Simple Flawless Skin

By Julia Tolliver Maranan

If you're like most people, you want your skin to be radiant and healthy from head to toe.  But, with hectic mornings and exhausted evenings, most of us don't have time to add one more thing to our skin maintenance routine even if it is good for us.

Thankfully, experts say you can have the clear, healthy, glowing skin you desire by making a few slight changes in your overall lifestyle. Check out these speedy solutions for better skin.

Catch more ZZZs During the night your skin tries to recoup, says Joni Keim Loughran, skin care expert and author of Natural Skin Care (North Atlantic Books). When you don't get enough shuteye, your skin is apt to look pallid and dark shadows under the eyes might start to appear. Getting adequate hours of sleep can help to reduce stress as well as strengthen your immune system which benefits overall skin health and specific conditions like eczema, according to Audrey Kunin, MD, dermatologist and author of The DERMAdoctor Skinstruction Manual (Simon & Schuster). Studies show most people need at least seven or eight hours every night.

Take regular walks In addition to reducing stress, regular sweat sessions boost circulation, bringing nutrients and oxygen to the skin and improving skin color and tone. Kunin recommends showering right after you exercise to wash away pore-clogging sweat and using a cleanser containing glycolic or salicylic acid to slough off dead skin and prevent breakouts. And if you're prone to athlete's foot, let your feet air dry after workouts or preemptively apply an antifungal cream.

De-stress Stress triggers the release of cortisol, a hormone that weakens your immune system and makes you more susceptible to skin infections and flare ups of cold sores, warts, and eczema. Kunin notes that cortisol also upsets the body's balance of female and male hormones, which can cause blemishes and oilier skin and exacerbate problems like psoriasis and hair loss. So, remember to indulge in a warm bath or a good book occasionally to help you feel less frazzled.

Eat (or supplement) smart Antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins are crucial for healthy skin. Antioxidants fight free radical damage that can age skin prematurely. Vitamin A combats blemishes, vitamin C helps skin repair itself, vitamin K reduces bruising, and zinc is important to general skin health, says Kunin. Since it's hard to always get all the nutrients you need from your diet, consider taking a multivitamin. In addition, reducing your sugar intake may help banish breakouts, according to Kunin, and omega-3 fish oils can improve chronic concerns like psoriasis.

Hydrate your skin Experts disagree about how much drinking water benefits skin. But using a soap-free cleanser without fragrance or dyes and applying moisturizer right after toweling skin dry can dramatically improve dry skin. Loughran recommends using moisturizers with humectants like hyaluronic acid, vegetable glycerin, or sorbitol, which absorb and hold water next to your skin to keep it hydrated. If you have seriously dry skin, use "active" moisturizers, which contain chemical exfoliants like glycolic acid, urea, or lactic acid. "They cut through dry, scaly skin to deliver moisture. Your skin ends up looking more vibrant and glowing," Kunin says. And, as always, look for a moisturizer with SPF 15 for healthy, glowing, young looking skin.

Julia Tolliver Maranan, former editor at Natural Health magazine, is a freelance writer and editor specializing in health and fitness.