Drinking alcohol dehydrates the skin and interferes with circulation, robbing skin of moisture and vital nutrients. It can contribute to broken veins , particularly over the nose and cheeks.
Alcohol also depletes the body of vitamins and minerals essential for a healthy complexion.
The solution: cut down to a maximum of one or two glasses of good wine daily and ensure adequate intake of Essential Fatty Acids.
Pollution Smog, dirt and the sun’s rays bombard skin every day. And according to Toby Nlathias, NI,D., former Head of Occupational Dermatology at the U.S.
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, ‘while there are strict regulations regarding the chemicals we breathe or ingest, little is done to restrict the toxins we touch and handle, or that skin comes into direct contact with.’
Our skins are regularly assaulted by free radicals, triggered by everything from burning coal to household cleaning products. The solution: creams featuring antioxidant ingredients can help neutralize the free radical damage triggered by smoking and chemicals. Smoking Facialist Eve Lom — among many others — insists she can spot a smoker at fifty paces. ‘Their skins are pallid, gray and lined,’ she explains. ‘Smokers in their forties have wrinkling and sagging in their faces comparable to non-smokers who are in their sixties.’ In fact, the Journal of the American Medical Association refers to this condition as ‘smoker’s face’; it’s characterized by deep lines around the corners of the mouth and vertical lines in the upper lip — from the repeated action of drawing on a cigarette — and deep lines around the eyes, from squinting through a fog of smoke.
The skin also has an obvious grayish cast and tired appearance — due to a lack of oxygen supply. This oxygen starvation leads to dehydration, dryness, pallor — and, of course, to wrinkles.
As a person smokes, the toxic chemicals enter the body and stick to the skin — and around 4,000 chemical compounds are produced when tobacco burns. Other visible problems resulting from this can include staining, irritation, blackheads and even skin cancer.
The solution: as for other forms of pollution, creams featuring antioxidant ingredients can help neutralize the free radical damage triggered by smoking.
