Your Skin’s Worst Enemies and What to Do About Them

Aging can cause our skin to lose its glow, firmness, and elasticity. Fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots, and other signs of aging are unavoidable, but some things can cause them to show up faster. Most of them are under your control, so it pays to know your skin’s biggest enemies.  

1. Excess sun exposure

While a moderate amount of sun exposure is healthy, too much of it has harmful effects. The ultraviolet rays from the sun can damage the DNA of your skin cells and lead to sunburn and associated symptoms. Prolonged exposure to these rays is a major risk factor for skin cancer.  

Excessive sun exposure, furthermore, is the main cause of premature skin aging. It speeds up the breakdown of collagen and elastin, causing fine lines, wrinkles, pigmentation, and dullness. It can also make existing spots, wrinkles, and other signs of aging worse or more prominent.  

What to do: Limit your exposure to the sun, especially on peak hours. Apply broad-spectrum sunscreen daily with SPF 30 or higher. You can also benefit from wearing wraparound sunglasses to protect your eyes and the skin around them.

Worth considering: If you already have sun damage or pigmentation, undergoing certain aesthetic procedures can help. These include PicoCare Laser, Limelight Photo Facial, and VI Peel Precision Plus. 

2. Cigarettes and tobacco

Smoking puts both your skin and general health at risk, as it harms nearly every organ in the body. Cigarettes also contain nicotine that causes your blood vessels to narrow. This then reduces the amount of oxygen that reaches your skin. Cigarettes and smoke, furthermore, have chemicals that damage collagen and elastin. 

Here are the ways smoking affects your skin:

• Wrinkles in the face (and other body parts)
• Fine lines around the eyes and on top of lips
• Premature aging and deeper wrinkles
• Yellowing of skin tone (sallow complexion)
• Spots and uneven skin coloring
• Slower wound healing

What to do: There is no other way around but to quit smoking. It can be helpful to identify situations or triggers that prompt you to smoke, so you can avoid them. If you’re finding it hard to kick the habit, speak to your doctor to create a quit plan.

Worth considering: An injectable like Botox can improve lines and wrinkles, especially if you’re worried about crow’s feet and smoker’s lines. You may also want to consider Profhilo, which is a bio remodeling injectable. It offers hydration, firming, and lifting effects, and is used for treating laxity and signs of aging.

3. Lack of sleep

Sleep affects not just your energy levels the next day, but also your skin or how you look. As your body goes into reparative mode while you doze off, lack of sleep means not giving your skin time to recuperate or repair daytime damage. This can then give your complexion a dull, tired, and aging appearance.

Here are the potential effects of inadequate sleep:

• Dark under eye circles
• Undereye bags
• Swollen eyes
• Less glowing skin
• Exacerbated skin issues (acne, other blemishes, eczema)

What to do: Get at least seven to nine hours of sleep at night. Check out our previous post for other tips on getting beauty sleep. You can also supplement a quality slumber with the use of anti-aging products like serums. We recommend Dr. Sylvia’s Fibroblast Growth Factor Serum. It targets age-related degradation and reactivates collagen and dermal activity. 

Worth considering: If you’re looking to improve your eye bags and dark circles without surgery, Juvéderm fillers can help. These injectables also soften signs of aging and improve skin quality.

4. Stress

Apart from headaches, exhaustion, and digestive problems, too much stress can also wreak havoc on your skin. This is because of the stress hormone called cortisol. Increased cortisol levels can cause the sebaceous glands to produce more oil and sebum. These can also break down collagen and elastin, contributing to premature aging. 

Here are the other ways stress affects your skin:

• Acne and other blemishes
• Under Eye bags
• Red and irritated skin
• Creases, lines, and wrinkles
• Skin dullness and dehydration 

What to do: Regular physical activity can calm your mind and body, and help you feel good. Taking a break from overwhelming tasks can also help, as well as trying relaxation techniques like yoga, meditation, and deep breathing exercises.

Worth considering: If you’re dealing with acne and related symptoms, you might want to try VI Peel Purify. This chemical peel is specifically formulated to tackle active acne and oily skin. If it is wrinkles and fine lines you’re worried about, Botox can soften their appearance. The results can last for three to four months or longer with repeated injections.  

5. Pollution (weather and environment)

The sun’s UV rays are not the only ones you should worry about. Pollution, along with dry weather and a dusty environment, can also damage your skin. This is because it generates free radicals or unstable molecules. They are known to cause oxidative stress, which is a process that triggers cell damage and speeds up skin aging.

• Enlarged pores

• Dull skin
• Dark spots and pigmentation
• Redness and skin sensitivity
• Dry and itchy skin 

What to do: Make sure to wash your face at night to remove makeup, dirt, and other impurities. It is advisable to use products with antioxidants and peptides. We recommend Dr. Sylvia’s Vitamin C 20% with Ferulic Acid. This serum provides antioxidant benefits that can help fight oxidative stress. It also has additional skin lightening and hydration benefits.

Worth considering: If you’re looking to improve uneven skin texture, enlarged pores, fine lines, and facial redness, Laser Genesis can help. This uses an FDA-cleared laser technology that can stimulate collagen regrowth. 

Schedule a consultation today

Take better care of your skin to avoid premature aging. Don’t hesitate to consider aesthetic treatments if you’re dealing with skin issues that affect your confidence. Contact Cutis Medical Laser Clinics in Singapore today and schedule a consultation with our aesthetic doctor to find out which procedure is right for you.