare regimen.

Commercial products are most likely full of chemicals and other irritants. Do away with toxic sunscreens and apply natural sun protection instead. It's great to read and take notes from a beauty blog that resonates with your skin. And lastly, don't overdo anything especially skin anti-aging treatments.

Kinetic or Mechanical Factors

Do you know that your facial expressions, sleeping position, and the act of sucking a cigarette affect how your skin looks? If you frown too often, you'll develop forehead creases or frown lines. Also, if you sleep on one side of your face, you may develop a crease around the mouth. And if you've noticed, smokers have bad skin and develop wrinkles very soon compared to non-smokers.

Combating the harmful effects of skin factors can be done by practicing healthy skin habits every day. These practices are pretty basic such as avoiding smoking, reducing your exposure to pollution, implementing healthy eating habits into your daily skincare plan.

Also, incorporating supplements or vitamins that can strengthen and protect your skin from all of these harmful elements helps a lot. Start a healthier skincare plan now for a better-looking complexion.