Top Ten Tips for Teen Skin

Although teenage skincare products will help to improve your skin in the short term, using products alone won't help to keep skin looking great long term, so I've pulled together a few hints and tips to use for yourself and pass along to your friends and family. Clear and healthy looking skin doesn't just happen (unless you are very lucky), it takes a bit of work, but incorporating even a few of these tips into your everyday lives will stand you in good stead for when you get older.

  • 1. Stop touching your skin. It's easy to want to, but really stop it and definitely don't squeeze your spots. Dirt gets under your nails, and when you open up the top of a spot, that dirt transfers to underneath the skin creating bacteria to create more spots.
  • 2. Wash those bedclothes. Quilt cover, pillowcase and of course the sheets attract grease, dust, makeup, sweat and worse that is being spread across your face every night you sleep on them, clogging up your pores. Washing your bedding washes away the bacteria.
  • 3. Keep hair and beauty products off your face. Hair spray, foundation, even face creams could clog up the pores, so it's important to keep your skin as clear as possible, by using products that are natural, and free of petrochemicals and ensuring that you wash your face properly before you go to bed.
  • 4. Wash your face daily using a gentle cleanser or facial wash. Cleansing first thing in the morning clears the pores of oils that may have built up overnight thanks to sweat and dirt on your bedding. Whilst cleansing before you go to bed removes build-up of oil, makeup and even dirt caused by pollution from your skin. This allows your skin to breathe, look brighter and free of spots. Using gentle products is essential, as overpowering ones could dry your skin out by removing natural oils that it needs to keep healthy.
  • 5. Use a gentle moisturiser. Moisturising your skin is so important, even if you have oily skin, because your skin needs moisture in the sebaceous glands to prevent it from drying out. Dry skin can be irritating and itchy, and could leave your face looking flaky and rough.
  • 6. Keep yourself healthy. Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables and drink plenty of water for beautifully radiant skin. And, make sure that you get plenty of sleep too. Sleep gives your skin time to regenerate, remove old skin cells and create fresh new ones. Too much junk food, carbonated drinks and not enough sleep and your skin will begin to look dull and you'll not only look tired, but feel it too.
  • 7. Give up the fags. There is probably nothing more dehydrating for your skin than smoking. Cigarettes remove all Vitamin C from your skin, leaving it looking dull. Over time, your skin will crease around the mouth and inevitably deepen as you age! However, it only takes one month after quitting smoking, to notice your skin looking healthier and brighter.
  • 8. Exfoliate regularly. Exfoliation is essential in order to help your skin to remove the layer of dead skin cells that lie dormant on the surface of your skin. Whilst the dead cells are sat there, your skin is likely to look dull, so exfoliating them away helps bring your skin back to life. However, don't go crazy, once a week is plenty when you are in your teens, and be sure to be gentle to your skin.
  • 9. Chill out. I'm sure that you don't need any encouraging for this one, but there is nothing worse for causing breakouts than stress. So, take time to relax and just chill out, with whatever you love doing. And, if things are really starting to get out-of-hand, perhaps with school work, deal with it head-on and tackle the cause of your stress.
  • 10. Go to your doctor. Going to see your doctor about bad skin is nothing to be ashamed of. You could be eating your 5-a-day, drinking plenty of water and running marathons and still have awful breakouts. Hormones are at their peak levels during your teens, and your doctor might be able to offer them a little calm, using a prescription of medication aimed at rebalancing those pesky hormones.
  • 11. An extra one for you. Have fun!! A good skincare routine should never become a chore, and it most certainly shouldn't be stressing you out. It should slot into your normal everyday life, just the same as brushing your teeth. Just remember, that doing a little for your skin now, will mean a lot to your skin later!